Chapter 33
Before Qiu Qi could refute, Zu Mianmian jumped out first.
“Hurry and give An’an back to me!”
“An’an?”
Shi Luoning laughed softly.
“You were the ones who abandoned her back then, and now you’ve come to demand her back? Even raising a dog wouldn’t make it this obedient.”
“You’re talking nonsense! How could I possibly abandon An’an? She’s my biological younger sister.”
Shi Luoning lowered her eyes and looked over her own nails, replying carelessly,
“Is that so? Biological younger sister? Wasn’t it because she stole all your parents’ love that you secretly schemed to push her off the cliff, then pretended to be innocent and went back to tell everyone she had gotten lost?”
“You’re framing me!”
“Yes, you can speak so righteously now only because you think it’s just your word alone, so you can make up whatever you want. But everything I just said came from An’an’s own mouth.”
Shi Luoning smiled victoriously.
“Children who love lying are bad children, you know.”
“What nonsense are you saying?”
Zu Mianmian shook her head, then turned to look at the companions behind her, her tone extremely urgent.
“Don’t listen to her nonsense! I could never, never hurt An’an like that! I’m not that kind of person!”
Yin Ci pressed down on the agitated Zu Mianmian.
“Even you yourself are panicking like this. Doesn’t that make you look even more guilty than her? Calm down.”
Qiu Qi had been observing Shi Luoning’s expression the whole time. In her heart, she naturally believed Zu Mianmian, but Shi Luoning also seemed very confident in her own words. When she mentioned An’an, the expression she revealed was not anger or viciousness, but instead a kind of gentleness that appeared when speaking of someone very important.
“It is rare that even a tiny fox demon like me can alarm the Beast God into personally leaving the mountain, and you even brought such a pile of helpers.”
Shi Luoning lounged lazily, looking as if she had no intention of resisting at all.
“No matter. As long as the contract exists, I and they are family for life. We will never part, never abandon each other in life or death. They… will not leave me! Hahahahahaha!”
Zu Mianmian was a little frightened by her shrill laughter.
“Has this fox spirit gone mad?”
Qiu Qi frowned and interrupted her laughter.
“Family? You’re worthy of saying that word? Who locks family in cages like livestock, beats them until their whole bodies are covered in injuries, and doesn’t even give them a change of clothes? The family you claim is unwilling to leave you is screaming and begging someone to save their lives, saying they don’t want to go serve those foul-smelling guests anymore.”
Shi Luoning’s face instantly darkened.
“Serve guests? Ha! Complete nonsense! They are still underage girls. Other than studying and learning arts in ordinary times, where would they squeeze out any other time? Never mind serving guests. They don’t even see guests.”
“And who abused them? These are only a few disobedient girls who made mistakes and were punished with confinement by the Master. They have food, drink, and people serving them. Once they realize their mistakes, they will reconcile with me, and they absolutely won’t have thoughts of leaving me. Don’t you dare speak nonsense!”
After she finished speaking, she leaped into the air. Her hand sprouted sharp claws and rushed straight toward Qiu Qi.
“No one can separate me from my family! Otherwise, I’ll make you die!”
Pei Yuqing reacted quickly and pulled Qiu Qi behind her. With a wave of her sleeve, countless ice beads stabbed toward Shi Luoning, forcing her to give up the attack and retreat step by step.
“Heh.”
Shi Luoning sneered.
“Do you think I’m really sitting here alone waiting to die?”
As soon as her voice fell, dozens of black-clothed people suddenly descended from the ceiling and surrounded the five of them. Each person held a weapon, and their faces were written with fierce killing intent.
“Capture the demon alive. Kill the rest.”
Qiu Qi was not afraid and looked toward Yan Wan with great trust.
“Steward Yan, these little minions are something you can solve with just a wave of your hand, right? Sorry to trouble you.”
Yan Wan shook her head.
“These are all demon-race people, and they are skilled in metal spiritual arts. Their movements are fast, their reactions are sharp, and every move is vicious. They are especially skilled in hidden weapons, cold weapons, and close combat. As long as you are touched by the weapons on their bodies, their blood, or even their fingernails, black mist will begin devouring beast core power and spiritual power. Five or ten of them are no problem for me. There are too many here.”
