Hate Heart Demonic Art

Rainwater streamed down the tiles, forming a curtain of water.

Wu Qianhuan's hand, just about to reach for the wine jug, paused slightly. She looked up at Chu Qing.

"What did you say?"

Chu Qing looked at Wu Qianhuan and smiled faintly.

"You heard me. And you did not hear wrong."

"...Why?"

"To kill someone."

"Kill whom?"

"Tang Xi."

"Your reason?"

"I am an assassin. Naturally, someone wants him dead, which is why I am going to kill him."

Wu Qianhuan's smile turned faintly cold.

"Falling Rain Hall is Falling Rain Hall of Heavenly Dance City. Its Hall Master is an honored guest of my father.

"More importantly, it is one of Heavenly Dance City's major powers...

"Do you think I would indulge you in killing someone from Heavenly Dance City within Heavenly Dance City?"

Chu Qing did not even need to think.

"You would."

"What makes you so certain?"

"Because he is not from Heavenly Dance City."

"What proof do you have?"

"He is cultivating the Hate Heart Demonic Art."

In that exchange of questions and answers, the instant Chu Qing spoke the four words "Hate Heart Demonic Art," Wu Qianhuan's expression abruptly changed.

Then came silence. Only after a long while did Wu Qianhuan finally speak.

"How can you be sure?"

"I saw... a Hate Heart Person."

The moment Chu Qing finished speaking, there was a crack. Wu Qianhuan had crushed the wine cup in her hand.

The Hate Heart Demonic Art was an infamous demonic martial art of the jianghu.

To cultivate this art, one had to raise Hate Heart People.

A so-called Hate Heart Person was someone who hated the practitioner to the marrow of their bones.

Practitioners would often use special methods to plant Demonic Seeds within them, then inflict every manner of atrocity upon these Hate Heart People.

They would slaughter their entire families, violate their wives and daughters—their deeds were often intolerable even to heaven's justice.

This was done to nourish the Demonic Seed with hatred. Once the Hate Heart Person's hatred reached its peak, the Demonic Seed would be complete.

At that point, the practitioner could carve out their heart alive and consume it for cultivation, allowing their internal strength to advance a thousand miles in a single day.

That was why Tang Xi had plainly told Er Gou that he had killed Er Gou's betrothed, yet had not allowed Er Gou to die.

If he died, everything Tang Xi had done before would have been for nothing.

Wu Qianhuan let out a long breath and looked at Chu Qing.

"But... this is still only your word. How am I supposed to believe you?"

"You already believe me."

Chu Qing sighed.

"Tell me. What do you want?"

"I want to go with you."

"Alright."

"I definitely will not hold you back. I... What did you say?"

Wu Qianhuan had still been planning to persuade Chu Qing to take her along.

But when she came back to herself, she realized that what Chu Qing had just said was... alright?

She stared at Chu Qing in astonishment.

"You... are sure you did not misspeak?"

Chu Qing spread his hands.

"Young Miss Wu is highly skilled in martial arts and is willing to lend me a hand. Such a blessing as pie falling from the sky—why would I refuse?

"But let us make this clear first. The commission is mine, and so is the reward. Young Miss Wu will not get a single coin of silver."

There was some sincerity in those words. Wu Qianhuan was highly skilled. Before obtaining Ah Fei's Fast Sword and the Purple Mist Divine Skill, if Chu Qing faced her head-on, he would absolutely be beaten until he fled like a rat with his head in his hands.

Moreover, she was not the sort of spoiled young lady who acted willfully and fancied herself infallible.

With her there, tonight's assassination would only go more smoothly.

And he had expected her to follow him anyway.

"...You think I care about that?"

Wu Qianhuan felt that this man had started saying infuriating things again.

Chu Qing smiled.

"Besides that, we must lay down three rules."

"What three rules?"

"First, everything on this trip must be done according to my orders."

"Fine. What is the second?"

"Second, everything on this trip must be done according to my orders."

"...Is the third one the same?"

