Are you secretly complaining?
A-Qiu softly lay back, only to fall right into the arms of someone as hard as iron, with taut muscles.
She met Gu Yi's bright and deep eyes.
Ah Qiu was speechless and resigned himself to his fate.
As the number one person in the Great Yan Dynasty, Master Gu has always disdained hiding his tracks and doing thievery behind the scenes.
Therefore, if he were to commit thievery, naturally no one would be able to guard against him.
Gu Yi moved with lightning speed, carrying her through the palace and across the eaves without making a sound.
This further proved her conjecture: if Gu Yi were willing to keep a low profile and act as a thief, no one would be able to find his whereabouts.
His lightness skill, leaving no trace in the snow and no mark on the duckweed, must be described as such.
There wasn't even a sound of the wind.
It felt as if I were in the most peaceful and tranquil center of the world.
Above it is an endless blue sky, the Milky Way shines brightly, the moon sets and the stars fade, and the first rays of dawn appear.
Below it were layers upon layers of palace eaves, gleaming with gold and green, with undercurrents surging and iron cavalry marching at night.
But everything in the world seemed to have become very, very far away from her.
The familiar scent of sweet pine and white snow emanating from him gradually enveloped her, like the sweet autumn scenery of maple leaves in a long corridor.
However, she could still smell something was off.
That's his blood, she thought.
But she was sleepy.
When A Qiu woke up, she was already at Jinling Terrace in Chongji Hall.
She was always alert, and although she only dozed off for a short while, it felt like she had a very long dream.
In the dream, the corridors are winding and deep, and a little girl with her hair in two buns runs barefoot through the long corridors with towering mountains and endless clouds.
She was frantically searching for someone. But the palace eaves were deep, the cloud curtains fluttered, and the winding paths and corridors were endless, like a deep and secluded labyrinth, yet there was no one there except her.
"Master, Master, where are you?"
A clear and sweet voice echoed in the desolate and lonely ruined palace, but the person she was looking for never appeared.
She woke up with this profound sense of loss.
Even in her dreams, the young girl knew very well that the person she was looking for was not her current master, Wan Qiqing, the master of Lanling Hall.
In the overlapping and turbulent childhood memories and emotional imprints in my dreams, there was no Wan Qiqing yet.
The first thing she saw when she woke up was Gu Yi, who was changing his clothes with his back to her.
The smell of blood has disappeared.
She was so frightened that she hurriedly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Gu Yi paused for a moment, then quickly straightened his clothes without making a sound. He turned around, walked to the bedside, and said calmly, "You woke up quickly."
Just like when he was a baby, he falls asleep as soon as he's held and wakes up as soon as he's put down. He must have suffered terribly because of this back then.
A-Qiu stopped pretending, opened her eyes, and tried to get up, only to find that the acupoint above her knee was still not relieved. Moreover, all the bones in her body felt as if they had fallen apart, and she felt inexplicably sore.
Where did she twist it? But then I thought, something doesn't make sense; it's impossible for her to twist every part of her body.
No sooner had she propped herself up on the couch than Gu Yi's expression turned stern and his brows furrowed. Before she could react, she felt a strong gust of wind in front of her and was caught off guard by a pair of strong, iron-like arms that held her firmly in place. She fell backward onto the couch, and the latter pressed down on her, pinning her beneath him.
A Qiu looked up and met Gu Yi's dark, deep, and still eyes. He looked down at her, staring at her intently, as if to see how she could possibly escape.
A Qiu felt that this man was incredibly strong, with arms as strong as iron, gripping her so tightly that she felt like she was about to fall apart. Moreover, he was heavy.
She suddenly realized that the aches and pains all over her body were probably not only the result of fighting with Sikong Zhao, but also related to the fact that he had held her so tightly all the way back.
It turns out that although Master Gu looks refined and handsome, his brute strength is probably not much different from that of Sikong Zhao. It really is true that you can't judge a book by its cover.
