Chapter 243: Mission Accomplished
Night fell, and all was silent.
There was no moon tonight, so the stars seemed especially numerous, twinkling in the sky.
A deliberately lowered male voice broke the silence, “Lady Shang, will that murderer really come?”
Shen Qi hunched over, lying by the window, squinting through the open gap to look outside.
Except for the single point of candlelight glowing in the opposite room, everywhere else was pitch black, only faint outlines visible.
“If you were the murderer and knew someone had seen your face, wouldn’t you come to kill to silence?”
“If I were the murderer,” Shen Qi thought seriously for a moment, then shook their head, “I wouldn’t come; this is clearly a trap.”
Having seen the face and not going to the government to report and seek protection, but staying in the room waiting to be killed—what kind of fool would do that?
“So you’re not the murderer.” Shang Wan reached out to fully close the window gap, turned around and said, “This murderer has killed six people in a row, daring to act right under the soldiers’ noses; their courage is much greater than yours.”
Perhaps the murderer enjoyed the thrill of challenging the government’s authority.
Shen Qi was just about to retort that their own courage wasn’t small either when Shang Wan suddenly raised her hand in a silencing gesture, “Shh~”
Someone was coming.
Shen Qi instinctively covered their mouth, eyes blinking, silently asking what to do next.
But Shang Wan had no time to deal with them, gently pulling open the door and slipping out through the gap.
Shen Qi hesitated for a moment, then also lightened their steps and quietly went out.
In the opposite room, on the desk by the window, the white candle had already burned halfway.
The youth looking at the account book by candlelight glanced at the candle on the table, his heart pounding.
It had been two hours; the murderer probably wouldn’t come, right?
He wanted to go to the opposite room to seek protection from Shang Wan, but was afraid that if he didn’t follow the plan, Shang Wan would act against him directly.
He was just a small accountant—why had he gotten involved in something like this?
Wuwu, he was having such a hard time!
Lost in his own thoughts with his head down, the youth didn’t notice the candle flame on the desk suddenly flickering, causing the shadow on the wall behind him to start swaying and gradually become ferocious.
Soundlessly, a patch of shadow appeared on the wall, slowly approaching the youth.
“Why has the light dimmed?” The youth rubbed his sore eyes and glanced toward the candle.
His peripheral vision suddenly caught something, making his heart skip a beat.
There was someone else in the room besides him!
This realization almost froze his entire body in place; even his hand rubbing his eyes forgot to come down.
Done for, done for, done for—his life was going to end here!
Mother, your son is unfilial!
Almost at the same time, a very faint laugh came from behind, gender indiscernible.
The youth broke out in goosebumps upon hearing it, but also snapped out of his inexplicable stiffness.
He bit his tongue hard, pushed off the table, and tried to run outside.
But it was too late; the cold wind from the blunt object was already at the back of his head.
Done for!
The thought had just flashed through his mind when the window in front of the youth was suddenly broken open; a figure in plain clothes burst in through the window and kicked flying the axe-wielding person behind the youth.
Only a “bang” of a loud noise was heard, shaking the candle flame into flickering again.
Shang Wan kicked the axe into the corner, and while at it, gave another kick to the black-clothed person lying on the ground.
“It’s handled; come in.” She called out toward the outside, then squatted down and flipped over the black-clothed person who had landed face-down.
A woman!
A woman with a large scar on her left cheek!
Under the flickering candlelight, the scar that occupied half her face like thorns looked especially ferocious.
Based on experience from two lifetimes, the scar on the woman’s face was a burn.
“This is the murderer?” Shen Qi rushed in with people and squatted down beside Shang Wan.
Shang Wan reached out to brush aside the woman’s disheveled black hair, revealing her left ear; there was indeed a notch in the earlobe.
This person should be the figure the youth had seen.
“Come over and confirm.” Shang Wan beckoned to the youth.
The youth didn’t dare object in the slightest and had no choice but to steel himself and walk over, lowering his head to carefully identify.
At first glance, he was startled by the scar on the woman’s face.
“Heh.” The woman sneered coldly, her gaze at the youth both sinister and venomous, like a venomous snake.
“Come over.” Shang Wan covered the woman’s eyes, turned to the youth, and said, “Take one more step back and I’ll beat you.”
The youth: “…”
Grudgingly inching over, he tried hard to ignore the uncovered scars and carefully looked at the woman’s left ear.
After a while, he confirmed, “The person I saw is her.”
Good, that made it easy.
Shang Wan released the woman’s eyes and casually brushed the hair she had pushed aside earlier back into place, covering the woman’s mutilated ear.
She stared straight into the woman’s eyes full of resentment and asked, “Did you kill all those in the merchant caravan?”
……
……
“Boss Zhan, just sign it quickly.” Niangzi Lou stuffed the writing brush into Boss Zhan’s hand, persuading him kindly, “A merchant caravan where morale is lost and people are dying one after another—selling it for ten thousand taels is already good. If you delay further and the murderer kills a few more, you won’t even get ten thousand taels.”
Boss Zhan gripped the writing brush, hesitating; a perfectly good merchant caravan sold for only ten thousand taels—he wasn’t willing.
“Boss Zhan, just stop hesitating. What if that murderer gets bored of killing caravan people and comes after you instead…” Niangzi Shu covered her mouth, “Look at my mouth; how could the murderer possibly come after Boss Zhan?”
“Sister Shu, I’ve heard rumors that the murderer is a vengeful ghost come to take revenge.” Hua Niangzi smiled at Boss Zhan, “Boss Zhan, how true do you think this is?”
Boss Zhan’s face turned ugly; the hand gripping the writing brush tightened with more force, “Talk of ghosts and gods is completely unreliable.”
“Is that so? I think there’s something to it.” Shang Wan set down her tea cup and chimed in, “It’s said the more miserably someone died, the more powerful the vengeful ghost they become, able to drag people down to the eighteenth level of hell, never to be reborn.”
Boss Zhan felt there was meaning behind the words, but upon scrutinizing Shang Wan’s expression, he thought he was overthinking it.
After much hesitation, he still signed and stamped under the women’s persuasion.
Silver and goods exchanged.
Boss Zhan ordered people to hand over all the deeds of sale, accounts, written agreements, and such of the entire merchant caravan to Shang Wan and her group.
Shang Wan and Niangzi Shu examined the contracts closely, exchanging glances with a bit of delight.
Shang Wan cleared her throat and called out, “It’s done; everyone come in.”
Boss Zhan was just about to ask whom Shang Wan was calling in when he suddenly saw a team of officials emerge from behind the shadow wall and stride toward them.
A bad premonition surged in his heart, especially upon noticing the blue-clothed woman following behind the officials; the bad premonition intensified, almost bursting out of his chest.
He almost subconsciously asked, “Who are you?”
The blue-clothed woman raised her head, exposing her burn-scarred cheek to the sunlight, “Childhood sweethearts, husband and wife from youth, and after just five years apart, you’ve forgotten me?”
“You, you’re…” Upon seeing that face clearly, Boss Zhan retreated repeatedly in horror, his lips opening and closing, too shocked to utter a word.
“What’s this, even my name forgotten?” The blue-clothed woman advanced step by step, her venomous gaze as if to devour the man before her alive, “Murdering your wife and harming your child, wolf-hearted and dog-lunged, Zhan Liang, have you slept peacefully all these years?”
