After much deliberation, Ye Shu ultimately decided to seek out Gu Xici once again, having him examine this jade pendant alongside the one he had seen right before his death to determine whether any differences existed and unearth whatever clues might lie hidden within.
However, the hour was already late, and rashly heading to the General’s Mansion at this time would only alert the mastermind lurking behind those men in black.
Therefore, Ye Shu decided to dispatch his shadow guard, Yi Yi, to disguise himself as one of those men in black and lie in wait around Gu Xici, in hopes of uncovering some clues.
The Grand Preceptor’s Residence was far from ordinary; wanting Ye Shu’s life was no simple matter either.
Yet right now, he had reached a consensus with another individual. Surprisingly, that person was his former arch-enemy, his current mortal rival, who had somehow transformed into his exception-proving ally.
His ally—the Heir Gu, who always acted without considering the consequences.
Yet these factors extended far beyond the sole reasons why the two of them were jointly investigating the truth; more importantly, it was anchored in the bond forged across two lifetimes.
Gu Xici’s cause of death, coupled with everything transpiring in this present life, likely far exceeded the surface phenomena visible to the eye, running perhaps infinitely deeper and more complex.
Huai’an County.
Inside an inn.
A man clad in black robes and wearing a mask sat indoors, sipping tea from a cup. He gazed toward the figure flying in from not far outside the window, signaling his acknowledgment to that silhouette.
Shortly after, the chamber door was unlatched and subsequently closed shut.
The newcomer was none other than Li, one of the elite black-clad leaders.
He clutched his sword, bowed low from the waist, and kept his head lowered as he reported: “Master, things appear somewhat ominous; Ying has vanished.”
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of the masked man’s lips as his fingertips toyed idly with a strand of hair. “Oh? Ying has vanished? Where has he gone?”
“Subordinate knows not, it’s just…”
“Just what?” The man shifted his gaze toward Li, his eyes brimming with peculiar undertones and a trace of mockery.
“He previously confided in subordinate that he no longer wished to serve as a black-clad leader.”
“Oh? Then it would appear he has fled.”
The man swept a casual, indifferent glance over Li, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.
“…Perhaps you might wish to accompany him…”
Catching the implication, Li felt an icy chill ripple straight down his spine. He dropped hurriedly to his knees, stammering, “Subordinate… subordinate wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t dare?” The man let out a cold snort, his voice laced with biting frost.
Before Li could utter another word, the man cut him off.
“I give you five days to drag Ying back; otherwise, you needn’t bother returning either.”
“Understood.”
Once Li had retreated from the chamber, the man spoke in a low voice toward the empty corner: “Yuan, step forth.”
The moment the words fell, a single silhouette materialized before the man.
Yuan dipped downward, dropping onto one knee with a single hand pressed against his chest, lowering his head.
“Master, what are your orders?”
“Yuan, go track Li, and report back to me immediately should any developments arise.”
Yuan served as the man’s personal assassin—cold, unfeeling, and obeying his commands unconditionally, possessing absolute, unshakable loyalty.
Over the years, Yuan had remained inseparable from the man’s side, risking his life in his service. Seemingly unremarkable on the surface, he was capable of dispatching targets effortlessly and invisibly truly a formidable asset.
Yuan nodded silently, then whirled around and vanished into thin air.
Once Yuan disappeared, the man closed his eyes, his face settling into a chilling, blood-curdling smile. He reached up, untied the mask from his features, and placed it down upon the wooden desk.
A layer of piercing frost glazed over his dual pupils, one that seemed capable of freezing a living soul, yet teeming with boundless malice.
“Ye Shu, just wait. I will witness your plunge into the abyss with my very own eyes.”
This intricate conspiracy seemed to be slowly breaking the surface, fathomless and bottomless.
Meanwhile, Gu Xici, having departed from the Grand Preceptor’s Residence, made his way toward the Minister’s Residence with a heart full of growing unease.
He still remembered his elder brother’s parting instructions before leaving: should any trouble arise, he could seek assistance from Minister Liu. Yet what rattled his nerves even further was catching sight of a black-clad assassin lingering outside the perimeter of the Minister’s Residence. While his elder brother maintained friendly ties with Minister Liu, the current circumstances did not permit him to extend blind trust. Even so, everything Gu Xici had done up to this point was aimed squarely at investigating the truth behind his murder prior to his rebirth.
To unearth any available clues, he had gone so far as to sneak into his mortal enemy Ye Shu’s estate, only to get caught. To his absolute astonishment, however, Ye Shu had also been reborn. Following his rebirth, Ye Shu had even come to test him how could he… how on earth had he failed to anticipate that!
