Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Almost as soon as she sensed that whiff of panic, Du Yinsui flipped over and pressed down on Jiang Wu’s blanket beside her…

After dealing with Zhao Qi and Cui Wu’s matters, the group set out later than usual. Though the urgency to rush to Daizhou from Wenhe City had ended the night before, Tan Wang kept their previous pace today.

He had already decided how to handle Xu Lv, so he didn’t let anything unusual show at such a key moment. Last night, the small town Tan Wang visited had half its people gone, as Daizhou’s disaster had been hidden for a long time. Without help from the court, the people had run out of food long ago. Recently, Daizhou’s officials couldn’t stop the trouble, and people fled or became wandering refugees.

Daizhou had covered things up too well. Even nearby Linzhou, where Liu Wanxing’s cousin lived, didn’t know about the disaster. She had sent the old servant with the children over. Luckily, when they entered Daizhou, things were still under control, and the authorities were working, not chaotic like now.

When Tan Wang went there, the old servant crawled out of a cellar to open the door. They survived only on what they brought from Linzhou.

Seeing Daizhou’s situation worsen, Tan Wang couldn’t leave them there. With refugees almost turning into locusts eating the land, how long could that ordinary cellar stay safe when even their guard-uniformed group faced attacks?

Liu Wanxing was dead, and Tan Wang wouldn’t let their child become a pawn for Xu Lv and others. Was he someone who stood firm against power? Why did people like Zhao Qi use influence to escape, while others traveled far to find dirt on him? Tan Wang couldn’t understand. He also didn’t get how the Deposed Crown Prince’s followers uncovered his past from Linzhou in just five days after the arrest.

Based on Liu Wanxing’s cousin’s letter and when those people approached him in the Capital, the gap was barely two days. Even the fastest official message couldn’t go from Linzhou to the Capital in two days, right?

Tan Wang had many questions. He wouldn’t let Liu Wanxing die for nothing. He aimed to solve these mysteries through Xu Lv tonight.

The heavy hatred and killing intent from Tan Wang only grew stronger as the day went on. As the sun set, the tension became thick and oppressive.

That night, the group camped in the wild again. Smelling the worsening aura from Tan Wang, Du Yinsui felt on guard. Though the intent was clearly aimed at Xu Lv, things could change before they happened.

Du Yinsui didn’t plan to sleep that night. She had to admit Tan Wang was patient. He smelled ready to kill any second, but he went through the whole day normally and waited until most of the camp was asleep before acting.

Du Yinsui wished he would hurry up—she wanted to sleep after he finished.

But as Du Yinsui waited, Tan Wang didn’t move—instead, Jiang Wu beside her made a sudden move.

Almost as soon as she caught that scent of panic, Du Yinsui flipped over, pinning Jiang Wu’s blanket down. One hand grabbed his arm as he tried to throw off the covers, the other covered his mouth, muffling a cry into a whimper. Jiang Wu woke slowly, blinking in confusion, his lashes fluttering as he looked at Du Yinsui half on top of him.

"It’s okay, just a dream," Du Yinsui soothed as she moved back to her blanket, patting Jiang Wu gently, and whispered, "What did you dream about?"

Just shaking off the dream, Jiang Wu hid under his covers, secretly touching his mouth where Du Yinsui had covered it, and stayed quiet.

"Scared from last night? Lady Wei said before that Cui Wu was no good; he’d done many evil things like that on the road. His death means one less scoundrel in the escort, a blessing for exiled women. You did a good deed," Du Yinsui comforted softly, nudging Jiang Wu through the blanket, "Move around; you were stiff earlier. Listening?"

“Mm…” Jiang Wu murmured back, obeying as he stretched his tense legs.

“Sleep now, it’s safe. If you ever feel scared about this, remember I taught you. I showed you how to kill, I told you to do it. If he complains down there, it’s at me…” Du Yinsui wasn’t good at comforting, but the point was clear.

