Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 93 Death
Fang Tong had already remembered the man's origins, with his dark face and thin figure. He should be the official from the royal palace named Liu whom she had met at the inn a few days ago. Later, she heard people mention his name, which was Liu Congwen.

She saw the other person fall to the ground, struggle for a few times and then fall down again, this time motionless, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

She pondered for half a second, then ran out of the pavilion holding the book.

Opposite the rockery is the corner gate of the backyard, not far from where Liu Congwen fell.

She ran back to the store and wanted to ask the bookstore owner to ask someone to go to the backyard to check, but she saw a figure flashing in front of the bookstore door and someone peeking into the store.

Those people were dressed in street clothes and looked like ordinary passers-by, but their eyes were fierce and they were unfamiliar faces that Fang Tong had never seen in the past few days. They were definitely not neighbors living nearby.

She had a feeling something was wrong, so she swallowed her cry for help and quietly retreated to the backyard using the cover of the bookshelf.

She put the book down on the steps leading to the backyard, quickly walked to the corner door of the backyard, gently pulled the bolt, and saw Liu Congwen still lying there.

She looked around and saw that there was no one at either end of the alley, so she ran to Liu Congwen, lifting her skirt.

She pushed his shoulder, and seeing that he didn't respond, she pushed him away with force, and then gasped.

The blow just now pulled the unhealed wound, and she frowned in pain, but Liu Congwen's condition was worse than hers.

He was stabbed in the chest, and blood stained his clothes, exuding a strong and dark smell of death in the dusk light.

His face was also filled with death.

Fang Tong's hand trembled and he sniffed his breath.

There is almost no breathing.

Fang Tong was at a loss for a moment.

At this moment, her hand was suddenly held.

Liu Congwen suddenly opened his eyes wide, grabbed her wrist with his hands like pliers, and stuffed something into her hand.

His throat made a wheezing sound, as if he wanted to say something to her, but in the end he didn't utter a word. He just stared at her, then tilted his head and never moved again.

Fang Tong remained still for two seconds, then suddenly pulled his hand away and stepped back.

She looked at Liu Congwen lying on the ground. His eyes were still open, as if he was glaring at something.

But his eyes were empty.

Fang Tong's chest rose and fell unconsciously, and he felt his throat was blocked and he couldn't make any sound.

There were footsteps outside the alley, more than one.

Fang Tong came back to his senses instantly.

She pulled her eyes away from Liu Congwen, turned around and ran into the courtyard gate, quickly bolted it, and heard someone running into the alley outside.

"Here." The person outside the courtyard said, "Look around to see if anyone else has seen it."

Fang Tong didn't dare to stay for long, and returned to the store using the fastest martial arts skills he could.

At this time, the few people who were hesitating outside the door had already left. Fang Tong quietly walked around the bookshelf, stood in the corner, and stared at the densely packed books in a daze.

She was distracted for a while, then she heard someone calling, "Miss Fang?" It turned out to be Hu Zi coming back from outside.

Fang Tong turned around and saw an acquaintance, and felt relieved.

Seeing that she was looking at him without saying anything, Hu Zi looked towards the store in confusion and asked again, "Miss Fang?"

Fang Tong took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and pinched the fingers gathered in his sleeves, only to feel something slippery on his hands.

That was the blood on Liu Congwen's hand. When he grabbed her, his blood was also left on her hand.

Fang Tong loosened his fingers and said to Hu Zi, "Wait for me."

After saying that, she returned to the steps leading to the backyard and picked up the book that was placed there through her sleeves.

As she held the book, she looked up at the courtyard wall in the distance. She couldn't hear any sound here, and wondered if those people had left.

She and Hu Zi left the bookstore and walked a short distance. Suddenly she said, "It's closer from West Street. Let's go that way."

Hu Zi did not doubt him, nodded, and walked with her. Fang Tong stared at the stone slabs under her feet, secretly counting the remaining time to approach the alley.

She deliberately changed the route because she could see the situation in the alley from near West Street. She wanted to confirm whether Liu Congwen was dead and whether the people who appeared later were still there.

As she was about to reach the alley, her heart was beating faster and faster. At this moment, she suddenly heard a scream and a woman ran out of the alley in panic.

"Help! There's a dead person!"

There were very few pedestrians on the road at this time, but the people nearby were preparing dinner. Upon hearing the call, several of them opened their doors and stuck their heads out.

"Aunt Wang, what happened?"

"Come and see, there's a dead person in the alley!"

Aunt Wang was shouting incoherently. Some men heard it and rushed to the alley to check. What they saw was even more shocking, so they hurriedly called people to report to the police.

The scene soon became chaotic, with many people gathering at the entrance of the alley and talking about something. After a while, the constable and his runners arrived and carried a corpse out of the alley.

The face of the corpse was covered with a piece of cloth, but Fang Tong still recognized him from his clothes. It was Liu Congwen.

She felt like a huge stone was weighing on her heart, heavy and a little dazed.

It was not the first time that she saw someone die in front of her. When Feng Twelve was killing the bandits, she was not far away.

But Liu Congwen was not a bandit, he did not cause her any harm. They only met once and they didn't even say a word to each other, and then he died.

The scene before his death seemed to be shaking in front of Fang Tong's eyes. His eyes were fixed on her, and his hands were holding her tightly.

What did he want to say? Was he asking her for help? Or was he telling her something else?

Fang Tong closed his eyes.

"Miss Fang, are you okay?" Hu Zi asked in his ears.

Fang Tong shook his head, opened his eyes, looked at the backs of the yamen runners going away, and whispered, "I wonder who died?"

"The government office is very close to the posthouse," Hu Zi said, "If you want to know, I will ask for you tomorrow."

"No need." Fang Tong smiled and said, "If it's an important person, the news will spread without asking."

Hu Zi looked at her in surprise, and felt that her tone was a little strange, but Fang Tong seemed to have returned to normal after she said this. She said calmly: "Let's go back to the inn first."

After returning to the inn, Fang Tong went straight into his room.

She put down the book in her hand, placed her almost stiff hands into the basin, and held on to the bottom of the basin.

The blood on his hands had dried long ago, and even after soaking them in water, they didn't get much cleaner.

Fang Tong picked up the scented soap, smeared it all over his hands and rubbed them vigorously.

The water was mixed with the smell of blood and soap, and the fishy smell became increasingly strange and strong. Fang Tong held his breath, rubbed the palms and backs of his hands again and again, and did not even care if his sleeves fell into the water.

"Fang Tong." Someone knocked on the door.

"Who?" Fang Tong replied subconsciously.

After saying this, he was stunned.

She looked up and saw herself in the mirror.

It was getting dark and the light in the room was dim. Her pale face was reflected in the mirror, like a female ghost.

The person outside the door waited for a while, but heard nothing from her, so he asked again, "It's dark now, why don't you turn on the lights?"

Fang Tong bit her lower lip. She recognized that this was indeed Feng Twelve’s voice.

"I--"

"I'm in."

The two of them spoke at the same time, the door opened, and Feng Twelve appeared at the door.

(End of this chapter)