Chapter 446: Close-Contact Sword Dancing

In the backyard.

Yu Liancheng and the flower queen Yu sat opposite each other; one was peerless in elegance, the other the most beautiful in Beiliang.

The young man in black played with Wumeiniang in his arms, occasionally stroking its head, occasionally scratching its chin; the white cat had already narrowed its eyes in comfort.

Yu Liancheng looked again at the slightly resentful Yu Youwei beside him and suddenly found that she seemed very similar to the cat in his arms, only one was lazy and content, while the other seemed about to bristle. It was as if those slender, fair palms would immediately sprout sharp claws to leave him battered and bleeding.

Yu Liancheng chuckled, and the two chatted for a few more sentences, but the flower queen Yu remained cold and distant, her replies icy. She was like a wife who had waited at home for a long time only for her husband to return from carousing outside.

Facing this cold and aloof Yu Youwei, Yu Liancheng sighed, placed Wumeiniang on the stone table, stood up, and turned to leave, leaving behind a cup of tea that had almost gone cold.

"Wait, you... are you leaving?" The flower queen Yu had not expected the other party to be so crisp and decisive, without a hint of hesitation, and a sense of panic and reluctance arose in her heart.

"Since you do not wish to speak with me, I naturally cannot stay and invite annoyance." Yu Liancheng did not look back; since she would not give him a pleasant expression, he would not seek to make a fool of himself.

"Wait." Seeing that Yu Liancheng was only a few steps from leaving the courtyard, Yu Youwei could not help but step forward quickly, extending a slender hand to grab his arm.

Applying a little force, her skin pressed against his, and for a moment, it was scorching.

But Yu Xuanji immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly let go, her beautiful, nation-toppling face flushing slightly. Seeing Yu Liancheng's gaze turn toward her, she hurriedly said, "You said last time you would teach me sword techniques, yet now you wish to leave without a word. Could it be that the dignified Huishan Master, Murong Tonghuang, whose fame in the pugilistic world is second only to Wang Xianzhi, is also going to welch on a promise and lie?"

Yu Liancheng turned his head, his eyes meeting Yu Youwei's, his gaze burning as if it could reach straight into her heart, and he said bluntly, "Are you blaming me for not coming to see you all this time?"

"Don't talk nonsense." Yu Xuanji gave a cold snort and turned her body away, leaving Yu Liancheng with only a face of infinite beauty.

"I imagine you have heard that during this time I had a confrontation with the Imperial Court, killing the Imperial Prince Zhao Kai, as well as the Human Cat Han Shengxuan, the Sick Tiger Yang Taisui, and many other experts... The journey from Huishan to the Beiliang Prince Mansion spans thousands of miles. Once I resolved those lingering troubles, I came to find you; naturally, it took a great deal of time. As for my previous promise, it of course still counts."

"You... did you really kill Zhao Kai?"

Yu Youwei's beautiful eyes flickered. As a person of the fallen Western Chu, the belief in revenge in her heart had almost never ceased. As for the person to take revenge on, after much deliberation, she had finally chosen the lecherous, good-for-nothing Prince Xu Fengnian. If she could see the Liyang Dynasty suffer, she would be very gleeful.

"Indeed." Yu Liancheng nodded.

Yu Youwei's beautiful eyes overflowed with brilliance: "Can you tell me about it in detail?"

"Gladly."

The two sat back down, and Yu Liancheng recounted the process of killing the Human Cat, beheading the Taisui, and assassinating the Imperial Prince.

Of course, relying purely on force to crush them would have been too boring, so he could not help but embellish the story to make it more dramatic and gripping, no worse than a professional storyteller.

When he finally reached the part where "the highly skilled, righteous, and dashing Murong Tonghuang beheaded the arrogant, lecherous, and greedy Imperial Prince Zhao Kai with a single blade," Yu Youwei could not help but clap her hands, her pretty face revealing excitement, much like a child seeing Sun Dasheng strike down a blocking demon with a single blow of his staff.

Of course, Yu Xuanji was an extremely intelligent woman and could naturally spot some flaws and lies in these words, but she would not expose them, remaining as interested as a child.

"I wronged you." Yu Xuanji's pretty face held a smile; it was joy from the heart, which added three parts more color to her already peerless appearance.

"It is nothing, though I truly have missed Youwei these days..."

Yu Liancheng knew the time had come, so he offered some sweet words. At first, even he felt they were cheesy, but after saying them enough, he could no longer distinguish truth from falsehood.

While speaking, his hands and feet were not very well-behaved, as if inadvertently holding Yu Xuanji's jade hand and gently stroking it, feeling that jade-like texture.

Of course, going any further was impossible; after all, this was only the third time the two had met. Even if there was some affection between them, taking it further would require time to accumulate.

Beside them, Wumeiniang licked its paw and used it to wash its face, its eyes, bright as rubies, looking at Yu Xuanji twice, seemingly curious. Clearly, it had been distant and cold before, yet in the blink of an eye, they were so close. It let out two "meows," and seeing that no one paid it any mind, it leaped up, walked with an elegant cat-step, and went to find a good spot to bask in the sun and sleep.

On the other side, perhaps stirred by the talk of slaughter, Yu Xuanji's interest in learning martial arts was piqued, and she brought up the old topic, asking Yu Liancheng to teach her sword dancing.

Yu Liancheng patted her hand and told her to go change her clothes.

Soon, Yu Xuanji returned wearing the colorful dress she had worn when they met for the second time, magnificent and extraordinary, like a phoenix bathing in fire. It revealed her graceful figure. Her steps were light, every step a lotus, revealing a charm entirely different from before.

Yu Liancheng used his tea as wine to properly appreciate the beauty's posture, looking her up and down until Yu Youwei's beautiful eyes held a hint of reproach, at which point he smiled.

"I once knew a friend who also had a brilliant sword dance. However, her sword dance was not just for appreciation; it could also kill. The sword technique was dazzling and brilliant, causing people to lose their lives in a state of bewilderment."

Yu Youwei was able to grasp the key point and asked: "That was a woman, right?"

"Of course." Yu Liancheng smiled, not avoiding the subject at all: "But she was not as gentle or beautiful as you, and she was a true femme fatale. Staying with her, I sometimes worried she would thrust a sword at me. To that woman, killing was as simple as eating or drinking; she had no concept of good or evil. But her sword technique did have its merits. I have pondered it these past few days and devised a new set of sword techniques from her dance. If you can master it, you will be able to handle even a Second-Rank Small Grandmaster with ease."

"Alright, how do I learn it?" Yu Xuanji's smile was like a flower.

"You have already missed the best age for learning martial arts, but fortunately, I have figured out a way for you to get started as quickly as possible." Yu Liancheng's figure flashed, and he appeared behind Yu Xuanji, wrapping his arms around her slender waist, blowing a breath against her crystalline earlobe, and said: "It is by teaching you this way, in close contact."

"I, I, I won't learn it." Although Yu Xuanji was a flower queen, she had never been this close to a man before; her face quickly flushed red, and she struggled hard.

Yu Liancheng smiled slightly: "That is no longer up to you."

With one hand around Yu Xuanji's waist and the other holding her wrist, he began to dance slowly.