Yue Qingyi’s strike was swift, accurate, and ruthless. Most deadly of all was that Ye Qi was only an arm’s length away from her. In that instant faster than a blink of an eye, there was no chance to react at all!

However, Changling’s movements were even faster.

Before the palm could fully land on his chest, she instinctively grasped Yue Qingyi’s wrist—even so, the fierce palm wind still carried a force capable of shattering jade and stone as it invaded his heart. Ye Qi spat out a mouthful of fresh blood with a “puh” sound and staggered back two steps before steadying himself. If Changling hadn’t intercepted this strike, his heart meridians would have completely ruptured by now.

He looked at Yue Qingyi with considerable disbelief. “Aunt Yue, what is this…”

“Who is your aunt?” Yue Qingyi was full of murderous intent. Drawing her blade, she wanted to rush forward and take his life directly. Changling hooked her sleeve and seized her weapon, blocking between them. “Aunt, he is my friend. Why would you kill him?”

“Friend?” After being blocked several times by Changling, Yue Qingyi pointed at Ye Qi with a trembling voice in rage. “You… how is it that you only pick these harmful creatures as friends?”

Changling froze. Ye Qi was also stunned. “What does Senior mean by this? When have I harmed anyone?”

Yue Qingyi said grimly, “Didn’t you ask me who the person was who struck us down and imprisoned me for eighteen years? It was his father, He Kangwen!”

Changling’s body shook as she met Ye Qi’s astonished gaze. Not knowing the full story, hearing only these few sentences, he said incredulously, “You’re saying my father… struck Changling with a palm?”

“She was only a six-year-old child back then. That palm to her back damaged all her internal organs, causing her to vomit blood incessantly…” Yue Qingyi said. “I only learned later that He Kangwen… did this to force my younger brother to hand over some half of a folding fan in order to save his congenitally deficient son. He first came to persuade us several times, then disguised as an assassin to strike this vicious blow, then hypocritically invited renowned physicians to care for Ting’er. On the surface, he spoke of overcoming difficulties together, but in reality, he wanted to lure my brother into handing over that half folding fan! But he didn’t expect that my brother would rather send Ting’er to Tianzhu than violate the ancestral master’s dying command…”

Ye Qi’s pupils suddenly trembled. One hand supporting himself on a chair, he heard Yue Qingyi say cruelly, “That’s right. He Kangwen’s congenitally deficient son is you. If not for that palm your father struck Ting’er with, she wouldn’t have had to be forced to leave the Central Plains at such a young age, tasting the bitter suffering of separation from her family!” After finishing this sentence, she stared fixedly at Changling again. “If not for that palm, our family would have been happy and harmonious, like all ordinary happy families in the world. Your mother wouldn’t have died so early from worrying herself sick… Ting’er, do you still want to stop me from killing him?”

Changling’s complexion became extremely ugly in an instant, but the hand gripping Yue Qingyi didn’t loosen because of this. “If what Aunt says is true, then He Kangwen is indeed our Yue Family’s enemy. If he were still alive in this world, I would definitely kill him with my own hands. But… since he’s already been dead for over ten years, why must you pursue Ye… pursue He Yu relentlessly?”

Held by the world’s greatest expert, Yue Qingyi naturally couldn’t move an inch. The veins on her hands bulged. “A son paying for his father’s debt is a matter of course… Moreover… since he is the head of the He Family, after He Kangwen died, I was still imprisoned by the He Family for so many years. If I don’t seek vengeance against him for this grudge, who else should I seek?”

Changling’s heart sank slightly.

Yue Qingyi wouldn’t be unaware of where she was imprisoned… Nor did she have any need to falsely accuse Ye Qi.

“Is what my aunt said true?”

Ye Qi seemed to have delayed in reacting. In that instant, he tried to find some flaw in Yue Qingyi’s words to prove his innocence, but after that instant, he remembered—the prison cells in the He Family’s fief did indeed hold quite a few criminals. There was indeed a female assassin whose blade had nearly struck his father’s vital point. Later, that wound became his father’s chronic ailment. For some unknown reason, his father didn’t kill her but ordered people to keep her under guard, even giving her preferential treatment in terms of living conditions and meals.

