Chapter 9: The Cold Light on the Sword, the Fire in the Eyes
The traitor's body was still warm, and the blood gurgling from it snaked across the dusty ground like a strange red snake, slowly crawling towards the collapsed base of the statue. The sweet smell and the stench of decay mingled in the stagnant air, adding a touch of hellishness to the already eerie, dilapidated temple.
The brief "cooperation" was over, the fleeting tacit understanding gone. Chen Ye and Su Qinghan stood facing each other, a mere three feet between them, yet it felt as if an invisible abyss separated them. The atmosphere thickened once more, heavier and more dangerous than ever before.
"Not everyone can meddle in the affairs of Tianji Pavilion."
Shen Ye's voice penetrated the dead silence, as cold as ever, without any emotional ups and downs that a human should have, as if it was a gust of cold wind blowing from the depths of the underworld, able to freeze a person's soul.
This sentence is a statement, a warning, and a judgment.
His mission was to clean up the mess and retrieve intelligence. The woman before him was an unplanned variable. According to the survival rules he had been steeped in for years, any variable beyond his control should be eliminated without hesitation. This was the simplest and most efficient approach.
His eyes, as deep as the night sky, looked at Su Qinghan calmly.
To kill or not to kill?
The idea emerged in my mind, but it did not immediately turn into an action command as usual.
This is very abnormal.
He recalled that rainy night at the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion, when she had flown like a swift, stunning figure amidst the heavy guards, her movements nimble and her aura steady. He also recalled her earlier, the precise and ruthless use of her hidden weapon, which had been launched first.
She is completely different from those reckless men in "Youquan" who only know how to act recklessly, or the killers who indulge in cheap tricks.
She possessed a unique aura, a blend of aristocratic family integrity and the fierceness of the underworld. Her eyes, especially, shone astonishingly bright even through the veil, like two clusters of eternally extinguished flames, forming a stark and glaring contrast to the dead silence surrounding him.
The Lightless Heart Sutra activated itself, attempting to soothe the unnecessary ripples in his heart and return everything to nothingness. However, the stagnant pool of water, unchanged for millennia, began to ripple for the first time.
Just when he was silent, Su Qinghan spoke.
"I'm only interested in intelligence."
Her voice was as clear as an icy spring, each word ringing with force and filled with unquestionable resolve. She responded without a shred of weakness, her gaze like a drawn sword, attempting to pierce his bottomless eyes.
This answer was a provocation, but also a declaration that she had no way out.
Su Qinghan's heart pounded violently in her chest, each beat pounding against her ribs. She could clearly sense the oppressive feeling emanating from the man before her, transcending mere aura to form a realm that was almost tangible.
In this realm, her breathing became difficult, and the circulation of her internal energy became obscure. This was an absolute suppression at the level of life, as if she were a lamb being stared at by a tiger, and any resistance seemed pale and ridiculous.
But she couldn't retreat.
Her father's tragic death and her family's decline leave her burdened with a deep-seated hatred for her. She risks everything, disguising herself and entering a dangerous place. The man before her is from the Tianji Pavilion, and the oilcloth bag at his feet holds the Pavilion's secrets.
This was the closest she had ever been to the truth.
Even if the hope is slim, even if the price is her life, she must seize it.
Chen Ye's eyebrows twitched imperceptibly, and a subtle expression finally appeared on his face, which looked like an ice sculpture. It was not anger, but more like a kind of cold, condescending amusement.
"Oh?" He uttered a low question from his throat, as if he had heard the funniest stupid thing in the world, "Only you?"
Before he finished speaking, he moved.
There was no warning, not even a sound from the sleeves of his clothes.
He simply took a step forward, his long fingers reaching out towards the oilcloth bag on the ground.
However, this seemingly casual step caused Su Qinghan's pupils to shrink into the most dangerous needle tips in an instant!
quick!
A kind of speed that cannot be described in words!
His figure became distorted and blurred in the moonlight, as if merging with the light and shadow, leaving behind a faint afterimage while his true form had already ghostly crossed a distance of several feet. This was completely beyond the scope of Qinggong, more like a kind of... supernatural power!
Su Qinghan's mind was blank. She had no time to think, and she couldn't think. All her responses came from the fighting instinct she had cultivated day by day for ten years with blood and sweat.
“clang!”
A clear and passionate sword sound echoed throughout the ruined temple.
The longsword "Hanjiangxue" suddenly unsheathed, bringing with it a cold, frosty glow. She did not attack Chen Ye's body, because her instincts were screaming madly: I can't keep up! You absolutely can't keep up!
Therefore, she chose the only correct approach - attack the enemy and save them!
The sword flashed, instantly transforming into a blanket of falling snow. Each "snowflake" was a ray of sharp sword energy, weaving a dense, seamless sword net that precisely enveloped the oilcloth bag on the ground. The sword's movements were exquisite, concealing murderous intent, blocking every possible angle from which Chen Ye could seize the blueprint.