Staring at the unguarded, deserted exterior of the Minister’s Residence, Gu Xici vaguely sensed a wisp of danger in the air.
Though it was already late into the night, the complete absence of sentries patrolling outside the Minister’s Residence struck Gu Xici as highly abnormal. Even more unsettling was the presence of those men in black roaming within the estate grounds—making it abundantly clear that these assassins shared a direct connection with the ones murdering people inside the imperial palace.
Since men in black had inexplicably infested the Minister’s Residence, could it mean… Minister Liu had also met with misfortune?
Not necessarily; it remained possible that the assassins had merely passed through here while withdrawing. Yet all these developments forced Gu Xici to harbor profound suspicions. Ever since the day of his rebirth, the events unfolding around him day after day seemed to be masking an unfathomable, deeply buried conspiracy.
Perhaps his murder in his past life wasn’t simply a matter of failing to notice danger, but rather because the General’s Mansion had already had black-clad assassins covertly planted within its walls.
Dwelling on these realizations, Gu Xici felt his heart hammering wildly against his ribs. Only now did he begin unearthing the true trail of footprints.
I wonder how things are going over at Ye Shu’s end?
As Gu Xici pondered this, a sudden wave of icy dread swept across his spine. He whipped around instantly, only to discover a black-clad assassin staring directly at him.
Realizing he had been spotted, the assassin offered a sinister, creepy smile. Before Gu Xici could react, the man whipped out a dagger and lunged straight toward Gu Xici’s chest.
Oh no!
Shock jolted through Gu Xici as he scrambled desperately to dodge, yet he was still clipped across the waist by the blade, warm blood slowly soaking through the fabric of his garments.
Noticing his initial strike had missed, the assassin retreated a few paces and left behind a mocking parting line” Consider yourself lucky to keep your head today”—before vanishing into thin air.
Clutching his wound, Gu Xici scanned his surroundings, tore a strip of fabric from his collar, and bound it tightly around his waist to stem the bleeding.
“Hiss!”
The searing pain turned Gu Xici’s face stark white. He pressed a hand against his injured flank, his brows knitted tightly together.
I give up, what an absolute sneak!
Disregarding the agonizing pain at his waist, Gu Xici hurried as fast as he could toward the General’s Mansion.
He had to get back to treat his wound with medicine; otherwise, lingering any longer might cause him to bleed out entirely.
Yet upon reaching the gates of the General’s Mansion, Gu Xici discovered that several guards had already been knocked unconscious outside the entrance by men in black, who had also spotted him. Realizing the situation had turned perilous, and unable to move swiftly due to his waist injury, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and brace for impact.
Watching the group of black-clad assassins closing in on him, Gu Xici wasn’t entirely certain he could defeat them all under these conditions, especially since he had just sustained a wound through sheer negligence.
Screw it! Living a second life, I refuse to believe I’ll let them kill me twice!
Just as Gu Xici readied himself to fight to the death against the assassins, a familiar silhouette flashed past, accompanied by the sharp clash of ringing steel and the muffled grunts of wounded assassins.
“Ye Shu!”
Hearing Gu Xici’s voice, Ye Shu swiftly sheathed his sword and strode to Gu Xici’s side.
“Gu Xici, what on earth…?”
Frowning deeply as he looked at Gu Xici clutching his waist alongside the fallen assassins littering the ground, Ye Shu understood everything in an instant. He could essentially guess why these men in black had targeted this place.
Without missing a beat, Ye Shu reached out to wrap a supportive arm around Gu Xici’s shoulder. Ignoring Gu Xici’s stunned reaction, he murmured in a low, urgent voice: “Keep your voice down… I suspect your elder brother’s current situation is rather precarious.”
“What danger? My brother?”
“Let’s not discuss this out here; I’m taking you back to tend to your wound. Another wave of assassins will likely arrive shortly.”
Casting a look of utter astonishment toward Ye Shu, Gu Xici offered no further resistance.
Ye Shu utilized his lightweight kung fu to carry Gu Xici smoothly past the gates and into the inner courtyards.
Entering the interior, Ye Shu guided him to rest against a wooden armchair, instructing him to strip off his outer robe while he went to retrieve medicinal supplies for treating slash wounds.
When Ye Shu returned with the medicines and bandages, he found Gu Xici stripped to the waist, leaning back against the chair while his outer robe lay draped over a wooden rack near the bed.
Ye Shu’s eye twitched slightly, his gaze instinctively drifting over Gu Xici’s upper body, carrying an obscure, deeply ambiguous weight.
