At 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, there was still some time before dinner, and Shen Lixue wasn't hungry, so she casually ordered a few pastries.
A fragrant aroma wafted over, making one's mouth water. She picked up a pastry and slowly savored it. The subtle sweetness, along with the warm steam, filled her mouth, making it extremely delicious. Her clear eyes shone like lacquer: "Heng, this plate of plum cake tastes very good. You should try it too."
“Okay.” Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue had similar tastes. He liked the same food as her. He picked up a piece of pastry with his jade-like fingers and took a small bite. Instantly, a strong sour taste filled his mouth, and his teeth almost crumbled from the sourness. His breath was filled with the taste of sour plum. His deep gaze changed slightly.
Shen Lixue paused slightly in her eating of the pastry, blinking suspiciously, "Heng, what's wrong?"
Dongfang Heng frowned at Shen Lixue: "Don't you think the pastries are sour?"
The pastry was sour? She didn't notice it when she ate it.
Shen Lixue frowned, and under Dongfang Heng's questioning gaze, she picked up another piece of pastry and put it in her mouth. She tasted it carefully, and the faint sour taste was very much to her liking: "It's delicious!"
Dongfang Heng watched as the deep purple pastry lingered on her lips and teeth, its tangy aroma filling the air. He felt a pang of sourness for her, yet she seemed oblivious: "If you like it, eat more!"
Shen Lixue is a girl with a delicate palate and likes to eat sweet and sour pastries. Dongfang Heng is a boy who has no interest in pastries. His deep gaze is looking through the wide-open door at the broad street. There are many shops on both sides of this street, which is a bustling place. Usually, it is crowded with people and very lively. Today, it is unusually quiet.
Suddenly, several strong men with serious faces rushed out of the empty doorway, grabbed the wide-open wooden door, and slammed it shut with a loud bang. The bright sunlight was shut out, and the bright hall instantly became dark.
Dongfang Heng remained seated, slowly sipping his tea, the rising steam obscuring the expression in his eyes.
"What are you doing?" The shopkeeper was startled. He put down his ledger and abacus, rushed to the door, and pounded on the wooden door: "Open the door, open the door quickly!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" There were clanging and banging sounds coming from outside the door and windows, as if someone was nailing things to the door and windows shut.
The shopkeeper vaguely guessed their purpose, and his heart pounded with anxiety. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he pounded on the wooden door even harder: "Open the door! Open the door quickly! Who are you? What do you want?"
"Dongfang Heng, Shen Lixue!" Mu Tao shouted triumphantly from outside the door, arrogant and domineering.
Shen Lixue put down the pastries, her cold gaze fixed on the doorway, and said in a cold voice, "Mu Tao, if you're so capable, let's fight each other openly and honestly. What kind of ability is it to have the doors and windows sealed shut and trap us here? Aren't you afraid of tarnishing your reputation as General Mu the Second?"
"Shen Lixue, stop trying to be clever! This general won't fall for your tricks!" Mu Tao rubbed his weak wrist, his eyes bloodshot, and roared angrily at the restaurant.
His right hand was crippled, his martial arts skills honed over a decade were ruined, he was stripped of his generalship, and his father had committed a serious crime and was about to be beheaded. The Duke of Mu's mansion was already teetering on the brink of collapse. Reputation? Did Mu Tao still have a reputation? Did he even need to care about his reputation?
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Unidentified objects were thrown into the hall through the small gaps, and the dry tables and chairs were all ignited in the blink of an eye. Puffs of smoke rose up, gradually thickening and quickly filling the entire hall.
The pungent smoke filled her nostrils and lungs, leaving her throat dry and parched. Shen Lixue couldn't help but cough softly.
Dongfang Heng took the silk handkerchief from Shen Lixue's sleeve, wet it with tea, and wrapped it around Shen Lixue's mouth and nose. The pungent smoke was filtered by the tea, removing the dryness and irritation of the smoke, and carrying a faint tea fragrance and moisture, which soothed her heart and lungs.
Shen Lixue let out a long sigh of relief and looked up. Dongfang Heng's handsome face was almost hidden in the thick smoke, and his breath was filled with the smell of smoke. She hurriedly covered his mouth and nose with a silk handkerchief: "Mu Tao is really ruthless, setting fire to the restaurant, cough cough cough!"
"Mu Tao is always ruthless and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals." Dongfang Heng took off his silk handkerchief and covered Shen Lixue's mouth and nose: "A little bit of smoke won't knock this king out!"
"My restaurant, my restaurant! Cough cough cough!" Thick smoke billowed out, and the innkeeper, whether choked by the smoke or overcome with grief, was half-bent over, tears streaming down his face, his eyes filled with despair.
"Mu Tao, we are the ones who have a grudge against you, it has nothing to do with the manager and waiter, let them out!" Shen Lixue glared in Mu Tao's direction and shouted angrily.
"Hahaha." Mu Tao laughed arrogantly: "Shen Lixue, do you think I'm a three-year-old child? The moment I open this door, you'll be the first ones to rush out!"
"Mu Tao, you despicable and shameless scoundrel!" Shen Lixue roared angrily as she looked at the raging fire in the room.
