A Worthwhile Death!

Aptitude!

Chen Luo was invigorated. At the instant Nineteen Young Master's brain was taken away, he clearly sensed something different—a feeling similar to the Royal Family Brain from before. Perhaps because its completeness was higher, Nineteen Young Master's brain operated even faster than the first Royal Family Brain he had taken. Faintly, Chen Luo seemed to glimpse a kind of energy he had never detected before.

"Good! My risk wasn't in vain."

Chen Luo was exhilarated.

After being stuck for so many days, he had finally found a breakthrough. Sure enough, opportunities favored those who came prepared. Nineteen Young Master was his stroke of fortune!

After hastily tidying up the scene, Chen Luo quickly stepped forward and tucked Nineteen Young Master's Jade Pendant and Jade Slip into his clothes. The marks he had left on the Jade Slip had not been erased. From this alone, Nineteen Young Master's aptitude might not have been as high as he boasted. That talk about "attaining the Dao and becoming immortal" was most likely just blowing a great conch.

Still, it was understandable. Nineteen Young Master had nothing in hand now. If he wanted to win over that Middle-aged Scholar, all he could offer was promises of the future, methods like painting a big pie. Chen Luo had seen plenty of such tricks, so naturally he did not take them seriously.

After finishing dealing with the scene, Chen Luo blew out the candle in the room.

He climbed out through the damaged opening in the window. As he passed by, he also casually took away the brain of Old Jiang, who had been protecting Nineteen Young Master.

Leaving it there would only be a waste. It might as well give off its last bit of warmth in his hands.

With this, Chen Luo had truly turned things around in one fell swoop.

Aside from Nineteen Young Master, that genius with Immortal Cultivation Aptitude, he had also gained the brain of a Grandmaster-level expert. This was also the first Grandmaster Brain he had obtained. The Blade-Wielding Strongman and Old Daoist Lichen he had encountered in the valley before had both slipped away for various reasons. At last, that regret had been made up for.

Only quite some time after he left did clamor erupt from the side residence.

But by then, Chen Luo had already left the County Yamen and returned to his own residence.

After General Fan died, Eunuch Wei's trail had been cut off as well. So Chen Luo returned to Third Uncle's courtyard and even cleaned it up. The burned portions had been repaired several days ago after he hired people for the work. Qingya County was full of people these days; as long as one was willing to spend money, repairing a house was exceedingly simple.

After entering the courtyard, Chen Luo did not immediately go inside. Instead, he waited by the entrance for a moment, only closing the door and entering after confirming that no one had followed him.

Returning to his room, he swiftly walked over to the wardrobe and changed out of the bloodstained night-traveling clothes.

"These clothes need to be dealt with."

Chen Luo swept his gaze around the room and found a pitch-black brazier.

Last time Eunuch Wei and the others had come, Third Uncle had used this brazier to clean up the aftermath. Who would have thought it was now time to "clean up the aftermath" again?

He took some charcoal and placed it inside, then lit it.

Once the fire rose, Chen Luo promptly threw the night-traveling clothes, already soaked in medicine, into the brazier.

Black smoke rose.

Very soon, the bloodstained night-traveling clothes burned into black ash, and the smoke drifted away beneath the cover of night. Such a small disturbance drew no one's attention in Qingya County, which was already waiting for everything to be rebuilt. After the Calamity of War, many people's homes had been destroyed. Even at this hour, plenty of people outside were repairing their houses through the night. Their commotion was far greater than Chen Luo's.

After burning the clothes, Chen Luo found a sack, filled it with the black ash from the brazier, and dragged it to the rear courtyard.

Eunuch Wei and the others rested here.

Holding an iron shovel, Chen Luo skillfully dug another pit beside Eunuch Wei's burial site.

Only after burying all the ash in the pit did he finally breathe easier. During the process, he had also treated it with Third Uncle's secret Burial Medicine, ensuring that even if dogs came in, they would not be able to smell anything.

"Old Wei, I've come to fertilize you again..."

By the time everything was finished, half an hour had passed. Chen Luo chatted with Eunuch Wei's ashes for a few moments before turning and returning to the room.

