Ruan Yun noticed the two men exchanging glances and a thought struck her.
"Xiao'er, is he the one you like?"
Yin Wuxiao bit his lip and remained silent.
Ruan Yun laughed loudly: "I want to see if he's worth your affection."
Baili Qingyi and Yin Wuxiao were both taken aback, a bad premonition rising in their hearts.
Ruan Yun's figure blurred as she charged straight at Yin Wuxiao. Baili Qingyi was already quite far away from the two of them, and his skill was far inferior to Ruan Yun's, so he couldn't stop her at all. He had only leaped forward a foot when he saw Yin Wuxiao being held in Ruan Yun's hand like a chick.
"What do you want?" Baili Qingyi's expression grew even colder, and her palms were even slightly sweaty.
Ruan Yun glanced at Yin Wuxiao's pale face and smiled slightly: "I have long heard that the young master in blue robes from Baili Prefecture has the world at heart and is compassionate. I wonder if it is true?"
Bai Liqing's heart pounded even harder.
"I really don't know, between love and loyalty, which would you choose?" Ruan Yun looked at Baili Qingyi meaningfully, grabbed the handle of the explosive device with one hand, and pushed Yin Wuxiao several feet forward with the other, causing him to fall off the cliff!
The sound of gears turning clattered.
Yin Wuxiao knew that Ruan Yun had already pressed the handle to activate the explosives.
She was smiling as she fell off the cliff.
Whether Baili Qingyi would stop the explosion or come to save her, was there even a need to guess? Aunt Yun, if you knew Baili Qingyi, you wouldn't have made this bet. It's such a simple arithmetic problem; compared to hundreds of lives, one life is naturally more precious, especially in Baili Qingyi's heart.
This is a predicament of both love and death.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Though There Is No Sunshine, There Is (Part One)
The laughter and conversation she had shared with the maids back then now echoed in her ears: "As for me... I only ask for someone who can understand my heart, but who will put me first in everything."
She is the most important person in everything.
How could there be such a person? Everyone in this world lives only for themselves, and she is no exception. It is precisely because of this that people like Baili Qingyi, who sacrifice personal love for the greater good, are all the more precious.
She understood the reasoning, but she couldn't help feeling sad. Simply because she loved him. She loved Baili Qingyi.
Yin Wuxiao likes Baili Qingyi!
The wind howled past her ears, and she knew she was falling at an extremely fast speed.
Since there is no hope of survival, then let us die. Yin Wuxiao closed his eyes.
At that moment, her waist was suddenly grabbed, with a force that seemed determined to hold on even at the cost of her life.
Yin Wuxiao opened her eyes in surprise and saw Baili Qingyi's serene profile, as if carved from jade. His black hair fluttered in the wind, mingling with hers. His high nose, upright forehead, and focused black eyes were more dazzling and captivating than she had ever seen before.
She thought she was dreaming, but then she heard Baili Qingyi's deep voice: "Hold on to me!"
She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, and saw him draw a short dagger from his waist and plunge it deep into the sheer cliff face. The dagger carved deeper and deeper marks into the rock, scattering golden sparks that slowed their descent and eventually brought them to a stop on the cliff edge.
Yin Wuxiao gritted her teeth. Baili Qingyi held the dagger with only one arm, while holding her tightly in his arms with the other. She clung to him like an octopus, using both her arms and legs. She cautiously glanced down and saw swirling clouds and mist.
Or perhaps someone really built a pond for them, because although Yin Wuxiao wasn't a big shot, Baili Qingyi was a great hero.
She was thinking vaguely when she heard Baili Qingyi say, "Don't look down."
Yin Wuxiao quickly looked up and met his dark eyes, which were as dark as the night sky. The two were very close at the moment, their noses almost touching.
"How...how did you get down here?" she murmured, still unable to believe Baili Qingyi's actions.
Baili Qingyi's expression was also somewhat strange. He tightened his grip on Yin Wuxiao's arm, but remained silent.
