Qiu Yunru coughed again. It was hard to look at this man, groveling and sobbing without a care for his image. It was a terribly pitiful sight, and despite the fact that he'd nearly died moments ago, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.
Who knew if he really had been bribed and threatened--there was no way to verify. However, in any case, he truly seemed afraid!
Meanwhile, Li Chenyuan thought:
Does this piece of shit have no dignity at all? Really, if you're going to try to kill someone, own it! Don't grovel and weep when you're caught! Disgusting!
"I have a few questions," Qiu Yunru said thoughtfully. He should limit the number of questions. If this innkeeper only grew more hysterical with time, they would only be able to get so much out of him.
"Yes! Yes! I'll answer anything!" The innkeeper yowled, pressing his face into the ground. "Just, please don't kill me! I have a family!"
"We'll see," Li Chenyuan snapped, nudging the innkeeper with his foot. "Do you really, though? Poor them!"
"Li-shidi!" Qiu Yunru said in exasperation. Li Chenyuan turned his face away, seeming to be holding back his fury for the sake of his shixiong. Seeing that his shidi wasn't going to keep kicking this man, Qiu Yunru began to ask some questions:
"Who instructed you to do this?"
"The men in black!" The innkeeper wailed. "I couldn't see their faces, since they had covered themselves. I don't know who they are--they only told me to take the gold, and that they would burn this place by tonight if I didn't follow along!"
How classic--assailants in black, threatening someone who couldn't possibly know who they were.
"Did they have any identifying characteristics? On their faces, or clothes?"
The innkeeper blubbered: "No, no...Just black, just black! All black..."
Though Qiu Yunru was easily swayed by emotion, he wasn't stupid. This was a bit of a convenient excuse, wasn't it? Though it was entirely possible a group of men in black without any identifiable features had approached the innkeeper, it was also the easiest story to use to get off the hook without ratting out one's superiors!
"Is there any evidence you can provide that these men were here?"
The innkeeper trembled and was silent for a long moment, seeming to be thinking.
"Yes!" He shouted suddenly. "Yes!"
"Quiet," Li Chenyuan snapped, giving him another kick in the side. The innkeeper yelped, lowering his voice to a whisper:
"Ask any of my customers--the men arrived just after sunset. Everyone was afraid, but they came and left. It wasn't until later when I went to go and--ah, smoke--outside, that one of them approached me and threatened me!"
Qiu Yunru considered this. It was a good explanation--detailed and offering confirmation, but still requiring some double-checking.
"All right. Don't be afraid. We'll check with the other customers soon after this."
"This lowly one thanks the young master for his mercy!"
"It's really not a big deal...Ah...Anyways, how about this: who were you trying to kill? Both of us, or one of us? What was the purpose of the antidote?"
"Kill the one with a mole, and save the one with the thick eyebrows. That's what they told me, ah..."
That was right--Qiu Yunru did indeed have a small mole on his face, near his eye. The "one with the thick eyebrows" was most certainly Li Chenyuan. His eyebrows, though graceful, were exceptionally well-defined, making him look both elegant and severe at once.
So, he was supposed to be dead right now.
How unfortunate for this innkeeper that he'd been forced to target someone with a fickle game system that could exchange Reputation Points for life itself!
The innkeeper went on: "Poison them in the morning with tea. Return two minutes later to save the second one. Leave the dead one. Bring the living one..."
"These are long instructions," Qiu Yunru noted. "Did they give them to you written?"
"Yes, and verbally..."
The innkeeper easily gave up the script he'd been given. It was written on a strip of bamboo in the ancient style, with characters so tiny one had to squint to read even one of them. Still, it was elegantly written. Just as the innkeeper had said, the instructions said to kill Qiu Yunru, then save Li Chenyuan.
There was that last line of instruction as well:
Bring the living one to the city perimeter at noon. We'll take him. Don't be late.
"Bring him to the perimeter...?" Qiu Yunru thought about this for a moment. "Li-shidi, is it common around here for the rich to be kidnapped for ransom?"
"Not really. It happens, but it's rare for someone to dare kidnap the head of a noble household. Every once in a while, someone is stupid enough."
Qiu Yunru nodded. "It seems likely this was the case. Seeing that both you and I were cultivators spending the holiday together, the only way to kidnap you would be to sedate both of us and take you while unconscious. However, it seems their plans were a little extreme. To kill me, and to nearly kill you, is rather risky. What's more, Black Lip Leaf is extremely difficult to get ahold of, as is the blood antidote. Innkeeper Senior, did they tell you anything about the ingredients they gave you?"
"No. No, no! They handed me the bottle and a bag of herbs. This is the poison, this is the antidote. Don't eat this, you'll die. Do you want to die? They didn't even tell this poor old man what it was..."
"Hmmm."
What an interesting situation!
It seemed whoever had conducted this kidnapping attempt was both ruthless and a little careless. When handling such a dangerous substance, it was rather thoughtless to hand it off to someone who had no idea how to handle it, rather than slipping in and poisoning some food yourself. As for why someone who was able to obtain such a dangerous substance would act so carelessly with it...He could only imagine that they must have a lot of it, that they were incredibly impatient, or they were stupid!
"Qiu-ge," Li Chenyuan said darkly. "It's two hours to noon. Shouldn't we get out of here? Who knows if they'll come back."
"Li-shidi is right. Also..." He coughed a little, feeling pitiful and sorry for himself. When he pulled his hand away from his mouth, he found that some of his spit was still dark with poisoned blood. "This shixiong needs some medical attention. Let's go and confirm with the other customers, then leave to report to Shizun."
"Wait!"
As Li Chenyuan helped Qiu Yunru off the ground, the innkeeper lunged forward, grabbing the hem of Qiu Yunru's robes pathetically.
"You can't leave me here! What if they come back? What do I do then? I've failed--they'll surely kill me! They'll kill me!"