"We Taoist doctors know more than just some little magic tricks. I also know talismans, divination, lots... and physiognomy." Gu Yanfei boasted with a smile and moved slightly closer to Xia Houqing who was on the other side of the stone table.
She placed one hand on the stone table and hid the other under it, and spoke eloquently: "From your appearance, you were born into a noble family, but your fate was unfortunate. Not only did your family become broken, you became an orphan at a young age, and you also encountered many disasters."
She was not only looking at the other person's face, the hand hidden under the table was calculating rapidly...
The more she looked, the more frightened she became, and the more she calculated, the more frightened she became, but she still told the result of her calculation without hesitation, and mercilessly exposed the other person's scars with a casual attitude.
These words caused a clear crack to appear in Xiahou Qing's frozen eyes.
Gu Yanfei continued without stopping: "When I was fourteen, I escaped from the wolf's den and fell into the tiger's mouth, pushing you into the eighteenth level of hell."
"The person you cherished most died on that day, your faith was crushed, and you were reborn from the ashes on that day..."
The smile on Xiahou Qing's face faded.
There was an extreme madness in his eyes and smile, and the scarlet aura on his body stretched out its claws like a demon.
Suddenly, he raised his right hand, and his slender jade-like fingers attacked Gu Yanfei's neck like lightning. He looked beautiful and charming, like a deadly big red poppy.
Gu Yanfei, who had been sitting leisurely, suddenly stood up and stepped back. The pillar behind her hindered her steps, and the other party's hand mercilessly pinched her tender neck.
That hand looked as if it had never suffered any hardship; it was slender and beautiful, white and noble, clean and delicate.
Gu Yanfei's lips curled up into a smile, and a starlight flashed in her dark jade pupils. The dagger hidden in the cloak was unsheathed as she retreated. With a flash of silver, the blade drew a crescent-like arc, brushed past his cuffs, and lay steadily across his neck.
A palm-sized piece of red cloth fell off Xiahou Qing's left sleeve and fluttered to the ground.
At first glance, it looked like a pool of bright red blood on the ground, which was shocking.
"Girl!" Juanbi, who was outside the pavilion, naturally also saw this scene. She screamed and subconsciously wanted to step forward, but was stopped by the haggard old man again.
The old man's eyes were as cold as ice. No one could come forward without the young master's order.
Time seemed to stand still in the pavilion, only the cold wind was still howling.
The two men remained in a confrontation posture for a long time without moving.
Xiahou Qing seemed to not care at all about the dagger at his neck. He tightened his right hand a little more and looked straight at the girl who was less than a foot away from him.
The two of them were so close that they could see the snowflakes on each other's hair and eyelashes, close enough to see the slightest changes in expression on each other's faces.
Even though his neck was strangled, Gu Yanfei did not panic or feel afraid at all. He even had a nonchalant smile on his face and looked straight into his eyes.
His pupils were pitch black, the color of ink, without a single impurity. They were like an abyss that wanted to swallow everything, and no emotion could be seen at all.
"Ahem." Gu Yanfei coughed twice because of the pressure in his throat. He was still smiling, full of energy and enthusiasm, and said, "I can help you take over the Kingdom of Yue."
"How about it? Is this deal worth the lives of the people in this village?"
When the last word fell, Gu Yanfei was the first to put down the dagger that was on Xiahou Qing's neck to show her sincerity.
Her eyes stared deeply at Xiahou Qing, without blinking, with a firm smile.
The two looked at each other quietly.
It seemed like a silent duel was going on.
After a while, Gu Yanfei felt the pressure on her neck ease, and the hand that was pinching her neck slowly loosened and finally retracted.
The other person's deep and charming phoenix eyes looked at her solemnly, from madness to consideration, and then to calmness. Under the illumination of the light, the black pupils flashed a hint of interest, and his gaze swept across Gu Yanfei's face.
In the pavilion, the tense atmosphere disappeared.
Juanbi finally breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest. His frightened eyes lit up again. He thought: Sure enough, everything was planned by his own girl! How could the girl be wrong when she said "don't worry"! Gu Yanfei touched his neck and stretched out his hand again to ask for permission: "Master Xiahou, do you want to sit down? Let's talk slowly."
Without waiting for Xiahou Qing to answer, she sat down on the stone step again and placed her short sword on the stone table.
His every move was calm, composed, free and easy, as if the dispute just now had never existed, and as if they were just joking.
However, the red finger marks left on her fair neck were so glaring.
Xiahou Qing slowly turned around, his wide cuffs and hem dancing with his movements, looking as if he was about to fly, giving off a seductive and ostentatious temperament.
Xiahou Qing also returned to the original stone bench and sat down, and the two sat opposite each other on both sides of the stone table again.
Both of them were smiling, each with their own thoughts behind their smiles.
Xiahou Qing took out a plain white handkerchief from his sleeve and slowly wiped the right hand that had just pinched Gu Yanfei's neck, without even leaving any space between his fingers.
