Chapter 67: A Knock at the Door Late at Night (First Update)

At first, Zhao Zhentang and He Cuihua would scold him a few times, but seeing their child drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted, they stopped saying anything. Every time, they would set aside a portion of food and keep it warm for Zhao Jin to eat when he got home.

It wasn't just coming home late — many other habits changed along with it. Ever since the incident with the tailing that day, Zhao Jin carried his long spear and short knife with him at all times. Before, he had always left these at his second uncle Zhao Zhenxing's residence; now, his weapons never left his hands.

By the third month, Xuzhou had finally shed its bitter cold. The kang bed no longer needed to be heated so hot at night. Exhausted from the day and free of the oppressive heat at night, Zhao Jin slept deeply and comfortably.

It was already the twelfth of the third month. Nearly a month had passed since he last saw Mu Shulan. If he still hadn't seen her by the fifteenth, he would have to go and ask around. Without him realizing it, the little girl had become a part of Zhao Jin's life. With this thought in mind, Zhao Jin slowly drifted off to sleep.

At some unknown hour of the night, Zhao Jin was jolted awake by knocking outside. All around was silent, and outside the window was pitch black. The thumping knocks on the door were piercingly harsh.

The moment Zhao Jin came to his senses, his first reaction was to feel for the knife under his pillow. The knocking outside grew more and more urgent, and all the dogs in the area began barking loudly along with it. Zhao Jin scrambled into his clothes, grabbed his knife, and walked out of the room.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw a figure and recoiled in fright before realizing it was his own father. Zhao Zhentang already had a blade in his hand.

"What are you coming out for? Get back inside!" Zhao Zhentang barked.

Zhao Jin shook his head and said in a low voice, "I can help too."

Zhao Zhentang paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "It's probably nothing serious. Stay behind me, and be careful."

Someone suddenly pounding on the door in the middle of the night, with no shouting — it was indeed suspicious. Xuzhou City was growing more and more lawless by the day. Cases of homes being stormed by bandits at night, of murder and robbery, were not just one or two. And the Zhao family had no relatives in Xuzhou City; practically no one ever came to visit.

Father and son cautiously opened the main door and walked out, blades in hand. Zhao Jin noticed that both his parents were very composed about this matter. His mother had remained calm and never came out.

Once in the courtyard, Zhao Jin tucked his knife back into his waistband and reached out to grab the long spear. The weather had warmed a little, and the monkey the family kept had been moved back outside from the house. Even this macaque was unusually quiet, only letting out a soft cry when it saw the Zhao father and son emerge.

The knocking continued. Dogs barked wildly all around. Zhao Jin suddenly noticed that the force of the pounding on the door wasn't very strong. If it weren't the dead of night, the sound really wouldn't have been that loud. There was already stirring in the neighboring courtyard. The Zhao family's servant had also gotten up — the man called Zhao San walked out with a club in his hand.

The moonlight was quite bright. The three men gathered together, weapons in hand. Zhao Zhentang exchanged a word of warning with them, then cautiously walked behind the gate and asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?"

"Uncle Zhao, it's me, it's Xiaolan. Please let me in quick!" The three people in the courtyard were all stunned. They had braced themselves so seriously, never expecting it to be Mu Shulan outside.

The girl he hadn't seen in nearly a month had actually come to the Zhao house in the dead of night. The whole affair reeked of strangeness inside and out.

Zhao Zhentang did not put down his knife. He turned and told Zhao San to come and remove the door bar. Zhao Jin had been anxious to open the door, but seeing how cautious his father was, he didn't dare let his guard down either.

The courtyard gate swung wide open. Outside, there was only Mu Shulan alone. Though the moonlight made it hard to see clearly, one could still tell the girl was dressed very thinly, her face full of terror.

Mu Shulan stumbled as she ran in. The first person the girl saw was Zhao Jin, and she rushed straight toward him. Zhao Jin hurriedly set his long spear aside. Before he could speak, the girl had already thrown herself into his arms, crying. Mu Shulan's entire body then lost control and began sliding downward; Zhao Jin had to hold her tight just to keep her from collapsing.

"Close the gate. Tell your wife to get up and light the fire," Zhao Zhentang said in a low voice after stepping outside the gate to look left and right, then coming back in.

Inside the house, they had also heard Mu Shulan's voice. He Cuihua lit the lamp, reassured. She had just begun to comfort the girl when Zhao Jin noticed Mu Shulan was only wearing a single layer of clothing. He quickly took off his own padded jacket and put it on her, urging the little girl to get inside quickly.