She wanted to use her most proud sword skills to force him to stop and force him to fight with her in a fair fight!
For the first time, a hint of genuine approval flashed in Shen Ye's eyes.
Even under such terrifying speed, she was still able to make such calm and accurate judgments. This woman was truly a natural swordsman.
It’s a pity that she met herself.
Facing the sword net that would have deterred any top-tier expert, Chen Ye's movements remained simple. He didn't even change his trajectory, simply flicking his wrist casually.
The dull black dagger "Shatan" that had been hidden in the sleeve was handed out silently.
There was no dazzling sword light, no domineering sword energy, and not even the slightest energy fluctuation.
That bit of pure darkness floated so lightly and crashed into Su Qinghan's sword net that was covered with flying snow.
Ding ding ding ding ding!
The next moment, a series of rapid, teeth-grinding cracks exploded wildly in the ruined temple like a violent storm.
Su Qinghan felt only violent and treacherous forces surging through the sword into her arms. For the first time, her "Cold River Snow" sword technique, which she had been so proud of and had cultivated for over a decade, was being completely shattered from within by such brutal and unreasonable means.
The moment her sword net came into contact with the black dagger, it crumbled like paper. The opponent's sword seemed to possess life and intelligence, always striking at the most inconceivable angles and with the perfect amount of force, precisely at the weakest point where her sword moves met.
Just a breath of time!
The sword force that she painstakingly created, which was powerful enough to strangle all enemies, was completely broken and vanished into thin air.
And Chen Ye's figure had passed through the broken sword light like a ghost and appeared in front of her, very close.
Although Chen Ye was wearing a nightgown that covered his face, she could see his long and thick eyelashes, and beneath his eyelashes, his eyes, which were as cold as a pool and free of emotion.
The shadow of death had never been so real as it was at this moment, completely enveloping her.
But Su Qinghan is not someone who will sit back and wait for death!
She gritted her teeth, a fierce determination to destroy herself and her enemies surged in her heart. With a sudden twist of her wrist, she abandoned all subtle changes and poured all her internal energy into the sword. The long sword shifted from defense to offense, transforming into a resolute white rainbow that pierced Chen Ye's heart!
This is her strongest sword, and it is also the sword that she gambles everything on!
However, the next moment, all her strength and hope came to an abrupt end.
The tip of her sword stopped three inches away from Chen Ye's chest and could no longer move forward.
Chen Ye had stretched out his left hand without anyone noticing, and with just his index and middle fingers, he easily clamped the unstoppable "Hanjiangxue" sword.
His two fingers, white and slender, didn't appear particularly powerful, yet they felt like the strongest iron clamps in the world. Su Qinghan felt as if her sword had pierced a ten-thousand-foot mountain. No matter how she mobilized the internal force of the Canglang Jue, the sword remained motionless. Unable to withstand the reactionary force, it even emitted a mournful "buzzing" sound, unable to bear the weight.
Cold sweat instantly soaked Su Qinghan's forehead and temples.
gap.
A gap as huge as a chasm.
This wasn't a matter of technique or skill, but an absolute crushing of realm and level. He was like an impassable, towering snow-capped mountain, and I, after exhausting my entire life, was merely looking up at him from the foot of the mountain.
"Your sword is beautiful," Chen Ye finally spoke, his voice calm as if he were evaluating a piece of art that had nothing to do with him. "Unfortunately, it's stained with too many things it shouldn't be. Murder, resentment, obsession... They've made your sword no longer pure and have limited its height."
His words sounded like a martial arts master carefully instructing a younger generation. However, when he spoke, they carried a kind of all-knowing indifference and a condescending judgment.
Su Qinghan was shocked when he heard this.
Her "Cold River Snow" was originally the Su family's inherited sword of the gentleman, embodying the artistic conception of "sparse shadows slanting across the sky, a subtle fragrance floating in the air." It was elegant, exquisite, and perfectly executed. It was only out of revenge, and to adapt to the bloody missions of the Six Gates, that she forcibly infused it with a murderous aura, making it ruthless and resolute.
This secret was the deepest struggle within her heart. Even her adoptive father, Tie Wuqing, who treated her like his own son, had only vaguely sensed the change in her swordsmanship, but he had never been able to grasp its essence like the man before him.
Who is he?!
"Let go!" Su Qinghan shouted, suppressing the turmoil in her heart. She gathered her left palm and fingers like a knife, gathering the remaining strength and, with a sharp gust of wind, slashed towards Chen Ye's sword-holding wrist with lightning speed.
Facing this desperate counterattack, there wasn't even a trace of emotion in Chen Ye's eyes.
He sighed almost inaudibly.
