CH 38

Translator: KongoIsamu

Editor: KongoIsmau

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Su Xiao Pei froze

Her heart was beating uncontrollably, her whole body started to sweat profusely

She could feel the sharp blade at her back, the person behind her was putting more pressure on it. She could feel her waist tingling, if there was more pressure, the blade would’ve plunge into her kidney.

“Miss.” Su Xiao Pei’s brain was blank, but she managed to say something, “I am not alone.”

There was someone outside the door waiting for her. This person wouldn’t be able to escape even if she kills her. If the person outside waited for her for a long time, they would start getting suspicious and come in to investigate. In other words, no matter the case, she would be killed.

The meaning of Su Xiao Pei’s words was very obvious. The person behind her did not respond, but she felt the blade pushing deeper into her skin. Su Xiao Pei felt the pain, she couldn’t help but move forward.

“Miss, let’s settle this calmly, let’s talk it out instead of using violence.” Su Xiao Pei said with a low voice. The blade at her waist did not push in again, she just wanted to scare her, but she still did not know how to do it. However, Su Xiao Pei did not dare to relax, the only reason why the person behind her hesitated was because her escape route had been ruined by her unexpected arrival. The person behind her did not know whether she should kill all the people in this room and run or use one of them as a hostage to get out of here. It is only a matter of time before she would take their lives.

One of the ideas Su Xiao Pei had discussed with Ran Fei Ze and Head Constable Qin was that if this matter was really related with Chang Jun, and Sima Wan Ru was not the murderer, that means that Sima Wan Ru would be the next target.

Therefore, Su Xiao Pei wanted to meet Sima Wan Ru as soon as possible. She wanted to observe Sima Wan Ru current situation and use this to see through her heart, to judge if she was truly the murderer. If she wasn’t, then they would be able to cooperate with each other. It was just that they did not expect to be late, rather, they weren’t late, but they had met with the murderer’s sword.

“Miss…” Su Xiao Pei thought about what to say, but she noticed that Sima Wan Ru had been blinking at her.

She had been held hostage, why does she keep blinking her eyes?

“Miss, I do not know martial arts.” Su Xiao Pei said, “I do not know who you are, I did not hear your voice, therefore, I would not be able to find you. How about this, you let me go, I will ask every single person outside to leave, thus, you will be able to quietly leave this place. I will also not find you, what do you think? I had never been to the Sima residence, and I have never seen Miss Sima Wan Ru before, no matter what happens, I do not know anything, how about this?”

Sima Wan Ru was staring at her, her words were selfish, but Su Xiao Pei did not care about her.

There was still not respond from the person behind Su Xiao Pei, feeling only a sharp blade firmly against her, it had not relaxed one bit.

“Miss, you let me in, you thought that I was a servant, if you did not answer the door, you fear that the servant would start to feel something is wrong and report it others, therefore you would not be able to leave quietly. But now, you are embarrassed, you let the wrong person in. I am a poor official. I am dressed in poor clothes; my brothers are waiting outside the door. If you kill me, my brothers would start to find something is wrong, then, how would you leave? I treasure my life, if you let me go, I would pretend as if I did not see you. I do not know who you are. I will take my colleague and leave, saying that there was only a servant inside cleaning the room, and Miss Sima was not around, how about it?  Once we are gone. You can do anything you want and escape quietly. No one would know that you’ve been here. Even…” Su Xiao Pei paused, “Even if Miss Sima had died, it would’ve just be another unsolved case.”

Sima Wan Ru fiercely glared at Su Xiao Pei, but Su Xiao Pei still ignored her. Her voice was shivering, she panicked, “Do you want to fight with the people outside and take the risk? Do you think that you have the chance? It is one thing to run away, anybody outside could see your face and the pursuit of the government would cause you more trouble and danger. If you are seeking money, it would be a big mistake to kill an official.”

Sima Wan Ru was still glaring at her, Su Xiao Pei understood what Sima Wan Ru was conveying, but she had to act stupid to find a way to survive.