The night was bitterly cold. Running over in just a single layer, Mu Shulan had suffered quite a bit. Only under the lamplight indoors could they see that the girl's face was blue from the cold, her whole body shivering uncontrollably. He Cuihua, heart aching, grabbed several pieces of clothing to wrap around the little girl and told Zhao San's wife to go light the fire and boil water.

But Mu Shulan's current state looked more like she had witnessed something terrifying, scared to the brink of collapse. He Cuihua and Zhao Zhentang exchanged a glance. He Cuihua gently asked, "Xiaolan, you're safe here with Auntie. Don't be afraid. What happened to you?"

He Cuihua asked once, but Mu Shulan didn't answer. He Cuihua pulled the girl into her arms and said again, her voice even softer, "Xiaolan, don't be afraid. Tell Auntie what happened."

The girl's trembling suddenly stopped. Her face turned deathly pale. She stammered for a long time without getting a single word out. Finally, she burst out with a loud wail, sobbing so hard she could barely speak: "My father... my father was killed."

That Mr. Mu was dead? Murdered? Zhao Jin clearly remembered how Mr. Mu had been surrounded by a crowd, his manner full of prestige. Not to mention anything else, the several men who escorted the girl all had martial skills. With so many people at his disposal, he had actually been killed?

Thoughts flashed through Zhao Jin's mind. He also noticed that his parents wore the same shocked expression upon hearing this news.

When a person's emotions are wound too tight, they often go to extremes. But once the tears come out, there's no real danger. Zhao San's wife heated up a bowl of soup and brought it over. After the little girl took a sip, she was finally able to speak coherently.

After Mu Shulan returned home, her father, Mr. Mu, had forbidden her from going out, saying there were dangers outside. She could only go out when it was safe again.

Mr. Mu arranged a separate residence for Mu Shulan to live in. Although it was a separate courtyard, the room was tightly adjacent to the one Mr. Mu lived in. There was even some design in the walls so that any sound from Mr. Mu's room could be clearly heard on her side.

After moving into this residence, Mr. Mu made several agreements with the girl. Without his permission, she was not to leave this courtyard. All food, clothing, and daily necessities would be passed in by outsiders. And she was to sleep in her outer clothes.

What puzzled Mu Shulan was that her father also told her to stay alert while sleeping. If anything seemed wrong, she was to immediately run out the door, ignore everything else, and flee to the Zhao house for help.

Hearing this, Mu Shulan was already somewhat frightened. But she was not a willful, pampered young miss who didn't know the gravity of things. Seeing how solemn her father was, she obediently agreed at once.

The little girl was still in shock, and her account came out jumbled and incoherent. The three members of the Zhao family all listened with grave expressions.

The reason Mu Shulan had previously run off to stay at the Zhao house was because there were always people arguing at home. This time, staying at home, the noise of quarreling had grown louder day by day. And it was relatively quiet during the day; only at night did the arguing become fierce.

"... It turned out that my home used to always have many guests and uncles visiting every day, but it grew more and more deserted. Only the arguing at night was fierce. These past few days, it was my father who personally brought me my meals..."

Could the Mu family really be some sort of underworld gang? Zhao Jin was full of doubts.

For the past two days, no one had come to argue anymore. Mu Shulan had finally been able to sleep a bit more peacefully at night. Tonight, she heard no one come to her father's side either. It was only in the middle of the night that she heard the door over there make a sound.

Then Mu Shulan heard someone over there talking with her father. Unlike the previous days where talking would quickly turn into shouting, this time both of them were very calm. Listening to it, Mu Shulan was almost drifting off to sleep.

"... Just then, my father's agonized scream came from over there. I... I know my father could endure pain very well. For him to shout that loudly, it must have been meant for me to hear..."

The Zhao family knew what happened next — the little girl had run all the way to the Zhao house.

After she finished speaking, Mu Shulan seemed completely drained of strength and just sat there crying. He Cuihua comforted her without pause. Zhao Zhentang paced back and forth a few steps, frowned, and muttered to himself, "Even Mu Shengran could die? What in the world is going on?"

Zhao Zhentang stopped walking and said, "Xiaojin, grab your weapons. Come with me outside."

"Head of the house, you're going out this late?" He Cuihua immediately looked up and said.

Zhao Zhentang picked up the ghost-head blade at his side and said in a deep voice, "If someone had followed her here, they would have already burst in. You all lock the door and blow out the lamp. Don't open it unless I call for you."

He Cuihua's face immediately darkened. She grumbled in irritation, "Who's talking about that? Meddling blindly in these affairs will bring disaster down on us."