When someone harms another for the first time, they carry burdens—about right and wrong, karma, or ghost stories. If another takes the blame, it eases their mind.

Du Yinsui didn’t mind being the one blamed.

But Jiang Wu wasn’t happy with that.

"No, it’s because I wanted to kill," Jiang Wu urgently cut off Du Yinsui’s words. "It was me…"

"Fine, fine… It was you, all you…" Du Yinsui hastily amended her words, overwhelmed by the sudden surge of sour-sweet emotion flooding her senses.

Heavens above, she’d remembered the "bearing blame to resolve inner demons" theory perfectly, yet forgotten this person liking her might mean he couldn’t bear watching her shoulder false accusations…

With Tan Wang poised to act at any moment, Du Yinsui reached out and casually patted Jiang Wu twice, coaxing, "Sleep now. Everything’s fine. Go to sleep."

Just sleep!

Don’t let that cloying sour-sweetness distract her!

Jiang Wu’s lips moved faintly, but ultimately he never managed to say he hadn’t dreamed of Cui Wu, hadn’t dreamed of killing… He’d only just dreamed of Du Yinsui saying she was leaving. Instinctively trying to push down her packing hands, he’d been startled awake by the real Du Yinsui pinning him.

Feeling a pang of guilt, he buried his head beneath the quilt. Burying deeper, he eventually drifted back to sleep.

Du Yinsui stifled a yawn, mentally cursing Tan Wang for still not making his move. Her gaze fell on Jiang Wu, his whole head vanished under the blanket, and unwittingly, memories surfaced of past "burden-bearing to resolve inner demons."

Back then, misfortune had landed her in a densely populated school at the apocalypse’s dawn.

The initial stretch of the end times found her weathering the storm in the school cafeteria alongside surviving students and teachers.

Fortune favored her; she encountered an exceptionally resolute teacher who awakened a metal-type ability shortly after the apocalypse began. Under that teacher’s uncompromising direction, everyone in the cafeteria, teacher or student, eventually acquired a "designated zombie." Within a meticulously controlled, safe environment, they completed their inaugural apocalypse kill.

Du Yinsui still vividly recalled the prep room, mostly stainless steel fixtures. She remembered the teacher’s invariable words each time someone emerged after their "first kill": "That was no longer human. But if the pain feels too heavy, remember this: *I* ordered you to kill it."

Whether they were the brave souls who stepped forward willingly or those weeping and clinging to the doorframe until the teacher kicked them in, everyone contributed to the daily intensifying zombie stench permeating the space.

Confronting the enemy head-on, no matter the circumstances – that became one of the crucial lessons Du Yinsui learned during those days.

Years slipped by, and Du Yinsui never imagined she’d get a chance to pass on those lessons.

Worldly affairs often seem locked in strange cycles.

The boundary-crossing "first kill" was one such cycle. The fledgling’s imprinting appeared another.

Though…

That student who confessed to the teacher back then? The teacher struck him until his head swelled with lumps. She also told him if he had free time, he should go kill more zombies instead of nursing a lovestruck brain all day, lest he fail to notice when zombies gnawed it clean…

Ah, yes. He later sat on the ground, clutching his head, howling for quite some time.

Once the tears dried, he actually went to kill zombies…

Later, everyone dispersed after leaving the school. Years on, Du Yinsui even ran into that male classmate at a small outpost. He was doing well, had risen to a minor leadership position. His brain remained safely uneaten by zombies.

The teacher’s approach back then had been right.

Thinking of this, Du Yinsui felt her palms itch.

Just… once she really pictured it, she couldn’t quite stomach the image of Jiang Wu, head swollen with lumps, enduring her scolding.

With Jiang Wu’s repressed, bottled-up nature, he likely wouldn’t wail openly on the ground. He’d just endure a downpour inside his own heart…

Du Yinsui frowned, pressing a hand briefly to her own slightly constricted chest. Her thoughts shifted gears.

