Chapter 9 A Dark and Windy Night, A Sword to the Throat
Yu Tianxing inquired in detail about her being bitten by the dog, remained silent for a while, and then suddenly said, "Let's see," before stuffing his share of the meat bun into her hand, picking up his sword, and walking outside the courtyard.
Ji Mingran, holding a steamed bun, slipped to the window to watch. Yu Tianxing was already practicing his swordplay in the courtyard.
His moves were so fast that they were difficult to see with the naked eye. Ji Mingran watched the rapidly changing figures and listened to the sounds of sword winds slashing into the air, marveling at the sight.
Unexpectedly, this person, who ate less than her, had a pale face, a thin body, and was half-dead, could wield a sword and exude a rainbow-like aura.
Ji Mingran sighed repeatedly. It was truly remarkable that someone so young possessed such skill; it was just unfortunate that he had encountered a corpse demon that could not be dealt with by force.
In the blink of an eye, the young man sheathed his sword and leaped to the window. With a series of flips, his breathing remained as steady as ever.
He looked down into Ji Mingran's eyes and asked, "Do you want to learn?"
Ji Mingran was stunned, forgetting to chew his mouthful of minced meat. When he came to his senses, he nodded vigorously. Of course, he would learn from this free school that was delivered to his door.
Yu Tianxing leaned casually against the window, glancing down at the petite girl, who looked like a bean sprout, and asked suspiciously, "Even dogs can bully you, yet you dare to protect a criminal and boast that you can handle pursuers. Where do you get your confidence?"
Ji Mingran chewed the meat vigorously, swallowed it, and then said matter-of-factly, "When I become stronger in the future, I will naturally be able to."
Why worry about things that haven't happened yet? Anyway, the pursuers haven't come knocking yet. By the time they do, her injuries might have healed and her body might have grown up.
“You’re always like this.” Yu Tianxing looked at her relaxed and carefree appearance and smiled. “Carefree.” After saying that, he walked into the courtyard.
"What are you going to do?" Ji Mingran asked curiously.
“Making a secondary bed board is not appropriate for boys and girls, even though you are young.” Yu Tianxing used his sword to make shallow marks on the wood. “You came back early tonight, so you have plenty of time. After you eat, you can study, and then I will teach you sword techniques.”
For the next three days, although Ji Mingran had completed most of her work tasks, her study tasks increased, which meant that even though she returned home a little earlier than usual, she could only sleep for an extra hour or two.
The good news is that Yu Tianxing has been planing bed boards at home for days, and he actually managed to make two bed boards that are just the right size to fit in the small room.
He placed the original bed board outside the courtyard to serve as a seat for relaxing in the cool air.
Ji Mingran was already accustomed to using laser swords and cannons in the apocalypse, so she had an excellent foundation. Yu Tianxing, taking into account her physique and injuries, taught her more about using the opponent's force against them and winning by skill. These techniques were essentially the same as her previous moves, so she learned them very quickly.
The continuous sword practice had led to physical exhaustion, and since the two slept in separate beds, the effects of Yu Tianxing's corpse poison attack in the middle of the night were less severe on her. In addition, the medicine prescribed by Doctor Zhang contained sleep-aiding ingredients, and the two of them slept soundly after drinking it.
Therefore, she slept very well for the past three days and felt much better than before.
That's right, that's right...
She pursed her lips, looked at the plain porridge and noodles, and sighed silently in her heart.
It's just that we haven't had meat for several meals in a row.
For some reason, Yu Tianxing doesn't seem to have gone hunting in the mountains these past few days.
As if sensing her thoughts, Yu Tianxing, who was feeding the baby birds, gently stroked the baby birds' heads and said in a low voice, "How about we cook it?"
The fledgling visibly trembled and shrank back.
Ji Mingran glanced at the slightly trembling bird's head and replied, "Let's keep it. It's not fat yet."
The bird immediately stopped shaking.
Yu Tianxing lowered his eyelashes and smiled, "Eat quickly, I'll take you out later."
"go out?"
Ji Mingran immediately became interested and recited the text and drew talismans in one go. Soon after, he went out with Yu Tianxing.
