The most foolish in the world

Chapter 21

With a slap, the scholar was knocked to the side.

"Ah—" Fan Qingbo screamed in fright, then covered her mouth and stared in horror at the gray-clad man who had turned to look at her.

Fortunately, the man only glanced at her contemptuously before turning his gaze back to the scholar, pleased to see the five-finger mark on his face.

His gloves were not only studded, but also contained a deadly poison.

The scholar coughed a few times, spitting out a mouthful of blood, dark and thick. He finally frowned, his indifferent expression vanishing, replaced by displeasure. "You say you're from Ghost Valley? Do you remember, eleven years ago, when your valley master was defeated by me, he promised that Ghost Valley would never use poison again? A gentleman keeps his promises; how can he go back on his word?"

The man in gray sneered, "Save your gentlemanly manners! All I know is that you're now in my hands! We'll pay for every insult you inflicted on Ghost Valley back then!" He raised his hand to strike again, but his movement froze in mid-air, and he abruptly withdrew it. "If it weren't for the Valley Master saying he wanted to capture you alive to take back to him for punishment, hmph!"

He pulled up his cloak, turned around and shouted, "What are you dawdling for? Throw him in the coffin and take him away!"

"yes."

The four men lifted the scholar and threw him into the coffin, then asked, "Lord Ghost, what should we do with that woman?"

The gray-clad man, referred to as the vengeful ghost, glanced at Fan Qingbo, who was trembling on the ground. Thinking of the beautiful ghost who had died tragically at the hands of the Silver Scholar, his eyes suddenly turned sinister, and he sneered, "Throw her into the coffin and take her away too."

When Fan Qingbo saw the four men walking towards her, she suddenly trembled and screamed and cried hysterically.

"No! Please don't arrest me! I don't know that scholar at all! Please, gentlemen, have mercy! Just go into the city and ask around, you'll find out I really have nothing to do with him! Don't arrest me! Ah! Ah!"

The five members of Guigu were so annoyed by her noise that they quickly threw her into a coffin, closed the lid, and carried her away.

In the chaos, no one heard anything hissing or crackling on the ground.

One minute after that group of people left, a signal arrow shot into the sky from the back mountain.

Author's Note: Why did the story suddenly veer off into the martial arts world...? =v=

Poor Qingbo, she hasn't had a single peaceful day since she met the scholar.

15

15. The harmony of Yin and Yang is the most loving...

The first thing Fan Qingbo asked after being thrown into the coffin was, "Scholar, is the poison you've been given serious?" The scholar felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this and was about to say a few words of comfort when she immediately followed up with, "Won't it be okay if we're so close? This poison can't be transmitted through our breath and saliva, can it?"

He choked for a moment, his heart sank, and he forced a smile as he replied, "No."

Fan Qingbo breathed a sigh of relief, having ensured his own safety. After his eyes adjusted to the dim light from the few ventilation holes, he vaguely noticed the scholar's pale complexion and asked with concern, "Your knife and sword wounds heal automatically, so you shouldn't be a problem with poisoning, right?"

The scholar only gave a listless "hmm" and remained silent. In truth, he had been poisoned with muscle-relaxing powder, plus an unknown toxin, making it extremely difficult to expel. However, he simply didn't want to talk to the woman in front of him, regardless of whether it would be impolite.

Fan Qingbo found it amusing. Although the light was too dim to see his expression clearly, this guy probably had no idea how resentful and petulant his tone was. So cute. She couldn't help but raise her hand and pinch his cheek, teasingly saying, "Hey, are you thinking now, 'Thank goodness I pulled back from the brink and didn't insist on taking responsibility for this woman?'"

"What...what are you saying..."

The scholar glared and denied it, but his gleaming eyes clearly said: How did you know?

Oh my, how can a man be so adorable? She chuckled.

"I don't have many strengths, but self-awareness is one of them. The rumors about me being frivolous, shrewish, selfish, and rude are absolutely true. In my heart, only I am the most important; I live to live a happy life. Only when I am happy do I have the leisure to care about whether others are happy or not." Zhou Zice said she was heartless; maybe it's true. Perhaps when the original owner of this body left this world, she took a part of her heart with her?

Seeing the scholar listening in a daze, she laughed even more heartily.

"How about it? Aren't you even more glad you didn't insist on marrying me now?"

The scholar didn't answer, but just stared at her intently. In the dim light, his overly clear and bright eyes seemed to see right into her soul, making her feel inexplicably guilty, and her smile began to stiffen.

Just when she was almost out of breath, he finally spoke, "No, you're just too willful."

The tone was casual, yet it stirred ripples in her heart. How could this person speak to her like an adult talking to a child? This was simply unfair! Words like "capricious," "girlish," and "spoiled" were completely inappropriate for her. Fan Qingbo's expression immediately became conflicted. "Where have I been capricious?"

Oh no, this way of talking reminds her of "You're cruel, you're heartless, you're being unreasonable" and "Where am I cruel, heartless, or unreasonable?"

Fortunately, the scholar was unfamiliar with the typical romance novel formula. After a moment's recollection, he replied, "Last time at Joyful Heaven, to spite me, I smiled at those men even though I didn't like them—that was willful. Now, to completely dispel my notion of taking responsibility, I deliberately smeared myself—that's also willful. If we go even further, letting rumors spread without offering any explanation is still willful."

He kept bombarding her with the word "willful," giving her goosebumps as if those "willful" traits were going to bite her. She narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth, and said, "I don't mind if you use 'unrestrained and dissolute' instead of 'willful'."

The scholar paused for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly.

The space was so small, and the distance so close, yet the warm laughter penetrated her ears with unstoppable force, clearly saying: "See, you're being willful again." Her face flushed red.

She had always been used to being relied on and being the dominant one, but now she was suddenly being treated like a capricious little woman. It was incredibly awkward! What's more, the person in question was this weak scholar she had always looked down on. How could she possibly tolerate this?

Fan Qingbo was furious and embarrassed, but his limbs were weak and powerless. In desperation, he simply took a bite.

The scholar felt a numbness in his shoulder, and everything he had initially tried to ignore flooded his mind.

For example, the people of Guigu obviously did not expect to capture an extra woman, so they prepared a single coffin.

For example, this woman has been piled on top of him ever since she was thrown in.

For example, this woman had seen his body not long ago, and now her lips were on his body.

The scholar was second only to the most skilled martial artist in the land, a true master. Although he claimed to have crippled himself, it didn't change the fact that he could see in the dark. So, seeing the woman on top of him suddenly blush and bite him fiercely, he thought, "This woman is truly fierce." Seeing her eyebrows raised, looking up at him with annoyance in her eyes, he actually thought, "Sometimes, this woman's fierceness is quite endearing."

Thinking this, I suddenly felt my mouth and throat go dry.

Despite his stiff body, his heart pounded so hard it felt like it would bounce off the soft female body on top of him. Looking at her lips resting on his shoulder, a shameless thought popped into his head—perhaps her lips could quench his thirst?

The darkness fueled his imagination, and he couldn't help but conjure up a series of vivid images in his mind...

This is... terrible! Yet he couldn't think of a single gentlemanly principle to stop himself!