Vindicated After a Wrongful Death - Chapter 31

Man Qiuxia led Yun Yanli into the Wujin Building.

He was actually quite patient with Yun Yanli; after all, he was one of the rare few who took the initiative to wear a mask when visiting. Man Qiuxia greatly appreciated that kind of discernment.

However, the moment they arrived in the room where Xiang Zhongjing was waiting, the man surnamed Yun habitually removed his mask.

Man Qiuxia: “…”

Tears of blood nearly streamed down his face once again.

Seeing Man Qiuxia rush out with a look of agony, Yun Yanli asked Xiang Zhongjing in confusion, “What’s wrong with him?”

Xiang Zhongjing was wearing his veil, likely still sulking over those drawings, and uncharacteristically remained silent.

Behind the screen, Gu Congxu sat with his knees pulled up, squinting through a gap to observe Yun Yanli.

Sure enough, that face looked remarkably like Xiang Zhongjing’s. If Xiang Zhongjing removed his veil, the two could probably claim kinship on the spot without a second thought.

Seeing that Xiang Zhongjing had no intention of answering, Yun Yanli didn’t press him. He handed over a scroll and said, “This is…”

Before he could finish saying, “This is the portrait I had someone draw,” Xiang Zhongjing, who was now psychologically scarred by drawings, saw his pupils shrink. The fire on his earring, which had finally settled down, immediately flared out and lunged toward the portrait in Yun Yanli’s hand.

Yun Yanli: “…”

Yun Yanli yanked the drawing back with lightning speed, frowning. “What are you doing?”

Xiang Zhongjing asked expressionlessly, “What kind of drawing is that?”

Yun Yanli: “I’m looking for someone, so naturally I need a portrait. Otherwise, how are you supposed to find them?”

Hearing this, Xiang Zhongjing froze for a moment before completely calming down.

He raised a hand to touch his burning earlobe. It took a while before he gave a heavy cough, regaining his usual composure.

“So, you’ve agreed to take me to the Cloud Province once?”

“Yeah.” Yun Yanli wore an expression of someone ready to face the consequences. “At worst, my father will give me a thrashing. As long as I can get back to the Cloud Province.”

Xiang Zhongjing gave a faint smile. “You won’t regret it.”

Yun Yanli handed him the portrait and urged, “So, when do we start looking?”

“No rush.” Xiang Zhongjing took the portrait and said, “In half a month, I will definitely bring the person before you.”

Yun Yanli had been wandering Jiuzhou like a headless fly for a month without finding a single clue. To him, the half-month Xiang Zhongjing promised felt incredibly short.

He nodded in agreement. “Don’t you dare lie to me.”

Xiang Zhongjing said with a smile, “I never lie.”

Behind the screen, Gu Congxu let out a cold snort at those words.

Never lie?

I wonder where this man gets the face to say that.

Xiang Zhongjing continued, “I’m setting off for the Central Jiuzhou Plains in a few days. We’ll meet back here in half a month, and I’ll bring the person then.”

Yun Yanli said immediately, “I’m going wherever you go. If you run off halfway, where am I supposed to go for justice?”

Xiang Zhongjing looked at him strangely. “Since you don’t trust me, why are you letting me help you find someone?”

Yun Yanli tilted his head back and gave a haughty snort. “You’re the only person in Jiuzhou I find even remotely tolerable.”

Xiang Zhongjing said drolly, “Just because I stabbed you once?”

Yun Yanli: “…”

Driven to embarrassment and anger, Yun Yanli drew his sword and said coldly, “Come at me!”

Xiang Zhongjing let out a muffled chuckle, showing no fear of the sharp spiritual blade. He lazily stood up and gently pushed the sword aside, stretching as he said, “Fine, if you want to come along, then come.”

Only then did Yun Yanli sheathe his sword, reluctantly agreeing.

Xiang Zhongjing had said they would leave in a few days. After seeing Yun Yanli off, he returned to his room to pack his things.

Gu Congxu leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching as he carefully placed the good-luck charms he had collected lately into his storage space. He asked indifferently, “Are you really going with that Yun Yanli?”

“Mm.” Xiang Zhongjing held a lamp in each hand, looking back and forth for a long time until his eyebrows furrowed into little knots. He replied casually, “He’s good with his hands; he’ll make a great free bodyguard.”

Gu Congxu had known he didn’t have good intentions for letting Yun Yanli follow. Hearing this, he said crossly, “Didn’t you ask me to protect you? Why do you need anyone else? It’s redundant.”

