Ma femme escalade le mur

Chapitre 117

He rushed straight to Zhu Qiaolian as soon as he entered the room, barely managing to stand still when he reached her. His hand, which had just reached out halfway, was withdrawn stiffly. He looked her up and down, panting as he asked, "Wife, I heard... are you alright? Why didn't you send someone to let me know... I just finished class..."

From the moment the man entered the room, Zhu Qiaolian's pretty face was as cold as ice. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes showed both anger and disgust. Before the man could finish speaking, she turned her face away and said coldly, "I know, you can go back now."

The man frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "The students have all gone home. I'm free right now, let's go back together."

Duan Chen, Zhao Ting, and Zhan Yun exchanged a glance, all three feeling that there were no further problems. They then rose to bid farewell to Zhu Qiaolian. Zhan Yun cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to the two men and said gently, "There are no problems for now. If Boss Zhu recalls any other clues, just send someone to the government office to inform them."

Zhu Qiaolian frowned as she looked at Zhan Yun, about to say something, when the young man beside her interrupted, bowing deeply to the three men apologetically: "I was quite rude just now, please forgive me, gentlemen. My wife was quite frightened today, I will take her back to the manor to rest for a while. If there is anything you need us for, please do not hesitate to ask."

After bidding farewell to Zhu Qiaolian and her husband, the group boarded the carriage and hurried back to the government office. Due to the overcast sky, it got dark earlier than usual, and lamps were already lit throughout the government office. Upon entering the coroner's room, Jiang Cheng had just taken off his gloves, while Chu Hui was holding a book and quickly jotting something down, seemingly having already completed the examination.

"Any new discoveries?" Zhan Yun noticed that Jiang Cheng's expression was somewhat subtle.

Jiang Cheng sighed heavily, lifted the white cloth covering the corpse, unbuttoned the woman's clothes, and picked up the lamp from the table next to him, gesturing for the three of them to look closely.

The three approached and saw that a small plum blossom, roughly the same size as a real plum blossom, had been carved into the woman's chest with a sharp object. The carving was so detailed that even the stamens were clearly visible. The bloodstains had been carefully wiped away, and the plum blossom carved from the blood-red scratches against her fair skin, in such a suggestive location, made her appear exceptionally alluring, yet the eerie atmosphere sent chills down their spines.

Zhao Ting stood up and frowned: "None of the previous corpses had this on them..." How come only this deceased person has a plum blossom carved with a sharp object on his chest?

Duan Chen carefully examined the woman's eyebrows, then turned and went to the two corpses from before, lifting the white sheet to compare them one by one. Sure enough, all three had the exact same willow-leaf eyebrows. He recalled the female corpse in Suzhou, who also had the same eyebrow shape. However, at that time, everyone's attention was focused on the ligature marks on the neck and the neat clothing, and no one noticed this detail.

Only after Zhu Qiaolian's explanation today did Duan Chen understand why she had always felt the deceased's face looked slightly strange. The reason was simple: not everyone is suited to this eyebrow shape. It looks good on some people, but not on others, and can even look very awkward on some.

Duan Chen mentioned the eyebrow shape to Zhan Yun and the others, and they fell silent once again. While the previously observed tidiness of the victims' clothing could be loosely interpreted as an outward manifestation of the murderer's remorse, the newly revealed willow-leaf eyebrows and the plum blossom carving on the chest of the latest victim led everyone's thoughts in a completely opposite direction to their previous assumptions.

The murderer felt no remorse. Instead, as if admiring and handling a piece of jade, he strangled the victim with a strip of cloth, meticulously sculpted the victim's eyebrows, carefully arranged their hair and clothing, and then calmly left. This was clearly the same as the Seventh Young Master of the Seven Life Sect—something no normal person would do!

When they left the government office, all three of them were still hungry. The rain continued to drizzle, and there were fewer pedestrians on the street than usual. After walking for a while, Zhao Ting suddenly became interested: "Shall we go eat Yunying fried noodles at that restaurant? And that Rose Wine. I haven't tasted it since I left Hangzhou."

Duan Chen and Zhan Yun also thought the suggestion was good. The three of them then changed direction and headed north of the city. When they reached an intersection, they suddenly heard a commotion not far away. Immediately afterwards, they heard slightly messy footsteps coming from the rooftops along the street, as well as the sound of tiles breaking and falling to the ground.

