Edited by Elanor and Rae
TL Note:
Yue Zhihua had gone missing.
The first person to discover this was Aunty Yu. At noon, she hurriedly went to find Yun Yifeng saying, she couldn’t find Yue Zhihua anywhere, and the lunch box she sent in the morning had not been opened at all.
When the others heard the news, they all went to Exquisite Jade Pavilion to check out the situation. Inside the residence, everything was arranged as usual, the room was neat and clean, and there were no signs of struggle or theft, only the occupant of the room had disappeared without a trace.
“The spider silk silver bell array has not been triggered.” Jin Huan said firmly, “He must still be within the Pavilion.”
Liu Qianxian asked, “Who was the last person to see Young Master Yue yesterday?”
“It should be me and Brother Ji.” Yun Yifeng replied, “On the corridor, he claimed that he had just visited Brother Qi in Moon View Pavilion and was on his way back to his residence.”
“Brother Yue did come by last night.” Qi Ran said, “However he didn’t display any strange behavior at that time, and he even said he would send me some tonic today.”
“So, he shouldn’t have run away, right?” Liu Qianxian was suspicious, “Or do you think something happened again?”
“Let’s all search and look for him first.” Yun Yifeng said, “The Snow View Pavilion is only this big. Be sure to thoroughly search every inch of the place where a person can hide and meet back here in an hour.”
First, the servant boy had died in a bizarre manner, and now Yue Zhihua disappeared for no reason. When these two incidents were connected together, it inevitably made everyone anxious. Who knew what secrets were hidden behind it, and who knew what would happen in the future?
Everyone worked together to search from noon to sunset. Even Aunty Yu followed behind Liu Qianxian to help. The grounds of the Snow View Pavilion were thoroughly searched, but to no avail– he was nowhere to be found; alive or even a dead body.
In the bedroom of Exquisite Jade Pavilion, Yun Yifeng was squatting on the floor, gently brushing the green and black floor tiles with his fingertips.
“Found anything?” Ji Yanran stood behind him.
“The bed has been moved.” Yun Yifeng stood up. “There are very shallow scratches on the floor.”
Ji Yanran motioned for him to step back. He grabbed the bed column with one hand and dragged it back heavily.
The big solid wooden bed was pulled three feet away from the wall, and a pile of iron tools fell out with a “crash”. It was a pair of polished and sharpened steel claws and it still had remnants of dark flesh and blood.
Liu Qianxian happened to pass by the door and seeing this scene, she screamed on the spot.
“What’s wrong?” Jin Manlin and Jin Huan rushed over.
“We found this under the bed.” Yun Yifeng pointed at the steel claws, “This should be the weapon that was used to murder the Qi servant boy.”
After Jin Huan came forward to inspect the weapon, he noticed that the flesh and blood had not completely dried and was still fresh. The shape of the steel claws were also consistent with the wounds on the servant’s body. The truth had more or less begun to surface – after Yue Zhihua killed the servant boy, he then thought of a way to avoid the spider silk silver bell array and managed to escape from the Snow View Pavilion last night.
Qi Ran was stunned when he heard this: “There was no hatred or any grievances. Why would he want to kill Ah Cheng?”
Liu Qianxian was also puzzled and thought, it would have made more sense if he had killed Qi Ran– at least he was a rich Young Master. But why kill a servant?
None of the men in the room spoke.
After waiting for a long time, Liu Qianxian couldn’t help asking: “Even if Yue Zhihua killed the servant boy, what about the explosives on the mountain path? Also, he plotted to lure us to the Ethereal Peak and killed an innocent woodcutter as a warning, was it just to kill Ah Cheng mysteriously? What if… Did Ah Cheng have a secret identity that could never be found out?”
Qi Ran shook his head: “That’s impossible. He is the son of two old servants of the Qi family. He was raised in the side courtyard as soon as he was born, his life background is clean.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Liu Qianxian was further confused: “Then what exactly is going on?”
