Chapter 365 180: Invitation

Cheng Tianyang was indeed not among the bodies.

But everyone else was.

Besides signs of a struggle, the area was also littered with traces of traps.

"Cheng Tianyang and his men must have arrived at Zhou Manor to complete their delivery, but were lured here and ambushed with traps."

"The entire Zhou Manor must be filled with people from the Heterodox Manor."

"After killing the men from the Celestial Yang Escort Agency, they took the goods from the carts... and just left the bodies."

After surveying the entire scene, Tang Huayi glanced at Jiang Ran.

"Cheng Tianyang is a master of martial arts, and as the Golden Cicada First Escort Agency, the Celestial Yang Escort Agency is no pushover."

"And yet, when they fought this group, it seems they didn't put up even a token resistance."

"The Heterodox Manor... Impressive, aren't they!"

"How do they compare to the Demon Sect?"

Jiang Ran shot Tang Huayi a look.

Tang Huayi smiled.

"That depends on which members of the Demon Sect you're talking about..."

"The Demon Sect is full of all sorts. Some could kill Cheng Tianyang without him ever knowing what hit him, leaving no trace, not even a body."

"But others would probably make a scene that would set the whole city abuzz."

"All in all, plenty of people are capable of this. But the methods used determine the outcome."

Jiang Ran nodded.

"Frankly, I don't care about the outcome or the methods."

"What I care about is *why* they did it."

"Judging by the tracks, Cheng Tianyang and his men drove their carts into the manor, then followed their hosts here."

"They must have trusted them completely the entire way."

"Logically, there was no need to slaughter everyone from the Celestial Yang Escort Agency."

"They just had to accept the delivery... and let Cheng Tianyang and his men leave. Why go to all this trouble?"

"That's true."

Tang Huayi said, "Unless they knew that once Cheng Tianyang and his men left, they would realize something was wrong with the delivery. If they came back to investigate, it might cause trouble. So, they decided to be thorough... and just killed them to silence them."

"By the time word of this gets out, their so-called 'grand plan' will probably already be complete."

Jiang Ran stroked his chin.

"If they were posing as the residents of Zhou Manor, there must have been a good number of them—gatekeepers, male servants, maids."

"But there are no tracks showing them leaving... On our way here, the locals we spoke to only saw the Celestial Yang Escort Agency, no other large groups..."

"Let's see where this path leads."

"Alright."

Tang Huayi's demeanor was relaxed. Not even the bodies littering the ground could make her so much as frown.

She skipped along beside Jiang Ran.

"It's so quiet out here. A great place to be, really. You could do all sorts of wicked things and no one would ever find out."

??

Jiang Ran shot her a look. "And what wicked things are you planning to do here?"

"I would never do anything wicked."

Tang Huayi pointed to the bodies from the Celestial Yang Escort Agency. "I meant them."

...

Jiang Ran sighed. "I wonder how Chief Cheng is doing."

Of course, Tang Huayi couldn't answer that. She rubbed her hands together.

"If only I could tell fortunes. Then whenever you were stumped, I could just pinch my fingers and give you the answer."

"Then you'd have to come to me for help all the time."

"And I could have my way with you!"

"'Have your way with me'?"

Jiang Ran reached out and tugged a lock of her hair. "In your dreams, maybe."

"Brother-in-law, Brother-in-law! I was wrong, I was wrong!"

Tang Huayi begged for mercy. "I won't do it again, I promise! Let go of my hair."

"'Next time'?"

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow.

Tang Huayi immediately broke into a grin. "Alright, so next time I'll still do it!"

Not wanting to bicker with her, Jiang Ran gave her cheek a hard pinch before letting her go.

The pinch made Tang Huayi see stars, but she could only glare, not daring to say a word.

They followed the path forward, but there were still no tracks. Ahead of them, however, was a dense-looking forest.

Jiang Ran scanned their surroundings and sighed.

"Let's stop. We've come all this way without finding a single track. Either our guess was wrong, or we're going the wrong way."

"Wandering around aimlessly like this is just a waste of time."

"Come on, let's head back."

"Huh? We're heading back already?"

Tang Huayi touched her own cheek. "It's been a while since I've been able to show my real face. I'm actually a little sad to go back."

"Then you can stay here and play for a while. I'll just..."

He was about to say 'go' when he suddenly froze.

Tang Huayi followed his gaze. In the forest, a branch on one of the trees was broken.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been a big deal.

But Jiang Ran blurred into motion, grabbing the branch in his hand.

"It was broken recently."

"So we are going the right way?"

Tang Huayi was thrilled.

The two of them immediately headed in the direction the broken branch pointed.

Perhaps the culprits thought they had gone far enough that no one would be able to track them to this spot.

As a result, the trail they left behind became much clearer.

Following the tracks, the two of them passed through the forest and came upon a narrow path.

Following the path, they soon saw houses.

But the path didn't lead into the residential area. Instead, it skirted behind the houses and stretched into the distance.

As they walked on, the houses grew more numerous until the path, with nowhere else to go, finally merged with a main street in Evergreen Mansion.

Looking up, they saw the South City Gate of Evergreen Mansion.

Jiang Ran and Tang Huayi stood on the street, looking this way and that.