Chapter 371

Chapter 371: Nuan’er’s Death

Jiang Si Ying frowned, saying: “There are many people on the mountain right now. If she runs out and talks nonsense, it will hurt our reputation.”

She had never liked Chen Xin Yue, who always ran over to show off her presence; to Jiang Si Ying, that “sister’s” words carried soft knives that jabbed people from time to time. Her mother had warned her too: the Chen mother and daughter were not simple-avoid them when you can. Ever since Yu Zhi Yi came back, Jiang Si Ying disliked Chen Xin Yue even more.

Jiang Yu Wei cared most about the Martial Alliance’s name, and he got anxious the moment he heard the idea: “Go find her, now!”

Yu Zhi Yi set down her chopsticks and said calmly: “In my view, we should all go look together; more people means more strength.”

Xiao Qing Xuan said coldly: “Send people to interrogate Chen Ruo Lan; she must know something.”

Jiang Yu Wei actually didn’t want to make such a fuss, but since even the guest of honor, Yu Zhi Yi, had left the banquet, he had no choice and joined the search too.

Xiao Qing Xuan led people straight to Chen Ruo Lan’s courtyard, only to find Chen Ruo Lan was missing as well.

“This is bad!”

She turned to go report to Yu Zhi Yi and the others, but as soon as she turned, the door shut without a sound. A strange fragrance hit the tip of her nose, and her face changed: “Hold your breath!”

Sadly, it was already too late. Xiao Qing Xuan and the four servants she brought all passed out.

On the other side, Yu Zhi Yi led people first to Chen Ruo Lan’s courtyard. The moment she stepped in, her expression changed. Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent also darkened his face, saying: “Such a strong smell of blood!”

Li Rou jumped in fright, asking: “Blood? Did Miss Chen get hurt? Maybe she wasn’t missing at all-someone attacked her and she’s hiding?”

Yu Zhi Yi glanced toward one direction and tugged at the corner of her mouth: “Let’s go see and we’ll know what’s going on.”

Chaotic footsteps sounded outside the courtyard. Listening to the nearing steps, the Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent frowned and said: “Lord, this could be a trap.”

Yu Zhi Yi said lightly: “It’s fine.”

As she spoke, she took the lead, walking toward that direction.

Chen Xin Yue’s courtyard wasn’t small; it had a front and a back yard. The front held the main room and a reception hall, with a small flower bed in the middle and a swing set beside it-quite elegant. The back held the servants’ rooms, kitchen, latrine, and wood shed, plus a well.

The smell of blood came from the wood shed. The closer they got to the kitchen, the stronger the bloody smell became. The Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent rushed ahead and kicked open the wood-shed door.

“Ah!!”

Li Rou was so scared by the scene inside that she cried out.

Even though they had guessed what might have happened, Yu Zhi Yi’s face still sank when she truly saw it. In the cold, dim shed, Nuan’er was kneeling on the ground, body stiff, no breath left. There was a gaping hole in her chest with blood still flowing, and two dark holes had been punched through her eyes. When the others pushed the door wider and came in, what they saw was a kneeling corpse with blank, hollow eyes.

The Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent instinctively wanted to back out. He wasn’t afraid; he was worried Yu Zhi Yi and Li Rou would be frightened. [Well… mostly Li Rou.] [Their lord’s skills are sky-high-she isn’t even afraid of ghosts.]

Just then, a startled voice sounded: “Sister? Why are you here?”

“Heavens!”

Chen Xin Yue and You Bing Yue stood not far away, confusion all over Chen Xin Yue’s face. The Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent’s expression changed and he moved to shut the wood-shed door, but it was too late. You Bing Yue flared her nostrils, and when she saw his motion, she strode forward. He tried to block her, but he didn’t expect Chen Xin Yue to act; while he guarded against You Bing Yue, Chen Xin Yue kicked the door wide open.

“Ah! Nuan’er!”

As if seeing something unbelievable, Chen Xin Yue staggered back again and again. Her pretty face went pale, and tears sprang out in an instant.

Just then, a group of strangers rushed into the courtyard. With the wood-shed door gaping wide, they all saw Nuan’er’s eerie, kneeling body at a glance. A few timid ones cried out. Even the braver ones were shaken. Yes, they often fought and sometimes even killed, but killing was one thing-no one with a normal mind would pose a corpse like this. This looked like the work of a twisted killer.

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Liu Yi hurried over and met Du Zi Heng, who had also come after hearing the news; Jiang Liu Yi immediately felt unlucky to run into him. Seeing his former second brother-in-law’s look of disgust, Du Zi Heng felt unhappy, but since Jiang Liu Yi was Yu Zhi Yi’s real brother, he swallowed it and greeted him: “Second brother-in-law.”

“Don’t call me that,” Jiang Liu Yi said coldly: “My sister has already divorced you. You have nothing to do with the Jiang Clan.”

Du Zi Heng was annoyed. He had always had the wind at his back. His father was the chancellor, and he’d always been the “model child.” Except for a few Imperial Family scions, who around him didn’t show him respect? [If Jiang Liu Yi weren’t Yu Zhi Yi’s real brother, he would have flipped the table already.]

Forcing down his anger, he pushed inside as well. Following the flow of people, the two soon reached the wood shed and were just as shocked by the scene within. When You Bing Yue stepped out of the shed, Du Zi Heng hurried up to ask: “Bing Yue, what happened?”

With visible hesitation, You Bing Yue said: “You Lin, clear the people out first. Let’s close the door and talk.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it wasn’t soft either. Most here were from the Martial World-sharp-eared and sharp-eyed-so speaking “softly” was pointless.

A few voices rose at once: “Miss, why treat us differently? What’s the idea of driving us out on purpose? Does this murder have something hidden behind it?”

“Don’t tell me it was one of you who did it?”

Feuds and life-or-death duels in the Martial World aren’t rare, but those are face-to-face fights, done in the open-something the Martial World can accept and even watch. Bullying the weak or premeditated murder, though, tramples the Martial World’s bottom line. And just earlier there’d been an array attack set by the Demonic Cult’s Left Guardian; now someone in the Martial Alliance had been killed? However you looked at it, it was suspicious.

You Bing Yue stammered, and Chen Xin Yue also looked troubled. Seeing the two act like this, the Martial World crowd grew more anxious: “What on earth happened? Don’t dawdle-speak!”

Pressed hard by the crowd, Chen Xin Yue finally glanced apologetically at Yu Zhi Yi and said: “When Miss You and I heard the noise and ran over, Nuan’er was already dead.”

“At the time, only sister and her maid bodyguard were in the courtyard.”

“And that bodyguard was standing right at the wood-shed door; when he saw us coming, his first reaction was to shut the door.”