A Wandering Youth

Chapter 48

"I knew you were a formidable man, young master..." Zi Ying's eyes flickered indifferently. She seemed certain that Qiu Ye Yi Jian would fall into her hands tonight, and she wasn't in a hurry to devour him. Instead, she leisurely looked him over, as if she were a dignified lady and Qiu Ye Yi Jian was the one who was completely naked.

“Indeed, Tang Wu is petty and narrow-minded. If it weren’t for the plan, I would have stopped him long ago. As for you, once tonight is over and you are handed over to Mr. Xiao, I will be all set.

As soon as Ziying finished speaking, she gently ran her hands through her hair, pulling out a cool, soft rope, and continued walking towards the stage: "The spring night is too short. To avoid any unforeseen complications, I apologize to you, young master..."

Qiu Yeyi sat coldly at the table, staring ahead without saying a word. When Zi Ying walked up to her, she suddenly said a name indifferently: "Leng Qi".

Ziying stopped in surprise, looking at him with a somewhat uncertain expression.

Qiu Yeyijian turned his gaze to her face: "Even if you are beautiful, how could I possibly sleep with Leng Qi's own mother?"

Ziying's beautiful face contorted, gleaming with an eerie bluish light: "How did you know...you..."

Qiu Yeyijian didn't answer, but kept staring at her, and said coldly, "Think about how intoxicated you looked just now, if word got out, I'm afraid no one would believe that Wang Huaijin's concubine was not only a prostitute, but also the mother of two children."

Qiu Yeyi's voice was unhurried, yet every word was icy cold, like whips lashing Zi Ying's naked body. Zi Ying trembled slightly on the stage, enduring for a long time before finally screaming ferociously, "So what if I gave birth to a son? He's just a burden preventing me from returning to Japan..."

Qiu Yeyi stared at her coldly and said icily, "You're pretty much the same... You're both brainless... But you're more pathetic. You go crazy when you see a man and try to act cute. Don't you realize you're old enough to be my mother?"

No sooner had Qiu Yeyijian finished speaking than Ziying could no longer contain herself. She stretched out her ten fingers, screamed, and was about to pounce on Qiu Yeyijian's face.

“Mother…” A faint voice suddenly echoed in the empty hall, low, slow, and elusive.

Qiu Yeyi stared straight ahead, a faint, cold smile playing on her lips. Coupled with her sudden outburst of voice, it was truly remarkable that Zi Ying wouldn't feel a chill run down her spine.

Ziying slowly turned her head. She didn't know when, but the door that had been tightly closed had opened a crack, and the blurry moonlight seeped in, elongating a tall and thin figure. Ziying looked closely and saw that it was Leng Qi.

Leng Qi was still dressed in a black robe, his limbs billowing in the wind. His black hair was disheveled, and wisps of white mist rose from his body, making him look like a ghost drifting from the underworld.

Leng Qi walked straight ahead, her right palm outstretched, pale as snow and faintly shrouded in a cold mist: "Mother, what are you going to do to the young master... Mother, come back with me..."

Upon seeing such a bizarre scene, Zi Ying's face changed drastically, and she screamed, "Who are you... Leng Qi is long dead... Don't come any closer..." It seems that Zi Ying harbored resentment towards Leng Qi, and Qiu Ye appeared immediately after he finished speaking. Even though she possessed unparalleled martial arts skills, she was still a woman after all, and anyone would be terrified in this atmosphere.

Leng Qi stared at Zi Ying and said softly, "Mother, do you really not remember me? Touch my face and look, I am your child..."

Leng Qi stepped forward and took Zi Ying's hand. Zi Ying could no longer bear it and before she could break free from Leng Qi's icy fingers, she went limp with a thud.

Leng Qi glanced down at Zi Ying, then turned to look at Qiu Ye Yi Jian, and said calmly, "Young Master, can you get up? We need to leave here quickly."

Qiu Ye Yi Jian had been staring at Leng Qi ever since he entered the room. Now that she heard him say this, she said, "You've finally arrived, Leng Shuang Cheng."

