After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

The news about the ghost market was deliberately spread by the Southern Chu people, and the young beggar they encountered on the way was also intentionally left there by them. They didn't set up an ambush in the nearby dense forest because they wanted to lure their prey into a trap.

Xie Chaoyun and Qingzhi were both skilled in martial arts, but their fighting style was more suited to the open and sweeping style of combat, which was not suitable for the abandoned ghost village. In contrast, Lu Yun, whose martial arts were weaker, was more at ease.

He used a sneak attack, taught by Lu Zhiyuan.

When it comes to murder, there's no need to make it so formal. The important thing is to send the person to the underworld as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost.

Under the moonlight, Lu Zhiyuan sat on the dilapidated rooftop, swinging her legs as she watched the fight. Her eyesight and hearing were excellent, allowing her to pinpoint the location of each assassin. Seeing that Lu Zhiyuan was alone, an assassin, knife in hand, stealthily appeared behind her.

Seeing this, Xie Chaoyun shouted anxiously, but she was entangled by three assassins and could not get away for the time being.

Hearing Xie Chaoyun's shout, Qingzhi and Lu Yun both looked towards the rooftop. Lu Yun, who was closest, tried to leap onto the roof, but was slashed in the arm by a replacement assassin. He had no choice but to turn around, kill the assassin first, and then go to rescue the person in need.

The moment the assassin appeared, Lu Zhiyuan could already smell his scent. Head bowed, her eyes sharp. Just as the blade was about to strike, she dodged to the side, following the wind of the blade, then grabbed the assassin's wrist and twisted it forcefully.

The assassin remained disdainful; a little girl of seven or eight years old dared to try and take the knife from his hand. The next moment, an unbearable burning pain shot through his wrist, and the knife fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the situation, Lu Zhiyuan kicked, and the assassin, clutching his wrist, stumbled back a few steps.

Right now, not only does my wrist hurt, but my palms hurt too.

"You brat, what have you done?"

"What else can I do? Poison me." Lu Zhiyuan patted the powder off her hands: "Those who came to kill me don't even know what I'm best at."

"I don't care who you are," the assassin said, enduring the pain as he pulled the knife from his chest. "If my master commands you to die, then you must die."

Lu Zhiyuan sneered, and as the assassin rushed forward, she pulled out a dagger hidden on the side of her calf and stabbed it towards his waist. The assassin dodged, and Lu Zhiyuan slid down his leg. Sensing something was wrong, the assassin tried to kick her away, but she grabbed his ankle.

With a stab, a gouge, and a drag, the assassin screamed and fell off the roof.

Lu Zhiyuan landed, half-kneeling on top of the assassin, and plunged the dagger into his neck. The assassin's eyes widened as he felt life draining from his body. Before the assassin could close his eyes, Lu Zhiyuan pulled the dagger out and quickly moved to a corner to catch her breath.

The original owner's body was too disappointing; despite all efforts to improve it, it was still not even one ten-thousandth as good as it used to be.

"Miss--"

He slashed through the assassins blocking his way and rushed to Lu Zhiyuan's side. Seeing her huddled in a corner with a pale face, Lu Yun's heart leaped into his throat.

"Miss, are you okay?"

Lu Zhiyuan shook her head gently, feeling her heart pounding painfully in her chest, as if she couldn't breathe. Seeing Lu Yun's worried expression, she smiled and teased, "You silly goose, you're injured like this and you still came to save me."

"It's because Lu Yun's martial arts skills are insufficient that he failed to protect Miss."

"Good to know. Go back and practice hard. If there's a next time, I won't let you be my housekeeper."

As Lu Zhiyuan spoke, she threw a dagger, perfectly striking the Southern Chu assassin who was trying to ambush Lu Yun. The assassin's congenitally damaged heart couldn't withstand the impact, and his throw was off-target, failing to kill the assassin instantly. Enraged, the assassin, unaware that Lu Yun had already turned his sword behind him...

