Chapter 147: The Death of Zhou An

Duan Rong arrived before the flower hall in the back courtyard. Xiao Yu was standing by the door, yawning; the moment she saw Duan Rong approach, her eyes lit up.

She had been worried all night, and seeing Duan Rong unharmed, the stone in her heart finally fell. Her gaze swept over Duan Rong's shoulders, and she saw blood seeping through the bandages wrapped around them. Her expression shifted, and she asked, "You're injured?"

Duan Rong smiled faintly and said, "It's nothing! Where is Xiao Lao?"

"He's inside, chatting with Chief Accountant Xu!" Xiao Yu said, though her beautiful eyes scanned Duan Rong's entire body, not even missing a withered yellow pine needle stuck to his knee.

"The Manager has instructions for me to pass on to Xiao Lao."

"Then go on in."

Duan Rong pushed the door open and walked into the flower hall. Xiao Yu watched Duan Rong's back, her thoughts churning.

Although she did not know what Duan Rong had gone to do, she was certain it must have been related to the matter of young master Ruan Jing. Seeing Duan Rong return safely to the Escort Agency, with only an injury to his shoulder, her heart was finally at ease.

Duan Rong walked into the flower hall and bowed to Xu Shouxian and Xiao Zongting.

Xiao Zongting looked at the safe and sound Duan Rong, his expression full of relief.

"Xiao Lao, the Manager's instructions are to keep only Zhou An among those detained!" After bowing, Duan Rong stated Ruan Fengshan's intent without any wasted words.

Xiao Zongting and Xu Shouxian were both shocked upon hearing this, and they exchanged a glance. To keep only Zhou An meant that the investigation had been cleared up, and that Zhou An was the one stirring up trouble in the matter of Ruan Jing.

Xiao Zongting cupped his hands toward Xu Shouxian and smiled, "Chief Accountant Xu, I've troubled you to sit here in this flower hall for the whole night. The matter is finally clear!"

"Brother Xiao, you kept me company drinking dull tea all night. This night of idle chatter actually resolved quite a few knots in my heart. This night was not spent in vain." Xu Shouxian also cupped his hands and smiled back.

The two laughed heartily, and Xiao Zongting personally saw Xu Shouxian out of the flower hall.

Afterward, Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng were also released. Xiao Zongting only kept Sun Huang to guard Zhou An with two Escorts, and everyone else was dismissed first.

Just as Duan Rong stepped out of the flower hall, Xiao Yu called out to him, tossed a brown porcelain bottle to him, and said, "Golden Sore Medicine."

Duan Rong reached out and caught the porcelain bottle, then looked up, but Xiao Yu had already turned and walked away. Duan Rong watched Xiao Yu's back in the hazy night, his expression shifting slightly.

Duan Rong returned to the dormitory courtyard in the middle courtyard.

He took out his key and opened his dormitory door. Having not returned for over a month, the cramped dormitory had a faint musty smell. Duan Rong opened the window to let it air out.

A golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as one's own dog kennel. The moment Duan Rong walked into the dormitory, he finally felt his mind and spirit completely relax.

He unwrapped the bandages on his shoulder and applied the Golden Sore Medicine to his wound. The sting of the Medicine Powder caused a spasm of pain at the wound site. Duan Rong gritted his teeth to endure it; once the pain subsided, he changed into a clean piece of cloth and re-bandaged the wound.

Only then did he close the window and lie down on the bed.

"To still be alive and lying on this bed after this trip, it really isn't easy!"

Having transmigrated into this Jiuzhou World, not even half a year had passed, and Duan Rong had almost tasted the cruelty of this realm.

As the initial novelty of the transmigration faded, he began to miss his life as a corporate slave on Blue Star...

All the killing and fighting, it really isn't easy...

Duan Rong sighed, sleepiness washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep.

In the moment he drifted off, he seemed to see the bustling streets and the brilliant, dazzling, star-river-like city that never sleeps again...

In his dream, a tear spilled from the corner of Duan Rong's eye.

In the dream, he was homesick...

Sun Huang stood guard over Zhou An with two Escorts.

Sun Huang walked straight into the room, gripped his blade, and stood at the doorway, his face as cold and hard as stone.

Now that the situation was clear and only Zhou An was being detained, he not only had to watch Zhou An to prevent him from escaping, but also had to guard against him committing suicide.

