Editor: SleepyCat<3
When Li Yan woke up the next morning, it was to the sound of the doorbell. Blinking open his eyes, he realized he was lying on the sofa in an unfamiliar apartment, draped with a blanket. Sitting up with suspicion, he saw Huang Yuliang and Jiang Sheng emerging from around the corner of the entrance.
Li Yan froze. He distinctly remembered encountering a non-human woman who’d knocked him out last night.
“You two…”
“I had Jiang Sheng buy breakfast and come over. Get up, freshen up, and join us for a meal,” Huang Yuliang said.
Huang Yuliang was wearing a bathrobe, with bandages faintly visible on his chest. His voice sounded weaker than usual. Something had happened, Li Yan could tell.
“Brother Li, why are you spacing out?”
Li Yan stepped forward and reached out to lift one side of Huang Yuliang’s bathrobe to confirm his suspicions.
“Are you taking liberties with me?” Huang Yuliang covered himself, then winked at Li Yan, indicating he’d explain later. He then ushered Li Yan into the bathroom. “I have good news to share with you. Hurry up.”
After a quick wash, Li Yan peeked out of the bathroom and saw Huang Yuliang carrying a tray into the kitchen. He quickly came out and sat next to Jiang Sheng. “How do you know him?”
“Last night, I noticed you didn’t reply to my message, so I called you, and he answered,” Jiang Sheng said.
“And then?”
“At first, I was worried. He suggested I come over to confirm for myself. I found out that he didn’t do anything to you. He even called you, and his number was saved on your phone. Then, the two of us had a chat.”
“Did you see a woman when you came?”
“No, just the two of you.” Jiang Sheng chuckled. “Brother Li, did you dream of a woman?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m talking about that woman who called me yesterday.” Li Yan shot a glare at Jiang Sheng. “I’d even asked you to be my backup. But you really felt at ease leaving me alone with the first person you met, and I was still unconscious at that time.”
“Because…” Jiang Sheng innocently gestured towards the kitchen. “Because he…”
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.
“What happened to him?”
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“I have injuries.” Huang Yuliang walked over. “Eat quickly. While you eat, I’ll fill you in on things.” Huang Yuliang struggled to sit on a chair. “Yesterday, Jiang Sheng was worried about you, so he insisted on coming to check on your safety…”
“Stop! I know what happened afterward!”
“And then, at that time, I had some investigation materials out in the open. When he arrived, he recognized the map you gave me before,” Huang Yuliang said.
Li Yan looked at Huang Yuliang and then at Jiang Sheng. “You recognized it?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen a similar map before. It’s quite unique, so it left a deep impression.”
Huang Yuliang gestured with his hands, stacking his palms together. “This map has two layers, with your torn piece being the bottom layer, containing patterns but no text. There’s also a semi-transparent layer with text on top. You need to combine them to understand the location. Although I knew the principle after investigating, without the upper layer, it was still useless. After Jiang Sheng arrived, he immediately recognized that map.”
“The map itself isn’t particularly ancient, but the recorded content is quite old,” Jiang Sheng said. “My hometown has a complete version of the upper layer map. I can bring it out for comparison.”
“Precise accuracy is impossible since your piece is incomplete, but it can help narrow down the range to some extent.” Huang Yuliang smiled. “Suddenly something about the map has become clearer. Are you happy?”
“So-so.” Li Yan put down the buns in his hands. “Now that we’ve finished discussing the happy things, tell me how I ended up here, or rather, how you ended up here. Also, about your injury.”
“We need to talk about this matter alone…”
“Alright, alright, you two discuss.” Jiang Sheng stuffed the remaining buns into his mouth. “I’m heading to the company. I’ll work hard, see you later!” After that, he swiftly left.
“What a discerning child.” Huang Yuliang originally smiled, but felt a twinge of pain in his wound and couldn’t help but frown. “As you can see, I’m injured.”
“Yeah, what happened?”
“We need to talk about this slowly, just the two of us, and you need to ensure you can remain calm.”
Upon hearing the words, an ordinary person’s heart would already be pounding. “I’m mentally prepared, so you better not say anything that will make me waste my feelings.”
“I’m injured, and I’ve been poisoned. Although I’ve used some herbs to temporarily suppress the poison, I can’t completely eliminate it. It’s a rare combination of multiple poisons.” Huang Yuliang lit a cigarette. “Originally, I didn’t want you to know, but the woman who contacted you yesterday insisted on contacting you.”
“What’s the use of contacting me? I’m not a doctor. Also, why all this secrecy?”
“I got injured during our investigation at Mount Tai. I found out that the sword and jade bi are related to the ancient emperors’ sacrifices at Mount Tai. The timing was around the second lunar month, so I stayed there, waiting until…” Huang Yuliang paused. “Your father appeared.”
Li Yan immediately stood up from his chair.
“He’s the one who injured me, so…”
“We never use poison in our family!”
“Yes, I believe you.” Huang Yuliang gestured for Li Yan to sit and calm down. “But it’s very troublesome to cure this poison. The woman who accompanied me called you and used hypnosis on you to make you tell the truth. It also proved my point that you indeed know nothing about this kind of poison.”
