Chapter 143: Mountain Rain Looming, Wind Fills The Tower

Chapter 143: The Wind Rises, the Storm Brews

The old nun, with great caution, led Zhao Changhe to the grave, pointed out the exact burial spot, then lifted her robe and fled.

In truth, even now she didn’t know why she had brought this stranger to examine the corpse—was it because Young Master Tang had such influence?

Young Master Tang himself hadn’t wanted to come, nor had he introduced who this man whose blade moved on its own was.

She felt that ever since this man arrived, everything had naturally and seamlessly fallen under his control, as if it were only right and proper.

Leaving the old nun to her confusion, Zhao Changhe crouched by the grave, reached out to gently touch the soil above, and released a wisp of his own baleful aura to probe cautiously.

No reaction.

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Changhe drew the Dragon Sparrow and began to shovel the earth.

Dragon Sparrow: “...”

Sisi’s face twitched uncontrollably, whether from fear of the rotting corpse within or pity for the treasured blade.

At this moment, Zhao Changhe seemed somewhat terrifying in her eyes. She already regretted ever getting entangled with this man—she should never have provoked such a freak...

Thinking back to how she had kissed his lips, Sisi wished she could claw her own mouth off.

Little did she know that Zhao Changhe was also forcing himself. This was entirely different from killing—no matter how many corpses he had seen, it was never like this... Yet this blood baleful anomaly in Suzhou might be crucial to his own cultivation of blood baleful energy; he had to hold his nose and investigate thoroughly.

He suspected that if it were truly the result of blood baleful force, the corpse shouldn’t have decayed... This needed verification.

“Clang!” The Dragon Sparrow stabbed into the edge of the straw mat.

Zhao Changhe sheathed the blade, carefully scraped away the soil, and frowned at the stinking corpse.

The body was so decomposed that the face was unrecognizable, and the original wounds were impossible to discern. Disgusting as it was, once he accepted the reality, it didn’t seem so bad... The problem was that Zhao Changhe had no training in forensic medicine; any marks on the corpse were meaningless to him. He had only come to sense the baleful aura.

Yet, as for the baleful aura itself, there was none at all.

That shouldn’t be.

In the realm of cultivation within the threshold, Zhao Changhe dared to claim that no one understood blood baleful force better than he did—not even Sect Leader Xue. Because in the entire Blood God Sect, no one practiced the Blood Baleful Art as their core technique. When afflicted by blood baleful force, they simply used Blood-Calming Pills to eliminate it, then switched to the Blood God Art, reducing their contact with baleful energy.

Their ability to withstand, resist, and understand blood baleful force was indeed on a different level from Zhao Changhe’s.

Why had Zhao Changhe thought the corpse might not decay? Based on his experience with baleful energy, something so fierce, violent, and even invasive to its host shouldn’t vanish completely with death. Residual baleful aura should linger, drying and desolating the soil, killing all nearby life—even maggots would likely not survive.

Even after more than ten days, as the baleful aura gradually dissipated and normal decay resumed, this corpse seemed to have been rotting for half a month. From the body itself, and especially from its surroundings, there was no trace whatsoever that baleful aura had ever existed—not a single hint.

Had all that baleful aura entered Lu Shaoxiong’s body? Was it baleful aura or baleful essence?

Or perhaps... this was never a case of baleful aura transmission. The first victim had never possessed any baleful aura at all!

“Ugh!” A retching sound came from beside him. Zhao Changhe snapped back to reality. Sisi was vomiting violently nearby, looking utterly miserable: “Master, please spare me, this is too disgusting...”

“No...” Zhao Changhe asked curiously, “Why did you lean in to look, if you’re so squeamish?”

Sisi froze mid-vomit. Damn... I was also looking for the baleful treasure—should I tell you that?

Pretending to be too nauseous to speak, she finally found an excuse: “I got curious and glanced over, and it stinks so bad...”

“Alright.” Zhao Changhe shoveled the soil back, filled the grave, stood up, and stretched lazily: “Let’s go. Nothing gained.”

Sisi followed closely, complaining: “I told you there was nothing to see in a rotting, stinking corpse, but you insisted on coming!”

“Mm-hmm.” Zhao Changhe looked around at the scenery, listening to the faint, distant roars, and chuckled softly: “So they let us look.”

Sisi: “?”

“Hey, Sisi...”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been with the Tang family for a while, you should know the power structure in Suzhou, right? What level is the Lu family?”

Sisi drooped her head in exasperation. I’ve been with them for a while? I was kissing you just a few days ago. Fortunately, she had arrived in Suzhou two days earlier than Zhao Changhe and had a rough understanding of the basics: “The Lu family is second only to the Tang family. Lu Shaoxiong is just one of their young masters. The family has many experts, and the head of the Lu family is a Ninth Heaven master.”

“I don’t recall anyone named Lu on the Heaven and Earth Rankings.”