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“A few days ago, Miss Liu and I bumped into Ah Cheng in the garden.” Ji Yanran said, “He was knocked down and dislocated his ankle, however, he refused to go to Drifting Pavilion to recover from his injury, and also refused when I wanted to lift his trousers. Moreover, he begged repeatedly, asking us to never let Brother Qi know, as if he was extremely afraid of you.”
Qi Ran was puzzled: “Why would you need to lift his trousers? Also, Brother Ji by asking me this, do you suspect that I abused my servant and he’s trying to hide his injuries?”
“There were no injuries.” Ji Yanran said, “I’ve checked, but there were frostbites all over his legs.”
Jin Huan also found it weird: “Frostbites? That shouldn’t be ah, Ah Cheng wore good quality clothes on a daily basis. Brother Qi also rewarded him with quite a few heaters and fur knee pads. Why would he have a lot of frostbites?”
Things sounded really strange. Qi Ran however sighed: “If he had frostbites on his leg, then I might know the reason behind them. Ah Cheng was young and had yet to explore the world. Six months ago, he was taken out by his cousin and learned how to gamble. At that time, I gave him a harsh scolding to teach him a lesson. I thought he had quit completely. Unexpectedly, I heard from rumors half a month ago that he was still gambling outside. He had lost all his money and he was beaten by the thugs of the gambling den. Then they stripped him of his fur coat and cotton boots and kicked him out of the gambling den. He walked back to the Qi family’s residence, barefoot in the middle of cold winter. He probably got the frostbites at that time, so naturally, he didn’t want me to see it. ”
Liu Qianxian suddenly understood, “No wonder he didn’t want us to lift his trousers.”
“I see.” Ji Yanran said, “I was overthinking things. I hope Brother Qi won’t blame me.”
Qi Ran shook his head: “In this situation, the more we ponder over it, the better. How can I blame Brother Ji? It’s just that Ah Cheng’s death was very weird. Even though we found the steel claws in Exquisite Jade Pavilion, I still don’t understand why anyone from the Yue family would want to kill him. In addition, there is another person who mysteriously disappeared. This is really… Ugh.”
“Yue Zhihua also played a role when we were setting up the spider silk silver bell array.” Liu Qianxian said, “If he had already made up his mind to escape at that time, it would not be impossible for him to learn the method to secretly dismantle the array. Moreover, he is still a member of the Yue family. Naturally, he knows which path does not have explosives.”
If this explanation was seen out independently, then it was indeed reasonable, however, if it was analyzed with the whole situation, it seemed too far-fetched and inexplicable, which made one even more confused. However, no matter what, since the murder had already occured, they could only redouble their vigilance in the future.
In order to avoid another incident from happening, Jin Huan personally brought everyone and carefully checked the spider silk silver bell array again until he ensured that there was no gap. Only then did everyone disperse.
At least they could have a little more peace of mind.
During dinner, only Yun Yifeng and Ji Yanran were in the dining room. It was extremely quiet. On the way back, Yun Yifeng hid both of his hands inside his sleeves and asked the person beside him, “Do you think what Qi Ran said this morning was believable?
“The part about gambling?” Ji Yanran was carrying the lantern, “Whether it was believable or not, at least it seemed reasonable.”
“However, I still feel something is amiss.” Yun Yifeng frowned slightly, “And the sudden disappearance of Yue Zhihua is also very dubious.”
Ji Yanran smiled: “Since you don’t understand, let’s keep waiting patiently. You and I know that Yue Zhihua’s disappearance could never be the end of this whole situation. On the contrary, this is likely to be just the beginning.”
“So there will be more conspiracies and murders in the future?” Yun Yifeng looked at him, “His Highness is really calm and unfazed.”
“Or else? Worry all day long and night?” Ji Yanran slung an arm over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, since I am the one who brought you up the mountain, I will take good care of you and protect you fully.”