Was this the legendary assassin countering a mage?
Qiu Qi turned to look at the people behind her. Pei Yuqing’s status was temporarily unknown. Zu Mianmian was all magic and had no close-combat skills at all. Even if she successfully cast her spell, she could not stop the enemies from using cold weapons to attack. As for Yan Wan, she herself had said there were too many people here, so they should not fight for long. Yin Ci…
Qiu Qi supported her forehead with one hand. Actually, at first, she had not planned to bring this sister along, because she always felt that Yin Ci’s gaze when looking at her was especially cold and terrifying. She did not even dare say many words to her, let alone ask her for help. If Pei Yuqing had not spoken, Yin Ci probably would not have been willing to come with them.
Qiu Qi blinked and looked at Pei Yuqing again.
“Madam, what about you?”
Before Pei Yuqing could speak, Yin Ci cut in,
“I’ll handle them. You go catch that fox.”
Qiu Qi turned back and saw Yin Ci standing sideways with a cold, beautiful face and her blade raised. Her sharply defined side profile and clean, neat ponytail were so handsome that Qiu Qi nearly got a nosebleed.
“Little Ci, can you really do it? You don’t have to force yourself.”
Yin Ci frowned. She hated being underestimated the most, and she also disliked the “Ci” in her own name. Others usually called her full name or “Sister Yin,” but Qiu Qi was just so good at stepping on landmines. One sentence hit both of her sore points.
“Shut up. Say one more word and I’ll kill you first.”
Qiu Qi shrank behind Pei Yuqing in grievance.
“All right, all right. Sorry.”
“Sister Yin Ci, I’ll help you!”
After Zu Mianmian finished speaking, she instantly transformed into beast form. The expanded wool whooshed out and covered everyone around them. The black mist rising from the demon-race people immediately went out like a pile of firewood splashed with water.
Now that the restriction was gone, this group of demon-race people became, in Yin Ci’s eyes, prey with their claws and fangs removed. Her chances of victory were full.
“Steward Yan, I’ll leave the five at the back to you. I’ll handle the rest.”
Yan Wan handed her precious little abacus to Zu Mianmian for safekeeping, rolled up her sleeves, and nodded.
Qiu Qi silently gave a thumbs-up: Sister Ci really can do it. Respecting the old and caring for the young, you’re the best. Only toward me are you the most cruel.
The instant the battle began, dozens of demons pounced toward Yin Ci at the same time. But Yin Ci was like a robot calculated by a computer. Not only did she dodge one hundred percent of the attacks, she could also strike precisely. With one slash, she cut a demon’s throat. Her figure was so fast Qiu Qi could not even see it clearly. Although because of this, she could not understand the situation, based on the growing number of demon corpses on the ground, she roughly knew that Yin Ci would definitely win this battle.
On the other side, Shi Luoning had also turned into beast form and assumed a combat stance.
Compared to Shi Luoning, who was facing a great enemy, Pei Yuqing’s stance with both hands naturally hanging down seemed much more leisurely.
The two sides seemed to have agreed on the timing beforehand. At the same moment, they leaped up and attacked together.
A pale-blue light wave met the huge fox claw that had swollen dozens of times larger. After a moment of stalemate, Pei Yuqing calmly withdrew her hand, while that claw was already frozen in the air, even more solid than ice.
Shi Luoning gritted her teeth. The fur on her body bristled, shattering the ice wrapped around her front paw. Her eyes suddenly turned red, and she began chanting an incantation in a low voice, clearly preparing to cast a bewitching curse.
Pei Yuqing did not give her any chance to cast it. Her fingertip moved slightly, and a huge water slap struck Shi Luoning head-on, knocking the fiery red fox down. On the ground, she shrank to the size of a palm.
This was the first time Qiu Qi had seen Pei Yuqing use spiritual arts after the Mystic Ice Rings were removed, and she was truly, completely dazzled by the strength and arrogance of the elf race.
The entire time, she stood still and output damage without moving at all. Not a single bit of positioning. Yet even so, the other party could not even touch a strand of her hair. Tell me, isn’t that infuriating?
In less than three moves, Shi Luoning had gone from her arrogant appearance just now into a drenched chicken.