However, Yu Tianxing placed her at the back gate of a courtyard, then put the sword in her hand and whispered, "I don't like to see people. Go inside, I'll guard outside. Call me if you need anything." He then gently pushed her through the back gate of the courtyard.
Completely bewildered, Ji Mingran stepped into the courtyard. The courtyard was very large, with flowers and trees arranged in a pleasing manner. This gate must have been a small door for the servants of the family living in the courtyard.
There was no one in the courtyard.
She walked straight ahead, and as she walked, she saw Wang Mao standing alone.
Wang Mao, his face bruised and swollen, covered in talismans, knelt down with a thud as soon as he saw her, crying out, "I knew it was you! I knew you were playing a trick on me! It's good that it's you! It's good that it's you! That day I only wanted to scare you, I didn't have any other intentions. Seeing you almost die, I felt annoyed, but I was hit by stones and flowerpots for several days in a row, and I didn't have time to apologize to you. It's good that you played a trick on me to vent your anger."
Ji Mingran was initially confused, but after listening to his tearful account, he gradually understood.
No wonder Yu Tianxing hadn't gone up the mountain for several days; he was secretly lying in ambush for Wang Mao to avenge her.
Holding the black sword Yu Tianxing had given her, she stood there for a moment, pondered, and then said to comfort him, "Wang Mao, don't panic, but it's normal to panic. After all, according to my original plan, I should have arrived a few days later."
As she spoke, she paced forward, bending down as if to help the person kneeling on the ground to their feet.
"Ah!" Wang Mao screamed shrilly, his face deathly pale, staring at Ji Mingran in horror: "What...what are you doing?"
Ji Mingran casually drew his sword, looked at the blood dripping onto the ground, and said unhurriedly, "Plan ahead of time."
She raised her sword again.
Seeing this, Wang Mao was both anxious and frightened, and with a loud shout, he lunged at her.
Ji Mingran dodged to the side and then stabbed at his ankle.
"Ah!" Wang Mao screamed in agony, sobbing and pleading, "Enough, enough! I really didn't mean to hurt you. I've tolerated your attempts to seek revenge these past few days while you were hiding. I agreed to your request to come late at night without anyone else. Isn't that enough?"
"Of course it's not enough, what are you thinking?" Ji Mingran flicked the sword in his hand. "But I'm lame."
When Wang Mao heard her say that she was lame, he was stunned and stopped crying. After a long while, he just lowered his head and said with a sullen face, "I was wrong. If you stab me again, I won't dodge."
She looked at Wang Mao, who was bowing his head and accepting his punishment, and nodded: "It should have been done long ago." She then decisively thrust the sword in a few more times.
Wang Mao let out a few miserable screams, but he didn't flinch and took the blow head-on.
Seeing that it was almost time, she stopped and asked the question that had been lingering in her mind for days: "You've always been a coward, how did you dare to bring that vicious dog out?"
Wang Mao was always afraid of getting into trouble, and he wouldn't even dare to touch her clothes normally, let alone suddenly have the courage to take the vicious dog that might bite him out alone.
"Because, because Fairy Yu said," Wang Mao was afraid that Ji Mingran would stab him again, so he even revealed the secret he hadn't told Meng Yingyang, "that dog has been given a command by her and won't bite people randomly. If I feel it's interesting, I'm not afraid to take it out for a spin."
Ji Mingran frowned. Fairy Yu?
***
Outside the back gate.
Yu Tianxing coldly stared at the figure that appeared in front of him.
"Tianxing, it's been a long time." The beautiful woman, as lovely as a lotus emerging from water, smiled gently, her tone regretful: "You didn't die, did you?"
Yu Tianxing: "Hmm."
Before the words had even faded, a dark sword shadow suddenly appeared in the dimly lit street, striking the woman directly.
The woman did not dodge. She formed hand seals and chanted incantations. The sword tip, which was hurtling towards her, was only a hair's breadth away from her nose, but it suddenly stopped.
"I went to great lengths to find you, yet you're eager to kill me the moment we meet." She clasped her hands together, and the blade of her sword trembled and flipped over with her gestures, pointing at Yu Tianxing. "It's truly disheartening."