Yun Yifeng looked at him up and down, as if to determine the credibility of his words. As they turned another corner, they suddenly heard the sound of rushed footsteps on the eaves, very quick and light, like a fleeting breeze and lightning. The moment before the sound disappeared, Ji Yanran had already turned over and fell onto the rooftop. His silhouette was like a desert harrier eagle in the twilight. His black wings alone were enough to strike fear in the hearts of all weak and small animals– including this one creepy white ferret, squatting in the snow, raising its claws in defense.
Ji Yanran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He picked up the ferret by the scruff of its neck and headed back to the corridor.
Yun Yifeng smiled while taking the ferret in his arms: “Oh, it’s just you.”
The white ferret was very obedient and liked the calming scent of medicine on Yun Yifeng’s body. It laid down and snuggled its head into the gentle and warm palm, like a fluffy pup taking a nap. Ji Yanran stood at the side and saw that it looked like it was fun to hold it. He raised a finger and poked its round butt. Maybe he didn’t control his strength and hurt the little thing, because the ferret immediately swept its tail discontentedly and leaped forward. His four claws drifted and ran away without a trace into the night.
“Hey!” The warmth in Yun Yifeng’s arms suddenly disappeared. He wanted to catch the ferret, but he couldn’t. He could only watch it disappear at the top of the wall.
Ji Yanran: “…”
Yun Yifeng pursed his mouth and turned away, annoyance clearly written on his face without the need to say it out loud.
Ji Yanran, playing the innocent, could only say, “If I see it again next time, I’ll definitely catch it for you and you can hug it as long as you want.”
Yun Yifeng picked up the lantern and handed it to him: “What if Jin Huan isn’t willing?”
Ji Yanran said positively, “If he refuses and since you really want it, even if this Prince has to knock him unconscious, I will definitely snatch the ferret for you.”
Yun Yifeng frowned, “Really?”
Ji Yanran answered sincerely: “Really.”
Yun Yifeng smiled, “Fine, then I will hold you to that promise.”
Ji Yanran pulled up his cloak with one hand and wrapped him in it tightly again. Firstly, to express his concern, and secondly, it was to cover up those pairs of starry eyes– otherwise, if he looked at them for a long time, there was a high chance that he would once again think about Blood Ganoderma Lucidum. Now adding the ferret, the things he owed him were piling up, all of which were rare treasures. The thought of not knowing when he could pay them off, was very distressing.
And also, the Heavens seemed to be against him. Before both of them could return to the Drifting Pavilion, and were just walking through the garden, they saw Jin Huan sitting alone on the rooftop, lying beside him was a ball of pure white. It was the ferret from just now.
Ji Yanran: “….”
Yun Yifeng stopped in his tracks and looked at Ji Yanran. Go, here’s your chance to fulfill what you promised me just now.
“Sect Master Yun, Young Swordsman Ji.” Jin Huan also saw the two people and took the initiative to greet them, “Are both of you heading back?”
Yun Yifeng nodded, and asked confusedly, “It’s freezing outside. Brother Jin, why are you sitting on the roof?”
“I was feeling a little troubled, so I came out for a moment for some peace and quiet.” Jin Huan jumped down into the courtyard with the ferret in his arms and sighed, “These strange incidents keep happening one after the other, it’s really confusing when you come to think of it. ”
Yun Yifeng asked, “How is Brother Qi?”
“He’s still thinking about the incident with his servant, and he still doesn’t understand why Yue Zhihua would want to kill him.” Referring to this matter, Jin Huan looked even more worried, “He has been really distracted lately and won’t listen to anybody’s words. ”
Yun Yifeng reminded: “Since Brother Qi is now staying in the Moon View Pavilion. I still have to bother Brother Jin to console him more in your spare time, so as to avoid being upset and falling ill.”
“Naturally.” Jin Huan promised and said, “It’s getting late. I’ll go back and see Brother Qi again. Farewell.”
Seeing that he was already about to leave, but the person beside him still had a look of mischief, Ji Yanran had to harden his face and asked, “I don’t know if Brother Jin could let us borrow his ferret for the night?”
