Chapter 85

Chapter 85

When Shen Qingyu said he would use the simplest method, his mysterious air made Qiao Ying expect something beyond ordinary understanding. Instead, he took her straight into Ding Manor and knocked everyone down. With no one left to obstruct them, the method was indeed brutally simple.

Master Ding was wealthy and accustomed to deference. Never had he faced such brazen robbers.

He trembled with rage but feared the innocent-looking young man. “You… you break into my home. Aren’t you afraid I’ll summon the authorities?”

Shen Qingyu tugged the girl’s hand. “Yes. What will we do if he has me arrested?”

Carrying the sword, Qiao Ying stepped from behind him. “If Master Ding doesn’t mind the entire city learning about the true and false heiresses, you may report us.”

His expression changed. “I don’t understand.”

“Invite Miss Ding here, and perhaps you will.”

Which Miss Ding did she mean?

Master Ding ground his teeth. “I thought enemies had come to settle a grudge with the Ding family. So you are accomplices of that charlatan. You spread monstrous lies only because you covet the Ding family’s wealth. Name your price. If it is not excessive, I may pay to avoid disaster!”

He assumed money would silence them. He was thoroughly mistaken.

Qiao Ying asked directly, “Where have you imprisoned Yan Yanchi, Daoist Master Yan?”

She was certain he remained alive. His attackers wanted Ding Ling. After Ding Ling vanished, they would keep Yan Yanchi for questioning.

Master Ding’s face was cold. “I know nothing. That charlatan left after I exposed him two nights ago. He has hands and feet and goes where he pleases. How would I know?”

“He was ambushed soon afterward. You did not order it?”

Master Ding stiffened his neck. “Why would I? He must have cheated too many people and attracted enemies. His retribution has nothing to do with me.”

Qiao Ying glanced at the fallen men. “When I met your Miss Ding, a guard named He accompanied her. He had a scar across his face. Where is he?”

“He protects Fufu. Naturally, he is with her.”

Qiao Ying whispered to Shen Qingyu, “Ding Lingling said the killers were led by a scar-faced man.”

Shen Qingyu smiled and extended a hand.

Master Ding suddenly felt fingers close around his throat. His feet slowly left the ground. Suffocation turned his face white.

“Where is that man?” Shen Qingyu asked gently.

Master Ding struggled. “I… don’t know…”

Shen Qingyu tilted his head, smiling brightly. “Then I’ll remove one of your arms.”

“Wait!” Master Ding cried. “Let me think. Let me think!”

Qiao Ying tugged Shen Qingyu’s robe. “Give him time.”

He answered obediently, “All right.”

Shen Qingyu lowered his hand. Master Ding crashed down, nearly breaking his old bones. He rolled and groaned for a long time before recovering.
Qiao Ying suddenly had mixed feelings.

She and Shen Qingyu had barged into someone else’s home and were now torturing its owner for information. They sounded like the great villains of the story.

Master Ding’s face went pale. “I… I remember now. Fufu went out today, and He Fei went with her.”

“But your servants told me that your young master is returning today. Miss Ding has been looking forward to it for ages, so why would she choose today of all days to go out?” Qiao Ying asked.

She wrapped her arms around Shen Qingyu’s arm again. “Maybe you should take one of his arms after all.”

Shen Qingyu smiled in delight. “All right.”

With a crack, one of Master Ding’s arms twisted out of shape. He screamed in agony. A wealthy patriarch accustomed to a life of comfort and privilege, he had never suffered torture like this. He rolled across the ground in pain, stripped of all his usual dignity.

This was also Qiao Ying’s first time doing something so wicked as threatening another person. Master Ding’s screams made her deeply uncomfortable. Her conscience compelled her to question whether what she was doing was wrong.

But then the young man’s hand gently stroked the crown of her head, instantly sweeping away all her unease.

Her troubled heart settled. Strangely, she began to feel that there was nothing wrong with fighting evil with evil. After all, this world was ruled by the law of the jungle, where the strong preyed upon the weak.

She looked back at the man on the ground. “If you keep lying for the sake of that fake daughter of yours, then Shen Qingyu… No, we… we have plenty more ways to torture you.”

Shen Qingyu chuckled, very fond of that word: *we*.

See? He and she truly were a match made in heaven.

Clutching his broken arm and drenched in cold sweat, Master Ding now saw each member of the young couple before him as a veritable God of Slaughter. Trembling, he said, “Fufu… She’s in her own courtyard.”

With such a commotion outside, Ding Fufu had not even come out to see what was happening. He Fei must have taken her somewhere to hide.

All Master Ding could do now was pray that Ding Fufu had hidden herself well and would not be found by these two.

“How do we get to her courtyard?” Qiao Ying asked.

Master Ding shakily raised his uninjured hand. “Th-that way.”

Qiao Ying quickly took Shen Qingyu’s hand and led him forward.

Watching their retreating backs, Master Ding hurriedly pushed himself upright. He had taken only a few steps when a bone-deep chill struck him. Two more cracks rang out, and the bones in both his legs snapped. He toppled stiffly onto the cold ground.

Now he had lost all ability to move. Only his mouth remained capable of wailing.

Qiao Ying glanced back.

Bodies lay scattered across the ground, and she and her husband were the culprits responsible.

Strangely, the sight no longer stirred the slightest ripple in her heart.

At some point, Shen Qingyu had gone from following Qiao Ying to leading her unhurriedly forward. Her steps stayed perfectly aligned with his, with no possibility of straying in any other direction.

“Shen Qingyu.”

“Mm?”

“I feel like I’ve changed.”

“You like me even more now?”

At that, the gloom in Qiao Ying’s heart inexplicably vanished. She smiled. “Yes. I’ve come to like you even more.”