Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

By the time the car reached Meixi, it was already completely dark.

The county town already had few streetlights, and that night, fog rolled in, shrouding the entire long street in a gray haze. Only a few streetlights illuminated small yellow patches on the wet ground.

Jiang Ruoxi gave directions, and Han Song parked the car two streets away from Bailanhua Lane.

The four got out of the car and walked along the wall toward the old house.

Aygul walked at the front, her knife hidden in her sleeve, her steps so light they seemed not to touch the ground.

Ye Chen protected Jiang Ruoxi, with the Ku Zhao sword on his back, keeping a watchful eye on everything around him.

Han Song covered the rear, his hand on his waist, ready to draw his weapon at any moment.

The alleyway was eerily quiet, so quiet it sent chills down one's spine.

On ordinary days, there are usually two or three elderly people sitting at the door, fanning themselves and chatting, but tonight there is no one at all.

Even the lights shining from the windows of those few houses were much less than usual, as if someone had given prior notice, telling the entire alley to pretend to be asleep.

Ye Chen became increasingly certain that Wen Jiuhong was nearby.

He gestured to Aygul, and the four of them didn't take the main alley, but instead went around to the back of the old house through a narrow gap in the wall.

Aygul climbed over the wall, peered into the courtyard from the roof tiles for a moment, then turned back and whispered, "There are people in the courtyard, quite a few, about seven or eight, all standing close to the wall. The lights are on in the main room, and the curtains are half-drawn. Wen Jiuhong is inside."

Ye Chen asked, "Have you seen the magnolia tree at Ruoxi's house?"

Aygul replied, "There were people standing under the tree in the east corner of the yard as well."

Ye Chen had Han Song and Ayiguli wait outside the wall while he led Jiang Ruoxi out through the main gate.

Jiang Ruoxi glanced at him, said nothing, simply wrapped her trench coat tighter, and followed him to the front door.

Ye Chen didn't knock; he kicked the door open.

The iron gate slammed against the wall with a deep, resounding thud.

The seven or eight people in the courtyard turned their heads in unison, like startled snakes.

But Ye Chen didn't give them time to react. The Ku Zhao Sword was already drawn, and the sword wind swept out with the night mist. The two people closest to the door hadn't even seen the attack before they fell to the ground, and the sound of weapons hitting the ground echoed one after another.

Jiang Ruoxi didn't try to be brave.

She stood close to the door, her eyes fixed on the half-closed wooden door of the main room.

The door opened, and Wen Jiuhong came out.

Today he wore an old gray long gown with a black vest over it, looking like someone who had stepped out of an old photograph. His face was paler than a few days ago, and there were dark circles under his eyes, but there was still a faint smile on his lips.

His gaze swept over the fighting in the courtyard, landing on Jiang Ruoxi, then on Ye Chen. He clapped his hands lightly: "It's been half an incense stick's time slower than I expected. The road in Bailanhua Lane is difficult to walk, isn't it?"

Ye Chen swept a man in front of him to the ground and pointed his sword at Wen Jiuhong: "You left the whole alley empty, just waiting for us to come."

Wen Jiuhong smiled and said, "No, I've only been waiting for you. It's good that Jiang Ruoxi came. Some things are better said in front of the two of you than kept hidden."

Jiang Ruoxi took half a step forward, her tone as cold as night dew: "If you want to say something, stand under the magnolia tree and say it. That's my mother's place. You're not worthy to stand here."

Wen Jiuhong's eyes flickered slightly, but he wasn't angry after all. Instead, he actually took a few steps toward the magnolia tree.

The night wind made the leaves of the trees rustle, like countless tiny hands clapping.

He stood under the tree, looked up at the canopy, and then turned to look at Jiang Ruoxi: "Your mother came to Wuyi Ferry to ask for medicine, saying she was willing to exchange the Destiny Chart for your father's life. Unfortunately, what Elder Jiu wanted was not the Destiny Chart, but her. Your father left himself on the boat to take her away. This tree was planted by your mother later. She said that if someone carrying the Kuzhao Sword ever passed by, she should tell him that something was buried under the tree."

Ye Chen's eyes narrowed: "What is it?"

Wen Jiuhong said, "Your father's sword tassel and the rubbing of half of the life map of Elder Jiu are the places where your mother hid things. Beishan and the old house are just a smokescreen. I led you all the way from Longyin Mountain to the south bank and then to Meixi, just waiting for you to dig out the things yourselves. Now you're here, and the sword is here too. Dig it open for me. I want that half of the rubbing."