“I’ve said it many times, Sange, you’re different from the others.” Xiang Zhongjing looked at him with deep emotion and said, “If it truly came down to a life-or-death situation, I definitely wouldn’t let you take any risks.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Even though he knew Xiang Zhongjing was just spouting melodramatic nonsense to tease him, a warmth still inexplicably flowed through his heart.

After speaking, Xiang Zhongjing held up the two lamps for Gu Congxu to see, asking expectantly, “Sweetheart, help me pick one of these two lamps.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Gu Congxu stared at him in shock. He hadn’t expected Xiang Zhongjing to be able to say something like “sweetheart” with a straight face.

This person is truly too shameless, too terrifying.

Gu Congxu felt himself trembling inwardly.

Xiang Zhongjing was still looking at him. “Sweetheart?”

Gu Congxu’s face turned red at the address, and he forced himself to remain stiff. “Is there even a difference between those two?”

“How is there no difference?” Xiang Zhongjing rushed over with the lamps to show him the details. “Look, the edge of this one is rounded, while this one has a bit of a spike. How can they be the same?”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Gu Congxu found it preposterous. To him, the two lamps looked exactly the same; he had no idea why Xiang Zhongjing was so conflicted.

“Then take this one,” Gu Congxu said, pointing randomly.

Xiang Zhongjing looked as though a major life crisis had been resolved. He breathed a sigh of relief and gave a wink with his left eye. “Sange and I really are of one mind; it’s exactly the one I wanted.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Having finished his flirtatious routine with practiced ease, Xiang Zhongjing made a mark on the chosen lamp.

Gu Congxu pretended to be composed as he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. He saw a line of beautiful small script written on it: “Chosen by Sange.”

After labeling it, Xiang Zhongjing moved to put the lamp in his storage space, but then seemed reluctant to let go. With a light touch, the lamp shrunk to the size of half a fingertip, and he hung it from his ear as an earring.

Seeing this, Gu Congxu felt his face suddenly heat up for some reason.

How can every move this man makes, even the unintentional ones, be so seductive?

Once he had finished packing, Xiang Zhongjing went to find Man Qiuxia to ask if there were any more convenient ways to get to the Central Plains besides the teleportation towers.

When he found him, Man Qiuxia was huddling with the paper-faced Song Youqiu, whispering about something.

As Xiang Zhongjing got closer, he vaguely heard their conversation.

“If no one buys the Wujin Building, then forget it. Just make sure you build the one in the Central Plains perfectly; not a single detail can be missed.”

“Master, doing all that in just a few days might be a bit demanding, don’t you think?”

“I’ll add another hundred thousand jade stones.”

“Deal! I’ll have an identical Wujin Building built for you in the Central Plains within five days.”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

With a strange expression, Xiang Zhongjing stepped forward and lightly tapped on the table. “Youqiu, you even know how to build houses?”

He had thought Song Youqiu’s mind was entirely filled with selling coffins.

Seeing Xiang Zhongjing, Song Youqiu quickly bowed. “Greetings, Sovereign.”

Xiang Zhongjing nodded and tossed him a bag of Qiong Eryi’s rations. “This is for the fee for getting back the Soul-Stabilizing Coffin. Thank you.”

Song Youqiu’s eyes lit up. “You’re too kind, too kind!”

Even though the compensation Su Cansheng had paid him for Xiang Zhongjing’s nanmu coffin was enough to buy a hundred coffins, Song Youqiu still fleeced whenever he could, refusing to let any money-making opportunity pass.

Xiang Zhongjing saw the contract on the table and raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You really plan to build a new Wujin Building in the Central Plains?”

“Yes, yes!” Song Youqiu was in a great mood, his eyes crinkling as the little coffin bells on his person jingled. “Building a house follows the same principle as making a coffin, isn’t it just providing a home for someone to live in?”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Xiang Zhongjing’s lip twitched. How can those two things be the same?

Song Youqiu is going to be beaten to death sooner or later.

Having made a fortune, Song Youqiu gave a smiling bow with his signed contract and took his leave.

Man Qiuxia stared longingly at Xiang Zhongjing’s face. “Your face is still the best to look at. That other guy looks a bit like you, but why is he still so ugly? If I couldn’t see you for even a day, how would I live?”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Man Qiuxia cared for nothing in the world; his heart and soul were entirely focused on Xiang Zhongjing’s face. Even seeing Yun Yanli, who looked so much like him, he couldn’t be bothered to investigate the connection.

