Chapter 77: Remember to Find Me for an Affair!

Although sometimes the words are crude, the reasoning isn't...

But speaking of 【adultery】, that's just too crude!

Du Shanü choked, wanting to retort but finding no words, so she moved her guilty little hand again—

She reached out to steady his waist, this time her fingers more steadily, accurately, and ruthlessly scratching the itchy spot.

Chinu had been lazily leaning against her, his breath lightly brushing her temples, but this "cruel hand crushing flowers" made him jerk away like a startled bird.

His narrow eyes were full of panic, like a cat whose belly had been touched, fur standing on end:

"...... Don't touch there."

His voice was hoarse, the tail end slightly trembling, carrying a hint of annoyance and also something indescribable.

The youth's face remained gloomy, yet his ears were already flushed red:

"Why won't you listen?! I already said no!"

He clenched his jaw, pressed his lips into a line, looking quite angry.

Yet the hand gripping her shoulder refused to loosen.

Du Shanü now had a vague sense of Chinu's temperament, and she laughed softly:

"Fine, fine, fine."

"Then I won't grope around, and you'd better not spout nonsense."

What nonsense!

They're practically having an affair, aren't they?!

Just the two of us—who isn't lost in passion?

If he hadn't brought up Yu Hen and demanded a title, we'd probably have... in the woods.

Now look, he denies everything!

Chinu's chest heaved; in a moment he felt hot all over, the wound beneath his ribs throbbing worse, as if it might tear open again.

But with this anger, heat poured out, and the foul qi in his mind was somewhat cleared.

Chinu held his wound, turned twice on the spot, took a few calming breaths, barely suppressed his anger, and pointed in a direction:

"There's some black dirt on the leaves over there; maybe that's the pile."

Du Shanü already felt guilty; hearing that, she didn't argue and rolled up her sleeves to move forward.

The fallen leaves on the ground were still in chaotic disarray, dazzling to the eye.

But Chinu's eyesight was clearly excellent; following his indicated line, Du Shanü finally saw a small patch of leaves that had been turned over, with faint traces of wet mud on them.

Du Shanü crouched and swept the nearby leaves to either side.

The dry leaves were thick, handful after handful, exuding a damp smell.

She kept sweeping until the third handful, when her hand suddenly felt cool; she focused her gaze—

Among the cracks beneath the dry twigs and leaves, a grayish-white finger suddenly appeared!

Dirt was packed under its nails, covered in old calluses, rough and cracked.

Du Shanü slightly restrained her smile, but didn't stop.

The leaves were peeled back layer by layer, revealing a person lying on their side.

A short jacket, black cloth trousers, bare feet.

She cleared all the leaves from him, turned him over, and finally saw the corpse's true face.

This was a man about thirty years old.

His face was thin with prominent cheekbones, and a dark purple ligature mark was deeply sunk into his neck.

His lips were bluish, slightly parted, revealing uneven teeth within.

Near the corner of his left cheek was a mole the size of a soybean.

His short jacket had several patches with coarse stitching; his trouser legs were stained with dried mud. His palms were rough, knuckles broad, nails cut short, fingertips bearing old cracks.

Du Shanü crouched and examined him carefully before speaking:

"He's actually a farmer."

Earlier, hearing those two mention while dumping the body that "the grain supplies of Cang Cheng were stolen by them, and this man was killed to keep it from leaking," she had assumed he was somehow connected to the Xian Xie.

Perhaps there was more than one mole inside the Xian Xie; otherwise it would be impossible to hide the grain shipment from Afang under everyone's noses.

Previously they had colluded; now Cang Cheng has suffered the Burning City Calamity, and if anyone wanted to confess, things would naturally blow up...

Of course, that was Du Shanü's earlier assumption.

But now the situation is clearly somewhat different.

Since this man is a farmer, he certainly couldn't directly access the Xian Xie's theft—so how would he know about the missing grain?

Or perhaps those two sold the stolen grain to him, or gave it to him to look after?

Puzzling.

Idle speculation is bound to yield no answer.

Du Shanü simply took out the hemp paper she carried, and meticulously recorded the man's appearance and all his injuries.

Chinu had been watching her actions from the side for a long time before narrowing his eyes and saying:

"You even know the techniques of a coroner?"

Du Shanü, not wanting to conceal it, replied without turning her head:

"Just because I've never eaten pork doesn't mean I haven't seen a pig run."

"In my past life I read a lot of storybooks."

"And it wasn't just a normal amount of 'a lot'."

Perhaps because the world is too restless, compared to seeking men, she even prefers spending time on all kinds of unrestrained storybooks...

The bad books have been gnawed quite a bit; the good ones, naturally, have also been admired.

Du Shanü moves her hand extremely fast, writing and drawing; it took her a good while before she realized that, unbeknownst when, there was no sound behind her.

The charcoal pencil tip paused slightly; Du Shanü turned back to search for Chinu's trace.

Chinu still stood in place, covering the wound, but in those usually dark eyes there was a rare hint of bewilderment and helplessness.

Seeing her turn back, Chinu barely regained his senses, hurriedly narrowed his eyes, and forced himself to calm down, saying:

"What do you mean by 'previous life'?"

Her expression did not look like she was lying.

But how could an ordinary person so calmly mention their previous life?

Du Shanü smiled brightly, turned her head back, and continued her handiwork:

"I thought you already had a guess in your heart."

"You must have inquired about my background earlier, right? I am indeed just a farm girl who grew up in Zhangpu Village; because my parents favored sons over daughters, they nearly drowned me in a chamber pot, which is how I got the name 'Du Shanü'."

"If I didn't remember my previous life, how could I have invented the water‑mill continuous rotation and the Prime Minister's crossbow?"

All those past clues, laid bare by her, finally fell into place.

Chinu had indeed earlier inquired about Du Shanü's identity, but he truly never imagined that the truth would sound so absurd at first hearing.

This matter is of utmost importance; even the slightest leak would likely see one branded a monster or ghost, forced to drink charm‑water, then beaten to death with sticks.....

But it is precisely because of such a leak.

Now Chinu, too, finally came to believe that perhaps he really is different.

Different......

Different......

Those two words lingered on Chinu's tongue, refusing to fade away.

Thus, after a few breaths, Du Shanü heard the person behind her ask again as if nothing had happened:

"Then… then in your previous life, did you ever love anyone?"

Du Shanü: "......"

Du Shanü: "???"

Good heavens!

Really, good heavens!

Earlier, Chinu's disdain for Yu Baobao's lovesick mindset was still fresh in memory—how could he now turn around and start probing her past life?!

Is this kind of possessiveness really okay?!

?? Saying this, people might not believe it, but the main storyline keeps moving forward~