Ye Chen looked at him without moving.

He quickly connected all the dots in his mind.

Wen Jiuhong had been a "respectable person" at the Blackwater headquarters for so many years, but it turns out he had been looking for a way out for himself all along.

His falling out with Elder Jiu wasn't because of Ye Chen, but because of that destiny map that could stabilize the water veins.

With the complete map, he could start afresh and stop being Old Man Jiu's dog.

Jiang Ruoxi understood and said coldly, "You used my mother and father's affairs to set up a scheme all these years, just for this."

Wen Jiuhong didn't deny it: "Everyone in Blackwater uses other people's lives to pave their own way. It's just that you're more stubborn than your mother. Ye Chen, enough nonsense, hurry up and dig."

"What if I don't dig?" Ye Chen stuck his sword into the mud at his feet, the blade sinking three inches into the ground.

Wen Jiuhong's face finally darkened, and he gave a wink to the person under the tree.

The man pulled a black iron can from behind the tree, poured it under the tree roots, and a pungent oily smell spread out.

Ye Chen's expression changed drastically.

Wen Jiuhong suddenly had a copper tinderbox in his hand. He gently struck it, and the flame shone brightly in the foggy night: "Then let this tree be buried with your mother-in-law."

Jiang Ruoxi trembled all over, her nails digging into her palms.

Ye Chen pressed down on her wrist, his eyes fixed on the small flame on Wen Jiuhong's wrist, and said, word by word, "If you dare to light it, I'll make sure you never even have a trace of ashes left in your life."

Wen Jiuhong's hand froze in mid-air.

The firelight danced on his face, illuminating his deep-set eyes like two dry wells.

He said, "Whether I live or die, I haven't cared since the day I entered the Blackwater, but if the things buried under this tree are burned to charcoal, then your parents and Jiang Yuanshan will have died in vain. You can take the gamble."

Ye Chen did not gamble.

He slowly walked to the tree, squatted down, and began to dig with his hands.

The soil was damp, mixed with fallen leaves and thin magnolia tree roots.

Jiang Ruoxi also came over and started digging with him.

They hadn't dug very deep when their knuckles bumped into an extremely hard box.

The box was made of stone, flat, about the size of a palm, with a plum blossom carved on the lid.

Ye Chen took the box out and looked up at Wen Jiuhong.

Wen Jiuhong's eyes changed, and he reached out to take it.

In that split second, Ye Chen rolled to the side with the stone box in his arms, while Jiang Ruoxi simultaneously threw out a handful of snake repellent powder given to her by Su Qinghan.

Aygul and Han Song pounced down from the walls on either side, their blades flashing in two arcs.

Before the Blackwater Knife-wielding men in the courtyard could react, a whole group of them were taken down.

Ignoring the stone box, Wen Jiuhong first dodged Ayiguli's knife, then took a punch from Han Song, and retreated rapidly backward.

Ye Chen handed the stone box to Jiang Ruoxi and chased after her with his sword.

The sword's edge pierced the mist like a bolt of black lightning cutting through the night.

Wen Jiuhong swung out half of the iron chain to parry, but Ye Chen slashed it away with his sword. The chain grazed the magnolia tree, snapping off several branches with leaves.

Ye Chen lunged forward and slashed again, forcing Wen Jiuhong to retreat to the wall, where he had nowhere to go.

He suddenly laughed, a very faint and sinister laugh: "You think killing me will make Elder Jiu let you go? He's still behind you, waiting for you to deliver the map to him."

Ye Chen pressed the tip of his sword against his throat and said softly, "Then you go underground and wait for him."

Before the sword could even strike, a spurt of black blood suddenly gushed from Wen Jiuhong's mouth, and he went limp.

He had already taken poison.

At this moment, the intense fighting affected his blood and qi, and the poison took effect.

Ye Chen lowered his sword and took a step back, while Jiang Ruoxi stood there, holding the stone box, trembling all over.

The rain started again, extremely fine and cold, falling on the magnolia tree as if the whole tree was weeping softly.

Ye Chen turned to look at her, walked over, put the sword back on his back, and cupped her face in his muddy hands: "It's over. This time, it's really over."

Jiang Ruoxi nodded, tears falling with the rain into his muddy palms.

The night is still long. The rain is still cold.

But in this courtyard, the lamp that belonged to them was ultimately not extinguished by anyone.