Qiao Zihua lay on the floor in a fetal position, groaning in pain.
Tang Si, on the other hand, was laughing aloud with her hands on her hips. She had gotten her revenge over being shut out and vented some of her anger towards Mo Ruo.
Qiao Zihua’s nose tingled with pain and he felt something trickling out. He hastily wiped it with his sleeve, only to realize that it was a nosebleed. His face drained of color and his eyes widened in shock. “B...blood...” His voice was trembling.
Tang Si took a sideways glance before commenting disdainfully. “A grown man whining like a girl. Isn’t it just a nosebleed? It’s not like you could die from this, what a wuss.”
“You...”
“What? Your granny here hit you because you deserve it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even want to lay my eyes on you.” She forcibly put herself in the right. [1]
Qiao Zihua felt aggrieved as he glanced towards the hall. He hoped that his second uncle could hurry outside and save him - he did not want to stay here for a moment longer.
Tang Si picked up the slightly scuffed leather ball and weighed it in her hands. The corners of her mouth raised in a slight smirk as she walked towards him once more with ill intent. She was not done bullying him!
A figure suddenly stood in front of her, blocking her route. Mo Ruo did not say a word as he extended a hand to help Qiao Zihua up. However, it appeared that his spine was really broken as he groaned in pain as he was helped to his feet.
“Ouch...I think my waist is broken.”
“That’s your spine, not your waist.” The uneducated really are quite frightening at times.
Qiao Zihua didn’t dare make any unnecessary movements, afraid that he would really break into two halves. He could only hobble to the stone table after borrowing Mo Ruo’s arm as a support.
“Lie down.”
“Ah?”
“I’m telling you to lie down on your front.” Mo Ruo frowned.
Although confused, Zihua still did as per Mo Ruo’s instructions. His entire body sprawled face-down on that stone table, just like a meal that was waiting to be eaten.
Tang Si walked over and tugged at Mo Ruo. “Hey, are you trying to get in my way on purpose? That business between the two of us is not yet concluded yet you’re interfering again. You’re doing this intentionally, aren’t you?”
“Our business? What business?”
“So are you denying it?”
“Why should I admit something that I didn’t do?”
“You...” Her chest hurt from anger. “Fine, we have all the time in the world to resolve our business. Right now, you’re not allowed to help him, he deserved it.”
Mo Ruo was speechless. Black lines seemed to appear on his forehead. “Miss Tang, a life is at stake here. Do you know that an injury to the spine is akin to having one foot inside Yama’s hall? I’m not going to stop you if you’re teaching him a lesson but if someone were to die, it’ll drag us all into trouble.”
It’s that serious? Tang Si knew that there was a time and place for everything. She hesitated for a moment and stomped a few times before she sat down at one of the stone seats.
“Alright, alright, hurry up and heal him. I’ll beat him up once you’re done.”
Qiao Zihua would like to express his feelings of frustration! He is literally and figuratively a sitting duck!
Mo Ruo began to press down on Zihua’s spine in a few different places. Although his application of force was a little excessive, his technique was well practiced.
With a few cracking and popping sounds, Qiao Zihua’s slightly displaced vertebrae were adjusted back to their original positions.
“Get up and try to move around.”
Qiao Zihua wriggled his backside and gingerly stood upright. He twisted his waist left and right, and found out that there was no more pain. He broke into a smile. “I’m really alright now, there’s no pain anymore. You’re really skilled.”
“It’s good that you’re not feeling any more pain.”
“My thanks to you sir, may I ask for your name?”
Mo Ruo felt that this guy was rather interesting. There didn’t appear to be any connection between this person and the psychotic murderer at all.
Tang Si glared at Qiao Zihua, springing upright as she prepared to beat him up once again.
Qiao Zihua, on the other hand, shrank behind Mo Ruo. “Miss, we have no enmity with each other, I’ll apologize if I had offended you before. You’ve already hit and scolded me earlier, has your anger not subsided yet?”
She let out a roar. “Hell no!”
Moments later, she raised her hand and sent her palm flying. However, instead of Qiao Zihua, the target of her palm strike was actually Mo Ruo’s chest.
It was fortunate that Mo Ruo had quick reactions and evaded the strike in time. With her strike missing, the force she had put into her palm dissipated harmlessly into the air.
Tang Si did not give up and instead, took the opportunity to continue brawling with Mo Ruo. The two of them fought back and forth for several rounds, with no sign of anyone coming out on top. In the end, the fight stopped after both of them had run out of strength.
Exhausted, Tang Si glowered at Mo Ruo. “It’s not over yet.”
“I’m not going to fight you anymore, this is getting boring.” Mo Ruo turned around and left with Tang Si in hot pursuit.
In the end, only Qiao Zihua was left standing there by himself in a daze as though nothing at all had happened.
Mo Ruo circled to the rear courtyard at a fast walking pace. Tang Si chased after him, ranting by his ear. “You beast, this was the first time that this miss had slept on the same bed with a man. Don’t think that nothing happened just because our clothes were untouched.”
He ignored her.
“Are you deaf? I’m talking to you here!”
He still ignored her.
“Mo Ruo, your granny here is gonna start a feud. If you’re not going to give me an explanation, I will hound you forever, how about that?”
Suddenly, he stopped walking and turned around to face her, head tilted slightly downwards towards the woman that was currently huffing in anger. “Miss Tang, this was originally something minor but if you were to continue to mindlessly complain about it, probably everyone will know that we had spent the night together. By then, it’d be useless to plead our innocence. The only thing that would be ruined here is your reputation. As a man, it doesn’t matter to me.”
The words that came out of his mouth sounded like he really didn’t care at all.
Tang Si’s face was bright red as she warily looked at her surroundings. She lowered her voice and spoke with gritted teeth. “If this were Hou Liao, I guarantee that you would already be dead.”
“But this is Great Lin, not Hou Liao!”
“You...” Tang Si clenched her fists in anger as Mo Ruo left yet again.
At the same time, Ji Yunshu was sitting in the courtyard by the skeletal remains, thinking about Qiao Zihua’s earlier testimony.
An open window, a fallen screen, a smashed cup on the floor and a strangled cat...
Amongst all these clues, there was something that she could not understand.
If Qiao Zihua had been knocked unconscious by someone, that means that the killer had to be hiding in the room the entire time. The open window on the other hand proved that the culprit escaped by jumping out. If that were the case, how did the cat appear in the room if it came after Qiao Zihua?
The pivotal clue was that cat!
She thought to herself. Looks like I’ll have to make a trip to that brothel tomorrow to look for more clues.
Madame Xie appeared at the courtyard’s entrance. Her arms still held the gray bundle that was starting to yellow with age as she stumbled inside with her gaze fixated on the skeletal remains that lay below the white cloth.
Tears welled in her eyes as she struggled to approach. “Ye’er, your mother’s here to see you.” She opened up her bundle to take out the doll that was inside and gingerly placed it on top of the white cloth with trembling hands. She spoke whilst sobbing. “Mother knows you loved this doll very much, I’ll burn it for you once the truth is out.”
“Madam Xie, please don’t be upset.”
Wiping away her tears, Madam Xie asked. “Teacher, are the Qiaos here?”
“Yes”
“What did that beast say?”
“Don’t be hasty, I will definitely get Miss Ye’er the justice she deserves.”
“Can I stay here? I’d like to spend more time with her?”
“Of course you can.” Ji Yunshu did not wish to interrupt and excused herself to her room.
Through her door, faint sobbing could still be heard.
[1] TS calling herself granny is a gangster-ish way of referring to herself as someone he should respect and defer to.