Wu Qianhuan felt the veins in her forehead beginning to throb again.

Especially when she saw Chu Qing shamelessly nod in earnest, she found the fellow truly hateful to look at... though she had yet to see his face.

"After all, you are a layman. If you do not listen to me and something goes wrong, I will not save you.

"So, for the sake of your safety, you had best obey every one of my instructions."

"...Fine."

Wu Qianhuan drew a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm.

"When do you need the defense map?"

"The sooner, the better..."

Chu Qing looked at the rain in the sky.

"Heaven is smiling on us. Tonight is the best opportunity."

"Come with me to the City Lord's Mansion."

Without a second thought, Wu Qianhuan rose to her feet. Yet Chu Qing did not move.

She turned back to look at him, while Chu Qing waved a hand.

"The City Lord's Mansion is not so easy to enter. Besides, if Young Miss Wu is even a little less than honorable and sets up a net that covers heaven and earth in the City Lord's Mansion, would I not be walking straight into the net?

"I will wait here. Eldest Young Lady, go and return quickly."

"..."

Wu Qianhuan no longer wished to waste words. She sprang away at once.

Chu Qing smiled faintly and looked at the dishes on the table. He swallowed slightly, yet did not touch a thing.

That woman had no good intentions. Every dish on the table was something he liked to eat.

Wu Qianhuan did not take long to return. After roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick, a black-clad figure appeared before Chu Qing.

Other than a pair of eyes, not a single part of her body was exposed.

She first examined the dishes on the table with great care, disappointment surfacing in her eyes.

Then she flicked her wrist and tossed Chu Qing a bamboo tube. Chu Qing opened it and took out the map within.

He examined it carefully, praising it as he did so.

"So your probing of Tang Xi at the Chu Family today truly was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"This defense map is drawn with such precision, and the annotations leave no detail unattended. It seems the City Lord's Mansion had long intended to deal with Falling Rain Hall."

"To drive off invaders, one must first settle matters within."

Wu Qianhuan snorted.

"Valley of Ten Thousand Nights has become increasingly unbridled of late. This battle is likely close at hand.

"Falling Rain Hall harbors evil intentions. Even if we did not know Tang Xi cultivated a demonic art, Liu Shijie's collusion with the Seven Iron Horse Thieves is suspicious at every turn and cannot be trusted.

"If war breaks out, they must be brought under control first.

"Even if there is no problem with them, preparing early brings a hundred benefits and not a single harm."

"Aren't you afraid of turning hearts away from you?"

"They would need hearts to turn away in the first place."

Chu Qing laughed upon hearing this. Yes—no one should take anyone else for a fool.

For Wu Ganqi to sit securely as lord of Heavenly Dance City and keep the storms from all eight directions beyond its gates, he could not possibly be a brute who only knew how to swing an axe and split people apart.

If someone was making little moves right beneath his nose, even if he had not discovered them, he would still be on guard.

Had Chu Qing not come to Wu Qianhuan today for this defense map because he had already anticipated that the City Lord's Mansion intended to deal with Falling Rain Hall?

After putting away the defense map, Chu Qing stood.

"Let's go."

Falling Rain Hall was in the western district.

At the center of West Street stood a large courtyard occupying no small area.

Taking advantage of the night, the two raced through the rain. In only a short while, they arrived outside Falling Rain Hall's walls.

They listened closely. After a moment, footsteps passed by.

They exchanged a glance, then leaped up and landed within the courtyard.

With the defense map, the two entered as though strolling through a leisurely courtyard. Where patrols would be, at what time they would arrive, when shifts changed, and how long the intervals were—they knew it all like the backs of their hands.

Before long, the two had slipped into Tang Xi's courtyard.

Carefully stopping atop the roof, Chu Qing reached out and lifted a tile.

A burst of lewd sounds immediately drifted from the room.

Wu Qianhuan's face instantly reddened. She could not help looking at Chu Qing, only to see delight flickering in his eyes.

Then she saw Chu Qing give her a look. Its meaning was... Move!