139: Encounter in the Dark

The night was as thick as ink, and Situ Jun's figure was like a drop of concentrated ink falling into a deep pool, silently dissipating into the Void Realm.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already deep within the City Lord's Manor, inside the study filled with ancient charm.

Inside the room, the faint scent of ink and sandalwood intertwined, creating a calming atmosphere.

With a creak, the door was slowly pushed open.

Jiang Qingwan was dressed in a moon-white long dress, its hem trailing behind her like drifting clouds. She gently closed the door, her footsteps sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet room.

Situ Jun leaned lazily against his chair. Hearing the sound, he opened his eyes, his gaze meeting Jiang Qingwan as she walked toward him.

His brow arched slightly, and his tone carried a hint of teasing:

“My Lady, why are you not resting so late at night?”

Jiang Qingwan took hesitant steps, stopping before the desk, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

She bit her lip, and after a moment of hesitation, she finally mustered the courage to speak:

“Can you spare the Wang Family? Many people there are innocent.”

Situ Jun's gaze was like a torch, staring intently at her exquisite face. Only after a long while did he ask:

“Do you not resent the Wang Family?”

Jiang Qingwan first nodded, then shook her head.

Noticing Situ Jun's slightly furrowed brow, she hurriedly explained:

“I am grateful to Wang Xuanyang for saving my life, but I also loathe his greed and selfishness. However, not everyone in the Wang Family is like that. There are many defenseless women and children in the manor; they are truly pitiful...”

Situ Jun raised a hand to signal that she needn't say more:

“Wang Xuanyang must pay the price for his mistakes. I will not involve others at will, and I will leave a portion of the confiscated property to them as I see fit.”

Hearing these words, Jiang Qingwan's eyes filled with surprise, and she was so excited she was a bit at a loss:

“Thank... thank you!”

Situ Jun looked her up and down, a faint smile playing on his lips:

“If My Lady truly wishes to thank me, why not play a duet with me?”

Jiang Qingwan was slightly startled, and a blush quickly climbed onto her cheeks.

She lightly twisted the corner of her dress and walked slowly toward Situ Jun.

At this moment, the candlelight suddenly flickered, projecting their overlapping figures onto the white wallpaper.

Jiang Qingwan held her pipa, her palms slightly sweating. Despite the chill of the deep night, the warmth coming from Situ Jun's palm made her heart race.

Situ Jun leaned over to open the wooden case's latch for her. The cool fragrance of his hair intertwined with the scent of ambergris, completely enveloping Jiang Qingwan.

His breath lightly brushed past her reddened earlobe:

“This pipa is quite good, with a bright luster.”

As the music began, the strings and the sound of the flute intertwined lingeringly, carrying even more tenderness than the performance the day before.

Jiang Qingwan stole a glance at Situ Jun, seeing him playing with downcast eyes. His eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows beneath them, and his high nose bridge appeared both cold and gentle in the light and shadow.

She couldn't help but recall his focused appearance in Cherry's bedroom last night, which had kept her tossing and turning all night long.

“You're distracted.”

Suddenly, the flute's sound rose sharply. Jiang Qingwan was so startled that her fingers slipped, and the pipa nearly fell.

Situ Jun was quick, grabbing her wrist. Their center of gravity became unstable, and they both fell toward the zither table, the strings letting out a piercing twang.

In the panic, Jiang Qingwan clung tightly to Situ Jun. Looking up, she bumped into his deep eyes, where the surging emotions seemed as if they would drown her.

“My Lady is always like this...”

Situ Jun's voice was low and raspy.

Suddenly, the wick on the candlestick popped with a 'crackle', the sound of sparks echoing in the room.

“I... I will go add some lamp oil.”

Jiang Qingwan blushed, struggling to stand up.

Jiang Qingwan trembled all over, her face flushing crimson with shame.

Situ Jun, however, held her lower back and whispered in her ear:

“It's fine, it won't affect our performance. Now, it's time for you to return a full rendition of 'Phoenix Seeking Phoenix' to me.”

Jiang Qingwan's fingertips trembled slightly, the candlelight making the flush on her face clear. She hurriedly turned her face away, but the silver hairpin in her hair accidentally slipped out, her black hair cascading down like a waterfall.

“Husband...”

Her voice was as light as willow catkins crushed by the night wind, her unfinished words blocked in her throat by a sudden approaching breath.

Situ Jun's finger rested on the cool wooden strings of the pipa.

“The final note of 'Phoenix Seeking Phoenix' should be continued like this.”

His flute pressed against her trembling lips, his warm breath carrying the music into her mouth.

The flute and pipa strings intertwined with a roar. Jiang Qingwan only felt her world spinning; even the strings of the pipa in her arms were held by Situ Jun at some point, their fingertips entangling on the silk strings... Meanwhile, in this desolate land to the southwest.

Strange rocks were jagged, ancient trees reached the sky, and miasma filled the low-lying areas. The grayish-white mist emitted a nauseating, rotting stench.

