The Imperial Tutor saw that things were not going her way. She feigned a few moves with her hands and reached into her robe with one hand.
At this moment, He Zhiran had just finished spraying the second round of her homemade "Grim Reaper's Descend" toward those guards. When she turned her head and saw what the Imperial Tutor was doing, she realized something was wrong.
If her guess was correct, the Imperial Tutor was either trying to pull out some hidden weapons or was planning to use poison against them.
How could He Zhiran give her such a chance? She immediately took out a tranquilizer gun from her space and shot it at the Imperial Tutor's calves.
With a muffled bang, the Imperial Tutor's whole body collapsed limply.
He Zhiran went up and quickly sent her into her space. She and Mo Jiuye headed toward the first floor of the Painted Boat.
At the stairwell, they happened to run into Nan Heng, who was being escorted up by a group of guards and Salt Gang members.
He Zhiran whispered to Mo Jiuye, "You take care of Nan Heng. I'll handle the others."
Mo Jiuye nodded lightly. He also raised a tranquilizer gun and fired it at Nan Heng's shoulder.
The moment Nan Heng fell to the ground, He Zhiran sprayed a handful of powder at those guards and Salt Gang members.
Before the guards and gang members could react to what was happening, they collapsed in piles with a swoosh.
He Zhiran took the opportunity to rush forward and grabbed one of Nan Heng's arms before sending him into her space too.
Today, they had only come out of curiosity, wanting to find out who was behind the Salt Gang. But they never expected to gain such a great harvest.
Looking at the dead guards and gang members now, the two still did not dare to underestimate the situation. They knew they could not leave anyone alive regarding what happened today with Prince Nan Heng.
So the two went through the entire Painted Boat with torches in hand, not leaving a single living soul other than those singing and dancing girls.
Neither Mo Jiuye nor He Zhiran were the sort to kill innocents.
They both knew clearly that those female performers made their living in the Painted Boat.
Even so, they did not dare be too careless either, not sure if some of those performers might be Nan Heng’s people.
Left with no choice, He Zhiran could only take out a drug from her space that paralyzed nerves and made the girls take it, erasing all their memories.
In order to survive, none of the singing and dancing girls dared resist ingesting the medicine she gave them.
With everything taken care of, He Zhiran sent all the girls onto the small boat that the Imperial Tutor had arrived on.
Next, He Zhiran took out several bottles of alcohol from her space, pouring them around the Painted Boat with Mo Jiuye.
At the same time, any items in the Painted Boat that He Zhiran felt were worth taking were stored away into her space one by one.
Whether these items were good or bad, they could still be sold as antiques in her shop.
After handling everything, He Zhiran took an inflatable boat from her space and threw it into the lake. Mo Jiuye wrapped his arm around her waist and leapt lightly onto the boat.
Mo Jiuye casually flung the torch in his hand onto the Painted Boat.
In the pitch dark night sky, flames burst forth into the heavens...
The light here was too bright. To avoid discovery from people on shore, Mo Jiuye utilized his inner strength while rowing to propel their inflatable boat to extreme speeds.
In the blink of an eye, the two returned to shore.
They could hear footsteps approaching not too far off. This meant the raging fire from the Painted Boat had already attracted the attention of those on land.
Luckily their speed to shore was fast, and no one discovered them.
He Zhiran stored away the inflatable boat. Mo Jiuye used his lightness skill to carry her up and swiftly left the area.
When they were about a hundred meters from their camp, Mo Jiuye spotted a swaying black shadow up ahead.
Unable to clearly see the other person in the dark windy night, they could only carefully approach the shadow to investigate.
Before Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran even got close, Mo Chuhan called out, “Is that Ninth Younger Brother and Sister-in-Law?"
"Eighth elder brother? What are you doing here?" The two were clearly very shocked.
When they had left earlier, they had specifically observed things carefully and did not notice anything out of the ordinary.
"I saw you two secretly leaving and was worried you’d run into danger, so I've been standing guard here waiting for you.”
Upon hearing this, He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye looked at each other.
Without needing to say it aloud, they both thought the same thing – should they tell Mo Chuhan what just happened?
If they said nothing, they would still have to make up all kinds of excuses to Mo Yunfeng later when he returned home.
If they told him the truth, how would they explain Mo Yunfeng's current whereabouts?
Moreover, He Zhiran did not want to contribute her own opinion on the matter. After all, it was something between the Mo brothers.
After contemplating for a bit, Mo Jiuye spoke, “Eighth elder brother, we just went to check out the Painted Boat on Salt Lake a moment ago and ran into Nan Heng there...”
Mo Jiuye did not conceal anything and truthfully recounted to his brother all that had occurred on the Painted Boat, including the news that Mo Yunfeng was still alive.
Of course, the cheating methods they employed could definitely not be mentioned.
Upon hearing this, Mo Chuhan's expression was almost identical to when Mo Jiuye had discovered him alive back then.
"Ninth younger brother, you're saying third elder brother isn't dead either? Where is he? Hurry and take me to see him!"
At the moment, Mo Yunfeng was inside He Zhiran's space. How could Mo Jiuye take Mo Chuhan to find him?
Left with no alternative, he could only lie.
"Eighth elder brother, we set the Painted Boat on fire and it drew many onlookers. Considering that bringing third elder brother along would easily attract unwanted attention, we hid him somewhere secluded for now.
Tomorrow when it is safer, I will go with Sister-in-Law to remove his Gu curse and bring him back."
Mo Chuhan did not doubt his explanation at all. He could only suppress the anxiousness in his heart and nodded, "That works too. I will accompany you guys tomorrow to bring third elder brother back."
Mo Jiuye quickly dissuaded, "No, the Salt Lake area has been unstable lately. I'm worried about everyone's safety, so one of us brothers must stay behind to protect our family."
There was no argument - nowadays, Mo Jiuye's ability to bluff people left nothing to be desired. Although somewhat reluctantly, Mo Chuhan had no choice but to concede that the Ninth Younger Brother made sense.
"Since that is the case, eighth elder brother shall remain to protect our family. Ninth younger brother and sister-in-law must be extra careful when you head out."
Seeing that Mo Chuhan had already turned to walk back, He Zhiran spoke up to remind him.
“Eighth elder brother, don’t mention any of this to Mother and my sister-in-laws before we bring back third elder brother. Otherwise they may worry too much."
In fact, He Zhiran was being cautious. With such a huge incident regarding Nan Heng's disappearance, there would definitely be officials searching everywhere. If the women became too anxious and the officers detected something off, it would render things not worth the gain.
Mo Chuhan nodded. "Mm, I understand."
The three silently returned to their own tents. Just as He Zhiran was about to take Mo Jiuye to enter her space together, Liang Hao’s voice sounded from outside the tent.
“Ninth master, your subordinate has an urgent report."
Mo Jiuye knew exactly what matter Liang Hao was referring to, except that he could not admit what they had done.
Mo Jiuye feigned having just woken up from his sleep and walked out of the tent.
“What is it?”
Liang Hao glanced around before lowering his voice. “Ninth master, the largest Painted Boat on Salt Lake caught fire. Your subordinate personally witnessed Prince Heng bring people onto that Painted Boat."
Mo Jiuye nodded. “Mm, continue keeping watch. Report immediately if there is any new development."
This time, Mo Jiuye was not merely perfunctorily appeasing Liang Hao. He truly wanted to understand what would happen following the Painted Boat fire and Prince Heng’s disappearance.
Liang Hao took his leave once more. Only then did Mo Jiuye return into the tent.
He Zhiran brought him into her space with a flash.
