Chapter 8: CH 8

Night gradually fell, and everything in the Jiang family was shrouded in darkness. The moonlight was faint and scattered, shattered into starry dots and falling on the ripples of the pool. Dead water plants floated far away, all black, and the sparse and scattered silhouettes had a foreboding appearance.

Staying at the Jiang residence was very dangerous and there could be trouble at night. Su Ru Hui quickly made a decision. Leaving the Jiang residence meant facing Han Ye, while staying at the residence meant facing the killer. Han Ye knew everything about the Jiang family, but the killer’s spiritual powers were elusive and killing without a trace, making it difficult to deal with. Su Ru Hui made a quick decision to leave the mansion. After putting on his clothes, Su Ru Hui was about to leave when he stepped on something hard. He looked down and saw a cat’s eye stone earring, with a barely visible bloodstain on the gold hook.

This valuable earring could only belong to Bai Cai Ping, but how did it get bloodstained?

Su Ru Hui furrowed his brows and crouched down to carefully examine the surroundings. There were bloodstains on the bed corners, the patterns on the Persian carpet, and the edges of the rosewood footrest, all centered around this four-poster bed.

What happened between Jiang family’s eldest son and Bai Cai Ping last night, apart from a three hundred-round battle?

Su Ru Hui leaned down and looked under the bed. He met a pair of wide-open eyes.

Bai Cai Ping’s face was blue-black, with a look of astonishment. This expression was quite terrifying and scared Su Ru Hui. After a while, Su Ru Hui realized that this was a corpse. After pulling the body out for inspection, there were bruises on the forehead and the back of the head, only one earring on the ear. An ice cicada jade was placed in her mouth to preserve the corpse.

[Obtained one dead Bai Cai Ping of the day.]

Su Ru Hui was shocked. Bai Cai Ping had died last night, so what was the thing he saw during the day?

Su Ru Hui remembered that when the system introduced the living Bai Cai Ping, it started with “judging from her appearance.” Damn this system, playing word games with him. The living Bai Cai Ping was a fake. No wonder she didn’t recognize Jiang Que Xie as a fake too.

Jiang mansion was no longer safe. Su Ru Hui quickly packed his things and left. He did not see any servants on his way out, and the mansion was as silent as death. Su Ru Hui sighed to himself, realizing that trouble was everywhere.

As he descended the stairs to the hall, he saw “Bai Cai Ping” sitting behind a lacquered screen. Her silhouette was reflected on a piece of paper. She was blocking Su Ru Hui’s path and was very difficult to deal with. Su Ru Hui bent down and drew a dagger from his boot, which he then placed behind his back. He slowly circled around the screen from behind. He could see Bai Cai Ping’s profile. She had a gentle smile, just like during the day, but her beautiful and delicate face seemed somewhat stiff and horrifying now.

He approached her step by step, but “Bai Cai Ping” did not move. Su Ru Hui waved his hand in front of her face, but she did not react. He found it very strange. Su Ru Hui leaned closer to her face and examined her eyebrows, eyes, and lips in detail. He finally understood that she was a puppet. He drew his dagger and cut the flesh on the back of her neck. There was no blood. He tore off the skin to reveal a rusty meteorite skeleton covered with layers of artificial meridians wrapped in cowhide. The head contained a set of spirit stones, forming Su Ru Hui’s own eight-trigram spirit star formation, which was the center of the flow of spiritual power and allowed the puppet to learn human behavior.

This puppet had a delicate appearance, but it had been used for too long. The meridians had aged, and the flow of spiritual power was blocked. The puppet had broken down.

[Information Unlock: This old but beautiful puppet was the first batch of song and dance puppets produced by the host when he was the boss of Paradise Pavilion. It has been modified for other purposes, such as disguising as Jiang Que Xie’s mother.]

Su Ru Hui lifted Bai Cai Ping’s face. His snowflake emblem was carved in the center of her brow, indicating that this puppet was his creation.

