Chapter 72

Inside the dark, gloomy dungeon.

Cheng Ruyi stared at the middle-aged man bound hand and foot by heavy iron chains. Despite being covered in blood, he remained entirely conscious. A dense, suffocating aura of malice and the heavy scent of blood clung to him; one glance was enough to tell he was a ruthless killer who had slaughtered countless people.

The only bizarre exception was that the black mist surrounding his body was exceptionally faint.

To Cheng Ruyi’s eyes, an ordinary assassin would usually manifest as a pitch-black shroud of dark fog—just like the men in black who had tried to ambush Rong Mo last time.

This particular assassin was a bit of an anomaly.

“Mo, this Blood Hall leader has an incredibly resilient willpower, but it’s completely useless against me. I’ll make sure he tells us exactly where Rong Ting is,” Cheng Ruyi said with a smug, triumphant grin after sweeping him with her mental energy.

“To be precise, he is the Master of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s branch of the Blood Hall,” Rong Mo corrected with a nod, offering a brief explanation.

The Blood Hall was an organization whose operations spanned multiple nations, specializing strictly in high-profile assassination contracts.

When the middle-aged man caught sight of Cheng Ruyi, his pupils constricted violently. He clearly recognized her. On the Blood Hall’s absolute list of individuals who must never under any circumstances be provoked, this eldest young lady of the Cheng family sat squarely at the number one spot.

Yes, number one—even the emperors of various nations were ranked beneath her.

While the world harbored plenty of hidden, eccentric masters, none were as utterly bizarre and terrifyingly powerful as the delicate, flower-like young girl standing right before him.

Judging by her absolute confidence, she likely possessed some unknown, mystical ability that could force a person to lay bare all their secrets.

If it were physical torture, he could endure it. But if it were something beyond that, there was absolutely no point in stubborn resistance.

Thus, the middle-aged man proved to be incredibly cooperative.

“The Rong Ting you are looking for is indeed alive. He has already become an assassin for the Blood Hall, operating under the codename Xue Qi.”

“Xue Qi was brought back by the previous Hall Master. Because he had completely lost his memories, the Master subjected him to brutal trials and evaluations before training him into a killer. Nearly all our assassins are orphans; only the Hall Master is privy to the true background of certain exceptional cases.”

“However, the previous Hall Master who accepted the contract to wipe out the Rong family of Qinghe County was killed during a mission three years ago.”

“The Blood Hall possesses a ledger of absolute secrets that only the Hall Master has the authority to review. After I assumed the position, I looked through it. Xue Qi’s original name was indeed Rong Ting, the nominal second legal son of the slaughtered Rong family from Qinghe County.”

The middle-aged man explained everything in a raspy voice, completely blowing open the Blood Hall’s deepest secrets without hesitation.

Cheng Ruyi was left entirely dumbfounded. What happened to the unyielding, iron-willed assassin archetype? She shot a baffled look at Rong Mo. Didn’t he say they would need to severely interrogate him?

How did this assassin boss cave in so quickly and cleanly?

Then again, the name “Xue Qi” sounded incredibly familiar…

Wait a minute! Wasn’t Xue Qi the name of the female lead Cheng Qingyao’s elusive, fiercely devoted admirer and personal obstacle-remover?

The previous Master of the assassination hall had been killed on a mission three years ago, and in the original novel, the loyal dog male lead sidekick, Xue Qi, had been accidentally rescued by Cheng Qingyao exactly three years ago, right after her rebirth.

Don’t tell me this Xue Qi is that exact same character from the book?

Cheng Ruyi was completely stunned. Mo’s long-lost younger brother might actually be a tragic male second lead? Talk about a massive cosmic joke.

Rong Mo’s lips twitched slightly.

His little wife’s terrifying reputation was apparently so profound that it could strike absolute terror even into the heart of an assassin leader.

Now they had a definitive lead on Rong Ting. He just hadn’t expected his brother to actually become a killer. From what he knew of the Blood Hall’s structure, the digit in their codename reflected their deadly ranking. Xue Qi—Number Seven. To think that the innocent little boy from his memories had transformed into a ruthless assassin who killed without blinking.

Rong Mo closed his eyes briefly, a profound ache in his heart mingling with an even deeper wave of guilt.

“You mentioned the previous Hall Master was killed on a mission. Was Xue Qi deployed on that exact same mission back then?” Cheng Ruyi pressed further, seeking confirmation.

She racked her brain, trying to piece together the plot of the novel. After Xue Qi was accidentally rescued by the female lead Cheng Qingyao, there had been a brief internal monologue explaining how he had sustained his severe injuries, but the text had never explicitly stated he belonged to the Blood Hall.

Had she not been entirely indifferent to Cheng Qingyao’s harem of men, she wouldn’t have completely forgotten about such a pivotal secondary character.

The middle-aged man cast a slightly surprised glance at Cheng Ruyi before nodding.

