“It was my woman. I thought she was obedient to me in every way, sweet and compliant, good in every possible sense. Whatever she wanted, I gave her.” Dong Rui spoke coldly. “Later, I started to feel that something was off. I asked her what was wrong, but she wouldn’t say. Then one day, while I was dead drunk, she poured the most vicious poison from my apothecary straight down my throat!” He then stroked the lower part of his face and let out a mirthless laugh. “Women, hehe, women!”1

He Lingchuan pressed a hand against the wine jar. “You can’t skip the details. Your story doesn’t add up. Why would she suddenly poison you for no reason?”0

“She found herself a lover outside,” Dong Rui chuckled. “The son of some chieftain. He had soft skin, delicate features—a pretty boy, just like you. I sent a ghost ape to tear that lover of hers apart, bit by bit, piece by piece, and eat him. She cried for two days. After that, she didn’t say anything more, so I thought she’d come to her senses.”0

He Lingchuan touched his own cheek. After being battered by wind and sun every day, do I really count as a pretty boy?0

But then again, Dong Rui’s own facial features were really just quite...1