The person who arrived was Leng Shuangcheng.

She was shocked by what was happening in the hall. When she saw Zi Ying getting more and more out of control and Qiu Ye's voice becoming colder and more venomous, she was worried that Qiu Ye, who was very close to Zi Ying, would be killed. In a moment of inspiration, she suddenly remembered that she still had Leng Qi's mask hidden on her body. She took it out, covered her face, loosened her hair, and boldly walked in.

Upon hearing this, Leng Shuangcheng was somewhat surprised and asked, "How did you know I was coming, young master?"

“Not only did I know you were coming, I’ve been waiting for you all this time,” Qiu Yeyi said, staring intently into her eyes without blinking.

20. To interrogate

The flower hall was filled with fragrant mist, the light and lingering fragrance permeating every corner and crevice, seeping into the gauze curtains, candlelight, and flower shadows. Apart from the two unconscious people on the ground, a person sat motionless behind the high platform.

The room was filled with blooming crabapple trees, their crimson blossoms illuminated by the soft glow of candlelight, exuding an air of boundless elegance and nobility. Besides the sea of flowers radiating regal grace, a strikingly handsome figure stood out – Qiu Ye Yijian, clad in a deep purple gown.

Purple was the color reserved for royal attire, representing unparalleled status. Even sitting still, even though Qiu Yeyijian was suffering torment and pain, his face and his overall cold aura showed no flaws or dishevelment. Leng Shuangcheng didn't need to think to know how drastically different she looked from the person before her: her hair was disheveled, her clothes were loose, and the night breeze occasionally blew, causing her to look lonely and fluttering, like a lost ghost emerging from the earth.

Since being taught by her father, Leng Shuangcheng had never paid much attention to other people's appearance and clothing. Therefore, when she emerged from the grass covered in blood and dirt from Luoyan Tower and rushed to the ancient well platform covered in dust and snow, she felt it was all very ordinary. Tonight, she was the same. However, as Qiu Yeyijian said, "I'm still waiting for you," she gradually realized that the atmosphere was not the same as usual: Qiu Yeyijian stared at her eyes, hair, and body, scanning her up and down. His gaze was as fierce as the sun, bursting with a look of hatred.

Seeing Qiu Yeyi's intense gaze, Leng Shuangcheng shifted his body slightly, then looked at the colorful glazed jade pillars in the four corners of the hall, still persistently asking the many questions in his mind: "Young Master is so confident, you must already know everything that happened tonight?"

Qiu Yeyi looked at Leng Shuangcheng standing below the steps and said, "Most of the changes tonight are under my control, except for Nan Jingqi." He spoke after making up his mind.

Leng Shuangcheng, who was originally taking off her black robe with her back to him, trembled upon hearing this and almost dropped the robe on the ground. Her mind raced in an instant, and she tried her best to remain calm. Taking advantage of the moment of thought, she silently covered Ziying with the robe.

Where is Nan Jingqi?

"Reporting to Young Master, General Nan has already left with the young servant. You may not yet know that the standoff between the two sides outside is about to erupt..."

"No rush." Qiu Yeyijian interrupted Leng Shuangcheng slowly and methodically, adding, "The monk may run away, but the temple can't."

Leng Shuangcheng felt as if she had thorns in her back, and stood even straighter, not daring to say a word.

Qiu Ye sat upright in the room, looking at Leng Shuangcheng, and said in a cold and reserved voice, "Come here, Leng Shuangcheng."

Leng Shuangcheng glanced around but didn't move. He said urgently, "Young Master, we should seize the opportunity to rescue Princess Chengxiang and the others now..."

Qiu Yeyi's handsome face twitched slightly, and his two long eyebrows furrowed slightly. Leng Shuangcheng saw that he seemed to have been enduring for a long time before he spat out a mouthful of blood with a "pfft". She was slightly surprised, but then realized that it was caused by the Gu poison taking effect.

Leng Shuangcheng glanced at his indifferent face, sighed inwardly, and silently walked over.

