The entanglement of their bodies caused the two of them to fall into the water. Yun Wu was caught off-guard and choked on a large mouthful of water.
She started to cough as a broad smile appeared on the devil’s handsome face. He wrapped one hand around her waist and teased her chin up with the other. He teased impishly, “Immediately after waking up, you delivered yourself to my doorsteps… What an impatient little fellow. But… I like it. Remember—I am your man, Long Qingxie.”
Long Qingxie inclined his head, intending to kiss her red lips, but then his face sank. He looked down to see Yun Wu holding a sharp-edged rock against his heart. The rock had appeared out of nowhere.
He was unnervingly dangerous, but she wasn’t a simple character either.
“Those who wish to be my man are already lining up in the Palace of Hell. Would you still like me if I pierced your heart?” The corners of Yun Wu’s lips arched into a vicious sneer.
Long Qingxie lifted his line of sight from his chest to the girl before him. Her pale little face was not outrageously beautiful, but right then, deep within her bottomless black orbs, was a shock of intense ferocity. That, in his eyes, was charming enough to be lethal.
Long Qingxie acknowledged himself as a perilous man, yet now, he was being thoroughly enthralled by Yun Wu. Subconsciously, his lips slowly curved into a roguish smile. Ignoring her threat, he pinched her chin, leaned in, and flashed her a wicked smile.
“To die beneath a peony flower1 is still remarkably romantic. I would willingly fall into hell with you if it means we can be united through wedlock.” His words had just fallen when a pair of passionate lips covered her cold ones and domineeringly forced entry, the kiss burning hot and heart-stirring.
Fall into hell together?
Those words struck a cord in her heart.
What a familiar-sounding sentence.
Murderous intent abruptly sprang from her body. Her free hand turned over, and she thrust it against Long Qingxie’s neck in a knife-like manner.
“Little pipsqueak, you really are troublesome. Look, you’ve even ruined such a nice atmosphere.” Reluctantly releasing her red lips, he smiled devilishly as he dodged her hand and simultaneously brushed aside the sharp rock that was pressed against his chest.
When Yun Wu saw this, her eyes gleamed with a cold light and she leaned forward to launch an aggressive attack, but right when Long Qingxie pulled back, she suddenly withdrew.
By the time he reacted, she had already swum to the opposite bank of the lake. “Don’t let me see you again, or I’ll definitely kill you.” Within her icy utterance, there was an almost imperceptible trace of a complex emotion.
She didn’t turn to look at Long Qingxie. Instead, she grabbed the belongings she’d left by the lakeside and quickly disappeared into the night.
“Little pipsqueak, you actually think you’ve escaped from me? How naive.” The man whispered and laughed lightly as he stared after her fleeing figure. What Yun Wu didn’t know was that back then, the day she propped up her broken body and fought with the besiege of magical beasts, the man’s malicious eyes had shone with a faint hint of determination.
He wanted to make her his because, from her body, he had detected the spirit of his own kind.
…..
Early in the morning, the silence of the back mountain was shattered by a succession of footsteps.
“Move faster. After that hut is dismantled, throw the logs into the latrine2 and let them soak there for a while, then pull them out to be burned.” A lofty voice commanded.
“Miss Xiao Cui, if the logs are thrown into the latrine, they wouldn’t be able to ignite.”
“Right. Miss Xiao Cui, why do it like that? Wouldn’t it be easier to just burn them from the start?”
“What do you two know? The Third Miss and the Sixth Miss said, since that good-for-nothing was shameless enough to try a seduction attempt on His Highness the Crown Prince, her death is only a matter-of-fact. Her belongings are only suited to be thrown into the latrine.”
Another sharp and arrogant voice rang out. “What are you guys spewing so much nonsense for? Just do what you were told to do. After that run-down hut is dismantled, the Sixth Miss wants a wooden shed to be erected in its place. She plans to rear some magical beasts there.”
The speaker was Sixth Miss Yun Qing Er’s personal maidservant, Xiao Lu. The one who had spoken before was Third Miss Yun Ling Shui’s personal maidservant, Xiao Cui.
These two servants just so happened to be the ones who threw Yun Wu off the cliff that day. They both exhibited somewhat spoiled and haughty temperaments as they led a pair of stocky guards down the path to the hut. Not a word of their dialogue escaped Yun Wu’s keen hearing.
Inside the hut.
Yun Wu’s eyes turned murderous, but the corners of her mouth lifted. Those vicious servants actually delivered themselves to her door.
Bang! The door was kicked open. Xiao Cui and Xiao Lu took the lead and stepped in.
They intended to look around first to see if they could scavenge anything valuable from the hut before dismantling it, but they found the place shabby and sorry-looking; comparable to a beggar’s nest. Their disdain-filled eyes scoured the place, and they were about to let the two guards in when all of a sudden, the maidservants’ eyes widened.
It was as if what they had seen was so terrifying, it had shattered the greater part of their souls.
“Ninth, Ninth, Ninth..” In her shock, Xiao Cui could only stammer the word “ninth.” Xiao Lu was also scared beyond words as she watched Yun Wu stand up and slowly approach them. Xiao Lu wanted to flee, but her legs trembled violently. “Ninth, Ninth Miss?”