Three figures wrapped in voluminous black robes moved through the jagged rocks and tangled tree roots like ghosts.

They moved with agile silence. Their black robes seemed capable of swallowing light; even under the faint starlight, it was difficult to see their outlines. Only when the hem of a robe occasionally brushed against dry branches and fallen leaves did a faint rustling sound occur.

“Damn it!”

The leading black-robed man suddenly stopped, his voice dry and raspy, like sandpaper rubbing together:

“That feminine Qi just now... it's definitely those dogs from the Xuan Yin Sect! Why are they still in this godforsaken place? And they just had to run into us!”

“Lord Zhuang Lei, could they be here for that Mineral Vein?”

A slightly shorter black-robed man beside him looked around warily, his voice carrying a hint of unease:

“The North Border has changed hands, and every faction is eyeing this piece of fat... It's not strange for the Xuan Yin Sect to appear.”

“Hmph, so what if we run into them? At worst, we'll have a go at it and see who truly controls the North Border Region!”

Another voice rang out sinisterly, filled with deep disdain.

After a pause, he continued:

“If Lord Zhuang Lei hadn't insisted on keeping a low profile, we should have competed with them just now. I could have tested my newly Cultivated Spell!”

“Shut up, Luo Hao!”

Zhuang Lei barked a sharp reprimand, his gaze under the hood as sharp as a hook:

“Have you forgotten the Young Lord's instructions? We are here to gather information and establish good relations with North City Manor! We cannot cause trouble now! As for the Xuan Yin Sect... hmph! The Sect's high-level members will handle them. We only need to focus on collecting intelligence!”

The three fell into silence again, accelerating their pace.

However, just as Zhuang Lei was about to leap over a moss-covered boulder, his footsteps came to a sudden halt!

An indescribable palpitation, originating from the depths of his Soul, struck without warning, as if his heart had been coiled by a cold venomous snake!

“Something's wrong!”

Zhuang Lei roared out, his voice carrying extreme horror, nearly cracking!

His withered, claw-like hands suddenly reached out from beneath his black robe. As his ten fingers danced, flickering green runes flew out, and dense Spiritual Qi erupted like boiling white mist, frantically condensing in front of him in an attempt to construct a defense!

However, it was all too late!

Just as his thought moved and the runes began to condense, a dark red streak of light, deeper than the night and colder than death, appeared three inches before his brow like a blade born from nothingness!

There was no sound of breaking air, nor any fluctuation of Qi, as if it had always existed and was only now revealing itself.

The dark red light flickered slightly.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Zhuang Lei's eyes, hidden in the shadows of his hood and widened to their limit with horror, clearly reflected that fatal dark red.

He could even see the faint light flowing on the surface of the streak, like congealed blood, and feel the terrifying Killing Intent contained within it, enough to freeze the Soul!

“Puff.”

A very faint sound, like a bubble bursting.

The energy shield in front of Zhuang Lei shattered.

A short blade stopped at his brow. His entire body stiffened, his aura locked tight.

Zhuang Lei was terrified to the core, sweat pouring down his forehead. He maintained his forward-charging and defensive posture, frozen in place, not daring to move an inch.

The other two black-robed men—Luo Hao and the slightly shorter companion—pulled out their Spiritual Artifacts and took up defensive stances.

After scanning the surroundings, they stared straight at the blade floating before Zhuang Lei's forehead.

“Lord... Zhuang!”

The shorter black-robed man let out an extremely short cry of alarm, wanting to rush forward to help.

“Don't move!”

Luo Hao reacted quickly, reaching out to stop the shorter man in black.

Zhuang Lei suppressed the fear in his heart, his fingertips trembling slightly as he stared at the blade at his brow and asked:

“Who is Your Excellency? Why are you ambushing us here?”

“Whoosh!”

A figure appeared without warning ten zhang away, beneath the shadow of an ancient tree.

That figure seemed to have been standing there all along, merging with the shadows of the tree.

He was also wearing night-traveling clothes, but they were not the black robes of the Xihua Sect, but rather the standard-issue dark leather armor of an Imperial Dynasty Inspector. His face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only a pair of cold, emotionless eyes.

He held no weapon, standing there quietly, yet he gave off an invisible sense of pressure.

Zhuang Lei's pupils constricted!

An Imperial Dynasty Inspector?

What had happened to this North Border City? Even the Imperial Dynasty Inspectors, who rarely appeared, had come! Alarm bells rang in his heart!

The Imperial Dynasty man in black retracted the blade, and the chilling Killing Intent dissipated along with it.

Zhuang Lei breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his fists toward the Inspector:

“We have no intention of lingering here; we will leave immediately.”

The Imperial Dynasty man in black stared at the three of them with cold eyes. Only after a good while did he speak faintly:

“I am merely an assassin. You can do whatever you want, but do not disturb me again! Furthermore, I advise you to behave yourselves; it would be best if you left the North Border!”

Zhuang Lei nodded hurriedly, leading the other two as they sped off in the opposite direction, not daring to stay for a single moment longer.