"Is the young master alright?" She stopped three feet away from Qiu Yeyi's sword. "I have many questions I'd like to ask the young master..."

"Hands," Qiu Yeyi suddenly said.

Leng Shuangcheng, recalling his past actions, stretched out his right hand with a shiver.

Qiu Yeyi glanced at her face, then stretched out his long fingers and firmly grasped her wrist, using the leverage to stand up. His body swayed slightly, somewhat weakly, and Leng Shuangcheng, seeing this, had no choice but to remain stiff and let him lean against her side.

“Go and apply pressure points to the two people on the ground,” Qiu Yeyijian said coldly. “I know you were pretending to be asleep just now. Your martial arts skills have not disappeared at all, because Dongge told me that you have the Cold Poison in your body and are immune to all poisons except for the Miao Jiang Secret Gu.”

"Young master, you misunderstand. I was indeed not poisoned, but Tang Wu acupunctured my pressure points and I have been unconscious ever since..."

“Leng Shuangcheng, I used 50% of my strength in that shout. Not to mention someone this close, even a dead person would have been awakened by me.”

Leng Shuangcheng's body stiffened even more. She quietly tugged at her wrist and found it held firmly in Qiu Ye's hand, like iron. She couldn't help but feel a little panicked: I didn't help him escape danger in the hall just now. He knew all along, yet he endured Tang Wu's torture without lifting a finger. Does he blame me for being cruel because of this?

Qiu Yeyi's cold, snow-like aura lingered in Leng Shuangcheng's ears. As he suppressed his pain with his breathing, the right side of Leng Shuangcheng's face gradually warmed up. She felt somewhat relieved: thankfully, it was covered by Leng Qi's mask, so it wasn't too obvious.

Just then, Qiu Yeyijian looked up at her, extended his cool, icy right hand, and gently stroked her face twice. Leng Shuangcheng, mindful of his injuries, dared not push him away forcefully, and could only exclaim in shock, "Young Master, what are you doing…"

With a "whoosh," Qiu Yeyijian tore off Leng Qi's mask without hesitation and said, "Don't disguise yourself anymore. I need to see your face." After saying this, her chest rose and fell slightly, she coughed, and Qiu Yeyijian leaned weakly against Leng Shuangcheng, her thin lips brushing against her unruly hair.

Leng Shuangcheng remained stern and dared not move. She said somewhat slowly, "Young Master, can you move? I'll go and press those two pressure points."

Qiu Ye Yijian coughed twice more, a few drops of blood seeping out. Leng Shuangcheng was shocked and reached out to support him, steadying him. Qiu Ye Yijian's handsome brows furrowed more and more tightly, and finally his body trembled a few times before he collapsed into Leng Shuangcheng's arms.

Leng Shuangcheng quickly grabbed Qiu Ye's waist, and said in a moment of fear, "Young Master, you..."

"I have suffered severe internal injuries and I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on."

Leng Shuangcheng glanced at Qiu Yeyijian's face and found that his pale, bloodless complexion seemed genuine, which made her quite embarrassed. Just as she hesitated, she heard him say coldly, "You know I caught a cold and you slapped me four times. Is that any doubt?"

Hearing that he wouldn't mention voluntarily taking the poison, and remembering the torment he had suffered because of her, Leng Shuangcheng's heart softened. She gritted her teeth and helped him sit on a chair in the side of the hall, then went over and pressed the acupoints on the two of them on the ground one by one.

Leng Shuangcheng's gaze lingered between Tang Wu and Zi Ying, a hint of doubt on his face. But considering Qiu Ye Yijian's fickle nature, he seemed somewhat indifferent at the moment, and hesitated, standing silently.

Qiu Yeyi stared at the figure standing to her side for a long time before saying, "Answer two questions first, and I will tell you what happened tonight."

Leng Shuangcheng was somewhat wary of him bringing up Nan Jingqi's whereabouts again, and hesitated for a moment before saying "okay." Unexpectedly, Qiu Yeyijian ignored the most pressing issue and instead asked two questions: "What happened to your hair? Where did your coat go?"

