Chapter 64

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Shaowei would not go out without cause; it was simply that tonight was the day the household servant regularly brought things.

Shaowei, who practiced martial drills behind the house during the day, had slept as soon as night fell and woke two hours later, before midnight; since waiting was waiting anyway, she did not sit idle in the room.

After patrolling the courtyard once, Shaowei thought Shan Gu had been too fierce charging into battle by the river during the day and had sprained his foot, likely unable to come serve as an ox or horse for several days, so she simply sat in the courtyard and began chopping firewood with a clatter.

Shaowei was especially relaxed while waiting for someone, and could even do some housework on the side; the one waiting for her also grew increasingly casual, this time not even climbing over the wall but tossing a bundle over from the other side.

Shaowei reacted as swiftly as a sudden gust; she put down the chopping knife, leapt up as she rose, and caught the heavy bundle that had nonetheless been thrown very high.

Shaowei casually placed the bundle on the firewood pile, then had already climbed over the wall and was chasing after that grey shadow.

The reason the household servant had not entered the courtyard was not only that the tacit understanding cultivated with Shaowei over time was enough to support this laziness, but also another increasingly undeniable reason—

Shaowei had a special physical constitution, and with Jiang Fu's medicinal conditioning, plus her comprehension far beyond ordinary people in both literary and martial arts, and finally that overly immense "jealousy" in her heart—jealousy of the strong, wanting to become strong, to defeat the strong—was an instinct Shaowei had accumulated since childhood out of a desire for self-preservation; now this instinct was stimulated more clearly, guided toward a path, and gradually transformed into an irresistible sword qi.

She held no sword in her hand, but she herself was a sharp sword.

As she leapt and flew, this sword qi accompanied her, threading through forests and crossing streams, like wind and rain sprinkling everywhere.

The person serving as Jiang Fu's household servant was also the one most aware of Shaowei's rate of progress; not entering the courtyard was also out of worry that the starting distance was too close—if he relaxed even a few steps, that girl might truly catch up and grab him... and that would be very embarrassing.

But this was not a long-term plan; at his age, with innate talent fixed and unchanging, there was no more room for significant improvement, while the little brat chasing behind him was arrogant and high-spirited, growing taller and longer-legged every day, and one day would surely overtake him.

He could even intuitively feel the change in the momentum behind him: at first, the child following behind was drenched in sweat, gnashing his teeth, every footstep and breath nearly exhausted to the point of defeat, making him feel pity, and he occasionally couldn't help but want to encourage and comfort her.

But now the youth following behind him moved like the wind, certain to win; the wind sound she brought as she ran seemed like some evil, arrogant, about-to-succeed cackling laugh, actually making him break out in a cold sweat behind, giving him a sense of urgency that he was about to become her prey.

Thus the household servant was forced to start changing the rules of this chase game in advance.

Besides footwork, he was even more skilled at covering tracks and hiding breath.

So now Shaowei not only had to chase people, but also find them; every time she watched the other person vanish from sight after a few flashes, yet she could clearly judge that the other had not gone far.

This hide-and-seek game once made Shaowei feel defeated; she believed her judgment under the five senses far surpassed ordinary people, yet she could never precisely capture this household servant's whereabouts—though there was indeed the other's deliberate misdirection and feinting east to strike west, she always fell for it, which proved she was a useless chicken.

But how exactly was this ability to cover tracks and hide breath, like a dead person, achieved?

Shaowei had no time at all to linger in defeat; only one voice occupied her mind—this ability of a dead wandering soul, she must also learn it.

On a night in early April, dark clouds surged and no moonlight shone; two figures appeared and disappeared, as if a small wandering soul was chasing a large wandering soul, and if anyone happened to witness it, they would surely confirm the saying that April Wandering Souls roam everywhere taking lives.

Shaowei ran for over ten li, chasing back and forth until a bamboo grove by the water; here bamboo grew wildly, roots intertwined, leaves dense, and rushing into it was like throwing oneself into a vast emerald sea.

Near the mountains and water, the night wind grew stronger; Shaowei was thoroughly annoyed by the rustling bamboo leaves, which made it even harder to discern the other's trace. After searching in vain, she suspected the other had left the bamboo grove, so she hurried forward, intending to escape this labyrinth-like emerald forest first.

The bamboo grove was like layers of curtains concealing; as she ran, Shaowei broke through layer after layer of curtains, until only the last layer remained, the emerald color faded, revealing a thin grey-blue night.

Yet Shaowei suddenly stopped before this last layer of curtains.

Sensing something, she pushed aside the fine branches and leaves, poked her head out a little, and stared closely; only to see the scene ahead seemed familiar—the once Broken Mountain had regained vitality, the fallen mountain body covered in a layer of emerald, as if green moss had grown on the body of a quietly sleeping giant.

But what made Shaowei stop was not this familiar trace of Broken Mountain, but a solitary back standing alone by the water of Broken Mountain.

Shaowei took one look and could tell that the silhouette was clearly a youth, and absolutely not the household servant she was chasing.

On a moonless night, by the shore of Broken Mountain Lake, how could someone appear here alone?

After staring closely to discern for a moment, it could be seen that this person wore a blue robe, blending with the grey-blue sky canopy as if they were a creation of the heaven-and-earth qi condensed from this dark night's mountains and waters—silent and soundless, as if in the next instant they would turn into a wisp of blue smoke or a copper-blue bird spreading its wings and flying away.

Thinking of the rumors about wandering souls, Shaowei inevitably felt a trace of curiosity, but acting to satisfy curiosity must be based on relative safety, and at this time, this place, and this person were all full of unknowns.

Shaowei decisively retreated a step, just about to withdraw the hand pushing aside the bamboo branches, intending to return the way she came, when an unexpected situation occurred.

The youth who had been standing still was indeed as alert and swift as a bird; he suddenly turned his shoulder and looked back while raising his left arm.

He sensed a slight movement in the forest behind him; even if not fully confirming someone was hiding there, even if it was due to his suspicion making him see enemies in every bush, it did not hinder him from using a cold crossbow bolt to confirm.

Seeing the sharp short crossbow suddenly approaching, Shaowei suddenly leapt back to avoid it; the crossbow bolt she avoided penetrated a thick bamboo pole, which emitted a creaking sound and snapped in the middle, the upper half falling askew, and at this moment Shaowei heard the footsteps of others.

Amid the brief chaos, a grey shadow came from some direction, pressed a hand on Shaowei's shoulder, tapped her acupoint, and stopped her movement.

Shaowei furrowed her brow; though she had no time to see the face, she knew this meddlesome grey shadow was precisely the household servant she knew.

The household servant walked out of the bamboo grove in place of Shaowei, facing the youth's gaze and the crossbow mechanism equipped on his left arm, as well as the long knives in the hands of two Dark Shadow Guards rushing forward to protect.

The youth, whose complexion was extremely pale, whose eyebrows and eyes were pitch-black and coldly stern, yet without a trace of effeminacy, looked at the grey shadow walking out, focused his attention for a moment, then smiled unpredictably: "So it's you, I recognize you."

The grey-clad household servant's voice was hoarse and ordinary: "I also recognize Your Highness the Sixth Prince."

They had met before, when this youth was still very young.

The youth, who had rarely shown fear since childhood, now asked calmly: "Are you also hired today to kill me?"

"I only kill those I want to kill, never employed by others."

"Then does this knight-errant want to kill me?"

"Just passing by."

Two questions and two answers were both concise.

Based on these two concise answers, the youth Liu Qi thus lowered his left-arm crossbow in the standoff, and the Dark Shadows on his left and right followed by sheathing their blades.

The killing intent in the air had not yet fully dissipated when Liu Qi asked: "Does the knight-errant want to drink wine?"

"No, I don't like drinking libation wine." The grey-clad household servant turned and left: "It's unlucky."