Chapter 1172 – Attack on Xu Pei, First Kill Among the Lords (42)
“You don’t like it? Is it because the woman comes from a low status?”
Jiang Pengji frowned.
Though Liu Zhao was merely a bastard son, marrying a hunter’s daughter, even with a life-saving grace, was just too shameless.
Liu Zhao’s expression froze, as if he wanted to say something.
But upon seeing Jiang Pengji’s face, he forced those words back down.
“Aren’t I the least bothered by status? Father likes that girl, and for the sake of making him smile, I married her—only—” Liu Zhao said, “only I have some reasons that cannot be divulged to outsiders; I absolutely cannot marry that girl!”
Jiang Pengji glanced at Liu Zhao.
Reasons that cannot be mentioned to outsiders?
Liu Zhao avoided her gaze, awkwardly changing the subject.
“Just the other day, I passed through Hejian County and visited Master Liaochen. I heard that Master Liaochen is a close friend of my nurturing mother…”
Jiang Pengji lowered her eyelids, following up with a question, “And then?”
Liu Zhao chuckled dryly, “According to Master Liaochen, during my nurturing mother’s third pregnancy, she was tormented by yin evils because of insufficient yang energy, and she had to hide over at Master Liaochen’s place to seek a way to exorcise the evil spirits. Alas, the monastery’s poverty was not conducive for carrying a child.”
After hearing this, Jiang Pengji further confirmed that Liu Zhao’s words contained hidden meaning.
He really did come to her for help.
“My mother’s third pregnancy? How come I didn’t know about this?” She feigned ignorance as she asked, “Wasn’t there only two?”
Liu Zhao nervously gulped.
“Eldest Sister~~ don’t scare me—”
If Jiang Pengji truly didn’t know about this, then Liu Zhao had come seeking refuge instead of walking into a trap.
Jiang Pengji didn’t tease him further, continuing to ask.
“Is there anything else you want to say?”
Liu Zhao’s eyes darted around, after a long pause he finally spoke, haltingly, “I learned a lot of Zen teachings from Master Liaochen. When he talked about evil spirits, I asked him if such things truly exist? The master said they do, that evil spirits exist alongside humans, and when a person’s yang energy is low, they easily become targets. While talking, the master also shared some interesting tales. There was one little story that impressed me a lot.”
Jiang Pengji looked at Liu Zhao coldly.
To be honest, it’s a pity for Liu Zhao.
If not for his background, he might have achieved something great.
“What story?”
“A tale passed down from the Sixteen Kingdoms era.” Liu Zhao struggled internally, stuttering out, “It goes that a noble girl’s soul left her body and wandered the King of Hell’s domain at night. She was captured by the Black and White Impermanence, and the judge said her life had not yet ended, but she couldn’t return to the mortal realm. She protested, questioning why she was wrongfully judged. The judge said her body had been occupied by a nameless wild ghost, but that wild ghost didn’t possess the true memories of the noble girl. Because the memories were tied to her soul, the physical body retained some memory, but that memory only recognized the noble girl’s soul. Helplessly, that lonely ghost lied to the noble girl’s family, saying it had lost its memory, seizing the opportunity to take her place—”
Liu Zhao trembled as he told this story.
He was afraid Jiang Pengji might explode and take him out.
But Jiang Pengji didn’t move.
“Are you saying I’m the nameless wild ghost then?”
Liu Zhao’s face turned pale as he shook his head like a drum.
With ten times his courage, he wouldn’t dare openly provoke her!
Though he didn’t know what this sister was capable of, Master Liaochen also warned that she was not to be trifled with.
Liu Zhao and the original Liu Xi had no real deep sibling bond; rather, this person had provided him with considerable care.
Moreover—
Sigh!
Liu Zhao recalled the truth he had discovered recently, feeling a coolness on his neck, unable to sleep well at night, worried that he’d wake up one day with his mind gone. He thought that hiding his identity might protect him, but who knew he was also just an obvious discarded piece.
A discarded piece means life security is nonexistent.
Once the player feels he’s no longer valuable, he’ll just be tossed aside.
He cherished his life; he wanted to survive.
Thinking about it, he still followed Master Liaochen’s advice, and ran a long way to cling to Jiang Pengji.
“Alright, alright, I’m not unreasonable. No matter what you know, if you want to live long, you’d better keep pretending to be deaf and mute, playing the pig to eat the tiger. Even if you keep acting and really turn into a pig, I will still grant you a life of glory and wealth—”
Liu Zhao couldn’t help but shiver.
Aunt Die was right.
In a fight among deities, this small shrimp like him didn’t even qualify to be cannon fodder.
Liu Zhao chuckled awkwardly, “Eldest Sister’s words, I naturally believe. As for things with Father, I would appreciate your help in that.”
Jiang Pengji gave him a glance, rolling her eyes in exasperation.
“If you’re so afraid of Father, how did you dare come out?”
Liu Zhao replied, “Choosing the lesser of two evils, right? After all, I have Eldest Sister protecting me.”
Jiang Pengji said, “You’d better stay put in the camp these days and not go running around. The situation on the front lines is serious; don’t go making trouble.”
Liu Zhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He stole a glance at Jiang Pengji’s brows and eyes, unsure if she had picked up on his hint.
If she did, why was she so calm and collected?
From her reactions, it seemed she had already known the ins and outs.
If she really knew, why could she still act like nothing had happened?
“What are you thinking?”
Jiang Pengji suddenly asked.
Liu Zhao blurted it out.
“Of course, I’m thinking about Eldest Sister—wondering why you’re not afraid—”
Jiang Pengji replied, “Excessive emotions can blind one’s eyes, creating blind spots that prevent seeing more specific things.”
Liu Zhao retorted, “So that means Eldest Sister doesn’t have any ‘excessive emotions’ then?”
“I don’t have such things, so what I see is far more than you do. People fear the unknown, but the known does not frighten them.”
With that, Liu Zhao became more certain of his suspicions.
“It’s getting late; you should retire and rest. I still have to deal with state affairs, or I’ll end up staying up late again.”
Liu Zhao left wisely.
However, Jiang Pengji didn’t follow through with her words to handle state affairs; instead, she gazed blankly at the blade mounted on the rack.
Suddenly, she inwardly asked, “System, Liu Xi is not dead, right?”
According to Wei Ci’s revelations, “Jiang Pengji” hadn’t received the original body’s memories and, therefore, had been lost due to a language barrier. Just like the story of the “nameless wild ghost,” who could not access the memories of the body due to mismatched souls, and had to feign amnesia to deceive the original’s family.
Jiang Pengji was different; she held Liu Xi’s memories.
As long as she diligently searched, she could even unearth many forgotten details that Liu Xi herself had overlooked.
Before Liu Zhao told this story, she could have thought it was the system’s assistance.
But Liu Zhao traveled a long way to say these things, which held a different weight.
Liu Xi was highly likely not dead!
Upon reflection, the circumstances of Liu Xi’s “death” were quite intriguing.
She was merely frightened by bandits; she stepped up to block a blade aimed at Wei Jingxian, resulting in a cut to her clothing without touching her flesh.
Then Liu Xi developed a high fever, and afterwards, Jiang Pengji was pulled in by the system.
Jiang Pengji had a strong mental domain; she could accurately sense if a foreign second entity existed within a body.
The conclusion was that Liu Xi’s spirit had vanished.
Mental death signified complete death.
And now—
Things were getting interesting.
