Ming Huashang didn’t dare to stay alone, so she quickly got up and went out with Xie Jichuan.
Ming Huazhang noticed someone eavesdropping and immediately chased after the person. The eavesdropper seemed to know the terrain very well; he beelined left and swerved right, making full use of the lush woods and walls in the villa. As he ran into the woods, he kept looking behind him. Seeing that no one was there, so he thought he had left that young man behind.
The man let out a long sigh of relief. He was about to leave when a figure jumped down from the wall next to him. The figure was light and fast, deft like falling snow, but the movement of his leg was extremely powerful as he kicked right at the man’s waist.
This attack appeared like a ghost. The man was completely unprepared and was hit directly. The man fell heavily, rolled on the ground, and before he could cry out in pain, another attack followed.
Ming Huazhang predicted the man’s movements, so instead of chasing after him, he pretended to lose him and readied an ambush from behind the wall ahead of time. Sure enough, as he expected, the man took a shortcut here and was caught by Ming Huazhang.
After Ming Huazhang subdued the man, he was about to apprehend him when unexpectedly, the man who seemed to lay on the ground without any strength to fight back suddenly raised his hand and sprayed white powder at Ming Huazhang. Ming Huazhang was worried that it was poison, so he retreated immediately. The man took this opportunity to get up from the ground and fled.
A person’s terrifying potential would burst out at the critical moment between life and death. Even though the man was injured, the speed of his escape was like flying. He turned his head while running desperately and saw that the young man stayed in the same place and didn’t try to chase him. Just when he became complacent, a sudden gust of wind whooshed in front of him; its speed was so fast that the air buzzed with vibrations.
The man instinctively dodged to the side. Only then did he see the red tasseled spear right in front of him. Before he could even process the situation, he saw a flash of silver from the tip of the spear, and then it hurtled towards him with the momentum of a dragon.
Weapons were carefully selected based on their size: one inch longer was one inch stronger. The spear was celebrated as the king of all weapons such that a wielder of the knife or sword faced danger before an expert of the spear, let alone a man who was unarmed and half-baked.
The tip of the spear was swift and powerful, and the snow scattered layer by layer whenever the spear passed above. It punctured through the snowy mist making the red tassels appear and disappear like a snake, and its direction was completely unpredictable. Soon the man was unable to dodge and fell. He tried to get up, but just when he moved, a gust of wind rushed towards his throat, finally landing dangerously and precisely on his skin.
The man was so frightened that his whole body was paralyzed. Ren Yao turned the tip of her spear and looked down at the man condescendingly: “Hey, keep running. Let’s see if you can keep playing tricks.”
Ming Huazhang walked over slowly from behind and said, “We haven’t completed the investigation of the matter yet, so keep him alive.”
While Ming Huazhang was lying in ambush behind the wall just now, he happened to see Ren Yao chasing right behind him. He gestured to Ren Yao, signaling her to encircle the escapee from the front. For this reason, when the man used the unknown powder to maneuver against him, Ming Huazhang didn’t chase after him.
When he pretended to be caught by the medicinal powder, it was part of the plan to lure the enemy. Ming Huashang and Xie Jichuan chased after the sound of fighting. Xie Jichuan was breathing calmly, but Ming Huashang couldn’t. She asked while out of breath, “Did they catch him?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw a man in brown clothes being pushed to the ground with a spear.
With all the chasing and fighting other people were alarmed. Not long after, Ming Huazhang and the others appeared in the hall and explained to Taiping Gongzhu, Wei Wang, Ding Wang, and the other Junwangs sitting at the head of the hall, “Your Highnesses, this person was eavesdropping outside our house, and his behavior was very suspicious. This subject suspects that the ghost haunting case from these two days has something to do with him.”
Wei Wang let out an “Oh”, and asked inexplicably, “You mean, the strange things that happened today and yesterday were not caused by ghosts, but by someone playing tricks?”
Ming Huazhang lowered his eyelashes halfway and said, “This subject is not an official of the imperial court, so I dare not speak falsely. But this person behaves suspiciously. Interrogating him strictly may lead to rewards.”
The hall was filled with people who came to inquire about the news. The bolder young masters and young ladies were there in person, and the timid ones sent their confidants and maids. Everyone whispered: “Really? Are there no ghosts? Was it all pretend?”
Taiping Gongzhu’s complexion was not good. Even if she was dressed in extravagance, her poor complexion couldn’t be hidden.
Taiping Gongzhu claimed that she didn’t believe in ghosts and deities, but she was still frightened by the maids around her being killed by ghosts one after another. Taiping Gongzhu was furious at the thought of someone playing tricks around her, scaring her so much that she dared not go out and caused such an embarrassing mess in front of so many guests. She slapped the armrest hard and ordered, “Speak, what is going on?”
After the master spoke, the brown-clothed man who was kneeling on the ground finally dared to speak, “Your Highness, this one was wronged! This one only went to the courtyard of the Zhen Duke manor and Pingnan Marquis manor misses to inquire about the evening meal and was seized for some reason. This one was just fulfilling errand duties and honestly serving the Gongzhu’s manor. This one dares not have the slightest disloyalty. How can this one have the ability to play tricks? Please see clearly, Gongzhu!”
The man wept bitterly and looked the part perfectly making the onlookers uncertain again. “Well, then who is speaking the truth?”
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