He shut the door.

Chen Luo took out the two items he had seized tonight.

By the light of the oil lamp on the table, he clearly saw the strange phenomena on the surfaces of the two items.

Nineteen Young Master's Jade Pendant and Jade Slip gave off a dim blue radiance beneath the firelight. The Jade Slip, which he had been unable to activate no matter what he tried before, had now come "alive" under the Jade Pendant's pull.

A while later, movement finally began outside.

The murder of an Heir Apparent could be said to have pierced the heavens.

Large numbers of soldiers searched the city through the night with torches in hand. The sounds of pounding on doors and angry shouts came without pause. Hearing the disturbance, Chen Luo quickly blew out the oil lamp and hid the two items close against his body.

For the current Chen Luo, keeping them on him was the safest option.

With his strength, even if something unexpected happened, he could escape at the first time.

Before long, the sounds of searching reached his door.

"Open up, open up!!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Urgent knocking sounds rang out continuously. Torchlight shone into the room through the door crack.

"Who is it?"

Chen Luo adjusted himself and pretended he had just awakened. Looking bleary-eyed, he pulled open the front gate.

The moment he lifted the bolt, torches immediately shone toward him. Numerous soldiers carrying weapons surrounded the entrance, while others shoved past Chen Luo and began searching the courtyard.

"Chen Luo? The county's corpse burier."

One captain even held up a portrait scroll and sized Chen Luo up from head to toe.

"Yes, yes, that is indeed this humble one."

Chen Luo looked as though he had been frightened as well, as if he had only just sobered up. Upon hearing the question, he immediately nodded in reply.

The leading captain looked him over for a moment. Only after confirming his identity did he put away the portrait scroll.

"Sir, has something happened?"

"Ask less about what you shouldn't ask."

The leading captain cast him a glance and snapped impatiently.

"I'll ask you this: did you see anyone suspicious tonight?"

"Suspicious people? No. After getting off work, this humble one rested at home the entire time. The neighbors next door can all testify to that."

Chen Luo wore a bewildered expression.

That was the advantage of being a local. When something happened, the neighbors on both sides of the street would help cover for one another, making trouble sound like no trouble at all. Outsiders did not receive such treatment.

There was even less chance of a problem in the household registration records.

He himself was a native of Qingya County, with identity records on file. This sort of questioning was precisely what he feared least. The soldiers opposite him likely thought the same, which was why their questioning was somewhat perfunctory.

"There's no one inside, and nothing suspicious."

The soldiers searching inside quickly returned.

"Go, next house!"

The soldiers carrying out their routine immediately withdrew and headed for the next house. Throughout the process, they had no intention of wasting even another half sentence on Chen Luo.

In the blink of an eye, the soldiers had all disappeared.

The sounds of bang bang bang knocking drifted farther and farther away. The soldiers conducting routine searches had stirred the entire city awake.

Tonight was destined to be sleepless.

Chen Luo glanced in the direction they had gone, then silently shut the door.

With an Heir Apparent dead, this was only the beginning.

Chen Luo had expected all this before killing them. Given a chance to start over, he would still kill those two. Some matters were destined to remain hidden from the light. Once exposed, it would inevitably become a fight to the death. Chen Luo did not want to die, so he could only let the Heir Apparent of Prince Ning take the first step ahead of him.

The unrest continued until dawn.

The city was thrown into such chaos that chickens flew and dogs leaped. There were even sounds of clashing weapons, though no one knew what the soldiers had found during their search.

But none of that had anything to do with Chen Luo anymore.

The outside was in an uproar, but inside the courtyard, he acted as though nothing had happened. In the early morning, he used Nineteen Young Master's brain to draw in a strand of Morning Sun Qi. His cultivation speed had indeed become much faster. Not only that, the energy that had previously clogged his meridians gradually began to loosen, and the Pale Blue Energy was digested and absorbed by him.

This sight greatly invigorated Chen Luo. In an instant, he felt that Nineteen Young Master's "death had been even more worthwhile"!