Xiang Wenting’s sorrowful expression slightly eased, and he sighed, "Indeed, I used my connections to help her find a way out."
"So, you’re saying that every letter she sent back home went through your hands?"
Upon this question, even Ji Lingruo realized the issue and furrowed her brows.
"Why would Ying’Er’s letters pass through my hands?"
"She was the courtesan confined in the Xiao Xiang Pavilion, unable to leave. How could she send letters? As I understand it, her relationship with her maid wasn’t good because her maid had once attempted to seduce you. Besides entrusting you with her letters to deliver, who else could she rely on?"
Xiang Wenting took a deep breath:
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I mean, as a sharp-eyed and clear-eared cultivator of the Condensed Water Realm, remembering a person’s appearance is easier than imagined, and imitating another’s handwriting is even simpler."
Xiang Wenting’s hand, flat on the table, suddenly clenched: "Are you saying the letters were forged by me?!"
"No matter how well it’s imitated, it can never be the original. As long as the letters are taken back to the Divine Mountain, there are specialists who can discern them. A mere mortal woman’s life may be as light as a feather, but to me, a life is a life, regardless of its status, and I can cover all the verification costs—only wishing to uncover the truth behind Qiao Xiuying’s death."
You Su spoke forcefully, as Ji Lingruo watched his profile, filled with deep admiration, as if to say this was the man she admired, not only wise but also compassionate.
You Su’s efforts in finding Qiao Xiuying’s body weren’t just for the ghost worm or to help Qiao Xiuyun; it was also to fulfill her wish.
Even Zi Yiyi, who had been silent all along, had a strange glint in her eyes hidden behind the veil.
Xiang Wenting looked gloomy: "That’s right... I forged the last letter."
"Why?"
Xiang Wenting showed a troubled expression, deflated like a balloon:
"Every one of Ying’Er’s letters passed through my hands. I couldn’t help but want to know more about her, so I secretly read every one.
Until the letter from half a month ago, she confessed that she was earning money in a brothel, but she had already saved enough to redeem herself, so she didn’t want to stay in Mo Ye City any longer. She wanted to use her savings to buy a house in a nearby city for her sister so her whole family could move away from Black Rock City. That money was the travel fare for her family, and once they found her, she would leave.
But both the money for her redemption and for the house were from me! I was afraid of her leaving, so in a moment of madness, I altered that letter to make her believe her family wouldn’t come for her, so she would stay in Mo Ye City forever..."
Ji Lingruo was infuriated: "You bastard!"
Qiao Xiuying had summoned all her courage to reveal her identity; she had given everything for her family. But Xiang Wenting altered that letter, making the anxious woman waiting for her family think, even before her death, that her family despised her for being a courtesan and refused to seek her out.
"You wanted to make your sister feel like no one else loves her, so only you love her, right? That way she’d never leave you..."
Qiao Xiuyun also looked at Xiang Wenting in disbelief, unable to understand why such a refined gentleman would act so desperately out of love.
"I wronged her!"
Xiang Wenting beat his chest in agony, overwhelmed by grief.
At this moment, You Su remained remarkably calm, his tone suddenly turning dangerous:
"Mr. Xiang, is that really the truth? Why do I feel like...
Mr. Xiang seemed to know half a month ago that she would die, so that’s why you prepared a farewell to her family."
You Su sat upright, gazing directly at this aptly named noble young man for the second time since he entered.
From the moment he entered, he had seen a multicolored centipede crawling on the neck of this noble young man.
This centipede had once appeared on his own neck, but it was severed by the Dream-eating Ghost’s sword. It was—
Dream Centipede.