The room was filled with a chilling emptiness, with only the crows on the wall baring their claws. She felt a little lost, while to her side, Shi Mansi's soft snores rose and fell.
No, the warmth she felt now was real. She hurriedly sat up and, by the faint moonlight, looked down and saw a faint imprint on the mattress by the edge of the bed, indicating that someone had sat there. She touched it; it still retained a trace of body heat.
She stopped and thought about it carefully.
The dream she just had was definitely more than just a dream, and the person who warmed her up...
There are probably only a handful of people in the world who have the ability to silently and alone infiltrate the headquarters of Wuhen.
They have the guts to risk coming in to check on her safety, but not the guts to wake her up?
Why is this person always like this?
She stared blankly at her hands, feeling as if she had been stabbed in the heart.
Chapter Twenty-One: The Straight Path is a Karmic Predestined Cause (Part 1)
"I said, what's wrong with you just going to inform them for me!" Shi Mansi talked until her lips were sore, but she still couldn't persuade Chou'er, who brought them food, to pass on her message.
"The master said that you should only eat and stay well, and no other requests are allowed." Ugly was only thirteen or fourteen years old, but he answered with the flatness of an adult.
"It's just a notification; it won't harm either your master or you, will it?"
Ugly didn't even look at her, and went ahead to set out the bowls and plates.
Shi Mansi picked up a peanut from the plate and rudely tossed it into her mouth.
"Are you all so rigid here? We are your master's most important guests. If we delay something important, can you take responsibility?"
There has still been no response.
"People who do great things need to know how to take risks. You don't want to be a servant for the rest of your life, do you?" So she changed her approach to enticing people with benefits.
Ugly glanced at her coldly and snorted.
Shi Mansi's face changed drastically; her delicate features twisted into a ghastly, deathly pale expression. She gripped her neck tightly with one hand and cried out in a hoarse, strained voice:
"It's...it's poisonous..." He fell to the ground with a thud, knocking over two mahogany chairs in the process.
Ugly didn't even bother to look, and simply picked up the food box and prepared to leave.
"You...you're so heartless!" Shi Mansi jumped up from the ground, yelling. How come even a child in "Traceless" is so unyielding!
"Wait a minute." Yin Wuxiao, who had been leaning against the edge of the bed watching the show, finally spoke. She took out a red object: "Take this to your master."
Upon closer inspection, Chou'er saw that it was a bright red, exquisitely crafted blood jade pendant.
“This…” The flat-faced man’s eyes flickered slightly.
"What, haven't you seen this on your master?" Yin Wuxiao said sarcastically.
Having seen it before, one would be utterly astonished only by having seen it. Ugly dared not be careless, quickly took the jade pendant, answered "yes," and left.
Shi Mansi was greatly surprised: "Isn't that pendant the token that your mother used to arrange the marriage with the Qiao family when she was pregnant? It seems that my cousin from the Qiao family also has one that looks exactly the same."
Yin Wuxiao took a deep breath: "That's right." The jade pendant was originally a pair, but she had never seen Qiao Fenglang wear it since she met Yuwen Cuiyu. She saw the jade pendant again when she obtained it from Fang Yanzui, and it passed through the hands of Yin Bitong, Baili Qingyi, and Mu Wanfeng. At that time, Cui Shenghan was ordered to disguise herself and infiltrate Mu Wanfeng's side, so she must have already stolen the jade pendant and delivered it to the owner of "Wuhen".
Her jade pendant was stolen by Bai Can and given to the owner of "Wuhen" by Cui Shenghan.
The one she just gave to Chou'er was a replica that she had made after returning to the capital.
Yuwen Cuiyu's actions may have all been for Qiao Fenglang's sake, but Yuwen Cuiyu was merely a pawn in someone else's game. Ultimately, her goal was the pair of exquisite blood jade pendants.
Yin Wuxiao thought to herself: No matter what, she must find out the secret behind this pair of blood jade pendants.
"Please wait, young lady. The master has ordered that no one is allowed to enter and disturb us," the guard at the door said coldly, using polite language.
"Oh?" Yuwen Cuiyu raised her eyebrows with interest. "In broad daylight, is your master perhaps receiving guests?" The "Traceless" headquarters was filled with an atmosphere of killing and despair, even she felt a sense of uncertainty. Apart from having to cooperate with the "Traceless" master, she knew practically nothing about him.
The guard bowed his head: "The master is alone in the room; there is no one else there."
"Hmph, that's even stranger. Perhaps there's some unspeakable secret they're afraid to let anyone know?"
The guard remained silent. On the eighth of each month, the master would lock himself in his room, forbidding anyone to disturb him. No one in the organization dared to disturb him, so the guard didn't take his duties too seriously. Everyone in the organization knew that on this day, the master was like a plague demon, someone to be avoided at all costs.
