It started raining again at night.

The shadow of the trees swayed outside the window, and from the stable downstairs came the anxious neighing of horses frightened by the thunder and lightning.

The lantern outside the posthouse was suddenly extinguished by a gust of wind and rain, plunging the only warm, illuminated space of the rainy night into darkness.

If it were at home, on such a rainy day, with thick tiles and high walls for shelter, those within would feel a peculiar sense of comfort and relief.

But on the journey, outside the posthouse, within a radius of five miles lay only desolate mountains and wilderness, and the torrential rain only served to make one anxious.

A silver lightning bolt struck, briefly illuminating the dim interior.

Two figures, one in black and one in white, were fully revealed in the light.

In that instant, the white-clothed woman lazily leaning against the bedpost met the gaze of her opponent, curling her lips into a disdainful smile.

The silver blade in the hand of the black-clad figure quivered slightly, then mercilessly stabbed forward!

Qin Yao lightly shifted to the side, raising her hand in a seemingly nonchalant manner, yet precisely caught the incoming wrist with speed.

Her slender fingers, like molten iron, not only rendered escape impossible but also carried a searing power that burned through muscle and flesh.

"You really are dedicated, working even on a night like this," she whispered, grabbing the black-clad figure’s other attacking hand.

With both hands clamped down, she pulled downwards, resulting in a cracking sound of bones.

A scream nearly escaped, almost waking the restless gold master on the bed.

Qin Yao frowned, released the arms, and unhesitatingly snapped the opponent’s neck by gripping the throat.

The black-clad figure fell to the ground, and she used her foot to nudge him aside, swiftly catching the dagger that almost clattered to the ground.

Having done all that, she turned back to see the gold master still asleep, exhaling a sigh of relief.

With such high service awareness of taking money to avert disasters for people, which gold master could resist? 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Qin Yao, feeling rather pleased, brushed the stray hair from her temple, arranged the black-clad figure’s body neatly, gathered some lethal paraphernalia, and quietly left.

Before leaving, she even closed the window the black-clad figure had pried open and wiped the muddy footprints from the windowsill.

Thoughtfully, she lifted the black-clad man’s clothes over his face to prevent the gold master from being scared upon waking.

As for why she didn’t deal with the body... Qin Yao shrugged, because that was a separate charge!

The rain intensified, and in the second half of the night, the sound of rushing water could be heard from downstairs in the posthouse, making it feel like they were staying in the middle of a river.

However, the advantage of staying at a posthouse became apparent at this time; fearing the posthouse might flood, the posthouse manager and soldiers stayed up all night in the rain to clear it.

The neighboring traveling merchants resting next to the posthouse also sent men to aid in preserving the posthouse.

The heavy rain finally stopped at dawn.

Unfortunately for passing travelers, the roads, washed by the downpour, became muddy and slippery, hindering normal passage for carts, horses, and people, forcing them to stay.

In light of everyone working through the night to save the posthouse, the posthouse manager opened the doors to provide the travelers a dry place to stay.

Jin Dou woke amidst the clamor in the posthouse’s main hall.

His stomach had been troubling him with diarrhea earlier last night, keeping him awake for a long time.

It wasn’t until later that his accumulated fatigue set in, allowing him to sleep deeply, unaware of the noise downstairs as they dealt with the rain.

Moreover, thanks to Qin Yao specifically instructing not to disturb her master while he caught up on sleep, Jin Dou ended up sleeping until late morning.

After basking in the morning sun, the muddy ground improved somewhat, and as the sun rose, the travelers paused at the posthouse began preparing to reload and depart, covering as much distance as possible before sunset.

As a result, it became chaotic and noisy.

Jin Dou basked in the warm sunlight filtering through the window onto his canopy, feeling a marked improvement in his long-troubled body, stretching leisurely.

After lying on the bed for a moment, a flood of disjointed information entered his mind, and he sat up.

Bending down to put on shoes, he suddenly caught sight of a black figure out of the corner of his eye, pausing his movement.

Upon realizing what the corpse was, had it not been for his years of training to maintain composure, Jin Dou would have surely shouted out in terror.

Just as his heart raced, there came a gentle knock on the door.

Outside, Liu Ji softly inquired, "Brother Jin, are you awake? Lunch is ready, and we’re waiting for you downstairs."

Hearing the movement inside, Liu Ji continued, "My lady instructed that as the sun is strong at midday, we’ll set out after lunch. The road should be manageable by then, and if we hustle, we should reach the next posthouse before sunset."

Finishing, he started to leave, remembering a detail he hadn’t mentioned, and turned back, pressing against the door to speak.

The door suddenly flung open with a ’whoosh’!

Startled, Liu Ji instinctively raised his hands to protect his face, then reflexively stepped back, nearly shouting, "My wife, calm your anger."

At the critical moment, it dawned on him that he wasn’t waking a shrew, so why was he so panicked?!

"Cough, cough!" Liu Ji, somewhat embarrassed, lowered his hands from his face, brushed his clothes, and smiled at Jin Dou: "Brother Jin, time for lunch."

"By the way, my wife mentioned that it will rain heavily at night for the next few days, so we don’t need to rush in the morning. We’ll set out after lunch when the road is better."

"However, it means we’ll be two days late arriving at Kaiyang County."

Upon hearing this, Jin Dou nodded and glanced into the room where the black-clad man’s body was neatly placed in the center, facing the door.

So, was Liu Ji in front of him blind?!

Jin Dou pointed to the body in the room, frowning: "Didn’t Mr. Liu see it?"

Liu Ji glanced inside, responded with an "oh," and, with a nonchalant air, asked, "So, are you satisfied with our service?"

Jin Dou almost gritted out, "Quite satisfied." Those four words.

He sincerely added that it would be even better if they could not place the bodies in front of him and handle them perfectly.

Liu Ji seriously extended his hand, fingers rubbing together, "My lady said that’s a separate charge."

Bowing to the circumstances, Jin Dou took a deep breath, offering five taels of silver for the burial.

Liu Ji raised his brows and immediately pledged that Jin Dou need not worry about a thing.

With some skepticism, Jin Dou first went downstairs to have lunch with Song Yu.

As he was about finishing, he saw Qin Yao and Liu Ji returning from outside, one carrying a hoe, the other a shovel, chatting and laughing.

Jin Dou hurried upstairs to check, and indeed, the body was gone.

He ran downstairs in surprise; the couple at the table, eating heartily, gave him a reassuring smile: "We’re professionals in burying bodies!"

Jin Dou couldn’t help but marvel, in this small Kaiyang County, truly hidden talents abound.