This Lady Is Trying to Kill Me

Chapter 452: Traces (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

A strange look appeared in Ye Jingtang’s eyes. “Who did you hear that from?”

“I heard from idlers in a teahouse. As the saying goes, there’s no smoke without fire. This old man might really have a mistress outside. Brother Jingtang, are you helping the mistress? Let’s go. Let me lead the way for you.”

“What mistress am I helping?” Ye Jingtang shook his head silently. He went to the middle of the passage, pressed himself against the wall, and listened carefully to the movements in the hall behind the wall. He found that Fang Shijie had directly sat down in the banquet hall. He was only saying polite words. It seemed unlikely that he would conspire openly.

Zhe Yunli was obviously a little curious. She didn’t return to the store. Instead, she quietly hung on the wall and stuck her head out to look at the horses in the courtyard. Then she gave Ye Jingtang a look.

When Ye Jingtang saw this, he went over and looked at the courtyard from the top of the wall. “What’s wrong?”

Zhe Yunli’s feet were dangling in the air as she hung herself on the wall. Her eyes were level with Ye Jingtang’s as they gestured to the horse eating grass in the stable. “This horse isn’t sweating much. It didn’t run far, but there’s mud on its hooves and stomach. It looks like it ran through a muddy path. These days, the capital is sunny, and there are no such bad paths in the city. There are river embankments near the capital. There aren’t many places where horses can go. Let’s go to the riverbank and search. We might be able to find hoof prints.”

Ye Jingtang’s eyes were quite surprised as he looked at the horse hooves carefully. “Today, the empress went to Clear Water Villa upstream. It’s controlled for more than five kilometers along the way. Ships will be strictly inspected when they dock, but downstream is unrestricted. For convenience, merchant ships of all sizes can go downstream to dock. If the ships can’t squeeze into the port, they have to stop by the river… If he went to the river to do something, the possibility of coming back from downstream is higher.”

Zhe Yunli showed an appreciative look of ‘heroes cherish heroes’. She tugged at Ye Jingtang’s sleeve. “Then let’s go quickly. A place that can become muddy must be flooded. We’d better find it before the tide in the middle of the night. When the water level comes up, everything will be submerged.”

Ye Jingtang saw that Little Yunli was quite smart, so he didn’t say anything. After he asked her to inform the other two girls, they quickly set off and headed out of the city…

Outside the city, at River Shore Wharf…

After Yang Guan returned to his hometown to settle down, the Blue Lotus Gang had disbanded. Now, other local tyrants in the city were managing River Shore Wharf.

After Ye Jingtang became the Saber Chief, these local tyrants who had once wanted to do business in Dye Workshop Street knew that they had offended the wrong person. Recently, they had been completely cowardly. Not to mention managing their businesses, it was unknown where they were hiding. They relied on a group of underlings to maintain order.

The port was a place where people from all walks of life gathered. Without anyone to watch, it was naturally a mess. Coincidentally, the upstream controlled the number of ships coming to the port from downstream. River Shore Wharf was in a state where ships couldn’t get out from inside or enter from outside. The ships that arrived late could only temporarily anchor by the riverside and wait for the port to clear before entering the port to unload their goods.

The moon was bright, and the stars were shining. A large ship from upstream was docked alone near the riverbank, a kilometer away from the port. Most of the guests on the ship had already disembarked and entered the capital on foot, but the goods on the ship couldn’t be unloaded. For this reason, there were still some people walking on the ship, watching the movements at the port.

In a courtyard by the river that people used to escape the heat, a young master in blue clothes was standing on the observation tower and looking at the afterglow of the capital’s lights from afar.

In a teahouse at the back of the courtyard, a few figures were sitting. Among them, an old man in a cloak was sitting cross-legged.

On the right was the muscular Teng Tianyou. Zhongsun Yan was sitting on the left. There was a golden alms bowl on the small table in front of him. It had a lid on it, and the edge was sealed with wax. The surface of the lid was rather exquisite, and there was an ancient emblem engraved on it.

Zhongsun Yan always behaved casually, but at this moment, his expression was solemn. He didn’t dare to touch the golden alms bowl. He just looked at it carefully and sighed. “Back then, in order to restrict the extraordinary people who practiced the Roaring Dragon Chart, the Northwest Royal Court asked the shamans of the various tribes to develop the Dragon Imprisoning Miasma. In the end, the Roaring Dragon Chart is still more mysterious. It forcibly reconstructs the body, and the poison is barely effective. It can only serve as a short-term restriction and is directly ignorable after practicing the Fire Bathing Picture. But for ordinary people who haven’t learned the Roaring Dragon Chart, it is a disaster. No matter how high their martial arts skills are, they will become crippled on the spot if they are exposed to the Dragon Imprisoning Miasma. They can’t resolve it and can’t die. They will suffer the pain of ten thousand ants biting their hearts every day. It is even more tortuous than being directly killed…”

Teng Tianyou was also from Northern Liang and had heard of the Dragon Imprisoning Miasma’s notorious reputation. He thought for a moment and said, “Daoist Xuanji and Ye Jingtang are loyalists of the Imperial Court. Logically speaking, they should have both practiced the Jade Bone Picture hidden in the palace. If this thing is useless to them…”

The sitting brocade-robed old man replied calmly, “The domineering aspect of the Dragon Imprisoning Miasma is that it destroys the foundations of people and causes their bodies to disintegrate on their own. If someone has practiced the Jade Bone Picture, it won’t be able to hurt their bones, but their skin and flesh will still slowly rot away. Even if someone has practiced the three pictures of bones, muscles, and skin, the poison will always be in their body, and their body will constantly be damaged and healed. It is a continuous consumption of their essence, qi, and spirit. No matter how high someone’s martial arts skills are, it will be difficult for them to display much strength.”

Teng Tianyou asked again, “As long as this thing touches the empress, will she definitely die?”

The brocade-robed old man thought for a moment and shook his head. “This item shouldn’t be of any use against the empress. It can only be used to deal with Daoist Xuanji or Ye Jingtang. There’s only one dose of poison. As for how to lure the tiger away from the mountain and how to use the poison, you’ll have to think of a way yourself.”

Teng Tianyou frowned and looked at Zhongsun Yan.. He didn’t say anything else and seriously pondered over the specific plan…