Chapter 107 – Tricks

Chapter 107 – Tricks

The three of them panicked. “What do you think you’re doing!”

Li Baimao took one look at them and erupted in fury. “Why is it you three again? Done bullying Yu Sheng, so now you’ve come to bully Yi Zhan too? I’ll fight you right here today and we’ll see who’s really easy to push around.”

Li Baimao swung his nine-ring broadsword in a sweeping arc. Zhou Yiru and Wang Susu shoved He Guangzhi behind them and rushed forward to meet his attack.

Zhou Yiru spat in contempt. “Baimao, you grass-head! All that time studying culture and it still hasn’t cured your habit of throwing punches at the drop of a hat.”

“Ha! So what if I want to cut you down!” Li Baimao held the blade before him and struck its edge with his fist. With a resounding clang, he shattered Zhou Yiru and Wang Susu’s combined attack.

“You’ve actually reached the Postnatal realm!” Zhou Yiru cried in disbelief.

The classmates from Orchid Heart Pavilion were equally stunned, as though discovering that the harmless little piglet beside them was actually a wild beast.

Han Zhigao was delighted. Who would have remembered? The class clown who always ranked at the bottom of Orchid Heart Pavilion was actually one of the top rising stars when it came to martial talent.

It was just that this rising star had a bad temperament and frequently did foolish things.

The Postnatal realm was not so easy to deal with, and besides, fighting Li Baimao would bring them no benefit. Zhou Yiru made a gesture to He Guangzhi behind her and said pleasantly, “We’re not here looking for trouble. Please ask Yi Zhan to come out—we have something we’d like to discuss with her.”

Inwardly, she seethed with resentment. That woman was truly as timid as a mouse, sending her own classmates to fight her battles!

After He Guangzhi had returned home, his hands had begun to itch. The more he scratched, the worse it got, gradually growing hot and painful. When he scratched again, the skin split open. Under questioning, they learned that he had given in to greed and helped himself to the spirit stones inside the dwelling. Zhan Changfeng was truly vicious—she had actually coated the spirit stones with poison, setting a trap for them.

They had originally planned to use threats and inducements to force her to hand over the antidote, yet she wouldn’t even show her face!

Han Zhigao said, “‘Face the consequences yourself’—that doesn’t exactly sound like ‘discussing’ something.”

If they thought they could match the people of Orchid Heart Pavilion in the art of rhetoric, they had a long way to go.

The group spoke up. “We have serious doubts about your intentions. Say whatever you have to say right here, and let everyone judge.”

Wang Susu knew full well the situation was unfavorable. Under no circumstances could they expose He Guangzhi’s involvement. She was blessed with fine features and was regarded by everyone as a gentle, graceful girl. Now her brows drew together in a look of delicate, pitiable distress, and with the touch of stubborn resolve that came from her martial training, she delivered an accusation that was deliberately vague: “Please don’t be deceived by those with ill intentions. Very well—since she doesn’t dare face us, we have no desire to quarrel. But I ask you all to pass along a message: heaven sees what people do, and one should show mercy wherever mercy is due.”

“Well…”

The crowd began to waver. When it came down to it, none of them truly knew what had happened. Right and wrong were impossible to sort out. But seeing how sincere Wang Susu appeared, their sympathies began to lean her way.

The standoff ended without resolution.

Zhou Yiru and Wang Susu escorted He Guangzhi home, their expressions grim. They had well and truly kicked an iron plate this time. Who would have guessed she used poison?

“What were you thinking, making such a mess of things? Now the whole village is hunting for someone with rotting hands and feet.” Wang Susu’s tone carried the frustration of watching iron refuse to become steel. Everything had to be done in moderation. Tossing a few rats or releasing some snakes was hard to trace, and even if caught, could be passed off as a prank. But now the dwelling had been wrecked and the spirit stones taken—what excuse could possibly cover that up?

He Guangzhi’s face was ashen. “I only took the spirit stones,” he said impatiently. “The things inside weren’t destroyed by me.”

He paced in circles, then stomped his foot. “It was already like that when I went in. I rummaged around a bit and found the box of spirit stones. I figured I could pin it on whoever wrecked the place, so I took them.”

The two women were shocked. “It wasn’t you?”

“Then who did it?” Zhou Yiru exclaimed. “We only wanted to teach her a lesson and make her stay away from Yu Sheng. We’d never be brainless enough to do something with such obvious destructive intent. Could there actually be someone else who secretly despises her?”

Wang Susu said, “If there really is such a person, they must have noticed our little schemes against her. They’re probably trying to pin the blame for the destruction on us. Otherwise, how could the timing be so perfect—the place gets wrecked, and Guangzhi walks in right after? And that person didn’t care about money; they didn’t take the spirit stones.”

“What’s the point of talking about this now?” He Guangzhi clenched his teeth, his eyes trembling. “I’ll turn myself in. I’ll go and explain everything.”

