“You!”
Upon hearing this, Code Six first showed shame and indignation, but then quickly replaced it with a sinister smile:
“Forty-Nine, I watched you grow up. I know exactly how capable you are. You can’t beat me. Now that you’re playing these petty tricks, it only makes me more excited!”
“Heh!” Shen Yue also sneered: “Excited my ass! I’m going to cripple you today, let’s see if you can still get excited then!”
Her eyes sharpened, one leg suddenly bent and shot straight toward his vulnerable lower body.
“Ah—”
A pig-slaughter-like agonizing scream came from deep within the alley.
Old Wang, who was selecting eggs by the street, was so startled his hands trembled, dropping two eggs he was holding.
“Who’s that? What’s all the yelling about? Made my eggs break!”
Old Wang’s voice sounded weathered yet robust.
The egg seller across found the wording awkward and frowned:
“Sir, my shop’s eggs already have thin profit margins. These two eggs fell from your hands, so they should be your responsibility.”
Old Wang immediately objected:
“What? Clearly your eggs broke!”
“No, they’re yours.”
“Yours!”
“Yours!”
…
In the distance, Code Six wept bitterly: Sob, stop arguing, they’re mine…
Enduring excruciating pain, he quickly drew the knife from his waist, blocking in front of himself.
He snarled viciously: “What are you doing? Are you rebelling?”
Shen Yue stepped back, playing with the Special Ops Knife in her hand, and lazily replied:
“Sneaking into the Prince’s Residence privately to steal treasures – what you’re making me do, Brother Six, is the real rebellion, isn’t it?”
“What do you know! What Auntie wants is definitely no ordinary treasure!”
The Auntie Code Six referred to was the leader of Netherworld Hall, named Wan Mei.
Ten years ago, she captured the original host and brought her to a secret training ground, then handed her over to Code Six before never appearing before her again.
If one were to find the reason, it was probably because the original host’s abilities were mediocre, belonging to the “won’t starve but can’t achieve anything” type in Netherworld Hall. People like her could only meet their direct supervisor, which was Code Six.
“I don’t care if it’s treasure or not. From today onward, I quit!”
As she finished speaking, Shen Yue tapped her toes, her figure flashing like a ghost as a sharp side kick accurately struck Code Six’s wrist.
With a “clang,” the large knife fell from his hand, making a clear sound.
Immediately, without stopping her movement, the Triangular Blade in her hand shot like lightning, violently piercing his chest.
The entire process took less than two seconds. Only when blood spurted from his chest did Code Six realize what she had done, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes.
“You… dare kill me? Do you know tonight is…”
Code Six mumbled indistinctly through the blood bubbling in his mouth.
He didn’t know why this little girl had suddenly become so powerful, and he would never have the chance to find out.
Using all his strength to make a sound, he ultimately lowered his head and collapsed in a pool of blood.
“I naturally know tonight is when my poison activates, but don’t you have the antidote on you, Brother Six?”
Shen Yue smiled faintly, reaching into his clothes to pull out a small blue porcelain bottle.
“Three pills left. Three months. Enough.”
She murmured softly, took out one pill and swallowed it, then pulled out the Triangular Blade and strode away.
It was getting late, the shop wouldn’t open anymore.
She put away the storybook and returned the borrowed small table and stools before heading straight for Cheng Wang Manor.
As soon as she entered the gate, her colleague Zhang Dayong hurriedly approached her.
“You little rascal, why are you only coming back now?”
Shen Yue was puzzled: “Today is my day off. I timed it to return before curfew—isn’t that early enough?”
“Ah, it’s not about that!”
Zhang Dayong leaned closer and whispered:
“The fact that you secretly wrote that lewd book has been discovered by our bureau chief. He tore up your manuscript, took all the silver you hid under your quilt, and said that when you return, you should go see him to receive your punishment!”
“…”
Shen Yue clicked her tongue. Just as she was about to curse with an “MMP,” she ended up saying: “So?”
“So hurry up and go apologize! If you go now, you might get two fewer lashes.”
Zhang Dayong looked like the anxious eunuch while the emperor remained unbothered. He grabbed her and started pulling her toward the Shadow Guard Bureau.
“No rush.”
She brushed off Zhang Dayong’s hand and glanced up at the sky. “Let’s go eat first. We’ll talk about it later.”
“Still later? Haven’t you heard? Last month, Li Ergou disobeyed orders and was whipped three hundred times by the bureau chief. Officially, they said he was crippled and sent back to his hometown to recuperate, but in reality, he was beaten to death…”
How could Shen Yue not know?
On her very first day in the manor, she had heard that the chief of the Second Bureau was no pushover—he abused his high position to bully his subordinates in all sorts of ways.
If he encountered anyone who resisted, he would find an excuse to punish them or take them out during a mission.
In just the past two years, no fewer than eight or ten brothers had fallen into his hands.
Since it didn’t concern her, Shen Yue had originally intended to ignore it. But now that he had crossed her, it was a different story.
“No rush. Let me fill my stomach first, so I can endure the punishment better. Isn’t that right, Brother Zhang?”
“Ah! Alright then.”
The Shadow Guard Bureau had many members, and each bureau cooked separately. The chief of the Second Bureau usually ate separately and never shared meals with his subordinates.
Therefore, Shen Yue wasn’t afraid of being discovered. She swaggered over, picked up a bowl of stewed vegetables and two steamed buns, and sat down at a small table to eat.
She ate with relish, but Zhang Dayong across from her had little appetite.
He thought to himself that this young brother, fearless like a newborn calf, probably didn’t yet realize what he was about to face.
If he obediently accepted the punishment later, it might be fine. But if he dared to talk back even once, he wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.
Shen Yue picked up a piece of pork belly and stuffed it into her mouth. Watching Zhang Dayong sighing across from her, she couldn’t help but smile.
Despite his burly appearance, he was actually quite thoughtful. On the day the original host died from overeating, he was the first to discover it.
That day, as soon as Shen Yue opened her eyes, she saw him anxiously patting her face while shouting:
“You little rascal, wake up!”
Hearing the words “little rascal,” she instinctively touched her chest—flat.
At that moment, she felt like dying. How could she have transmigrated into a man!
It wasn’t until she desperately groped a certain area that she secretly breathed a sigh of relief—thankfully, it was just a case of a woman disguised as a man.
After that misunderstanding, Shen Yue was convinced that Zhang Dayong was a genuinely warm-hearted man, and the two naturally became friends.
Zhang Dayong was straightforward and couldn’t hide his emotions. If he was so worried he couldn’t even eat, it meant he truly cared about her.
“Brother Zhang, don’t just stare. Eat something,” Shen Yue mumbled while chewing.
Zhang Dayong sighed, “Ah, Brother Shen, don’t worry about me. You should eat quickly. If the Director finds out you didn’t report for punishment immediately, you’re done for!”
Shen Yue smiled and was about to say something when a deep, eerie voice came from afar:
“From what this Director sees, it’s not just him who’s done for!”