Seventy-Seven: The Dying Two-Legged Lambs, Part One

The two assassins had each been forced to swallow a basinful of filth. The woman was fortunate enough, since she was already dead. The man was the unlucky one; in the end, he was stuffed full and burst to death, his belly swelling like a balloon.

To be killed by excrement—this might truly be the most miserable death in the world.

Ming Tian ordered An Luo to carry the two corpses out in the dead of night and dump them in some corner where no one would find them.

The room had returned to silence. Because the male assassin had kicked over the table, the scene was left in utter disarray, like an airport after a bombing.

“Xin Zhu, are you all right?” Seated by the bed, Ming Tian used clean water to wipe the rouge from Xiao Xin Zhu’s hands.

Xiao Xin Zhu was his heart’s treasure; how could Ming Tian bear to let her suffer even the slightest harm?

Such tender concern made Xiao Xin Zhu’s delicate face turn crimson. She could only nod and let out a very soft “Mm.”

Why force them to swallow filth?

Ming Tian was not indulging some perverse hobby, nor speaking idly.

This had already happened three times!

The first was Cui Jue, the second Liu Jian, and now this third time. He had already taken on those Hun-wonton rabble three times… although the second time had been an act of righteous intervention and could not be counted as them coming to trouble him.

Still, Ming Tian’s disgust for that organization had already reached its peak.

Immature, self-righteous, fond of putting on airs, with a taste in names that was downright vulgar—every Hun-wonton man he had encountered seemed to share these traits.

What if they came again? Was he to keep on defending himself forever? Did they really think he was a soft persimmon they could squeeze at will?

By leaving the corpses in a corner instead of dealing with them properly, Ming Tian meant to let the Hun-wonton Splitters find them.

Forcing a basin of filth down the throats of those two so-called Twin Death Gods was a warning.

If they dared to come after him again, the same would be waiting for them. If their superiors ordered them to kill him, then they had better disobey—or else suffer this same fate. The choice was theirs.

That was the domineering message Ming Tian wanted to send.

He only hoped the Hun-wonton Splitters would learn what fear meant.

“Consort of the prefecture?” After drying her hands, Xiao Xin Zhu cast aside her shyness, walked to the doorway, shut the door, and confirmed that no one was eavesdropping. Yet her expression had become somewhat grave. “Who exactly are you?”

“What?” Ming Tian blinked, not understanding what she meant.

Xiao Xin Zhu glanced at Ming Tian’s sleeve arrows, then at the wok in the corner, and a look of suspicion appeared in her eyes.

But after a long while, as though she had lost the courage to ask further, she finally lowered her head and said, “No, it’s nothing. I just… never mind. It’s nothing.”

This girl…

Ming Tian suddenly remembered that when he had spoken to those two assassins just now, Xiao Xin Zhu had been right beside him.

It seemed that at the time he had said something like, “If I accomplish my great undertaking and return to the future…”

Could it be…?

Damn it!

Ming Tian slapped a hand against his own face, inwardly cursing himself for having been so enraged that he had forgotten to watch his words.

Through that conversation, Xiao Xin Zhu must already have begun to suspect his identity.

Should he tell her? Could she, as a native of this world, understand the fact that he was a traveler through time?

Ming Tian lowered his head and thought for a moment.

In the end, he decided against it.

There was no need. It would bring her no benefit to know.

Besides, if he told her that once he completed his great undertaking he would return to his own era, then even if he no longer wished to pursue any great undertaking, from Xiao Xin Zhu’s perspective she would still worry—worry that one day her husband might leave because of it.

No, if she was as understanding as this, she might even persuade him to complete his great undertaking, saying things like he should return to his own time, urging him to leave, and then she would be left alone to weep into her tears.

As a man, he absolutely could not make his woman cry!

Ming Tian stepped forward and, not giving Xiao Xin Zhu time to react, drew the petite figure into his arms.

“Believe me, I won’t leave you.”

That embrace made Xiao Xin Zhu’s heart skip wildly. Her cheeks flushed red at once, and after a moment of stunned stillness she cast aside all doubt and softly returned the hug.

“I believe you, Consort of the prefecture!”

“Mm.” A gentle answer was enough; no more words were needed.

The atmosphere, just broken, began to warm again. Ming Tian slowly lowered his head, looking at the beauty in his arms, and could not help but grow restless with longing.

Their lips drew nearer and nearer, until only the slightest distance remained between them, but then—

“Ming Tian brother, Ming Tian brother, hurry and look!!”

An Luo’s anxious voice abruptly shattered the hard-won mood once more.

“Damn it!!” Ming Tian’s face darkened with fury.

Ever since he had kissed Xiao Xin Zhu, the sweet sensation had left him addicted; he wished he could be kissing her every day.

And now, after finally getting a chance to do so, it had been ruined twice. How could he not be angry?

If you don’t have a very good reason, An Luo, then you had better explain why you interrupted me, or I’ll tear your head off, hollow it out, and use it as a chamber pot!

With that thought burning in his mind, Ming Tian turned in the direction of An Luo’s voice, fuming.

“What is it?”

An Luo burst into the room in a frantic rush, panting heavily. It was hard to imagine what could have driven such a robust man into such agitation.

“Ming Tian brother, y-you should go take a look. I found someone by the corner, but my brain isn’t very bright, so I don’t know whether I should save him.”

Though he said that, An Luo’s tone was clearly one of pleading.

An Luo had made plenty of mistakes before, such as wanting to stand head-on against the bandits at Purple Flower Mountain, or hiding the token in Bean Lake City. He had already been scolded into fear by Ming Tian, and now he no longer dared to make decisions lightly.

Ming Tian’s brows knit slightly.

Please don’t tell me this is like what happened with Yu Nizi in South Lanling County being kidnapped.

After Yu Nizi became the empress, her attitude had left Ming Tian with something like psychological trauma regarding rescuing people, and he had intended to refuse.

“Consort of the prefecture, go take a look,” Xiao Xin Zhu said before Ming Tian could speak.

“If help is truly needed, then saving a life would count as a good deed. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Ahhh, my wife is so kind. Yes, what you say makes perfect sense.

As the saying goes, men in love are fools, and Ming Tian was no exception.

In the face of Xiao Xin Zhu’s tenderness, his heart instantly softened.

Then Ming Tian’s face took on the standard look of a great martial hero: “An Luo, lead the way.”

Deep in the night, when the city had fallen silent, the river beneath the Milky Way of Yangzhou reflected broken points of light. Yet even in such a peaceful and serene place, an unseen darkness still lurked.

In a corner, beside the corpses of those two idiotic assassins, there was a third figure.

If that gaunt body had not occasionally twitched as though seized by cramps, Ming Tian would have thought it was another corpse.

But the small body’s arm bore the character for “sheep,” and that instantly left Ming Tian in a difficult position.

An Luo, you’ve finally grown a little smarter. Do you even know how much trouble there’ll be if you bring him back?

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