The wet-furred fox on the ground tilted her head up and gasped a few breaths, trembling all over from the cold. She opened her mouth and let out a weak whimper.
“An’an… An’an…”
“Sister, don’t be afraid.”
A gentle voice came from deeper inside. Then a slender figure slowly walked out.
The woman wore pink clothes, with a beautiful peach blossom hairpin on her head. Her appearance was pretty, and one could imagine how innocent and lively she must look when she smiled. Yet now, she had an expressionless face, as if wearing a rigid mask.
In her hand, she held an emerald-green flute with blue tassels hanging from it. Zu Mianmian recognized the object at a glance, then eagerly went to look at her face and confirm.
“An’an! It’s you! I found you!”
Zu An’an glanced at Zu Mianmian. Unlike the other woman’s joy, her eyes were utterly without ripples, as if she did not know this person at all. She did not respond to Zu Mianmian’s words. She slowly lifted the flute and placed it by her lips.
“Everyone, sweet dreams.”
“Cover your ears.”
Zu Mianmian hurriedly shouted.
“Don’t get hypnotized.”
Fortunately, Qiu Qi had already prepared and given everyone earplugs, but the craftsmanship was limited. They could only reduce the intensity of the sound and could not completely block it. In particular, Yin Ci disliked the discomfort of the earplugs and refused to wear them at all.
Seeing that Yin Ci’s sword-swinging speed had clearly slowed, Zu Mianmian knew she had been affected by the flute. In panic, she noticed a leaf caught in her hair, which had accidentally fallen there when they passed through the forest earlier. Without thinking, she wiped it clean and stuffed it into her mouth.
She pinched the edges of the leaf with both hands, pulling it taut. Her lips pressed together, and in the next second, clear music floated from Zu Mianmian’s lips, interrupting the melodious flute.
The two sounds, although different in tone quality, were playing the same song. Zu An’an, who had lowered her head to play the flute, changed expression drastically and lowered her hand.
“Si… Sister?”
This title left her mouth tentatively, but she could not guess why she would call a stranger she was seeing for the first time this way.
Shi Luoning, lying on the ground, clutched her abdomen and struggled to sit up. The spot where she had been injured by Qiu Qi last time had not yet healed and had just been torn open again by Pei Yuqing. Now her clothes were covered in blood, making her look especially miserable.
She gritted her teeth and raised her head to ask Zu An’an,
“An’an, kill her. Take revenge for how she abandoned you back then.”
Zu An’an shook her head and, in a panic, threw away the flute and stepped back.
“No, no, no. Sister, Sister loves me very much.”
“What are you saying, An’an?”
Shi Luoning frowned.
“Stop joking. Hurry and deal with them, otherwise the Master will be angry.”
“The Master…”
Zu An’an murmured, and deep terror appeared in her eyes.
“No, no, no! Let me go! Don’t touch me!”
She suddenly collapsed onto the ground, seeming to see something through the air that no one else could see. Her eyes lost focus, and her pretty face turned deathly pale from fright.
“I don’t want it, I don’t want it. Please spare me, spare my sister.”
Qiu Qi and Pei Yuqing looked at each other, both somewhat unable to understand the situation before them.
But right now, the most confused person was Shi Luoning. She had never seen Zu An’an like this and wanted to comfort her, but she was in too much pain to exert strength.
With red eyes, Zu Mianmian stood and intended to hug the curled-up Zu An’an. At this moment, Yin Ci’s voice suddenly sounded.
“Fat sheep, move!”
Zu Mianmian turned her head quickly. Behind her, a demon was holding a blade and leaping through the air toward her.
Pei Yuqing swiftly raised her hand and used an ice blade to cut off the demon’s right hand holding the blade. But that demon was like a puppet without sensation. After staggering once, she continued rushing toward Zu Mianmian without blinking, taking on a posture of wanting to perish together with her.
“Fuck.”
Qiu Qi reacted slightly slower, but saving someone was the priority. In a panic, she took out the hand cannon hidden in her clothes, raised it, and fired three shots at the demon flying in the air. The smell of gunpowder instantly filled the air around her, and even her vision became blurry.