“...The Tang family only has one Seat Master Tang, and he’s not even home.” Sisi was genuinely worried that Zhao Changhe would start asking about other families—she really didn’t know more. So she quickly added: “I’m just a little maid. If you want the specifics, Master, you should ask Young Master Tang. Who knows if each family has hidden experts? What would a little maid know?”

“Whether each family has hidden experts, no one knows. But if I’m not mistaken, there might soon be a wave of baleful madmen appearing in the city...”

Sisi was taken aback and was about to ask more when they heard people in the street spreading the news: “Did you hear? The third young master of the Gu family has also gone mad!”

The street erupted. Many people asked: “No way! Did Young Master Gu catch it from visiting Young Master Lu?”

“Who knows? If it’s contagious, why didn’t those nuns catch it? Oh, even if it came from the man Lu Shaoxiong killed, there must be a source, right?”

“Did he catch it somewhere else? Where had Young Master Gu been before?”

“Those young masters spend their days visiting brothels and nothing else. Don’t tell me this thing is actually a venereal disease?”

“Who knows!”

The two slowly walked through the street amid the heated discussions in the alleys. Sisi looked at Zhao Changhe as if he were a prophet: “Mas... Master, how did you know?”

“Oh, isn’t that obvious? If there was one infected, there would be a second. If the source isn’t found, it will keep spreading. Why is your brain like Tang Buqi’s?”

Sisi: “...”

She didn’t believe Zhao Changhe had made that judgment just from that. He must have discovered something.

Sisi was furious. They had seen the same things—why hadn’t she noticed? And didn’t he think she was just a maid, not seeing through her identity? Why couldn’t he share the inside story with his own maid?

Was it because he didn’t trust this newly acquired maid yet?

She composed herself, put on a fawning smile, and cooed: “Master...”

Zhao Changhe looked at her with a half-smile: “Hmm?”

“Where are we going now? Are you tired, Master? Would you like Sisi to massage your shoulders? Sisi’s massages are really comfortable...”

“Mm, no need for a massage right now.” Zhao Changhe said leisurely: “I just dug up a grave—don’t you think it’s unlucky? I need to go back and bathe. Would you like to attend to me?”

Sisi stood there dumbfounded.

Then, as if remembering something, she stole a glance at the Dragon Sparrow on Zhao Changhe’s back, lowered her head shyly, and said: “That is Sisi’s duty.”

Zhao Changhe almost burst out laughing. Suppressing a strange grin, he quickened his pace.

“Master, wait for me!” Sisi trotted after him, getting more into her role.

Zhao Changhe suddenly stopped. Sisi, caught off guard, passed him and had to brake abruptly, turning her head. She saw Zhao Changhe draw the Dragon Sparrow and swing it fiercely behind her.

A black shadow traced an elegant arc, dodging the strike, and landed on the eaves to the side, speaking with lingering fear: “Brother Zhao, I mean no harm, and I wasn’t even targeting you. Your vigilance is a bit... excessive.”

It was Ji Chengkong.

Zhao Changhe sheathed his blade and said calmly: “In the martial world, without vigilance, the grave grass would be three feet tall... Brother Ji, why did you suddenly approach my maidservant?”

Ji Chengkong looked Sisi up and down thoughtfully: “Her back view reminded me of an acquaintance. I came closer to see clearly. Since she’s Brother Zhao’s maidservant, I must have been mistaken. My apologies.”

Sisi’s heart leaped into her throat, but Zhao Changhe seemed unconcerned, waving his hand: “If it’s a misunderstanding, then forget it. Brother Ji, why have you come to Suzhou?”

Ji Chengkong said irritably: “I went to Yangzhou and came to Suzhou originally to find someone. It’s just that I have an itchy hand for stealing, which is why I fell into your and Wan Dongliu’s hands.”

Zhao Changhe asked: “What are your sect’s rules? Do you steal purely on a whim, or do you take commissions? For example, if I hired you to steal something?”

Ji Chengkong laughed heartily: “First, I have to like the employer. Second, the thing to steal has to be interesting. If some random passerby told me to steal boring money, I’d rather steal his money first—that would be a bit of fun.”

Zhao Changhe found it amusing: “And what about me?”

"You..." Ji Chengkong sized him up, then laughed. "Based on those few words on the road the other day, you're up to it. It just depends on what you're stealing."

Zhao Changhe glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, "Stealing information about the Lu family—for instance, whether there's a heavily guarded forbidden area, and if so, whether entry requires a token, a password, or just showing your face... Brother Ji, are you interested in such details?"

Sisi pricked up her ears to listen, but Zhao Changhe casually reached back and pressed her aside.

Sisi: "..."

Ji Chengkong thought for a moment. "I am interested in prying into secrets, but the Lu family is rather dull... What interesting things could a family that isn't even top-tier in the region possibly have?"

"Uh, what if I told you that a young master of the Lu family might be sneaking in to seduce his stepmother?"

Ji Chengkong clapped his hands vigorously. "I'm in!"

Zhao Changhe smiled and slipped him a banknote. "This is a deposit. Whether or not you find anything, it's yours. If you do discover something, come find me at the Tang residence, and there will be more thanks to offer."