Chapter 13: Still Has One Last Breath
“Damn it! Where is he?”
Yang Rang angrily kicked the tree beside him. He clearly saw that guy Geng Hao running this way, so why did the tracks end here?
He held a knife in one hand and led his horse with the other, searching a large area around, stabbing every possible hiding spot with his knife, but still failed to find any trace of Geng Hao.
How strange, could that guy fly?
Yang Rang angrily hacked at the ground a few times with his knife, but had to accept the fact that he had really lost the man.
The sound of hoofbeats gradually faded away. Shang Wan carried Geng Hao on her shoulder and crouched motionless in the tree.
The next second, the faint sound of stepping on dry leaves came. Yang Rang gripped his knife and spun around sharply.
If Shang Wan had really jumped down from the tree just now, she would definitely have been caught red-handed by him.
Yang Rang unwillingly circled around once more, still finding no trace of Geng Hao, before finally leaving grudgingly.
Shang Wan listened carefully and, confirming that Yang Rang had really left, jumped down from the tree carrying the man.
It was just that the woods here were dense and the light was poor, and she had hidden high up, otherwise Yang Rang, who looked up, would have spotted her long ago.
Shang Wan put Geng Hao down and deftly reset the joints in his limbs, smiling as she said, “If you had moved just now, we both would have been discovered. Necessity knows no law—I think you can understand that, right?”
Geng Hao: “…”
Did he dare say no? Who dislocates someone’s bones right off the bat?
“I’ll help you put your jaw back now.” Shang Wan stared into Geng Hao’s eyes filled with terror. “I don’t like people shouting and yelling in front of me, got it?”
Geng Hao nodded repeatedly.
Shang Wan reached out and skillfully reset his jaw for him.
“I just saved your life, and you definitely have to repay this life-saving favor.” Shang Wan crossed her arms, her eyes glancing sideways at Geng Hao. “I don’t need you to be my slave for life. Just answer a few questions for me. That’s a good deal, right?”
Damn it, did he dare say no?
Geng Hao cursed inwardly but kept a compliant expression on his face. He moved his sore jaw and said, “Please ask.”
“Why did Tian Sheng send people to kill you to silence you? What did you do for him?”
Hearing these two questions, Geng Hao’s heart tightened instantly. Who was this woman? Why did she know so much?
His mind raced a few times, but just as he opened his mouth, he heard Shang Wan say leisurely, “I’m definitely faster at dislocating bones than you are at lying. Want to try?”
Geng Hao, who had indeed planned to make up lies: “…”
Not at all, thanks!
Shang Wan looked at the man sitting on the ground. “Tian Sheng has already sent people to kill you. He’s shown no mercy, so you don’t have to show loyalty either. Why keep covering for him?”
“I…” Geng Hao pursed his lips, his expression hesitant.
“I have no patience.” Shang Wan squatted down to look straight at him. “If you don’t talk, I’ll kill you.”
She was clearly talking about murder, yet her tone was as casual as if she were casually snapping a branch by the roadside.
A chill pierced through his ears into Geng Hao’s heart. Only now did he realize that the woman in front of him was not just no pushover—she might even be more terrifying than Tian Sheng.
Of two evils, choose the lesser.
“I can talk,” Geng Hao unconsciously gripped the wild grass on the ground, his voice tight, “but after I tell you, no matter what you want to do, you have to guarantee that I live.”
Yang Rang had failed to take his life and would definitely report back to Tian Sheng, who wouldn’t let him go.
The woman in front of him was investigating Tian Sheng, clearly not on the same side. With this woman’s strength, as long as she was willing, she could definitely protect him from Tian Sheng.
Shang Wan curled her lip. “You think you have the right to bargain with me?”
“I never helped Tian Sheng do anything that harms heaven and earth.” Geng Hao argued for himself. “I just want to live well.”
Shang Wan stared at him for a moment, then reached out to remove a green leaf from his shoulder. “First tell me what you did for Tian Sheng.”
