Chapter 18: The Cold-Blooded Slaughter

Chapter 18: The Cold-Blooded Kill

When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting at the table, with Su Yi across from him chatting away.

He instinctively touched his chest, looking dazed.

Su Yi paused mid-sentence: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

His face was still a bit pale. Getting shot the moment he opened the door, and the arrow was poisoned, no less—that was clearly someone wanting him dead on the spot, with no intention of leaving him alive.

This was Su Yi's room.

But it was in his own mansion, and he was in this room too.

Was the attacker targeting Su Yi, or him? Who was it?

"Lord Li? My lord?"

"Huh?" Li Zhiming snapped out of it and quickly asked, "Besides that guy who tried to steal you away, is anyone else after you?"

"Enemies?"

Su Yi thought for a moment, then shook his head: "Probably not."

"Then do you think that person who tried to take you would dare to come to my mansion and commit murder?"

"No way!"

He was very certain.

"Why?"

"Although he's vicious, he's not from the official or noble ranks. He wouldn't dare come to the Chancellor's mansion to commit murder. And I wouldn't be worth that kind of risk to them."

Good point.

So the attacker was most likely targeting him.

Damn, how many people did this crappy character piss off? Was he here to weather a calamity?

Li Zhiming wasn't in the mood to chat anymore. He paced around: "Su Yi, I won't go back tonight. I'll crash here for the night, is that alright?"

Su Yi quickly nodded: "Of course, this is your mansion, after all."

"Good."

They made small talk for a bit, and seeing that Li Zhiming wasn't up for it, Su Yi suggested they rest early.

They had just lain down for a short while when strange sounds came from outside, almost like they were luring someone out to check.

Sure enough, Su Yi raised his head: "Your Highness, I hear something outside... let me go check it out."

"Don't!"

Li Zhiming grabbed him.

It's probably a trap set by that guy.

Su Yi was puzzled but did as he was told and lay back down.

Li Zhiming lay awake for a long time. Maybe he'd slept too much during the day, or maybe he was worried about the danger lurking outside—he just couldn't get to sleep.

After a long while, he felt like dawn was about to break.

He was finally starting to drift off, he couldn't hold out any longer, his eyelids heavy and drooping.

Half-asleep, the room seemed to be filling with wisps of smoke, and it stung his nose.

Li Zhiming, still not asleep, jolted awake and sat bolt upright. The moment he opened his mouth, a wave of dizziness hit him, and he collapsed back onto the bed with a thud, his mind slowly going blank.

He shook Su Yi, but Su Yi was already out cold, not moving a muscle.

His own breathing was getting harder and harder. He wanted to get up and get out, but his whole body was paralyzed. Every breath was a struggle, his face turning red from the effort.

And for the Nth time, he died.

...

The next thing he knew, he was sitting and chatting with Su Yi again, except it was in broad daylight.

He didn't know why, but the danger had happened at night, so he still had time—maybe it was giving him a chance to figure out who the killer was.

Since the attacker was after him, but this wasn't even his room, and he could leave whenever he wanted, it could only mean the attacker had someone in his mansion who knew his every move.

There was someone in this mansion who wanted him dead.

Li Zhiming warned Su Yi not to sleep too soundly tonight, as there might be danger. He swapped clothes with a young guard of similar build.

He needed to recreate the exact same conditions as last time to have a better shot at finding the killer.

He had the guard take his place in Su Yi's room, so everyone would think he'd never left.

Meanwhile, he, now disguised as the young guard, left the courtyard.

Who the hell wanted him dead?

Under the pretext of patrolling as a guard, Li Zhiming wandered around the mansion all afternoon, quietly keeping an eye out.

He didn't spot anything out of the ordinary.

He started to wonder if he'd been going about this the wrong way. Maybe the attacker had spotted him the moment he arrived, then waited in ambush outside or tailed him, and only struck at night.

The thought made Li Zhiming's skin crawl. Having a sword hanging over his head was a seriously crappy feeling.

Time ticked by, and soon dusk fell.

He decided to patrol a different area, especially around his own room.

Huh?

Sang Yu?!

Li Zhiming was about to say hi, but afraid that revealing himself would blow the whole plan, he quickly ducked out of sight.

Sang Yu seemed to be there looking for him.

He didn't know what the servant had said to him, but his face darkened. He was gripping something small in his hand, hard, then turned around and headed back.

His thin, lonely silhouette looked somewhat desolate.

Li Zhiming couldn't stop his legs from carrying him over quietly, picking up the small item Sang Yu had dropped.

It was medicinal ointment.

So... he had come to bring him medicine? He still remembered his wounds?

Li Zhiming tucked the ointment into his robe, a pang of guilt stirring in his heart.

Over the past few days, he'd been so caught up in chatting with Su Yi that he'd completely overlooked Sang Yu's presence. His wounds were probably still unhealed, and he'd been left neglected on the sidelines.

Sang Yu, lost in his own thoughts, didn't notice the figure approaching from behind in the distance.

Weighed down by guilt, Li Zhiming still found himself following along, almost against his will.

As he got closer, he faintly heard a woman's voice inside—sharp and venomous, dripping with contempt and disdain.

So the maidservant he'd assigned to him was secretly mocking and bullying him like this?

And right at his doorstep, no less.

Not even trying to hide it.

Why hadn't he ever said anything about any of this?

"Who knows? A bastard is a bastard. Maybe she used some tricks."

"Speaking of tricks, I heard that his birth mother—the former Princess Nanxun—seduced her way in with nothing but charm and allure... ah—"

Before those words could even sink in, a scream rang out.

The scream cut off almost instantly.

Then came another woman's frantic shrieking and pleas for mercy.

A heavy thud followed—something solid slamming against stone—then a whoosh of air, and the terrified screams abruptly stopped.

The whole ordeal lasted less than a minute.

Then everything fell silent.

Li Zhiming clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle any sound, even reducing his breathing to cautious, shallow gasps.

Though he hadn't seen what happened, the succession of screams and the thick stench of blood told him all too well.

"Heh. That mouth of hers... it really deserved to be torn apart."

It was Sang Yu's voice—each word slow and unhurried, eerie and icy, like a grim reaper from the underworld.

Li Zhiming shuddered involuntarily.

Those two maidservants had indeed gone too far, trampling all over a person's dignity.

But he couldn't understand why Sang Yu had killed them over just a few words, with such ruthless, breathtaking brutality.

As a modern person,

killing was a crime—something only done in desperate self-defense, something that must never be done, something utterly horrifying.