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墨書 Inktalez
This situation came too suddenly, leaving me drenched in cold sweat. Come on, this is the esteemed Suzhou Inspectorate! Looking at the pool of blood outside, it seemed someone had spat blood all over the door—what on earth was happening?
We quickly tidied our disheveled clothes and got out of bed one after the other. Nie Qiuyuan moved ahead, shielding me with his body. I reached for the dagger on the table and gripped it tightly in my hand.
Outside our room, there should have been the Shadow of the Night keeping watch all night, but just now, I hardly heard any sounds of fighting. If enemies had come, they must be extraordinarily powerful foes.
My heart tightened a bit. Who was out there? Whose blood was on the door? Were the Shadow of the Night protecting us injured? The current situation was clearly perilous, yet strangely, I did not feel fear because I was not alone; the man in front stood firm like an unyielding mountain.
For the first time during a crisis, I didn’t silently repeat “Ye Zhenzhen, you must be strong” three times in my heart, yet I didn’t feel weak at this moment. Humanity is truly a wondrous thing.
Nie Qiuyuan kept me behind him as he gently approached the door, unlatched it, and slowly opened it.
I braced myself for an overwhelming impact that never came, causing my heart to flutter. No one attacked; there was no wind, no fire, no sense of danger.
Standing just a meter outside the door was a woman in a flowing red dress, her long black hair cascading down her back. Her face was pale, resembling a ghostly figure.
On either side of her stood two blue-clad members of the Shadow of the Night, quietly frozen in place. Their eyes were hollow as they stared blankly at each other, their bodies stiff and devoid of movement.
The woman appeared extremely weak and disheveled, yet even so, her beauty was astonishing, adding an enchanting fragility to her presence.
Seeing us open the door, she smiled at us from afar—not at me but at Nie Qiuyuan. That smile could captivate anyone; in terms of beauty, I felt utterly inferior.
She parted her crimson lips and called out softly with a melodious voice: “Xuanwu…”
The woman in red standing at the door was Ruo Chanjuan from Mirror Gate, the White Tiger—a woman who had schemed against me multiple times, wanting to torment me and put me to death.
I asked myself if I should hate her intensely; after all, because of her machinations, I nearly suffered a terrible fate in Chang'an and lost my innocence. Yet at this moment, looking at her face, for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to hate her.
Perhaps it was because she yearned for something she could never have while I possessed it so completely; or perhaps it was because I learned about her fate from Ren Pingsheng and knew that her body had been cruelly harmed by others—she could never turn back again.
Ruo Chanjuan stood there smiling, straightforward and full of deep emotion, gazing at my idol as if no one else existed in this world. A trickle of crimson blood flowed from the corner of her smiling lips; that blood, the blood on the door, was likely hers, the blood she had coughed up.
Was she controlling these two Shadows of the Night? Had she truly fallen to such a state?
Thinking of this woman controlling several skilled men to fight each other while chatting casually in Qingliang Temple, a faint sense of desolation spread through my heart.
Nie Qiuyuan asked coldly, "What are you here for?"
Ruo Chanjuan smiled slightly and replied softly, "To see you."
My idol showed no hesitation and firmly said, "I do not wish to see you for even a moment. Had I known you treated my Wife this way, I would have taken your life then and there. My Wife does not wish to see blood; leave now. If you appear before me again, do not blame me for being heartless."
As he spoke, Qiu reached out a hand and pulled me into his embrace.
I understood his meaning; he was expressing his feelings, indicating that no matter what happened, I was his top priority. Even if something caused me a little sadness, he would not want that.
As for the matter of "my Wife does not wish to see blood," that was something I later told him about Ren Pingsheng using Ruo Chanjuan as a test for poison. Originally, Qiu wanted to kill Ruo Chanjuan to avenge me, but later this was done by Ren Pingsheng in a more brutal manner, which only made me feel worse. So Qiu comforted me and promised that if he saw Ruo Chanjuan again, he would let her go.
I wasn't being merciful or forgetting past pains; it was just that as a woman myself, upon learning about her experiences, I suddenly realized that Ruo Chanjuan and I were fundamentally no different. I too was impulsive and reckless in love, willing to disregard everything; she was merely a more extreme version of myself.
Ruo Chanjuan looked at him and then at me tightly held in his arms, noticing our disheveled nightclothes and the intimate understanding between us. A hint of sorrow appeared on her brow. Normally, this woman would have been furious by now, but today she was not.
Her gaze once again overlooked my presence and fell deeply upon Nie Qiuyuan. Instinctively, I sensed something was off about her today.
"Xuanwu, you need not be like this. Today, I mean no harm and will not appear before you again in the future. I only wanted to see you and bring you a piece of news. However, I want you to exchange it for something."
