At the initial hour of the fifth watch.
It was still less than an hour before dawn, but it was also the darkest time.
The horse-drawn carriage with tightly closed curtains navigated through the narrow alleys, even the driver’s face was covered with a black cloth, making it impossible to see his features.
The carriage was quite unusual, but if someone could see through the curtains, they would likely vomit up their stomach contents.
Eight bloody broken corpses occupied half of the space, while a man and a woman sat beside them, one with a thoughtful expression, the other with extreme fear.
The two didn’t speak.
Ning Yuqiao was unable to speak due to her blocked acupoints, while Wei Changtian was thinking about how to explain the current situation to her.
It was definitely impossible to keep it hidden.
It was estimated that by dawn, the news of the massacre of the entire Shun Prince’s family would spread throughout the city of Shu, and eventually to the entire Da Ning, just like when he killed Liu Yuanshan, it would eventually become known to everyone.
What Wei Changtian truly hesitated about was whether to tell Ning Yuqiao who the real culprit was behind the scenes.
“Princess, I can’t unblock your acupoints for now, but you must listen carefully to what I’m about to say…”
Looking up at Ning Yuqiao’s terrified eyes, Wei Changtian said:
“A group of assassins infiltrated the palace earlier, Ning Qing… the King, including the two county lords… are probably all dead.”
“Or rather, the entire Shun Prince’s family, except for you, Princess, everyone else is likely to have been killed by the assassins.”
Wei Changtian’s tone was very calm, but he didn’t lack sympathy and compassion for Ning Yuqiao.
The shock of losing all her loved ones in one night was impossible to describe with words like “intense”.
If one had to say, perhaps “apocalypse” would be more fitting.
Wei Changtian’s parents in his previous life were alive and well, and it was the same after his rebirth, so it might be difficult for him to empathize with Ning Yuqiao’s emotions at this moment.
However, this didn’t mean he didn’t understand the desperation.
The reason he appeared so cold now was mainly because the situation forced him, and Ning Yuqiao, to have a relatively calm mindset to face what might happen next.
His gaze fell, avoiding Ning Yuqiao’s eyes, as Wei Changtian took a deep breath and continued.
“Princess, I know you’re devastated, but if you want to survive, please listen to me.”
“I know who the mastermind behind the assassins is, and I can tell you.”
“However, I’ll make it clear beforehand that it’s better for you not to know their identity for now.”
“What’s most important for you right now is to keep yourself alive.”
“That group of assassins doesn’t know you’re with me, but they won’t give up, and will definitely search for your whereabouts with all their might.”
“If they find you, you can imagine what kind of ending you’ll face. I don’t need to say more.”
“Princess…”
Wei Changtian paused, as if making a certain choice.
After a moment, he looked up again, gazing at Ning Yuqiao’s seemingly soulless eyes and said softly:
“Princess, since I’ve already pulled you back into the car, I might as well help you once more.”
“I can temporarily ensure your safety, but you must follow my arrangements completely during this time.”
“Of course, if you don’t intend to, or no longer want to survive in this world, then consider I didn’t say this.”
“I’ll help you unblock your meridians, please don’t make a fuss, Your Highness.”
“……”
After saying everything he needed to say, Wei Changtian didn’t hesitate, immediately reaching out to press on several acupoints on Ning Yukuo’s body while supporting her arm.
“Lord, Lord… what you said, is it true?”
This was the first sentence Ning Yukuo uttered after regaining her ability to speak.
Wei Changtian didn’t respond, only nodding his head.
“……”
Ning Yukuo stared blankly at Wei Changtian, her eyes devoid of spirit, with only endless emptiness.
She seemed to have had her soul hollowed out, her lips trembling unconsciously, as if she was silently sobbing.
“Alas……”
Sighing, Wei Changtian initially wanted to offer some comforting words like “accept fate and move on,” but ultimately didn’t say them out loud.
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The horse carriage continued to speed along, amidst the strong, pungent smell of blood, the two sat in silence for a long time.
The invisible moon had already set in the western sky, its last silver glow struggling to illuminate the darkness before dawn.
The moonlight perhaps knew it could never shine as brightly as the sun, no matter how hard it tried.
But it still persisted, rising and setting every day, doing so for thousands of years.
The carriage was quiet, until Ning Yukuo suddenly knelt down in the pool of blood, looking up at Wei Changtian.
“Lord Wei, I want to live.”
“……”
Wei Changtian was taken aback, instinctively wanting to help her up, but his hand stopped halfway.
He looked into her eyes, seeing an emotion he had never seen in Ning Yukuo’s gaze before.
Hatred.
……
……
An hour later.
The black horse carriage slowly came to a stop by a deserted lake, Wei Changtian jumped down, cautiously surveying the surroundings.
With the corpses, they definitely couldn’t leave the city.
And this place was one of the few remote areas in Shu State with few visitors, making it convenient to dispose of the carriage and the corpses.
The sorrel horse pulling the carriage was panting heavily, but the next moment its head suddenly flew up into the air with a loud “whoosh.”
Wei Changtian didn’t say a word, killing the horse before immediately returning to the carriage with Zhang San to “unload,” preparing to eliminate all possible evidence.
The simplest method was to burn everything with fire, but that would make too much noise, and might attract the attention of the nearby villagers.
So they could only use the “dumb” method……
“Thud, thud.”
Throwing the dismembered corpses into the lake, Zhang San whispered, “Lord, let me handle the corpses… I’m a professional.”
“???”
Wei Changtian glanced at Zhang San, didn’t refuse, and turned to go back to the carriage to fetch the remaining corpses.
However, just as he turned his head, the scene before him made him pause for a moment.
In the darkness, Ning Yukuo was walking towards the lake, hugging one of the dismembered corpses.
“This……”
Zhang San also saw this scene and immediately ran over.
“Your Highness, let me do it.”
“No, no need, I can do it myself……”
It was clear that Ning Yukuo was still terrified of the incident involving “hugging a half-dead bloody corpse”, but she bit her teeth tightly and forced herself not to collapse.
“Zhang San, come back.”
Wei Changtian gave a command, then walked towards the horse carriage.
However, just as he crossed paths with Ning Yukuo, Wei Changtian still paused for a moment.
He remembered a sentence from his previous life’s “Three-Body” –
Hatred is the sharpest weapon in this world.
“Hurry up.”