Chapter 77 - Naturally Alluring Bones

Judging by the amount of blood loss, the assassin probably wouldn't live for much longer.

Of course, before that, he could still hold on for a few minutes.

When it really came to this point, Song Yan was in no hurry. He took a few steps back to block the exit and casually picked up a rag from a shelf to wipe the blood off his short knife.

He would not fight the other party to the death at this time.

When a person feels they are about to die, they are at their most terrifying.

For that glimmer of hope, they are capable of anything. At the very least, they would be thinking of perishing together, so they would have a companion on the road to the underworld and not be lonely.

For Song Yan, this was an unnecessary risk. He just needed to wait peacefully for the opponent's blood to drain away, for his strength to grow weaker and weaker, until death.

It was only at this time that Song Yan finally had the time to think about the previous question. Why did the two words 'Dongling' provoke this assassin?

Could it be that someone from Dongling hired him to kill me?

But why?

I've lived this long, and the furthest I've ever traveled is just to Song Prefecture. I'm not even very clear which direction Dongling is in. How could I have offended someone in Dongling?

And even if I really had offended some big shot, they wouldn't have arranged for such an incompetent assassin, would they? If it had been a Second or Third-Rank martial artist, I might have been done for.

Why would Song An know about Dongling?

And why would he remind me?

Although there was no irreconcilable grudge between him and Song An, they hadn't had much interaction either.

Numerous thoughts welled up in his mind. As he pondered, his eyes remained fixed on the assassin opposite him, not relaxing for a moment.

Drip, drip, drip...

It was the sound of fresh blood dripping onto the floor.

The hanging piece of flesh was still dangling. Every sway was a strong stimulation to the assassin's nerves.

His other hand was forcefully pressing the area above his arm, as if trying to block the severed blood vessel. But it was of little use. Blood still seeped out through the gaps between his fingers. In a short time, both his hands were dyed bright red, as if they had been soaked in a pool of blood.

The smell of blood grew thicker.

Just as Song Yan had predicted, the assassin began to panic.

The intense pain had already made him numb. His lips were a little dry, as if about to crack. Even his vision was a little blurry.

He knew that if he couldn't find a doctor immediately, he would soon die.

He didn't want to die.

Stimulated by a strong will to live, the assassin's eyes had already turned completely red. Streaks of blood crisscrossed them, and like a wild beast, he stared fixedly at Song Yan... and the door behind him, as if looking for a chance to escape.

"Are you feeling a little dizzy?" Song Yan's voice slowly spread out:

“Don't worry, that's normal."

"Get out of the way."

"I've heard that if you lose more than a third of your blood, you'll die."

"Get out of the way," the man said again. He had already begun to pant, his chest heaving violently.

"Tell me, who sent you to kill me?"

The man seemed to want to adhere to his professional ethics for a moment. He didn't answer, just took a step forward. He even let go of the wound on his arm, crouched down, and picked up his dagger again.

"Are you already unable to feel the pain?" Song Yan's tone was still unhurried. His body showed no intention of moving aside as he played with the short knife in his hand.

"Your vision, has it started to get a little blurry? Do you feel your limbs gradually going numb, starting to lose strength? These are all signs that you're about to die. If you can't stop the bleeding immediately, you will really die."

"Aren't you afraid I'll fight you to the death?"

"You weren't my match before. How much strength do you think you can use now? Tell me who it is, and I'll get out of the way!"

The man's lips were trembling. He didn't think for too long. An assassin's professional ethics, in the end, cannot compare to one's own life.

"It was someone from Dongling who sent me to kill you."

"Who?"

"I don't know. He was masked. His voice was a man's, a few years older than you."

"Any distinguishing features?"

The will to live had already broken through his psychological defenses, to the point that his speech became a little rushed:

"From his attire, he must be a noble."

"His right leg seemed to be a little inconvenient, somewhat lame."

"Very good. You can go."

Song Yan smiled and then moved his body aside.

He was a gentleman; he would definitely do what he had promised.

The assassin's eyes lit up brightly. The approaching death had already made him unable to think about anything. He staggered towards the door.

He wanted to find a doctor. He didn't want to die.

Puchi!

Just as he reached the door, just as he presented his back to Song Yan, a strange sound drilled into his ears.

The man's body froze on the spot. He looked down at his chest in disbelief. The blood-stained tip of a knife was protruding from his chest.

Shlick.