He would rather be expelled from the Community School than watch himself rot away. The torment was unbearable. Again and again, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to tear the flesh from his own body, as though that would finally set him free.

“Ahhh!” He Guangzhi let out a howl and clawed frantically at his skin. Gashes of blood crisscrossed hideously across his arms. Zhou Yiru and Wang Susu were terrified and hurriedly tied him up with rope.

“No. You can’t turn yourself in.” Wang Susu’s expression was dark.

“I have to go.” He Guangzhi wept bitterly. “This is all my fault. All my fault. I won’t drag you two into it.”

Zhou Yiru said, “Susu, Guangzhi is right. His poison can’t wait any longer. Better to confess on our own than wait for them to come knocking.”

“Then it’s all over.” Wang Susu pressed her lips together. “We settle it with her privately. Whatever she wants, we give her.”

Meanwhile, Zhan Changfeng emerged from Benevolence Hall carrying an armful of books.

Benevolence Hall’s main shop was in Falling Blossom City, but since Medicine Mountain was rich in herbs, they had also opened a branch on North Street, primarily for purchasing supplies.

Zhan Changfeng usually sold her herbs to them. Over time they had grown familiar, and she would ask the shopkeeper to bring things back from the city for her—newly published books, famous delicacies, all manner of curious little trinkets.

The shopkeeper had at one point suspected he was bringing gifts home for his own child. But the herbs Zhan Changfeng provided were always of guaranteed quality and quantity, and she was a pretty little girl besides, so he was happy to help.

After collecting her payment, Zhan Changfeng strolled through the street, browsing from shop to shop. She stopped by the carpenter’s place and asked them to come repair her cottage when they had time.

As she neared her dwelling, she vaguely sensed shadows shifting in the forest. She paid them no mind.

Shortly after entering, someone knocked at the door. She opened it to find three strangers—but the moment she saw the boy with his hands bound, she understood everything.

“What do you want?” Zhan Changfeng poured herself a cup of water, sat down, and regarded them with perfect composure.

Zhou Yiru was the first to lose her patience. “As long as you cure Guangzhi’s poison, we’ll agree to any condition.”

Zhan Changfeng traced the rim of her teacup lid. “And if I say no?”

“He only took the spirit stones on a momentary impulse! And the dwelling wasn’t destroyed by him!” Zhou Yiru said. “Look at him—look at the state he’s in! He’s already been punished enough!”

“It wasn’t him who wrecked it?” Zhan Changfeng tapped the table.

He Guangzhi had already dropped to his knees. “It wasn’t me. I just—I couldn’t help myself and took the spirit stones on impulse. It’s all my fault. All my fault.”

Wang Susu said, “We’ll return the spirit stones and offer a hundred more as compensation. Please, show mercy.”

“Fine.” Zhan Changfeng agreed without hesitation.

“Huh?” The three hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly.

Wang Susu gritted her teeth, took out the spirit stones, and placed them on the table. “The antidote, please.”

Zhan Changfeng brushed a strand of hair from beside her ear and said coolly, “So it was you three who put snakes in my home and threw dead rats inside?”

The three were terrified she might go back on her word. They wanted to feign ignorance, but under her penetrating gaze, they finally could not maintain their pretense of innocence.

Zhou Yiru silently cursed Yu Sheng. If not for her, they would never have provoked someone like this.

That had always been their method. Whoever grew close to Yu Sheng would be secretly harassed and threatened, then subtly made to understand the reason for their misfortune. The result was invariably the same—everyone quietly distanced themselves from Yu Sheng, and no one dared become her true friend.

The trick had never once failed.

Zhou Yiru began with a hint of pride, “That was our mistake, but we did it because—”

Wang Susu thought her a fool. Now was not the time for sowing discord. It would only make them more repulsive. When they carried out their schemes, they never let anyone know it was them.

Zhan Changfeng had no interest in hearing her out. She cut Zhou Yiru off. “I don’t need to know your reasons. I only need to know that you offended me.”

Ignoring their rigid expressions, Zhan Changfeng smiled and took Zhou Yiru’s hand, prying open her fingers one by one and placing a small bottle of medicinal liquid in her palm. “Don’t come prancing around in front of me again. Otherwise, if you happen to touch the wrong thing or brush against the wrong surface—well, that would be unfortunate. After all, I don’t prepare an antidote for every poison I make.”

Zhou Yiru’s hand trembled, and the bottle of medicine rolled to the ground. He Guangzhi twisted against his bonds and threw himself forward to snatch it.

Wang Susu grabbed the bottle, dragged the other two along, and ran. This woman was an absolute lunatic—she was absolutely capable of poisoning all three of them.

“They didn’t even close the door. So careless.”

She had given them the antidote, but whether they could recover before the Militia tracked them down was their own problem.

A cold light settled in Zhan Changfeng’s eyes. The Gongsun family was truly at the end of their rope if they had resorted to something as crude as smashing up her home. Were they trying to force her out of Falling Blossom City’s territory?

(End of Chapter)