8

Lu Zhiyao’s sword moved with deceptive grace, but his strikes were deadly precise, each one aimed straight for his opponent’s throat without the slightest hesitation.

At first, his killing seemed almost methodical, restrained. But when warm blood splattered across his face and soaked the hem of his robe, a shudder ran through him that he couldn’t suppress.

A smile curled at his lips, a flicker of joy dancing in his expression. Even with his eyes closed, his lashes trembled, and his features took on an even more striking, almost intoxicating allure.

His swordplay lost its earlier elegance and turned chaotic—unpredictable, frenzied. It was impossible to guess where the next strike would come from, yet the ferocity never lessened. Where they could once parry a few blows, now they could only fall beneath his blade.

Li Ruoshui didn’t doubt for a second that if any of them tried to approach him now, they’d end up exactly like the black-clad corpses at his feet.

The circle around him slowly widened. The black-clad men exchanged nervous glances, none daring to step forward to challenge this madman.

Blood seeped along the fine cracks in his slender sword, only to be flicked away carelessly with a sharp motion, scattering like plum blossoms across the ground.

“Why run when it’s just getting fun?”

He twirled the sword hilt in his fingers, his voice lilting with unmistakable amusement.

He chuckled quietly to himself, then with a sudden press of his foot against the blood-slick ground, lunged at the remaining black-clad men in a blur of movement.

Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian hurriedly pulled their group farther back, afraid they’d be caught up in the carnage and lose their lives for nothing.

Li Ruoshui regretted everything. The kind of regret that made her want to swallow an entire barrel of regret pills.

She’d thought she was unleashing the book’s supreme martial-arts ace. Who knew he was actually some deranged, indiscriminate slaughter addict?!

No wonder in the original novel Lu Feiyue always hesitated before asking for his help—it wasn’t shyness, it was fear! Why hadn’t the author spelled that out more clearly?

If she’d known, she never would have eaten those mulberries. Now her teeth were sour for nothing.

The entire situation had flipped on its head. They weren’t the ones being hunted anymore—the black-clad men were.

The woman in white had long since backed out of the center of the bloodbath. She stood clutching her sword, eyes blazing with fury.

“That beast’s martial arts have improved again. He really is a monster. He survived wounds that should have killed him back then—this time I’ll make sure he dies!”

She might have been shouting threats, but her eyes were full of fear. Gripping her sword tightly, she couldn’t bring herself to charge in—instead, she kept retreating step by step.

Lu Feiyue leapt in to pull several women away from the edge of the deadly chaos, leaving only Li Ruoshui standing where she was.

At that moment, a few black-clad men stumbled back right in front of Li Ruoshui—just as Lu Zhiyao came rushing at them, sword in hand.

“Wait—don’t hit the wrong person!”

Li Ruoshui waved her arms frantically as she backed away, hoping her shout might awaken some shred of “don’t-kill-your-teammates” instinct in him.

But the tall, black-clad men in front of her fell with a crash, revealing Lu Zhiyao behind them, sword in hand, the hem of his robe stained dark red.

The razor-sharp blade caught the light, reflecting his serenely closed eyes—and her own expression of regret and terror.

Lu Zhiyao gave a small smile as he angled the sword tip forward.

In that split second, Li Ruoshui clenched her jaw and forced herself not to move, bracing as if she were about to take the blow.

Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian’s eyes went wide, about to rush in to save her, when—

The sword stopped right at Li Ruoshui’s forehead.

It was so close she could feel the tiny, fine hairs on her brow brushing against the cold steel, knowing one tiny movement would drive it straight into her skin.

Shit!

Her heart thundered wildly, her pulse spiking past 120. Her palms instantly went slick with cold sweat, and her legs felt like jelly.

So many things she could have said, but in that moment, all Li Ruoshui felt was gratitude for her own powerful intuition.

The sword tip still hovered at her forehead when its owner finally spoke.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

Afraid? She was terrified. She had never been this scared in her life. Her back was drenched in cold sweat. It had taken every ounce of her willpower not to bolt.

But obviously she couldn’t admit that. So she forced herself to say the classic line every novel heroine seemed to use:

“I trust you.”

The world seemed to fall silent. Sunlight filtered through the pear blossoms, scattering pale shadows that made it feel more like summer than early spring.

