Perfect Encounter - Chapter 96.1

PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 96.1

Mr. Xie stood before the door to the side courtyard and listened to the movement inside. There was no sound. He observed the surroundings for a while, then leaped inside.

This place looked like a place to put sundries in the courtyard. The door of the small room was open. There was a bed, a table, simple furnishings, but without bedding. It looked like no one lived there, but it was too well-cleaned. An empty house that wasn’t used for storage, so what is the use of it?

Mr. Xie went into the house and looked around but found nothing. As he walked out, he noticed that some of the tiles in the yard were relatively new and not in the same color as the surrounding ones. That’s when he realized that he had stepped on something like slurry at some point, and his footprints were faintly visible on the ground.

Mr. Xie frowned. He jumped and noticed the whole floor had been splattered with mud. The color was similar to the floor tiles, so it was hard to detect it.

Mr. Xie didn’t care. The fact that someone came to this Temple has already been exposed, so he could simply explore it. This Priestess Jing Yuan was suspicious. Even if she doesn’t like to deal with people and resents being probed, she normally wouldn’t have to be like this. Min Dongping’s perception was correct. He had mentioned in his report that Master Jing Yuan was uncontrollable and that he needed to replace her as soon as possible. Now, it seemed that this Jing Yuan was indeed uncontrollable. Was she hiding some secret?

An Ruofang sat in the secret room underneath the Buddha statue and watched as the silk threads on the roof swayed slightly. This indicated that someone was walking around the vicinity of the Buddha platform. An Ruofang stared nervously at the silk threads, holding the concealed weapon that Jing Yuan had given her.

Priestess Jing Yuan had gone out. Before she left, she instructed An Ruofang to hide in the secret room. This time, it would be longer than usual, but at most three days. If she failed to return after three days, she asked An Ruofang to disguise herself as a farmer’s child and look for An Ruochen at the Purple Cloud House.

“This is the only way to get the next best thing before it’s time. Don’t run around. If I can come back, that means I can still protect you for a while. The situation on your eldest sister’s end isn’t good either. It’s no safer than here with me. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

An Ruofang understood the words but did not understand what exactly happened. Jing Yuan had prepared the clothes and items for her. She also told her about the fake identity, such as what village and which family’s child’s identity she would assume, what to say if the authorities questioned her and if a military officer at the Purple Cloud House stopped her, etc.

Jing Yuan even took An Ruofang to her room and showed her the secret compartment under the floor: “If I can’t come back, take all the money here. No matter what happens to you in the future, it is always good to have money.”

An Ruofang stared at the money in surprise. What does Master mean by this? Conveying her last words? What on earth is Master going to do?

“Can’t you not go?” An Ruofang only dared to ask this.

“No. It will make them more wary.” Jing Yuan touched An Ruofang’s head, “Don’t be afraid.”

The words were still ringing in her ears. An Ruofang still remembered the gentle look in Jing Yuan’s eyes when she spoke to her, just like her mother looked at her in her memories. Master’s prediction was accurate. After she left, someone did break through the empty door.

An Ruofang stared at the slightly swaying silk thread, praying in her heart that the Master would be safe.

Priestess Jing Yuan was staring at Huo Mingshan at this moment. She interrupted him and said, ”If this refers to whether or not I can refrain from killing you, there is no need to discuss it. If it’s not me, there will be someone else. You definitely won’t survive.”

Huo Mingshan gulped nervously, thinking of a response. “Who sent you?”

“King Hui.” Without hesitation, Jing Yuan confessed the mastermind behind this.

Huo Mingshan took a deep breath and asked again, “How could you work for him?” As South Qin’s number one assassin, she held a great name, untamed, not greedy for fame or fortune, only seeking happiness. How could she be obedient to King Hui?

“I don’t serve anyone. I wanted to seek peace, and he made arrangements for me and gave me a place to settle down. Then he needed an assassin, and I happened to want to kill.”

Huo Mingshan closed his eyes. His mind quickly deduced King Hui’s purpose. He wanted to prevent him from entering the capital to see the Great Xiao Emperor. Why? Could it be that the previous series of events were all his plot? He wanted the two countries to go to war and then take advantage of the war to seize the throne. Those words of loyalty to the South Qin Emperor, those shows of uncle and nephew, and rumors that he coveted the throne back then were all lies, were all false.

Huo Mingshan’s heart was burning with anxiety. He couldn’t die. He had to stop the war and save the Emperor.

“Zou Yun, I do not crave for life and fear death, but King Hui intends to plot against the country and usurp the throne. I must expose his true colors. If you want to kill me just to slay someone, then I will find you when I dispose of the matter properly. How about that?”

“No. It doesn’t matter to me if there is a war or who the Emperor is.”

But she hadn’t made a move yet.

Huo Mingshan suddenly thought of it, “By the way, when I searched all over for you and couldn’t find you, I never had the chance to tell you that you were wrong about Lord Huang. It wasn’t him who sent someone to hold your daughter hostage. He indeed wanted to deal with King Hui, but he wouldn’t have used such tactics. After he died, I pursued the matter and found clues.”

Jing Yuan calmly looked at him and faintly said, “Is the next thing you’re going to say that if I let you off the hook, you’ll tell me the truth of the matter?”

Huo Mingshan choked. He did intend to do so.

“I killed him, killed his whole family. I wouldn’t feel bad if you said I was wrong about him. At least his family is with him on the road to the Yellow Springs while I am alone in this world. The Emperor of South Qin has ordered me to be executed, and all the sects are offering a reward for my head. You’re not afraid of death, and neither am I. I merely find them annoying and don’t want to be bothered. I’m not happy here either. It’s lonely with no one to try to kill me. I’m also tired of the self-righteous King Hui’s men. I heard General Long’s bravery is unmatched. I purposely left a letter to tell him that there are spies, thinking it would be more interesting, but it turned out that no one came to my door even after a long time.”

Huo Mingshan was speechless. Everyone said Zou Yun was eccentric and crazy. It was not that there was no one stronger than her, but no one reached the way she regards people’s lives as grass, not only other people’s lives, but also her own.

Everything changed after she gave birth to her daughter. She retired to the mountains, and the world was calm. When her daughter died, like possessed by a demon, she slaughtered her way through the capital city. Over the years, people still mention the tragic case of that year, while Zou Yun herself remained expressionless, like talking about someone else’s business.