Chapter 411: with translation of chapter title

Murong Jia Jia's expression was anxious and painful. When she pressed her forehead and cried out in pain, the aura on her body gradually weakened, and her quasi‑substantial form slowly faded.

Oh no… I silently cursed, quickly formed a hand seal and sucked Murong Jia Jia into the Spirit‑Gathering Jade.

"What's wrong with Miss Murong?" Pangzi scratched his head, asking doubtfully.

A gloomy thought flashed in my mind—perhaps because that person is very important to Murong Jia Jia; whenever her memory‑lost self thinks of that person, her emotions become overly agitated. Now I finally understand why her spirit form is so weak. Each time she thinks of that person, her head aches, her aura gradually dissipates; over time, how could she not be weak?

But who is that person? Is he really worth Murong Jia Jia's long‑lasting concern?

I shook my head, tossed aside those chaotic thoughts, and immediately refocused on the matter of our assassination attempt.

Everything about this affair feels strange; if we say we walked into a pre‑set trap the moment we stepped in, then how did Fan Wuchang know Pangzi would lay out the Nine Yin Formation? Could it be that only the Nine Yin Formation can neutralize the yang evil of Chen Zheng's ancestral home, and we merely stumbled in by accident?

At this moment my mind is in turmoil; countless chaotic matters have tangled into huge clues, weaving in my head into a disordered net whose threads I can't follow.

I wanted to get a cup of water to ease my drowsy head. I walked toward the table where the cup was, but my feet tripped with a clang on a small knife dropped by the assassin. Losing balance, I fell forward onto the corpse on the ground.

"Are you okay…!" Pangzi and Yuan Qiu rushed to my side, anxiously asking and checking my foot for wounds. Including myself, we suspected we'd been stabbed. After seeing Fan Wuchang's military blade, we instinctively thought the assassin's knife must be extremely sharp.

But we searched our feet for a long time, saw no bleeding wound, yet discovered a crucial problem.

The assassin's knife was actually dull!

That military knife, about five inches long, had its edge rolled; it couldn't even slice fruit, let alone kill.

We examined the other two assassins' knives; without exception they were identical, their edges all rolled.

For a killer who makes a living by murder, his weapon being dull is almost unimaginable! Either he's an idiot, or he's seeking death.

Or perhaps it was done deliberately.

"Brother Wuchang, he doesn't intend to kill us!" Pangzi stared at the three daggers and sighed deeply.

"Yeah, all this is a trap set by Brother Wuchang!" I also sighed, speaking gloomily.

"Design, what are you talking about?" Yuan Qiu beside us asked curiously.

Pangzi replied: "All this was designed by Brother Wuchang; he's hinting that we should hurry and leave Aomen, not kill us."

Pangzi's answer left Yuan Qiu even more puzzled; he asked Pangzi doubtfully: "If Brother Wuchang wanted to warn us, he could just send someone. Why go through all this trouble? And I don't see any symbolism in these people."

I shook my head, pointed at the three on the ground, and said to Yuan Qiu: "Look, the assassins sent after us are three. Have you wondered why Brother Wuchang would send three to kill us?"

Yuan Qiu was momentarily speechless, stammering: "Perhaps… because we only have three people? One each, just right."

"No," Pangzi interjected: "A real killer, even if one can't fight a hundred, could easily assassinate us. If they wanted an open assault, they'd just send gunmen to sweep the door. With Dongling's power, even a huge commotion could be covered up."

"Then you mean these three people might be a coded hint?" Yuan Qiu spread his hands, looking helpless and confused.

"Yes, these three people themselves are the code." Pangzi nodded heavily, saying: "Think about it—why three? Because… three smooth passages." Then Pangzi pointed to the inside and outside of the door.

"Brother Wuchang wanted to convey through these three people that leaving this room and Aomen is the only way to live; otherwise we'd end up like these three corpses on the floor—a dead end."

"So whether we kill these three or not, they will eventually die in various coincidences before us. All this is Brother Wuchang's design; he's sending a message urging us to leave Aomen!" I took up the thread, sighing: "What should have been a simple matter now requires so much effort, producing all this. This phenomenon shows only one thing: Brother Wuchang's situation is also difficult; whether to kill us or not is no longer his decision."

"What should we do now—go find him for clarification, or pack up and leave Aomen?" After hearing Pangzi's explanation, Yuan Qiu also sighed helplessly. At this moment everyone's eyes turned to Pangzi; we handed the decision to him.

Pangzi let out a deep sigh, gave a wry smile, and said: "Actually I was also preparing to go find Brother Wuchang, but after hearing Hai Sheng's words I realized it would be useless. If he could decide, he wouldn't use such a passive way to remind us. Choosing this method shows he too is under someone's control."

After saying that, Pangzi lowered his head gloomily, his face full of worry: "I don't even know how Brother Wuchang is doing now!"

【【We might as well leave Aomen now; staying here we can't help Brother Wuchang and will only cause him trouble. Leaving is our best option. 」 Yuan Qiu patted Pangzi's shoulder and suggested: "These waters are too deep for us to get involved。」"

After learning that Fan Wuchang truly didn't intend to kill us, our hearts involuntarily relaxed. Although our situation is dire, the pressure weighing on everyone's hearts lessened a bit. We aren't afraid of danger; we fear betrayal by friends.

Pangzi sighed: "Now I worry not only about Brother Wuchang but also about the Nine Yin Formation set up in Chen Zheng's ancestral home. You don't know how fearsome that formation is. If it isn't dismantled within three days, corpses will litter the field, all people and beasts within ten li will be exterminated, and it will truly create a monstrous killing karma."

"What do you suggest? Going is no good, staying is no good. I'm certain that if we dare return to Chen Zheng's ancestral home, we won't even be able to dismantle the formation—just getting inside is a problem." By now everyone understood.

Fan Wuchang's purpose in driving us away is absolutely to prevent us from dismantling the formation; otherwise he wouldn't have sent assassins the very night after his advice.

But why would Fan Wuchang need the Nine Yin Formation? No, perhaps it isn't what he wants; maybe the mastermind behind all this is Chen Zheng.

Looking at the whole affair, Fan Wuchang seems to have been in a passive position all along; who could command him? Besides Chen Zheng, who else?

"Quiet, let me think for a moment!" Pangzi squatted down, rubbing his forehead and sighing repeatedly.

"Huh, what's this?" As I squatted down beside Pangzi, I seemed to step on a rectangular hard object with my hand. Moving my foot aside, I saw it was a black notebook.

This notebook must have fallen from the assassin who attacked us; unable to contain my curiosity, I opened it.

At first glance were lines of dense text; it looks like a private detective's notebook, recording the daily routines, habits, and frequent haunts of several people.

But why are these names so familiar!

I kept turning pages; when I reached the last two, I suddenly froze, eyes wide, staring in disbelief at those pages. In that moment I involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air.

I finally understood why the names in the notebook were so familiar—we had seen them all in the file Chen Mo gave us; they are the targets of the Snake Infant Hunters. Altogether ten people, the ten names match exactly those recorded in the notebook. However… the notebook contains two names not in Chen Mo's file.

One is the Northeast Tiger, the other… is Chen Mo himself.

The Northeast Tiger is already dead, so the next…

"Hurry, Chen Mo is in danger!" Without further explanation I grabbed Pangzi and Yuan Qiu and ran out of the inn.

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