Everyone was overjoyed, except for An Xiuqing, who was disheartened. Gu Liancheng had returned, meaning Jiang Zhen wouldn’t become a widow. Gu Liancheng walked toward them against the rising sun, his silhouette bathed in a sharp, radiant halo. How had she never noticed before how tall, imposing, and reassuring he was?  

An Xiuqing felt a pang of loss, but it only strengthened her resolve—she had to win Dr. Qi’s heart.  

…  

Gu Liancheng stood outside, calming the nervous crowd: “The bandit suppression went smoothly. Almost none escaped the encirclement. Everyone can go about their work and lives as usual—no need to worry too much.”  

The few who slipped through the net were now like startled birds, incapable of causing any real trouble.  

But what about Qi Junshan? Jiang Zhen could only ask in private later.  

Banditry had plagued Fancheng for decades, tormenting the common folk. Hearing Gu Liancheng’s report, the crowd erupted in cheers: “The skies have finally cleared! Come on, let’s celebrate—today, we’re buying half a pound of meat!”  

Gu Jiaoxia was thrilled. With the bandits gone, surely Gu Liancheng would return home soon. She eagerly asked, “What about you? How much longer until you can come back?”  

Truthfully, Gu Liancheng shouldn’t have returned at this time—his excuse about worrying for his family was just a cover.  

He replied, “Elder Sister, I’ll need you to watch the kids for half a day. There are a few injured bandits up in the mountains who can’t be moved to the hospital. I need Jiang Zhen to come with me for emergency treatment.”  

“Can’t Fancheng send someone else? Why drag Jiang Zhen into this? Are you just exploiting your own family?” Gu Jiaoxia grumbled unhappily.  

But Jiang Zhen quickly understood—last night’s battle had left stragglers, and Gu Liancheng was handling the cleanup. He’d come for her because of her abilities.  

This was her chance to prove her worth. She was more than willing to cooperate. “Elder Sister, outsiders might not be suitable. As Liancheng’s wife, I’m the right person for this.”  

Her affectionate tone toward Gu Liancheng warmed Gu Jiaoxia’s heart. “Then go quickly. Don’t worry if you can’t make it back tonight—I’ll take the kids home.”  

…  

Gu Liancheng had driven back in a military jeep, clearly in a hurry. The moment Jiang Zhen got in, she asked, “Is Qi Junshan dead?”  

“I’m sure I hit him, but his body wasn’t among the casualties.” Gu Liancheng’s brow furrowed.  

That was bad. If Qi Junshan was still alive, he’d seek revenge sooner or later. Jiang Zhen was about to complain when she caught sight of his grim expression—he was even more worried than she was.  

She reached out, smoothing the crease between his brows. “Stop frowning. There’s still time to fix this. Qi Junshan is injured—he’ll need help. If we monitor the people he might turn to, we can catch him.”  

Gu Liancheng had expected a scolding, but instead, Jiang Zhen had comforted him. Sometimes, affection strikes unexpectedly. This is bad, he thought. It’s only been a few days. He quickly shook off the thought—there was work to do.  

“We need you to examine the bodies on the mountain. Find out how many bandits escaped, how many weren’t there at all, and who down below collaborated with them. Those people will need close surveillance.”  

“Understood.” Jiang Zhen nodded with determination.  

Gu Liancheng hesitated. “This operation took out over a hundred bandits. How many days will you need?”  

Jiang Zhen fell silent for a moment before murmuring, almost to herself, “Can I finish it in one day?”  

Gu Liancheng: “…” Alright, if she can do this in one day, we ought to worship her.

…  

As Jiang Zhen examined the bodies, she spoke aloud while two soldiers took turns recording. She noted the names of the dead bandits, any useful conversations they’d had—minor bandits yielded little, but the leaders provided more intel.  

“I can only touch a corpse once—the second time, I won’t get any memories. And my recall isn’t perfect—I mix things up, forget details. Make sure you record everything clearly.”  

She’d warned them in advance. Each body was tagged with a number, and the notes were organized accordingly. By noon, they’d cycled through several record-keepers.  