Later, even until his father’s deathbed, he instructed Great-Grandfather not to kill her, but also not to let her go.

Ye Qi’s throat moved slightly twice as he asked, “May I ask Senior Yue… did you come from the Jiangling fief?”

Yue Qingyi laughed coldly. “Are you willing to admit it now?”

Ye Qi looked earnestly toward Changling and stepped forward. Changling said coldly, “Stand still and don’t move! So it turns out my aunt didn’t wrongly accuse you after all?”

He stopped in his tracks. After a moment of silence, he finally nodded slightly. “It’s just that I never knew that person was your aunt… that is, Senior Yue. I once wanted to go look in the prison cells, but my great-grandfather wouldn’t allow it, saying those cells held many people who had grudges against the He Family, fearing… there would be some accident…”

Young Marquis’s gift of eloquence seemed to fail him at this moment. Halfway through speaking, he couldn’t continue. He wanted to explain something but didn’t know where to begin explaining. It was like this matter itself—he felt this blame had fallen from the sky, yet he truly couldn’t escape responsibility.

In these chaotic times, various lords killed decisively to争gain benefits. None were clearly black or white, clearly good. He had been able to be the head of the He Family smoothly for so many years because his predecessors had paved the road. How could someone with the He surname remain clean?

He didn’t even have the standing to seek Changling’s understanding—since their reunion, this was the first time he had seen Changling show genuine worldly joy upon seeing a family member.

This aunt must be a relative she extremely respected and was close to. If it were him, could he act as if nothing had happened?

Yue Qingyi saw Changling still unwilling to let go. “Ting’er, how can you be so confused?”

Changling said in a low voice, “Aunt, he has saved my life, more than once. I cannot allow you to kill him. Moreover… you cannot kill him either.”

Yue Qingyi said, “Could it be that because of your own personal feelings, you can disregard the Yue Family’s grievances?”

“I cannot disregard them, but I also cannot repay kindness with enmity.” Changling closed her eyes, forcibly suppressing her tangled worries, and said extremely softly, “You should leave.”

These last three words, each like a whip strike, were directed at Ye Qi.

Hearing this, his heart sank heavily with a tremor. If she had raged and scolded him, or even struck him, there would still be room for resolution. But the more detached and breezy she was, the more it showed that in her heart, gratitude and grievance were distinct—once distinct, they were settled.

Ye Qi’s lips had lost all color. He forced himself to calm down. “Changling, this matter did indeed arise because of me. Even if, even if you’re angry with me, I don’t know what to say. It’s just that right now Anxi Town isn’t peaceful. If you…”

He was about to reason with her emotionally when Changling mercilessly interrupted him. “Does Young Marquis still plan to have my aunt and me accept the He Family’s favor?”

Then, without waiting for him to speak, she raised her hand to stop him but didn’t look at his eyes. “Today I’m letting you go. Past grievances and old matters won’t be pursued further. In the future… we’ll go our separate ways and need not meet again.”

Ye Qi shook violently. Seeing her look as if she never wanted to look at him again, he only felt the pain in his chest intensify. Changling saw him motionless and angrily shouted again, “Why aren’t you leaving? Must I drive you out?”

Knowing she always followed through on her words, Ye Qi didn’t waste more breath. Not wanting her to continue staying in the Qian residence, he could only leave first himself.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

He had just turned and walked a few steps when Changling’s peripheral vision glanced slightly over, seeing his footsteps unsteady. She knew in her heart he was ultimately injured. Just at this moment, Ye Qi suddenly turned back. Changling imperceptibly withdrew her gaze, pretending not to notice.

“I won’t return to the inn. The luggage and horses are all left there.”

