The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 13 Still Has a Breath
"Damn it! Where is everyone?"

Yang Rang kicked the tree next to him in anger. He clearly saw Geng Hao running this way, so why did the trail end here?

He carried a knife in one hand and led his horse in the other, searching the surrounding area thoroughly, stabbing every possible hiding place with his knife, but he couldn't find any trace of Geng Hao.

That's strange, can that guy fly or something?
Enraged, Yang Rang slashed the ground a few times with his knife, but he had to accept the fact that he had indeed lost the person he was chasing.

The sound of horses' hooves gradually faded into the distance. Shang Wan carried Geng Hao on her back and lay motionless in the tree.

The next second, the faint sound of crushing fallen leaves came, and Yang Rang, gripping his knife, launched a surprise attack.

If Shang Wan had actually jumped down from the tree just now, he would definitely have caught her red-handed.

Yang Rang, unwilling to give up, circled around again, but still couldn't find any trace of Geng Hao, so he left reluctantly.

Shang Wan listened carefully, and after confirming that Yang Rang had really left, she carried the person and jumped down from the tree.

It was only because the woods were dense and the light was poor, and she was well hidden, that Yang Rang, who was looking up, would have spotted her long ago.

Shang Wan put Geng Hao down and neatly put his joints back in place. She smiled and said, "We would have been discovered if you had moved just now. In an emergency, we had to act expediently. I think you can understand that, right?"

Geng Hao: "..."

Would he dare say no? Who would just come up and break someone's bones?

"I'll put your jaw back in place now." Shang Wan stared at Geng Hao's terrified eyes. "I don't like people yelling at me, understand?"

Geng Hao nodded repeatedly.

Shang Wan reached out and skillfully put his chin back in place.

"I just saved your life, and you definitely have to repay that debt of gratitude." Shang Wan crossed her arms and glanced sideways at Geng Hao. "I don't need you to be my slave for the rest of your life. You just need to answer a few questions for me. Isn't that a good deal?"

Does he dare say no?
Geng Hao cursed inwardly but remained obedient on the outside, moving his aching jaw as he said, "Please ask."

Why did Tian Sheng send someone to kill you to silence you? What did you do for him?

Upon hearing these two questions, Geng Hao's heart tightened. Who was this woman? How did she know so much?

His mind raced, and just as he opened his mouth, Shang Wan said leisurely, "I can definitely dismantle bones faster than you can lie. Want to try?"

Geng Hao, who was indeed planning to make up a lie: "..."

Not at all, thank you!
Shang Wan looked at the person sitting on the ground, "Tian Sheng has already sent people to kill you. If he is ruthless, you can be ruthless too. Why bother to cover for him anymore?"

“I…” Geng Hao pursed his lips, his expression hesitant.

"I don't have much patience." Shang Wan squatted down and looked directly at him. "I'm not going to kill you."

They were talking about murder, but their tone was as casual as if they were just breaking off a tree branch on the roadside.

A chill ran through his ears and into Geng Hao's heart. He realized that the woman in front of him was not only not a kind person, but perhaps even more terrifying than Tian Sheng.

When faced with two evils, choose the lesser one.

“I can say,” Geng Hao unconsciously gripped the weeds on the ground, his voice strained, “but after I say it, whatever you want to do, you have to guarantee that I will live.”

Yang Rang failed to kill him, and he will definitely go back to report to Tian Sheng, who will not let him go.

The woman in front of him was investigating Tian Sheng, and was clearly not on his side. With her strength, she could definitely protect him if she wanted to.

Shang Wan curled her lips into a smile. "Do you think you have the right to bargain with me?"

"I have never done anything immoral or unethical for Tian Sheng," Geng Hao defended himself. "I just want to live a good life."

Shang Wan stared at him for a long time, then reached out and removed the green leaf from his shoulder. "First, tell me what you did for Tian Sheng." Geng Hao noticed her tone softening and was secretly pleased. He dared not be coy anymore and spilled everything he knew.

As he said, what he did to help Tian Sheng was not exactly immoral or heinous.

He merely helped capture Niu Baoqing's mother and younger brother, who were employees of Fuyuan Inn. After the poisoning incident at the inn, he deliberately went easy on Niu Baoqing during the interrogation, simply going through the motions.

Two effortless tasks that could earn five hundred taels of silver—Geng Hao was naturally happy to make a windfall.

He wasn't stupid; after a little thought, he realized that Tian Sheng was definitely involved in the poisoning of the magistrate. But it was too late for regrets; he was already on Tian Sheng's pirate ship, so he could only pretend to be confused and wait to take the money and run away.

Shang Wan understood, and she asked, "Is Niu Baoqing still alive?"

"He's alive." Geng Hao nodded. "His family is doing well too."

Shang Wan was somewhat surprised. If Tian Sheng could order Yang Rang to kill Geng Hao, how could he possibly let Niu Baoqing continue to live?

She frowned and pondered for a moment, then understood the key to it.

Tian Sheng probably felt that the sudden death of Niu Baoqing, a colleague involved in the case, was a bit abrupt, and wanted to wait until the case was settled and the heat died down before killing him to cover it up.

However, Yang Rang failed to kill Geng Hao tonight, and there is a risk that the matter of poisoning the county magistrate will be exposed. It is hard to guarantee that Tian Sheng will not take the risk and send someone to kill Niu Baoqing first.

Thinking of this, Shang Wan's face darkened. She covered Geng Hao's mouth, hoisted him onto her shoulder, and rushed towards the city gate.

Guided by Geng Hao, Shang Wan arrived at the Niu family's house in Tieshu Hutong. As soon as she entered, she smelled a faint odor of blood.

Oops!

Shang Wan followed the smell of blood to the pitch-black kitchen, where her excellent eyesight allowed her to see three people lying intertwined in pools of blood.

An elderly woman, a young man, and a boy under ten years old.

Both the woman and the boy had been stabbed in the chest and died instantly. Their wounds were still bleeding, indicating they had been killed recently.

The man had two knife wounds on his abdomen. Shang Wan knelt down to check his pulse and found that it was still slightly beating.

She felt a slight sense of relief, pried open the man's tightly closed mouth, and fed him ten drops of spiritual spring water in one go, while also dripping one drop onto each of the incisions on his abdomen.

Fortunately, the spiritual spring water in the space is increasing every day, otherwise it really wouldn't be enough.

Niu Baoqing is the key to identifying Tian Sheng's plot to murder Li Wenhua, and also the key to rescuing Lu Chengjing; he cannot die now.

It took Geng Hao a while to adjust to the darkness. He could barely make out the situation inside the room by the dim moonlight shining through the window. His heart started pounding, and he touched his neck in fear.

If Shang Wan hadn't saved him, he would be a corpse now.

Just in case, Shang Wan called to Geng Hao, "Come over and take a look. Is he Niu Baoqing?"

Geng Hao walked over, squatted down, brushed aside the man's messy hair, stared at him intently for a moment, and nodded. "It's him."

He watched Shang Wan take his pulse and exclaimed in surprise, "He's still alive?"

Shang Wan hummed in agreement, "He's still breathing."

"They're really lucky to be alive." Geng Hao sighed, reaching out to close the wide-open eyes of the woman and the boy, cursing Tian Sheng inwardly for being so cruel, not even sparing the elderly and children.

Sensing that the spiritual spring water was starting to take effect, Shang Wan picked up the person and put him on Geng Hao's back, saying, "Let's go to the clinic."

Geng Hao, suddenly burdened by the weight: "..."

With a curfew in place, where can we find a clinic that's open?
(End of this chapter)