“Once the explosives ignite, hundreds of lives will be lost.” Yin Wuxiao glared at him.
Baili Qingyi smiled bitterly.
"The life of one person is less important than the lives of a hundred; you should understand this better than I do," Yin Wuxiao said solemnly. "Besides, didn't you already plan to sacrifice pawns to save the king?"
Baili Qingyi did not answer her. She looked up and said, "The explosives do not seem to have ignited."
The explosives, of course, did not ignite. Yin Wuxiao sneered. She had just taken advantage of Ruan Jun's inattention to put the imitation blood jade into the mechanism of the explosives, and the gears were probably stuck and could not be reset for a while.
"You knew all along that the explosives wouldn't ignite?"
Baili Qingyi looked at her and shook her head.
"Then how could you dare to take such a big risk?" Yin Wuxiao looked at him incredulously. She thought she knew Baili Qingyi very well. There was no way he would abandon the benevolence and morality in his heart.
Baili Qingyi sighed, buried her head behind Yin Wuxiao's shoulder, and a low laugh slowly escaped her lips, a laugh filled with utter helplessness.
"Xiao'er, Xiao'er, while strategizing and planning certainly requires considering principles and choices, did I have any time to think about such matters just now?"
Yin Wuxiao was stunned.
After a long while, tears slowly streamed down her face. She laughed and cried at the same time, but her arms were tightly wrapped around the man, and she refused to let go no matter what.
In that instant, he abandoned the greater good to save her life. It wasn't a choice, but an instinct.
If he had more time to think, perhaps he wouldn't have chosen to save her?
But what more could she possibly want from Baili Qingyi?
"Do you... regret it?" Yin Wuxiao lightly punched him, her face streaked with tears.
Baili Qingyi looked at her intently, as if trying to see into her soul: "I don't regret it. My only thought at that time was: if I could die with you like this, it wouldn't be such a bad thing."
Yin Wuxiao was moved.
She suddenly understood why she had fallen in love with this person.
Simply because he is a man of integrity and upright character.
Yin Wuxiao leaned close to his ear and said through gritted teeth, "If we survive, you... you're never allowed to leave my side again!"
Baili Qingyi's heart pounded. He gazed at Yin Wuxiao and felt that in this moment between life and death, tenderness was boundless, and all the chivalrous code, responsibility, and reputation were nonsense.
"good."
At this point, the two seemed to be in perfect harmony, with no more barriers between them, their eyes brimming with affection.
Suddenly, a thick rope fell from the top of the cliff and swung around the two of them.
Baili Qingyi smiled at Yin Wuxiao: "Let's go up."
Climbing up the cliff along the rope, we returned to the secret cave where we had just fallen.
Yin Wuxiao's expression changed. Holding the end of the rope in one hand and a short sword in the other, facing Ruan Yun was none other than Yin Bitong, dressed in green with green eyes. Qiao Fenglang and Mu Li, who had entered the stone cave at some point, were now staring blankly at Ruan Yun, seemingly also learning her true identity for the first time.
"Yin Bitong!" Ruan Yun roared, "And the two of you, are you all going to team up against me?"
Yin Bitong looked at her indifferently: "I didn't come back to deal with you, I just came back to save her." He pointed at Yin Wuxiao.
"Save her?" Ruan Yun sneered. "She hates you to the core. Yin Bitong, who do you think you are? You are a blood-stained executioner, and that will never change! In this world, only I, only 'Wuhen' will take you in. Do you intend to betray 'Wuhen'?"
Yin Bitong frowned and answered very seriously, "I don't want to betray anyone. I only belong to myself."
Ruan Yun was speechless for a moment. After a long while, she said, "Sometimes I really want to crack open your brain and see what's inside. You were willing to kill for me to support your sister, but you refuse to acknowledge her as your sister afterward. You clearly obey me, but you refuse to admit that you are a member of 'Wuhen'. Who do you think you are? Yin Bitong, you live in this world to kill, not to save people!"
