Chapter 61: Man and Man (Bonus chapter for 4000 tip)

A man in white suddenly appeared on the flower path paved with vermilion stones.

His features were as cold and stern as a marble sculpture; he wore white, and his every gesture was proper and refined—no one could find the slightest fault with him. He was merely a bit too cold, a bit too arrogant.

Of course, for a man like him, no matter how cold or arrogant he was, it was only to be expected.

Niurutang followed right behind Gong Jiu; although the wound on her shoulder had been treated, it still throbbed with pain. Yet, a vicious smile appeared on her sweet, pretty face, as if she could already see Ninth Brother tearing that pair of adulterers limb from limb.

At the end of the flower path, hidden among the rose bushes, stood a small house.

Upon seeing this house, the ice on Gong Jiu's cold face suddenly melted, revealing a warm smile, like sunlight breaking through dark clouds. It left Niurutang, standing to the side, somewhat dazzled and mesmerized, followed immediately by an unconcealable, teeth-gritting jealousy.

Gong Jiu slowly paced to the front of the house and was just about to knock when he suddenly heard a sound that made one's face flush with embarrassment.

His figure froze instantly, like an ice sculpture, not moving at all.

The expression that had carried a smile also turned icy in an instant—chillingly so, as if he were wearing a mask cast from ice.

Niurutang could not help but tremble; she rarely saw Gong Jiu with this expression, but it undoubtedly proved that Gong Jiu was very angry, very furious.

Gong Jiu gritted his teeth and raised his arm, seemingly intending to push open the door, but he stopped himself by sheer force of will.

He took a few steps back, his expression having returned to calm as if nothing had ever happened, his eyes showing no ripples.

This was indeed a man who knew how to endure.

Yet Niurutang's heart grew cold.

She knew that Gong Jiu had always been a very calm person; even when buried alive by Xiao Laotou, or when lost for three days and three nights, his expression remained icy, as if nothing could move him in the slightest.

But that was Shaman.

His wife-to-be, the woman he loved most in his life.

Yet, faced with this scene, he returned to calm after only a moment of rage.

He was simply not human.

If he was like this when faced with Shaman, then if the person inside were her, she feared Ninth Brother wouldn't even spare her a second glance.

When her gaze shifted back to Gong Jiu's sculpture-like face, Niurutang's mindset had subtly changed from before.

After a long while, the door creaked open, and a young man in black robes walked out slowly, straightened his clothes, and stood before Gong Jiu with a smug, triumphant smile on his face.

The weather was clear and the sun was bright; although the sea breeze was blocked by the surrounding mountain peaks, the climate was still cool and pleasant.

Yet Niurutang felt increasingly cold.

The man in black and the man in white stood facing each other.

Although the two peerless swordsmen had not yet drawn their swords, a piercing Sword Intent already filled the surroundings, making one's whole body shiver and one's marrow run cold.

Gong Jiu's face was cold, and his tone remained very calm, without much fluctuation: "You have come out?"

Yu Liancheng smiled: "A moment of a spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold; originally I did not wish to come out, but since there are two annoying flies outside, they still need to be dealt with."

Shaman was a very lonely, very pitiful girl. As long as one gave her a little warmth, she would climb and entwine herself around one like a vine.

Gong Jiu was indeed very good to her, no matter what Shaman wanted. No matter how much effort or Golden Coin it cost, he would do it for her.

But Gong Jiu's own personality was too strange, almost beyond the scope of a human, making it truly impossible for others to feel close to him.

Shaman felt more fear than anything else toward Gong Jiu.

Gong Jiu said coldly: "Is she inside?"

Yu Liancheng nodded: "But she does not wish to see you right now."

In this instant, flames of jealousy and anger ignited in Gong Jiu's eyes, but they cleared in a flash; this man was truly terrifyingly calm, as if there were no longer any thing or any person in the world that could move him.

He flicked his hand, and suddenly a flower appeared in it.

An ice flower.

"I had people bring this from the Far North; it only arrived today. Since she does not wish to see me, I trouble you to take it to her for me."

It was not midsummer, but the temperature was not low at all; yet this flower was carved from ice, and the manpower and resources consumed were countless, showing the tender love and care contained within.

Yu Liancheng glanced at him and said indifferently: "You want to give this ice flower to her?"

Gong Jiu nodded.

"Fine." Yu Liancheng took the ice flower, urged his internal energy slightly, and it instantly shattered into ice shards that sprayed in all directions.

Gong Jiu's sleeves fluttered as he blocked the ice shards, but his face grew even colder.

Yu Liancheng shrugged: "Shaman told me that her things are my things. Since it is my thing, I can handle it however I please."

Although Shaman had never said these words.

But Yu Liancheng understood her heart very well; he was very empathetic.

"Good, you are very good." Gong Jiu's face darkened slightly.

"Of course I am very good; whoever can obtain the favor of a beauty like Shaman is bound to be very good." Yu Liancheng wore a smile; his words today seemed capable of angering someone to death with every sentence.

But Gong Jiu had already completely calmed down: "Did Xiao Laotou see you today?"

Yu Liancheng nodded: "Indeed, he thinks highly of me; perhaps in the future I will take over the Invisible Men Organization."

Gong Jiu said: "Very good, I can tell that his assessment of you is very high."

Yu Liancheng said: "His eye for talent has always been quite good."

Gong Jiu said: "Therefore, any further words now are superfluous."

Yu Liancheng flicked his sleeve, and the Duoqing Sword appeared in his hand: "Please."

Gong Jiu pressed his hand to his sword hilt and said coldly: "Please."

As the word "please" left his lips, a brilliant light flared in his eyes—a radiant, divine glow—and his gaze became as sharp as a blade.

At the same time, the sword let out a dragon's hum, and a streak of cold light flew out, stabbing straight for Yu Liancheng's throat.

His sword was fast, no longer inferior to Ximen Chuixue or Ye Gucheng.

But his sword was not pure enough.

If one were to say that Ximen Chuixue's sword technique was like the accumulated snow on an icy mountain, without the slightest impurity.

Then Gong Jiu's sword was filled with evil intent, as if it were a venomous dragon, opening its blood-stained maw, exhaling a foul, fishy stench, ready at any moment to tear his opponent into a bloody mess before swallowing them whole into his belly.

Yu Liancheng did not draw his sword; he tapped his toes lightly against the ground, his body like a flying immortal, spinning with ethereal grace in the air as he swept toward another direction.

It was not that he dared not cross swords with Gong Jiu, but that Shaman's small cabin was right behind him.

If two peerless swordsmen were to clash, that small cabin would likely not even last for a moment before collapsing and falling apart.

Yu Liancheng's lightness skill went without saying, yet no matter where he retreated, Gong Jiu's sword pursued him there, like maggots on rotting bones.

The sword was getting closer and closer to Yu Liancheng's throat.

He was already enveloped by a bone-chilling Sword Intent.

Clang!

Another dragon's roar sounded.

The Duoqing Sword finally left its sheath, meeting Gong Jiu with a swift and ferocious posture, like a collapsing mountain.

Clang!!

Sparks flew in all directions.

Immediately, the two swords began their clash.

In an instant, the sword light intertwined, and the two figures, one black and one white, seemed to melt into the sword light itself.