Chapter 30 Glimpse of Truth

Chapter 30: Catching a Glimpse of the Truth

"Why am I so weak? Hey! Where are the guards?" Yun Niang struggled to stand, but fell heavily to the ground again.

Xun Xi, leaning against the door, looked at the blue-and-white small plum vase on the table. "Did you poison us?" she asked Master Wu.

As Xun Xi finished speaking, Yun Niang was stunned. Forgetting Xun Xi, she felt a mix of hatred and fear, wishing she could lunge at Master Wu and rip him apart. "Why did you poison us? What exactly do you want to do?"

"What can I do? Since you like blood debts paid in blood and descending to the eighteenth level of hell after death, I'll kindly help you!"

Master Wu coldly tucked the brocade box containing "Charming Spring" inside his robe and picked up a sharp dagger from the table.

The flickering candlelight cast distorted shadows on the gleaming dagger as Master Wu walked step by step toward Yun Niang and Xun Xi.

Yun Niang, pale-faced, shrank back. "What do you want to do... Don't come closer. I, I can return the gold to you!"

"I, I can also give you more money. We have no grudges, why do you want to kill us..."

Yun Niang kept babbling, trying to make Master Wu stop, but his gaze was unyielding. He walked directly in front of Yun Niang and raised the dagger high—

Just as Yun Niang was about to fight to the death, someone grabbed Master Wu's hand. Yun Niang looked up and saw that the unconscious Xu Rujin had regained consciousness.

"Xu Rujin, stop him!" Yun Niang screamed in shock. Xun Xi, beside her, gave a mocking curl of her lips.

"Don't do it. Let me kill her." Qin Jiao heard Xu Rujin say this.

"Xu Rujin, how dare you!" Hearing Xu Rujin's words, Yun Niang's face instantly lost all color, her eyes wide with anger!

Master Wu was silent for a moment, then handed the dagger in his hand to Xu Rujin.

Her eyes sharp with hatred, Xu Rujin didn't hesitate at all and stabbed fiercely at Yun Niang—

In a life-or-death moment, people can tap into incredible strength. As the sharp dagger descended, Yun Niang managed to roll to the side, so instead of piercing her chest, the dagger stabbed into her arm.

"Ah!" Yun Niang let out a bloodcurdling scream, startling Qin Jiao on the ground. In his daze, he regained some lucidity.

The thick smell of blood hit him, mingling with the scent of Puzhi grass and Datura flower powder. Qin Jiao squinted, his fingernails digging into his palms.

Blood seeped from Yun Niang's arm, the bright red blood spreading across the floor. Seeing that Yun Niang still had strength to struggle, Master Wu lunged forward and pinned her down.

"Again!" he shouted.

But Xu Rujin did not strike again. Master Wu looked at her, confused, but she suddenly pushed his hand away with force. "You've done enough. Stay out of what happens next."

Master Wu looked at Xu Rujin in disbelief and shouted angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? How can I..."

Before he could finish, Yun Niang suddenly reached out and clawed fiercely at him.

Yun Niang had just been stabbed; the pain restored some of her senses and strength. This claw was aimed at blinding Master Wu, almost using all her strength. Master Wu hadn't expected Yun Niang, poisoned by Puzhi grass, to still have the strength to hurt someone. He quickly raised his hand to block, managing to protect his eyes, but she clawed his jaw.

"You... you!"

Looking at the beard in her hand she had just torn off, Yun Niang said in shock, "You are Zhao Yunzhi!"

Seeing Zhao Yunzhi before him, Qin Jiao shuddered violently.

In an instant, some jumbled words and fragmented images raced through his aching mind. A thought seemed to be on the verge of bursting forth, and amidst the myriad threads, he seemed to have grasped the first clue!

Before Qin Jiao could fully untangle the mess, Xu Rujin had already raised the dagger again and stabbed at Yun Niang!

This time, Xu Rujin was determined to kill Yun Niang.

"No!" Qin Jiao suddenly stood up and slammed into her.

She had not been on guard against Qin Jiao on the ground. Her body swayed from the impact. Zhao Yunzhi, now beardless, looked young, fierce, and valiant. He shoved Qin Jiao aside and snarled, "Don't get in the way. They deserve what they are getting!"

"Fine! I've hunted eagles all my life, and in the end, I was pecked by little sparrows like you two. You wicked pair still dare to kill? I think you're crazy!" Yun Niang screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyes bloodshot, as though possessed by a demon.

Meanwhile, Xun Xi, leaning against the door, suddenly laughed loudly. "Zhao Yunzhi, it's actually Zhao Yunzhi... So the ten thousand taels of gold and the disabled maidservant were a lie from the start. You planned it all to kill us."

Zhao Yunzhi didn't answer. Xu Rujin glanced at Xun Xi expressionlessly. "When you harmed countless people, you should have expected this ending."

"Yes... I did expect the ending." As Xun Xi spoke, a tear slipped from the corner of her eye, but it quickly soaked into her red robe and disappeared. Her voice was low and resolute: "But I can't die yet. I still have important things to do."

With that, she pushed the door open with force and, using the last of her strength, fled. Zhao Yunzhi immediately went after her, while Xu Rujin, looking like an avenging demon, once again raised the dagger at Yun Niang.

The red candle was about to burn out, casting Xu Rujin's shadow on the white wall. She raised the knife and advanced step by step, each step closer to death.

At that moment, the room was extremely quiet. Qin Jiao looked at Xu Rujin's veiled face with sorrow in his heart. He suddenly said, "Li Chengwei, stop."

Qin Jiao's voice was very soft, like silent snow falling on a deep winter night. In the silence, the dagger in "Xu Rujin"'s hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Li Chengwei? Xu Rujin's fiancé? Didn't he fall into the river and die?"

Hearing Qin Jiao's words, the utterly disheveled Yun Niang stared at the "Xu Rujin" before her as if seeing a ghost.

"Die? With my vengeance unfulfilled, how dare I die?"

A clear, gentle male voice rang out in the room. Since his identity had been exposed anyway, Li Chengwei simply took off the veil.

Yun Niang stared at Li Chengwei in shock. "How is this possible? How can you look so much alike?"

Li Chengwei sneered coldly. "If we didn't look alike, how could I have deceived all of you?"

Qin Jiao sighed softly. The tangled chaos of the abyss, the truths churning in blood—finally, a corner of it had been glimpsed.

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