Ch 35: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

Half an hour later, Mu Xing stepped out of the cave.

He was thoroughly irritated.

He truly had no desire to meddle in that family’s affairs.

Yet who could have guessed—Lu Jiayao had barely left before Lu Jiaming came knocking, refusing to let him live in peace.

Worst of all, Lu Jiaming had touched his bottom line.

Thinking back on what those assassins had confessed, Mu Xing’s expression was dark as water.

He fed each of them a pill of real poison this time.

“Go find Lu Jiaming. Whatever orders he gave you, carry them out exactly as told—return them to him, understand?” Under their horrified gazes, he tossed the same poison they had swallowed onto the ground.

In an instant, the patch of earth turned ashen, all plants upon it withering and dying.

“Don’t doubt its potency. If you make it back here before the end of the month, you’ll get the antidote.” Mu Xing showed no mercy this time to the killers who had come for his life.

The group left without pause.

That night, the usually lethargic light orb rarely entered Mu Xing’s dream.

It actually sounded animated: “Aren’t you the one who doesn’t kill? If you’d been this ruthless earlier, would you have all this trouble? The whole Marquis household might already be yours.”

Mu Xing shot it a glance and snorted. “Maybe I’ve mishandled some things, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how you once egged me on.”

Relaxing into the darkness, he added: “Whatever I do, it’s only because I choose to. My conscience is clear. Whatever it is you want from me, best give up on it now.”

On the twenty-eighth day of the second month, two badly injured men staggered into Dazhuang Village.

“We shook off our pursuers—no one will suspect you.” They bowed low before Mu Xing, cautious to the extreme. “Lu Jiaming had guards with him. Our assassination failed. The others all died.”

“And Lu Jiaming? Is he dead?”

The man on the left shook his head. “No, but he won’t recover either.”

He added in a low voice: “We feared mishap, so our blades were laced with poison. He took a strike to the chest—even if saved, he’s ruined.”

The killer looked up at Mu Xing pleadingly. “Living, he’ll suffer worse than death. Please… show mercy and give us the antidote.”

Mu Xing lowered his gaze, finding it bitterly ironic. “So afraid of death?”

“If you fear death, why become killers? Did you ever consider this day when you slaughtered others?”

“But I keep my word.” He handed over the antidote.

The two swallowed it in joy—only to realize, in the next moment, that their bodies felt empty.

“My inner strength—!” They glared at Mu Xing, eyes bloodshot.

“Of course it dissolved with the poison.” Mu Xing smiled pleasantly. “Ah, I forgot to mention—yesterday, I quietly left a letter at the county yamen. You two are both registered fugitives, aren’t you?”

“You’ve committed so many crimes; retribution always comes.” He ignored their hateful stares and pointed kindly toward the road. “Hurry and run. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll escape before the constables arrive.”

---

A few days later, at the Marquis of Cheng’en’s household.

Lu Jiayao escorted out an imperial physician, barely able to keep the smile on his face.

The physician had said Lu Jiaming’s life was spared—but the poison was too vicious, and his body too frail. Though detoxified in time, he was left with grave afflictions.

Lu Jiaming was paralyzed.

His mind was intact, but he could no longer speak, nor move his limbs. He was, for all intents, a cripple.

Lu Jiayao scrubbed his face hard outside the sickroom door, arranging a mask of grief before pushing inside—only for terror to flash across his features.

The maidservants were collapsed on the floor.

In their place stood a tall, lean figure, back turned.

That figure turned, gaze calm.

“You—you…” Lu Jiayao reflexively looked back, the door slamming shut behind him.

“Shh.” Mu Xing gestured for silence. “Don’t make noise.”

At sight of that spring-bloom face, Lu Jiayao instantly remembered the table that had crumbled to dust, shrinking like a quail.

He glanced at the bedbound Lu Jiaming, whose eyes burned with hate, and a sudden revelation struck—his own eyes widened. “He… you…”

“What are you staring at me for? Has nothing to do with me.” Mu Xing’s expression was innocent. “He sent assassins to kill me. But those men were too kind-hearted—felt he was too cruel. Conscience pricked, they turned on their master. And so Lu Jiaming ended up like this.”

Lu Jiayao: “…”

Lies, all of it! Not a word of truth!

He cautiously asked, “What are you doing here? Didn’t you say you wanted no ties to the Marquis household?”

Already, he was calculating—if Mu Xing demanded the household itself, how could he refuse without angering him?

Mu Xing never guessed what was running through his head. He simply pointed at Lu Jiaming. “I came to confirm something.”

Lu Jiayao looked again at the man on the bed, dread rising. Confirm what? That he’s still alive?

Mu Xing clearly found the result satisfying: like this, Lu Jiaming could never cause trouble again.

And for one as proud as him, this fate was likely worse than death.

Having confirmed that, Mu Xing lost all interest in him and turned back to Lu Jiayao.

“No need to worry. Unless something unexpected happens, this will be my last time coming to the Marquis household. I have absolutely no interest in this place.”

Lu Jiayao asked cautiously, “When you say ‘unless something unexpected happens’… what do you mean?”

Mu Xing smiled faintly. “It means—it all depends on you, my lord heir.”

He pointed to himself. “Me, I dislike trouble, I like peace. Understand?”

“Understand, understand!” Lu Jiayao bobbed his head like pounding garlic. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’ll absolutely never disturb your peace again!”

Mu Xing was satisfied, but he stressed again: “The Marquis household never had a child switched. The young master has always been Lu Jiaming, isn’t that right?”

This was exactly what Lu Jiayao wanted—he nodded frantically again. “That’s right, that’s right. As for who the Mu family are, I don’t know them at all.”

“Good.” Mu Xing flashed him a smile. “Then farewell.”

Lu Jiayao was just about to offer to escort him out when, before his eyes, the figure vanished like a ghost.

Cold sweat broke out all over him again, and his resolve never to provoke Mu Xing was cemented.

He walked over to Lu Jiaming’s bed, let out a satisfied sigh, and said smugly: “Jiaming, why couldn’t you just leave that calamity star alone? Thanks to you, big brother owes you a debt.”

Lu Jiaming’s eyes nearly burst with fury, but no words could escape his lips.

As for Mu Xing, he couldn’t care less about the two of them tearing at each other. At last, the Marquis household’s mess was resolved once and for all.

❣╰(⸝⸝⸝꒳⸝⸝⸝)╯❣