La luna brilla intensamente sobre las montañas desiertas y las flores llenan el cielo

Capítulo 90

"I didn't, I didn't, I swear, it really happened."

"Still dare to say that?" Long San's iron fist struck down again. Qu Dahan fell to the ground screaming, and hurriedly said, "I, I can't remember exactly which family it was, but it was very far away, in the capital area. There was indeed such a case of a wife being killed. Perhaps I remembered the family name wrong, but it did happen."

Long San stopped and exchanged a glance with Feng Ning. Feng Ning thought for a moment and asked, "How do we find the people from the Soul-Slaying Tower? Where are they hiding?"

The big man in the district wiped away his tears and replied, "We can't find it anymore."

With a loud "smack!", Feng Ning slammed her hand on the table: "You still dare to lie to people!"

"It's true, absolutely true, the Soul-Slaying Tower is indeed gone. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to use their name to swindle and deceive people. If they found out, it wouldn't just be a matter of being beheaded; it would be a fate worse than death. If they were still around, how could I dare?"

"How come they're gone?"

"I heard it was a chivalrous man named Yi who chased after Juehunlou and wiped them out because Juehunlou killed his beloved."

"What one? I have one, two, three, four, five, six!" Feng Ning cursed, and Long San's heart skipped a beat again. Feng Ning stood up and kicked the big man in the area again: "Tell the truth."

"That's absolutely true." Qu Dahan was sobbing that he had no tears left to shed.

"You say the Soul-Slaying Tower is so powerful, how could it possibly be destroyed by an unknown martial arts hero?"

“Perhaps, perhaps it wasn’t just one person. I heard from my distant relative that it started as one person, but later it seemed he found helpers, maybe a master and his disciples working together to wipe out the Soul-Slaying Tower. My relative said things were getting chaotic lately, the other side was very powerful, and he had to go out and avoid them. But then, we never heard from him again. I heard he was killed.” Qu Dahan stammered, “Everything I said is true. I never heard from the Soul-Slaying Tower again, so I mustered up the courage to impersonate someone from the Soul-Slaying Tower and scam people out of food and drink.”

Feng Ning repeated blankly, "What do you mean, 'one'? Master and disciples working together..."

Long San watched her deep in thought, his heart churning with mixed feelings.

Author's Note: Nine times out of ten, the Jinjiang system tells me I'm logged in illegally and makes me log in again. Every time, I have to re-format the content and rewrite the title and summary. Now I have a psychological aversion to clicking the "Publish Directly" button; I'm terrified every time I click it, afraid it will say I'm logged in illegally again. When will this system finally work properly?!

67. The Long couple who missed each other

"Hero, brother, everything I said is true. Please let me go. What Juehunlou did really has nothing to do with me." Qu Dahan had no idea what Feng Ning and Long San were thinking. He just kept wailing and begging for mercy.

Long San kicked him: "The matter of Juehunlou has nothing to do with you, but you're the one who used Juehunlou's name to scam people out of food and drink, aren't you?"

Feng Ning nodded vigorously from the side: "I hate liars the most."

Long San didn't dare turn around to look at her, and punched Qu Dahan a few more times. Then, after thinking for a moment, he tore off Qu Dahan's clothes, twisted them into rope, and tied him up tightly. "I will explain your evil deeds to Granny. Your Juehunlou mark is gone, so Granny and the others should be able to tell the difference between the real and fake. As for how they deal with you, that's none of my business. I'll put in a good word with the authorities. Just pray to Buddha that Yixianglou will spare your life before they come to arrest you."

Upon hearing this, Qu Dahan cried out in despair. He was completely powerless and bound, unable to fight back or escape. Falling into the hands of Yixianglou meant certain doom. He pleaded incessantly, "Hero, hero, please don't leave me here! Take me to the authorities! I beg you, I'll reform! I'll never do this again! Please take me to the authorities, don't leave me here..."

Long San and Feng Ning ignored his wails, straightened their clothes, and turned to leave. Long San had indeed found the old woman and told her everything about the big man in the area. The old woman was furious. The Soul-Slaying Tower was known locally for its ruthlessness and killing without blinking an eye. So, the big man in the area had come under the name of the Soul-Slaying Tower, and there was indeed a Soul-Slaying Tower mark on his arm. They dared not offend him, which was why they let him eat, drink, and play with the girls for free. They never expected him to be a fraud. How could this be allowed? The old woman led a number of thugs and headed straight for the room.

"Wait a minute." Feng Ning called out to the old woman, "We helped you see through the scam, don't you want to show any appreciation?"

The old woman didn't understand, but after thinking for a moment, she said, "Then how about we bring the two young masters a fruit platter?"

Feng Ning frowned, looking dissatisfied. The nanny then said, "Then let Miss Xiangxiang sing two more songs for you two?"

Feng Ning crossed her arms and said, "Our money should be returned to us as a token of our gratitude."

The moment money was mentioned, the old woman became furious. Her face hardened, and she said sternly, "What a joke! Didn't the two young masters drink or eat? Didn't they listen to any songs or touch any girls? And now they want to take the money back after it's all over? Dream on!"