Su Xiao Pei stopped for a while, the person behind her did not move, the blade was still very stable, and it was still at her waist on her back. Su Xiao Pei paused for a while and lowered her voice, continue speaking, “If you kill me, the truth is out, your identity is expose and there would be endless trouble. You could let me go and I will help you by leaving with every single person outside, give you a way to escape. You can choose your choice.”

“Do you think I am a fool?” The person behind Su Xiao Pei finally opened his mouth, but it was a male voice instead of a female.

Su Xiao Pei’s heart trembled and finally knew what Sima Wan Ru’s blinking meant. The person behind her was not a female but a male. The voice that spoke ‘come in’, was the voice that mimic to sound like a female, that was the why the voice sounded so soft and low.

At this time, the man squeeze his larynx to change his voice, “Let you go? So that you can shout and call for help? Do you think I am stupid?”

“Of course not, if I did, what if you come back to seek revenge, what am I going to do? I do not want to die.” Su Xiao Pei’s voice was full of horror.

“Go, let your colleagues leave.” The man took Su Xiao Pei’s shoulder and turned her around and pushed her towards the door.

He pinched Su Xiao Pei’s shoulder till she was in pain, the blade was still pressed against her waist, the pressure was slightly more. Su Xiao Pei still had cold sweat but she dares not screamed out. The man lowered his voice in Su Xiao Pei’s ears, “Say that you want to stay here.”

“If I let him go, you will not kill me?” Su Xiao Pei tried to negotiate.

“Let him go and die immediately, you can choose either one.” This type of question, he was able to answer quickly.

Su Xiao Pei also wanted to reply back ‘do you think I am a fool?’ but she knew where she was stupid, therefore, she had to seize the opportunity,

“If I let him go, don’t kill me.” She replied quickly.

“Do not show your face, don’t expose anything, let him go normally. If you make him suspicious, I will kill you.”

“Ok, ok. I will do it.” Su Xiao Pei was very obedient. The man led her to the door using the dagger.

Su Xiao Pei opened the door, leaving only a small gap and shouted, “Ah Ze.”

Her heart was jumping, was he able to understand her hints?

Ran Fei Ze quickly came out from the corner of the yard and asked, “What?”

“You can go back first, Miss Sima wants to talk to me, I do not know when it will end, you do not have to wait.”

“In that case, I will leave first.” Ran Fei Ze did not ask much, but said, “Brothers are still waiting for me to drink wine, I will not pick you up, you will have to go back by yourself.”

“Ok.” Su Xiao Pei thinks he understood her hints.

“Since you won’t be attending, I will buy the roast chicken that they asked you to buy, how many was it?”

“One.” Su Xiao Pei replied, feeling the knife that was behind her more prominent, “Alright, there’s nothing else, best for you to quickly leave.” She closed the door, a big hand stretched out from behind her, and bolted the door.

The man peek through the hole in the door to ensure that Ran Fei Ze had left, while doing so, the dagger in his hands was still pointing at Su Xiao Pei.

Everything was quiet outside, he calmed down and using the dagger, guided Su Xiao Pei to the bedside.

“Sit.”. He said.

Su Xiao Pei quickly turned and sat down. This causes her to see a man wearing a black outfit with a black cloth on his head, covering most of his face.

She was taken aback, not expecting the guy to be so prepared. He was not afraid of them recognizing him; therefore, they may have a chance of surviving this ordeal.

“Don’t kill me, I don’t know you, I wont shout and move. I beg you to let me go.” Su Xiao Pei plead.

The man did not say anything, and suddenly hit Su Xiao Pei a few times. SU Xiao Pei only felt pain and numbness, after that, she couldn’t move anymore.

Was this acupuncture? Su Xiao Pei panicked; she does not know how Ran Fei Ze was going to save them.

The man looked at Su Xiao Pei and Sima Wan Ru, thinking about something. He looked around the room and started to think again, next, he began to arrange the room. He took two cups and poured the tea into them, then, he pulled out two chairs. Su Xiao Pei looked and knew that he was creating a murder scene where the two of them were chatting while drinking tea.

Then, he took Sima Wan Ru’s sword, that was on the edge of the bed, and placed it on the table. He then took a step back and looked at the arrangement, wasn’t happy with it, he took the sword back and walked towards the bed, wanted Su Xiao Pei to walked towards the table.

