The Demon Lords-Chapter 584 - 81: Jingnan_1

Many people believe white hair isn't unattractive. Indeed, according to the aesthetic standards of later eras, a man with white hair, as long as he wasn't decrepit and senile, might even possess a unique charm, an unusual beauty.

In his previous life, when Zheng Fan was a cartoonist, he enjoyed creating characters with such features, believing it was a quick and effective way to highlight a character's temperament.

Furthermore, in later times, due to the popularity of various hair dyes, people were often highly accepting of different hair colors.

But the Lord Jingnan before him now...

His white hair...

It projected only a stark desolation, a sorrow more profound than any broken heart, a kind of ruin that even late autumn could not conjure.

No talk of temperament, image, or any such descriptors could capture the shock of that first glance.

Zheng Fan felt as if his chest was completely blocked by a stone.

For a very long time, when facing Tian Wujing, Zheng Fan had always "performed" his role with just the right touch. It was a delicate balance: being familiar yet respectful with a superior, never overstepping but never distant. Through jests and lighthearted arguments, one let him feel you were his person, while also showing you understood boundaries.

But now, Zheng Fan didn't hide his feelings; whether he was too weary to, or simply felt it unnecessary, he wasn't sure. He merely took a few steps forward, peered past the threshold, and, after a moment, asked, "My Lord?"

The Lord answered serenely, "She's asleep."

In the Lord's eyes, there was no sadness, no disarray, certainly no hysteria. He was calm, but this calmness was like the quiet stillness before a volcanic eruption.

If one ignored the hair that had turned snow-white overnight, he appeared to be his same old self, unchanged.

But Zheng Fan knew. The sorrow of some people lay in their excessive strength, their overwhelming power. It was no longer a mask on their face, for the mask had fused with their very skin. The tragedy was, when you wanted to express your sorrow, you had already forgotten how. You could only sit like that on the threshold, sitting for an entire night. You had long since stripped such emotions from your body, believing you would never need them again, considering them a burden. But you hadn't expected that one day, you would find yourself needing them more than ever. They could tell you whether to cry, to scream, or to rage, instead of leaving you like a child just learning to walk, facing the path ahead with confusion and trepidation, helpless and lost. Even those around you wouldn't know how to comfort you; no one would dare. They were accustomed to your self-sufficiency, accustomed to your figure standing before multitudes. You were cut off from the world, a suffocating isolation.

Tian Wujing beckoned Zheng Fan closer with a wave of his hand.

Had it been anyone else facing Tian Wujing in this state, they would probably be trembling with fear and either have collapsed to their knees or fled in panic. After all, a lion on the brink of fury is far more terrifying than one already raging; who knew what it might do when its restraint finally snapped?

Zheng Fan walked over.

Tian Wujing said nothing.

Zheng Fan also said nothing.

From this position, Zheng Fan saw a coffin placed inside.

Tian Wujing continued to sit there.

Zheng Fan hesitated for a moment, still not daring to step inside.

The atmosphere here was stagnant.

Finally, Zheng Fan took a deep breath and slowly knelt on one knee before Tian Wujing.

Tian Wujing turned his head, looking at Zheng Fan kneeling before him.

Their eyes met. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

An overwhelming pressure bore down on Zheng Fan. It was a kind of judgment from the soul, an invisible pressure that caused the Mo Wan in Zheng Fan's chest to tremble slightly.

Time to risk it all.

Zheng Fan gritted his teeth and said directly, "My Lord, I want to know how, exactly, your wife died!"

"She's just asleep. She waited for me for so long, she just fell asleep first."

It was hard to imagine Tian Wujing saying such words.

What should one do in such a situation?

If he weren't Tian Wujing, you could douse him with cold water, you could scream curses at him, you could even slap him awake.

But precisely because he was Tian Wujing, others wouldn't dare.

And Zheng Fan...

Wouldn't dare either.

Because the Emperor's New Clothes only have their effect when worn by the Emperor himself.

Zheng Fan slowly opened his mouth.

Every word he spoke now could, in the next instant, result in his head being smashed by Tian Wujing's fist. The Mo Wan couldn't stop it. But Zheng Fan felt he had to say something, had to try to do something. When rural families held funerals and feasts, good neighbors and relatives would often come a day or two early to help. Is this courting death? Yes, probably. Purely courting death.

"My Lord..." Zheng Fan began, his voice trembling, "the... the... ch-child..."

Zheng Fan could clearly feel his teeth chattering, his words coming out in fits and starts.

He was walking a tightrope, with a bottomless abyss below. He'd walked tightropes before, but always for some gain. Now, he truly sought nothing, desired nothing. Zheng Fan hadn't felt this pure in a long time. Purely courting death.

Tian Wujing looked at Zheng Fan.

This time, his gaze...

Was different.

