Chapter 239: What Is the Secret Weapon?

Shitou covered his head with both hands and dodged, while replying to He Jinglan, "I was wrong, I shouldn't have said that, Jing Lan sis. You took me along to run, you're definitely a good person!"

He Jinglan halted her hands, saying, "Although you're stupid, you can still wake up in time, I'll let you off."

Shitou breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I just can't figure out why you deliberately let that bad guy turn to look at Xixi sis."

"I didn't see anything clearly, and you just grabbed me and ran."

Shitou frowned, thought for a while, although he thought it unlikely, he boldly guessed, "Could it be that Xixi sis is hiding a secret weapon that can defeat the bad guy?"

He Jinglan hesitated a moment, then answered vaguely, "Hmm."

Shitou's eyes widened suddenly, he excitedly looked left and right, lowered his voice, "Really? There's a secret weapon?!"

"What is it? What does it look like exactly?"

"Hidden sleeve arrows? Poison darts? Or the legendary firearm that can pierce a willow leaf a hundred paces away?!"

The little guy stared expectantly and excitedly at He Jinglan, his gaze projecting countless sparkling starlight rays.

He Jinglan felt like she was about to be blinded by the flash, she disdainfully shifted her gaze, saying, "What's with all the excitement? Don't forget what situation we're in."

"How many more of those bad guys are around? Will they come over? Everything is still unknown."

"Instead of worrying about the secret weapon, you should stay quiet and conserve your strength; if someone else comes later, I won't have time to look after you, so you'd better run away on your own."

He Jinglan could neither abandon Gu Xixi nor want to implicate innocent people.

She had already decided that if she encountered other assassins again, she would split up and run with Shitou.

She would of course turn back into the courtyard to look for Gu Xixi, while Shitou should run as far away as possible.

Anyway, the enemy only wants to capture He Jinglan and Gu Xixi.

As long as Shitou gets away, those people won't specifically chase after an unrelated child.

However, He Jinglan had just finished speaking.

Shitou lifted his head, but it was a big grin, "Hehe, it's fine, I don't need to run!"

He Jinglan frowned in confusion, "Are you being stupid again?"

Shitou laughed confidently, "I'm not stupid at all; Xixi sis has a secret weapon, doesn't she? I believe in Xixi sis!"

He Jinglan couldn't help but sigh, wondering whether to call this child clever or foolish.

She tilted her head to look at the sky above the courtyard wall, feeling uneasy, why is there still no movement?

Shitou saw that He Jinglan wasn't staring at him, so he crouched low, pressed against the wall, and crept forward stealthily.

However, after just two steps, He Jinglan reached out and grabbed him by the collar at the back of his neck.

He Jinglan didn't even look, saying, "You're not allowed to go."

Shitou stiffly turned his head, gave a grin to ease the awkwardness, "Hehe..."

"Then I won't go over; I'll climb the wall, I can watch from the top of the wall, right?"

"No way," He Jinglan said firmly, "Before Xixi tells us to go home, you're not allowed to sneak a peek!"

Shitou put on a bitter face and said, "Why?"

He Jinglan didn't respond, acting as if she hadn't heard.

Because this question is too hard to answer.

Was she supposed to say that the condition of someone poisoned to death could be bizarre and gruesome, and exposing a corpse in her own courtyard is really unsuitable for a child to see!

What if Shitou gets frightened and ends up with a psychological trauma toward Gu Xixi—what then?

Or if he blurts out what he saw, who knows what bizarre rumors might spread through the village.

Fortunately, this time she didn't wait long before hearing Gu Xixi say, "Jing Lan, Shitou, come back!"

He Jinglan, who had been tense since seeing the assassin earlier, finally could relax her breath.

"Oh! Here they come!"

As soon as Shitou entered the courtyard, he ran and lunged at Gu Xixi.

"Xixi sis, are you alright?"

Gu Xixi patted Shitou's head, "I'm fine."

The black-clothed person lay in the middle of the courtyard.

He Jinglan saw a swept area beside him, plus some freshly scattered loose soil.

She gave Gu Xixi a meaningful glance.

This spot definitely had blood on it just now.

Gu Xixi returned a smile that said, "Everything is under control."

Shitou also turned his head to look at the black-clothed person.

The black-clothed person's deathly appearance wasn't terrifying; aside from a slightly pale face and darkened lips, he otherwise looked very peaceful, as if he were asleep.

But Shitou, being young, still felt a bit afraid and didn't dare to look longer.

"Xixi sis, he... he fainted, or... or..."

"Dead...?"

Gu Xixi calmly said, "Hmm, he fainted."

He Jinglan lifted her eyes in shock.

How could she stand before a corpse, expression unchanged, and say he merely fainted?

Shitou relaxed, laughed, "Turns out he didn't die, he just fainted."

He immediately warned, "Leaving him like this won't do; if he wakes up, what then? We need to tie him up quickly!"

"No rush," Gu Xixi soothed, patting Shitou.

"I gave him a medicine that makes people drowsy; he won't wake up until tomorrow."

Shitou's clever mind made the connection, "Oh oh, I get it!"

Gu Xixi-jie's secret weapon is sleeping pills, right?

Gu Xixi smiled and nodded.

He Jinglan clapped, "Correct, you're really smart!"

Under the Great Undertaking Dynasty's law, anyone who forcibly enters another's residence with ill intent, especially if they wield a knife and commit violence, the homeowner may resist and kill them, then report to the Government Office; they will not be charged with murder, and the homeowner bears no guilt.

The assassin's corpse left here must always be dealt with.

So Gu Xixi found a pretext to send Shitou away, saying, "Just now Little Flower got frightened and hid under my bed in shock; go to my room and keep it company."

Shitou always got along well with Little Flower; upon hearing that Little Flower had been frightened, he immediately went.

Gu Xixi and He Jinglan exchanged a silent glance, continuing to stay vigilant.

Until a faint whistle drifted in from outside the courtyard wall.

This is the special signal of the He Family's Shadow Guards.

The two inside the courtyard both relaxed.

He Jinglan snapped, "I'd like to ask them why they weren't standing guard here, running off at the crucial moment."

"Wait." Gu Xixi called her to a stop, saying, "Don't be overly harsh; just find out the reason."

He Jinglan nodded, left with a stern face, returned shortly after, and said with an ugly, cold smile:

"Those people really went all out to catch us!"

"Do you know how many assassins have entered this tiny Flower Pool Ford Village today?"

"Around forty or so!"

"What's more, they were deployed in shifts, at different times and places—truly a case of many points blooming, playing a fine game of feint east, strike west."

It turned out that He Jinglan and Shitou had originally gone home once before noon.

Seeing Gu Xixi busily occupied, the two also stayed quiet, planning to go out and pick some wild fruit for Gu Xixi to make a chilled fruit drink.

Meanwhile, the He Family Dark Guards, upon discovering the assassins' trail, left Gu Xixi's residence to follow and protect He Jinglan.

This left a gap in the defenses around the small courtyard, allowing the black-clad assassin to break in.

He Jinglan said, "As it turned out, my side was calm and peaceful; the Shadow Guards only caught one person."

"He's already been interrogated; unfortunately, this person is just a expendable fringe member who only knows they took part in a big operation involving roughly forty or fifty people, but they didn't see many of the others."

"I privately suspect that these people deliberately drew away my family's Shadow Guards, intending to capture you first."