"Weren't you already heartbroken?" Yu Tianxing lowered his gaze, no longer looking at the woman. "Otherwise, why would you have replaced the will?"
"You know."
"When we were ambushed by the ghouls, we had our suspicions."
The woman smiled calmly, "Indeed, you're surrounded by pawns, and many people would suspect you. But only I could orchestrate the Corpse Demon's scheme." The Corpse Demon harmed people, and the Hongqi Sect disciples were ordered to capture it; she merely used the opportunity to lure Yu Tianxing there. "Your blood is most likely to attract evil spirits, and that Corpse Demon will certainly not let you go. They all said you were doomed, but without seeing your corpse, I didn't believe it. Now that I've seen you, it wasn't in vain that I went to all that trouble to bring Pan Dou here."
"Why?" Yu Tianxing stood in the shadows, almost blending into the darkness, and called out softly, "Aunt."
He was his mother's only child, and Yu Yuerong was his mother's only sister. She watched him grow up, but she personally replaced the imperial edict and put her brother, who had staged a coup, on the throne.
“I had high hopes for you, so I took great care of you after my sister left. You were already young and vulnerable, yet you were still naive and easily deceived, falling for my tricks time and time again. I am disappointed in you.” Yu Yuerong’s voice was cold and ethereal. “Since you can’t give me what I want, there’s no need to waste any more effort. Just find someone else.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the longsword that had been hovering in mid-air struck Yu Tianxing with lightning speed.
"You've been tricked?" Yu Tianxing chuckled lightly. He suddenly stepped forward to meet the sword, dodging the blade's edge and flipping his wrist to grip the hilt. In a flash, he steadily caught the black sword, as if she had personally handed it to him.
His figure didn't stop, moving as fast as lightning. Before Yu Yuerong could react, she heard a soft voice in her ear, "Auntie isn't patient enough." She felt a sharp pain in her chest.
Yu Yuerong was horrified and quickly unleashed a powerful attack on Yu Tianxing. She used all her strength, and Yu Tianxing was sent flying and crashed into the wall, causing the wall to collapse with a loud bang.
"Pfft," she reached out to pull the sword from her chest, but suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing to her knees, her voice trembling, "You did it on purpose."
“A cultivator who directly disrupts destiny will inevitably suffer a backlash.” Blood trickled from the corner of Yu Tianxing’s mouth as he swayed and sat up amidst the ruins. He closed his eyes. “I’m paying such a price, and my aunt is still trying to take my life.”
Yu Yuerong ignored her and said only, "You ambushed Wang Mao and deliberately leaked your aura onto him in order to lure me out."
"But it's on the way," Yu Tianxing said casually.
“Over the years, first the servants, then the companions, the steward, the wet nurse, the scholars, the personal guards, and then my brothers and sisters.” He looked weary, a sneer playing on his lips. “If you just play along, you can lure the snake out of its hole. There are too many fools. I spent some time thinking I had dealt with them all, but I only found out on the night of the will that there were still some left. Who is left by my side?” He leaned his head against the corner of the broken wall, his eyes indifferent. “Only you are left, Aunt.”
The moonlight fell upon the boy's face, his exquisitely handsome features still bearing traces of childhood innocence. At fourteen, an age of youthful vigor and high spirits, he was shrouded in darkness, radiating only gloom and malice.
“Tianxing.” Yu Yuerong looked at him and said quietly, “Your head can be exchanged for the position of sect leader of my Hongqi Sect.”
"The only things I didn't expect were the imperial edict and the corpse demon," Yu Tianxing said slowly. "It will be difficult for my aunt to take my life so easily again."
"Do you really think that by borrowing the power of Heaven, I cannot kill you?" Yu Yurong sneered, taking out a pill from her bosom and swallowing it. "Once your injuries heal, that will be enough. I have already cast a silencing spell here, so no matter how loud the noise, it won't get out, and no one will come to your aid. Once I recover, you will be doomed."
Healing pills.
Yu Tianxing's eyes were deep and dark as he slowly lowered them.
He was under a spell and unable to stand, making a death match inevitable.
"Huh?" A soft exclamation suddenly rang out. "What's going on?"
Yu Yuerong immediately looked over.