Leng Shuangcheng was taken aback. In the end, she gave a rather brief account of the battle between Tang Wu and her. When she mentioned the water-avoiding clothes, she was rather vague. Qiu Yeyijian kept staring at her. Under his unreadable gaze, Leng Shuangcheng simply stopped and swallowed her words.

"How much of your internal energy have you recovered?" Qiu Yeyi asked after a long silence.

"Sixty percent."

“No wonder you were no match for him.” He paused and then said, “Your martial arts have a rather peculiar origin. The Wudang mental technique ‘binding moisture into a staff’ cannot be used unless one has a hundred years of internal energy. Just by seeing you single-handedly block the Water Drinking Formation, I know your martial arts are more than that… Leng Shuangcheng, you must be hiding something from me.”

Leng Shuangcheng was surprised and quickly said, "Young Master, you misunderstand... At this moment, dealing with important matters is the most important thing."

Qiu Yeyi glanced at her, her voice turning cold: "I will definitely get to the bottom of your matter in the future, but I'll let you go for now."

Leng Shuangcheng felt a little relieved and hastily wiped his face. "Young Master, the situation inside and outside has reversed. What do you plan to do?" When he put his hand down, he was surprised to see that Qiu Yeyi's expression had changed, especially his eyes, which were deep and contained a sense of impending storm.

"Why don't you call me Prince Qiuye anymore?" Qiuye Yijian had been holding back for a long time, but finally snapped: "Don't you love to call me by my name and curse me so vehemently in front of others and behind their backs? We've only been apart for a day, what has made you abandon Cheng Nian and call me 'Young Master'?"

Leng Shuangcheng turned to the side, her face showing great embarrassment, and gave a bitter smile before falling silent.

Qiu Yeyijian took in her reaction. He calmed his agitated emotions slightly and said as calmly as possible, "Leng Shuangcheng, your greatest skill is pretending to be deaf and dumb, and deceiving and cheating... You clearly know what I'm saying, but you pretend you don't understand anything... Sometimes I really want to chop you to death with one palm."

Leng Shuangcheng slowly straightened up, her back to Qiu Yeyijian, and secretly pursed her lips. She carefully recalled his words, and her mind involuntarily drifted back to some past events—her expression was wooden and calm after disguising herself, easily gaining the trust and favor of outsiders; she pretended to be a novice gambling wildly in Sihai; she impersonated Leng Qi to steal the sword, and tonight she played tricks to scare Ziying unconscious; whenever she encountered a problem she couldn't solve, she would blurt out some random words to cover it up…

It's likely that Qiu Yeyi's description of "feigning deafness and dumbness, swindling and cheating" carries the suspicion of the aforementioned misdeeds. However, after a moment's thought, Leng Shuangcheng began to worry about Ruan Ruan's safety below: "Young Master, it's getting late. Princess Cheng Xiang and the others..."

Qiu Yeyijian stared at her back and smiled coldly: "I knew you couldn't hold back... Even if you don't consider me, you will eventually take action for Ruan Ruan." After a pause, seeing that Leng Shuangcheng was still silent with her back to him, she suddenly said: "You're smart this time, knowing to come to me first. If you save the wrong person, you'll suffer more."

Leng Shuangcheng was surprised. After thinking for a moment, he understood what Qiu Ye meant. But seeing that he had finally brought up the matter of tonight, he decided not to say anything more to prevent Qiu Ye from getting angry and changing the subject again.

Qiu Ye sat upright with a straight face, took a moment to breathe, then slowly stood up, clutching her chest. Leng Shuangcheng sensed the chilling aura of the person behind her growing closer, finally stopping behind her, and held her breath, afraid to move.

A blush gradually crept up her ears, but her body remained as straight as a poplar tree.

“Tang Wu is jealous, and Zi Ying is lustful. As long as we grasp their weaknesses, we can devise a strategy.” Qiu Yeyi walked behind Leng Shuangcheng and said coldly, “My biggest goal is to see how heartless you are, Leng Shuangcheng, and how long you can endure before coming to me.”