Yuwen Cuiyu smiled captivatingly, then turned around and casually uttered, "Sigh, the people in your organization really are all heartless."
Before she could finish speaking, the guard groaned and collapsed unconscious. Yuwen Cuiyu smiled and flicked the finger that had been used to launch the sneak attack.
She would never let go of any opportunity to exploit the weakness of the "Traceless" owner.
Upon entering, Yuwen Cuiyu was surprised.
A man dressed in black lay face down on the table, motionless. Beside him was a wine jar, and the room reeked of alcohol, with a rotten smell.
Yuwen Cuiyu frowned, closed the door, and stepped forward to move the wine jar aside. She tried patting the shoulder of the "Traceless" owner, but there was no response.
"What's going on? The king of assassins is locked in his room drinking alone?" she muttered to herself. After a moment's thought, she suddenly took pity on him, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and prepared to carry him to the bed.
Peeking out from under his armpit, Yuwen Cuiyu frowned again. The man's heavy body draped over her, and the pungent smell of alcohol permeated her as well. She suddenly felt a pang of regret, so without caring whether he was comfortable, she dragged her body towards the bedside.
Halfway there, the man suddenly moved and slowly raised his head. Yuwen Cuiyu was startled and turned to face a pair of blood-red eyes. In an instant, all the color drained from her face.
"It's you?" She trembled uncontrollably. She knew that the master of "Traceless" always appeared in disguise, but she never expected that the face under the mask would be so familiar!
“You…” She trembled as she touched the man’s half of his grotesque, uneven face, as if trying to confirm whether it was yet another human skin mask.
His bloodshot eyes scanned her beautiful face, which was so close to his, and a glint of light flashed in them. Then, he smiled. The man reached out his large hand and grabbed Yuwen Cuiyu's fair chin, forcing her to look at him. However, due to the effects of alcohol, he became dizzy and unsteady, falling to the ground and pinning Yuwen Cuiyu beneath him.
Yuwen Cuiyu cried out in pain from the impact, "It hurts!" She gritted her teeth, "Get away from me, get away from me!" Her curvaceous body struggled desperately, but the man's heavy breath of alcohol now turned into a hot and ambiguous intrusion, pressing against her delicate neck. Her snow-white face turned red with anger. Although she was cunning, she had never been so close to a man before, and this intimate contact made her instantly feel at a loss.
Suddenly, she stopped moving, her beautiful eyes staring in disbelief at the man on top of her. His eyes were bloodshot, but a wicked smile played on his lips, his gaze sharp and menacing. But what shocked and terrified her most was not that, but the fact that her tightly pressed body sensed a change in a certain part of the man's body.
"You... Qin Qiyun!" Yuwen Cuiyu cried out in alarm, feeling genuine fear for the first time in her life. Her impression of this man was only that of a gentle and refined gentleman; she never imagined his true nature would be so ferocious. At this moment, he was on top of her, wild and dangerous like a wild beast unleashed from its cage.
Qin Qiyun laughed hoarsely and triumphantly. He lowered his head and examined her stunningly beautiful face with satisfaction, then gently caressed her with one hand, before letting it flow like a tide over her neck, collarbone, and finally covering her full and burning breasts.
"It's you." He said in a low voice, with a hint of emotion in his voice.
Yuwen Cuiyu was taken aback, and suddenly Qiao Fenglang, whom she had known for many years, appeared in her memory.
Just like that time, when she secretly followed behind him but was discovered by him, he turned around and smiled at her with a helpless yet gentle expression, saying, "It's you."
Suddenly, Qin Qiyun's distorted and terrifying face blurred, and superimposed on it was a handsome face. And that handsome face slowly pressed down, biting and sucking at her lips with fierce passion.
As her consciousness gradually faded from Yuwen Cuiyu's mind, she closed her eyes and heard herself sigh softly.
The strong wind filled Baili Qingyi's thin blue robe.
"Big brother, everything is ready." Baili Hanyi approached from behind.
Baili Qingyi looked once more at the distant, overlapping, and vast mountain ranges. "Tomorrow morning, we'll attack the mountains."
The spies planted at Chuxiu Manor had already thoroughly searched the entire manor, discovering numerous correspondence between officials and high-ranking court officials in a secret room. However, these were matters for Cen Lu to handle. Their current challenge was to ruthlessly drive Qin Qiyun, with whom they had shared six years of brotherhood, into a corner.
"Brother was right after all. This Miss Yin is truly the key to solving everything," Baili Hanyi said with sincere admiration. If they hadn't initially focused their clues on Yin Wuxiao, they wouldn't have been able to follow the trail and uncover the subtle connection between the "Traceless" owner and Qiao Fenglang, nor would they have been able to glean Qin Qiyun's hostility towards Qiao Fenglang from his actions. With both factors combined, the identity of the "Traceless" owner became obvious.