As long as it didn’t stop him from looking at the face, it was fine.

Xiang Zhongjing shot him a look. “So you spent all those jade stones just for that?”

Man Qiuxia didn’t care at all. “I have plenty of jade stones.”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Xiang Zhongjing simply couldn’t understand why he was a pauper while everyone around him—be it Man Qiuxia or Qiong Eryi, was so rich they could eat jade stones like snacks.

Fortunately, Xiang Zhongjing didn’t have a hobby of buying spiritual items; he usually just collected good-luck charms and various styles of lamps, which didn’t cost much.

Gu Congxu sat on the window sill in the room, too bored to listen to them. He sat with his back to Man Qiuxia, watching the setting sun.

The morning sun and evening glow were more colorful than even Man Qiuxia’s paints.

Xiang Zhongjing stated the purpose of his visit.

“A way to get to the Central Plains?” Man Qiuxia thought for a moment. “You can’t use the towers, but don’t you have a True Dragon?”

Xiang Zhongjing tilted his head. “Hmm?”

Man Qiuxia said, “A True Dragon can travel thousands of miles in a day, far faster than common spiritual tools and much safer than the towers.”

Xiang Zhongjing grew thoughtful.

He hadn’t considered the possibility of riding Gu Congxu to the Central Plains.

While Xiang Zhongjing was thinking, a spark of inspiration seemed to hit Man Qiuxia as well. His eyes began to shine, and he picked up a nearby brush, using the wet ink to doodle a few sketches on the signed contract.

Xiang Zhongjing caught a glimpse of it, and his face immediately turned green.

A diagram of riding a dragon.

Xiang Zhongjing nearly set Man Qiuxia on fire along with the paper. In the end, he fumingy grabbed Gu Congxu—who was almost falling asleep watching the sunset and returned to the room.

Seeing him so angry, Gu Congxu thought something had gone wrong with the discussion. “What happened?”

No matter how thick-skinned Xiang Zhongjing was, he was too embarrassed to mention the diagram he had just seen. He could only give a muffled “mm” and remain silent.

Not knowing what the “mm” meant, Gu Congxu pressed on. “Do you know how we’re getting to the Central Plains? Can we still use the towers?”

Xiang Zhongjing took several deep breaths, forcing the heat in his face down before speaking calmly. “We can’t use the towers anymore.”

“Oh,” Gu Congxu said. “Then how are we going?”

Xiang Zhongjing hadn’t intended to tell Gu Congxu about this. After all, with the pride and dignity of a True Dragon, he would surely never allow a human to ride him like a common spirit beast.

But as the earnest, completely guileless dragon asked him so seriously, the mischief that Xiang Zhongjing had been suppressing in his heart finally broke through.

“About that,” Xiang Zhongjing said with a smile. He hooked his fingers into Gu Congxu’s collar and said slyly, “It all depends on whether the Great Dragon Lord is willing.”

The moment Gu Congxu saw that smile and the flirtatious gesture, he knew the next sentence wouldn’t be anything proper. He said immediately, “I’m not willing! Pretend I didn’t ask.”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Sange has actually made some progress!

Seeing Gu Congxu’s rejection, Xiang Zhongjing became even more eager to see his reaction. Laughing, he pulled down the hands Gu Congxu had used to cover his ears and whispered a single sentence into his ear.

Gu Congxu froze. He stayed in that ear-covering pose for a long time, and suddenly, two small dragon horns sprouted from the messy hair on his forehead.

Xiang Zhongjing blinked.

Gu Congxu’s face was beet red, his vertical pupils trembling violently. He looked as though he had received a massive shock.

“You, you, you!” Gu Congxu’s finger shook as he pointed it at Xiang Zhongjing, staring at him in disbelief. “You! Shameless!”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Seeing this reaction, Xiang Zhongjing felt that the dragon might have misunderstood something.

“Sange, listen to me calmly.” This misunderstanding hadn’t been Xiang Zhongjing’s intention, and it had completely spun out of his control. Not wanting Gu Congxu to get the wrong idea, he tried his best to explain. “That ‘ride’ I mentioned isn’t what you think… Oh, your horns are showing.”

Blushing, Gu Congxu hurriedly tried to cover his horns.

“Ah, the scales on your face are coming out too.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Gu Congxu let out a “whimper” of utter embarrassment and anger. He transformed into a plume of blue smoke on the spot, vanishing instantly and retreating into Xiang Zhongjing’s sea of consciousness, refusing to show his face.

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”