Sword Qi Like a Waterfall

Zhuang Shili had originally thought that if he agreed to those three harsh conditions, Duàn Yì would surely spare him, because no one else would have accepted them.

Moreover, Duàn Yì had not fundamentally suffered any irreparable harm, so there should have been room for reconciliation between them.

Yet for all his calculations, he had not calculated that it was precisely because he had agreed to that final condition too decisively, exposing the patient and terrifying side of his nature, that Duàn Yì's wariness of him had greatly deepened and he had decided not to leave him a path to live.

Drawing a deep breath, thoughts raced madly through Zhuang Shili's mind as he sought a way out. And that path to survival would never come from Duàn Yì's charity—it would have to be fought for by himself.

An expression of disappointment appeared on his face as he deliberately stalled for time.

"Since that is the case, before you make your move, could you resolve a doubt that has troubled me for a long time?

"When my three hundred thousand taels of silver were robbed in Ji County, and when the two great experts under my command died—were those matters related to you as well?"

This matter was also an indelible shadow lodged in Zhuang Shili's heart. The loss of silver was a minor matter; he could bear it. But the deaths of his two commanders, his two closest subordinates dying far from home, had left him in endless grief.

Though Zhuang Shili still had no direct proof even now, he simply had an intuition that this matter could not be separated from Duàn Yì.

Duàn Yì had also cast aside his reservations at this moment. Breathing in the fresh air and the fragrance of green grass, he nodded readily