I was reborn after cheating on the aloof and powerful man.

Chapter 44 The Poison of the Plague

Cui Chou was faster than anyone else present; in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared.

When Fei Xi and her group arrived at Jiangzhang Courtyard, the sun was setting, the time of the Demon Encounter. The entrance to Jiangzhang Courtyard, which would usually be bustling at this time, was completely deserted today.

"Ah! Murder! A ghost!!!"

A terrified scream, like thunder, echoed from inside the Crimson Tent Courtyard. A scholar wearing a Confucian cap and with blood-stained feet staggered out. Seeing the large, dark crowd outside, he breathed a long sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing everyone heading inside, the scholar jumped up in alarm and fearfully advised:

"Please don't go in! It's terrifying inside. People have turned into demons. Please come with me to Xuehai Academy and ask the chivalrous heroes to come and solve this problem."

However, no one paid any attention to what he said.

As soon as everyone entered, the lobby was eerily quiet, as if time had frozen, and there was no one there.

Ignoring the risk of revealing anything, Fei Xi hurried towards "Green Waters and Autumn Waves." Behind her followed two little tails, Mu Qingfeng and Wu Yanluo, while the others searched everywhere.

"Green Waters and Autumn Waves" is one of the lowest-ranking rooms in the Crimson Tent Courtyard, located in the western corner.

Before long, Fei Xi arrived. Pushing open the door to the room, she saw Liu Huihui, whom she had met once before, lying on the bed with her back to her, seemingly asleep.

"Sister Liu?"

Fei Xi stepped forward and called out to the other person, but received no response.

She lifted the curtain and went inside, her hand gently touching the woman's shoulder. As she turned the woman around, Fei Xi's pupils dilated instantly, and she shouted urgently, unusually losing her composure:

"Don't come any closer! Quickly get all the junior brothers and sisters who haven't touched the corpse out of here! No, that scholar... quickly invite Master Xuanzhen and the others over!"

"Senior Sister, what happened?"

"Xiao Xi?"

Wu Yanluo was about to step forward to investigate when she suddenly caught sight of a woman lying on the bed inside the curtain, her face disfigured and her body covered in bruises.

A blue-faced ghost?! Wu Yanluo's heart jolted, and she instantly understood why the scholar had exclaimed about the evil ghost at the gate.

...No, that's not right. In a flash, she remembered a strange story her master had told her, and then she thought about Xiao Xi's reaction just now. It seemed that everything had an answer!

She grabbed Mu Qingfeng, who was also itching to go inside, and dashed out like an arrow, shouting at the top of her lungs:

"Those who haven't touched the corpse, come with me immediately. Those who have touched the corpse, please stay in the hall! Master, Xiao Xi requests that you, Master Xuanzhen, and Senior Mu come quickly to the room in the far west corner."

Although Mu Qingfeng didn't understand what had happened, she knew that her senior sister would never speak without reason. She and Wu Yanlu persuaded the Qingcheng Sect members to leave.

The three seniors from the Spirit Hall quickly arrived at "Green Waters and Autumn Waves." Through the curtain, Master Xuanzhen asked directly:

"Amitabha Buddha, Benefactor Fei, have you noticed anything amiss?"

"Fei girl, the people who died in this courtyard are exactly the same as those who died at Yanziji back then!" Qin Lu had a fiery temper and spoke urgently, clearly having understood something.

Upon hearing the words "Yanziji," Fei Xi gave a bitter smile. She never expected that Princess Lu Mingyue had actually collaborated with that person. Without her junior brother's miraculous luck, could she truly defeat that person and avenge herself?

The negative pessimism that had just surfaced was instantly banished. She steadied herself and resolved to deal with the matter at hand first!

Fei Xi met the three seniors' gazes firmly. Her delicate features revealed a composure and determination far beyond her years, which made the three of them feel even more favorably toward this rising star.

Fei Xi gazed at Qin Lu and spoke first to confirm:

"I heard that it was Senior Jiang of the Taibai School who decisively ordered the site to be burned down in the Yanziji case back then, which prevented a catastrophe and avoided more casualties."

Qin Lu, still shaken by the near-disaster she had almost caused, said bitterly:

"Those heartless madmen, I, Qin Lu, will one day tear them to pieces!"