"As expected of the one I personally chose, she reacted so quickly." Lu Zhiyuan clutched her chest and gasped for breath: "This heart is too useless, we need to find a way to replace it with a good one."

Lu Yun's eyes darkened: "Whose heart does Miss want?"

She poked her finger into Lu Yun's heart: "Is yours okay?"

Lu Yun pulled out a dagger: "How do we take it out? Peel it out completely?"

"You're silly, this is a heart. A person dies without a heart." Lu Zhiyuan forced herself to rub his face. "Heart transplant surgery is very complicated. No one in Beiliang knows how to do it."

"Lu Yun is not afraid of death or trouble, as long as Miss can live a long and healthy life." Lu Yun said urgently, "As long as Miss needs it, not to mention Lu Yun's heart, Miss can take anything Lu Yun has."

"I was just kidding you earlier, what I'm saying now is the truth." Lu Zhiyuan's body went limp, and she fell into Lu Yun's arms: "I'm tired, I want to sleep for a while."

"Yuan'er!" Xie Chaoyun rushed to Lu Yun's side and asked anxiously, "Yuan'er, what happened? Where are you hurt?"

"Madam, don't worry, Miss is alright." Lu Yun picked up Lu Zhiyuan: "Miss is tired and needs to rest. Let's leave here as soon as possible."

Xie Chaoyun nodded, suddenly letting out a sigh of relief, and looked at the corpses lying haphazardly on the ground. They had one thing in common: the clothes they wore under their night clothes were not those of the Southern Chu people, but rather those of Xie's servants.

Whatever the people of Southern Chu want to do, what they do next will be related to the Xie family.

They gathered some firewood, dragged the assassins' bodies together, and set them on fire. In the firelight, Xie Chaoyun glanced at the still unconscious Lu Zhiyuan, then roused himself and said, "Back to the city, to the Xie family!"

At the same time, Xie Yu'an was staring at a corpse that had just been thrown out of the pond in the backyard.

"His name is Xie San, and he's a shop assistant in my shop. The last time I saw him was the afternoon before yesterday. He came to the mansion to deliver account books and stayed for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. There were eight account books, two of which had problems and the accounts were unclear. I told him to take them to the shopkeeper to redo them. According to the schedule, he should have delivered the new account books to me tomorrow morning."

"The clerk who delivered the account books hasn't returned, and the manager hasn't informed him either?"

Xie Yu'an also found it strange, and gave the steward a wink, telling him to send someone to call the shopkeeper over.

Captain Ma held up a lantern and shone it on himself, then asked, "With your face so badly rotten, how did Young Master Xie manage to tell that he is Xie San?"

Xie Yu'an pointed to Xie San's foot: "His right foot originally had six toes. Because he was always ridiculed, he cut one off with a knife. It was Physician Jiang who bandaged him up, and that's why I took him in as a shop assistant at the Xie family. A person who is ruthless to himself is ruthless to others. As a shop assistant at the Xie family, you can't have a compassionate heart. If you're too soft-hearted, you'll be easily bullied."

Captain Ma squinted and noticed a small, round scar, about the size of a little finger, on the corpse's right foot.

Who saw Xie San leave?

Xie Yu'an ordered the steward to gather the servants and ask them who had seen Xie San the day before yesterday afternoon. One servant said he had seen him, saying he saw Xie San clutching his stomach with an account book and running towards the latrine.

The servant pointed to the corner.

Commander Ma ordered his men to investigate, but the latrine reeked. The constable took one look with a lantern and returned.

"Has anyone used it in the past few days? Have any abnormalities been observed?"

The servant said, "Who can control the cycle of the five grains? Naturally, people use them every day. If there are any abnormalities, there are indeed. I found a few unused pieces of paper."

Commander Ma touched his nose and looked at Xie Yu'an: "Your Xie family is really frugal, but this paper really can't be wasted, it's expensive!"