The one who came out of the Wang family mansion was a maid from the Wang family.
Yu Yuerong was overjoyed; she never expected that even the heavens would help her.
Cultivators in this world are suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, and cultivators and mortals follow separate paths. Cultivators are not allowed to directly interfere with the world's destiny. Yu Tianxing was originally the heir to the throne, and naturally bore the destiny of Heaven.
If it is done by an ordinary person, it cannot be considered a direct attack, and there will be no backlash.
She shouted, "Little maid, don't be afraid. I am a cultivator from the Hongqi Sect who is temporarily staying at your house. The man in front of me is a criminal wanted by the imperial court. Although I am seriously injured, I have subdued him and he is unable to move. Come over, take your sword and finish him off. The imperial court will reward you handsomely, and the Hongqi Sect will also reward you with generous gifts."
Fearing the child might be frightened, she emphasized again: "You finish him off for me, and you can have whatever you want after that."
"Now I can rest assured." A crisp, childish voice rang out, followed by the sound of nimble, light skipping footsteps.
She wanted to kill herself too.
Yu Tianxing leaned against the ruins, his eyes half-closed as he watched the staggering figure reach for the sword, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
Indeed, rather than being enemies with Yu Yuerong, it would be better to simply kill him and immediately live the good life she keeps talking about.
Death loomed close. Looking at the two people standing opposite him, Yu Tianxing remained indifferent, but in his mind he thought that perhaps he shouldn't have brought her here to seek revenge, then he could have watched the show for a while longer.
It was a well-acted performance, just like his aunt's.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
Yu Yuerong’s voice rang out, as gentle and soft as it had been when she spoke to him: “Little girl, don’t be afraid. Just use the sword on my body to pull it out. I’m fine.”
Yu Yuerong encouraged, "Yes, kill him. You don't need to be afraid."
She's not afraid; she's not a child.
Sure enough, he heard Ji Mingran readily reply, "Okay."
Then came the muffled groan of Yu Yuerong as the sword was pulled out. She endured the pain and said, "Yes, that's it. Don't be afraid. Go and kill him." She kept whispering words of encouragement to Ji Mingran.
Yu Tianxing lowered his eyelashes, staring at the ground, annoyed by Yu Yurong's repeated ramblings.
He suddenly realized that even though they were both nagging, Ji Mingran wouldn't annoy him.
A chill ran through Yu Tianxing's eyes as he thought bitterly that if she came to kill him, he would definitely retaliate and not let her go.
Yu Yuerong's encouraging words rang out again: "Go."
He then heard Ji Mingran reply crisply, "Okay."
He closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and gripped the sword sheath tightly.
But then they heard Yu Yuerong scream in agony: "You!"
Yu Tianxing suddenly opened his eyes and looked up. Under the moonlight, a small figure stood with his back to him, holding a sword in both hands, leaning forward, the blade of the sword piercing straight into Yu Yurong's heart, blood splattering all over the ground.
Yu Yuerong reacted extremely quickly, already forming a fist and striking towards Ji Mingran.
But Ji Mingran reacted even faster, instantly flipping over to draw his sword and dodge. At the same time, he threw his longsword up with his left hand, gripped it in reverse with his right, and his body seemed unsteady as he crashed down on Yu Yurong.
With a thrust of his longsword, he pierced straight forward.
The sword flashed, and blood splattered everywhere.
A single sword strike to the throat.
Blood trickled from her mouth and throat. Yu Yue Rong, facing Yu Tian Xing, stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
He heard Ji Mingran say, "He brought me here to take revenge, so I'll help him too."
From his angle, he couldn't see what Yu Yuerong was seeing. Yu Yuerong met the girl's clear, bright eyes and saw a desolate ruthlessness in them that was definitely not a child's. The girl reached out and wiped the blood splattered on her face, then smiled brightly at him, revealing two broken front teeth.
Yu Yuerong's eyes widened, her whole body trembled, and she felt the sword blade slowly piercing into her throat and emerging from the back of her neck. She looked at Yu Tianxing with despair and helplessness.
The last thing Yu Tianxing heard Ji Mingran say to Yu Yurong was, "Tell me, aren't Yu Tianxing and I the best partners?"
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