Forget it, just forget it. He harbored this secret affection; why should she speak? Only a few days remained… They’d part ways soon enough. Young people fall fast, forget faster. That classmate back then proved it.

Just as Du Yinsui felt dissatisfied that this line of thinking failed to lift her spirits, movement finally stirred among the guards.

Xu Lv had awakened. He climbed down from the carriage and roused Chen Gang beside it. Together, they headed into the woods to relieve themselves.

*Tsk tsk*. No wonder the guards’ overly salty roasted meat and their watery pottage, barely adorned with a few dried vegetable scraps, hadn’t been consumed without consequence.

Almost as soon as those two entered the woods, Tan Wang sat up abruptly and followed, joined by Zheng Yi and Ma Datou who were already on watch. They moved quietly. Du Yinsui listened to the steady breathing of the other four sleeping guards and had no desire to follow or investigate. Today differed from yesterday; whatever grievances existed between Tan Wang and Xu Lv, she hoped they wouldn’t involve her. Little did Du Yinsui know their conflict was inevitably tied to her.

Xu Lv had been relieving himself when a hand clamped over his mouth midstream. Startled in the darkness, unable to discern man, wolf, or ghost, he struggled with muffled cries, wetting his pants with the rest. Only when a rancid cloth was stuffed into his mouth, his arms wrenched back and bound, did Xu Lv realize he was being kidnapped. Chen Gang was nearby, and seven guards were camped mere steps away! Who dared be so bold? Xu Lv steadied himself, trying to dislodge the gag, only to be roughly turned and see the very person he hoped would rescue him was his captor.

Tan Wang ignored Xu Lv’s bulging eyes and paid no heed to Chen Gang struggling under Zheng Yi and Ma Datou’s guard. He simply dragged Xu Lv deeper into the forest. Du Yinsui sensed their scent fading into the distance, moving beyond earshot but still within her perception.

The pain of Liu Wanxing’s death had festered within Tan Wang since last night. This day-long torment drove him to pull out all of Xu Lv’s fingernails before the interrogation even began. "I ask. You answer. Lie, and you lose your toenails too," Tan Wang stated, kicking off Xu Lv’s boots before yanking out the gag.

Vision swimming red from the agony in his hands, Xu Lv immediately spat curses, "Tan Wang, you’re insa— Ah! Ah!" Tan Wang wordlessly pulled off Xu Lv’s right sock and tore out another toenail. "I haven’t asked yet. Don’t interrupt." Though wracked with pain, Xu Lv bit his lip and swallowed his anger. This brutal start made the questioning… surprisingly easy.

As Tan Wang had suspected, Xu Lv’s master was the Second Prince—the one who orchestrated the Crown Prince’s downfall at the palace banquet and urged the Emperor to exile him. Zhao Qi and Chen Gang within their group were the Second Prince’s men, placed under Xu Lv’s command. Each had a role. Xu Lv’s task was to break the Deposed Crown Prince, venting years of the Second Prince’s suppressed resentment. Tan Wang’s role was to ensure the penniless Deposed Crown Prince "enjoyed" the harsh treatment meant for destitute exiles—starving, suffering, enduring hardship on the road, yet kept alive.

It seemed logical. The Second Prince, capable of demanding exile and a humiliating forced marriage at the banquet, would naturally want the Deposed Crown Prince to suffer alive throughout the journey. Once Xu Lv confessed everything, he begged Tan Wang for release, promising no vengeance and even offering to recommend him to the Second Prince for advancement.

Tan Wang, however, silently studied Xu Lv’s nine remaining toenails. Too easy. "While your people threatened me using my Linzhou affairs, they sent others to Linzhou to investigate me. So how," Tan Wang ripped off another toenail amidst screams, "did you use an unfinished investigation from thousands of miles away in the Capital to pressure me? Think hard. What else did you omit?"