“The assignment three years ago was an absolute trap. Xue Qi was the sole survivor to break through the encirclement, though he sustained catastrophic injuries. It took him well over half a year of recuperation just to heal.”

“Then everything aligns perfectly…” Cheng Ruyi murmured under her breath.

In the book, Xue Qi was the male sidekick with the most enigmatic origins. Had it not been for today’s revelation, who would have ever uncovered his true identity as the second son of the Rong family?

Rong Mo cast a strange look at his little wife. If his intuition wasn’t failing him, she seemed to display an extraordinary amount of investment in this Xue Qi, causing a faint, unbidden twinge of jealousy to stir in his chest.

“Ruyi, you seem remarkably invested in Xue Qi?” he inquired, feigning casual indifference.

Cheng Ruyi answered him with absolute honesty: “Of course! I have a strong feeling he’s the guy who is completely infatuated with Cheng Qingyao.” Only heavily featured male sidekicks would possess that kind of plot armor.

They were essentially hardwired to die exclusively for the female lead; it was practically impossible for anyone else to kill them off. At most, they would just sustain injuries. And once injured, they would inevitably seek out the female lead to recover.

Rong Mo frowned, his irritation mounting: “How has he managed to get entangled with Cheng Qingyao as well?”

Cheng Ruyi cast a deeply sympathetic look at Rong Mo: “Mo, you need to prepare yourself mentally. Xue Qi is a complete lunatic when it comes to her. He will willingly charge through hell and high water for Cheng Qingyao, even gladly laying down his literal life.”

Rong Mo’s heart sank. “…”

The middle-aged man watched Cheng Ruyi with a look of quiet profound astonishment.

Having secured the answers they sought, Cheng Ruyi decided to deploy her mental energy anyway just to verify the middle-aged man hadn’t spun a web of lies. Out of appreciation for his straightforward cooperation, she refrained from frying his brain into a vegetable.

Once the man finished answering her questions in a dazed, hypnotic trance, Cheng Ruyi retracted her mental grip. The middle-aged man instantly shuddered back to full awareness, the sheer terror in his eyes impossible to mask as he stared at her.

“You should count your blessings that your words were entirely true. Otherwise, what left this room would have been nothing but a cold corpse,” Cheng Ruyi said with a bright, sweet smile.

Staring at her pleasant grin, the Hall Master felt as though he were looking directly at a demon. A cold sweat drenched his entire body, and he secretly rejoiced that he hadn’t let greed or hubris tempt him into lying to her.

Rong Mo raised an eyebrow, quietly amused by how thoroughly this grand assassin master feared his little wife. Since it was verified that this current Hall Master wasn’t the actual culprit behind his family’s massacre, and given his absolute transparency, Rong Mo gestured for his men to release him.

The Blood Hall Master could barely believe his luck. Did I seriously just survive an encounter with these two?

Leaving the dungeon cells, Cheng Ruyi felt a bit perplexed.

“Mo, why did you let him go? What if he seeks retaliation later…?”

“He won’t retaliate, because there is absolutely no incentive for him to do so.”

Rong Mo smiled gently. This Blood Hall Master was an exceptionally pragmatic man. Having narrowly clawed his life back from the jaws of death, he wouldn’t gamble it away so casually again. More importantly, it had to do with the questions he had slipped in while his little wife had the assassin under control.

This particular Hall Master was an absolute anomaly in the underworld; he strictly refused contracts involving family massacres and never allowed the assassination of the elderly, women, or children. It was honestly a miracle how a man like him had managed to ascend to the position of Hall Master in the first place.

He likely possessed an incredibly powerful backing.

The Blood Hall was a deeply entrenched, ancient organization operating across multiple empires. Centuries ago, certain nations—fearing that this dark underground syndicate would threaten imperial authority—had deployed massive armies to eradicate them. Yet, they never succeeded in uprooting them; instead, they faced relentless, mad waves of retaliation until those empires were completely wiped off the map.

Since this man wasn’t their true enemy, there was zero reason to create an additional, unhinged adversary.

As long as an operation was rooted in personal vengeance, the Blood Hall’s central command would never intervene, leaving both sides to settle matters via raw capability. The absolute worst-case scenario for them was merely losing a regional branch, which they could simply rebuild later. Such instances were a dime a dozen throughout history, and the Blood Hall had never retaliated, which everyone recognized as an unspoken rule of the underworld.

A life for a life—it was simply the way of the world.

Rong Mo patiently explained the nuances to his little wife.

Hearing this, Cheng Ruyi was entirely speechless. It appeared they would likely have zero overlapping encounters with the Blood Hall in the future.

Except, of course, for Xue Qi.

“Mo, I suspect that after Xue Qi escaped the purge, he definitely went straight to find Cheng Qingyao. You can use her as a starting point. Once we track him down, I can try using my abilities to see if I can restore his lost memories.”

