Chapter 107
Chapter 107
Shen Qingyu often wore a smile. He seemed to possess the gentlest of temperaments and appeared easy to get along with. But anyone who spent enough time around him would discover the indifference beneath that gentle exterior.
Though young, he possessed an uncanny ability to unleash a tidal wave of killing intent without betraying the slightest change in expression. By the time others realized how dangerous he was, it was usually too late to respond.
Shangguan Lingxiao had never met anyone like Shen Qingyu. But he was no easy opponent himself. Facing the danger rolling toward him from every direction, he neither evaded nor retreated and silently marshaled all his strength to stand guard.
“Yunling City is not some lawless place. You broke into the City Lord’s Manor at night, proving your ill intentions. It is only my duty to help the people of the manor capture thieves. You will not be permitted to run wild here.”
Shen Qingyu lowered his face and gently stroked Qiao Ying’s cheek, chilled by the wind. As if eager to please her, he asked with a smile, “Yingying, he’s very noisy, isn’t he?”
Before Qiao Ying could nod or shake her head, he continued lazily, “He’s so loud that he’s ruined the mood. I’ll go dispose of him, then come back and hold you properly.”
Shangguan Lingxiao raised his sword once more, his face cold. “Arrogant fool!”
The smile on Shen Qingyu’s lips did not fade. With his eyes concealed beneath the white silk blindfold, he looked even more uncanny. His blue robes and white hair streamed in the fierce wind like green bamboo against white snow. He raised a hand with apparent ease, and an utterly ordinary ebony blind cane met Shangguan Lingxiao’s descending blade.
The Blind Staff struck the sword with a dull thud. Then Shen Qingyu lightly caught the blade between his fingertips and used its force to spin clear of a thrust from the side. His figure moved with the grace of a startled swan, yet his smile carried a bone-chilling cold. Every move concealed a killing stroke.
At first, sword light crossed back and forth as the two exchanged blows, seemingly evenly matched. But Shen Qingyu grew ever more relaxed. His blocks looked effortless, yet every point of contact carried a hidden force.
The sword in Shangguan Lingxiao’s hand gradually grew heavy, and his strikes began to lag by half a beat. Cold sweat soaked the hair at his temples. Every block left his arm numb from the impact, and his steps grew increasingly unsteady.
Shen Qingyu moved like a Ghost, appearing without a sound and vanishing just as silently. His techniques were strange and impossible to predict.
Every move Shangguan Lingxiao made was upright and honorable. But excessive righteousness only placed him at a disadvantage against unorthodox and wicked opponents.
In a single instant, a bloody cut appeared across Shangguan Lingxiao’s face.
Anxiety filled Qiao Mianmian. She looked at Qiao Ying. “Qiao Ying, are you really going to stand there and watch Lingxiao, who grew up with us, get hurt?”
Qiao Ying blinked. “You know me?”
“Why are you still sulking at a time like this?” Qiao Mianmian was so frantic she nearly stamped her feet. “Yes, I shouldn’t have gone out to play with you back then. Lingxiao happened to find us, and he and I left ahead of you. That was why disaster struck on your way home and you were abducted. We’ve always felt terribly guilty and have searched everywhere for you. If you’re angry, take it out on me. Just don’t hurt Lingxiao!”
Ming Caihua edged closer and whispered, “I heard the servants here call her Miss Qiao. Could she be a relative of yours?”
Qiao Ying recalled that dream. She looked at Qiao Mianmian, then at Shangguan Lingxiao, whose body had gained several new wounds and who resembled a mouse being toyed with by a cat.
Shen Qingyu was enjoying himself immensely. As he fought Shangguan Lingxiao, cold flashes interwove so densely that no one else could intervene. The stronger the scent of blood around Shangguan Lingxiao became, the more delighted Shen Qingyu’s smile grew.
When it came to toying with people like a cat tormenting a mouse, his taste for cruelty knew no bounds.
Shangguan Lingxiao stumbled back a step. When his sword blocked the Blind Staff once more, the web between his thumb and forefinger went numb from the shock. His arm momentarily lost all strength. By the time he lifted his eyes again, something was tearing through the air toward his face.
“Shen Qingyu!” Qiao Ying called. “I’m fine. If you’ve played enough, come back.”
The Blind Staff hung no more than an inch before the space between Shangguan Lingxiao’s brows. He could even feel the sinister cold spilling from what should have been an ordinary cane seep into his skin.
Shen Qingyu’s smile faded slightly, giving way to a touch of boredom. He pressed his lips together, lowered the Blind Staff, and slowly walked back to Qiao Ying’s side to take one of her hands.
“Are you truly all right?” He slowly threaded his fingers through hers. Fulfilling his duties as a husband, he gently explained to his none-too-clever wife, “If I don’t carve away his flesh bit by bit before killing him, you’ll have nightmares tonight.”
She was so timid. When they first met in the dungeon, she had done no more than kill a man who intended to violate her, yet she suffered nightmares for several nights afterward.
And just now, the arrow Shangguan Lingxiao fired had almost hurt her. Unless the man who had threatened her life was tortured like a worthless insect, ground into the dirt, and left without an intact corpse, surely she would continue living in terror of her life being threatened.
But Qiao Ying said, “People have nightmares because they’re afraid. With you beside me when I sleep, there’s nothing left in this world for me to fear.”
He considered this briefly. “I’m very important?”
Qiao Ying nodded. “Yes. You’re very important.”
He laughed. The smile was faint but genuine, stripped of the sinister menace he had worn during the fight. As his white hair spilled around him, even the wind seemed to soften. In an instant, his smile dispersed the bitter killing intent and the dangerous residue of battle hanging over the area.
Everyone around them breathed an involuntary sigh of relief.
“Lingxiao!” Qiao Mianmian hurried forward to support Shangguan Lingxiao. Her eyes reddened, and tears welled within them.
The smell of blood surrounded Shangguan Lingxiao. The skin of his arm was pitted and torn. Pieces of flesh truly had been carved away here and there, and some wounds were so deep that white bone showed beneath them. The sight was horrifying.
Yet Shangguan Lingxiao still managed to remain upright. He was indeed extraordinary.
Qiao Mianmian carried many fine medicines. In a panic, she took them out, fed Shangguan Lingxiao a pill to stop the bleeding, then sprinkled powder for regrowing flesh and replenishing blood over his wounds.
Shangguan Lingxiao let out a muffled groan, cold sweat pouring down his face.
Unable to contain her anger, Qiao Mianmian cried, “How could you hurt him so badly?”
Shen Qingyu was in a good temper now. The corners of his lips lifted as he replied carelessly, “It’s his own fault for being so frail. If an ordinary person lost a hand or broke a leg, they would simply wait quietly for it to recover the next day. They wouldn’t be so delicate that they had to cry out and invite ridicule.”
Qiao Mianmian’s face flushed with rage. She was certain Shen Qingyu had said that solely to mock them.
Qiao Ying, however, looked up and asked, “What ordinary person could stay perfectly quiet after losing a hand or breaking a leg?”
Shen Qingyu smiled. “Me.”
When he killed people in the past, some had certainly suffered broken arms or legs. They simply tended to lose their lives before they had the chance to scream.
As a result, Shen Qingyu genuinely believed that not crying out from the pain of a severed limb was something every normal person could do.