TPATTHU Chapter 40
by VolareChapter 40 Sir, You Must Hold on Tight
The next morning.
“It was him! He poisoned them all to death! I didn’t expect him to be this kind of person!”
Inside the posthouse, Xiao Zhinian was awakened by the noisy clamor outside the door. He rubbed his forehead, only to find that the arm Shen Zhejiang was using as a pillow was a little numb from being in the same position.
That’s right, last night they were in the room discussing the matter of the post horses dying suddenly. Before they knew it, it was already late at night, and Shen Zhejiang had originally planned to go home, but Xiao Zhinian had insisted on keeping him.
Knowing that Shen Zhejiang was a light sleeper, he gently moved his arm and placed Shen Zhejiang on the pillow.
However, with his movement, Shen Zhejiang also woke up.
Xiao Zhinian gently kissed his forehead and whispered, “Sleep a little longer, I’ll go out and see what’s going on.”
He put on his robe and got out of bed.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw a group of posthouse runners gathered in a circle, their voices filled with righteous indignation, attracting even more people.
“This matter must be reported to the postmaster! So many post horses have been killed, what will we use to fill the vacancy?!”
“That’s right! I used to think that although he was silly, he wasn’t a bad person at heart, but I didn’t expect him to be so vicious!”
Xiao Zhinian asked, “What’s going on?”
The petty official who was responsible for the accounting last night finally found a backbone, and poured out his grievances one after another: “What the lord said is absolutely right! This morning, I deliberately waited in the back, wanting to see which bastard was killing so many horses. Sure enough, the culprit was Luo Xiaobei! I saw him secretly pouring these medicinal liquids into the troughs!”
A medicine bottle was presented to Xiao Zhinian.
Xiao Zhinian took it and smelled it, but didn’t detect any strange odor. He looked inside and saw that it was colorless and tasteless.
He asked in a deep voice, “Where is Luo Xiaobei?”
“Here!” The petty official angrily kicked the middle-aged man surrounded by the crowd forward and pushed him to Xiao Zhinian’s feet. “Lord, it’s him!”
The man had been keeping his head down from the beginning to the end, his back hunched. The gauze hat of the posthouse runner had fallen off somewhere, and a large clump of his hair, mixed with black and white, had been pulled out during the pushing and shoving. He was muttering something, but it was unclear what he was saying.
Xiao Zhinian said, “Raise your head.”
Luo Xiaobei didn’t seem to hear his words, looking as if he was possessed. He repeated incoherently, “No… it wasn’t me, I didn’t…”
Xiao Zhinian waved the medicine bottle in front of his eyes and continued to ask, “What is this?”
Following his movements, Luo Xiaobei’s muddled eyes were filled with blankness and confusion, as if he was still pondering Xiao Zhinian’s question.
The petty official watched from the side, feeling both anxious and annoyed. He directly raised his foot and kicked him, scolding, “The lord is asking you a question! Just answer truthfully, don’t pretend to be crazy here!”
“Is he usually like this?”
A clear voice like a mountain spring came from behind him. Xiao Zhinian turned his head and saw Shen Zhejiang walking slowly out of the room, wearing only a thin outer robe.
His satin-like black hair had not been combed yet, and it draped over his shoulders. The morning light shone from behind Shen Zhejiang, as if coating him with a faint, soft glow. His expression was cold and detached, like an immortal in the clouds.
The posthouse runners were all dumbfounded.
What are you looking at!
Xiao Zhinian’s face turned cold. Shen Zhejiang was his, and he would never allow anyone else to covet him, not even with a glance.
He turned around and hugged Shen Zhejiang tightly, like a wolf claiming its territory. His tall figure blocked all those gazes, and he roared to drive away the intruders.
“Why did you come out?”
When facing the person in his arms, his tone was incomparably gentle.
Shen Zhejiang didn’t expect Xiao Zhinian to dare to be so unreserved. He pushed him away, saying, “Let go, there are so many people watching.”
Unable to push him away, he directly stepped on Xiao Zhinian’s foot.
Xiao Zhinian winced in pain. Naturally, he couldn’t get angry at Shen Zhejiang, so he had to turn around and roar at the posthouse runners, “If you look again, be careful I’ll dig out your eyes!”
The posthouse runners: “…” The lords have an extraordinary relationship.
Shen Zhejiang looked at the crazy Luo Xiaobei and asked the petty official, “How is he different from usual?”
The petty official said seriously, “Reporting to the lord, Luo Xiaobei had a family misfortune in the past, and his whole person has long been demented. It was only later that his condition improved a little, and he didn’t have another episode. Today, he’s probably been stimulated.”
