Refusing to Play by the Rules

This woman had never dreamed that Zhao Ya would strike so suddenly. Even after her head had fallen to the ground, her eyes remained filled with confusion, as though questioning Zhao Ya: Why didn't you play by the rules?

Zhao Ya was utterly unmoved.

In truth, from the moment Cheng Jingxue had secretly returned to the room, her fate had already been sealed.

That woman was simply too deceitful, deceitful to the point of being revolting.

What happened to Wei Yu could be said to have been brought upon himself. Blinded by beauty, he had even forgotten his own limits, bringing disaster upon himself.

But Cheng Jingxue's final act of shifting the trouble onto others as she fled had thoroughly enraged Zhao Ya.

She had clearly intended to use everyone's lives as cover for her escape.

The key was that Zhao Ya and the others had no grudge against her, and had never even crossed paths with her before. Yet she was capable of doing something like this. Her malicious intent was plain to see.

For a woman as cunning as a fox, no matter how beautiful she was, Zhao Ya would not feel the slightest attraction.

Zhao Ya crouched down and searched the corpse. He found that while the woman had looked glamorous on the surface, she was actually broke. Aside from a few bits of loose silver, she had nothing.

He then took out a small bundle he had prepared in advance. Inside was a stack of folded oilcloth.

Zhao Ya spread it out on the ground, then wrapped Cheng Jingxue's head and body in the oilcloth.

He wiped away all the bloodstains from the floor and table, then returned every item to its original place.

After finishing all this, Zhao Ya tucked the Meteoric Iron Saber close to his body, hoisted the oilcloth-wrapped corpse from the ground, opened the back window, and sprinted away.

Behind the inn lay a vast stretch of barren mountains. Zhao Ya chose a sheltered spot, set down the body, and began digging.

The snow here was not very deep, but the ground was frozen solid. Zhao Ya tested it with the short knife he carried, but even with great effort, he could only poke out a shallow hole.

If he kept digging like this, he would be hard-pressed to make a pit deep enough even by dawn.

Fortunately, Zhao Ya had just acquired a precious saber.

After taking out the Meteoric Iron Saber, Zhao Ya tried stabbing it into the ground. He discovered that the rock-hard earth was like tofu before the Meteoric Iron Saber, and he easily dug out a large chunk.

Joy appeared on Zhao Ya's face.

It truly was a rare and precious weapon.

With the treasured saber's help, Zhao Ya dug a deep pit in no time. He threw the corpse into it and buried it.

After covering it up, Zhao Ya carefully blanketed the ground with snow, then used dead branches to sweep away the footprints in the snow.

At last, Zhao Ya carefully inspected the area. Only after confirming there were no loose ends did he quietly return to the inn.

By the time he had removed his black night clothes and put away the treasured saber, it was nearly midnight.

After thinking it over, Zhao Ya did not return directly to his room. Instead, he went to the inn's kitchen.

Naturally, the cook was not there at this hour, but the fire in the stove had not yet gone out.

Zhao Ya stirred the fire until it burned brighter, then cooked himself a pot of noodles.

He then found a slab of cured meat and several stalks of yellow chives in the kitchen, and stir-fried the yellow chives with cured meat.

Only after finishing did he return to the room and wake Luo Feng.

"Come on, let's go have a late-night snack."

"What late-night snack? Hasn't the cook gone to bed yet?" Luo Feng asked, rubbing his bleary eyes and yawning.

"After I woke up, I went outside to practice some boxing. When I finished, I was starving, so I went to the kitchen and made something myself. We can have a few drinks while we're at it."

The moment he heard there would be alcohol, Luo Feng perked up.

"Sure, sure! A few drinks sound great! This damned weather is freezing. Some alcohol will warm us up nicely."

Zhao Ya secretly observed Luo Feng's reaction and could not help but breathe a slight sigh of relief.

The reason he had gone out of his way to make a late-night meal and invite Luo Feng along was to give himself a reasonable excuse.

After all, he had no idea whether Luo Feng had noticed his absence from the room.

Now it seemed that Luo Feng had noticed nothing at all.

The two went to the kitchen and enjoyed a hearty meal.

Only after eating and drinking their fill did they go back to sleep.

The next day.

Wei Yu's condition still showed no improvement.

This dealt Wei Yu an incomparably heavy blow, plunging him into complete despair.

Zhao Ya and Luo Feng could do nothing else about it, aside from offering him kind words of comfort.

Fortunately, after only one day, Luo Qiang returned with the others.

The escort silver had been delivered safely. Though this escort job had encountered a few twists and turns, it had ultimately been completed without incident.

Everyone except Wei Yu was delighted.

After settling the inn and meal expenses and leaving some extra money as a tip, Luo Qiang had Wei Yu carried onto the escort cart, and they set off for home.

There was no conversation along the way. After trudging through the snow with difficulty for a full day, Zhao Ya and the others safely returned to Dancing Elephant City.

Chief Escort Meng Lei had already received word and was waiting for them at the escort agency's main gate.

"Chief Escort!"

"Greetings, Chief Escort!"

Everyone stepped forward to greet him.

Meng Lei merely nodded slightly before striding quickly to the escort cart.

Wei Yu lay on a wooden board, his face pale as paper and his body gaunt. There was not even a trace left of his former high spirits.

The moment he saw Meng Lei, tears burst from Wei Yu's eyes.

"Chief Escort, I... I'm crippled now... sob, sob, sob..." By the end, Wei Yu was too choked with tears to speak.

"Don't be upset. I already know what happened. Focus on recovering. The escort agency will not abandon you."

"I will also demand an explanation from Forge-Iron Manor. As for that demoness surnamed Cheng..."

A flash of killing intent passed through Meng Lei's eyes. "Once I find her, I will kill her."

Hearing this, Wei Yu's emotions settled somewhat.

Meng Lei offered him a few more soft words of comfort before ordering someone to carry Wei Yu away.

After Wei Yu was carried away, Meng Lei had the escort cart taken care of, then gathered everyone who had gone on this escort job.

"You have all worked hard this time. I thought this heavy snow would delay the delivery, but I never expected you to return safely after taking only one extra day. For that, I must thank you all."

"You're too kind, Chief Escort!"

"That's right, Chief Escort. This is simply our duty."

Everyone voiced their agreement.

Meng Lei smiled. "Good. The year is nearly over, and the escort agency's business is more or less wrapped up. After returning from this job, you may all rest. Your profit shares for this delivery will also be twenty percent higher than usual, as New Year's gifts."

The crowd responded with a roar of approval. After happily collecting their share silver, they each went home.

Zhao Ya was no exception. Moreover, because of what had happened at the inn, Meng Lei gave him a few words of encouragement in private, and even his New Year's gift was more generous than everyone else's.

He slung his travel bag over his back and returned to the small courtyard where he lived.

The courtyard gate was tightly shut, but the snow before it had been swept perfectly clean.

Zhao Ya knocked lightly on the door.

A moment later, faint footsteps sounded from within the courtyard.

"Wh... who is it?"

"It's me. I'm back!"

The instant he finished speaking, the courtyard gate was flung open, and a graceful figure threw herself into Zhao Ya's arms.

Zhao Ya was slightly stunned, then he smiled.

"Alright, I'm back now, aren't I?"

The girl in his arms said nothing, but Zhao Ya felt something warm against his chest.