Chapter 34: 33 Clear Eyes

33 Clear Eyes

Tang Zhao was greatly shocked, then felt extreme annoyance; it was already terrible to accidentally injure someone, let alone someone he knew.

Originally, at this place and this time, it was absolutely impossible for there to be any outsiders. The Grape Courtyard had always had a curfew, and there was no one outside; who would have thought someone would pop up today?

However, while he had some justification, having injured someone, he could not escape the charge of "carelessness." Unable to avoid feeling guilty, he hurried over and said repeatedly, "I'm sorry, Sister Yuan Qing, I'm sorry, I didn't see clearly."

Yuan Qing hung her head halfway, her expression unclear. After a moment, she slowly looked up and said, "It's fine."

In that instant, Tang Zhao saw her gaze was full of resentment and her face was filled with fury, but the next moment she replaced it with a nonchalant smile.

That smile was very gentle, as if it came from the bottom of her heart.

Yet Tang Zhao knew that the look of uncontrollable rage he had just seen was not fake either.

No matter how magnanimous she was, the emotional shift in an instant was just too fast.

Tang Zhao could only continue to apologize, saying, "I'll take you to see a doctor to bandage the wound first."

Yuan Qing smiled again and said, "It's nothing, just a small wound."

Tang Zhao reached out to support her, but Yuan Qing waved her hand and sat directly on the playground, pressing down on the wound, clearly applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

Her cry had drawn the attention of those in the courtyard; teachers from the Grape Courtyard had already rushed out, and for a time, the playground was bright with firelight.

Seeing that it was Yuan Qing who was injured, the teachers hurried over, some asking after her, some fetching medicine. They formed a circle, but out of respect for Yuan Qing's status, no one dared to get close.

Finally, the only female head instructor stepped forward and supported Yuan Qing, saying, "Miss Yuan Qing, come to my place to apply medicine and rest."

Yuan Qing gave a hum, slowly stood up, walked a few steps, and then said to Tang Zhao, "It's fine, wait for me here."

The more indifferent she was, the more guilty Tang Zhao felt, and he nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Just then, as Yuan Qing was about to enter the room, the crowd saw there was no chance to curry favor, and a bearded man turned his head and cursed, "That son of a bitch who hurt Miss Yuan Qing, I..."

Before the words were finished, Yuan Qing suddenly turned her hand, and a poison dart struck him in the face. She shouted, "So noisy!" Her voice was sharp, her eyes wide with rage, and she seemed to harbor a gnashing hatred.

The man let out a miserable scream, rolled onto the ground, and continued to scream incessantly.

The other instructors were stunned, and there was dead silence. The female head instructor laughed dryly and said, "Miss Yuan Qing, be careful not to get angry and aggravate the wound."

Yuan Qing did not answer and let herself be supported into the room.

Once the door closed, the crowd felt as if they had received an Amnesty, but they looked at each other in dismay, not daring to ask what had happened. The instructor who had fallen to the ground was dragged into a room by two young Disciples, and no one knew if he was dead or alive.

Only Tang Zhao saw it clearly—this instructor had suffered a completely unprovoked disaster and was merely a target for her displaced anger.

Yuan Qing was actually still resentful toward herself, but for some reason, she could not vent her anger on herself, so she had casually injured someone. As for whether this person was one of their own from the manor, Yuan Qing did not consider it.

As for whether she had calmed down after killing or injuring someone? No one could tell; they could only see the smile on her face.

While blaming himself, Tang Zhao could not help but worry. Although it was an accidental injury, it seemed to have buried a great hidden danger.

Damn it.

And that instructor he didn't know...

"I'm sorry," Tang Zhao said to the instructor again.

"Don't say you're sorry; if you say it, I'll have to kill him."

The door clicked, and it was Yuan Qing who came out.

By now she had changed her clothes, wearing the tight-fitting outfit of a female instructor. Her face was calm and indifferent, no longer forcing a smile, which actually looked more natural.

Tang Zhao opened his mouth, and Yuan Qing said lazily, "Alright, come with me. I'm here to take you out. Did you think I came here to stir up trouble for no reason?"

The instructors saw them to the gate of the Grape Courtyard, and for the first time in half a month, Tang Zhao walked out of the small Grape Courtyard.

The night moon was hazy, the stars were dim, and the night sky seemed covered by a thin mist.

Yuan Qing walked along the corridor. Because she was wearing a tight-fitting outfit, her steps were not like the usual swaying of a skirt, but rather swift and breezy. Seeing Tang Zhao's conflicted expression out of the corner of her eye, she said, "What's wrong? Can't you say anything other than 'I'm sorry'?"

Tang Zhao forced a smile and said, "What else is there to say?"

Yuan Qing said gloomily, "In the manor, the words 'I'm sorry' cannot be said carelessly. As long as you admit fault, you are at fault, and every black pot will be placed on your back."

"Take that man just now, for example. It was clearly me who shot him; he wouldn't dare come looking for me unless he wanted to die. But if you apologize and he hears it, he will hate you and will definitely cause you trouble. And you cannot afford to have anything happen to you, so to prevent future trouble, I had no choice but to kill him."