Duan Chen looked in the direction of the sound and saw two figures locked in a fierce battle on the rooftop. One of them was a woman wearing a crimson, sheer dress that billowed like butterfly wings, revealing large expanses of her fair skin at the neckline and hem, making her particularly eye-catching in the dark, rainy night. She wielded an eleven-section soft whip, which whistled through the air each time it was lashed out.

However, the soft whip in the woman's hand was clearly ineffective at the moment. The two were already engaged in close combat, and the man's attacks were particularly shameless, groping her legs and breasts several times. In the end, he even grabbed the woman's waist tightly, and while jumping down with her in his arms, he laughed loudly, "Everyone, disperse, disperse! What's so interesting? Haven't you ever seen a married couple fighting before?"

Duan Chen and the other two were startled by the voice. Zhan Yun almost dropped his folding fan, and Zhao Ting also looked surprised. The white-robed man, with one arm tightly holding the beauty in his embrace, slowly turned around. His peach blossom eyes sparkled, and his smile was deep. He wasn't surprised to see Duan Chen and the other two, and even freed one hand to greet them: "Zhao Ting, Xingzhi, Duan Chen, long time no see!"

Author's Note: There will be an update next Tuesday!

Let me give you a heads-up: the girl who fought Zhou Yufei is an acquaintance. Did you guess that?

103

Chapter Seven: The Competition and Reflections...

Before Duan Chen and the others could even respond, the woman grabbed Zhou Yufei's ear and twisted it. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention ("Ouch!"), she slapped him hard across the face. Zhou Yufei's head snapped to the side, a bright red finger mark immediately appearing on his face, and a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his lips. Just from the sound, it was clear the woman had struck hard; it wasn't a playful tantrum, but genuine anger.

The woman quickly stepped out of his embrace, gracefully turning around and raising her chin slightly to look at the three. Her large eyes were shimmering with tears, the whites slightly reddened with anger, and her bright red lips were slightly pursed. Her beautiful face showed five parts anger and three parts disdain, but it was a face that they all recognized very well—it was the woman who had impersonated Jiang Xueluo at the Seventh Prince's mansion a few days ago!

Ignoring the wound on his lip, Zhou Yufei's expression darkened. He reached out to put his arm around the woman's waist, whispering, "Ashu, come with me..."

The woman twisted her waist slightly to avoid Zhou Yufei's embrace, and with a flick of her arm, her eleven-section soft whip swept directly towards the oil-paper umbrella in Duan Chen's hand. The thin tip of the whip coiled around the umbrella handle like a serpent, and with a flick of her wrist, the light blue oil-paper umbrella slipped from her hand and floated into the air. When it landed, it had already broken into four pieces, and the ribs had cracked.

There were quite a few people watching the commotion on the street, but now that it was a different person and the fight had started again, and not on the rooftop but on the street, they all moved away and gathered in a small group at the intersection, craning their necks to watch the excitement.

Duan Chen remained unmoved. When his umbrella was swept away, he simply let go of it and looked calmly at the woman in crimson. Only a strand of hair fell by his ear, and a red mark appeared on his cheek from the force of the whip.

The woman called "A-Shu" was clearly even more enraged. Her whip cracked loudly on the flagstones, and with her other hand on her hip, she shouted, "You, surnamed Jiang, I, Yao Shu'er, have been in the underworld since I was seven. By seventeen, I was ranked third in the 'Unforgiving Sect.' Back then, it was because of my master's orders; I couldn't break the rules of the underworld because of personal grudges. Besides, I didn't know you were the woman he was so obsessed with..."

As Yao Shu'er spoke, a smile suddenly bloomed on her face, her voice slightly hoarse: "Today I'll see what makes you better than me, that you've won the master's favor so much that he even changed the color of all the beaded curtains in the entire Green Gauze Pavilion for you!" Just as she said the word "change," the woman raised her hand and lashed out with her whip. When she said the word "color," a flash of silver light appeared between her other fingers, and she flung out two willow-leaf throwing knives, which flew towards Duan Chen's two sides respectively.

As soon as the flying knife was thrown, Zhan Yun and Zhao Ting naturally had to block it, and Yao Shu'er had the same intention: "If you know what's good for you, get out of my way! If I lose this one-on-one fight today, I, Yao Shu'er, will retire from this life without hesitation!"

