Chapter 15: Blood Soul, Ice Spirit (2)

At the same time, Qie Lan's waist tightened, and she was encircled by a powerful arm and brought forward. She involuntarily crashed into someone's embrace. The jade hairpin, filled with killing intent, stopped abruptly half an inch from the person's throat, unable to advance even a fraction further.

Clean, slender fingers pressed lightly against the side of the jade hairpin. Qie Lan raised her eyes abruptly and finally saw his appearance clearly.

Warm as jade, cold as snow—this was the master of the Royal Domain, the Son of Heaven, the Eastern Emperor.

Except for the mask, she saw his brows flying into his temples, his thin, smiling lips, and the elegant arc of his slightly raised lip corners, but the smile was like cracking ice, chilling the heart and soul.

A sigh sounded in her ears. He was so close to her, his laughter gentle and warm. "This jade hairpin is a gift from me to you; it doesn't seem very suitable for killing." His gaze lowered. "Such a beautiful pair of hands is also not very suitable for being stained with blood."

Qie Lan struggled fiercely, but she couldn't move at all. Her hatred was no longer hidden. "I can't kill you today, but one day, you will surely die at the hands of the Jiu Yi people!"

"If you wanted to assassinate me, you shouldn't have looked at me with such eyes. If you had been a bit more gentle and forbearing, perhaps you would have succeeded." Zi Hao took the jade hairpin from her hand nonchalantly and pinned it back into her hair, watching the woman in front of him with great interest. "Why do you hate me so much that you must put me to death?"

Qie Lan then discovered that he had just bathed. His slightly damp hair was tied behind him with a pure white silk ribbon. He wore loose silk robes casually, his chest half-open. A faint medicinal fragrance mixed with the imperceptible water vapor emanated from him, clear, warm, and charming, enticing in every thread.

The bone-deep eyes at close range were cold, clear, pure, like water, like ink, like the deep night, the moon full in the sky.

Such skin-to-skin contact, the green stove warm with incense, the red candles shining low, the room overflowing with jade light, all was gentle and romantic, yet the playful, shallow smile on his lips hooked the poison-quenched light in her eyes. "Killing my mother, slaughtering my tribe—this hatred and grievance, I will not share the same sky with you!"

Zi Hao's eyebrows flickered slightly. "For your mother, you should thank me. If I hadn't had someone replace the poison in the wine, she wouldn't have left without pain."

"It wasn't enough that you killed my mother; you still think you didn't torture her enough? And I should thank the Master for his holy grace for this?" Qie Lan hated him to the extreme in her heart. If she could still move, she would have slapped him long ago.

Zi Hao's eyes were deep, and his joy and anger were indistinguishable. "That's right, you really should thank me, otherwise she would have wished she were dead." He looked at Qie Lan's face, which was flushed red with anger, and asked indifferently, "Have you heard of Lady Yu? She was the Empress Dowager's own younger sister."

Qie Lan closed her eyes and turned her head, simply saying nothing. He laughed low. "Do you know how she died? It was during the previous Emperor's reign. The Empress Dowager, in front of the previous Emperor, ordered people to cut her hand and foot tendons, cut off her tongue, whipped her until she was covered in wounds with thorn branches, and then threw her into the Scorpion Pit."

Qie Lan had been determined not to listen to him, but at this, she was shaken and opened her eyes wide.

The Scorpion Pit execution involved raising snakes and scorpions in a nine-zhang deep pit. The punished person had their hands and feet broken, their skin exposed. Once they entered the punishment, they were immediately drilled into by intestines and broken into hearts, ten thousand poisons devouring their bones, yet they could not die immediately. They had to struggle and wail for several days before turning into blood and filth. The tragedy of its form was shocking to ghosts and gods.

"There were nearly a thousand poisonous snakes of various sizes in that pit, but their poison would not kill a person immediately. Lady Yu was thrown into the pit, and her blood stirred the ferocity of the hungry snakes. The more she struggled and feared, the more she attracted the attacks of the group of snakes. She could see, she could hear, her sanity was not lost, her sense of pain still existed, but her hands and feet were useless, her mouth could not speak, and she couldn't even commit suicide. She could not seek life, nor could she seek death." He suddenly stopped. Qie Lan felt the arm behind her tighten slightly and couldn't help but ask, "And then?"

"Later, she suffered torture in the pit for three full days. Three days later, Li Si threw a blood-crowned golden snake into the pit."

