Chapter 1638: Heaven's Mandate Seven Sons' Monster-Hunting Chronicles 29

Mo Ran Mei didn't know when she had walked to Rong Zixu's side, staring at Chi Zhu, her gaze complex and dim.

"You shouldn't have saved her." Mo Ran Mei said, "Sitting on the Iron Ox is just punishment; those who don't accept punishment end up only dead."

Although she said that, Rong Zixu still sensed from her faint, almost inaudible tone a feeling of empathy.

Mo Ran Mei still hoped they would save her, but she felt even more sympathy for what Chi Zhu would have to endure next.

"Watch out!" Jin Chen shouted suddenly, and saw the surrounding buildings gradually fade; the braid he flung out like a crescent moon didn't land on the enforcer, all the civilians vanished like dissipating black smoke, instantly a brilliant white light flared and the scene shifted.

They were no longer outside the courtyard; the scene changed to the Red Family ancestral hall, with Chi Zhu wearing iron spikes and her husband kneeling at the gate, while several enforcers pressed down hard on her husband's back.

An elder shouted loudly: "Impure women deserve to die!"

"Impure women deserve to die!" all the onlookers shouted loudly, defending the clan rule they had upheld for a hundred years, even if it cost lives.

Immediately after, someone brought a basin of blood water and a strip of red silk, forcing Chi Zhu to commit suicide.

"Truly lawless." Xu Qie snapped.

The Heaven's Mandate Seven Sons rolled up their sleeves and got to work.

Jin Chen also took advantage of the chaos to throw a few punches at Bai Shi Yun, giving him no chance to complain.

But although they could stop the enforcers in the Ghost Domain, they couldn't change Chi Zhu's fate.

Chi Zhu still died; a strip of red silk hoisted her neck high, and the wedding dress stitched thread by thread turned into a glaring blood-red garment.

Jin Chen's punching motion paused, his gaze calmly fixed on the hanged Chi Zhu, gradually merging with the image of her he had seen in that ghostly place.

In that ghost place, are all those girls hanged as punishment?

What about Mo Ran Mei and Su Su—what wrong did they commit?

Jin Chen's gaze swept the chaotic courtyard, seeing Mo Ran Mei crouched in a corner, staring at Chi Zhu while murmuring, "It hurts so much."

Strange, Jin Chen thought, he always felt Mo Ran Mei was different from yesterday.

"Xiao Chen!"

Hearing Rong Zixu's cry, Jin Chen reflexively dodged the iron rod swung by the enforcer ghost.

"Sneak attack from behind!" Jin Chen threw a reverse punch, and the enforcer ghost instantly turned to ash and smoke.

Just as Jin Chen stood up, Rong Zixu grabbed his hand and led him to a place relatively free of ghosts.

Rong Zixu, still uneasy, gripped Jin Chen's hand tightly: "What are you wandering off for at a time like this? It's uncomfortable."

"No," Jin Chen pulled him into an embrace, "Senior brother, don't worry, I'm fine."

Rong Zixu's tense heartbeat eased a little: "What were you just thinking about?"

"Mo Ran Mei is different from yesterday, but that's not the point."

Jin Chen pondered and then said: "Those girls died from being strangled by red silk ribbons; what I saw behind the man-eating ghost's screen might be the reason for the wide age span in Min Dong Ghost City."

"We are experiencing each girl's death, so three years shift in a single night."

As Jin Chen finished speaking, dusk instantly turned to night.

Yang Yu tossed away the blood-stained fan, produced another, and clicked his tongue: "This Min Dong City might as well be called Ten Thousand Ghost City, a nest of ghosts."

Xu Qie walked over with a cold face, obviously still bothered by failing to save Chi Zhu,

Jin Chen suddenly thought of something, took out the jade pendant from last night from his waist; the bloodstains had disappeared.

Jin Chen then looked at the corpse hanging in the courtyard: "Basically, her wish has been fulfilled."

He only hoped that, when condemned by a thousand people, someone could go rescue her, even if they couldn't change her inevitable death.

The night here was deeper than before; even with the Seven Sons' spiritual energy protecting them, they could not see their hands in front of their faces, and they unanimously decided to return to the inn to rest.

Sleep was impossible; in the ghost city, aside from the dusk when wedding festivities are held, it's nothing but night, and nobody could really sleep.

