My Years in the Jianghu with the Prince: A Time of Unethical Conduct

Xie Yan and her companion followed Shen Yulin back into the Cheng family's main residence.

But the servants he encountered on the road this time were no longer all smiles like yesterday; instead, their faces were filled with deep fear.

The two followed Shen Yulin without stopping, heading towards the backyard where they had heard dogs barking the night before.

The closer the three got, the louder the barking of the dogs grew.

The air was filled with the distinctive stench of livestock and a faint, lingering smell of blood. The combination of these two odors was enough to make one want to vomit.

After passing through the corridor and turning a corner, the scene suddenly opened up, and what first caught their eyes was a huge crowd of people.

Those people were all familiar faces I'd seen in the reception room yesterday, including Song Yunzheng, whom I'd just met.

They were gathered outside a fence, whispering amongst themselves with varying expressions.

Clearly, the place was packed with people inside and out, and there was no room for Xie Yan and Chu Ling, two people of unknown identity, to squeeze in.

The two exchanged a glance, then leaped in unison, flying a few steps to the corridor. After landing on the high ground, they looked into the crowd.

It's easy to tell from the layout inside the fence that it originally housed several large, plump wolfhounds.

But now these guard dogs, which should be protecting the house, are locked in iron cages and left aside.

It's unclear what they were fed, but there were still traces of flesh and blood on the dogs' paws and mouths.

Locked in cages, they licked the blood from their paws while staring intently at the people before them with their eerie, glowing eyes, as if they were looking at delicious prey.

Looking again at the middle of the doghouse, Cheng Nanchun and several renowned senior figures stood there, their brows furrowed and their faces grim as they stared at the ground in front of them.

Bloodstains, a large patch of blood so red it had turned black, deeply soaked the muddy ground beneath their feet, with several pieces of torn clothing scattered around.

In the very center of that bloodstain, several pieces of flesh and fragments of white bone were gnawed beyond recognition.

Even Xie Yan couldn't recognize the original shape of those pieces of meat; she could only barely make out the shape of a hand and a foot.

As for those few pieces of white bone, one piece was particularly conspicuous, making it immediately recognizable as a skull that had been completely gnawed away.

Because of the distance, Xie Yan couldn't tell whether the person was thrown to the dogs after death or was torn apart alive.

Regardless of the cause, this person's death can be described as extremely gruesome.

"That's unreasonable!"

Cheng Nanchun finally couldn't contain his anger and slapped the dog cage next to him.

With a loud crash, the iron dog cage was dented deeply by his slam, startling the wolfhound into whimpering and hiding in a corner with its tail between its legs.

Yesterday, everyone gathered together to denounce the mastermind behind the scenes, but today their own butler was so cruelly murdered!

This person completely disregarded Cheng Nanchun and the other martial arts heroes, daring to commit such a heinous crime right under their noses.

Isn't this a blatant provocation against them?!

“Brother Cheng,” a gaunt old man dressed in black said solemnly as he looked at the scene before him, “this man is issuing a challenge to us!”

This person was none other than Li Yuanshan, Cheng Nanchun's close friend and the leader of the Xuanzhen Sect.

"good."

Cheng Nanchun's face was grim. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and said, "In all my years of wandering the martial world, I, Cheng Nanchun, have never seen such an arrogant person! He's simply courting death!"

"This person is so audacious, treating human life like dirt! We must find him and kill him to prevent future troubles!"

"Yes! We must find him!"

One after another, people in the crowd shouted indignantly.

Just then, a calm voice interrupted the crowd's heated discussion.

"Please calm down for a moment."

After drawing everyone's attention, the Lord of Zixiao Manor stroked his beard and sighed deeply.

"Since this person dared to commit a crime right under our noses, he must have planned it all along. It's even quite possible that he had already infiltrated the crowd attending the birthday banquet."

The Lord of Zixiao Manor had sharp eyes. He suddenly looked around at the crowd and said coldly, "Perhaps he's right here, waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves."

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd gasped, their initial enthusiasm fading, and immediately turned to look warily at those around them.

"Is this person really so audacious as to dare to sneak into this place?"

"That's hard to say. You can know a person's face but not their heart!"

"Who is it?!"

Just as everyone was unsettled by these words and began to suspect each other, a loud voice suddenly rang out from outside the crowd.

"Make way! Make way! The lady is here!"

Then, Madam Cheng, supported by her maid, hurried over.

"Madam! What brings you here?"

Cheng Nanchun looked over in surprise and hurriedly went out to help his weak wife.

Madam Cheng still looked haggard, and even though she was panting heavily, her face was completely devoid of color.

She clutched her heaving chest, her face filled with terror, and said, "I...I heard Cheng Fang is dead?"

Cheng Nanchun nodded solemnly, intentionally or unintentionally shielding Madam Cheng from view, and said, "His death was gruesome; it would be best if Madam did not look."

Before Madam Cheng could speak again, he immediately gestured to the maid beside him, "Take Madam back. Don't come out in the cold wind unless necessary, lest it worsen her condition."

Madam Cheng glanced at Cheng Nanchun's expression, swallowed back the words she was about to say, nodded stiffly, and followed the maid back.

However, Xie Yan did not miss the expression on Madam Cheng's face when she suddenly turned back and saw the butler's corpse halfway there.

Her beautiful eyes widened instantly, and her body swayed as if she had been greatly frightened.

But it didn't seem like he was afraid of corpses; rather, he seemed afraid of something else.

After this brief interlude, Cheng Nanchun looked at everyone again and said, "Everyone, I know you all want to find the real culprit. But if we panic now, wouldn't we be playing right into that villain's hands?"

"Furthermore, I believe that everyone here is an upright person and would never do such a despicable thing!"

Seeing that Cheng Nanchun's words were sincere and earnest, everyone agreed.

"Old Cheng is right. We can't afford to lose our composure first!"

"Yes! We must listen to Elder Cheng and not fall into the villains' trap!"

After everyone calmed down, Cheng Nanchun nodded in satisfaction.

He then ordered his servants to properly collect Cheng Fang's body and to kill and bury all the locked-up wolves.