Far from calming her, those words only made Li Ruoshui’s heart pound faster. She was desperately afraid she’d hit some hidden nerve and provoke him.

Then Lu Zhiyao suddenly burst out laughing—so hard his hand trembled. She instinctively jerked her head back, terrified he’d slip and stab her by accident.

“Even if it’s a lie… I’ll forgive you.”

Without another word, he turned and lunged at the remaining black-clad men. This time, though, there was method to his strikes. He wasn’t fighting so recklessly anymore—more like a predator toying with prey after a good meal.

Not far away, the woman in white saw this and her eyes lit up. Without hesitation, she raised her sword and charged straight at Li Ruoshui.

Li Ruoshui didn’t know any martial arts. Of course she couldn’t outrun her. She was caught immediately and hauled in as a hostage.

“Bastard! Your little sweetheart is in my hands. If you know what’s good for you, surrender now—or I’ll kill her!”

Everyone turned to look at Lu Zhiyao—everyone except Li Ruoshui. She knew him far too well by now. If he actually stopped for her sake, she’d take her own head off and kick it like a ball out of sheer embarrassment.

Sure enough, under the woman’s triumphant gaze, Lu Zhiyao didn’t even spare them a glance. He just kept killing, looking thoroughly entertained.

Li Ruoshui let out a resigned sigh and tilted her head slightly to avoid the sword at her neck.

“Lady, we’ve known each other less than ten days. You’re giving me way too much credit.”

The woman in white froze for a second.

“Impossible—you survived under his sword…”

Her voice faltered as self-doubt crept in. But she quickly forced herself to find another explanation.

“He’s a monster. No feelings. Cold-blooded and insane…”

While she was ranting, Jiang Nian seized the chance to leap in and tackle her to the ground, pinning her.

But even pinned, her first reaction wasn’t to beg for help. She screamed at her remaining men:

“Don’t worry about me! Kill him! Hack him to pieces!”

That kind of “rather die than yield” attitude made everyone wonder just what Lu Zhiyao had done to make her hate him so much.

But no one was stupid. With their leader captured, why would they keep fighting this lunatic? It wasn’t like they had a death wish.

Seeing everyone back off and keep their distance, the woman in white seethed with rage but was powerless to do anything except glare at Lu Zhiyao.

He strolled over slowly, hands still trembling slightly with excitement. His closed-eye smile looked like someone savoring the aftertaste of a grand feast—sated and utterly delighted.

Li Ruoshui finally understood everything.

This man was clearly an unrepentant thrill-seeker who did whatever he pleased, caring nothing for his own life—a complete, gleeful lunatic.

As Lu Zhiyao approached, Lu Feiyue moved to block him, stepping protectively in front of Li Ruoshui. At the same time, she fired a signal flare into the sky to summon the other Patrol Division officers.

She turned her gaze to the ten carriages in the courtyard. Her brow furrowed deeply, and the hand gripping her blade turned white from the strain.

“How many times have you done this?”

“It’s been five years. I’ve lost count.”

The woman in white didn’t seem to care at all about revealing anything. She wouldn’t even look at Lu Zhiyao, as if just seeing him offended her, so she turned her head away.

“Who’s behind all this?”

“Someone far too important for a lowly constable like you to handle.” Her eyes flickered with sly amusement as she smiled. “But if you kill him, I’ll tell you.”

Jiang Nian glanced at Lu Zhiyao, frowning slightly. He found the woman’s obsession deeply strange.

“You know Mister Lu?”

The question made the woman’s eyes go wide. She turned her sharp gaze on Jiang Nian, clear surprise flashing in her expression.

“He’s surnamed Lu too?”

She scanned Lu Zhiyao from head to toe, as if determined to memorize every last hair on his head.

Her eyes narrowed in scrutiny, then she clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“Bastard. What’s your father’s name?”

But before Lu Zhiyao could reply, Li Ruoshui cut in dryly.

“What, planning to call his father Grandpa? The Lu family wouldn’t want a grandchild like you.”

The woman in white choked on her words, falling silent. But the look she gave Lu Zhiyao only grew more complicated.

Meanwhile, Lu Feiyue and Li Ruoshui worked together to lift the drugged girls from the compartments hidden under the carriages. The girls were limp and unresponsive—the dose they’d been given was clearly much stronger than what Li Ruoshui had endured before.