These words greatly surprised Leng Shuangcheng. Her pupils unconsciously darted left and right twice. Recalling what she had just witnessed, she couldn't help but smile bitterly: No matter how much everyone planned, they still fell into his trap in the end.

—The sounds from the main hall could be heard from the two secret rooms. Qiu Ye, seeing Zi Ying's advances, feigned compliance and caressed her, which enraged Tang Wu, who was consumed by jealousy. After Tang Wu deliberately provoked her, he was overpowered by the lustful Zi Ying. When Leng Shuangcheng saw that Zi Ying was about to harm Qiu Ye in her anger, he had no choice but to frighten her into unconsciousness.

— Qiu Yeyijian knew that her inner strength had not dissipated. For some reason, he noticed that she was also outside the door. So he provoked Ziying with his words, forcing her to kill him. As a result, Leng Shuangcheng, who was hiding outside the door, could no longer stand it and could only appear in front of him as a matter of course. However, what was unexpected was that she was pretending to be Leng Qi.

Thinking of Qiu Yeyi's cold and self-controlled teasing of Zi Ying just now, Leng Shuangcheng was deeply moved and remained silent.

In the silence, Qiu Yeyijian breathed a soft sigh of relief behind Leng Shuangcheng's hair, pinched the end of her hair, and examined it repeatedly in her hand. Leng Shuangcheng's expression was somewhat uncertain. She focused her mind and was about to ask some details that puzzled her when she suddenly heard Qiu Yeyijian say with a reserved and indifferent tone, "Leng Shuangcheng, you've already caught me in the act twice. If you do it again, I will definitely not let you off the hook."

21. Fool

Leng Shuangcheng's face was like a clay sculpture, and his eyes, as cold as a deep pool, were fixed on the distance, refusing to look away.

She wasn't stupid; of course she understood what Qiu Yeyijian meant. The scene of the sword theft in Ruzhou was still vivid in her mind. Tonight was just another awkward encounter, so she held her breath and dared not turn around.

Because she wasn't stupid, she also saw through a secret: Qiu Ye Yijian was truly fickle towards her, like the fog on Changbai Mountain, changing with the weather every day. A few days ago, the wind was strong and the fog was thick, making it hard for her to resist. Now, the cold rain and sticky fog enveloped her whole body, as if it wanted to seep into her bones and blood little by little.

Qiu Yeyijian pressed close behind him, her cold and ethereal aura wafting over him, impossible to ignore. Leng Shuangcheng pursed her lips, noticing a warmth gradually rising from her earlobe to her cheek, her heart filled with increasing panic and anger.

Qiu Yeyi glanced at her, reached out and grabbed her hair. First, she gathered the shortest part on top of her head, pulled it, then let it go and grabbed the ends, tugged at them again.

Leng Shuangcheng still didn't dare to move. She grinned and couldn't help but say, "Young Master, what are you doing..."

“Just one day without taking care of you, and you’ve fallen into such a sorry state.” Qiu Yeyi turned around and faced Leng Shuangcheng’s eyes. “Tang Wu’s search skills have improved a lot, but using them here is like wild dogs fighting.”

Leng Shuangcheng had initially breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was only pulling her hair, and had quietly shifted her body slightly. But upon hearing these words, she couldn't help but angrily retort, "Young Master, how dare you insult me..."

Qiu Ye Yi Jian suddenly steadied Leng Shuang Cheng's head, tightened his left arm around her waist, and kissed her fiercely: "You're becoming more and more outrageous, going out and fighting like this."

Leng Shuangcheng was furious. He struggled out with one hand and coldly smiled, "Young Master is seriously injured, yet you still have the leisure to tease me." He extended his right hand from his sleeve, gathering his energy and preparing to strike. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he stared in astonishment and asked, "Was that just now the 'Double Folding Hand' from the Thirty-Six Styles of Minor Capturing Techniques?"