Chapter 98 (1/2)

Chapter 98: Shutting down Yangzhou

Without hesitation, Nan Xun vaulted over the wall and scouted out the manor. Not long after, he reappeared and landed next to Jun Huang without a sound. ”The place is heavily guarded. Even the royal soldiers posted in Yangzhou are here. We will have to be careful.”

”We have to get inside even if the entire army is here,” said Jun Huang. ”This must end here.”

Something flashed through Nan Xun eyes. Despite his reluctance, Nan Xun decided to be honest with Jun Huang. ”I also saw someone we know.”

Nan Xun's expression worried Jun Huang. She stared into his eyes. ”Who was it?”

”The clerk at the inn.”

Jun Huang broke into cold sweat, but her expression remained calm. She took a deep breath and scoffed. ”If so, we will not show anyone mercy. If we don't get the evidence today, we will not find any tomorrow.”

Nan Xun agreed. He thought back to the route he had just found. Without another word, he put an arm around Jun Huang and leaped over the wall, landing behind the fake mountain, hidden in its shadow.

Nan Xun could feel how thin Jun Huang was with his arm around her torso. He felt a pang in his heart. Jun Huang put some distance between them and looked away. Her face was a perfect mask of aloofness.

After the patrolling guards had pa.s.sed through, Jun Huang and Nan Xun hurriedly made their way to the study. Nan Xun made sure to keep her safe along the way.

Outside the study, they saw the silhouette of a man walking around in the room. Jun Huang shot Nan Xun a look and made a gesture at him. Without missing a beat, he took off the dagger he kept on his waistband and quickly picked open the lock. When they got inside, the man was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone through a secret door.

Jun Huang surveyed the room carefully and thought back to where the man had been standing. There was a Buddha statue in the area. While everything else was covered in dust, the statue was perfectly clean. She rotated the statue with both hands and clink! The bookshelf next to the statue slowly moved aside.

Jun Huang turned to Nan Xun. He shut the door and nodded at her. They went inside the secret tunnel together.

The tunnel was almost pitch black. The only light source was the luminous pearls attached to the wall. The dim light they emitted was just bright enough for the two of them to see the floor beneath their feet. They walked further inside, keeping near to the wall.

As soon as Jun Huang saw a door, she felt something beneath her foot. A bell chimed. Jun Huang's pupils contracted.

The man inside had heard the sound. He shot up to his feet and asked, ”Who's there?”

In that split second, Nan Xun lunged at the man with a push against the wall and hit the man in the neck with a knifehand strike. The man pa.s.sed out before he could get a clear look at Nan Xun's face. His head hit the wall as he collapsed.

Jun Huang walked up to them. The prefect lay on the ground, unconscious. She huffed and walked around his body, stopping at where the prefect had been a moment ago.

There was a brazier on the floor. Next to it was the evidence he had yet to destroy. Jun Huang picked the doc.u.ments up and browsed through them. The more she read, the colder her expression became. The prefect must never have expected that one day, these records he kept would become the evidence that had him imprisoned. Now, it was too late for him to cover his tracks.

Jun Huang looked over at Nan Xun and whispered, ”Here's everything we need. Let's go.”

Nan Xun nodded and followed her out.

They returned to the inn as quickly as they could. As expected, the clerk who had been in the prefect's manor earlier was at the door, his eyes darting around looking for them. Jun Huang scoffed and took out a silver needle. From his blind spot, she threw the needle at him.

The clerk felt a sting, but he didn't see or feel anything when he checked over his body. He didn't realize that the needle had gone into his flesh. In an hour, it would cause all the energy pathways in his body to collapse, and he would die a painful death.

This was the kind of person Jun Huang could be. If someone dared to conspire against her, she would make them pay. She would not lay a finger on people who had not hurt her, but with people who had? She would pay them back double.

Nan Xun didn't know what was on the needle Jun Huang had just thrown. He thought that she only wanted to teach the clerk a lesson, so he didn't pay it any mind. They entered their rooms from the back of the inn.

Before they did, he said, ”It's been a taxing night. You should rest. We'll leave early in the morning.”