“Wait a minute!” Li Yan interrupted Huang Yuliang. “Even if that’s the case, you could have just asked me directly. Why hide it from me? You didn’t want to tell me that you’ve found my father?” Suddenly, a thought crossed Li Yan’s mind. “No, why would he injure you? You were just looking for his whereabouts for me.”
“I just saw him.” Huang Yuliang emphasized his choice of words. “I didn’t want to tell you about seeing him because… I suspect he wasn’t captured by someone, rather he’s the one collecting the stone statues.”
Li Yan felt like his head had exploded. He knew Huang Yuliang wouldn’t say such things without reason. He also understood that if it weren’t true, his father wouldn’t have injured Huang Yuliang. However, if his father wasn’t abducted, how could he explain his mother’s tragic death? Li Yan didn’t want to dwell on anything anymore. The gradually revealed truth was too much for him to bear.
“Swallow…” Huang Yuliang saw Li Yan grabbing his head, frozen in place, with an abnormal look on his face. Realizing that the young man had likely received a significant blow, he quickly approached and removed Li Yan’s hands. “Look at me, Swallow… Li Yan!”
Li Yan snapped back to reality. “I… I…”
“Stone statues can drive people insane, you know that, right?” Huang Yuliang cradled Li Yan’s face, making him face him. “And it might not be in the same way as we think. It’s possible that he’s being manipulated. You know how dangerous demonic arts can be!”
Li Yan’s eyes lit up, as if he’d grasped a lifeline. “Demonic arts…”
“Yes, that’s a significant possibility. If the person behind the scenes doesn’t want to reveal himself, manipulating others to achieve certain tasks is a logical choice.”
“Are you sure it was my father you saw?”
“Fairly certain. He looked exactly like the photo you gave me. Also, when I called his name, he did react.”
“The Mount Tai ritual is done to break the seal on the stone statues, right?” Li Yan asked. Seeing Huang Yuliang nod, he felt a complex mix of emotions. “Let go of my face first.”
“Not even a little kiss?”
“Don’t think just because you’re injured, I won’t hit you.” Huang Yuliang let go of Li Yan’s face. Li Yan lifted the man’s bathrobe, revealing a wound around the lower ribs. The color of the ointment was seeping through the bandage. Judging by the traces of the applied medicine, it seemed to cover a significant area. “When did you last change the dressing? Let me take a look at the wound.”
“It’s time to change it. I didn’t change it when I woke up this morning.” Huang Yuliang peeled off half of his bathrobe and loosened the bandage. Li Yan couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing, so Huang Yuliang addressed his confusion. “I know what you’re thinking.” Pointing to two long knife wounds under the ribs, he continued, “These knife wounds were self-inflicted to purge the poisoned blood. The palm print, however, is the imprint your father left behind.”
A darkened palm print, with fine black lines resembling tiny blood vessels, was diffused around the imprint. It was evident that the poison was gradually infiltrating the body.
Li Yan felt a chill down his spine. If the poisoning was done through a weapon, it’d be somewhat understandable, but a martial art technique with poisonous palm strikes was beyond his understanding. Knowing that it was left by his own father added another layer of horror. Without second thoughts, Li Yan took out his phone and called his grandfather.
“Hello? Grandpa, do we have any martial arts in our family that involve poisoning? I’m talking about a technique where a single palm strike can poison someone.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a barely audible sigh.
After hanging up, Li Yan pointed at Huang Yuliang’s wound. “You don’t need medicine. Tomorrow, come with me to our ancestral home.”
“You…” Huang Yuliang chuckled helplessly. “You’re too direct when you’re talking to the elderly.”
“Better than beating around the bush like you.” Li Yan stared at the deep and long knife wound. “I think you should take some painkillers. Just looking at it makes me feel…”
“Sorry for me?” Huang Yuliang reached out and rubbed Li Yan’s head without waiting for his answer. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.” Seeing Li Yan about to protest, Huang Yuliang gently shook his head before interrupting him. “As my client, my casualties while I’m solving your case have nothing to do with you. Your only concern should be about whether or not I can deliver results. It doesn’t matter whether the person who hurt me is your father or someone else.” Li Yan fell silent at his words. “Of course, if you want to show concern in another way…”
“Why didn’t you take me with you?”
“This question…”
Huang Yuliang put on his bathrobe again and turned his face slightly to the side. Li Yan knew this was a form of resistance. “You were certain that Mt. Tai ritual is related to unlocking the seal on the stone statues. Why didn’t you take me along?”
Huang Yuliang put away his usual playful expression. “Because I feel that, for now, it’s better not to cross certain boundaries.”
“You, of all people, are cautious about crossing boundaries?”
“Mentally, I already have.”
This novel continues to be as confusing as ever… fun
Thanks for the update!
The plot is thickening.
Thanks for the chapter!
Huang Yuliang : “if you wanna show concern another way~”
Also Huang Yuliang : “raising the bondaries high up!!”
Sure babe, sure. You’re not doing very good at this. 🫶