Of course, he wouldn’t give them the chance to burn the bridge after crossing it.
The old man was left speechless for a long moment. Hua Rongjian, lacking the patience to wait, ordered, “Withdraw!”
In the blink of an eye, the group of black-clad figures vanished into the streets and alleys. A ragged old man emerged from a nearby dead-end alley, staring thoughtfully in the direction An Jiu had left for a long time.
Initially, they had agreed to let Hua Rongjian take full control of the Bounty Board because of his wealth, connections, and low martial prowess—he seemed like a plump pig they could easily discard at any time. But now, it seemed everything was slipping out of their control. This young, seemingly weak leader wasn’t as easy to deal with as they had imagined.
“The Hua Clan,” the old man murmured in a low, hoarse voice.
It had taken him some effort to uncover the identity of the new leader, and it only deepened his wariness. Was Hua Rongjian’s takeover of the Bounty Board his own decision or orchestrated by his family?
The Bounty Board must never submit to any single clan! This was one of the conditions under which the imperial court had allowed its existence even after establishing the Crane Control Army. But now, the court was too preoccupied with its own troubles to bother with this matter.
The night was deep and silent.
When An Jiu returned to the island, Da Jiu was sprawled at the dock, waiting. The tiger sat in a cat-like posture, dozing off, its large head bobbing slightly as it emitted a soft, rumbling snore.
“Da Jiu! Da Jiu!” An Jiu called several times, but the tiger didn’t stir. She kicked it lightly. “How can a tiger be so unalert?”
Da Jiu shook its head groggily and wobbled after her.
As An Jiu neared the door, she realized the tiger wasn’t following. Turning back, she saw it sprawled on the stone path, belly up, fast asleep.
Though Da Jiu was usually lazy and gluttonous, it would never behave so strangely. An Jiu dragged the tiger by its leg all the way to Mo Sigui’s door and knocked.
No answer came from inside.
She knocked again.
Still no response.
A sinking feeling gripped her, and she raised her foot to kick the door open.
Just then, the door creaked open. Wei Yuzhi stood there, his green robe loosely draped over him, his white hair disheveled. His deep gray eyes, usually sharp, now seemed veiled in a misty haze, lending him an oddly alluring, dazed expression.
An Jiu froze momentarily when she met his gaze.
She quickly guessed what had happened. If even someone with Wei Yuzhi’s formidable mental strength was affected, the entire island must have fallen into slumber. The lingering medicinal scent from inside the room made her head spin. “Go back to sleep,” she said.
“Shi Si…” Wei Yuzhi steadied himself against the doorframe. Seeing her dragging Da Jiu, he explained weakly, “Miraculous Doctor Mo couldn’t sleep tonight. His usual medicated smoke didn’t work, so he brewed a new batch. But…”
Before he could finish, his body swayed unsteadily.
An Jiu grabbed him.
The sudden pull sent Wei Yuzhi stumbling into her.
She could feel the warmth of his body against hers, his breath brushing against the nape of her neck. Her heart skipped a beat, and her entire body stiffened.
She was no inexperienced girl. Even when she had first been with Chu Dingjiang, such slight closeness hadn’t elicited such a strong reaction.
After a moment, she steadied him and helped him inside.
When she stepped out, she saw Chu Dingjiang standing in the courtyard. For some reason, she suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
“It’s late. Get some rest,” Chu Dingjiang said before turning and entering his room.The tone was calm, but An Jiu could sense his anger.
Dragging Da Jiu back into the pitch-black room, she groped her way to the bed.
After fumbling around for a while, she couldn't feel Chu Dingjiang's presence. Normally, An Jiu could always sense him unless he deliberately concealed his aura.
With no other choice, An Jiu lit the bedside lamp.
The amber light gradually illuminated the entire room, revealing Chu Dingjiang sitting at the table in black robes, drinking tea.
"Are you angry?" An Jiu explained, "What happened earlier was just an accident..."
Chu Dingjiang set down his cup. His dark eyes fixed on An Jiu, filled with helplessness and sorrow—the same feeling he'd experienced in his past life when betrayed by his family.
Whether someone has developed feelings can be discerned by observers through subtle clues, let alone someone who knew An Jiu as well as he did. At this moment, Chu Dingjiang didn't know how to respond. Emotions were inexplicable—they came without reason and vanished without trace. When someone doesn't love you, no amount of schemes or desperate pleas can make those feelings stay.
Right now, An Jiu only had a vague fondness for that person. But what about later?
Chu Dingjiang drank a cup of cold water, calming himself completely. "A Jiu, today I'll only say one thing to you."
"What is it?" An Jiu asked hurriedly.
Noticing her nervousness, he walked over and gently pressed her head against his chest. "No matter where you go in the future, no matter who stands by your side, I'll always be waiting for you."
It wasn't that Chu Dingjiang lacked confidence—he simply saw things too clearly. An Jiu needed to relive the life experiences she'd missed. Judging by her choices, beneath her cold exterior lay a passionate heart. Their current calm, placid relationship likely wouldn't last, or at least would encounter complications.
He deeply disliked An Jiu developing feelings for someone else, but forcing her to suppress her emotions might backfire. He had enough patience and tolerance to prove that all passionate entanglements were fleeting.
Forcing might work on other women's affections, but it would never work on An Jiu.
With her, the approach had to be gentle persuasion.
"Chu Dingjiang, let's get married," An Jiu said, her voice muffled against his chest.
"Alright," Chu Dingjiang agreed.
"Chu Dingjiang, I know what you're worried about." An Jiu looked up at him. "I do feel something different for Wei Yuzhi, but I won't act on it. You should believe in me."
"I do believe you," Chu Dingjiang said, knowing she spoke truthfully. But even someone with Wei Yuzhi's extraordinary self-control couldn't resist such feelings—how could she?
"You're humoring me." An Jiu pushed him away and sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, arms crossed as she glared at him discontentedly. "When I was little, I heard a story. A very hungry bear sneaked into a cornfield and picked many ears of corn. As it carried them back, it saw a watermelon field, so it dropped the corn and picked two watermelons. Walking further, it spotted a sesame field, so it abandoned the watermelons to gather sesame. When the old man tending the sesame field came chasing after it, the bear fled in panic. When it got home, it found it had only brought back a tiny bit of sesame."
"As a child, I wondered why the old man dared chase a bear, and why the bear was afraid of an old man. Later I understood—the story teaches us to be content with what we have and cherish it, otherwise we'll end up losing more than we gain."Chu Dingjiang had always thought she acted much but pondered little. Hearing these words, he couldn't help but revise his perception of her. "When did you think of all this?"
"A long time ago. Once I figured this out, I decided that when executing missions with multiple targets, I'd only focus on one objective—never chasing accomplices until the primary target was dead."
The corners of Chu Dingjiang's lips curled up. "You truly know how to apply what you've learned."
"I only hold onto the first target. Even if there were someone better or more appealing than you in this world, I wouldn't shift my gaze to try them," An Jiu said earnestly. "You're the corn." (To be continued...)
PS: I finished this chapter before midnight, but couldn't log into Qidian no matter what. Had to wait until after midnight to post—fate itself seems determined to stop me from improving.
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