Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Laughter echoed loudly from inside the room, where Li Xin and Li Xia were enjoying themselves. Qiu Shui felt a little embarrassed looking at Dan Mo and Liu Mian Aunt standing nearby, thinking to herself, "Oh dear, you've made the elder lady act just like the younger one. This must not be let known to the Madam."

Deep into the night outside the Governor's Mansion, a few men in black crept towards the compound, evading the patrol. Just as they were about to scale the wall, a gust of wind from an unknown direction blew them back down to the ground. The whole process was utterly silent, without a single drop of blood spilled. Just like that, they were silently eliminated.

Li Xia approached the bodies and dripped a few drops of corpse-dissolving liquid onto them. Soon, only a puddle of bodily fluids remained on the ground. The wind dried up the puddle, leaving not a single trace of these men ever existing in this world.

Li Xia gazed into the distance with a smile she couldn't suppress. After killing these men, her supernatural abilities had finally leveled up to the third rank. However, she felt a pang seeing the nearly empty bottle—the corpse-dissolving liquid was running out. When would Tian Jiu return?

At that moment, Tian Jiu was cursing someone as he burst out of the water, using his inner energy to evaporate the water off his body. He had never been in such a wretched state before. He had failed to complete his mission on time. The person had disappeared, and the organization had sent people to investigate, uncovering his betrayal. Now they were sending assassins after him. Along the way, not only did Tian Jiu have to protect the messenger, but he also had to fight off those trying to kill him. He was overwhelmed with tasks.

After evading another group of assassins, Tian Jiu continued pursuing the messenger. With just one more day, the message would reach the capital, and he could retire successfully.

In the capital, at the Beining Marquis Manor, Old Marquis Lu was counting the days, muttering about when his grandson Lu XuanNing would arrive. Ever since receiving the message that his grandson was returning to celebrate his grand birthday, the old marquis had been eagerly anticipating his arrival, sitting in the study tallying the days until Lu XuanNing would reach the capital.

"Old Marquis, Marquis Zhou has arrived and is waiting in the front hall," the manor steward entered and reported.

"What is he coming to my manor for? Has he settled the affairs of his own household?" Old Marquis Lu was puzzled as to why Marquis Zhou would visit the Lu manor.

"The young master of the Zhou household has been found," the steward explained.

"The boy is indeed capable, it's a pity about his muddled mother," Old Marquis Lu sighed, then made his way unhurriedly to the front hall. There he saw Marquis Zhou accompanied by a middle-aged man.

"Greetings, Old Marquis," Marquis Zhou paid his respects.

"You rascal, what brings you the time to visit me?" Old Marquis Lu was of an age to address Marquis Zhou as such.

"I come at someone's request to see you, Old Marquis," Marquis Zhou introduced the man, "This is Minister Liu Rujin from the Board of Works. Minister Liu has come to deliver a letter and an item to you, and requests that you identify someone."

This action only intensified the attacks by the men in black on Liuzhou. After eliminating two groups in one night, the exhausted Li Xia sat resting on the city wall, with Tian Jiu lying beside her.

"How many more people are coming to kill Lu XuanNing?"

"I don't know."

"Why do they want to kill Lu XuanNing?"

"I don't know." Tian Jiu, having been slashed, struggled to sit up and bandage his wound.

"Who are the people trying to kill Lu XuanNing?"

"I don't know," Tian Jiu responded again.

Li Xia laughed lightly, "Three 'I don't know's' in response."

Hearing Li Xia's words, Tian Jiu involuntarily shuddered, "I really don't know. I'm just a small-time assassin. Besides, I've now betrayed the organization and am facing their pursuit to kill me." The more Tian Jiu spoke, the more pitiful he felt.

However, Li Xia paid no heed to Tian Jiu's self-pity. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

Those words left Tian Jiu speechless. He laughed, "Are you even human?"

"Haven't I always been a demon in your eyes?" Tian Jiu didn't expect Li Xia to respond that way. Was he being that obvious?

"Does it make a difference?" Li Xia stretched lazily, "Let's call it a day and head home."

From Liuzhou to the capital, even riding hard, would take over a month. For his grandson's sake, Old Marquis Lu rode two horses to death, compressing the journey to sixteen days before arriving in Liuzhou. Without resting, he brought the imperial physician to the Songtao Courtyard.

Hearing the commotion, Lu XuanNing opened his eyes to see Old Marquis Lu, his face weathered and eyes reddened, his voice hoarse, "Ning'er, Grandpa is here."