Jin Huan was stunned when he heard his words: “Borrow my ferret?”
Ji Yanran explained: “It looks so smart and adorable, so we want to bring it back to play.”
“Oh, so it’s like that.” Jin Huan said cheerfully, “Of course you can, but this little thing is a little delicate, don’t just feed it with anything, Young Swordsman Ji.”
As he was talking, he handed over the white furball in his hand. Yun Yifeng wanted to receive it, but the ferret’s temper suddenly changed. Its fur suddenly stood on end as if it had eaten a bomb and had exploded. Its eyes flashed fiercely, its front paw scratched hard, and immediately left three deep scratches on the back of Yun Yifeng’s hand.
“Hiss!” Yun Yifeng was caught off guard with the sudden pain. Ji Yanran hurriedly pulled him behind his body, looking sternly at the ferret. It had quickly climbed up the roof and ran all the way to the distance.
“This…” When it was his own pet that had just caused some trouble, Jin Huan also panicked. He apologized repeatedly, saying he would go to Moon View Pavilion to get some wound ointment. Yun Yifeng waved his hand weakly: “There is no need, I brought some ointment with me, I’ll just go back and deal with it myself.”
Although the wound was deep, fortunately, the ferret was not venomous. After applying the wound ointment, he just had to avoid the wound from getting wet and nurse it for a few more days to recover.
Ji Yanran took out a bottle of ointment from his luggage. He didn’t know whether it was counted as his fault this time, however, looking at Yun Yifeng’s scrunched eyebrows and the veins bursting out on his arms, it seemed that the wound had indeed caused him a great deal of pain. All he could do was coax him while he helped him to bandage his wounds: “In my residence, there was also a copy of Wang Xishi’s ‘Ping An Tie’. After we get off this mountain, I will immediately ask someone to send it to Feng Yu Sect.”
Yun Yifeng asked, “Is it an authentic work?”
Ji Yanran gently blew on the medicinal powder and wrapped it carefully with a bandage: “Naturally, who would dare to cheat me with a fake?”
Yun Yifeng replied, “En.”
“Try not to touch the wound for these two days.” Ji Yanran put his hand back and asked again, “Do you want to eat some sweets? I’ll go and ask Aunty Yu for some.”
Yun Yifeng raised his eyebrows: “Why are you treating me like a little doll? Still needing to coax me with sweets when I get hurt.”
Ji Yanran sighed: “But Sect Master Yun has been eating snacks the entire way here, it’s not really different from….. Hey, hey, these Xuanjin boots are made from Jiangnan, they’re really expensive.”
“All the more reason to step on them.” Yun Yifeng raised his foot again and said, “Fine, I want to eat Eight Treasures candy.”
His Royal Highness Prince Xiao’s attitude improved and made a trip to the kitchen.
Aunty Yu was still kneading noodles and was getting ready to prepare the next day’s breakfast. After listening to his reason for coming, she said with a smile, “The sweets and the sweet scented osmanthus cake are in the cabinet. Just take them all with you. Sect Master Yun has a sweet tooth after all.”
“How come Miss Liu didn’t come to help Aunty?” Ji Yanran casually asked.
“She seemed busy. After checking the spider silk silver bell array, she hasn’t returned to the Shooting Star Pavilion.” After she finished saying that, Aunty Yu said again, “Her food is still warm on the stove. This young lady doesn’t even know how to take care of herself.”
“Oh, okay.” Ji Yanran glanced at the food then wrapped the sweets and cake. “Then I’ll get going now. Thank you, Aunty.”
By now, the sky outside had already turned completely dark. Only the vast thick snow reflected half an inch of moonlight, it wasn’t as good as hearing the whistling of the wind– at least there could be some sound to listen to, not like the current situation. The whole area was covered in a rotten black and viscous pool of lake water, which made one feel uncomfortable.