Yin Bitong smiled and said, "I originally thought so too. But now I understand her feelings, the kind of feelings that make you not want someone to die in front of you. Now, I can't just watch her die in front of me either."
Ruan Yun nearly fainted from anger. She couldn't speak, so she could only laugh three times: "Fine, fine, fine!"
Yin Bitong said, "Since you agree, then I will save the person."
Yin Wuxiao and Baili Qingyi exchanged glances. Suddenly, they realized that Yin Bitong might not be a bad person after all; he was just someone whose way of thinking was quite different from most people.
Baili Qingyi loosened the rope in his hand, stepped forward a few steps, and said, "Since Young Master Yin has this awareness, could you please take Xiao'er away from here for me... Ah!"
Before he could finish speaking, Yin Wuxiao kicked him from behind.
"Baili Qingyi!" She dragged her wounded body, looking disheveled, and roared through gritted teeth, "If you dare to play these tricks on me again, I'll..." Unable to think of an effective threat, she blurted out, "I'll never speak to you again!"
Baili Qingyi was taken aback and then laughed. She quickly turned around and helped her up, saying, "You get away first. I'll come find you after I've dealt with this."
Yin Wuxiao was momentarily captivated by the deep affection in his eyes. She lowered her gaze and hesitated for a moment: "You mean it?"
She knew that she was indeed a burden to Baili Qingyi here. The only person in the world she could entrust everything to was Baili Qingyi.
But with Ruan Yun having mastered the third level of the Soul-Destroying Strike Technique, the explosives she had planted beforehand, and the Qiao brothers on the verge of conflict, how could she possibly resolve all of this peacefully? She simply couldn't feel completely at ease.
As if sensing her thoughts, Baili Qingyi smiled and took her hand: "Trust me."
Yin Wuxiao looked at him intently.
"I believe you," she said, emphasizing each word as if making a vow.
He then added, "If you dare to lie to me, you're dead!"
Baili Qingyi chuckled.
Ruan Yun stared at the two in disbelief. How could they still be flirting in such a situation? But Yin Wuxiao seemed like a completely different person compared to before he fell off the cliff.
Ruan Yun had no time to think, so she sneered and said, "How could I let you leave so easily?" With a flick of her sleeve, a strangely shaped weapon appeared in her hand. It was jet black, with a cold, sinister glint in its blade.
Seeing this, Baili Qingyi's expression gradually became serious.
"You go first." He gently pushed Yin Wuxiao.
Yin Bitong saw the interaction between the two clearly, and immediately grabbed Yin Wuxiao, sneering, "I'm taking Xiao Yin away, and I will never give her back to you."
Baili Qingyi smiled without turning her head: "You don't need to return her to me. She will come to me on her own."
Yin Wuxiao was utterly speechless at the sight of these two men.
Yin Wuxiao and Yin Bitong slowly landed on the cliff top, but what awaited them was not Shi Mansi, nor the people from Baili Mansion, but Yuwen Cuiyu standing quietly.
Yuwen Cuiyu had a section of sword tip embedded in her chest, her hand clutching the wound, yet her expression remained utterly aloof. For a moment, Yin Wuxiao was dazed upon seeing her, even mistakenly believing she was about to leap lightly off the cliff.
Upon seeing Yin Wuxiao, Yuwen Cuiyu smiled faintly.
“Yin Wuxiao, I have already handed Cen Lu over to Shi Mansi. Although he suffered a head injury, his life should be fine. Consider it as me returning your life.”
Yin Wuxiao said indifferently, "What you owe me is more than just a life."
Yuwen Cuiyu paused for a moment, then said, "As for the rest, come and ask me for it whenever you're willing."
Yin Wuxiao was speechless, not knowing how to answer.
Seeing that she had no intention of making a move, Yuwen Cuiyu straightened her skirt and turned to leave.
Yin Wuxiao stared at her retreating figure, momentarily bewildered. She had originally intended to seek revenge.