The knife was pulled out, and his body fell to the ground, twitching neurotically. He spat out some bloody foam, and the light in his eyes gradually faded.

He had promised he would get out of the way, but he never guaranteed he wouldn't stab him in the back, so... there's nothing wrong with that.

"But there is one question I forgot to ask. How much money did he give you?"

Truly foolish, to believe that the target you were supposed to kill would let you go? The man grinned, as if wanting to laugh, but he could no longer laugh:

"Ten... ten taels... of silver..."

His voice grew weaker and weaker.

In the end, even that tiny bit of breath could no longer be heard.

The light of survival in his eyes also gradually faded, turning ashen.

This was the second person he had killed, right? When he killed Yang Guifang, his heart was still a little agitated, but now it was already very calm.

Ten taels of silver. A life is really cheap, whether it's his or the other's.

He did get a useful piece of information, though. The person who wanted to kill him had something wrong with their leg... Song Yan's expression turned grim. He carefully searched his mind, and was very sure that he had no impression of such a man.

A psychopath, right? I don't even know who you are, yet you come to kill me?

He also knew that he had extorted one hundred thousand taels from Song Zhen and would come to the Qian Clan Trading Company to withdraw the money.

This feeling of being targeted but not knowing the other party's identity made Song Yan a little unhappy.

Creek.

The door was pushed open.

Shopkeeper Qian's chubby figure appeared in front of him once again.

Looking at the corpse collapsed at the doorway, a sharp glint flashed for a moment in his mung-bean-like eyes, and his expression quickly returned to normal. As if he hadn't seen the corpse at all, he stepped over the pool of blood and came before Song Yan, holding a thick account book in his hands.

"This young master, we can verify the secret code now."

The money house was also filled with filth.

Those who could become the manager of a money house were all extremely shrewd characters. This man's disguise couldn't fool his eyes, but he didn't care.

He might kill someone.

The money house would be implicated in a murder case because of it, but the Qian family behind it had enough power to settle the case. At most, they would just have to pay a little silver in compensation, but the silver deposited would belong to the Qian family forever.

It was basically a case of dog-eat-dog.

The secret codes matched. Seven days later, a huge sum of one hundred and ten thousand taels of silver would be delivered to the Luo Mansion.

Normally it would be ninety thousand. In this era, when you deposit money in a money house, let alone earning interest, you even have to pay a fee to the money house. Generally, it's one-tenth. But this time, they had made a loss.

A customer being assassinated in the money house's dark room naturally required some compensation.

About a quarter of an hour passed. When Shopkeeper Qian and Song Yan returned to the main hall, that chubby face still had a beaming smile. No one knew that a human life had just been lost, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Young Master-in-law, did something happen?" Gu Banxia keenly sensed that something was off with Song Yan's spirit and asked cautiously.

"It's nothing. Back to Ningping."

The carriage sped all the way. By the time the sun had just begun to tilt, the carriage had already stopped. In front of them was the Duke Song's mansion.

When they saw Song Yan get out of the carriage, the gatekeepers of the Duke's mansion were so scared their whole bodies trembled, their faces deathly pale. He remembered clearly that the previous gatekeeper, Zhang Xiaoshan, had been killed by Song Yan.

The Ninth Young Master, who was once someone everyone in the Duke's mansion could bully, was now a baleful star that everyone feared.

There were even rumors that the Fifth Young Master Song Zhen's imprisonment and the Seventh Young Master Song Yun's death both involved the Ninth Young Master; there just wasn't any evidence.

With a gulp, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva. How could that gatekeeper dare to be neglectful? He hurriedly went to greet him, nodding and bowing, just short of kneeling directly to Song Yan.

"Is my father in the mansion?"

"Uncle is not here. He went out with Fourth Cousin. If Younger Cousin has business, why not come in and wait?" Before the gatekeeper could answer, a gentle voice came from within the mansion.

The voice was soft and sweet, carrying a soul-stirring charm, as if a feather were tickling one's heart.

Yang Siyao.

A woman whose voice was far more alluring than her appearance.

It was still that plain and unremarkable exterior. Her chest seemed to be wrapped with something, so even her figure looked ordinary. The current Yang Siyao, just looking at her from the outside, was the type that you couldn't find at all if you threw her into a crowd.

Yet it was precisely this kind of woman who possessed a temptation that was hard to resist. Like poison coated in honey, even knowing that drinking it would lead to death, one couldn't help but want to taste it.