Su Xiao Pei was unable to move, so the man pressed her acupuncture point again and put the sword across her neck, threatening her, “Get up.”

Su Xiao Pei still felt some discomfort in her body, but she still slowly stood up and her mind starting to think quickly, “They won’t believe in this setting.” She said, while being forced to walk by the man. The man also forced her to turn around and sit down on the chair.

“Why?” The man wanted to press her acupuncture point again, but was curious as to why she said that his plan wouldn’t work, therefore, he asked his question first.

“You wanted to make a story where Miss Sima killed me then committed suicide. This story the officials would not believe it.”

“Eh?”. That man started laughing.

“It’s true, I came here to talk to Miss Sima, how was it possible that I will make her so angry that she would she kill me? Then, how was it possible that she would commit suicide? Su Xiao Pei did not talk fast, she spoke calmly. Her face showed no expression while she looked at the man’s eyes. “If she really does kill me and kill herself next, there would be a big fight. I would’ve struggle and the table would not be so clean and tidy. This room is the same. No one would believe in a murder with this story.”

The man couldn’t help but stare at Su Xiao Pei’s eyes. Su Xiao Pei continued to speak slowly, “Just think about it, was my reasoning wrong? If you want to angrily kill a person, there will be signs of a struggle, shouting. This teapot set is neat, you should turn it, the cup should be on the ground. Just think about it, did I say anything wrong?”

The man blinked and thought about what Su Xiao Pei had said.

“Just think carefully, you should be able to think of a better story. Think about what you’ve done, when was the last time you had talked to her? What was her expression? Did you remember what she said? The tea was very fragrant, warm and delicious, did you smell it? The tea smell was so fragrant, you felt relaxed, just try to remember it…”

Sima Wan Ru was staring at her, not knowing what Su Xiao Pei was trying to do, thinking that Su Xiao Pei was talking nonsense. But the man did not move at all, he hesitated. What Su Xiao Pei said was correct, in such a clean and tidy environment, how was it possible that she would kill someone and then commit suicide the next?

The masked man suddenly frowned, and Su Xiao Pei started to feel anxious again, knowing that she had failed. She was about to scream, why hasn’t Ran Fei Ze come to save her? If she was killed by this person, she would come back and haunt him.

They had obviously said it before.

Before Su Xiao Pei could scream and before the masked man’s sword attack Su Xiao Pei, someone suddenly came down from the roof, making a hole in the ceiling. When the hole was created, a piece of tile was aimed towards the neck of the masked man. The sound of the tile cutting through air was sharp, the masked man was surprised, but he managed to turn sideways, avoiding the tile. This causes the tile to slam and hit the back of Su Xiao Pei. Su Xiao Pei fell to the ground and the masked man attacked her. The man was heartless, with one move, the sword changed direction and went towards Sima Wan Ru, who was sitting on the bed.

At this time, Ran Fei Ze jumped down from the roof.

With a turn of his palm, a stretched of his arm, in a blink of an eye, Ran Fei Ze managed to take the sword from the masked man. With a turn of the sword, the sword flew towards the masked man like it had eyes of its own.

The masked man deflects the sword and tried to escape through the roof. However, he did not expect that Ran Fei Ze was faster than him, Ran Fei Ze had managed to take back the sword that the masked man had deflected and then attacked him again. The masked man could not avoid the attacked, therefore, he could only fall to the ground and roll to create some distance between the two.

Before he could stable himself, Ran Fei Ze attacked him with the sword again, the masked man was shocked that an official would be so skilled?

But he had no time to think about it, he rolled and jumped around, rushing towards the door, but suddenly, he saw that the sword was in front of him. if he had move forward a little bit more, he would’ve seen his own blood. He quickly stepped back and pulled out a dagger and used that to protect himself. Suddenly, he saw and felt that Ran Fei Ze’s sword was at his neck.

Su Xiao Pei was hiding under the table, she remembered that Ran Fei Ze had told her that he was not that skilled at martial arts, but seeing that he had lied to her, she breathes a sigh of relief. She rushed towards the bed and saw Sima Wan Ru did not move, “What should I do? How can I solve this problem?”