Ji Yanran didn’t return to the Drifting Pavilion directly. Seeing that there was no one around, he headed to the Shooting Star Pavilion with the food box in hand.
Yun Yifeng waited alone in the room, getting bored and sleepy. He supported his temple with one hand and fell into a light sleep. The medicinal powder applied on the wound was very effective, it had completely numbed the pain, and anywhere below his elbow were stiff. This experience of losing his senses… losing his senses… a memory resurfaced silently.
His mind was once again filled with a thin line of buzzing. At first, it was very weak, but it became increasingly noisy in the end. They came crawling out from all directions and immediately weaved a dirty, black and yellow net, wrapping his whole body. He could clearly feel the frizz like fine needles piercing his skin and through his nerve endings.. those tentacles… wings… Disgusting breath and mucus. The fears deeply buried in his bones once again broke out. His heart roared and he felt like falling into an abyss.
Yun Yifeng suddenly jolted awake, and in a fit of panic and confusion, slapped the square table in front of him into splinters.
“Sect Master… Master Yun?” Ji Yanran saw this scene as soon as he entered the door and was startled, “Are you okay?”
Yun Yifeng’s heart was pounding fiercely in his chest, his vision seemed to be still covered in a layer of black mist. He stared at Ji Yanran for a long time before he returned to his senses: “I’m fine. It was just a nightmare.”
Ji Yanran came up at him and felt his forehead. It was covered in cold sweat, and cool to the touch.
So he asked, “What kind of nightmare?”
“I forgot.” Yun Yifeng’s voice was dry and hoarse. “Why are you back so late?”
Ji Yanran patted him on the shoulder and brought over some hot tea from the next room: “I went to the Moon View Pavilion.”
“You went to look for Jin Huan?” Yun Yifeng held the tea cup in both of his hands. Maybe because of the warmth on his palm, his emotions gradually calmed down a little.
Ji Yanran shook his head: “I wasn’t the one who went looking for Jin Huan, but it was Liu Qianxian. She just entered the Moon View Pavilion.”
Yun Yifeng frowned at the words: “What is she doing in the Moon View Pavilion?”
“It’s hard to say.” Ji Yanran said, “Maybe it was to comfort Qi Ran, or…maybe, it’s for something else.”
As what he had previously said, in this situation, no one was completely innocent.
———–
Zaki~~Thank you to Beverly, SkhSkhSkh, Gofa, Marianna, Dangermousie, Salted Fish, Awan and Tty for the wonderful coffee and cream puffs..Love you guys and thank you everyone for your support 🙂
Even if the ferret were poisonous, it’s not like he ate it 🙂 In English language there’s two words to describe animals or plants that inflict poison: “poisonous” and “venomous”. Poisonous ones poison you when you eat them, venomous ones administer their toxin actively. To sum it up: poisonous – you bite it, venomous – it bites you. (Yeah, it’s confusing.)
Thank you for picking that up. Yeah venomous would be most appropriate 🙂
Waaaa this is getting more interesting!!! Thank you for the chapter 🤍🤍🤍
Dear ferret, yes you – you’re still on my sus-list, I see you (≖_≖)
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Yun Yifeng: aggrieved eyes
Ji Yanran: !!! What can I do?? Bring sweets?? Hunt a ferret??? Don’t show these eyes I’ll give you treasures!!
So, as a long time ferret owner, ferrets don’t really puff up their bodies. They really only puff up their tails if they’re scared or excited. Mostly, if they feel threatened, they will ‘ferret war dance’ which I recommend everyone YouTube as it’s very funny and cute.
Thanks ❤️
Bonjour, j’aimerai continuer à lire ce roman, mais je ne peux récupérer le mot de passe car je ne peux pas naviguer dans le site : je lis ce roman à travers Google traduction car je ne comprends pas l’anglais. Et ça ne marche pas pour Discord qui est incapable de me reconnaître à travers le traducteur, sans le traducteur, je ne sais pas naviguer dans le site.