Seeing Jiang Zhen’s seemingly unshaken focus, Xiao Jianzhou grew concerned and called Gu Liancheng over.  

When Gu Liancheng returned, his expression was odd. “She says she can keep going—she’s just hungry. Can she eat while working?”  

Xiao Jianzhou: “…” That mental fortitude… No need to ask. Wherever she came from, it must’ve been ten times worse than this. She’s seen it all.  

“Get her some sweet potatoes. Nothing with a strong smell—I don’t want the record-keepers vomiting.”  

“Yes, sir!”

After examining over a hundred corpses, Jiang Zhen was surprisingly fine—she only had to speak while her mind remained detached, discarding each memory as soon as she relayed it. But the comrades who had taken turns recording and organizing the information for seven or eight hours, from dawn till dusk, had a far tougher job.  

Jiang Zhen washed her hands with soap under the water Gu Liancheng poured from his canteen, scrubbing several times before sniffing them. Then she held them out to Gu Liancheng’s nose. “Smell—no more death stench, right?”  

She had worn medical gloves and washed thoroughly. Now, only the scent of soap lingered.  

“None. Just clean.”  

Jiang Zhen sniffed again. Touching over a hundred bandits and criminals had been disgusting, but it wasn’t without reward—she now knew where Qi Junshan was.  

“He has a lover in the village. He wouldn’t dare go to his family, so he might turn to her.”  

“A woman?”  

“Yeah.”  

“But I thought he was… incapable?”  

Jiang Zhen glanced at Gu Liancheng. “Can’t he still rely on her emotionally?”  

“Fair point.” After confirming the address, Gu Liancheng said, “I’ll go arrest him myself this time—he won’t escape again. Can I have someone escort you home?”  

Jiang Zhen hesitated, and Gu Liancheng noticed. “If you have concerns, say them.”  

“I just think Qi Junshan is cornered now. He’ll fight desperately, and there’s a high chance he’ll be killed on the spot. But the Qi family still has people left—children, too. If you’re the one who arrests him, they’ll resent you for life. It’d be better to let the police or unfamiliar soldiers handle it. They’re more suited than you. You could go after other fugitives instead.”  

The two families already had a strained relationship. Ji Fengmei and Gu Liancheng’s eldest sister were practically at each other’s throats. If Gu Liancheng were the one to capture Qi Junshan, Ji Fengmei might lose her mind.  

Gu Liancheng saw the logic in her words. He escorted Jiang Zhen to the foot of the mountain, where a vehicle waited to take her home.  

“Jiang Zhen, aren’t you going to ask when I’ll be back?”  

She grinned. “Just come back before next month’s stipend is due. If you can’t make it, no worries—just send someone to deliver the household allowance.”  

Gu Liancheng: “…” It won’t take that long. 

…  

The files Jiang Zhen had compiled from examining the corpses—over a hundred, numbered and organized—implicated many individuals. Most were innocent, but those who had aided the bandits would require close surveillance.  

Xiao Jianzhou clutched the thick stack of documents, his mind reeling. This ability of hers was both incredibly useful and terrifying. If Jiang Zhen were to flee—or worse, defect abroad—the loss would be catastrophic.  

But with these records in hand, none of the escaped fugitives would slip through the net.  

…  

Before nightfall, Jiang Zhen went to Gu Liancheng’s eldest sister’s house, planning to have dinner and then take the children home. She had initially tried to describe the day’s events, but they couldn’t stomach the details. Only then did she realize how abnormal her composure had been.  

Still, Gu Liancheng’s brother-in-law didn’t comment. He had even brought her washed sweet potatoes at noon. At the time, she had wondered why they hadn’t given her at least a steamed bun for such exhausting work. Now she understood—they’d been afraid she’d vomit.  

Seeing the millet and sweet potato porridge on the stove at her sister-in-law’s home, Jiang Zhen thought of the rice they’d eaten before—likely from the couple’s own rations. A pang of guilt hit her.  

“Elder Sister, I’m sorry.”  

Gu Jiaoxia was startled. “What’s wrong? Did you fight with Liancheng?” Was it so bad she wanted to leave him?  