"Shen Lixue, stop with your words. No matter what you say, this general will not open the door. Today is your death day!" Mu Tao said each word slowly and deliberately, with a hint of gritted teeth.
The fire raged on, producing thicker and thicker smoke. The shopkeeper and waiter coughed repeatedly from the smoke. Driven by the will to survive, they covered their mouths and noses with damp cloths and frantically smashed the door with chairs. A small hole was smashed in the wooden door, revealing not the sunlight outside, but a pitch-black void.
Dongfang Heng stared at the small, dark object, his eyes narrowing: "The doors and windows are all sealed with iron plates; they can't be broken open at all."
"Hahaha, Dongfang Heng, you know your stuff. This iron plate was specially made by this general. No matter how high your martial arts are, you can't break it." Mu Tao's laughter rang out again, filled with intense pride and hatred: "This general said long ago that today is your death day!"
The tables, chairs, and benches were all on fire, with flames shooting up more than a meter high. Thick black smoke filled the entire hall. Shen Lixue and Dongfang Heng stood face to face, and she could barely see him. The choking smoke made her cough repeatedly. The smoke was so thick that even the silk handkerchief soaked with tea was no longer effective. "Mu Tao is really a madman."
Dongfang Heng held Shen Lixue tightly, his jade-like fingers gently stroking her silky black hair. Looking at the raging flames that could devour a person, he lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, we won't die here!"
Flames, like a dragon, burst forth from the hall, mercilessly engulfing the entire restaurant. Watching the towering flames, Mu Tao laughed maniacally, his laughter shaking the heavens, as if he had been holding back a great deal of anger, wanting to burst it all out.
The restaurant was about to collapse. Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue hadn't escaped and must have been burned to death inside. Looking at the raging fire, he could imagine the tragic fate, anger, and resentment the two of them felt as they were burned.
He let out a long sigh of anger. They made him lose his martial arts skills, they made him look bad, they were swallowed by the fire. They deserved it, they deserved it. He wanted to make them suffer a terrible death, burn them beyond recognition, leave them with no complete corpses. Even in the underworld, they would be extremely ugly charred corpses. It was too good for them to have this beautiful restaurant as their burial place.
With a triumphant sigh, a loud "bang!" was heard, and a large hole was opened in the roof of the restaurant. A tall, slender white figure floated out. The word "float" was quite apt; he was so elegant and graceful that he leaped off the roof and soared into the air. His white brocade robe was spotless, and the hem fluttered gently, yet the raging flames could not touch him in the slightest.
Mu Tao's laughter stopped abruptly. He blinked in disbelief and looked again.
A wisp of purple robes fluttered by, and Shen Lixue, who was tightly held in Dongfang Heng's arms, appeared. Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, he gently embraced her slender waist and, like a celestial being descending from the heavens, gracefully flew out of the raging fire and landed lightly on the street, or more precisely, in front of Mu Tao.
Mu Tao looked up and met Dongfang Heng's deep eyes. His dark pupils were like a deep pool, flashing with sharp light, as if he wanted to torture him to death. His heart skipped a beat, and his mouth opened into an "O" shape, unable to close.
How could this be? How could this be? He had the streets blocked, doors and windows sealed, and a fire set. He went to great lengths to scheme against Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue, planning every step meticulously. And things had been going exactly as he had envisioned. So why did they manage to escape the restaurant unharmed at the last moment?
Shen Lixue was choked by the smoke, her face pale, and she coughed incessantly. Dongfang Heng gently patted her back with his jade-like fingers to relieve her cough, and a strong cold light flashed in his deep eyes, making people gasp for breath: "Mu Tao, we're going to settle our score today!" His indifferent voice was chilling, sending shivers down one's spine.
Mu Tao, who was in shock, suddenly came to his senses and pointed at Dongfang Heng, saying, "Men, kill him, kill him!" His trembling voice was filled with indescribable panic.
He was a general who had fought on the battlefield, and through countless battles, he had developed great courage and martial arts skills. Even when facing the emperor, he was calm and composed. But just now, he was frightened by Dongfang Heng's gaze.
His gaze was as deep as a still pool, as sharp as a blade, and as cold as the wind, carrying a strong murderous aura. It made his heart tremble, his body go cold, and a sudden fear rose in his heart. Dongfang Heng made him fearful? How could this be? He must get rid of this fear.
"Yes!" The guards' eyes were cold and their faces were expressionless. With a light step, their tall bodies shot towards Dongfang Heng. Streaks of silver light flashed as their sharp swords mercilessly pierced the vital points around his body.
Shen Lixue glanced at the swarming guards and curled her lip: "Someone's just looking for death!"
A gust of evil wind was almost upon him, but Dongfang Heng didn't even lift his eyelids, saying casually, "I have no interest in lowly minions!"
The moment the guards' swords pierced Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue, five black-clad bodyguards appeared out of thin air, protecting the two in the center. With a flick of their wrists, they slashed out streaks of blood with a flash of cold light.
The guards who rushed in stopped abruptly, remaining motionless in their sword-wielding stances. A trickle of blood seeped from their necks, gradually thickening into a darker color. The light in their eyes faded, slowly turning to a deathly gray. Their tall bodies collapsed to the ground with a thud, and a faint smell of blood permeated the air.