"Why not?" Feng Ning retorted angrily. "If it weren't for us, you would have been serving that swindler, letting him eat, drink, have fun, and monopolize the girls. You wouldn't have been able to do business with him. You're so ungrateful. If we had known this would happen, we wouldn't have helped you. We would have let you suffer the loss. Anyway, you have to return my young master's money."

"Hmph, that's really laughable." That old woman had to deal with countless troubles every day, and had long since developed a thick skin. Everything else was fine, but asking her to return the money she had taken into her pocket was absolutely out of the question. She put her hands on her hips and sneered, "I've seen plenty of customers, and while I've seen young men come to drink and brothels with their masters, I've never seen a young man help his master get his money back. What, do you think that if you get the money back, it will be given to you as a reward?" She looked Feng Ning up and down, then laughed, "Young man, ask around, nobody tries to get their money back like that."

"I'm not just anyone." Feng Ning glared, about to lose her temper. A young man and a madam glaring at each other, hands on hips, arguing—it was quite an unsightly situation. Long Sanzhi had a headache, so he quickly reached out and hugged Feng Ning, gently coaxing her in her ear, "Don't be angry, the money doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. We're going back; we still have important business to do."

He coaxed and half-dragged, half-carried Feng Ning away. Feng Ning remained angry the whole way, pouting and silent, while Long San was preoccupied with the matter of Nian Yi and his disciples joining forces to destroy Juehunlou. He had received news that Juehunlou had disappeared without a trace, and he knew that Nian Yi seemed relentless in his pursuit of Juehunlou, but he truly hadn't expected that Nian Yi's master and his fellow disciples would be so capable as to wipe out Juehunlou entirely.

Long San sighed inwardly. He should have realized it sooner. With Feng'er's and Nianyi's exceptional skills, their master must have been an extraordinary person as well. Yet, after searching for so long, he couldn't find a single trace of their master. This reclusive master had hidden himself so well.

Long San followed Feng Ning back to the inn room. As soon as the door closed, Feng Ning lost her temper: "Why didn't you let me get the money back? That big silver ingot, plus the money for vegetables and other things, more than thirty taels of silver, and in just a few hours, the money was gone in a flash."

"How could you possibly get it back from that place? What if you got yourself sick from arguing with people there? Money can be earned back, it's alright. Didn't we find some clues today? Don't worry about the money."

“How can you not feel bad?” Feng Ning exclaimed, “Although my second uncle is in charge of the family’s finances, I know it’s not easy for you to earn money. What kind of case files are you looking at all day long, running around doing things for people? Do you think I don’t know that you’re earning hard-earned money and dangerous money? If that person were from the Soul-Slaying Tower, it would be fine, we could just investigate and get a result. But it just happens to be a swindler. I feel like my husband’s hard-earned money has been swindled away. How can this be allowed? I absolutely cannot let them get away with it.”

“Feng’er…” Long San was deeply moved. He was thinking about how he had lied to her, while she was feeling sorry for him because he didn’t earn money easily. “Feng’er, it’s okay, you can earn more money. Anyway, you still have your second brother.” He winked and teased her on purpose.

"No way, do you think I don't know? Even brothers keep clear accounts. I know my second uncle's personality. He's a stingy wretch who's meticulous about every penny. If you spend his money recklessly, do you think he'll let you off the hook? You're spending your own money, I know that."

"Then why did you take all my money and keep making me pay for the good food?" He held her hand, enjoying seeing her worry about him.

"How can that be the same? It's only right for me to spend your money. It's a man's responsibility to make sure his wife and children are well-fed, clothed, and live a good life. It's fine for me and Bao'er to spend your money, but it's absolutely unacceptable for anyone else to take even a penny from you." Feng Ning argued vehemently, and Long San pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

"Long San, shall I go and get the money back?"

"No, that's a small matter. I don't want you to argue with others over such a trivial thing."

Feng Ning pouted, unhappy. His money was hers, and she felt bad about it. She wanted it back, but he wouldn't let her. She pushed Long San away and hid behind the screen to wash her face and change her clothes, peeking out to warn him, "Don't peek."

Long San knew she was throwing a tantrum again, so he smiled, feeling a warm glow at her protectiveness and concern for him. He sat down at the round table and replied, "I won't peek." He sat there, thinking and thinking, and finally said, "Feng'er, I have something to tell you."

"Go ahead and speak," Feng Ning replied. The area behind the screen remained quiet.

“Feng’er…” Long San struggled and hesitated, then asked, “We are husband and wife, no matter what happens, we will never be separated, right? No matter what, we will still be husband and wife.”

Feng Ning suddenly poked her head out from behind the screen: "You know that's good. I'm warning you, I'm here to find clues and the truth, not to abandon you. You're not allowed to find new girls or hide new brides or anything like that, or I definitely won't let you off the hook."

Long San laughed instead of being scolded: "Then you must remember, you are not allowed to leave me, and you are not allowed to be angry with me for too long." The only response he received was a "humph" from Feng Ning behind the screen.