“That is highly probable. Ruyi… why do you suppose he would fall for a venomous, scorpion-like woman like Cheng Qingyao?” Rong Mo felt an immense tightness in his chest, thoroughly choked by the reality.

Because he is literally hardwired with the loyal dog male sidekick settings.

In the grand scheme of things, Xue Qi actually possessed far more luck and plot relevance than a background extra like Rong Mo would have had in the original timeline.

Cheng Ruyi felt a surge of tenderness for her husband. Had she not transmigrated into this world to meet him, Rong Mo’s ultimate fate… she didn’t even dare to imagine it.

“A life-saving favor demands an eternal debt of devotion!” she offered a casual, common rationale.

Rong Mo’s expression darkened. If his brother truly bound himself to her for that exact reason, then even if his memories were fully restored, he might still find it impossible to sever his emotional attachment to Cheng Qingyao.

And it just so happened that Cheng Qingyao harbored an immense, deep-seated hostility toward his little wife.

Meanwhile, the subject of their discussion, Xue Qi, had indeed done exactly as Cheng Ruyi predicted. Following his escape from the headquarters, he immediately set off to locate Cheng Qingyao at her rural manor.

By now, the wounds at the corners of Cheng Qingyao’s mouth had completely healed, and the purple bruises and bloating across her delicate face had receded, restoring her original fair complexion. However, severe waves of acute pain would still periodically flare up throughout her body, causing her to detest Cheng Ruyi to the absolute core.

But lacking any capable assets under her command at the moment, she didn’t dare to confront Cheng Ruyi directly, choosing instead to focus her immediate sights on traveling to Dahua County.

Winter was only a matter of days away, and she had absolutely zero intention of remaining confined like a prisoner inside this desolate manor.

Xue Qi’s unexpected arrival filled Cheng Qingyao with immense delight.

“Qi! Have you been exceptionally busy lately? Why haven’t you come to see me all this time? I have been bullied so terribly… my own parents refuse to help me, and they even banished me to this awful manor…”

In Cheng Qingyao’s eyes, Xue Qi was an exceptionally sharp, useful weapon. The desire for vengeance she had been desperately suppressing instantly began to flare back to life. She complained with a face full of profound grievance.

“I had to travel to another empire and only returned a few days ago. Who dared to bully you? Tell me, and I will eliminate them for you!”

A flash of profound tenderness softened Xue Qi’s stark, handsome features. He hadn’t sustained any notable injuries while escaping the Blood Hall’s fall, so his voice carried an absolute weight of confidence.

“It’s Cheng Ruyi! She’s the one who humiliated and tormented me!”

“Qi, I want Cheng Ruyi dead. Qi, you will help me, won’t you?”

Cheng Qingyao gripped Xue Qi’s arm with immense force, her beautiful eyes staring directly into his, her gaze suddenly flooded with a desperate surge of hope.

The moment the name Cheng Ruyi left her lips, Xue Qi froze completely. Cheng Ruyi’s terrifying reputation preceded her; she was the absolute number one entity on the Blood Hall’s non-provocation list. He couldn’t help but frown slightly.

To his understanding, no matter how severe the friction between Qingyao and Cheng Ruyi might be, it couldn’t possibly warrant taking a life. It was surely nothing more than petty, typical disputes between noble young ladies.

Furthermore… he simply didn’t possess the capability to assassinate Cheng Ruyi.

“Qingyao, Cheng Ruyi is not a simple target. You should stop making an enemy out of her.”

Cheng Qingyao’s expression shifted instantly, and she violently flung Xue Qi’s arm away. Even Xue Qi is taking Cheng Ruyi’s side now?

Flooded with a mix of blinding resentment and immense grievance, tears began to stream uncontrollably down her face. She leveled a tearful, trembling accusation against him: “Qi, didn’t you once swear that you would willingly do absolutely anything for my sake?”

“You’ve changed, Qi. I have already lost everything—my parents have entirely abandoned me, Cheng Ruyi torments me constantly, and I thought I only had you left. Now, even you have changed. What point is there for me to continue living? I might as well just end my life right here!”

Of course, she had zero actual intention of dying; she was strictly using the threat of suicide to break Xue Qi’s resolve.

When it came to manipulating Xue Qi’s profound affection for her, Cheng Qingyao felt absolutely zero guilt. She was the one who had saved him; without her intervention, his corpse would have rotted years ago.

She knew perfectly well that Xue Qi could never withstand the sight of her tears, let alone when she backed him into a corner using her own life as collateral.

The reality played out exactly as she orchestrated.

Without a single thought for his own safety, Xue Qi unconditionally gave her his word.

Only then did Cheng Qingyao’s tears give way to a radiant smile. Her smile was remarkably beautiful, and Xue Qi loved nothing more than seeing her happy.

Predictably, Xue Qi stared at her, completely captivated.

Cheng Qingyao felt an immense surge of smug triumph in her heart. This fool Xue Qi truly is remarkably easy to deceive.

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