“I told you to take off your outer robe, not strip down this bare?”
Gu Xici replied matter-of-factly: “What’s wrong? Is there an art to removing clothes? If I didn’t take off the inner layer, what would I do if the fabric stuck to my wound? Honestly.”
A faint smile touched the corners of Ye Shu’s purple eyes. He walked over, carrying the ointments and bandages, knelt beside Gu Xici, and began applying the treatment while remarking: “Nothing of the sort. I simply didn’t expect you to strip completely bare, seeing as you aren’t currently inside your own residence.”
Gu Xici curled his lips into a pout. “So what if I’m not in my own estate? You aren’t a stranger; the two of us have known each other across two lifetimes, which proves we’re bound by fate. Trusting you is a given. By the way, what did you mean earlier when you said my brother’s situation was perilous?”
Ye Shu’s gaze instantly sharpened, his thin lips pressing into a firm line as he pondered for a moment before speaking: “…If my calculations are correct, something has likely happened to your elder brother.”
These words dealt a staggering blow to Gu Xici.
Wait… Didn’t my brother go to Huai’an County with Junior Preceptor Li to investigate a case? Could it be that Junior Preceptor Li is the problem? But how on earth did Ye Shu figure all this out?
“Ye Shu, how on earth did you find out?”
After finishing the bandage wrap, Ye Shu pulled up a chair and seated himself right beside Gu Xici.
“This matter… is rather complicated. However, I’ve maintained covert contact with your elder brother. Over these past few days, I noticed black-clad assassins sneaking around my residence to spy on me, so I ordered my shadow guard to monitor them and uncover their ultimate objective. Before we could capture the operative alive, however, the assassin attempted to swallow poison and commit suicide. Furthermore, I recovered a specific jade pendant from his person.”
With that, Ye Shu produced that exact jade pendant from his robes.
Gu Xici reached out, accepted the pendant, and cradled it within his palm. Lowering his gaze, he spotted a single Chinese character clearly engraved upon the surface: Chen.
Noticing Gu Xici’s perplexed expression, Ye Shu retrieved the pendant and set it down upon the table, his long silver hair catching the moonlight to cast a brilliant, ethereal glow.
To Ye Shu’s knowledge, this jade pendant belonged exclusively to Gu Chen, having been presented by him five years ago to a mysterious imperial prince residing in the cold palace who had fallen into utter disfavor with the Emperor.
Yet that jade pendant had vanished without a trace following the disappearance of that imperial prince four years ago. How baffling why had this jade pendant resurfaced in the possession of an assassin?
“This jade pendant was gifted by your elder brother to that imperial prince in the cold palace. That prince mysteriously vanished four years ago, and right now, I’ve discovered it in the hands of an assassin. Therefore, I suspect your elder brother has fallen into grave danger.”
“So, my brother’s trip to Huai’an County to investigate… was actually because there was something fishy about Huai’an County all along! My brother he hasn’t already been harmed, has he?!”
Overwhelmed by panic, Gu Xici disregarded his open wound, lunged forward to grab Ye Shu’s arm, and cried out in mounting distress.
Ye Shu fell silent for a brief moment, then raised his eyes to gaze at the hand gripping his arm. He gave a soft cough, his expression turning somewhat unnatural, though he maintained his composed demeanor as he replied: “Unlikely. Based on my understanding, those men in black originate from a maple leaf assassin organization, which leaves two possibilities. First, if they are orchestrating some broader conspiracy, they likely abducted your elder brother to use him as leverage and bargaining chip. Second, if they are seeking vengeance, your elder brother happened to stand directly in their path, causing him to be deceived by this fraudulent investigation assignment and fall right into their trap.”
Gu Xici nodded heavily, then finally looked down at his hand currently clutching Ye Shu’s arm. The contrast between his wheat-toned skin and Ye Shu’s icy pale complexion formed a striking, distinct visual dichotomy, made all the more pronounced under the illumination of the moonlight.
Noticing the burning intensity of Ye Shu’s gaze fixed upon him, Gu Xici felt a wave of awkward discomfort wash over him. He hurriedly released his grip on Ye Shu’s arm and averted his eyes toward the window.
“Uhm… well, you really shouldn’t keep staring at me like that, Ye Shu, otherwise…”
“Otherwise what?”
“Otherwise I’ll start thinking you’ve taken a liking to me.”
Ye Shu’s eyes darkened slightly, carrying a profound, smoldering restraint as the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.
“It’s not that I’m thinking it, I actually do.”