The so-called ‘waiting by the tree stump for a rabbit’ meant that all one had to do was find a tree and wait for a rabbit to crash into it.

Because the plan Yin Yin proposed was so ridiculously simple, everyone found their tree stump and then had absolutely nothing to do.

Yin Yin and Ling Long were lying in ambush at the corner of Uncle Zhang’s backyard wall. His house was the ‘stump’ they had chosen to guard.

As for why they picked Uncle Zhang, Yin Yin revealed that, aside from Xue’er and Yanyan, Uncle Zhang was the only character in Shigu Town who had a surname. Therefore, he must be an important NPC.

Du Qianqian, Yanyan, and Sang Ze were hiding at another corner of the wall. The groupings had been decided by drawing lots. Sang Ze originally drew the same lot as Yin Yin and was supposed to be in her group, but under the biased ruling of the referee, he was placed in the other group.

The referee was Yin Yin.

“Sister Yanyan, what do you think those two are talking about?” Sang Ze widened his eyes, staring unblinkingly at Yin Yin and Ling Long, who were whispering to each other.

Yanyan smiled and said, “Children shouldn’t meddle in adults’ business.”

Sang Ze objected, “She’s my master!”

“I know.” Yanyan nodded. “But you’re not her master, are you?”

Sang Ze: “……”

Du Qianqian was also watching Yin Yin and Ling Long from the other side, a glint of cold light gradually surfacing in her eyes.

No matter what Yin Yin had become, she was still the one who had caused her death in her past life. Du Qianqian swore that all the suffering and torment she had endured would be repaid in full in this lifetime.

Meanwhile, the hotly watched Yin Yin and Ling Long were having the following conversation.

Yin Yin asked offhandedly, “Do you know Yanyan?”

Ling Long glanced at Yin Yin with slight surprise. “Why do you think that?”

Yin Yin scratched her face. “When you saw her, it looked like your eyes lit up. No, wait…… it was more like they dimmed.”

Ling Long smiled helplessly. “Yinyin, you really are observant.”

Yin Yin felt a little irritated. “So you do know her?”

Ling Long didn’t answer directly and asked instead, “Do you know Yanyan’s full name?”

“You do?” Her slight irritation grew into a bigger one.

“Gu Chenyan.”

“Gu Chenyan?” Yin Yin frowned and thought for a moment. That name hadn’t appeared in 《All Splendor Fades》. It seemed that bringing Ling Long early to find Jia Qing had indeed triggered a different side quest in the plot.

“You don’t know her?”

Yin Yin snorted coldly. “Is she famous? Do I have to know her?”

Ling Long paused, then lowered his head and chuckled softly. “She’s not famous, but Mo Lingya is.”

“Mo Lingya?!” Yin Yin covered her mouth in shock. “You mean that Mo Lingya from Xuehen^[1]Bloodstain?!”

“Yes.”

Mo Lingya, who single-handedly founded Xuehen, was the most powerful and mysterious assassination organization in the Jianghu. The group had only seven members, all elite, chosen from countless candidates. To join Xuehen, one had to kill an existing member and take their place. Mo Lingya also decreed that if a member failed a mission, they no longer had any reason to remain in the world.

So, anyone who was in Xuehen had never once failed a mission.

Mo Lingya had only ever appeared by name in 《All Splendor Fades》, but he had achieved top-level popularity among readers.

Of course, that had everything to do with the author setting him up as the number one martial artist and the most handsome man in the world.

Because of that, Ling Long’s fans and Mo Lingya’s fans once had a fierce war in the comment section. But after enough arguing, they ended up uniting to roast the author instead.

The next day, MoLing CP swept the entire comment section with unstoppable momentum, and fanfics about them sprouted like mushrooms after rain.

A perfectly normal romance novel had been forcibly twisted into a boys’ love story. Readers truly were powerful beyond reason.

Yin Yin had always been against this development, because— Ling Long was clearly supposed to be the top! Stop reversing her CP!

So, even though Mo Lingya had never officially appeared, Yin Yin had long been familiar with his name.

She suddenly realized that maybe her real enemy wasn’t Du Qianqian at all…… but Mo Lingya.

This revelation left Yin Yin a little shaken.

She swallowed and lowered her voice. “So, Yanyan’s on Mo Lingya’s hit list?”

Ling Long didn’t quite understand what a ‘hit list’ was, but he more or less got what Yin Yin meant. “He doesn’t want to kill Gu Chenyan. He’s looking for her.”

“Of course. How else would he kill her?” Yin Yin’s mouth twitched.

Ling Long gave Yin Yin a rather ambiguous smile. “Do you know what her relationship with Mo Lingya is?”

“Mortal enemies?”

Ling Long thought for a moment. “Love and hatred.”

Yin Yin: “……”

She felt that Ling Long’s emotional intelligence had suddenly exploded.

“Gu Chenyan and Mo Lingya nearly got married.”

“Nearly?”

“She ran away from the wedding.”

Yin Yin: “……”

Well, that wasn’t her fault. After all, who’d want to marry a murderer?

“That Mo Lingya not only kills without blinking, but also abducts women!” Yin Yin did her best to smear Mo Lingya’s image in Ling Long’s heart, hoping to prevent any disasters before they started.

“As far as I know, they were in love with each other.”

“Nonsense! If they were in love, why did she run away? Mo Lingya must’ve forced her, the scoundrel!” Yin Yin continued her tireless defamation campaign.

Ling Long looked at Yin Yin in silence. “Do you have a grudge against Mo Lingya?”