Baili Qingyi showed no joy on her face: "Once this matter is settled, I will have fulfilled all of my father's dying wishes."
"Uh?" Baili Hanyi blinked, feigning ignorance and asking, "Big brother, what do you mean by this...?"
Baili Qingyi smiled slightly, offering no further explanation.
Baili Hanyi suddenly remembered something else and hesitated, "But isn't this ending a bit too cruel for Miss Yin?" The death of her loved ones, the poisoning, and now the deception and betrayal of those close to her—in the end, even Baili Qingyi was just using her for the sake of so-called chivalry. Alas, if she knew all this, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"You talk too much." Baili Qingyi suddenly frowned and spoke coldly.
"..." A drop of cold sweat dripped down Baili Hanyi's face.
Six years ago, when the eldest brother was tracking down the previous owner of "Wuhen," he was injured by the other party's hidden weapon due to his old wounds not yet healed, and he also brought back a half-dead Qin Qiyun. After returning to Baili Mansion, the eldest brother did not mention how he survived the close call, but he would sit by the window every day and smile when he saw birds flying by outside.
Later, Baili Tieyi couldn't stand his elder brother's sudden change and couldn't help but ask, "Brother, are you in love?"
Baili Qingyi was not angry upon hearing this; instead, he laughed loudly, then picked up a large brush and went to the screen wall in the main hall of his house to write a poem:
The moon returns and the wind blows, the mountains and rivers are adorned with white silk, the gate welcomes the red lips, and the flute player dances intimately.
None of his brothers understood his meaning, but Baili Qingyi laughed and said that even if he were to be moved, the other party would at least have such talent.
Unexpectedly, this rumor spread like wildfire, eventually becoming the saying that whoever could match the lyrics to the poem would be the destined beauty of the young master in green. Initially, when they learned that Baili Qingyi had accidentally saved the second young lady of the Yuwen family, Yuwen Hongying, they assumed that Baili Qingyi had truly fallen for her, and thus began to harbor feelings for her. However, in the following years, it was always Yuwen Hongying who actively pursued him, and Baili Qingyi never responded, thus dispelling their initial assumption.
But ever since Baili Qingyi wrote that poem, everyone in the Baili household knew that the young master in green had someone in his heart.
Today, there is no need to guess who that person is.
“Brother, why take Father’s dying words so seriously? If Miss Yin also has feelings for you, you should explain everything to her instead of both of you being heartbroken.”
Baili Qingyi glanced back at him, and the calm pool suddenly rippled. She sighed softly, "How could you understand? For a woman as strong and decisive as her, all her excuses are just pretexts. Even if you can gain her understanding, you can no longer win her heart."
Baili Hanyi was speechless. Only now did she realize that love could truly be so burdensome.
A guard from Baili Prefecture suddenly rushed over, his voice no longer calm:
"Young Master, the members of the Qiao Gang are dissatisfied with your orders and have already taken the lead up the mountain!"
"What?" The two exchanged a glance, their expressions suddenly changing.
Chapter Twenty-One: The Straight Path is a Karmic Predestined Connection (Part Two)
Yuwen Cuiyu reached for a robe, covering her disheveled and embarrassed body, and slowly got out of bed. The pain between her legs made her slightly twitch the corner of her mouth.
She turned to look at the man on the bed, her face turning pale.
She didn't know why. Why that face, which seemed so terrifying to others, didn't evoke any aversion in her. Why did this man feel so familiar to her? Why did she give him her virginity without any resistance? Why couldn't she feel a trace of regret in her heart at this moment?
She covered her heart with her delicate hand, and a tearing pain spread through her as she thought of Qiao Fenglang.
No, she couldn't think about it anymore. She turned her head away and was about to leave.
Suddenly, a tremendous force exploded from her wrist, pulling her violently back onto the bed. What quickly covered her was the body that had just been entangled with her.
"So eager to escape?" Her dark eyes flickered with an incomprehensible emotion.
Yuwen Cuiyu bit her lip, deliberately ignoring the fact that their skin was pressed tightly together: "From today onwards, I will owe you nothing."
That's probably it. At the wedding banquet at Chuxiu Manor, she always felt a little guilty towards Qin Qiyun, after all, this man had never mistreated her and had an amazingly good temper.
His dark eyes narrowed: "So, you were paying off a debt just now?"
Yuwen Cuiyu pushed him away without emotion, got off the bed, and answered with her back to him, "Not bad." She picked up the clothes scattered on the ground, forced herself to suppress her unease, and slowly put on her clothes.