After the real combat experience at Heyang House last time, she had discovered the fatal weakness of the previous hand cannon: the bullet-changing time was too slow and affected performance on the scene. If the first shot missed, she might be finished. That was why she had sought Auntie Wang to improve it. The current second-generation hand cannon could fire five bullets continuously, but the drawback was that the weapon’s weight had directly doubled. Ordinary men would need both hands just to hold it steadily. But for Qiu Qi, this could be ignored.
This time, the shooting distance was relatively far. Of Qiu Qi’s three shots, only two hit. But that was enough. To a body of flesh and blood, the impact of bullets was enormous and unfamiliar. It forcibly dragged down that demon’s steps, and she fell to the ground like a kite with its string cut.
After those three loud sounds, everyone instantly fell into a dazed state. Only Yin Ci was still diligently swinging her sword and fighting the demons.
Large beads of sweat clung to Qiu Qi’s forehead and dripped rapidly with her hurried breathing.
Her hands trembled. Inside her eardrums was a heartbeat like a beating drum.
“My lord.”
A slightly cool hand touched the back of her hand. Qiu Qi blinked, only then realizing that the index finger she had curled around the trigger was still bent tightly and unmoving.
Pei Yuqing gently pried open her index finger. She did not ask where this unfamiliar weapon had come from, nor did she ask anything else. She only gently held her hand and silently watched her.
Qiu Qi swallowed the last mouthful of tension, raised her head, and shook it at Pei Yuqing.
“I’m fine.”
“Mm. It is good that you are fine.”
Having narrowly escaped death, Zu Mianmian’s first thought was not fear. Instead, she quickly climbed up and pounced over to hug the trembling Zu An’an.
“An’an, what’s wrong? Look at Sister. Sister is here.”
She tightly hugged Zu An’an’s body and solemnly promised,
“Sister finally found you. From now on… from now on, I’ll never lose you again. I won’t let you leave my sight again. All the suffering you’ve endured over these years, Sister will repay it to you bit by bit. I guarantee that for the rest of your life, you’ll eat well, drink well, and enjoy endless fortune.”
Zu An’an shrank in her arms, trembling violently, as if experiencing some great torment. Perhaps hearing Zu Mianmian’s voice gave her some reason.
She raised her head and let out a weak breath from her throat.
“Sister, run… run quickly…”
Zu Mianmian touched her face in heartache.
“Don’t be afraid. Sister won’t run. Sister will protect you. From now on, you won’t suffer even the slightest injury again.”
Qiu Qi turned and asked Shi Luoning, who was leaning against the wall,
“What exactly did you do to her? Why does she look like she’s dying?”
The spring breeze of smugness from their first meeting had long vanished from Shi Luoning’s face. She looked in Zu An’an’s direction and shook her head in disbelief.
“Hey, talk.”
Qiu Qi poked her shoulder.
Only then did Shi Luoning raise her eyes and meet Qiu Qi’s gaze. The corner of her blood-streaked mouth curved.
“You might not believe this, but the bewitching curse on her has nothing to do with me.”
She was indeed skilled in gu arts and often used them to torment people she disliked until they repeatedly begged for mercy. But family was her bottom line. She never used gu on her own people. She had truly treated An’an as family.
Then aside from her, only one person remained.
But the moment this guess appeared in Shi Luoning’s mind, she hurriedly smeared it away.
Impossible. Impossible.
“Since you know gu arts anyway, go see how to save her.”
Qiu Qi said,
“You also said she’s your family. You can’t possibly watch her die without saving her, right?”
Of course Shi Luoning could not watch without saving her. She struggled to support herself up and stretched out her left wrist.
“Have your steward use my blood to draw the character ‘川’ on a talisman and feed it to her. It can temporarily suppress it. The rest will have to wait until I recover somewhat before I can cast anything.”
Qiu Qi felt that Shi Luoning might be trying to stall for time, but for now, this was the only method they could use. She unceremoniously collected a full dish of Shi Luoning’s blood and brought it to Yan Wan.
As Yan Wan drew, she said,
“My lord, one talisman paper is twenty-six silver. I will record it in the account book later.”
Qiu Qi: “Do I look that stingy?”