Yin Yin felt a guilty conscience, as if she had been caught doing something wrong, but she still declared with a righteous air, “A devil like that deserves to be executed by all!”

“With your martial arts skills compared to his, it’s more likely he’ll be the one executing you.”

“……”

And just like that, her righteousness deflated.

Ling Long stared at the backyard of Uncle Zhang’s house, his tone calm as he said, “Just because two people love each other doesn’t mean they’re right for each other. Mo Lingya has always been arrogant and used to commanding from above. But Gu Chenyan is a woman with a strong sense of pride. Do you really not know her?”

Yin Yin shook her head. “I really don’t.”

A flicker passed through Ling Long’s amber eyes as he stared steadily at her. “Why is it that you know things you shouldn’t, but the things you should know, you don’t?”

Yin Yin’s heart started racing. She quickly ran through the entire plot of 《All Splendor Fades》 again. Damn it, the author really didn’t mention anyone named Gu Chenyan! Q口Q

“Gu Chenyan is a moderately well-known perfumer in the capital. She attends the annual Fragrance Banquet held in the city. Every year, a few perfumers manage to stand out from the rest, but for years now, Gu Chenyan hasn’t produced anything truly impressive.

Madam Yin is obsessed with incense and fragrances. Everything used in Yin Manor is personally chosen by her, most of it from the top products featured in the Fragrance Banquet. Gu Chenyan’s work is among them. For the daughter raised by Madam Yin to have never heard of Gu Chenyan, it doesn’t quite add up.”

Yin Yin: “……”

I’m just a reader! I only know the parts the author wrote! How the hell am I supposed to know about plot patches a system fills in automatically?! ┭┮﹏┭┮

Yin Yin felt deeply wronged. She gave a dry chuckle and said, “Now that I think about it…… I guess I did hear my mother mention her once.”

Ling Long’s gaze dimmed under the shroud of night. He looked at Yin Yin for a moment, then said nothing more.

After a brief silence, Yin Yin couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked, “Why did you save Xue’er today?”

That’s not like him at all.

Ling Long glanced sideways at her, expression calm. “Even if I hadn’t, you would have.”

Yin Yin’s heart gave a sudden thump. Can I shamelessly take that to mean…… we’re one and the same?

The thought brought a faint sweetness to her chest.

Suddenly, Ling Long furrowed his brow, eyes locking on a nearby house as if deep in thought.

“What is it?” Yin Yin followed his gaze but saw only darkness.

“Someone’s been following us this whole time.”

“Huh? Wasn’t it Du Qianqian?”

Ling Long shook his head. “Aside from her, there’s someone else.”

“Someone else?” Yin Yin frowned as well, a thoughtful look on her face.

“You—” Ling Long had barely spoken a word when a snow-white figure suddenly flew toward them at astonishing speed— actually flew!

Yin Yin nearly pointed and shouted ‘Superman’!

The white figure landed lightly in Uncle Zhang’s courtyard. The poultry inside started clucking in alarm. Ling Long sprang to his feet and darted into the courtyard after him.

Sang Ze, already prepared, began banging on a gong and drum while shouting, “Help! Ghost! Somebody catch the ghost!”

The white-clad figure froze for a moment. He had known people were lying in wait, but he hadn’t expected this tactic.

The townsfolk quickly gathered at Uncle Zhang’s house. The white figure grabbed a chicken, tapped the ground lightly with his toe, and tried to flee— only to be blocked by Ling Long.

Ling Long stood silently in the moonlight, neither speaking nor moving.

The white figure looked at Ling Long, then suddenly grinned and struck like lightning.

He still held the chicken in one hand and could only fight with the other, but even so, Ling Long was forced back nearly thirty feet by the full force of his blow.

When the crowd finally reached the backyard, they caught only a glimpse of a white shadow leaping into the air before vanishing into the endless night.

“Are you okay?” Yin Yin rushed forward in worry.

Du Qianqian also hurried over, her face full of concern. “Young Master Lin, are you hurt?”

Ling Long looked toward the spot where the white figure had disappeared and slowly shook his head.

“Did you see who it was?” Gu Chenyan looked at Ling Long, her tone anxious.

Ling Long swept his eyes across the group and said, “It was a man. And a highly skilled one.”

There were only a handful of people in the Jianghu with such ghost-like agility.

Xue’er and Sir Wu came out from Uncle Zhang’s house, with Uncle Zhang following, his expression a bit awkward.

“Xue’er and I were in Uncle Zhang’s room the entire time. That’s enough to prove her innocence, isn’t it?” Sir Wu looked at the square-faced man coldly.

The square-faced man shivered internally and looked toward Uncle Zhang.

Uncle Zhang gave him a sidelong glance and nodded.

The square-faced man pressed his thick lips together and was silent for a while. Then he said, “Alright. We wrongly accused Xue’er.”

Xue’er just stared down, kicking at a small rock on the ground without saying a word.

Ling Long added, “You said his movements were erratic and incredibly fast. That’s due to his exceptional qinggong. As for the rumors about eating raw meat and drinking blood, that’s probably just hearsay.”

Yin Yin asked curiously, “But what was that guy even doing here? Just to steal a chicken?”

……

A strange silence fell over the courtyard.

They don’t understand the world of experts.

In any case, whatever the man’s purpose had been, Xue’er’s name was cleared.

The crowd yawned and began to disperse. Ling Long walked beside Yin Yin and whispered, “That man was Jia Renyi.”