Chapter 297

Chapter 297: 290: Leave a mark on her, cripple one of his hands (4th update) Chapter 297: 290: Leave a mark on her, cripple one of his hands (4th update) “What did you do to her?”

Two hours was enough time to do many things.

Jiang Chengxue took out the leftover agarwood from the incense burner, “Isn’t this Chinese honeycomb?”

Xie Shang’s patience had run out, his violent emotions peaked, and he pulled open the desk, kicking at Jiang Chengxue’s chest with one foot.

The sound of the desk scraping the floor was piercing, the incense burner rolled off, scattering ashes everywhere, Jiang Chengxue’s back hit the cabinet, his heart ached violently, he braced himself on the ground, breathing hurriedly, with cold sweat seeping from his temples.

Xie Shang looked down, staring at Jiang Chengxue on the ground, “What did you do to her?”

“I just lit it,” Jiang Chengxue coughed heavily, raised his head, slowed his breathing, and spoke slowly, uttering the term only those familiar with fragrances would understand, “Daydream Fragrance.”

Jiang Chengxue wasn’t a fan of fragrances, his little understanding was solely because he had investigated everyone around Wen Changling.

On the desk, next to the incense burner, there was a Guqin. Xie Shang pressed down on the tuning box, snapping the strings violently. The sudden force elicited a long series of harsh twangs. Wen Changling had still played songs on this Guqin this morning, but now it was ruined. Xie Shang used the strings to tighten around Jiang Chengxue’s arm, not uttering another word, he exerted his full strength, with the single desire to cripple the hand that had touched Wen Changling.

The fine yet sharp strings were extremely sharp, the flesh tore in an instant, drops of blood hit the floor, starting as single drops and then spurting out.

Xie Shang didn’t even blink.

This Guqin was made a hundred years ago by three craftsmen over a month, its strings named ‘Thousand Gold Silk,’ incredibly strong, the strings wouldn’t break, even if bones did.

The flesh was being sliced through raw, Xie Shang’s sleeves were covered in blood.

Excessive blood loss and cardiac pressure sapped Jiang Chengxue’s strength; from beginning to end, he did not struggle. With half his life gone, he simply watched calmly as Xie Shang inflicted violence, his pupils nearly pure black, like an endless night, impenetrable by anyone.

His face was very pale, his lips a ghastly color, yet he still appeared self-satisfied, his gaze so proud without a hint of defeated embarrassment, “If it weren’t for you tripping her up, she would have come looking for me after dealing with all her enemies, to capture my faults, she would have stayed by my side.”

The flesh on the arm was now indiscernible; the strings were moving toward the bone.

Jiang Chengxue couldn’t care less, “Xie Shang, you’ve messed up my plans.”

The air still carried the unspent fragrance of the Chinese honeycomb, but Xie Shang was in no mood to guess what Jiang Chengxue’s Daydream meant. He just wanted Jiang Chengxue dead, and then he would console Wen Changling, telling her nothing had happened.

The smell of blood grew heavier.

Someone burst through the door, seeing the blood everywhere, and exclaimed in shock, “Fourth brother!”

Gu Yihuan’s heart pounded, and he hurried forward to pull them apart.

“Fourth brother, stop it.”

“Stop it!”

Gu Yihuan couldn’t persuade Xie Shang.

He Dongzhou came in, closed the door, keeping all the sin and bloodshed inside this room. He knew Xie Shang too well, he didn’t go over to pull him away, instead he simply said, “If you don’t stop now, you’ll ruin yourself, calm down, think of Wen Changling.”

Wen Changling was still in the room. Jiang Chengxue, with his long-suffering body, dared to stay, not because he wasn’t afraid to die, but because he was certain he wouldn’t die, gambling with his pathetic life recklessly.

Xie Shang’s gaze gradually calmed, he loosened the tightly wound strings in his hand, threw Jiang Chengxue to the ground, took off his bloodied coat, wiped his hands clean with a blanket, and walked to the bedside.

“Changling.”

She barely moved her eyebrows, not opening her eyes. Xie Shang picked her up and took her to the hospital.

He Dongzhou stayed behind to deal with the aftermath.

*****

When Wen Changling woke up, her first feeling was a numb itchiness on her neck.

“What are you doing?”

Xie Shang raised his head from her neck, “Kissing you.”

She pushed Xie Shang back a little, touched her neck, feeling some pain, there must be a mark left. Her body still felt weak, she grabbed Xie Shang’s hand to sit up.

“What did Jiang Chengxue do?”

She didn’t know what happened after she lost consciousness.

“He prepared medicine.”

“What medicine?”

“Hooked Cymbidium.”

Xie Shang’s cabinet with aromatic ingredients had one more bottle of red wine.

The doctor said that besides anaesthetics, no other drugs were detected in Wen Changling’s body, indicating that the red wine laced with Hooked Cymbidium that Jiang Chengxue brought had not been administered to him.

Bringing poison without using it, Wen Changling couldn’t figure out Jiang Chengxue.

“What else did he do?”

“Nothing.”

She subconsciously reached for her neck, but Xie Shang took her hand and kissed the marked spot instead.

He Dongzhou had taken Jiang Chengxue to the hospital, a facility far from where Wen Changling was. By the time he regained consciousness after the surgery, two days had passed.

His right hand was almost immobile.

“The inability to move your hand is only temporary.”

Xue Boyong was in custody, and only Dai Qiu was in the hospital room. She had cried, her eyes red, “After rehabilitation, it’ll get better.”

“How is she?”

Jiang Chengxue didn’t care about his hand; he was asking about Wen Changling.

“At Dihong Hospital, nothing serious.”

He lay there, his complexion as pale as a corpse, “Find an incense burner that emits scent.”

Dai Qiu leaned over the bed, pleading, “Leave her alone, and let yourself go, okay?”

“Go find the burner.”

Jiang Chengxue had been gripping something in his left hand the whole time, even during the surgery; he had not let go of a piece of agarwood. He had stolen it from Xie Shang, the remaining Daydream Fragrance.

Only a noble young master like Xie Shang would indulge in such leisurely pursuits. Jiang Chengxue didn’t believe in such things, not at all.

*****

Wen Changling had been in the hospital for two days, and no one had called the police regarding what happened in those two hours on Lotus Pond Street.

Zheng Lvhong was dead, and Tong Taishi and the other two had changed their story, claiming that the case of Wen Zhaoyang years ago had no hidden details; it was simply Wen Zhaoyang who killed Fu Mingao, even denying any contact with Jiang Chengxue. Clearly, the death of Zheng Lvhong had frightened them; they only wanted to save their own skins, not daring to provoke Jiang Chengxue, the true madman.

Another week passed, and the bite marks on Wen Changling’s neck had faded.

“Jiang Chengxue was discharged from the hospital.”

Upon hearing this news, Xie Shang’s pen paused, a chaotic stroke ran across the paper, ruining the scripture page he was almost done copying.

An incense that concentrated the mind and calmed the spirit was lit nearby, and less than half an hour later, the cellphone on the desk rang.

Xie Shang answered it.

“You picked up quickly, were you waiting for me?”

The time had come for a resolution.

Jiang Chengxue said, “Wangbei Mountain, come over.”