“This is interesting. Hasn’t the Secret Sect already taken control of my Phantom Puppets? Why does Jiang family still use the puppet I made?” Su Ru Hui asked.

[Indeed, the Secret Sect has taken control of the Phantom Puppets. However, they have not cracked the core secret of the puppet, so they cannot create second-tier or higher mechanical puppets. Most second-tier puppets are fake, and the world recognizes the great genius Boss Su as the true master of the dual-cultivation puppet-making technique. Only you can create the perfect sexual intercourse experience!]

Su Ru Hui: “…”

This was not a reputation he wanted.

Second-tier and fourth-tier puppets could only perform simple commands from their masters, but a first-tier puppet could learn how to speak and even think like a human. The so-called “super-first-tier puppet” was no different from a living human, and was even stronger than one. Puppets could learn from humans, but they were still not human. They followed their master’s orders and saw themselves as their master’s tools.

Forget it. It’s all in the past. These things had nothing to do with him anymore.

Su Ru Hui left the house and as he turned around, he saw a dark figure standing at the end of the wooden corridor. He stopped, and the figure slowly walked towards him. A fair face appeared from the shadows, and he saw a familiar face – Jiang Xue Ya. She had a smile on her face, her delicate eyebrows curved like a new moon, and she called out, “Little brother, you’re finally back.”

When Su Ru Hui was imprisoned in Kun Lun, Jiang Xue Ya visited him several times. At that time, the situation was not good, and their conversations were monitored. Every time they met, they couldn’t say much. Later, he fell seriously ill, and in his last meeting with Jiang Xue Ya, he struggled to say to her, “Senior sister, Zhou Xiao Su depends on you. Her husband has a twisted mind, and I’m really worried.”

Jiang Xue Ya held his shoulder and said solemnly, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Xiao Su. If that scumbag dares to bully her, I’ll lead my troops to crush You Zhou. You don’t have to worry, just die in peace.”

Sighing, Su Ru Hui thought to himself, this woman really didn’t know how to speak.

Su Ru Hui was still very worried, so he said, “What about you and Sang Chi Yu…”

Jiang Xue Ya’s expression became even more sorrowful. “It’s all my fault. I didn’t find out about that earlier.”

“About what?” Su Ru Hui asked, puzzled.

“Of course, it’s the matter of both of you being in love with me.” Jiang Xue Ya sighed deeply. “It’s my fault, causing you two brothers to become enemies.”

What the hell? Su Ru Hui was shocked and said, “No…”

Jiang Xue Ya interrupted him, “No need to say more, I already know. Although I don’t have any thoughts in that direction towards you or Sang Chi Yu, based on our many years of friendship, I can allow you both to enter my household together, as long as you get along well with my close friends. It’s a pity that you…sigh, your health is a bit poor. I don’t know if you can hold on until that day.”

Su Ru Hui struggled to explain, “Listen to me…”

“I don’t need an explanation,” Jiang Xue Ya said firmly.

“I must explain…”

Jiang Xue Ya sighed. “Alright, just say what you have to say. There’s no need to pour your heart out. Sorry, we’ve known each other for so many years. I feel a bit embarrassed.”

“I…”

Su Ru Hui wanted to speak, but suddenly felt dizzy from the effects of the poison. He fainted. So he couldn’t explain even until death. God had pity on him and gave him a chance to be reborn. He must make it clear that he didn’t like Jiang Xue Ya! It was a misunderstanding, a huge one!

But now he was Jiang Que Xie. How could he tell Jiang Xue Ya that Su Ru Hui didn’t like her? His gaze shifted to Jiang Xue Ya’s face. She smiled at him with narrowed eyes, the candlelight illuminating her eyebrows. Her eyes seemed to radiate an alluring light.

Wait.

Su Ru Hui suddenly realized that although he had met Jiang Xue Ya, the system didn’t give him the completion prompt for the “Find Jiang Xue Ya” task. This person was not Jiang Xue Ya at all.

[This is a poor imitator. If the host’s acting skills deserves an Oscar, she only deserves a Razzie.]

