Inside the carriage, Cui Shenghan had already yawned ten times, and Yin Wuxiao listened with a smile, seemingly unbothered.
“Miss, the town ahead is called Xiao Hu. It was originally a village built by people who were ostracized from Ti Hu Town. Later, they started brewing wine with mountain spring water and it became quite popular. Would you like to try Xiao Hu's jujube wine?”
"That would be great." Yin Wuxiao was quite interested.
As Deputy Branch Leader Zhao spoke, he became more and more excited. He simply summoned two disciples and instructed them to go to Xiaohu Town and find the best tavern to buy some fine jujube wine.
Yin Wuxiao pulled back the curtain and turned her face towards the carriage, where she saw Cui Shenghan looking at her with a smile.
"After walking around these past few days, I've finally come to appreciate Miss Yin's refined and elegant demeanor."
Yin Wuxiao laughed and said, "When you first saw me, you probably thought I was the most filthy thing you could possibly want, and that I was an eyesore to you."
"Not at all. At the time, I just felt that this little beggar had a bit of the arrogance of a scholar."
Yin Wuxiao touched his nose and thought to himself, "I, Yin Wuxiao, do have some substance and temperament." As he thought about it, he became smug.
Qiao Fenglang went ahead, and Yin Wuxiao seemed much more relaxed. Looking at Cui Shenghan, he felt the same way.
Her beloved Fenglang, how kind and gentle he used to be. He loved planting lotus flowers, always carrying their fragrance. He loved teasing her, yet he always took the blame for the trouble she caused. But ever since Qiao Fenglang became the gang leader, everything seemed to have changed. Perhaps the hardships of the martial world had tempered him; he not only had no time to tend to his lotus flowers, but his temperament had also become gloomy.
The faint lotus fragrance emanating from him vanished completely with the passing of the old gang leader, Qiao Baiyue.
Just as I was lost in thought, suddenly a panicked cry and a sharp neighing of a horse came from outside the carriage.
Yin Wuxiao and Cui Shenghan suddenly stiffened, exchanged a glance, and both felt a bad premonition.
The voice of Deputy Branch Leader Zhao, filled with terror, came from outside the carriage.
"What...what's going on?"
The broken sounds came intermittently, tinged with sobs, but the content of the words was unclear. Then, with a thud, everything fell silent, as if the speaker had fallen off his horse and could no longer make a sound.
Yin Wuxiao's heart was pounding, as if it were about to burst out of her chest. She abruptly lifted the curtain and leaned out of the carriage.
"Deputy Branch Leader Zhao, what happened?"
Before she could even see what was in front of her, Deputy Branch Leader Zhao quickly blocked her view with his massive body.
"Young Miss, don't look!"
Deputy Branch Leader Zhao looked extremely solemn, something she hadn't seen in the past few days.
Yin Wuxiao was even more shocked, but she maintained her composure and said sternly, "Get out of the way!"
Deputy Branch Leader Zhao had always thought of her as a delicate and naive young lady, and at this moment, his desire to protect her surpassed everything else. Fearing that the scene would frighten her, he said, "Miss, please return to the carriage quickly. I will take care of everything."
Yin Wuxiao frowned.
This was a prelude to her anger.
She was no longer the helpless Shui Wu'er, drifting with the tide, nor the delicate young lady from a secluded chamber. She was Yin Wuxiao, renowned as the most talented woman in the world, possessing the vast Yin family fortune in the capital, and the future wife of the leader of the Qiao Gang. She disliked being in danger without knowing the situation; she preferred to be in control of the situation from the very beginning.
She stepped down from the carriage and approached Deputy Branch Leader Zhao: "Get out of the way!"
With a cold expression, Yin Wuxiao exuded an aura that was hard to resist. Zhao, the deputy branch leader, actually shivered and moved aside before he could react.
Yin Wuxiao walked past him with her hands behind her back, and walked to the front of the carriage. Seeing her imposing manner, the Qiao Gang disciples all made way for her.
A member of the Qiao Clan lay motionless on the ground beside the horse's hooves, his breath gone.
"He's dead?" Yin Wuxiao asked.
The disciple standing nearby quickly replied, "Yes."
"Turn him over," Yin Wuxiao ordered.
"Young Miss! His death was gruesome..." Deputy Branch Master Zhao hurriedly tried to stop him, but Yin Wuxiao glared at him with a sharp eye and cut off the rest of his sentence.
The body was turned over, and the disciples who hadn't seen his face before gasped in surprise upon seeing it.
That was one of the disciples that Deputy Branch Master Zhao had sent to the front to investigate the tavern. His face was covered in blood, and there was a bloody hole between his eyebrows that was slowly drying up.
Yin Wuxiao swayed slightly, but was fortunately supported by Deputy Branch Master Zhao.
"What...what did he just say?"
"He only had time to say half a sentence. He said... there was a man in a green robe."
Yin Wuxiao turned to look at Cui Shenghan, who had lifted the curtain inside the carriage.
Cui Shenghan's face was completely drained of color.
The carriage quickly turned around and sped back the way it came. Yin Wuxiao felt that everyone was now as panicked as stray dogs.
She suddenly realized that letting Qiao Fenglang leave first was the worst idea imaginable.
But what could she do if she didn't let Qiao Fenglang leave first? Could Qiao Fenglang defeat Yin Bitong? She wasn't sure. Even the master of "Wuhen" was inferior to Yin Bitong in skill, and Baili Qingyi couldn't stop him from rescuing the master of "Wuhen." How could Qiao Fenglang possibly be a match for Yin Bitong?
She took a deep breath, her only hope being that Yin Bitong would give her face and not harm the innocent.