"Ah!" Qie Lan gasped. "Then Lady Yu..."

"One snake killed her, ten thousand snakes pierced her heart, leaving no corpse." His voice became extremely cold for some reason, as if ice and snow had melted into it, chilling the sky and earth, with no life growing.

Qie Lan suddenly realized, "Li Si is your trusted handmaiden; it was you who killed Lady Yu!"

"Yes." Zi Hao raised his hand and pushed, and Qie Lan jumped out from behind the curtain, regaining her freedom. He threw out this word indifferently and said nothing more.

The jade curtain shook violently, the fragmented shadows were chaotic, and the white clothes were covered with uncertain light. In the silence of the room, only the sound of pearls and jade colliding could be heard, a very light, faint sound.

After a while, Qie Lan suddenly sneered, "Truly, like mother, like son. The King and the Empress Dowager are equally ruthless."

Zi Hao stood up slowly, brushed past the curtain, and said in a flat voice, "The Empress Dowager, Feng Wan, is not my biological mother."

The moment the jade curtain brushed down, Qie Lan saw clearly that the man in front of her had an extremely cold and indifferent expression, with not half a drop of blood on his face. Under the refraction of the ice-jade light, his face was indescribably pale, almost transparent. His face, set against the cloud-silk soft robe, made his whole body as cold as snow, untainted by a speck of dust, almost making one afraid to look directly at him.

Qie Lan sneered. Noble—this was the first thought that came to her mind when she saw this figure. The royal family, noble to the point of arrogance, everything should crawl at their feet, to be humiliated and slaughtered by them, life and death as cheap as grass. The Eastern Emperor in front of her, noble and refined, just like the Empress Dowager, was stained with the blood of the Witch Clan and the Jiu Yi tribe. Such a person was actually the master of the Nine Domains and the common people of the world!

"Then may I ask who the King's biological mother is? Is she also just as ruthless?"

The person asking had obvious mockery on her lips. Zi Hao raised his eyes, his pupils as deep as a calm lake, as quiet as an ice sea. He did not answer her question but continued, "Besides Lady Yu, there was another, Lady Rong, who died at the hands of the Empress Dowager. She was locked in the Langxuan Palace. Every time a Witch Clan rebel slave was captured, the Empress Dowager ordered people to execute them by slow slicing in front of her. The most was a hundred people executed at once. The Langxuan Palace was like a Shura hell, blood-stained, the tragedy unparalleled. Compared to the Jiu Yi tribe, how is this method of exterminating the clan? After the previous Emperor passed away, Lady Rong was sent to the royal mausoleum to be buried alive. Compared to your mother, how is this method of death?"

With such a quiet and cold expression, and such a calm statement, Qie Lan looked at him, unable to speak for a moment. His pitch-black pupils reflected the unknown slaughter in the deep palace of the royal city, yet everything seemed as if it were just a common occurrence, not moving him in the slightest.

"So you might as well remember: if you truly hate someone to the extreme, never kill them with a sword; watching them wish they were dead is what's called satisfying hatred." He smiled at the end, looking through her eyes. "Now, do you still want to kill me?"

Qie Lan only felt that the man in front of her was a demon, not a human. A chill rose from her back, and her palms were covered in cold sweat. She stared at him for a long time before spitting out a sentence, "I only know that as long as you are not dead, my great hatred will not be avenged!"

Zi Hao smiled again and nodded slightly. "Since that is the case, I will give you a chance for revenge." With a wave of his hand, the snow-satin on the jade table rose, revealing a long sword with a purple scabbard. "I broke your sword during the day; now I return one to you. This 'Fuxuan Sword' is a divine weapon forged from the refined steel of the Cang Sea by the White Emperor in the past. It can cut hair and slice iron like mud, and it is the nemesis of all weapons in the world. If you want to kill, you should use such a sword." He smiled faintly. "I will let you have one sword strike; I will neither dodge nor fight back. If you want revenge, then draw the sword."

Qie Lan's beautiful eyes tightened, looking at him in disbelief. He smiled faintly to indicate, standing with his hands behind his back.

Qie Lan walked slowly to the table and saw that the sword was slender and narrow, with a purple scabbard and silver patterns, faintly shrouded in coldness like frost and snow. Before it was even drawn, the sword energy was already pressing on people's minds. She touched the hilt lightly, and a coolness like water permeated her fingertips.