"You said you would help me?" he asked straight to the point. His clear voice was lazy and lightly sarcastic.
When his gaze passed over the left sleeve with a corner cut off, his eyes became gloomy, and even the corners of his lips that were raised stiffened for a moment. His brows twitched, and his disgust and irritation were evident in his expressions.
It was the first time that Gu Yanfei saw so many expressions on his face.
She pretended not to notice and asked seriously, "What is the current situation in Yue?"
There was silence in the pavilion for a moment.
The atmosphere between the two of them suddenly underwent a subtle change. The temperature dropped drastically and became like an ice cellar.
A moment ago, Xiahou Qing was still smiling lazily, but at this moment, the smile faded, and there was a hint of icy coldness in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
"You don't know?" he asked almost word by word.
I don't know. Gu Yanfei smiled with his eyebrows bent, not feeling guilty at all, as if they were just talking about today's weather.
For the first time, the young man's charming and perfect face seemed to be about to break.
She knew nothing, yet she dared to come and negotiate with me!
Xiahou Qing's phoenix eyes narrowed dangerously, murderous intent rose again, and the scarlet aura around his body began to boil again like boiling water.
Facing the other party's pressing gaze, Gu Yanfei kept smiling, still looking relaxed and at ease.
How could she possibly know! In this life, she had been reborn for less than three months. In her previous life, she had only been to Huaibei, Danyang City, and the capital, and had never left the capital until her death.
How could she know about the Kingdom of Yue?
I only learned the name Xiahou Qing today.
Seeing Xiahou Qing's right hand fingers flexing eagerly, as if he wanted to strangle himself to death, Gu Yanfei thought for a moment and suggested sincerely, "How about I do the math?"
She fumbled around and took out a palm-sized compass from her sleeve.
Xiahou Qing's smile almost broke again, and his eyes curved in an arc that was hard to tell whether it was evil or twisted.
The murderous intent became stronger.
The wind outside the pavilion suddenly grew stronger, as if it was going to uproot the green bamboos.
In the northwest, a few black crows were circling in the air not too close or too far away, cawing loudly. Occasionally, a few black feathers were blown over by the wind and landed in the pavilion.
Gu Yanfei seemed to be unaware of the crisis before him. He took the compass and dialed it, muttering to himself...
The compass needle was turning slightly, and a few snowflakes gently fell on the compass.
The light from the dagger next to him refracted into Xiahou Qing's pupils, making his eyes even colder and emitting a faint chill.
After the pointer stopped, Gu Yanfei stared at the hexagram, calculated for a while, and then said with a smile: "The emperor's star is dim, your country's saint will fall seriously ill in a month, and the fight for the throne will turn the court upside down."
When she said this, her expression and tone were too casual, as if she was just joking.
When she told this oracle concerning the fate of the State of Yue in this way, instead of making people feel awe-inspiring, it made people feel that she was a charlatan who was deceiving and cheating people.
After wiping the last fingertip, Xiahou Qing rubbed the handkerchief in his palm and said calmly, "Why not just kill him?"
His voice was like the night wind, cold and erratic, with a hint of a smile on his lips.
Although he kept saying "kill", Gu Yanfei knew in his heart that he had only one-tenth of the murderous intention left.
Gu Yanfei was not afraid at all. She pointed at the compass and explained the hexagram on it seriously, "Mountain Wind Gu, Gen is on top and Xun is on the bottom. The Tuan says: Gu, hard on top and soft on the bottom, Xun stops, Gu."
Speak human language! Xiahou Qing showed impatience on his face and threw away the handkerchief in his hand.
The white handkerchief fluttered down onto the remnant red sleeve.
A man in black jumped down from the wall not far away and appeared beside the withered old man. He whispered faintly, "Mr. Qi..."
The old man's eyes narrowed, and he quickly walked towards Xiahou Qing in the pavilion and whispered something in his ear.
Xiahou Qing curled his lips in interest, looking calm and relaxed.
Almost the next moment, there was a commotion coming from the direction of Zhuangzi's gate.
Dozens of guards with swords were surrounding a young man in white and walking towards this side like stars surrounding the moon.
The guards each had their own duties, some were responsible for clearing the way, some were guarding the two sides, and some were responsible for guarding the rear. Every guard had a fierce look in his eyes, flashing with murderous aura.
They held torches in their hands, and the blazing light of the flames illuminated the courtyard as bright as day, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
At the same time, ghostly figures emerged silently from the surrounding walls, roofs, and treetops, holding bows and arrows or long swords in their hands, and they were full of murderous intent.
The two groups were confronting each other. As long as their master gave an order or even a gesture, the two sides would immediately start fighting and blood would splatter on the spot.
In this tense atmosphere, Chu Yi, with a faint layer of firelight all around him, walked slowly and leisurely with a smile on his face.
He was dressed in a flawless white robe, which was whiter than the snow around him. It made his eyes look clear and deep, and his demeanor was noble, as if he had come from the sky riding on clouds, with unparalleled grace and elegance.
(End of this chapter)
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