Previously, Tian Wujing, whatever his inner state, had at least a calm gaze. But now, his eyes carried clear emotions.

He was restraining himself. He had always been restraining himself. A volcano, constantly holding back its eruption. And unfortunately, Zheng Fan's words seemed poised to render all that prior restraint meaningless.

Zheng Fan lowered his head.

But his resolve hardened. Damn it, if I'm courting utter disaster, then so be it! Anyway, Tian Wujing, you've saved my life several times. If it comes to it, I'll just return this life to you!

"My Lord, the Lady is gone. Are we going to investigate this or not? You must give a clear answer! Or perhaps, My Lord, you already have some leads, but even then, please give us your definite word! If you, My Lord, choose not to investigate..."

"Then what will you do?"

"I... I'll bloody well investigate it myself! I've never been a father in all my lives combined! I finally had something to look forward to, and now it's been inexplicably snatched away. I won't stand for it!"

At this, Zheng Fan threw his head back, panting, his voice rising almost to a shout, "Arrest anyone suspicious for questioning! Assign people to follow up on any clue! Sift through everything, inside and out, high and low! Go over it once, and if that's not enough, do it again! I refuse to believe that something this major could leave no trace at all!

"No matter what, we can't be like you, My Lord, just sitting here claiming the Lady is asleep!

"My Lord, you are a true man; I've always respected you. But the way you're acting now truly makes this subordinate lose respect for you.

"A real man, whose pregnant wife was murdered! It's right for you to be heartbroken enough to die. Wanting to die and follow your wife and child is understandable. But at the very least, you should avenge them before you end your own life!"

Having roared all this, Zheng Fan felt a surge of release.

An incredible release.

After the exhilaration, only emptiness remained. If death was to come, so be it.

When Zheng Fan finished speaking, silence descended.

Tian Wujing slowly reached out his hand. Zheng Fan flinched.

Tian Wujing's hand grasped Zheng Fan's shoulder.

Zheng Fan braced for his shoulder to be crushed, but it wasn't.

Tian Wujing turned his head, glanced at the coffin behind him, and said, "Help me find my child."

"Child?" Zheng Fan was stunned.

"Juan was pierced through the stomach with a sword."

"Then..."

"I examined Juan's body. I found another sutured incision on her abdomen."

"That..."

"Before Juan went to Tianhu Mountain, she delivered the child. But there was no child in the estate."

Zheng Fan's mind reeled. What... what on earth had happened? "My Lord, why did Lady Dujuan go to Tianhu Mountain?"

The incident had occurred on Tianhu Mountain.

This was what Zheng Fan found most inexplicable. Common folk might naively assume the Marchioness went to Tianhu Mountain to pray for the Marquis on his distant campaign. But who was Dujuan? Was she the sort of ordinary woman who only knew to pray to gods and Buddhas? Why did she have to leave the Marquis's estate and go to Tianhu Mountain outside Li Tian City? And moreover, it was possible that before ascending the mountain, she had forced herself to give birth. A woman who had just given birth, a woman who had performed a C-section on herself and stitched the wound, still insisting on climbing a mountain? Why? Cesarean sections weren't a known medical procedure in this era, though midwives dealing with difficult births might, when choosing to save the child over the mother, use a knife or scissors to cut open the mother's abdomen to retrieve the baby. Dujuan was no ordinary woman; she had a cultivation base, but that kind of pain... So, did she know she might die, and thus delivered the child first? Did she go up the mountain seeking death?

"The Old Master from the palace came. He was staying on Tianhu Mountain."

Hearing this, Zheng Fan's head buzzed.

He had heard of this "Old Master," spoken of with reverence by the palace eunuchs in Yanjing. This Old Master was a Qi cultivator who, years ago, had sustained injuries saving the imperial family. His body was crippled, and he had since resided deep within the palace, teaching eunuchs Qi refining. Wei Zhonghe was one of his disciples. The Yan Spy Bureau had both agents and Qi cultivators. Ostensibly, Wei Zhonghe controlled the Spy Bureau, but its true leader was that Old Master.

Tian Wujing said slowly, "I once thought my heart could never feel pain again. But I was wrong."

Zheng Fan asked, somewhat dazed, "So, does that mean... it was... it was His Majesty..."

Has the Yan Emperor gone mad? To target Lord Jingnan's heir at a time like this... what is he thinking?!

Tian Wujing shook his head. "I don't know. But if that Old Master hadn't come here, Juan... she wouldn't have gone up the mountain.

"I am sitting here waiting. This Lord will wait here for a day. Wait for him to come down the mountain, wait for him to come here, wait for him to give this Lord an explanation."

"And... what if he... doesn't come down?"

Hearing this question, Tian Wujing replied very calmly, "Then the Jingnan Army... shall be called the Stabilizing Army."