Sensing her tone soften, Geng Hao was delighted and didn’t dare play hard to get anymore. He spilled everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube.
As he said, what he did for Tian Sheng really couldn’t be called harming heaven and earth.
He had simply helped capture the mother and younger brother of the Fu Yuan Inn shop assistant Niu Baoqing, then during the interrogation of Niu Baoqing after the poisoning incident at the inn, he deliberately went easy and just went through the motions.
Two effortless tasks that earned him five hundred taels of silver—Geng Hao was naturally happy to make a windfall.
He wasn’t stupid. After the incident, a little pondering made it clear that the poisoning of the county magistrate was definitely connected to Tian Sheng. But it was too late for regrets; he was already on Tian Sheng’s pirate ship and could only play dumb along with him, waiting to take the silver and run.
Shang Wan understood. She asked, “Is Niu Baoqing still alive?”
“Alive.” Geng Hao nodded. “His family is fine too.”
Shang Wan was somewhat surprised. Tian Sheng had even ordered Yang Rang to kill Geng Hao—how could he possibly let Niu Baoqing continue living?
She frowned and thought for a moment, then figured out the key point.
Tian Sheng probably thought it would be too abrupt for Niu Baoqing, a shop assistant connected to the case, to suddenly die. He wanted to wait until the case was settled and the fuss died down before killing to silence him.
But now that Yang Rang had failed to kill Geng Hao tonight, the poisoning of the county magistrate carried the risk of exposure. It was hard to say Tian Sheng wouldn’t take a desperate risk and send someone to kill Niu Baoqing first.
Thinking of this, Shang Wan’s expression darkened. She stuffed Geng Hao’s mouth, hoisted him onto her shoulder, and raced toward the city gate.
Under Geng Hao’s guidance, Shang Wan arrived at the Niu Family in Ironwood Alley. As soon as she entered, she smelled a faint bloody scent.
Oh no!
Shang Wan followed the bloody scent to the pitch-black kitchen. With her excellent eyesight, she clearly saw three people lying crossed in a pool of blood.
An elderly woman, a young man, and a boy under ten.
The woman and the boy both had knife wounds in their chests, killed with one strike. Their wounds were still bleeding, clearly having just been killed not long ago.
The man’s knife wounds were on his stomach, two of them. Shang Wan squatted down to check his pulse at the neck and found a faint beat.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief, pried open the man’s tightly closed mouth, and fed him ten drops of spiritual spring water in one go, also dripping one drop each on the knife wounds on his stomach.
Fortunately, the spiritual spring water in her space increased every day, or there really wouldn’t be enough.
Niu Baoqing was the key witness to prove Tian Sheng murdered Li Wen Hua and also key to rescuing Lu Chengjing—he couldn’t die now.
Geng Hao had only now adjusted to the darkness. Borrowing the dim moonlight filtering through the window, he barely made out the situation in the room, his heart pounding wildly as he touched his own neck in lingering fear.
If not for Shang Wan saving him, he would be a corpse now too.
To be safe, Shang Wan called to Geng Hao, “Come over and confirm—is this Niu Baoqing?”
Geng Hao walked over, squatted down, brushed the messy hair from the man’s face, looked closely for a moment with wide eyes, and nodded. “It’s him.”
Seeing Shang Wan’s pulse-checking movements, he said in surprise, “He’s still alive?”
Shang Wan hummed. “He has one breath left.”
“What a tough life.” Geng Hao sighed, reached out to close the wide-open eyes of the woman and the boy, and inwardly cursed Tian Sheng for his ruthlessness—not even sparing the elderly and children.
Sensing the spiritual spring water starting to take effect, Shang Wan picked up the man and placed him on Geng Hao’s back. “To the medical hall.”
Geng Hao, suddenly burdened with weight: “…”
Curfew is on—where to find a medical hall that’s open?
