Yang Qing and Bu Er returned to the inn, and life seemed to settle back into its old rhythm.
Only Jiang Zhizhou was missing.
Since the day he had stormed out in anger, Yang Qing had not seen him again.
But he had always known that Jiang Zhizhou had a mind of his own. There was no need to worry about him.
What Yang Qing had not expected was that, while Jiang Zhizhou was indeed unharmed, he had been trapped.
Jiang Zhizhou only realized he was trapped after wandering through the mountains for two days.
Looking at the mark he had carved into a roadside tree two days earlier, Jiang Zhizhou finally came to his senses. Without noticing a thing, he had fallen into another trap.
While he and Yang Qing had been arguing in the inn, he had already sensed more than a dozen people nearby watching their every move.
One of them had actually tried to launch a sneak attack on Yang Qing.
Bei Chen must have noticed it at the time as well. That was why he had thrust his sword toward Yang Qing.
But Jiang Zhizhou had not understood the connection then. Besides, they had already been suspicious of Bei Chen's identity, so the moment he saw him make that move, Jiang Zhizhou struck.
Bei Chen had stood facing him and only managed to mouth a few words before dying beneath his sword.
Jiang Zhizhou had only just made out the words "there's an assassin" when Bei Chen breathed his last.
Then he discovered a trace of unusual powder on Bei Chen's chest.
It was a poison said to be used only on concealed weapons, so potent that mere contact meant certain death.
Clearly, Bei Chen had intercepted that poisoned needle.
Even without Jiang Zhizhou's sword