Ruo Chanjuan finished this long sentence with a slight gasp as if she were extremely weak. Nie Qiuyuan glanced at her and furrowed his brow.
"I have moved on and do not wish to be involved with you any longer. We do not need your news and will not exchange anything with you."
"Isn't it just an ordinary thing? Why engage in such a no-cost transaction?" Ruo Chanjuan gazed at him, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears.
I gently tugged at Qiu's sleeve, wanting to remind him to let her finish and see what she truly wanted. But before he could respond, the woman bluntly said, "Xuanwu, can you smile at me... one more time?"
I was taken aback for a moment, and then suddenly felt a surge of anger rise within me.
What does that "one more time" mean? Is she deliberately teasing my husband right in front of me?!
Before I could open my mouth to scold her, Nie Qiuyuan coldly replied, "Leave at once, or don't blame me for being rude."
His firm rejection lifted my spirits somewhat. Ruo Chanjuan looked at him, finally letting out a long sigh before revealing a smile again.
"Xuanwu, my father has identified the Jade Balance Bureau as the primary threat from the Confidants and will soon begin to eliminate it. The person specifically handling this matter will be Qinglong. You know Qinglong's methods, so be careful not to fall into his trap. I came here to remind you of this."
Eliminate the Jade Balance Bureau? I was startled; I hadn't expected Mirror Gate to consider such an underground organization as their most troublesome enemy and target them as a main focus for attack. But thinking back, it made sense—time and again, the Jade Balance Bureau had secretly sabotaged many of their plans, so wanting to eliminate us was only natural.
If Ruo Chanjuan hadn't come to warn us, Ren Pingsheng's sudden attack could have caught us off guard. The people from the Jade Balance Bureau are detectives, not martial artists; most rely on their wits rather than combat skills, which makes them truly dangerous.
But why did she suddenly come here to warn us? Has she decided to betray Mirror Gate? Is she here seeking refuge with us?
Regardless of her intentions, one thing I was certain of was that Nie Qiuyuan would never take her in, and neither would I.
Ruo Chanjuan smiled faintly, and in her hand appeared a white object. She raised her hand, and the white item flew directly toward Nie Qiuyuan.
Qiu reached out and caught the object. As he did so, his grip on my arm loosened. However, as Ruo Chanjuan threw it with force, her knees buckled beneath her, and she collapsed toward me.
I was startled and instinctively reached out to catch her. Just as she was about to fall onto me, I suddenly heard someone urgently call out beside me: "Zhenzhen!" Then a hand suddenly grabbed me and yanked me aside. With a thud, I fell into Qiu's embrace while Ruo Chanjuan hit the ground hard.
It seemed she wasn't pretending; she truly had collapsed. As she fell, she coughed up a mouthful of blood. The color of that blood was shockingly red—so vivid it looked almost unnatural, like some bizarre chemical substance rather than human blood.
I suddenly remembered Ren Pingsheng's words: she was full of poison; wherever she went, not a blade of grass would grow. Anyone she touched, be it human or beast, would immediately perish. She would never again have the chance to encounter Xuanwu...
Indeed, now she was entirely toxic. Just thinking about it sent chills down my spine. If I had instinctively reached out to help her just now, if Nie Qiuyuan hadn't pulled me back in time, then I would have been the one poisoned.
So, did she fall toward me on purpose?
I looked at Nie Qiuyuan; his eyes flashed with anger, yet he was gripping a white linen handkerchief tightly between his fingers.
"Xuanwu, do you remember? This is your handkerchief. I've kept it with me for twelve years. All these years at Mirror Gate, I've had a dream—to see you smile at me once more. But all this time, I haven't even had the chance to see your face..."
Ruo Chanjuan was gasping heavily; it was definitely not an act. Her life seemed to be slipping away by the second, and her words came out in broken fragments.
"So, I've been desperately trying to become stronger, stronger still. I worked hard to win my father's favor, completing all his orders without fail. At the very least, I wanted to stand alongside you in name; perhaps then I could draw closer to you."
"But everything has ultimately been an illusion. Now, I only wish to see you one last time, to catch a final glimpse of you. My life is sustained by Qinglong's medicine; without his drugs, I cannot survive. I've tried so many times and finally managed to escape. Seeing you fulfills my wish; I can finally be free. Therefore, I will never trouble you again..."
Ruo Chanjuan struggled to prop herself up and gazed steadily at my idol.
"I came here to entrust my body to you. If you ever confront Qinglong in battle, you must beware of his poison. But all of his toxins are contained within my flesh and blood. After I die, you can uncover many of his secrets from my body. That way, you will no longer need to fear him."
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