Free Web NovelChapter 35: Chapter 35: The Screenwriter Forced into Shape
Kuang Hongyi’s tense expression eased slightly as he licked his dry lips, "Chu, what do you make of what happened tonight?"
Yang Xiao directly recounted seeing the Hebo Xi Ship and the third young master. After listening, Kuang Hongyi fell into thought, "The Feng Family hasn’t told us the truth; they’ve bribed Master Bai of the Bai Family Stage to declare that Xi Yao died by accidentally falling into the water. In reality, on the seventh day after her death, they betrothed Xi Yao to Old Master Feng in the way you’ve seen. No wonder Xi Yao’s resentment lingers, turning into a fierce ghost to claim the Feng Family’s lives."
"That must be the case," Yang Xiao recalled the scene and still couldn’t help but feel afraid.
"By the way, Chu, do the two red lanterns hanging outside the door look familiar to you?" Kuang Hongyi suddenly asked, turning his head.
Seeing Yang Xiao not catching on, Kuang Hongyi gave him a hint, "You received the script box, remember? It contained three cards."
Yang Xiao then remembered, indeed, the script box contained three cards. The first depicted the Feng Family Mansion on the main street, the second was this place, by the lake in the backyard, with two large red lanterns hanging outside every door by the lake!
The scene was eerily consistent with what they saw now!
"Are those cards meant to be clues for us?" Yang Xiao thought of them as clue cards but just hadn’t figured out their purpose.
"Correct, before coming here I looked up information, and the red lantern on the second card is a special kind of joy lantern used in ancient times. Now it seems that it implies Xi Yao was sent on the Hebo Xi Ship," Kuang Hongyi revealed.
"And the third card?" The third card was the most unique, featuring an obscure darkness. Yang Xiao remembered it well, as it left him utterly confused at the time.
In that moment, Kuang Hongyi played coy, letting out a chuckle, "At first, I also couldn’t understand what it represented, but Chu, you reminded me just a moment ago."
Yang Xiao looked at him, puzzled.
"You said you saw the Hebo Xi Ship sinking to the bottom of the lake," Kuang Hongyi gestured with a downward pressing of his hand to indicate sinking.
As if a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind, Yang Xiao immediately grasped it, "That hazy darkness is the lake water! The pitch-black, murky water of the night!"
"Exactly! This third card is a reminder to us that the ship, along with Xi Yao, are sunk at the bottom of the lake, and this is the crux of our mission!" After saying this, Kuang Hongyi couldn’t help but grow anxious again, "Looking at the situation, I fear we’ll soon have to go underwater again, to find that ship and Xi Yao’s body, and this time we might have to dive into the lake."
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao turned chicken. Although he was quite a swimmer, the king of the waves in swimming pools, he didn’t even want to mention the ice-cold and creepy water of the lake, not to mention the unknown number of sunken ships and bodies below.
The thought of bumping into Sun Amao and others in the low-visibility waters made Yang Xiao feel utterly unwell.
Noticing Yang Xiao’s face turning pale, Kuang Hongyi changed the subject, "By the way, Chu, when I was in town looking for clues earlier, I inadvertently heard an ancient saying that the locals have been passing down for many years."
Kuang Hongyi fell silent for a moment to recall word for word, "The eldest daughter doesn’t marry out, the second son stays by the knee, fortune thin and life shallow, do not cross the gate of the deep house and large manor."
"I verified this with several elderly locals, and they all said they had heard this saying. Moreover, Fengmen, a remote little place, has only one high-status household recognized by the locals," Kuang Hongyi pointed down, "Right here, on the old site of the flour factory—the Feng Family Manor."
The matter became much clearer now. The first two lines still eluded me, but the latter two, speaking of ’scant blessings and shallow fate, don’t cross the threshold of deep houses and grand courtyards,’ hinted precisely at Xi Yao’s plight.