Changling said nothing more. Only after Ye Qi had walked far away did she release her hand. Yue Qingyi had originally been filled with extreme hatred, but now seeing Changling’s gloomy expression, she felt somewhat reluctant. “Your feelings for him run quite deep.”

After leaving the Qian residence, the hour of Zi had passed. The streets and alleys were cold and desolate, even the crescent moon hidden behind dark clouds.

Ye Qi walked two streets while supporting himself against the wall. Whether it was the night wind’s chill or that palm truly having injured his vital organs, when the wind blew, he immediately felt every inch of skin on his body was chilled to the extreme. His hands involuntarily pulled his clothes tighter, wishing he could curl into a ball.

He had always been calm and composed when encountering matters. Even if the sky fell, he could look up leisurely and contemplate the cause of the collapse, then unhurriedly fill the gap—yet at this moment, he only felt several cracks had split open in his chest. A kind of bewilderment he had never experienced before enveloped his three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls…

What good was mending heaven? Even if he had the greatest abilities, he could never cover up the grudges and wrongs of the previous generation.

Ye Qi thought about those scenes just now, thinking to himself: She still treated me extremely well. She told me to leave, naturally fearing I would be harmed by Aunt Yue. I left, naturally fearing to put her in a difficult position. But the fact that my father injured her and imprisoned Senior Yue is real… How could she not mind at all?

For an instant, a somewhat desolate thought arose in him. He felt Heaven probably truly didn’t tolerate him, to make him commit such a monstrous error from the moment of his birth.

Without reason, inexplicably, that phrase floated through his mind: “Even bareheaded and barefoot, walking through deep mountains and great valleys, one can still be embraced and covered with a quilt.”

Ye Qi’s footsteps paused, his fingertips unconsciously twitching.

What kind of person was Yue Changling?

She was someone who could transfer true qi to a young assassin bent on killing her. She was someone who dared propose cooperation to him when they were adversaries. She was someone who could casually say “The world has always belonged to the capable. If you wish to contend, I shall naturally oblige.”

How could such a Second Young Master easily abandon someone due to grievance? How could she not even look at him once before parting ways?

Ye Qi recalled that phrase “we’ll go our separate ways,” and his eyes brightened involuntarily, thinking to himself: That’s right, how did I not think of it? She still wants revenge, and she must attend the martial arts gathering. How could we possibly not meet? When she said we wouldn’t meet, it was actually the opposite… Bridge… she must be inviting me to wait for her at the bridge.

Thinking of this, the strength that had been drained away seemed to return somewhat. He couldn’t help but quicken his pace, heading toward the bridge they had passed when arriving, unable to wait to see her.

Perhaps because his wounded feelings had lessened, his thinking ability flooded back into his empty mind. Only now did Ye Qi spare some attention to think about all the “sudden occurrences” of tonight.

Yue Qingyi said someone had told her that her enemy would appear here. That meant someone knew he would appear at the Qian residence—she had already stayed at the Qian residence for two days, while he and Changling had come from Yanling Village almost without stopping…

A trace of coldness flashed through Ye Qi’s eyes—this person had known early on that Jing Wuwei would tell them about this place, calculating that sooner or later they would come to Anxi Town. Therefore, they had released Yue Qingyi and lured her to hide here… wanting to use her to catch him off guard and kill him?

No. Someone capable of calculating to this extent should know his and Changling’s martial arts abilities. Using Yue Qingyi to kill someone wasn’t as good as sending more skilled assassins to ambush them…

Then, if the intention wasn’t murder, what was it?

The answer was ready to come out.

Sowing discord. Or perhaps… after sowing discord, there would be even more thorough schemes…

At the corner ahead, a human figure walked slowly forward. The newcomer was a master, yet had no intention of continuing to hide.

Ye Qi had already guessed, so seeing this person at this moment wasn’t too unexpected. He straightened his body and said coldly, “As I thought, it’s you.”

That person stopped five steps away and performed a refined and courteous salute. “Young Marquis, I’ve been waiting for quite some time.”