She recalled Yin Bitong's words:
"Little Yin, if you ever betray me, I can't guarantee what will happen to you."
It feels like a lifetime ago.
In the distance, I saw again the red lanterns swaying in the wind under the bamboo houses of Tihu Town.
They actually made it all the way back here.
Outside the carriage, Deputy Branch Leader Zhao muttered, "Young Miss, don't panic. With this old man here, I will not let that person harm a single hair on your head! I, Zhao Huaimin, have sworn to the Chief that I will definitely send you back to the capital safely."
Yin Wuxiao remained silent.
She ordered them to turn and flee, and Deputy Branch Leader Zhao offered no objection. He probably knew in his heart that the newcomers meant no good, and his words were merely a show of bravado; ostensibly addressed to her, but actually meant for his own benefit.
Cui Shenghan was jolted and disoriented in the speeding carriage, but she could only endure it. Both of them understood that Yin Bitong had come for Cui Shenghan's sake.
Yin Wuxiao was terrified. He suddenly realized that in all his previous tribulations, it seemed that someone had been protecting him. He had never been so close to death before.
She couldn't believe it; she couldn't believe that Yin Bitong would actually kill someone in front of her.
She didn't believe Yin Bitong would kill her.
Cui Shenghan believed that Yin Bitong would let her go for Yin Wuxiao's sake, which was why she insisted on staying by Yin Wuxiao's side. She knew in her heart that even if Bai Can could hold him off for a while, he couldn't hold him off forever, and one day, Yin Bitong would find her.
Yin Wuxiao glanced at Cui Shenghan's expectant gaze, then guiltily looked away. She wasn't actually confident.
Even after traveling with Yin Bitong for so long, she still didn't understand Yin Bitong. It seemed she could never fathom Yin Bitong's thoughts.
In the twilight of Tihu town, there wasn't a single person to be seen on the streets.
The carriage suddenly stopped.
Yin Wuxiao's heart skipped a beat.
She didn't immediately lift the curtain. She listened quietly, hoping to hear Deputy Branch Chief Zhao's loud voice explain why the carriage had stopped.
But she didn't get an explanation from Deputy Branch Leader Zhao.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but she heard the bamboo house creaking and swaying in the wind.
Cui Shenghan held Yin Wuxiao's hand tightly, her palms sweating.
It was eerily quiet outside the carriage; for a long time, no one spoke.
Yin Wuxiao suddenly had a strange feeling, as if she had returned to the day when Yin Zhangzhang knocked her unconscious, put her in a carriage, and kidnapped her to the top of the mountain. A gentle breeze blew on the mountaintop. She and Yin Zhangzhang sat outside the carriage. On the silent mountain road, Yin Bitong slowly climbed up the mountain, panting.
After an unknown amount of time, Yin Wuxiao glanced at Cui Shenghan, who was biting her red lips, took a deep breath, and lifted the curtain. She stepped down from the carriage alone.
Not far away, a dazzling green figure stood alone.
Yin Wuxiao's breathing stopped instantly.
At the feet of the man in green lay the stiff body of the dead Deputy Branch Leader Zhao.
Chapter Eighteen: Life is fleeting, all things vanish in an instant (Part Three)
Yin Wuxiao's lips trembled uncontrollably.
On the empty street, a gentle breeze ruffled her hair and the hem of her skirt. She walked slowly forward, stopping a few feet away from Yin Bitong, her hands clenched into fists inside her sleeves.
"...Yin Bitong."
Behind her, the Qiao Gang disciples who had just been chatting and laughing with her were either lying on their horses or on the ground, all lifeless corpses.
Each corpse had a bloody hole between its eyebrows.
In the wind, the hem of Yin Bitong's robe repeatedly brushed against the horrified face of the deceased Deputy Branch Master Zhao.
The moment Yin Wuxiao appeared, a fleeting look of surprise crossed Yin Bitong's beautiful face. However, he quickly returned to his usual lazy and nonchalant demeanor.
"Little Yin, it's you." He smiled faintly, as if he hadn't just taken more than ten lives with lightning speed, but had merely sliced a few cucumbers.
"Why did you kill them?" Yin Wuxiao asked with difficulty. She still couldn't accept the fact that these people were dead. She subconsciously felt that the next moment these people might suddenly jump up from the ground and tell her with a smile that it was all just a joke.
The bloody memories of that night three years ago surged back like a raging wave. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, feeling an excruciating headache.
Yin Bitong's expression turned colder.
"Little Yin, what a ridiculous question you're asking. Do I, Yin Bitong, need a reason to kill someone?"
Yin Wuxiao bit her lip and stared at him until the taste of blood filled her lips.
No, Yin Bitong is not that kind of person. Even though he claims to like killing, even though he always threatens to kill me, even though he is the number one assassin of "Traceless", Yin Wuxiao has never realized that Yin Bitong is a person who kills indiscriminately.
Because she had never witnessed Yin Bitong committing murder.
In her memory, Yin Bitong always threatened with a smile, but with just one word from her, he would give up the idea of killing her.
With just a word from her, he could even let go of Rong Jufeng, that despicable man who framed him.
He always protected her, pampered her, declared his ownership of her, and forbade her from going to see Baili Qingyi...
Or perhaps Yin Bitong was simply too lenient with her. So much so that she never considered that the Yin Bitong in front of her might be a completely different person from the Yin Bitong others perceived.
"How could you... be such a person?" she asked, looking at him with sorrow.
Yin Bitong looked back at her without flinching: "What kind of person do you think I am?"
Yin Wuxiao lowered his head: "Although you are not a good person, you are definitely not someone who kills innocent people indiscriminately..."
Yin Bitong laughed; he genuinely found Yin Wuxiao's words laughable.