Duan Chen remained behind his back, only defending and not attacking, his feet moving rapidly backward, almost circling half the street with her. Yao Shu'er was not like Lou Yueru of Wanliu Manor before; her soft whip skills were extremely proficient, and she was not lacking in combat experience. Seeing Duan Chen running away in circles, she was neither anxious nor angry, but her smile became even more unrestrained, and her whip lashed out more fiercely, the tip of the whip grazing Duan Chen's clothes several times. Summer clothes are thin, and soon, several scratches appeared on Duan Chen's arms and shoulders.

Just as Duan Chen rounded a wooden stake, Yao Shu'er sneered and flicked her wrist, the whip coming from the other side, about to strike Duan Chen's face. But then a folding fan came slashing horizontally, shaving off most of the whip's force. At the same time, Duan Chen reached out and grabbed the whip, twisting it around his wrist a few times, then quickly spun in front of Yao Shu'er, raising his hand to press two acupoints on her.

Actually, Duan Chen didn't know any acupoint striking techniques originally. However, during her time at Xingyun Manor, Zhan Yun not only taught her internal energy cultivation methods but also pestered her to learn some simple acupoint striking techniques, saying it would be good for self-defense when traveling the martial world. To be honest, the two acupoints Duan Chen struck and the specific techniques weren't particularly advanced. The key issue was that her opponent was too careless, never expecting Duan Chen to suddenly launch such a move while she was retreating and dodging. She was caught off guard and thus fell victim to it.

Yao Shu'er stood there, unable to move, her eyebrows furrowing and her beautiful eyes widening: "You!"

Zhan Yun had already picked up his folding fan from the ground, his expression still gentle, but his gaze towards Zhou Yufei was somewhat cold. Zhao Ting also stepped forward, unusually speaking, and coldly rebuked, "What do you mean, 'you'?! You, the third-ranked assassin in the underworld, are beating up Chen'er, who has no internal strength and only knows lightness skills, and you still have the nerve to talk back?"

Yao Shu'er pouted, still unable to swallow her anger: "Release my pressure points, and we'll compete in lightness skills, hidden weapons, and..."

"I admit it without even comparing, I'm not as good as you at any of these." Duan Chen was slightly out of breath, but his tone was very calm.

Yao Shu'er's eyes reddened with anxiety: "We absolutely have to compete!"

Zhan Yun and Duan Chen exchanged a glance, finding the man both amusing and exasperating: "Why bother comparing when you already know the outcome?"

Yao Shu'er spoke through gritted teeth, her expression clearly on the verge of tears: "But he doesn't know..."

Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun each examined Duan Chen. Seeing that although her clothes were torn in several places, there was no serious injury to her skin, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Zhan Yun raised his hand and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen beside her cheek behind her ear. Although he knew that the mark on her cheek was not a big deal and would disappear overnight with a little medicine, he still felt sorry for her.

He then took her left hand and turned it over to examine it. Although he had used his folding fan to block most of the force earlier, this person had no internal strength whatsoever. To have taken the whip head-on and meet it head-on must have been quite unpleasant. However, Zhan Yun also knew that this person was stubborn. If he had directly attacked her, she might not have said anything at the time, but she would definitely be angry with him when they returned to the inn.

Sure enough, a red, swollen welt gradually appeared on her fair palm. This was partly due to catching the force of Yao Shu'er's whip earlier, and partly due to the rapid rubbing of the whip in her haste. Zhan Yun sighed inwardly, said nothing, and took out a medicine bottle from his pocket to apply some pain-relieving and bruise-reducing ointment to her.

Zhao Ting watched from the side, feeling annoyed. He turned his head to glare at Zhou Yufei, only to see the man standing with his arms crossed against the wooden post, his eyes downcast, not looking at the situation, his face so gloomy it was somewhat frightening. Zhao Ting frowned, thinking to himself how strange it was. In over ten years of knowing him, he had rarely seen this guy change his expression. This Yao Shu'er was quite a formidable character!

After putting the whole story into perspective, Zhao Ting gradually came to terms with it. The furrows on his brows eased, and a bitter smile curved his lips. This kid, who used to be a womanizer, had ended up in the same predicament as him. No wonder his face looked so grim.

Duan Chen remained silent for a while, then suddenly said softly, "What do you think he doesn't know?"