Before she could speak, a cup flew over Su Xiao Pei’s arm and hit Sima Wan Ru’s chest.

Sima Wan Ru was shocked and coughed twice, then she was able to move again.

Su Xiao Pei looked at Ran Fei Ze, but he did not turn his head. He lifted his arm and pointed in front of him and the masked man was unable to move.

Su Xiao Pei walked and grumbled, “We are not in a hurry, you could’ve hurt someone accidentally with that cup.”

“Who was hurt?”

“No one.” Su Xiao Pei pursed her lips, and was annoyed by his attitude.

Ran Fei Ze smiled, “You came over to make a scene with Miss Sima, isn’t it good now, we have saved a lot of time.”

“I was scared to death, okay?”

“Is that so, Miss was quite clam when calling me Ah Ze.”. Ran Fei Ze laughed, the way he laughed makes Su Xiao Pei have the temptation to punch him, but after that he became serious again and wanted to find out who the masked man was.

Luo Kui

Su Xiao Pei blinked, although their suspicion was close, but she did not expect him to be the murderer.

Luo Kui gritted his teeth and said nothing.

What should they do next? Su Xiao Pei looked at Ran Fei Ze, but Ran Fei Ze turned around and looked at Sima Wan Ru, “I would like to ask Miss Sima to call someone to make a report at the Yamen. I am too lazy to go back.” After that, he sat down.

Is this ok? Su Xiao Pei learnt from him and sat down as well.

Sima Wan Ru escaped from death, originally, she was furious and wanted to kill the masked man. But since the masked man was stopped by Ran Fei Ze, she had no way to release this anger. She went out and called someone to come over to take Luo Kui away, but was stopped by Ran Fei Ze. Su Xiao Pei and Miss Sima changed to another room, when they sat down, Su Xiao Pei asked Sima Wan Ru what had happened before she appeared.

It turns out that Sima Wan Ru was blaming herself, she felt that everything that had happened was caused by her. She thought that once she left the house, she would forget about Chang Jun but she always took the sword, that he gave her, with her. On the day that she had accidentally broke the sword, she ran around several places to repair the sword. Once it was done, she went back to the inn late at night. She felt that if she had not done this stupid thing, if she had not put this sword in her heart, her sister, Sima Wan Qing would not have die, because she would have return early and was able to protect her sister. Although she had never once forgotten about her love for Chang Jun, Chang Jun was accompanied by a beautiful woman when he was drunk at the restaurant, while her sister had died at the same time. She blamed herself, when she knew what had happened to her sister and to Chang Jun, she felt that there was knife constantly stabbing her heart.

Today, she received a letter, which was stuffed under the door. The letter stated that she was to ask everyone to leave, and for her to stay in her room, otherwise, he would not tell her the truth. Sima Wan Ru was in a bad mood these past few days, therefore, she quickly chased away her servants. She took her sword and wait for the person who sent the letter, she also realized that there was some missing information, but since it was regarding her sister, she was too close to the victim therefore she missed some of hints. She was too deep into her thoughts and did not realized that the masked man was in her room, when she realized it, she was paralyzed by the masked man. Before anything could happen, someone knocked on the door.

Su Xiao Pei knew everything that happened after that. Luo Kui thought that it was a servant, he was worried that if he had not let the servant in, she would’ve called more people. Luo Kui also could not release Sima Wan Ru, fearing that she would retaliate, therefore, he changed his voice to mimic a female voice saying, ‘come in’. Su Xiao Pei did not care about it, and casually stepped into the room.

Head Constable Qin had quickly sent people down to the Sima Residence, they asked a few questions and examined the scene before taking Luo Kui back to the Yamen.

Ran Fei Ze also took Su Xiao Pei back, “When you are in the house with that man, what do mean when you were speaking nonsense?”

What? Su Xiao Pei was daydreaming and was surprised when he started asking question.

“Why did you take so long before entering the room?”

“If I break down the door, he would’ve enough time to defend himself. I peek in from outside before deciding to go to the roof to enter, surprising him.”

“Wasn’t it because of me dragging the time, letting you have the chance to jump in?”

“No, I can anytime jump in, I was only curious about what you were saying, that was why I did not jump in straight away.”