When a martial artist is pinned down at close range, her instinctive reaction is to fight back, but she struggled three times, all to no avail. Gu Yi's hands and his entire body pressed firmly against her, like an iron cage, completely immovable.
His eyes, framed by long eyebrows and sharp sideburns, were extremely alert, and he stared at her intently, as if afraid that she might make any further moves.
A Qiu felt inexplicably flustered by his gaze, and finally couldn't hold back any longer, angrily saying, "Why are you holding me so tightly! Men and women shouldn't touch each other, you yourself said that!"
Gu Yi was stunned for a moment, then immediately let go and stood up, retreating three feet, as if he himself had been startled. As he turned his back to the bed, he tried his best to remain calm and said, "You are ruthless. Once you make a move, it's either death or serious injury. I dare not be careless again."
That's not unreasonable. Ah Qiu thought to herself, if she had had time to retaliate when he attacked her from behind, she would have cut him in two.
If you cut him off, it will be too late to regret it. So it's right that Gu Yi is cautious, like a frightened bird.
Remembering the dagger she had used to stab him in Xianyang Palace, A Qiu said sheepishly, "I'm sorry, how is your injury?"
Gu Yi's figure, standing in front of the bed, suddenly paused, but he didn't answer her. Instead, he said in a deep voice, "What exactly did your master teach you?"
Every move is a guaranteed death sentence. It's either the enemy or I who perish.
It is a deadly weapon, but when it encounters an opponent stronger than itself, it is a one-way trip.
Throughout A Qiu's interactions with Gu Yi, although Gu Yi always exuded a sharp and imposing aura, and every word he spoke carried weight, A Qiu had never actually seen Gu Yi unleash even a trace of true energy. He was always composed and unflappable, never showing his emotions.
But hearing this now, it really shows that he is quite dissatisfied with A-Qiu's master.
After pondering for a while, A-Qiu finally answered cautiously, "Master... he didn't do it on purpose."
The style of the Lanling assassins has been passed down for a thousand years since the Warring States period. Do they intend to drink tea with their enemies rather than die with them?
Gu Yi gave a cold "humph," and after a moment said, "Don't let me see you use martial arts again."
Ah Qiu thought to himself, "You didn't teach me my kung fu. You think you can just say I don't need it?"
But circumstances were beyond her control. Right now, she was clinging to life at Jinlingtai, relying on him. She decided to say, "Yes."
It's just that she won't let him see it. She didn't let him see her assassination attempts in the thirteen prefectures before. It's not necessary to drag Master Gu along as a spectator for every action.
Gu Yi said in a low voice, "You're secretly criticizing me, aren't you?"
A Qiu finally decided to tell the truth: "Master Gu, General Sikong's external martial arts are stronger than mine, and her internal strength is more profound. If I hadn't gone all out, I would be sitting in the imperial prison right now."
Gu Yi finally turned around, looked directly into her eyes and said, "But if you kill Sikong Zhao today, do you know what the consequences will be?"
A-Qiu blinked her beautiful, clear, and shimmering eyes, and finally decided to shut her mouth.
Of course, she had considered the consequences. But her master had said that assassins weren't politicians; they didn't need to weigh so many gains and losses. In a standoff, it was better to advance than to stop. By the time she had time to weigh the pros and cons several times, her body would be cold by then.
Gu Yi looked at her and said seriously, "The Four Flying Phoenix Guards advance and retreat together, and are the Emperor's most trusted people from childhood to adulthood. General Sikong is the highest commander of the inner city's defense and security. You even dared to kill her. Not to mention whether the Emperor will issue an edict to wipe out Lanling Hall, even Consort Chen, Consort Zhao, and Madam Pei will definitely chase you to the ends of the earth and not let you go."
Among the Four Guards, Mu Huaying, known as "Xuanhu," was the only one who resigned from her official post. She is the wife of Pei Yuanli, the current Grand Marshal and General. She once served as the Chief Justice of the Court of Justice, the highest judicial organ of the Great Yan Dynasty, and was the foremost expert in criminal investigation and trial in the current dynasty.
