Chapter 115 - 96: Token (3)
She held her longsword in a reverse grip, its blade flashing with a cold light. The chill in her eyes deepened with a single glance.
It was clear that at the slightest disagreement, she was ready to kill.
The group of men in black didn’t dare make a reckless move.
This single woman was holding numerous masters of the unorthodox path at bay.
Just then, two figures leaped up, flanking her on the left and right.
One was a woman in black robes. Her face, though charming, was tinged with a sickly pallor.
Something seemed to be writhing slightly beneath her sleeves.
The other was a short, stocky man seated upon a golden cauldron.
The two of them flanked her, looking at Shi Miao. Jin Sanding let out a dry laugh.
"Girl from the Danyang Sword Sect, you’re strong, I’ll give you that."
"But the people who’ve come here today aren’t exactly pushovers."
"You might be able to kill us, but if we want to kill Chang Nian, I doubt you can stop us."
Shi Miao’s gaze sharpened as she shot Jin Sanding a cold look.
"You’re welcome to try."
Jin Sanding felt her gaze was as sharp as a blade. Just one look felt like having a sword pointed at his throat from a distance.
He couldn’t help but shudder. He gave a dry laugh.
"A woman that fierce will never get married. You don’t want to end up a widow like Lady Wu, do you?"
"Pah!"
Lady Wu sneered from the side.
"She doesn’t even qualify to be a widow. Who would want to marry a sword?"
"Besides, what’s wrong with being a widow? It’s so liberating. I love it when men come knocking on my door."
"Is that so? Then after we’ve finished our business tonight, I’ll come knocking on yours."
Jin Sanding sounded eager to take her up on the offer.
Lady Wu’s smile grew even more bewitching.
"That would be wonderful. My little darlings will have something new to eat."
"...You like men who come knocking so you can feed them to your poisonous pets?"
"What else would I do with them?"
With that, the conversation abruptly died.
The three-foot cyan blade in Shi Miao’s hand trembled, a clear sign she was losing her patience.
Just then, Chang Nian’s voice came from inside the room.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this late-night visit?"
CREAK. The door opened. Chang Nian stepped out, his face a mask of official authority as his eyes swept over the assembly of villains in the courtyard.
"Lord Chang."
Lady Wu smiled faintly.
"Greetings, my lord. So this is what you look like."
"We’ve sent men to invite you several times over the past two days, but Lord Chang refused to grace us with his presence."
"So, left with no other choice, we had to come ourselves."
"So you’re the fiends who have been causing trouble at the county yamen these past few days."
Chang Nian’s expression darkened.
"This is the county yamen of the Golden Cicada Dynasty. I am the County Magistrate of the Golden Cicada Dynasty, and you are all subjects of the Golden Cicada Dynasty."
"This is blatant overreach. Are you planning a rebellion?"
"We wouldn’t dare."
Lady Wu smiled.
"We’ve only come today to ask Lord Chang for a small favor."
"And if I say I won’t?"
Chang Nian’s face grew cold.
"You are the County Magistrate. If you say no, what can we possibly do?"
"Other than kill everyone inside this yamen and send you to your death as well, of course."
"Oh, and that little girl on the roof who keeps protecting you? She’ll suffer too!"
Jin Sanding added with a smile, "Lord Chang, even if you don’t fear death, you must consider the safety of those around you, no?"
"You... You are incredibly bold!"
Chang Nian was furious. "How outrageous! Simply outrageous!"
"Our audacity is nothing new. Now, Lord Chang, listen carefully. The first matter."
"Approximately twenty days ago, at the Fuyuan Building, there was a thin old man wearing a conical bamboo hat. We need to know his whereabouts."
"We may not have the means to track him down ourselves, but with your resources, Lord Chang, it shouldn’t be difficult."
Lady Wu didn’t give him a chance to say anything more, continuing directly.
"The second matter... concerns something from twenty years ago."
Chang Nian, who had been seething with rage, was taken aback when he heard this.
"Twenty years ago?"
At the same time, Jiang Ran, who was sitting silently inside the room, was also stunned.
’The first matter wasn’t unexpected.’
’But where did this second matter come from?’
’Now that I think about it, I’d felt something was strange before.’
’If they only wanted to investigate the person who met the old drunkard, they wouldn’t have needed to abduct Chang Nian, take his face, and install an imposter.’
’It was too convoluted, too much trouble.’
’What’s more, they could have just gone to Master Ma to solve that problem.’
’It seems they have another objective.’
’That must be why they have to resort to using the county yamen.’
Chang Nian had composed himself somewhat by now, but he couldn’t stop his brow from furrowing deeply.
"How can a matter from twenty years ago possibly be investigated now?"
"You’re all indulging in wishful thinking!"
"We have clues."
Jin Sanding said with a smile.
"One winter, twenty years ago, someone came to Benma County carrying a child."
"He stayed in Benma County for several days."
"The child was a newborn, only a few days old, and the man had no milk to feed it."
"The man had to find a local family with a nursing mother to feed the child."
"To show his gratitude, he left a keepsake with that family."
"He also said that twenty years later, if one of his younger disciples was in grave danger, they only needed to present this keepsake to him, and he would help them no matter how impossible the task."
"What we need you to do, Lord Chang, is find a way... to locate that young couple from all those years ago. And then, find that keepsake."
Jiang Ran listened quietly. ’Twenty years ago, winter, an infant, a keepsake.’
’The child they’re talking about... couldn’t possibly be me, could it?’
Jiang Ran’s gaze drifted out the window. He suddenly felt a strange sense of destiny connecting him to Benma County.
Meanwhile, Chang Nian seemed to be torn by indecision.
After a long while, he finally spoke in a cold voice.
"I cannot do this."
"Twenty years is a long time. The people you’re looking for might not even be in Benma County anymore."
"You needn’t worry about that, Lord Chang. If they have already left Benma County, you just need to give us any clues you find about where they went."