Fushan Yue looked at He Lingchuan and said, “Tell me, do you think Wu Kai has already been killed by Cen Boqing to silence him, with this story about sending him north used as a cover?”0

Wu Kai was Cen Boqing’s black glove, the dirty hand that did his work. Matters such as killing monsters for beads had very likely all been managed by him. The man was living, breathing evidence. Once Cen Boqing realized he could no longer clear himself of the courier case, would he simply eliminate this human witness?0

“The odds are low.” He Lingchuan had been considering this possibility all along. “If Cen Boqing had already killed Wu Kai to silence him, he would only need to invent any convenient excuse—a trampling accident by the lakeshore, say, or a fatal fall. It wouldn’t be convincing, but the man would still be dead. And what could you or I do then? We’d have no choice but to admit he’d outplayed us.”0

The moment the snail toad struck at Chao Lake Tower, He Lingchuan had called Fushan Yue to Baishajue and had Commander Lu surround the Cen Residence. The point was to race against time and prevent Cen Boqing from reacting in time.0

Mr. Mai had said Cen Boqing lacked quick wits. After observing him for days, He Lingchuan had come to think that was true as well. Otherwise, after marrying the eldest...0