Xu Fengqiao’s whip was covered in barbs. The moment Qi Yuan grabbed it, a sharp wave of blinding pain shot through her palm.
Normally, she was someone who could endure pain extremely well. But this time, even she nearly cried out from the sheer intensity of it.
Still, she gritted her teeth and held on, forcefully slamming Xu Fengqiao against the cliff wall.
Qi Changting had finally crawled to safety.
Qi Yuan let out a faint breath of relief.
But she had no time to relax, Xu Fengqiao suddenly sneered, her voice laced with venom: “The rumors say you, Qi Yuan, are a cold-blooded woman, emotionless and indifferent to everyone. But from the looks of it, those rumors… aren’t entirely true.”
She twisted around, caught Qi Yuan’s elbow, and with a violent shove reversed their positions, pinning Qi Yuan against the rocky cliff. She narrowed her eyes at the blood on Qi Yuan’s palm. “Tsk tsk… willing to go this far for your brother? And His Highness dares to say you’re heartless?”
His Highness?
Qi Yuan gave a sharp, mocking laugh. “Exactly, how could His Highness say I’m the one without heart? Clearly, it’s Qi Wang who’s the truly heartless one.”
Even as she was pinned down, her voice was steady and cold. “Qi Wang even had the nerve to snatch your son. After everything you’ve done for him, bending over backward to carry out his orders… and this is how he repays you? If anyone’s heartless, it’s him.”
Xu Fengqiao hadn’t expected that. She froze, stunned, before suddenly slapping Qi Yuan hard across the face. “You cunning woman! You’re lying to me again!”
“Am I?” Qi Yuan didn’t even flinch. “Go ask the Cheng family yourself. See if their young master’s gone missing.”
She clicked her tongue lightly. “You think Qi Wang’s some noble soul? He wanted Xu Hai’s absolute loyalty, so he ‘returned the favor’ by having someone impersonate you and kidnap Cheng Tiansheng.”
Xu Fengqiao’s face began to twitch. She drew her dagger and aimed it straight at Qi Yuan’s face.
“You b*tch! His Highness told me you were full of lies. But he also said, so long as I bring you back alive, that’s all that matters.”
Her voice twisted with hatred: “So what if you lose a few limbs, or your tongue’s ripped out? As long as you’re breathing, it’s fine. I’ll just start by ripping out your tongue!”
“Great idea!” Qi Yuan suddenly sneered. Her hand, the one that had clutched the barbed whip, had regained some strength. “Does Cheng Tiansheng have a huge birthmark on his back? Half his shoulder’s red, right? I heard people call that a Phoenix Birthmark. Isn’t that what it’s called?”
Xu Fengqiao froze in place. Her expression shifted wildly.
Qi Yuan sighed regretfully, voice low and steady: “What a shame. When he was tricked by Qilin and taken away, he thought he was finally going to see his mother. But instead, he got his skull crushed by Qi Wang’s men…”
That was the last straw.
Xu Fengqiao snapped and stabbed downward with all her might.
But Qi Yuan had already been preparing. With a sudden surge of force, she slammed her back into the mountain wall, then rolled swiftly to the ground, breaking free of Xu Fengqiao’s grip.
The reversal happened in an instant, so fast there was no warning at all.
Xu Fengqiao froze for a split second then erupted in rage. “So you were lying to me! You want to die?!”
She raised her whip and lashed it down viciously toward Qi Yuan.
The space between the cliffs was far too narrow, Qi Yuan had no room to dodge.
Xu Fengqiao cackled triumphantly. “Let’s see where you run to now!”
But in the next moment, Qi Yuan braced her feet on either side of the cliff walls and scaled upward like a gecko, miraculously dodging the whip.
Xu Fengqiao, fuming, instinctively gave chase.
Just as she reached the bottom of the incline, Qi Yuan suddenly turned and launched herself down, slamming into Xu Fengqiao and pinning her firmly to the ground.
Xu Fengqiao was stunned then let loose a string of curses. “You b*tch! You liar! You’re exactly like His Highness said, not a single word from your mouth is true!”
Qi Yuan didn’t say another word. Without hesitation, she slapped Xu Fengqiao hard across the face, the blow ringing so loud it left Xu’s ears buzzing.
Without a pause, she slapped her again.
Then, before Xu Fengqiao could even react or curse out loud, a third slap followed. Then a fourth… and a fifth…
She hit Xu Fengqiao until both sides of her face were swollen like a pig’s head, her mouth too mangled to form a complete sentence.
Only then did Qi Yuan speak coldly: “I hate it most when people hit my face.”
Back in the death soldier training camp, the senior who trained her loved to slap faces.
If a movement was off or a mission went wrong, your face got hit.
At the time, she never once thought to resist because that was just how things were.
Until Xiao Yunting came.
He saw her being hit and, without a word, kicked the instructor to the ground.
Then he told her: “Lift your head.”
In her past life, everyone wanted her to bow her head.
Only Xiao Yunting told her to raise it.
He later kept her by his side, had his soldiers teach her martial arts and battlefield formations.
Since then, no one had ever dared slap her face.
Madam Wang had hit her once but Madam Wang was her birth mother. She accepted it as repayment for being raised.
But Xu Fengqiao? Who did she think she was?!
Xu Fengqiao had already lost a front tooth. Bloodied and in pain, she glared at Qi Yuan and croaked, “You… you won’t end well… His Highness… His Highness sent many people… to find you!”
Qi Yuan’s gaze was icy. “You needn’t worry about that.”
Then, without looking away, she picked up Xu Fengqiao’s own dagger from the ground and, right in front of her, drove it straight into her chest.
Her motion was swift and clean. Not a trace of hesitation. Not a single tremble, even though her palm was slick with blood.
So Xu Fengqiao still heard her final words: “No need for him to come find me. Wait for him in the underworld, I’ll send him down to meet you very soon.”
This woman!
This woman!
Xu Fengqiao opened her mouth to speak, but only coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Her eyes bulged and then her head slumped to the side.
Qi Yuan braced herself against the ground and pushed herself up. She hadn’t even caught her breath when she saw Lai Chenglong running toward her.
The mountain path was so narrow, yet Lai Chenglong didn’t care in the slightest. His shoulders scraped the rocky walls again and again as he dashed, gasping for air.
Qi Yuan’s face still bore streaks of blood. Seeing him approach, she asked calmly, “Lord Lai, why are you here?”
When Lai Chenglong saw the slap marks on her face and the bloody, torn skin of her palm, he closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he strode forward, tore a strip from his robe, and began wrapping her wounded hand.
He knew he shouldn’t fall for her.
Chunlin had warned him.
But if love could be stopped, then it wouldn’t be love.
Lai Chenglong felt as though his heart was being squeezed, and as he looked at the wound in her palm, he could barely breathe.
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