It was killing intent—the killing intent soaked in how much blood, born in the sword body as if it had a soul, making people's hearts jump suddenly. Before her eyes, it was as if she saw her home destroyed in the flames of war again, her mother dying suddenly on the golden hall, her tribesmen dying tragically under the chaotic blades!

The sky was filled with blood, blurring everything.

Life after life, blood for blood—it was only right and proper!

Her fingers gripped the hilt tightly, tighter and tighter. Suddenly, flying sleeves, drawing the sword, turning around, the sword struck!

Lightning split the sky, running through the deep palace. A cold light, dazzling and fast as a shooting star, shot toward Zi Hao's heart.

And he, truly, did not move a fraction, waiting for death with his hands tied!

The sword was like a white rainbow, going without excess force; the light was like a silk ribbon, suddenly illuminating those clear, cold pupils. Quiet as an abyss, clear as water, the sudden appearance of a startled swan—Qie Lan's heart felt as if it had been struck by lightning, her lungs pierced, her wrist trembled involuntarily, and the sword light flew obliquely upward. Blood splashed on the white robe!

The moment the sword blade entered his body, she clearly felt the resistance of blood flying and bones cracking. He hadn't even used his protective True Essence, taking her strike with his flesh and blood.

Because Qie Lan knew that Zi Hao's martial arts were much higher than hers, she knew she would have no chance if she missed this strike. She had used twelve percent of her power in this sword, burying it to the hilt from his shoulder. Zi Hao was forced back several steps by the fierce sword energy before he could steady himself. A sharp pain came from his heart, and the deadly poison lurking in his body stirred. The wound on his shoulder seemed insignificant in comparison. Amidst violent coughing, his face was only paler than before, setting off his pupils to be even blacker and brighter.

"Is the hatred satisfied?" After finally recovering, he managed to stand still and asked with a smile, looking up.

Qie Lan stood blankly in front of him, staring at him without blinking. Blood flowed gurgling from the wound on his shoulder, quickly staining half of his sleeve. That eerie, beautiful color reflected in his long, smiling eyes, as if red lotuses had bloomed in the depths of the demon realm, almost demonic.

She had severely wounded her enemy, yet she felt not half a sense of pleasure. Her heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by a hand, and there was pain gushing out along with that blood.

Why could he still smile so easily at this time?

Why did he accept her hatred so calmly?

Seeing her stunned and unable to speak, the smile in Zi Hao's eyes deepened. "You clearly could have taken my life with one sword, why did you suddenly change your mind?"

"I don't kill people who don't fight back." Qie Lan finally recovered and said hoarsely.

"Then you will have no more chances..." Zi Hao couldn't help but cough violently again, adding more blood to his body as he raised his sleeve, but the smile on his lips remained unchanged.

"I don't believe it." Qie Lan was as stubborn as before.

"You won't." Zi Hao shook his head slightly, looking at her with a smile, and threw his hand back. The Fuxuan Sword flew out, and a splash of blood splashed across the ancient zither on the ground, landing by Qie Lan's bare feet, like residual plum blossoms, like red makeup.

He ignored the blood flowing like a fountain from his wound, closed his eyes, and looked up, as if pondering something. A moment later, his wrist vibrated slightly, and a True Essence penetrated the sword body. The Fuxuan Sword's purple light erupted.

The sword shone with cold light, returning wind and startling snow. Following the elegant white clothes and the wild blood color, it flew and turned under the sword, writing cold and stern characters on the hard sandalwood floor without stopping—

Edict of Self-Reproach

I, with my cool virtue, have inherited the world for seven years now. Ruling over ten thousand states, I have been ignorant of the affairs of governing the country, unaware of the hardships of the common people, and unconcerned with the toil of the soldiers. I have wrongly raised the army, sent troops in all directions, slaughtered the Witch Clan, and attacked the Jiu Yi. The people of the two tribes have been displaced, their countries destroyed, their relatives dead, and their blood and tears have turned into sorrow. The withered bones of the soldiers have turned to death for a thousand miles; their souls gather, and the ghosts and gods weep. Thinking of these common people—who among them is not an innocent child? Destruction is extremely easy, but gathering life is extremely difficult. Heaven condemns from above, and people resent from below, yet I did not know it myself. This is my sin!

The sword blade is cold, blood is like a flower.

Every word and every sentence was dripping and piercing to the heart, stabbing directly into Qie Lan's eyes. Tears could no longer be suppressed and finally burst from her eyes...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 16 =====