Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Shengsheng Zhou turned around stiffly and tried to speak, but A-Pang warned her that time was up. The Word of Power had expired, and the shop was still on cooldown.

The icy blade, carrying a faint scent of blood, pressed against her skin. The man’s pale brown pupils held a glimmer of gold and were utterly cold.

Jierge.

He had been the City Lord of the city where she and Zhiyu Jiang ended up after becoming stranded among the barbarians.

Shengsheng quickly calmed down and glanced past him without changing her expression.

At a rough count, there were several dozen people. Every one of them wore a black cloak and a veiled hat that concealed their appearance.

Only the handsome young City Lord holding a sword against Shengsheng’s neck had left his face uncovered.

They had not yet reached the border city of Dazhang City. With so many people, how had they entered?

Had Dazhang City already fallen? Impossible! If it had, Shengsheng would not be looking at a covert team hiding its movements but an entire cavalry force.

Suppressing her doubts, Shengsheng met Jierge’s gaze without servility or arrogance.

The sharp blade pierced the young woman’s fair neck, and blood streamed out. Yet there was not a trace of fear in her eyes. They could even be called calm.

*A… Pang… A… Am I… bleeding? Boohoo… You’re dead, dark-skinned hottie… I’m going to complain to Fusheng Duan!*

None of that was enough to pique Jierge’s interest. What truly interested him was–

This woman’s face.

His memory had always been good. Her skin might not be the same color he remembered, but he had known from the start that Shengsheng was from the Central Plains, had he not?

“I feel as though I’ve seen you somewhere.” Jierge’s deep, mellow voice sounded. The blade in his hand slid over and slowly raised her chin. “You’ve seen my face, so you cannot be allowed to live.”

Shengsheng’s heart lurched. That could not be possible, could it? So much time had passed–enough for her and Fusheng to go from master and servant to kissing each other. How could he possibly still remember what she looked like?

Besides, when she was among the barbarians, how many times had he seen her in total???

And seriously, thanks a freaking lot. If he did not want people seeing him, he should have covered his face properly! He had insisted on showing it to everyone! Whose fault was that?!

Wait…

An idea suddenly came to Shengsheng.

Staring blankly at the man before her, Shengsheng raised her hands naturally and waved them about at random. “Who are you? Erkang? Is that you? I can’t see…”

Jierge arched a brow, letting the tip of his blade slide onto her cheek. “You’re blind?”

He had not known that the dignified Divine Envoy was capable of acting.

At his words, two trails of clear tears suddenly slipped from Shengsheng’s sightless eyes. “Yes. My family opposed my marriage to the man I love, so I eloped with him. After wandering in hardship and spending all our money along the way, he finally showed his true colors and tried to sell me to a brothel!”

At this point, she gave a loud sob, and her body began to sway as though she might collapse.

Jierge’s eyes swept over her. “The man you love–is he the Erkang you just mentioned?”

Shengsheng nodded vigorously.

Do not ask me his full name. If you do, he is Fusheng Erkang Duan.

“City Lord, we still have important business. Hurry and kill this woman,” someone in the group behind him urged.

Jierge asked coldly, “Are you giving me orders?”

“N-No! I wouldn’t dare, City Lord!” The speaker’s voice immediately began to tremble, and he said no more.

Only then did Blind Woman Shengsheng appear to understand. She cried in horror, “You’re going to kill me? You’re going to kill a poor, innocent, beautiful, delicate blind woman like me?!”
Jierge said nothing. His gaze rested on her like frost, his heart seemingly made of iron and utterly unmoved.

The instant his hand reached toward her, Shengsheng Zhou’s entire body stiffened, alarm bells beeping madly inside her.

Yet he merely touched her cheek. His thumb slowly brushed the red mole on her left cheek, the movement carrying no ambiguity whatsoever, as though he simply wanted to touch it.

Shengsheng blinked, her face full of confusion.

“You may go.” His voice held no emotion. He turned, mounted his horse, ignored Shengsheng, and rode away at speed.

Still playing the blind woman, Shengsheng remained bewildered. She slowly touched the place he had just touched and frowned.

He had let her go that easily?

——

Amid the rapidly galloping group, the man riding beside Jierge suddenly asked, “City Lord, why didn’t you kill that woman?”

A dark glint crossed Jierge’s eyes. “She will be useful.”

If nothing unexpected happened, she would become one of his greatest weapons.

—Are We Allowed to Say This?—

After Jierge and his party left, Shengsheng turned to look at the motionless man who had abducted her and now lay on the ground.

He was dressed exactly like the people who had attacked their carriage, clearly an assassin who had slipped through the net. She simply did not know why he had abducted her instead of attacking.

Shengsheng crouched down and felt around his body in search of something.

*Shengsheng, what are you looking for?* A-Pang breathed a sigh of relief after surviving the ordeal.

*Assassins should carry money when they go out, right?*

A-Pang: *…*

Did you die of poverty in your last life?

“Hm? What’s this?” Shengsheng shook a small knife out of his boot, wrapped a leaf around its handle, and picked it up with a look of disgust.

A-Pang silently moved farther away.

Your disregard for trifles has destroyed so much of my tenderness.

*A-Ban, come look. Doesn’t the pattern on this blade seem familiar?*

A-Pang hovered to one side, vowing to remain immovable. *A-Pang refuses to look. Also, did you just call me the wrong name?*

Shengsheng blinked. *How could I? No, seriously, it looks really familiar. Why does it look like…*

Holy shit!

Rong Li?!

She had seen a similar pattern on Rong Li’s blade before!

Had the Yong Kingdom sent these assassins?!

*Why is the Yong Kingdom barging in to stir the shit during all this chaos?*

At that description, A-Pang burst out laughing without restraint.

Shengsheng looked helplessly at him. *What are you, a piece of shit, laughing at?* At least the Yong Kingdom was a stirring stick.

A-Pang: *…*

It was not funny anymore.

The man was not dead, only unconscious. Shengsheng casually buried the little knife reeking of assassin somewhere nearby. Before leaving, she stripped the assassin down to his underpants and dragged him into the bushes.

“Sorry, Brother Stick, but you shouldn’t have abducted me.”

Following the direction she remembered, Shengsheng headed back with A-Pang.

She needed to tell Fusheng Duan as quickly as possible that barbarians had appeared inside the Zhu Kingdom.

Something must have happened.

——

The imperial palace of the Yong Kingdom.

“Your Majesty, not one of the people we sent has returned. I’m afraid…” They had likely met with disaster.

The man in dark imperial robes stood with his hands clasped behind his back. The sapphire-blue sachet at his waist looked somewhat conspicuous, yet unexpectedly harmonious.

“Leave.”

He had never expected to kill Fusheng outright. But so long as he caused the man trouble, the violent urges mounting within him over time would ease a little, would they not?

Though admittedly, not by much.