Jiang Zhen quickly clarified, “No, no. It’s just… you’ve been giving us so much, but you and Brother-in-law are only eating this at home. From now on, please don’t send us anything else.”  

Gu Jiaoxia laughed and scolded, “You scared me! I thought it was something serious. Fine, if we ever have extra, then I’ll send some your way.”  

…

During dinner, a neighbor came upstairs to share some gossip: “Jiaoxia, Qi Junshan is dead.”  

“Dead? How?” Gu Jiaoxia immediately set down her chopsticks and pulled the neighbor outside to talk.  

Jiang Zhen was inwardly delighted—Qi Junshan is finally dead! Now she just needed to find a way to examine his body and uncover who had hired him to kill Jiang Tang and Jiang Zhao’s mother.  

The neighbor whispered, “They say he died of mǎshàngfēng on top of a widow. Can you believe it? After last night’s fierce battle against the bandits, instead of staying with his new wife, he ran off to some widow. Serves him right.”  

Gu Jiaoxia spat bitterly, “Damn right it serves him right! At least he died in someone else’s house—they can’t pin this on our family.”  

Jiang Tang, sharp-eared but too young to understand, asked, “Mom, what’s mǎshàngfēng?”  

Jiang Zhen didn’t know the exact term, but from the context—dying on top of a woman—it was clearly related to intimate activities. The Qi family would never accept this explanation, but since Qi Junshan’s impotence was likely a secret, they’d have no choice but to swallow the humiliation.  

“I don’t know,” Jiang Zhen said, “but it’s not a nice thing to say. Forget about it.”  

Jiang Tang nodded obediently, while Gu Pan shoveled rice into her mouth eagerly. “Aunt, we’re done eating. Let’s go home.” She couldn’t wait to check on the seeds in the space.  

…  

Back home, the neighboring house was eerily quiet—probably everyone had gone to identify the body. Jiang Zhen locked the courtyard gate and the front door before taking the four children into the space.  

After just one day, some seeds had already sprouted, their tender twin leaves resembling soaked soybean halves. In a few more days, the entire plot would be covered in green shoots.  

“Mom, did they grow so fast because we’re in the space? Why aren’t the two chicks growing too?” Jiang Zhao asked curiously.  

Jiang Zhen explained, “Living things aren’t affected. That’s a good thing—otherwise, staying here too long would make us age faster.”  

The kids, of course, had no such worries. “We want to grow up fast!”  

“You’ll have to wait,” Jiang Zhen laughed. “Now, let’s go out and sleep.”  

…  

That night, chaos erupted in the neighbor’s household. The commotion was so loud that Jiang Zhen could hear every word. With Qi Junshan gone—officially declared dead from mǎshàngfēng—the Qi family was forced to swallow a bitter pill. Ji Fengmei refused to let An Xiuqing remain a widow.

“Go back to your family and remarry!”  

But An Xiuqing had been waiting for Qi Junshan to die—why would she leave now? “Mother, how can you throw me out before Qi Junshan is even buried?”  

Qi Junhai couldn’t bear it. “Mom, at least wait until after Elder Brother’s funeral.”  

Jiang Zhen sent the four children into the space to spare them from the neighbor’s shouting.  

Early the next morning, she took the kids to the hospital to find Gu Jiaoxia. While Gu Jiaoxia took them to the cafeteria for breakfast, Jiang Zhen slipped off to the morgue—and sure enough, ran into Gu Liancheng, who had been waiting for her.  

Jiang Zhen grinned. “I guessed you’d guess that I’d guess you’d be here waiting for me. Talk about being on the same wavelength.”  

Gu Liancheng had considered going home first, but then he thought—being Jiang Zhen’s partner requires some tacit understanding. Once Qi Junshan died, she had to examine the body to find out who had hired him. And just as expected, he found her at the morgue entrance.  

“Everyone’s been cleared out for now,” he said. “Let’s hurry.”

—

Mǎshàngfēng is an old-fashioned Chinese term that literally means “wind on horseback.” It’s a euphemism from traditional Chinese medicine often used to describe sudden death during or after sexual activity, supposedly due to overstimulation or a rush of energy imbalance (like a stroke, heart attack, or other fatal condition).