The assassin of Lanling was not easily frightened.
Ah Qiu thought this to herself, but dared not say it aloud. She could only obediently say, "Then I must thank you, Young Master, for stopping me."
I was seething with hatred. Master Gu, I should have stabbed you deeper, so you'd know that talking without understanding the consequences comes at a price.
Gu Yi's thick eyebrows furrowed deeply, and a serious, thoughtful expression appeared on his handsome face. After a moment, he said, "Do you know any kung fu that doesn't involve killing?"
Ah Qiu chuckled twice and readily replied, "No."
If martial arts aren't for killing, are they for cooking? A-Qiu was completely baffled.
Gu Yi tried his best to salvage her completely corrupted conscience: "If you were to spar with a senior master, and the other party had no intention of harming you but only wanted to keep you alive, or if you didn't even need to kill anyone but only needed to temporarily hinder the other party to achieve your goal, would you still insist on killing or seriously injuring the other party?"
After thinking for a moment, A Qiu honestly replied, "We assassins would never spar with senior masters for no reason. If no one is willing to pay a price for the other's head, we would avoid them as much as possible."
Then, thinking of the latter possibility, he scratched his head and said, "There is no such situation. In fact, there is one—that would be a situation where the Punishment Hall under Second Senior Brother's jurisdiction should release the bewitching smoke and poisonous fog."
A stabbing weapon is a sharp blade, and it should only be used when a sharp blade is certain to be drawn. The rough work like chopping wood, carrying water, clearing the area, and assisting others should be left to other professionals.
Gu Yi stared at her for a moment, his expression becoming very complicated. After a long while, he said, "So your master trained you only to be a killing weapon, a tool suitable for specific scenarios. But you have never possessed the ability to judge and deal with the various changes in the world, but only the ability to face the extreme situation of assassination."
A Qiu hesitated for a moment and said, "That's not how it works." To be fair, Master is not someone who treats his disciples as tools. Otherwise, he wouldn't have cultivated Gongyi Xiu, who became the Right Chancellor, or his second senior brother, who was the leader of the world's gangs. Nor would he have immediately ordered her to stop and enter the palace as a lowly dancer and musician after she had conquered thirteen states.
She pondered for a moment before replying, "We in Lanling are not all assassins..." She could say no more, lest she reveal the secrets of this hall.
Gu Yi didn't pay attention to her words. He looked her up and down as if she were an object, and frowned, saying, "You're so old now, it's hard for you to change your movement style. But as long as you make a move, everyone will know you're an assassin."
Ah Qiu thought to himself: That's why Master told me to avoid taking action in the palace if possible, and if I had to take action, I should definitely silence them.
Gu Yi suddenly seemed to have made up his mind and said in a deep voice, "Come on! Take this move from me. You must not let me hurt you, but you must not harbor any intention to hurt me either. This is to determine the winner, not the loser, and to leave room for maneuver!"
Before A Qiu could react, his hand, which was behind his back, suddenly reached out, and the three-foot jade pendant, smooth and lustrous, emerged from his sleeve like a dragon emerging from the water, striking straight at her head.
A-Qiu watched helplessly as Yuheng struck him on the head, but he just sat motionless on the bed, neither getting up nor retaliating.
The jade balance hovered just inches above her nose, frozen in place. Gu Yi demanded in a deep voice, "Why aren't you fighting back?"
He was a meticulous man. Noticing that A Qiu's expression was off, he followed her gaze to his chest.
Her clothes were slightly frayed, revealing half of her skin. Of course, the most important thing wasn't that, but rather the exposed section of gauze bandage covering a wound under her ribs.
Gu Yi thought she had finally shown some conscience, and his voice softened slightly: "This minor injury is nothing to me. Get up and try your moves."
A-Qiu was so angry she wanted to jump up, and shouted, "Then release the restriction on my acupoints!"
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