He didn't let go of the sword, nor did he dodge. Just when Su Qinghan's palm knife was about to reach his body, the two fingers holding the sword suddenly shook.
“Buzz~!”
An extremely strange and high-frequency vibration flowed along the sword body and instantly reached Su Qinghan's right hand holding the sword like an electric current.
Su Qinghan felt her entire right arm instantly lose sensation, and a piercing pain shot through her palm, as if being pierced by thousands of steel needles. She could no longer hold her sword.
“Dang!”
With a crisp sound, "Hanjiangxue" flew out of his hand and fell on the cold ground.
The battle is over.
In other words, this was not a battle from the beginning, but just a one-sided game without any suspense.
Shen Ye loosened his fingers, bent down calmly, and picked up the oilcloth bag that had sealed the traitor's fate. Then, he glanced at the "Hanjiang Snow" on the ground and picked it up as well.
He walked up to the distraught Su Qinghan, pointed the hilt of the sword towards her and handed it to her.
Su Qinghan was completely stunned.
She looked at him warily, but didn't reach out to take it. She couldn't understand his behavior at all. Why didn't he kill her? For a top assassin with a mysterious identity and ruthless actions, leaving behind an enemy who had seen his eyes and knew he was from the Tianji Pavilion was an unforgivable act of folly.
"Aren't you afraid... that I'll tell others about you?" Her voice was a little hoarse due to shock and exhaustion.
"You can try." Chen Ye's answer was still eerily calm. "Let's see whether you can transmit the message faster or my sword is faster. Or, let's see if the 'Youquan' behind you can save your life."
He paused, then extended the sword a little further, almost touching her body. "Take it. Don't use such a fine sword to meddle in matters that shouldn't be your business. Some waters are bottomless. If you step in rashly, you will only drown."
After saying this, he didn't even glance at Su Qinghan, but turned and was about to leave. His figure began to become illusory again, about to merge into the thick darkness at the temple entrance.
"stop!"
Su Qinghan shouted out these two words almost instinctively.
Chen Ye stopped walking, but did not look back. All that was left for her was a lonely and cold back.
Su Qinghan stared at him intently, as if she wanted to imprint that silhouette on the depths of her soul forever. Using all her strength, she asked the single question that had lingered in her mind for countless days and nights, the one that had kept her alive until now:
"Many years ago, Su Zhenting, then the Minister of Revenue...did Tianji Pavilion ever take over this business?!"
The air, at this moment, completely solidified.
Even the wind in the woods outside the temple seemed startled by this heart-wrenching question and suddenly stopped.
There was an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible stiffness in Shen Ye's back, which was about to merge into the darkness.
Su Zhenting.
This name...
A name that was buried deep in his memory and he hadn't thought of it for many years.
That was the beginning of his assassin career, the first "big order" he took on to prove his worth. He remembered the cold words on the dossier, the layout of the target's mansion, and the peace of mind he felt after his successful strike.
To him, it was just a name, a symbol, a step to the top.
But he never imagined that behind this symbol, there was actually a woman in front of him whose stubbornness even surprised him.
How ridiculous.
How... ironic.
A sharp pain suddenly gripped his heart without warning. The pain was so intense that even the "Lightless Heart Sutra," which was neither sad nor joyful, could not completely suppress it immediately.
But he couldn't turn back.
I can't even answer.
Any slightest hesitation would drag him into an abyss of no return, and would also... drag her into deeper despair.
He slowly squeezed out three words from his throat, each one seeming to exhaust all his strength.
"have no idea."
After saying this, he didn't pause for a moment. His figure flashed and he completely disappeared into the boundless night. It was as if he had never appeared, and that thrilling duel had never taken place here.
Su Qinghan was the only one left in the dilapidated temple.
She stood there blankly, the cold moonlight casting a shadow on her pale face. She didn't pick up her sword, but Chen Ye's last three words echoed repeatedly in her mind.
"have no idea."
Was what he said true or false? With his unfathomable strength and superior attitude, it seemed that he simply disdained to lie about such a thing.
But... the stiffness in his last words could not escape her eyes that had been tempered and penetrated through thousands of trials.
He is lying!
Su Qinghan slowly squatted down and tremblingly picked up his sword. The warmth of his fingers seemed to still remain on the sword, and it felt strange amidst the coldness.
She stared at the direction the man had vanished, her heart pounding with shock. His ghostly movements, his deadly sword moves, all proved his power and terror. This man was no ordinary assassin from the Tianji Pavilion.
He must be one of the most important figures in the Tianji Pavilion with a very high status!
And he let himself go.
Moreover, he responded to his father's name!
A bold idea, which even she herself thought was absurd, cut through the fog in her heart like lightning.
Today, although she lost intelligence, she gained something more important than intelligence.
One goal.
A living, breathing, powerful target.
A portal...to the truth.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