Besides, this was a matter of life and death. Never mind dozens of silver—even hundreds of gold had to be paid to save her.
Very quickly, Yan Wan handed the finished talisman paper to Zu Mianmian. Zu Mianmian quickly fed it to Zu An’an. Only then did Zu An’an’s ashen complexion finally improve somewhat, and her gaze also gained focus.
“Sister…”
She weakly looked toward Zu Mianmian, revealing an expression as if she were dreaming, and smiled faintly.
“You came to pick me up… Anbao missed you so much…”
Shi Luoning watched from the side as the two sisters reunited deeply, but this was completely different from what she had understood.
“An’an.”
She frowned and called Zu An’an’s name.
“After she treated you like that, you still don’t hate her?”
Zu An’an laboriously turned her eyes and looked in Shi Luoning’s direction.
“Sister Luoning, please leave the Master’s side as soon as possible. All of this is—”
Before Zu An’an could finish speaking, she suddenly began panting violently. She struggled to widen her eyes, as if still trying hard to convey information, but then suddenly straightened up and spat out a mouthful of blood. It splashed several meters away. At the same time, the color of her eyes began constantly changing between blood-red and pitch-black, looking extremely strange.
A faint ominous feeling rose in Qiu Qi’s heart. She frantically searched her mind for information, but found nothing. While she was tangled in thought, she actually saw Zu An’an’s hand behind her back slowly pull a sharp dagger from her waist. The upright, sharp blade flashed with a chilling light that made one’s heart tremble.
“Hey!”
The moment Qiu Qi shouted, Yan Wan had already taken a step first and grabbed Zu Mianmian by the back of her collar, pulling her away.
Zu Mianmian was safe. Everyone’s hearts should have settled, but who knew that the dagger Zu An’an raised was actually stabbing toward herself?
Time seemed to freeze in that moment. Zu Mianmian’s eyes were about to split, and the terrifying red blood vessels looked as if they would burst out from her eye sockets. Her mouth opened wide, and like a mute, she made ah-ah noises. After a moment, she finally tore open her throat and let out a long, high scream. The sound of her overwhelming grief made Yan Wan unable to resist raising her hand to cover Zu Mianmian’s eyes.
“An’an! An’an! I don’t want you to die!”
Zu Mianmian wept so hard she could barely speak, her voice hoarse from howling.
“Sister finally found you! You can’t! You can’t leave me again!”
Zu An’an’s eyes stared lifelessly into the void. Only her hand gripped Zu Mianmian’s clothes very tightly. Her eyes filled with tears, and she wanted to speak, but her throat could not release a complete note.
Sister, don’t be sad. An’an… An’an will sing for you…
She only had time to make one “Ah—” before the following words seemed to be choked off by an invisible hand around her throat, forcibly cutting off the final sound. Zu An’an’s eyelids then closed, and her flushed cheeks, like retreating seawater, quickly turned a stone-like gray.
Zu Mianmian shook her head forcefully in disbelief, trembling so hard she could not say a single word. Her lips quivered, and with great difficulty, she organized a few complete words, stumbling them out along with her tears.
“Someone… someone save An’an. Someone save her!”
Qiu Qi cast a hopeful gaze toward Pei Yuqing. The latter helplessly shook her head and only gently patted her shoulder.
She did not speak. Saying “my condolences” now would be far too cruel.
Qiu Qi’s eyes were quickly occupied by tears. She furrowed her brows and leaned closer to Pei Yuqing’s arm, trying to hug her. Warm tears soon soaked the front of Pei Yuqing’s clothes.
Pei Yuqing closed her eyes, endured the sourness in her heart, and pulled Qiu Qi into her arms, patting her back.
“Don’t cry. You did very well already.”
Because of that gentle sentence, Qiu Qi’s tears fell even harder. She bit her lip tightly, already unable to control the trembling and sobbing that came with crying.
“Madam, I didn’t want her to die. We clearly came to save her.”
But Zu An’an had turned into a cold corpse right under their eyes.
Pei Yuqing gave a soft “mm.” Her palm held the back of Qiu Qi’s head, and she tightened the strength with which she hugged her, changing her mind.
“Then cry. You’ll feel better after crying it out.”
Author’s Note:
QAQ
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