Xu Lv felt he was losing his mind. How should he know? That was another team under his master’s command! Exactly! How was it done? How did they operate? "Fast… the Second Prince’s carrier pigeons… fast…" Gasping through tears and snot, Xu Lv scrambled for an answer. Linzhou to the Capital spanned three thousand miles. Even the swiftest carrier pigeon, under perfect conditions, needed at least four days. Even if Linzhou sent a pigeon the moment they had a lead, aligning the timing so closely seemed impossible. Yet…

Tan Wang didn’t dwell on that. He pulled out two more of Xu Lv’s toenails before asking, "That Sun Xinang approached you many times on the road. Is she one of your people?"

Xu Lv was briefly stunned but quickly replied through the pain, "What is she? How could she be one of us? She just complained about her treatment, oh… and about you forcing them to buy a donkey cart, telling me to control you. She made a lot of fuss…"

"Got it, she’s yours. No wonder you told me to ease up on managing the prisoners back then. The moment I did, she stirred trouble with Jiang Wu." Tan Wang cut off Xu Lv’s rambling, "She’ll join you soon."

"No, she isn’t ours. She just hates Jiang Wu…" Xu Lv argued through the pain.

Just then, Zheng Yi and Ma Datou, who had waited to prevent collusion, dragged Chen Gang over.

Chen Gang was truly someone found by the Second Prince. Xu Lv felt a flicker of hope. He wished Tan Wang would believe him after questioning Chen Gang and maybe spare him.

The sour rag was stuffed back into Xu Lv’s mouth, and he didn’t resist. But Tan Wang’s next words gripped his heart again.

"Bring Sun Xinang’s family too." Tan Wang looked at Zheng Yi and Ma Datou.

Ma Datou hesitated, "Won’t that be too noisy? They might wake up."

By ‘they,’ he meant the other four sleeping guards in the camp.

"Maybe leave Sun Xinang for tomorrow?" Zheng Yi also felt it was risky.

In their plan, the wolves following them would kill Xu Lv and Chen Gang that night.

But adding Sun Xinang’s family… it didn’t fit.

Tan Wang clenched his fists; he couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

"Ma Datou, stay here and watch." Tan Wang stood up, shaking blood off his hands, and looked at Zheng Yi, "We’ll go. If we don’t disturb anyone, we’ll say Sun Xinang tried to escape and we caught and killed them. If we make noise, I’ll claim I’m copying Zhao Qi and Cui Wu’s actions. I doubt they’d dare challenge Zhao Qi and Cui Wu but confront me!"

Once things started, with blood on his hands, the urge to kill flared beyond reason.

Du Yinsui caught the light smell of blood back at camp and heard two people head to the trees on the right, knocking Sun Xinang’s family unconscious and dragging them into the woods.

So… though he talked about Xu Lv taking the fall, it seemed more than just Xu Lv would die?

Tonight, camped in the wild, the families were tied farther apart than usual—was that to make it easier to attack?

If Tan Wang only wanted Xu Lv dead, Du Yinsui wouldn’t care. But now…

For the second time that night, Jiang Wu was woken by a hand over his mouth.

As Jiang Wu groggily tried to recall his dreams, Du Yinsui’s whisper jolted him awake.

"Tan Wang and some guards took Xu Lv and Sun Xinang’s family into the woods. I’m going to check." Du Yinsui explained, worried Jiang Wu might wake scared by the empty space nearby. Seeing Jiang Wu try to rise, Du Yinsui hushed him, "Don’t go; too many people are there. Noise might alert them. I’ll watch from far away, no killing."

Du Yinsui told the truth. Alone, she didn’t need to get close—just near enough to hear.

Jiang Wu moved again.

"I’m faster alone." Du Yinsui didn’t want to waste time, stressing her point.

As for the bitterness in the air, she’d soothe Jiang Wu later.

Du Yinsui quickly unlocked her shackles and slipped into the woods.