Although he didn’t understand what the system meant by Oscar and Razzie, Su Ru Hui realized that this person was a fake. Jiang Xue Ya had trained in martial arts with her master since she was young and excelled in swordsmanship and combat knife skills. She was not inferior to Sang Chi Yu at all. The fact that she could be replaced by someone else made Su Ru Hui’s heart tremble. However, he remained calm and respectful, bowed and said, “Sister, I pay my respects.”

“Jiang Xue Ya” nodded. “Let’s go, I’ll take you to see our father.”

It felt like a pot was hanging over Su Ru Hui’s heart. His fingers slightly tensed. Where was the real Jiang Xue Ya? Was she still alive? With the “Find Jiang Xue Ya” mission, were they looking for a living person or a corpse? Su Ru Hui wondered if the so-called “father” was still Jiang Huai Cang.

What had happened to the Jiang family?

Su Ru Hui lifted his head and quickly changed to a shy expression. “Please wait, Sister, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you.” “Jiang Xue Ya” smiled kindly.

She was really a “poor imitator,” Su Ru Hui thought. Jiang Xue Ya would never smile like this.

He entered the bathroom, closed the door, and turned to the chamber pot. He was about to take out his communication compass when he inadvertently glanced at the dirty chamber pot next to his feet. It hadn’t been cleaned for a long time and there were many people’s residues inside. Just as he took a glance, Su Ru Hui’s hand, which was reaching for the compass, froze. He saw “Jiang Xue Ya’s” face reflected in the yellowish liquid in the chamber pot. She was peeking from above the wooden door of the bathroom. Her round eyes stared directly at his back, and Su Ru Hui’s feelings were complicated.

Had he been exposed? Did she suspect him? Su Ru Hui’s heart tightened.

He glanced back at the liquid, and “Jiang Xue Ya” seemed quite interested, showing no intention of leaving. This peeping posture was incredibly familiar. The person who had spied on him outside the window of the small building must have been her.

It seemed that it wasn’t suspicion, but rather curiosity. This weird person seemed to have a habit of peeping.

However, if Su Ru Hui didn’t use the bathroom, he would probably be suspected.

Su Ru Hui gritted his teeth, untied his belt and took off his pants. He felt his scalp loosen, and the burning gaze behind him seemed to have disappeared. He turned his head, and the person was no longer there. Carefully peering out from the door, he saw her waiting at the end of the path and she didn’t approach again.

He squatted down and hurriedly took out a communication compass.

The spiritual power of the compass flowed through, and a light blue symbol appeared on the compass. He heard Sang Chi Yu’s voice: “What’s the matter?”

“Are you at home?” Su Ru Hui asked.

“Yeah.”

“What was the last sentence in the letter of divorce you wrote to me?”

There was silence on the other end, and it was only after a while that Sang Chi Yu replied, “May my husband be strong and healthy, live a thousand years.”

It was indeed Sang Chi Yu himself, and Su Ru Hui was relieved. He said, “I’ll pass that sentence on to you verbatim. Although I don’t know what you’re ashamed of or why, I know it’s no use being half-dead all the time. Take care of yourself first, and then you can find a way to make up for whatever mistake you’ve made.” Su Ru Hui spoke quickly, “There are a few meat buns in the kitchen. Eat them for dinner, and I’ll make breakfast for you tomorrow when I come back.”

After speaking, Su Ru Hui closed the compass. Sang Chi Yu was like a mud statue crossing the river, so he didn’t want to add to his troubles by telling him about the danger at Jiang residence. Jiang Xue Ya had to be found, alive or dead, and he had to see her. However, the situation at Jiang residence was unclear and dangerous, so it was better to plan for the long term. Retreating was the best strategy.

Su Ru Hui pulled up his pants, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

Author’s Note:

This time, the role of intelligence was played by Su, the shou. He’s probably the smartest shou out of all four novels I have written.

Xiahou Lian: Am I stupid?

Qi Yin: Should I leave?

Bai Li Jueming: If I burn everyone smarter than me, then I’m the smartest.