The logic inside this was very peculiar, but after Tang Zhao sorted it out, he could actually understand it. Having been influenced by what he saw and heard in the Grape Courtyard, he also sensed that there was a set of operating rules there that were independent of the outside world.

Temporarily putting this matter aside, Tang Zhao asked, "Sister Yuan Qing, did you come to find me because the Manor Master has some instructions?"

Yuan Qing's eyebrows twitched, and she said, "No, the people from the Land Inspection Bureau told me to find you."

Tang Zhao was puzzled. The Land Inspection Bureau had their own people, and Si Liyu was more familiar with the place; couldn't he have just come to find him?

Yuan Qing said, "These days, everyone from top to bottom is busy. Today, both the Manor Master and Inspector are away, yet a group of unwelcome guests arrived. The people from the Land Inspection Bureau are mixing with our people to entertain them. Originally, this had nothing to do with you, but now the one in charge of them doesn't know what he remembered, and insists on having you brought over. Heh, his official rank isn't very high, but he's just like the rest of them when it comes to ordering people around."

That flavor was right.

Tang Zhao nodded secretly; it would be unreasonable for Yuan Qing not to disparage the Land Inspection Bureau a few times.

Yuan Qing added, "But you are quite impressive. Half a month ago you couldn't do anything, and in just half a month you were actually able to injure me. This progress is faster than flying."

Tang Zhao said, "I just took advantage of a sneak attack; you weren't prepared, otherwise how could I have succeeded?"

Yuan Qing closed her eyes to recall and said, "Not just that. At the end, you even reminded me, and slowed down? If you had been fully prepared, it is possible you could have killed me with one sword."

She suddenly said indignantly, "How can this be? I have been learning martial arts since I was a child, ten years now, and I was threatened by a little Scholar who has only been learning for half a month? Tell me, how did you practice?"

Tang Zhao's small self-confidence and vanity were growing. He had practiced hard for half a month; although it was not worth mentioning compared to ten years, it was still a lot of hard work. Could he count this as seeing progress?

Although it was by relying on an Art Tool.

But if he could rely on an Art Tool and others couldn't, that was just a natural talent, so what of it?

He smiled embarrassedly and said, "Just luck... Who's there?!"

Suddenly, his gaze fixed, and he looked at a rooftop in the distance.

Yuan Qing followed his gaze, but the rooftop was empty; where could there be anyone?

She did not dare to relax, leaped onto the wall, and with a few bounds reached the nearest rooftop. Looking from a high vantage point, she still found nothing. After checking all around, she jumped down and said, "What did you see?"

Tang Zhao said, "There was someone on that rooftop just now. I didn't see their face, only that their eyes were particularly bright. The kind that emits light."

Yuan Qing asked skeptically, "Can human eyes emit light? Some internal energy experts can indeed train their gaze to be bright, but emitting light is... though some animals' eyes do indeed shine at night; you didn't see a cat, did you?"

Tang Zhao was also puzzled; he felt he hadn't seen wrong, but Yuan Qing truly hadn't found anyone either.

Could it be a cat?

The two arrived at a large hall. This was not the hall where Xing Ji entertained guests, but another, larger main hall; before even getting close, they could already see it brightly lit, with the fragrance of wine assailing their nostrils.

Yuan Qing led him in through the back door, and they saw it was a small hall inside, where several people dressed as child servants were present.

Tang Zhao swept his eyes across and discovered that these people all looked familiar; they were all the people Xing Ji had introduced at the wine table that day, all military officers with official posts in the Land Inspection Division, yet they were each dressed as child servants, and there were even two women dressed as maidservants.

Was someone missing?

Who was missing?

A thought flashed through Tang Zhao's mind, but immediately after, he didn't care anymore. He didn't even think about the matter of "who was missing" itself.

Yuan Qing looked inside with disdain and said, "I've brought the person; let's see how you all mess around. Take it easy; it doesn't matter if you kill everyone, just don't dirty our place."

Having said that, he turned and left.

Tang Zhao only felt everyone's gaze focused on him, feeling slightly pressured, and he cupped his hands, saying, "My lords, I..."

A middle-aged man with an ugly appearance, wearing butler attire, said, "Tang Zhao, right? You've finally come. I am Peng Yiming of the Land Inspection Division. Come, come, come, we need you right here."

Tang Zhao had an impression of him; although he had only met him once, among all the people of the Land Inspection Division, he was the only one who looked the ugliest, making him very easy to remember.

Just after exchanging greetings, he enthusiastically grabbed Tang Zhao and brought him to the very front, where there was a gap through which one could see the main hall.

In the hall, bright candles were shining high, and a banquet was underway, with five full tables of wine and food set out, and there were sixty or seventy people; at this moment, the conversation at the tables was boisterous, and the atmosphere had reached its peak.

Right in the center at the main table were eight people, among whom the person in the main seat was an old man with a full head of gray hair, a vigorous Spirit, and attire that was quite imposing; at a glance, he was a person of status. Another person was wearing the attire of the Black Spider Villa and accompanying him at the lower seat; Tang Zhao did not recognize him, but he looked like someone who managed the villa.

Peng Yiming said, "Do you see that old man? I want an item on him; help me take a look."