Chapter 49: The Eerie Stone House (4)

Looking at the wretched state of the others, none of them seemed far from madness.

Before Chang Geyue could say anything, the man in white continued on his own, “He has been imprisoned here for fifteen years. Until three days ago, he was kept locked up all by himself.”

Chang Geyue raised a brow, appearing utterly uninterested in what the man was saying.

The man in white frowned and studied her from head to toe. He could not quite figure her out. In a place like this, she remained so calm and composed. Could she have some other means of support?

Chang Geyue suddenly chuckled. “What is your plan?”

The man in white secretly laughed. He had thought she possessed some hidden advantage, but it seemed she was merely putting on an act. Still, he had high hopes for those strange silver needles of hers.

Perhaps they would prove extremely useful tonight.

“Do you have any poison on you?” the man in white asked instead of answering her question directly.

Chang Geyue neither confirmed nor denied it.

He simply assumed she did. Anyone brought into this stone chamber either understood poison or practiced medicine. Besides, Nine Gardens would hardly keep useless people alive as prisoners.

After a moment’s thought, the man in white continued, “That villain has locked us up here and made us live like animals. Do you want revenge?”

A hint of amusement appeared in Chang Geyue’s eyes as she looked at him. Her tone was light. “Do you have a way?”

The man in white was momentarily distracted. For some reason, he always felt that something unfathomable lay hidden beneath Chang Geyue’s smile.

It was almost as though those eyes could see straight through him. He shook his head fiercely. Impossible. They had only just met.

“Of course I do. You may not know why that villain has imprisoned us here, but I do. He was afflicted with a rare poison, and tonight, under the full moon, it will flare up. When that happens, he will certainly come begging us to cure him. That will be our opportunity.”

As he spoke, the man in white made a gesture of slitting someone’s throat.

Chang Geyue gently rubbed her brow. Poisoned? The poison flaring up?

When she had first met that red-robed madman, poisonous mist had indeed surrounded him, and there had seemed to be a powerful venomous force within his lower dantian.

But if he thought the red-robed madman would simply die from the poison or suffer a fatal outbreak, Chang Geyue could not help but scoff.

How could that be possible?

That poison had already been transformed into a weapon with which he killed others.

After a moment’s thought, Chang Geyue smiled. “He has plenty of experts around him. And here, there are only a few mad cats. Are you certain we can get our revenge?”

Believing that Chang Geyue had been won over, the man in white pressed on even more fervently. “Whether we can take revenge depends on how much we are capable of.”

As he spoke, he gestured for her to reveal a few more of her trump cards. Chang Geyue merely chuckled. A trace of scrutiny entered her gaze as she watched him. Only after a long while did she ask softly, “May I ask your surname, brother?”

The man in white’s eyes flickered slightly before he answered, “My name is Shang Cheng.”

The amusement in Chang Geyue’s eyes deepened. Her voice was quiet and enigmatic. “There cannot be many people with the surname Shang. But in Jincheng, there seems to be a family named Shangguan. I hear one of them even holds an official post.”

Shang Cheng. Shangguan Cheng.

How very interesting.

Back then, Shangguan Cheng had been Zongzheng Moyin’s foremost lackey. If the Shangguan family had not held a lower status than the Wen family, her standing beside Zongzheng Moyin might well have rivaled Wen Wenhao’s.

Upon hearing Chang Geyue’s words, Shangguan Cheng’s gaze tightened slightly. Killing intent flashed through his eyes, but when he saw the calm smile on her face, he immediately said: