Chapter 187: Gu Yun

Gu Yun left the study first. Ao Tian remained silent for a long time before following them to the courtyard. The two had just stood still when Zhuo Qing suddenly reached out and groped around Gu Yun's left chest. Ao Tian was startled and turned his head slightly away. Gu Yun was also a bit embarrassed, but her body stood straight, letting Zhuo Qing study her chest for a long time. After a while, Zhuo Qing seemed to finally determine the position, stopped her hand at a point on the left chest, and said to Ao Tian, "I don't need to tell you where the heart is. The position of the diaphragm is here." Picking up a piece of mud from the ground, she drew a thin line half an inch long at the indicated position.

Ao Tian turned his head and looked at the position Zhuo Qing had drawn. His heart, which had finally calmed down, tightened again. In his cognition, that was exactly the position of the heart. With such a sword thrust, would she—really not die?

Zhuo Qing's expression was as usual, full of confidence, and Gu Yun was also in a state of unconditional trust. Ao Tian suppressed his doubts. Zhuo Qing suddenly said to Gu Yun, "Stretch out your hand."

Gu Yun stretched out her hand obediently without hesitation. Zhuo Qing lifted Gu Yun's wrist and handed it to Ao Tian, saying, "You first feel the frequency of her heartbeat."

Ao Tian hesitated for a while, but his hand still rested on Gu Yun's wrist. The pulse was stable, calm, powerful, and regular. Seeing that Gu Yun's inner heart was as calm and stable as her expression, it was Ao Tian's heartbeat that began to become abnormal. The pulse of each beat was transmitted through the delicate skin, so full of vitality. If he thrust a sword over...

Ao Tian's hand on Gu Yun's wrist withdrew abruptly, and it actually trembled slightly, out of his control.

Neither Zhuo Qing nor Gu Yun noticed his abnormality. Zhuo Qing was busy instructing, "Remember, you must not be nervous at that time, otherwise if the heartbeat is chaotic, it will be very difficult for Ao Tian to grasp it accurately."

"I know." Gu Yun smiled knowingly. To save hostages, she had broken into minefields. She had survived the fear of losing her life at any moment with every step she took, and this calculated sword thrust wouldn't scare her.

Looking at Ao Tian, he had already withdrawn his hand. Zhuo Qing thought he had already grasped the frequency of Gu Yun's heartbeat, grabbed a tree branch as thick as a thumb and more than a meter long from the ground, handed it to Ao Tian, pointed at the thin line with one finger, and instructed, "Practice the position. It must be exactly the same, and the action must be fast. The faster you act, the smaller the wound, so I can treat the injury. Understand?"

"Yes." Ao Tian replied in a low voice, his hand holding the dead branch almost breaking it.

"Start." Zhuo Qing's cold voice rang in his ears. Ao Tian still stood there motionless.

He lowered his head, and Gu Yun couldn't see his expression, but she guessed he must be nervous. Gu Yun smiled and said cheerfully, "Ao Tian, start. It's just a tree branch."

For a long time, Ao Tian finally raised the tree branch in his hand, looked at the position of Gu Yun's left chest, and thrust it—

Zhuo Qing frowned, "The position is off."

Another thrust—

"Too slow. Come again." Zhuo Qing's voice became colder, "Come again."

Although it was a tree branch, Gu Yun's chest was still poked painfully. Enduring the pain, Gu Yun remained silent, still keeping a faint smile on her face and looking at Ao Tian encouragingly. However, Ao Tian's situation was getting worse and worse. His originally fair skin could only be described as pale now, and even his lip color was terrifyingly white. The silver hair torn by the sweat on his forehead was wet, and his eyes, whether cold or arrogant, were filled with uncontrollable panic and mania. The tree branch thrust over was actually still trembling slightly.

Gu Yun raised her hand, easily grabbed the tree branch that was coming toward her but had no strength to speak of, and said in a deep voice, "Rest for a while." Ao Tian immediately released the tree branch, as if it were a hot iron. Gu Yun approached Ao Tian. He suddenly turned his back to avoid looking at her, his heavy and rapid breathing showing Ao Tian's unease and frustration.

Before this, it wasn't that he hadn't thought about whether he would use her life to trade for his only sister in the end, but when he really had to take action against her, even if he was holding only a tree branch, he couldn't control his hands, let alone his heart.

Under the heavy night, the usually straight and tall back was a bit hunched. Gu Yun went around to his front, grabbed Ao Tian's cold hand, and replied easily, "Ao Tian, with your martial arts cultivation, it is very easy to hit the target with one strike. It's just one sword thrust. I believe in you! We will drink together next time!"

Ao Tian raised his head slowly, meeting those bright and moist eyes full of trust, but his heart was hit hard. It hurt!

Ao Tian suddenly closed his dark eyes. Gu Yun let go of his hand gently and looked at Zhuo Qing in a dilemma. Zhuo Qing sighed softly, grabbed the tree branch on the ground and stuffed it into Ao Tian's hand again, and said with some impatience but exceptionally firmly, "Alright, you don't have to be so nervous. With me here, it won't be easy for her to die. You practice a few more times; there isn't much time left."

For a long time, Ao Tian finally turned back and began to practice again and again.

An hour passed very quickly, and Ao Tian's result was—he thrust countless times, but the number of times he actually hit the thin line was only three.

Gu Yun's expression was as usual, always calm and composed, but it made the people waiting to set off break out in a cold sweat. Especially Su Ling, several times Mo Bai thought Su Ling was going to rush up, but he didn't stop them except for his fists almost crushing.

Looking up at the sky, Gu Yun lowered her head and patted off the thin line that was no longer very clear, and said together, "It's almost time, let's go."

"Crack!" As soon as Gu Yun finished speaking, the tree branch in Ao Tian's hand was crushed by him. Gu Yun pretended not to see the panic he was trying to hide on his face, walked out first, and said cheerfully, "Everyone act according to the planned plan."

"Ao Tian, let's go." A faint urge rang out outside the courtyard. Ao Tian's face was already pale, and his eyes finally returned to his usual coldness. He looked at Zhuo Qing. Zhuo Qing raised her lips slightly, her eyebrows full of confident certainty. Ao Tian's heart seemed to settle down a bit, and he gathered his energy and chased after her.

Su Ling and Mo Bai also followed them out.

"Su Ling..." When passing by Zhuo Qing, Su Ling's sleeve tightened, and Zhuo Qing's suppressed voice came low, "Help me bring her back alive!"

Su Ling stiffened all over and nodded imperceptibly.

Everyone acted according to the plan, and the courtyard became deserted again. Zhuo Qing hugged her arms tightly, suddenly losing the confidence she had just now. Her feet felt weak and she stepped back, falling into a warm and inclusive embrace.

"Xiyan, I'm so scared." She was afraid that this separation would become a farewell forever. She was afraid that what she would wait for would be a cold corpse.

The person in her arms was trembling violently. This was the Qing'er he had never seen before. The hand on her shoulder exerted a little force, passing warmth and confidence into her heart. Lou Xiyan's always gentle voice comforted Zhuo Qing's panicked heart, "Don't worry, it will be fine. You have to believe in her, and you also have to believe in yourself."

Zhuo Qing grabbed her arms tightly and muttered secretly: Su Ling, I'm sorry—

To help Yun save time, to let Su Ling protect Yun for her, she had just deceived him. She told him that it didn't matter even if this sword didn't hit the diaphragm, as long as Su Ling could bring Yun back as soon as possible, she could save her. She lied. This lie made Su Ling think that Yun's life was actually in his hands. She said this just to let Su Ling bring people back faster, and also to let him agree to Yun's plan, but for him, it was cruel. If, if Yun really died...

Xiaoshan, Zi hour.

It wasn't the fifteenth tonight, but the moonlight was exceptionally bright, appearing a bit strange. On the mountain peak, a lean figure walked back and forth, his steps hurried, and his silver hair moved slightly, showing that this person was in a restless mood. Ao Ji was uneasy in his heart, not knowing if Ao Tian would come. He had never been able to guess his thoughts, and now that he had a clever woman like a ghost beside him, it was even harder to figure out!

Just past the Zi hour, Ao Ji saw Ao Tian and Gu Yun walking side by side. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and until the two walked to him, he still didn't move his eyes away from Gu Yun, and laughed hoarsely, "Little girl, I seem to have underestimated you." She actually took people to search, and actually almost let her find it! The little girl really had some small cleverness, but this incident also better verified her value. Su Ling's indulgence of her and Lou Xiyan's support for her had reached the point where even Dan Yulan had to listen to her. If Ao Tian took her life, this chase would definitely be very interesting.

Gu Yun remained silent. Ao Ji laughed strangely, "You actually dared to come. You have courage." Was she not afraid of death, or was she so confident that Ao Tian wouldn't kill her?!

Gu Yun remained silent, her young face calm to the point of abnormality. Ao Ji was impatient and asked Ao Tian, "How about it? Have you made your choice?"

Ao Tian hesitated for a while and said in a low voice, "As long as you don't kill her, I will do whatever you want me to do, even if it is to kill Yan Hongtian."

Hahaha! Ao Ji burst into laughter. When had Ao Tian ever spoken so humbly? His whole heart was occupied by vanity. Ao Ji laughed even more arrogantly, "Do you think you are still qualified to bargain with me? I gave you time today to let you make your choice slowly, but unfortunately, you disappointed me! Want to save Ye Mei? Unless I am willing to let you take her away, otherwise, you won't even be able to find her corpse!"

"You should be grateful to me for giving you the chance to make a choice." Ao Tian's hands tightened, and Ao Ji began to press hard, "Is it her life, or Ye Mei's life?" He wanted to see whether Ao Tian chose his sister or his lover!

"If—" Ao Tian paused, took a deep breath, and asked in a low voice, "If I kill her, will you take me to see Ye Mei immediately?"

"Yes."

As soon as Ao Ji finished speaking, Ao Tian grabbed the soft sword at his waist. Ao Ji was shocked, thinking he was going to make a move on him, and was about to jump back to dodge, when a cold light flashed by. The long sword thrust into Gu Yun's heart without any hesitation. The pitch-black long sword pierced through her chest. Gu Yun opened her big eyes and stared at Ao Tian in disbelief.

At this moment, the one who didn't expect this was also Su Ling and Mo Bai, who were hiding in the distance. Both were startled, looking at the delicate figure standing woodenly with the sword piercing through her body under the moonlight. Su Ling's heart was pierced hard by something, and he actually felt like he couldn't breathe. That pain spread from the bottom of his heart to every part of his body. With great difficulty, Su Ling came back to his senses and was about to rush out, but his body was pressed tightly by Mo Bai beside him, "General Su! Calm down, the big picture is important. If you go out now, Miss Qing will have suffered this sword thrust in vain!"

Su Ling's fingers gripping the Red Blood sword clicked. Mo Bai also felt the pressing heat of the crimson long sword. He only hoped that Ao Tian could lead Ao Ji away quickly, otherwise, he really didn't know how long he could suppress this one person and one sword!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 188 =====

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