44: Chapter 44 Scaring

The moonlight was like frost, coldly covering the small courtyard of the Eastern Warm Pavilions Separate Courtyard.

Ding Qing sat cross-legged on the stone steps, like a rock embedded in the night. Nine Body-Suppressing Black Patterns pulsated faintly under the moonlight, like the breathing of a sleeping Vicious Beast.

The night wind brushed through a few clumps of withered bamboo in the corner of the courtyard, making a rustling sound.

He wasn't deeply asleep; his mind was constantly refining the martial art prepared for the 'Blade Embryo'.

The schemes of Qiu Shuzhen and her daughter were as clear as a spiderweb in the night wind under his almost clairvoyant perception.

He had originally thought it would be the more experienced and ruthless Qiu Zhiruo who would come.

After all, setting up a drug-induced frame-up seemed more 'logical' for a mother to do.

However, when the subtle footsteps, like crushing moonlight, accompanied by crisp bell sounds, approached from afar, Ding Qing's eyes under the brim of his hat stirred slightly.

It was her.

Qiu Shuzhen arrived, treading on moonlight.

Her jade-like feet were bare, and her skin, as white as snow, left faint wet marks on the bluestone slabs.

As if a Fairy from the Moon Palace had accidentally fallen into the mortal world.

On her slender ankles, a string of small silver bells gently swayed with her steps.

Emitting clear, melodious chimes, tapping rhythmically in the silent night.

She had changed out of the plain or delicate dresses of the day, donning a fiery red, bound-edge long dress.

The fabric, of unknown material, flowed with a dull luster under the moonlight, outlining her figure in a breathtaking manner.

Her full bosom, a waist so slender it could be spanned by a single hand, and rounded hips were all revealed without reservation.

Like a cluster of Lycoris Radiata blooming suddenly in the night, exuding a fatal enchantment.

Ding Qing watched in silence, like a cold stone statue.

The shadow of his hat brim swallowed most of his face.

Only his tightly pressed lips, with lines as hard as if carved by a knife and axe, and his slightly tensed jaw, were visible.

His gaze, sharp as a blade, penetrated layers of allure, as if to dissect the true intentions beating beneath this beautiful facade.

Qiu Shuzhen was unfazed by his scrutiny.

Instead, she raised a bright smile, like a poppy blooming in the dark night.

She moved with lotus-like steps to the rough stone table in the courtyard, and as if by magic, produced a small wine pot and two white jade cups from her sleeve.

Her slender jade fingers held the pot, and the clear wine, carrying moonlight, flowed into the cups with a pleasant tinkling sound.

"The night is long, and the moonlight is just right,"

Her voice was clear, with a hint of deliberate languor, as she raised her wine cup towards the cold moon in the sky.

"Brother Ding, it's boring to sit alone, why don't we... drink a cup together?"

Ding Qing remained silent, his gaze shifting from the wine cup back to her face.

His eyes were unfathomable.

"In the middle of the night,"

He finally spoke, his voice deep and hoarse.

"You, an unmarried woman, come to my rustic courtyard, aren't you afraid of... tarnishing your reputation? Steward Li would be heartbroken if he knew."

"Reputation?"

Qiu Shuzhen chuckled softly, her eyes glinting, a cunning as clear as dancing flames under the moonlight.

Far from retreating, she took a step closer.

Her fiery red skirt brushed against the cold bluestone, creating an ambiguous friction sound.

She tilted her head, her gaze boldly meeting the shadow under Ding Qing's hat brim, her red lips curving into a provocative arc.

"Is Brother Ding worried about losing control and ruining my reputation? Or... worried about himself?"

She paused, her large, watery eyes fixed on Ding Qing, as if to burn through his steel-like will.

Her voice carried a barely perceptible hint of probing and a deeper expectation.

"Just like in the Sophora Tree Forest outside the city... you didn't dare to look at me? Ding Qing, do you... really like me?"

The air seemed to solidify.

Only the rustling of the wind through the withered bamboo and the lingering chime of the silver bells on her ankle trembled in the ear.

The shadow in Ding Qing's eyes seemed to deepen.

He looked at the woman before him, bright as fire, pressing closer with every step.

Yes.

She was his type.

Passionate, cunning, like burning thorns in the wilderness.

But he also knew very clearly.

She, like Baiye City transformed into a desperate land, like the blade warrior who died in that ruined temple, and like this boundless dark era.

All were vivid illusions in this past period.

They were the echoes left after the past had washed over, a past destined to be buried.

He was an intruder, a disruptor.

His goal was to forge a blade, to find a town object, to struggle for a glimmer of hope.

Entangling himself with this illusion, whether through affection or vendetta, was meaningless.

However, her brightness under the moonlight, that mischievous cunning, her awkward yet feigned seductiveness...

A nearly absurd appreciation and desire for challenge, like lava breaking through ice, surged within him.

Knowing it was an illusion, unchangeable...

But what of it?

He always acted based on the present; why should he have reservations?

Thus, under Qiu Shuzhen's gaze, filled with both provocation and expectation, Ding Qing's lips, tight as a blade, slowly, slowly curved upwards.

It was an extremely subtle arc, yet it carried an indescribable sense of power.

Not a gentle smile, but a 'confirmation' filled with power and a desire for conquest.

He did not answer whether he 'liked' her.

He simply rose abruptly.

His tall figure instantly obscured the moonlight before Qiu Shuzhen, casting a huge, oppressive shadow.

That mountain-like Aura made Qiu Shuzhen's heart skip a beat. She instinctively took half a step back, and the silver bells on her ankle jingled urgently.

Ding Qing stepped towards the stone table.

His steps were steady, silent as they trod on the bluestone slabs, yet it felt as if each step landed directly on one's heart.

He reached out his hand, and his giant, fan-like palm took the wine cup Qiu Shuzhen offered.

His rough fingers contrasted sharply with the delicate, warm white jade cup. Moonlight flowed over the rim of the cup and his bronze knuckles.

"The wine, I'll drink it."

Ding Qing's voice was still deep and hoarse, but it carried a strange warmth, like flowing lava.

His gaze, sharp as a torch, pierced directly into the depths of Qiu Shuzhen's beautiful eyes, which were slightly widened by tension and expectation.

"But the person..."

He paused, then tilted his head back, draining the clear yet secretly tumultuous wine in the cup.

His Adam's apple bobbed, making a clear swallowing sound, and a trickle of wine slid down the rigid line of his jaw.

"...tonight, is mine to command."

The moment his words fell, Qiu Shuzhen felt a scorching breath rush towards her.

Not the scent of wine, but the surging, immense Blood Qi rising abruptly from Ding Qing's body, like a furnace.

He knew it was a trap, yet he still walked into it, and... he was actually... so domineering.

The moonlight was cold, and the courtyard was silent.

Beside the stone table, the woman in the fiery red dress and the man, as towering as a mountain and with rising Evil Qi, sat opposite each other.

The medicinal power of the chiyang pill, like an invisible flame, began to ignite in Ding Qing's Meridians, igniting in his eyes.

The air was like solidified oil; only a spark was needed to ignite a raging inferno that would consume everything.

Qiu Shuzhen watched Ding Qing's eyes, which grew brighter and brighter, like lava churning beneath ice.

Watching the faint red glow emanating from beneath his skin, feeling the increasingly heavy, almost suffocating heat from his body...

She clutched the corner of her skirt, her fingertips icy cold.

The plan seemed to have succeeded.

But looking at this primordial Vicious Beast, awakened by her own hands, yet whose direction was utterly unpredictable.

An unprecedented, indescribable tremor instantly seized her heart.