I courted death and then tried to escape, so the whole sect wants to get rid of me.

Ye Chang'an felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He used both his hands and feet to push himself up against the wall and scrambled toward the door, afraid that if he was a step too slow, the person behind him would change his mind and give him another sword strike.

The door hasn't been opened yet.

--"etc."

The words "light and airy" stuck to Ye Chang'an's back like icicles.

He froze, his legs trembling, and turned halfway around, not daring to look up: "You, you have something else?"

Song Yao took a sip of wine, her eyes glistening with intoxication again: "It's nothing important, I just wanted to say that Young Master Ye, after all, has a fiancée. It would be best if you came to places like this less often next time. What do you think, Young Master Ye?"

Ye Chang'an nodded hurriedly, tears mixed with sweat and blood smeared on his face: "Yes, yes, Senior Sister Lin is right, I, I will never come to a place like this again."

After saying that, he looked at her with an apologetic smile and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now?"

"Don't rush."

Song Yao suggested, "Change your clothes before you go, so that others don't think you've been bullied."

She thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have any spare clothes? If not, I'll go out and get you a set."

If what just happened hadn't occurred, her words would have been considered gentle and considerate.

Ye Chang'an quickly shook his head: "I, I have clothes, I have them."

Song Yao: "Then let's change."

Ye Chang'an: "...Here, here?"

Song Yao glanced at the screen.

Ye Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly walked over, changed his clothes haphazardly, bowed twice to Song Yao, and almost fled the room, limping as if he were running away.

Song Yao finished his wine and placed several money pouches on the corner of the table.

Thanks to the twin ghosts who snatched the mustard seed bag from the disciples of the Northern Shaking Sect in the Ten Thousand Bone Forest Secret Realm, she wouldn't even have been able to afford the wine.

She got up, straightened the wrinkles on her Taoist robe, and slowly pushed open the door and walked out.

It's late, time to go back to sleep.

If you're not in good health, you can't stay up late.

Good sleep.

The lanterns in the corridor cast a warm glow. Just as I stepped outside room number two, a faint smell of blood, almost overpowered by the scent of cosmetics, crept out through the crack in the door.

Song Yao frowned almost imperceptibly and stopped in her tracks.

In this situation, those who can resist gossiping are truly skilled.

Thinking that since she was already there, she might as well take a look, so she tiptoed to the window, poked a hole in it, and secretly peeked inside.

That one glance dispelled all my drowsiness.

The room was dimly lit by candlelight, and her fourth junior brother stood in the center of the room.

The boy had delicate and clean features, and was the most gentle and handsome man I remembered.

But at this moment, his eyes were lowered, and he was extremely indifferent and aloof as he slowly wiped the blood off his hands.

Before him knelt a lifeless man in black, a small patch of dark red staining the floor.

The talismans flickered around, tinged with the smell of blood.

The next second, as if sensing something, he suddenly turned his head, his gaze piercing through the small hole in the window paper and striking Song Yao's eyes directly.

Song Yao: "..."

not good.

She instinctively tried to back away, but it was obviously too late.

The window behind her was opened, and a hand with distinct knuckles grabbed the back of her collar and, without saying a word, lifted her directly through the window.

Before he could even land properly, Xie Zhou waved his sleeve, and the man in black on the ground was instantly sucked into his mustard bag.

The corner tea table, along with two cushions, flew over and landed precisely on the bloodstains.

Song Yao frowned slightly, about to speak, when her wrist was grabbed.

The fourth junior brother was already sitting cross-legged on a soft cushion, his fingertips slightly cool, as he pulled her towards another cushion: "Sit."

Caught off guard, Song Yao stumbled and fell right into his arms.

A delicate, sweet fragrance mingled with the aroma of osmanthus wine wafted over.

Xie Zhou had a meal.

The chill in the air seemed to have eased a little; her fingertips curled almost imperceptibly, and even her drooping eyelashes trembled slightly.

Song Yao was also taken aback. Just as she was about to get up by supporting herself on his knees, a hand suddenly pressed down on her lower back.

A cool, low voice whispered in her ear, warm against her skin: "Just like that, don't move."

The next instant, the window facing the river was kicked open from the outside.

Amidst the crisp cracking of the wooden frame, several dark figures swept in, carried by the night wind, their movements so swift that only afterimages remained.

Several people dressed in black cloaks and wearing goat bone masks landed around the room. The iron badges at their waists jingled, and their cold gazes, through the eye holes in their masks, were fixed on the two people at the tea table.

The leader stepped forward, his goat bone mask obscuring his emotions, his voice devoid of any fluctuation: "Where is Shan Hai?"

Song Yao's heart skipped a beat.

The hunters of Yong'an Tower!

What a coincidence! She was just thinking about how to get information from Yong'an Tower when she unexpectedly ran into him here.

Judging from their appearance, they've all come looking for Fourth Junior Brother!

Before she could take another look, Xie Zhou reached out and grabbed the back of her head, pulling her into his arms without a word.

She immediately understood.

Being remembered by the hunters of Yong'an Hall is not a good thing.

The fourth junior brother is quite considerate.

Thinking that she would be an ordinary person in the future, she must not get too entangled with Yong'an Hall, at least not now, and immediately buried her face deeper into his chest.

Xie Zhou froze completely.

He paused for a full three breaths before looking up, his eyes drooping with a lazy curve: "What mountains and seas? I don't know."

The gaze beneath the goat bone mask turned fierce: "You just broke into the Yong'an Tower stronghold, and Shan Hai was clearly taken away by you. And you still dare to deny it?"

Xie Zhou reached for the teacup on the table and said calmly, "Second Master, you're wronging me."

He glanced up at the lanterns swaying in the corridor outside the window, then looked down at the person buried tightly in his arms: "I've stayed here all night, I haven't even left the house, how could I have had time to go to your Yong'an Restaurant?"

Furthermore…

He paused, his eyes suddenly sharpening. "Why would I capture Shan Hai? Didn't Yong'an Tower repeatedly claim that it had never attacked the Nine Saints Hall?"

He chuckled lightly: "What are you all feeling guilty about?"

Song Yao was feeling sleepy in his arms, her eyes almost closed, but upon hearing this, she couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

Turning evil makes all the difference.

Fourth Junior Brother used to be so gentle and adorable, he looked like a child.

Now he can face dozens of Yong'an Tower hunters all by himself, and he remains so calm, even outclassing them.

They've really grown up.

Moreover, he had just killed someone.

Back then on the main peak, he probably couldn't even bring himself to kill a chicken, right?

The two servants stared at him for a moment, the eye holes in the goat bone mask seemingly bottomless.

After a long silence, she finally raised her hand, signaling the hunters to put away their weapons, her voice still flat: "We will investigate further."

Xie Zhou added calmly, "Me too."

The two servants paused, then turned and climbed out the window to leave.

Several hunters also retreated and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.

The moment the window closed, Song Yao rolled out of his arms: "Sorry to bother you, Fourth Senior Brother. I'm leaving now. Goodnight."

Another step too late.

Xie Zhou hooked his hand around the back of her collar again, his tone indifferent: "Seventh Junior Sister, don't you have anything to say about appearing in a place like this?"