The night had deepened. With only so many leads at present, further discussion wouldn’t yield results. Kuang Hongyi had been injured, so Yang Xiao let him rest first while he himself kept watch through the night.
"How can I let you, Brother Chu, suffer alone?" Kuang Hongyi walked over to the table and, acting very righteous, reached back to pick up the candlestick to go summon Su Tingting. frёewebnoѵēl.com
Yang Xiao quickly stopped him, "There’s no need for that. Having her here would only hinder us. I... I’m fine on my own."
Seeing Yang Xiao insist, Kuang Hongyi reluctantly put down the candlestick and turned to say, "Brother Chu, you’re just too kind-hearted. In that case, wake me up in a few hours, and I’ll take over your watch."
After Kuang Hongyi had fallen asleep, Yang Xiao rechecked the doors and windows. Peering through the cracks, he saw that the crowd by the distant lakeshore had dispersed. Presumably, Steward Liu and the others were aware of the Paper Talisman Artisan’s mishap, and the chances for the Third Young Master were more likely grim than not.
Sitting by the table, he poured himself a cup of tea. Fortunately, the tea was freshly replaced and still warm.
Yang Xiao clutched the tea cup, feeling the warmth radiating into his palms, and his chaotic emotions gradually settled down.
Kuang Hongyi’s words could not be fully trusted either. Yang Xiao believed him that Xu Su didn’t give him the cemetery soil voluntarily, but to say that Xu Su would attack to kill him seemed far-fetched.
Imagining the scene at that time, Xu Su, possessing the cemetery soil, was already invincible. She only needed to wait for Sun Amao to deal with Kuang Hongyi, so why take the extra step to draw a knife and sneak attack?
Besides, when it came to fighting, the two were not in the same league. Xu Su, a frail woman, was no match for Kuang Hongyi’s brawny build. Even if it were a sneak attack, Xu Su would still stand no chance. Moreover, given the nature of the relationship between the two, Kuang Hongyi was always wary of Xu Su, making the likelihood of a successful sneak attack virtually nil.
Yang Xiao deduced that the real scenario must have gone like this: after realizing Xu Su wouldn’t share the cemetery soil with him, Kuang Hongyi grew murderous. He stabbed Xu Su with a dagger, seriously injuring her, left her on the boat to die, and then escaped on Sun Amao’s ship.
Of course, it was also possible that he simply threw the gravely injured Xu Su into the water.
This could be inferred from the location of Kuang Hongyi’s injury. Xu Su must have been fighting back with the knife after being wounded and collapsing, accidentally slashing Kuang Hongyi’s calf in her frenzied defense.
If it were a sneak attack as Kuang Hongyi claimed, the injury would not be on that part of the body. Putting oneself in that situation, if one were to launch a sneak attack, surely the first strike would be aimed at a vital point, or at the very least, it would render one of his arms useless.
Against someone like Kuang Hongyi, trained in marital arts, if one strike failed, a second opportunity wouldn’t arise.
Xu Su was a stranger to Yang Xiao; he had no intention of seeking justice for her. Furthermore, Kuang Hongyi’s actions couldn’t be said to be wrong. In a life-or-death moment, survival is paramount. Even if it were him, under the same conditions, if Xu Su had cemetery soil and refused to hand it over, then next year’s same day would be her memorial.
Well... of course, that would be the case unless Xu Su turned out to be a hidden master of martial arts.
"Huh—" Yang Xiao made up his mind, resolved to actively exercise his body after going back. It would be ideal to join some sanda or combat sports class that didn’t concern itself with rules—learn whatever was practical. Be it sneak attacks or low blows, the primary focus would be on mastering moves that could overpower the opponent, the more insidious, the better.
There would be no time for writing scripts. If not, he would have to ask for leave in the nightmare group and let his fellow scriptwriters know that the author has been busy struggling for survival. If he lost, he would be gone for good. Thinking about it, everyone would understand.