“Amitabha, ladies, this corpse… um?” Master Xuanzhen suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and his face showed a look of astonishment.

“Master Xuanzhen, Senior Mu, back then, some wicked people in Yanziji were conducting human experiments on people with a depraved heart. Fortunately, the Taibai Sect and the people of Tangjiabao, who were defending the righteous in the city at the time, discovered something was wrong in time. But by the time Senior Jiang of the Taibai Sect arrived, it was too late. That group of people killed everyone to silence them and even poisoned the corpses with plague before fleeing. If it weren't for Senior Jiang's decisive action in isolating the people and setting fire to extinguish the source, the entire city of Yanziji would probably have been in danger.”

Fei Xi rose, bowed deeply to the three Spirit Hall seniors, and spoke earnestly:

"The plague robbing corpses in Jiangzhang Courtyard today is probably even more ferocious than that of Yanziwu back then. The scholar we just met at the gate of Jiangzhang Courtyard, please, seniors, bring him here and isolate him, as well as everyone he came into contact with along the way. Now, Lord Jia of Nanxuan City has suddenly died, and there is no one in charge of the city. I implore the three of you to temporarily assume his duties and ensure that the epidemic is contained within Jiangzhang Courtyard, and that it is absolutely not allowed to spread throughout the city!"

“Amitabha, well said, well said! It is rare for Benefactor Fei to be so insightful at such a young age. I am truly impressed. I will certainly step forward to help you with what you have said. If you have any other needs, please feel free to speak.”

Master Xuanzhen said it was a rare opportunity, and couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for the junior in front of him, so his tone became even more amiable.

The puppet Xiaohua, who was behind Mu Yin, climbed onto his head and asked eagerly:

"Sister, what will you do then?"

The girl replied without changing her expression, "Since I have already come into contact with the corpse, I should naturally isolate myself along with those who have come into contact with it."

"Fei girl, do you know how dangerous this is?" Qin Lu still remembered how Senior Brother Jiang almost lost his life because of the incident at Yanziji. This plague is no joke!

"I understand, and I would like to ask the seniors to help me prepare some things."

Her resolute gaze held a composure as if she had seen through life and death. The girl's courage and wisdom moved the three seasoned martial arts masters deeply, and they couldn't help but feel a pang of compassion, wishing only for her safety and well-being.

After the three seniors left, Fei Xi hurriedly came to the hall and comforted the unlucky junior brothers who had accidentally bumped into the corpses.

Then, with heavy steps, she walked toward the "Su Guan He Ding" room.

Pushing open the door, the familiar figure was indeed still there.

*

The fruits on the table were arranged exactly as he had left them, as if he had never left. Sadly, the cold corpse of the woman in his arms easily shattered all those beautiful illusions, a cruelty that chilled the heart.

“The people who died here were all infected with the plague. I need to gather them together and burn them later.”

Cui Chou didn't look up, but gently stroked his lover's already distorted face, his rough, hoarse voice chilling like ice:

"Are they from the same group as those at Yanziji?"

“I don’t think so, but there must be some connection between the two. Moreover, the other party’s actions in silencing people were so swift that someone must have tipped them off. Lord Cui, I suspect that your every move has been watched by that group of people for a long time.”

Upon hearing this, Cui Chou's eyes instantly turned icy, and his deep voice carried a hint of despair that was difficult to detect.

"Ha, are you saying that I killed her?"

"...Sister Liu Huihui was implicated because of me."

If you don't look at her face, the girl's tone is as if she's saying the weather is nice, but when Cui Chou looks up, he sees a fragile and confused look on the girl's face, as if she's about to cry.

"I don't know if what I did was right. I feel like I'm no different from those evil people who wield knives, because I've implicated innocent people."

"If you do nothing, will those people let the innocent go? How naive! Useless kindness and guilt are of no use except to make things difficult for yourself. Only by holding the butcher's knife yourself can you make the evildoers lay down their weapons!"

"Yes, people can be so dramatic."

The little girl nodded in agreement with his words, her tone suddenly changing, and her entire demeanor transformed. Her eyebrows curved into crescents, and her expression softened like a gentle spring breeze as she gazed at him with a warmth that could soothe any pain in his heart.

Cui Tao was stunned. He instantly understood what was happening, snorted coldly, picked up his lover's corpse, and followed her out.