Song Yan had met two such women. One was Yang Siyao, the other was Mingyue from the Jade Gathering Garden. Mingyue was exceptionally charming and graceful, but Song Yan felt that if Yang Siyao had Mingyue's looks, that seductive charm would probably drive men even crazier.

The so-called 'naturally alluring bones' was just like this.

That strong urge to pull the woman in front of him into his arms and dote on her properly constantly stimulated his nerves... The methods of the Hehuan Sect were terrifying to this extent.

If this were a man with a slightly weaker willpower, he probably would have already fallen at her pomegranate skirt and become a simp for a Hehuan woman.

But Song Yan was, after all, not an ordinary person. Although he was young, he had already experienced far too much. He let out a small breath, and his slightly chaotic state of mind returned to normal.

“Alright."

In the evening, the Duke's mansion didn't seem to be affected by Song Yun's death and had returned to its usual state. Some handmaidens gathered in groups of twos and threes, chatting about everyday trifles. Inadvertently, upon seeing Song Yan appear, their expressions immediately changed, and they scattered in all directions.

It was as if what had appeared before their eyes was not a graceful youth, but Ox-Head and Horse-Face from the underworld.

"Am I that scary?" Song Yan was a little regretful. He felt that he was actually a good person.

At least he didn't bully men or women, or oppress the kind.

In this era, to be able to do these two things already made one an extremely good person.

"Hehe, they probably all bullied you before, Younger Cousin, so naturally they would be afraid." Yang Siyao by his side smiled.

“With a person like Younger Cousin as an opponent, let alone these underlings, even I am a little afraid."

Speaking casually, they arrived at a pavilion. Yang Siyao stopped: "Why don't we rest here for a bit?"

"Alright."

A handmaiden brought fragrant tea. After putting down the teacup, she hurriedly left, which seemed a bit rude. Song Yan didn't care much. Zhang Long and Zhao Hu stood guard on the left and right. If anyone approached within a dozen meters of the pavilion, they would not escape the two's perception.

He took a sip of the tea; it was a bit hot, so he put it down again.

"Miss Yang is joking. When did Miss Yang and I become opponents?"

"Now this is no fun. I've already admitted defeat. What more does Younger Cousin want?" Yang Siyao slowly shook her head.

"Song Yun is dead. Song Zhen is crippled and in prison; he probably won't live for long either. Aunt has lost her power to manage the household. It probably won't be long before she dies a violent death in her own room."

"In this series of events, you have become the biggest winner."

Song Yan just smiled: "Miss Yang is really getting more and more ridiculous. Seventh Brother is dead, I was particularly sad. Didn't you see I cried my eyes red at the funeral..."

"That's true. If you rub ginger on your eyes, anyone's eyes would cry red."

Song Yan leaned back slightly to make Gu Banxia's massage a bit more comfortable. He glanced at Yang Siyao. He was a little unsure what this woman was really trying to do.

This woman was much more difficult to deal with than Song Yun. Although Song Yun was smart, he was greedy for fame. But the woman in front of him—Song Yan didn't know what weaknesses she had.

Since he couldn't figure it out, Song Yan decided to get straight to the point.

"Miss Yang didn't call me over just for this cup of tea, did she?"

"If Yang Miaoqing were to see this scene, she'd probably suspect that the two of us were colluding. Besides, aren't you about to become Song Zhen's fiancée? That makes you my sister-in-law. This is against etiquette, isn't it?"

"Not necessarily. She would probably think that my getting close to you is to control you, or perhaps to see through you and understand you, in order to better deal with you next time."

Her slender fingers caressed the teacup. The furniture in the Duke's mansion was extremely exquisite. The outer rim of the teacup was fine and smooth, and felt quite nice to the touch.

"What's more, she probably doesn't have the time to monitor me right now. She is likely entertaining five guests who have come from afar, from the country of Wa."

The country of Wa?

The Wokou?

Song Yan's body leaned back subconsciously.

Good heavens. I never thought that this Yang Miaoqing would be so utterly insane now as to actually collude with the Wokou.

Could it be that she wants to use the Wokou's hands to eliminate me? Isn't this woman afraid of being cursed by everyone behind her back?

Well, that woman only has Song Zhen in her heart. She probably wouldn't care about that much.

But Yang Siyao telling me these things, what's the reason?

Yang Siyao's lips curled up. Her plain and unremarkable face gained a bit of charm.

"Younger Cousin..."

"Let's make a deal.”

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