“Since he’s demented, why was he still recruited to work in the posthouse?”
“The postmaster saw that he was pitiful, wandering around all day with nowhere to go, so he had the idea of taking him in. He only provides three meals a day, nothing more.”
After listening to the petty official’s words, Shen Zhejiang was silent for a while. According to common sense, a person with an unclear mind wouldn’t know what he’s doing, so wouldn’t his pouring medicine be a habitual behavior?
Xiao Zhinian sneered, “Who knows if he’s pretending? Someone, give him a beating to test his true state.”
“Don’t be impatient, give it to me,” Shen Zhejiang opened his palm and asked Xiao Zhinian for the medicine bottle. “Let me ask him.”
Xiao Zhinian didn’t give it to him, but said, “His temperament is unpredictable. Just ask what you want to ask, don’t get close.”
Shen Zhejiang was insistent and raised his voice, “Give it to me.”
“……”
The medicine bottle ultimately landed in Shen Zhejiang’s hands.
Shen Zhejiang squatted down one step away from Luo Xiaobei and shook the bottle at him, saying, “Luo Xiaobei, do you recognize this thing?”
Luo Xiaobei’s gaze was fixed on the direction of the medicine bottle, as if his soul had been sucked in. He stretched out his hand tremblingly, reaching for the medicine bottle, and muttered, “Mine… this is mine, give it back to me…”
Xiao Zhinian stood guard beside Shen Zhejiang, ready to protect Shen Zhejiang if anything went wrong.
“Tell me, who gave this to you? Why did they give it to you?”
“Who? He… it was him, I remember, it was him!” Luo Xiaobei suddenly became agitated, his eyeballs bulging out as if they were about to pop out. He snatched the bottle from Shen Zhejiang’s hand, “He gave it to me! I can’t tell you! He will kill me!”
Xiao Zhinian quickly pulled Shen Zhejiang behind him, retreating two steps, and asked sharply, “Who is he?”
“He is…”
Luo Xiaobei uttered two words, about to reveal the answer, but at that moment, his entire huge body seemed to freeze, suspended in mid-air.
An arrow, piercing and sharp, pierced through Luo Xiaobei’s heart in full view of everyone!
He was stunned for a long time, his expression shattered. He had just taken a step when he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The medicine bottle rolled to Xiao Zhinian’s feet.
“Ah!! Catch the assassin!!”
The posthouse runners were terrified and scattered in all directions.
“Chase!”
The incident happened suddenly. Xiao Zhinian and Shen Zhejiang tacitly understood each other and immediately ran towards the direction from which the arrow had come.
They were currently on the second floor. With so many people watching, if they wanted to accurately aim at Luo Xiaobei and kill him with one arrow, they would definitely have to find a high and wide spot.
The person who killed Luo Xiaobei must have been secretly following them. If they could catch this person and get to the bottom of things, they would definitely be able to dig out a lot of information, and it might even be related to the previous man in black.
Xiao Zhinian took Shen Zhejiang to the roof, looked around, and sure enough, he saw a person carrying a bow and arrow running away quickly by scaling walls and roofs. He looked like a skilled hand.
Shen Zhejiang knew that his foundation was poor and didn’t want to be a burden.
“I’ll stay here to watch…”
“No,” Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Zhinian interrupted him directly. Noticing that Shen Zhejiang was shocked by his resolute reaction, he quickly explained to him, “I’m not at ease leaving you here alone. Huai Wu isn’t here either. If it’s a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain, I need you by my side no matter what.”
For Xiao Zhinian, regaining what he had lost was a great fortune, and he didn’t dare to lose it again easily.
He must take good care of Shen Zhejiang.
Shen Zhejiang refused, “I’m afraid I’ll be a burden to you.”
As soon as Xiao Zhinian heard this, he wrapped his arm around his waist without allowing any argument and leaped into the air to chase after that person. He was still able to spare some attention to joke with Shen Zhejiang, “If Sir can rely on me, I’d be overjoyed. How could it be a burden?”
Shen Zhejiang had never tried leaping in mid-air before. The feeling of his feet not being firmly on the ground made him extremely uneasy. His eyelashes trembled, and his hands instinctively grabbed a piece of clothing in front of Xiao Zhinian’s chest.
Xiao Zhinian chuckled, “Sir, you must hold on tight.”
“……Mm.”
The sound of the wind whistled past, and Shen Zhejiang’s soft “Mm” quickly dissipated in the wind. The volume was very small, and it was unclear whether Xiao Zhinian had heard it or not.