Ye Qi vigilantly shifted his gaze slightly, sensing a circle of blade glints slowly approaching from the surroundings. “I should have thought of it earlier… You didn’t attack Yanling Mountain because you must have had other plans.”

“We are originally the same type of people, thinking ourselves clever, believing we can toy with others in the palms of our hands, believing ourselves to be the ‘Yellow Springs.'” That person smiled faintly. “It’s just that no one can have flawless strategies. Sometimes you win, sometimes I win. That’s what makes it interesting, isn’t it?”

“You’re quite right. Victory and defeat are common occurrences in military affairs…” Ye Qi’s injuries were not light. With every breath, his chest felt as if sliced by sharp blades, but his face showed no sign of pain. “It’s just that you should be clear—if I die here today, you will never be able to obtain what you want.”

“Marquis He, you’re wrong. Do you know where you lost this time?” He leisurely smoothed his long sleeves and laughed. “What a person desires and seeks will never remain unchanged. And you don’t know what I truly want now.”

After returning to the inn, Changling waited until Yue Qingyi had fallen into deep sleep before noiselessly getting up and slipping out.

She could tell that Yue Qingyi had gone days without sleep, her whole body full of exhaustion. Once that suspended breath of tension relaxed, she would naturally fall into deep sleep.

Changling wasn’t certain whether Ye Qi could understand the hidden meaning in her words. After all, she had appeared quite resolute—but if she hadn’t acted convincingly, how could she have possibly deceived her aunt?

Actually, saying she didn’t mind was impossible… After all, He Kangwen was indeed the instigator who caused her family bonds to become so thin.

But to place grudges from so long ago on Ye Qi… even if she and Young Marquis were complete strangers, she wouldn’t necessarily blame this debt on him, let alone after they had traveled this road together, experiencing life-and-death perils, supporting and accompanying each other. If she still didn’t know what kind of person he was or what she should do, that would truly be narrow-minded and laughable.

However, even though she could think clearly and let go, her aunt’s eighteen years of darkness without daylight couldn’t be dismissed with an outsider’s casual phrase of “the enemy is dead, let bygones be bygones.”

Moreover, it was because of her… that her aunt had gone to seek revenge on He Kangwen. At that critical juncture, she couldn’t be inconsiderate and rashly demand that her aunt accept the enemy’s son as her companion.

Thinking of that palm Ye Qi had received truly troubled her heart. Changling couldn’t help but press her horse’s flanks. The horse galloped like lightning through the quiet streets, almost growing wings to fly.

Anxi Town had only one bridge. When she reached the bridge, the crescent moon threading through thin clouds peeked out its tip again, its reflection rippling on the river surface with an incomplete gap. The cold wind blew leaves everywhere on the ground.

Changling quickly dismounted and ran back and forth across the bridge. Forget about a human figure—she couldn’t even see a cat or dog.

Her heart jumped—could it be he hadn’t understood her meaning and had truly believed it and left?

For the first time, she doubted Young Marquis’s intelligence.

Even so… with his injuries, how far could he have gone?

He couldn’t have fainted halfway, could he?

Just as Changling was about to remount and search along the route, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching from the other end of the bridge.

Her heart leaped with joy. She quickly turned around. “Why are you only now…”

Her words cut off abruptly. The newcomer’s figure was tall and slender, but it wasn’t Ye Qi’s silhouette.

Changling stared with astonished eyes at the person walking toward her step by step. An ominous premonition spread along her spine. “Why is it you… Why are you here?”

Fu Yangui looked over gently, his face revealing a trace of benevolent smile. “Me? I came to find you.”

Author’s Note:

I think I said from the very beginning… Fu and Qi’s intelligence levels are equivalent. Otherwise, the two wouldn’t have been evenly matched after battling for over ten years… It’s just that sometimes Young Marquis wins because Fu doesn’t have certain information, so he can’t calculate it. Similarly, Young Marquis is the same. There are always some things he doesn’t know, so please don’t be surprised.