Li Ruoshui straightened and walked over to the woman in white.

“Where’s the antidote?”

The woman looked up at Li Ruoshui. Then, remembering Lu Zhiyao’s earlier violence, she let out a silent, bitter laugh.

“Little girl, kill him and I’ll give you the antidote.”

???

Did she really think that highly of her?

Li Ruoshui didn’t even bother replying. She simply reached straight into the woman’s collar to search.

Honestly, she didn’t understand these villains at all. Tied up and still insisting on putting on an act.

“What are you doing?!”

Ignoring the woman’s outraged shout, Li Ruoshui pulled out two small porcelain bottles, one decorated with flowers and the other plain white. She uncorked them and sniffed: one smelled fragrant, the other foul.

Li Ruoshui stood up and patted the woman’s shoulder lightly.

“Come on, you’re all tied up—stop talking tough.”

She recognized the sweet-smelling bottle all too well; the foul-smelling one had to be the antidote.

One by one, the girls who inhaled the antidote collapsed in relief beneath the pear trees, gazing up at the drifting white petals with nothing but the joy of having survived certain doom.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhiyao sat under a tree too. He wasn’t resting; he was calmly wiping his sword while replaying everything that had happened since meeting Li Ruoshui.

Running into Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian could be explained—maybe she’d known about their mission beforehand. Even that so-called love affair was ridiculous enough to dismiss. But there was one thing he truly couldn’t figure out.

His name.

He had never told anyone his real name before. The person who’d given it to him had died the very day he received it. No matter how he thought about it, there was no way Li Ruoshui should have known it.

Had she really dreamed about him?

His hand paused as he wiped the blade, and even the usual smile at his lips faded a little.

He could hear her busy footsteps moving back and forth nearby. For the first time, Lu Zhiyao found himself half believing that claim. Otherwise… there really was no good explanation for how she’d known his name.

As he was lost in thought, he suddenly felt someone gently tug at the hem of his robe. A soft, delicate voice spoke right beside him:

“Lord… thank you for saving me. Otherwise, I’d have been sold to the capital for… for others to use as they pleased.”

Lu Zhiyao tilted his head slightly toward her. His lips curved into a gentle, almost tender smile.

“You’re mistaken, miss. I wasn’t the one who saved you.”

This girl was the same one whose cage had been marked Capital. She was also the one who’d seen his white robe from inside that cage.

She’d caught sight of him right before being loaded into the carriage. Heaven hadn’t ignored her prayers after all—the gentle, powerful gentleman in white had truly come to rescue her.

He had killed the men who hurt her so decisively. And now, with that soft smile, he soothed all her terror.

“Lord, you saved me. I have nothing to give in return. But if you’re willing, I can look after you for the rest of my life.”

She took his modest denial as humble courtesy, which only deepened her admiration.

Lu Zhiyao raised an eyebrow, as if genuinely intrigued by her words.

“You want to take care of me? Why? Is it because I look weak?”

Her gaze brushed over his long lashes, straight nose, red lips. She blushed and quickly lowered her head.

“Because you saved me.”

Lu Zhiyao sheathed his sword. The sunlight gleamed on his white robes, casting delicate shadows from his long lashes that only highlighted his striking beauty.

“You think I’m handsome?”

She stole a quick, shy glance at him, her heart beating faster, though she tried to sound modest.

“No… it’s your character I admire. You’re so gentle and kind—of course that’s very… appealing.”

“Ah.” Lu Zhiyao made a soft sound of acknowledgment, then smiled warmly. “Then the person you want to take care of isn’t actually me.”

Panic flared in the girl’s eyes. She waved her hands in protest, not caring at all whether he could see it or not.

“No, lord! I want to look after you. You saved my life—you’re my benefactor. Of course I want to repay you with my whole life!”

“By that logic, all the girls here should marry me, shouldn’t they?”

He let out a low, amused laugh. “Wouldn’t that mean they’d have to marry Li Ruoshui too? She’s so timid—how could she handle ten wives?”

“…”

Hearing that last line, Li Ruoshui, who had just been walking over, froze mid-step. She drew in a deep breath—then abruptly turned and stalked off in the other direction.

She really wanted to punch him.

=^_^=