However, Sun Huang was a bit over-worried; in truth, Zhou An did not have the guts to commit suicide at all.

At this moment, Zhou An was just sitting there with a deathly pale face, forcing himself to remain calm, his gaze sweeping over Sun Huang's face from time to time.

Standing in the room, Sun Huang suddenly heard the Escorts guarding the door, Yao Liangrong and Ceng Xiangui, whispering to each other, chatting about the matter of the young master Ruan Jing.

Sun Huang coughed, opened a crack in the door, and barked, "Stand guard properly, don't wag your tongues."

Just as Sun Huang finished speaking, he suddenly saw Ruan Fengshan walking toward them from afar through the crack in the door. Sun Huang immediately opened the door and stepped out.

Ruan Fengshan walked over, carrying two unconscious Personal Attendants, his face as cold as frost.

Sun Huang cupped his hands and called out "Manager," but Ruan Fengshan only let out a muffled grunt from deep in his throat before stepping into the room. Sun Huang immediately pulled the door shut behind Ruan Fengshan.

Ruan Fengshan threw the two unconscious Personal Attendants onto the floor by the door, his eyes staring like a venomous snake at Zhou An, who was sitting there, deathly pale but still forcing himself to remain calm.

Zhou An glanced at the two Personal Attendants on the floor, his body going limp, but he knew that if he confessed and begged for mercy, he would surely die. If he denied it to the death, perhaps there was still a sliver of a chance.

Zhou An's shoulders trembled, and he forced himself to steady his emotions, asking with a look of concern, "Has the young master been found? The young master is only three years old; every moment delayed in the hands of those vicious thugs adds another layer of danger..."

Ruan Fengshan's gaze swept over Zhou An's face. He had not expected that even now, Zhou An would still try to bluff his way through. He sighed, "Was it you who made Jing'er write that note?"

Upon hearing Ruan Fengshan's words, Zhou An's body trembled, and he fell off the stool, collapsing onto the floor. His body was limp with fear, but he muttered with a venomous look in his eyes, "Yu Wenlong, you idiot, how could you let that little brat live... idiot..."

With a cold face, Ruan Fengshan pulled a barbed leather whip from his waist, took two steps forward with an angry glare, and cursed, "I will beat you to death, you ungrateful poisonous dog!"

As Ruan Fengshan spoke, he lashed out with the whip, striking Zhou An across the face. With a scream, a two-finger-wide, mangled, bloody welt appeared on Zhou An's face!

The barbed leather whip had stripped away a layer of his skin!

Zhou An screamed and rolled on the floor in pain, while Ruan Fengshan rained whip after whip down upon Zhou An's body...

Watching Zhou An wail and roll about incessantly, as if tossing in a pan of boiling oil, Ruan Fengshan's face was twisted and ferocious, a flicker of pleasure crossing his heart.

The sound of Zhou An's wailing made even Sun Huang, who was guarding the door, tremble in his heart.

Ruan Fengshan beat Zhou An until he was half-dead before interrogating him. By now, Zhou An's mind had collapsed, and in his agony, he only begged for a quick death, so he recounted the entire sequence of events in broken fragments.

After listening, Ruan Fengshan did not spare Zhou An; instead, he whipped him even more violently, until Zhou An lay there without moving at all...

His body was a mass of mangled flesh, like a blood gourd covered in red fur...

Having vented the foul air from his heart, Ruan Fengshan walked over and snapped Zhou An's neck with one twist, though by then, Zhou An had already breathed his last...

Ruan Fengshan wiped the bloodstains from his hands with the nearby curtain, but suddenly caught a foul stench...

He turned his head to look and saw that on the floor by the door, one of the two unconscious Personal Attendants had woken up at some point. He was trembling like chaff, but kept his eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious, though a puddle of filth had already formed beneath him—evidently, he had lost control of his bowels...

Ruan Fengshan walked over and snapped the necks of the two Personal Attendants...

Having beaten Zhou An into a blood gourd, he had already vented the foul air from his heart and had no interest in torturing these two Personal Attendants further...

Ruan Fengshan walked out the door, looked at Sun Huang, and said in a weary tone, "Escort Head Sun, I have troubled you! Please dispose of the three corpses in the room."

"Yes," Sun Huang replied, bowing with his hands cupped.

Ruan Fengshan left with heavy steps; he prepared to change his clothes and wash his body, and by now the sky was already bright, and he still had one important matter to attend to.

(End of chapter)