Returning to the inn, Jin Chen's attention remained on Mo Ran Mei, but he saw her, as soon as she entered the main gate, exchange a glance with the innkeeper and then laugh while linking arms with Xu Qie.

Jin Chen then looked at the innkeeper again, but there was still no change.

How strange—everyone here is quite odd.

Jin Chen decided to sneak into the innkeeper's room at night; this person…this ghost surely has many secrets.

——

"Senior brother, sleep with me." Jin Chen lay on the bed and patted the space beside him.

Rong Zixu resigned: "I'm not sleepy."

Jin Chen, dissatisfied, rolled around in the blanket, his watery peach-blossom eyes fixed on him.

Rong Zixu: "……"

Compromise only needed the junior brother's silent coquetry.

Just as he lay down, Jin Chen's arm across his waist tightened, pulling him fully into the embrace, his gaze on Rong Zixu tender and focused.

His breathing grew heavy and slow, the rise and fall of his chest becoming more pronounced; as Rong Zixu was kissed, he slowly closed his eyes, and in the darkness his other senses were heightened.

The falling kisses were fine and gentle.

No one knew how long had passed.

"Don't…"

Rong Zixu opened his eyes, suffused with scarlet; being kissed down to his collarbone and beyond made him tremble, really afraid it was going too far.

His ragged breathing sounded almost like pleading.

"Don't be afraid," Jin Chen lifted his head to kiss his lips, lovingly caressing his face, and murmured: "It won't happen here."

But he teased too much, the heat hard to dispel.

Jin Chen pulled the blanket over the embarrassingly exposed Rong Zixu, moving his hand from his waist.

Rong Zixu's head suddenly buzzed, his moist eyes seeming to surge with endless waves, enveloped by intense incense.

The damp sweat and spilled tears mixed in the blanket, then were kissed away.

Rong Zixu wrapped his arms around Jin Chen's neck; the lovely moisture at the corners of his eyes, as he lifted his gaze, flowed down another drop of pleasurable tear.

"Senior brother..."

Jin Chen whispered soothing praise in his ear.

"You look very handsome now."

"Good."

The low voice also stirred Rong Zixu's senses.

Rong Zixu slightly lifted his neck, covered in red marks, and almost reverently placed a kiss on Jin Chen's lips.

Until the heat subsided.

Jin Chen, having had his fill, kissed the corners of Rong Zixu's eyes, then held him and lay him down properly.

Rong Zixu's clothes were disheveled; he hoarsely chided, "Aren't you sleepy?"

"Not sleepy anymore." Jin Chen laughed, pinching Rong Zixu's earlobe, "Senior brother seems sleepy."

"... What do you say?" Rong Zixu pinched his ear.

"Alright, alright, if you're sleepy, just go to sleep."

Jin Chen gently covered Rong Zixu's eyes; his voice seemed able to lull one to sleep, making one forget all present danger.

Rong Zixu rubbed and leaned against Jin Chen's embrace, then fell into a deep sleep.

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +10, total 70!】

After fussing over Rong Zixu's rest, Jin Chen slowly dressed and prepared to go out, afraid to wake Rong Zixu he didn't even light a candle; anyway, this darkness wouldn't affect him much.

As a result, just as the door opened, he bumped straight into Bai Shiyun in the hallway.

Jin Chen backhandedly closed the door, revealing a slight look of disdain.

Bai Shiyun: "..."

The spot he was beaten still hurts terribly! Jin Chen must have done it on purpose!

Bai Shiyun glared at Jin Chen angrily, making no effort to hide his arrogance as a member of the imperial family, which was fully displayed.

"What exactly do you know?" Bai Shiyun asked coldly, his arrogance condensing around him, "Those who oppose me will not come to a good end."

Jin Chen: "Nonsense."

What kind of screen are you opening in the middle of the night?

Bai Shiyun's room isn't nearby; what are you doing here?

"Get lost, don't provoke Rong Zixu."

Jin Chen warned; the coldness and danger in his eyes made Bai Shiyun instantly feel wary, his instincts telling him this person must not be provoked.

Bai Shiyun was still unwilling; as long as he could drive a wedge between the Seven Sons, let the imperial court regain its prestige, he would be that much closer to inheriting that position in the future.

But for now, Bai Shiyun could only endure; Jin Chen guarded against him tightly, so he had to act covertly.

Bai Shiyun hurriedly left; Jin Chen glanced at the jade pendant swaying at his waist, paid it little heed, and went downstairs.