The Turbulent World, Only You and I (4)

Inside the gently swaying carriage.

The boy stood silently before the woman's corpse. Blood gradually spread into a vivid crimson beneath his feet as he glanced at the silver-jade token engraved with the character "Qin."

What a coincidence.

The great Qin Lineage...

He happened to have a younger brother he had picked up, surnamed Qin.

And more coincidentally still, that younger brother had happened to vanish at the start of autumn.

Qin Ke had done this...

Qin Yi recalled that figure whose composure far exceeded his years.

The timing and logic that had once seemed strange clicked together at this moment.

He did not feel much.

He merely felt that this younger brother he had picked up was not cute in the slightest.

When Qin Yi had been taken back by the Lineage, Qin Ke had not said a word.

And after returning home, he had even found the leisure to hint to mistresses from the second and third branches and the like that they should kill him?

What was this little brother's motive?

Fear, or jealousy?

He did not understand.

The human heart was still far too difficult for Qin Yi to understand.

Whenever he thought he had sorted through the causes and effects of human nature, some brand-new, absurd reason would always emerge.

He did not dwell on Qin Ke's matter, nor did he have time to.

The luxurious carriage continued along the mountain road, its compartment still trembling faintly. The soft sound of Spirit Resonance Threads piercing through the carriage came abrupt and without warning, yet Qin Yi heard an ill-timed clang!

Fan You had blocked his fatal attack.

Without the slightest hesitation, two Resonance Threads ripped through the carriage while one wrapped around Qin Yi's body. He smashed through the side wall and shot sideways into the air.

Boom—

With the roar, splinters from the expensive carriage scattered like a waterfall.

Almost the instant Qin Yi burst from the carriage, a phantom of a dark-blue leopard tore open its front end and pounced viciously into the compartment.

When all sound returned to silence, the two fine horses before the carriage gradually slowed. Behind them, the lavishly decorated compartment had been more than half destroyed, leaving only half a chassis swaying lightly in the wind.

In midair,

Qin Yi hovered more than ten feet above the ground, his dark eyes lowered as he watched the man in black robes named Fan You.

Just as the old employer's intelligence had described,

Three dark-blue phantoms circled Fan You: a tortoise, a leopard, and a person. Yet unexpectedly, Fan You showed no intention of continuing his counterattack.

After silently bringing the carriage to a stop, Fan You stared for several breaths at the boy standing upon empty air. Then, through the hole in the carriage, he glanced at the female corpse whose head and body had been severed, contemplation filling his eyes.

Silence.

The cold mountain wind stirred the hems of their fur robes.

Amid the increasingly dense, murderous atmosphere,

Fan You slowly stepped down from the carriage and made a move Qin Yi had not expected. He first dispersed the dark-blue phantoms around him, then casually overlapped his hands and bowed deeply toward the boy in midair.

His voice was especially low in the cold wind:

"Earlier, this subordinate failed to discern the situation. I only thought this beast was attacking in an attempt to claim all the credit for herself, so I had no choice but to counterattack. I nearly injured the Young Master. Please punish me."

Qin Yi looked down at him in silence.

Fan You took a deep breath and quickly said:

"Young Master truly possess discerning eyes. This beast was indeed sent by a concubine from a collateral branch of the Lineage to murder you."

Was this man trying to switch sides?

Qin Yi more or less understood what the other man was thinking, but his childish voice remained cold and utterly flat:

"Aren't you as well?"

A trace of hesitation appeared on Fan You's usually stern face. He drew a deep breath, then ultimately chose to answer truthfully:

"Yes, but I do not wish to be."

Qin Yi lowered his gaze, watching every movement the man made, and said faintly:

"If my deduction is correct, she should be your superior. Are you trying to betray your master?"

Fan You immediately bent his waist even lower, his black robe nearly brushing the ground as he replied with meticulous seriousness:

"In answer to Young Master, the one I serve is the family head."

Qin Yi showed no intention of landing. Looking down at him, he enunciated each word:

"If you continue playing word games, there will be no need to continue this conversation."

"..."

Fan You fell silent, weighing his words of explanation. Yet the boy standing upon empty air gave a soft laugh first.

His childish voice carried faint, almost imperceptible mockery:

"No need to explain. I can guess what you are thinking without you saying it. You merely wish to sit on the fence and watch the horses race—a very clever choice. At least it would not place you in danger. But given the present situation, your choice is truly idiotic beyond measure."

At this point, Qin Yi paused for a moment and sighed.

"To find me amidst the vast sea of people proves you do possess some ability. And considering that useless woman Shang Jin, you must be quite dissatisfied with your current circumstances, right? You think those above you are all wine sacks and rice bags, that they are holding you back and always stealing your credit. You think you are only one opportunity away from 'success,' am I right?"

"..."

Fan You unconsciously clenched his hands. Every syllable the boy spoke landed precisely upon the rhythm of his heart.

Qin Yi slowly descended to the ground. He did not advance, merely stood where he was and watched the black-robed man bowing before him, his childish voice smiling.

"I recall that the opportunity you wanted had already come just now, yet I did not see you seize it.

"If you truly had ability, you should have killed Shang Jin directly back in that little courtyard to prove your loyalty, instead of waiting until I noticed and acted personally before wagging your tail and begging for mercy."

As he spoke, Qin Yi warily watched every minute movement of the other man and softly called his name in an even tone:

"Fan You,

"You are nothing more than a mediocre fool who thinks himself extraordinary."

"..."

Fan You's body trembled slightly. The humiliation of having his pride trampled to pieces sent his emotions surging, but he ultimately endured it and remained silent, maintaining his bow.

"...What are you trembling for?"

The boy's voice was like a thorn. His soft, smiling words accompanied the rustle of fur-lined boots stepping over withered leaves.

"You do not dare speak up to refute me, yet you still want to show some dissatisfaction. What exactly are your left and right brains fighting over?"

"..."

"Where is your answer?!"

Though suddenly raised in fury, the childish voice, combined with his previous words, carried an authority that made hearts tremble.

Fan You drew a sharp breath and immediately dropped to his knees.

"In answer to Young Master, this lowly one knows his mistake. This lowly one would not dare. Your rebuke is entirely correct. It is this lowly one's honor that you are willing to point out my shortcomings. Please punish this lowly one for these... these petty, scheming selfish thoughts."

With the backing of a high-status identity, scolding people was easier than scolding dogs.

Qin Yi stared at him for several breaths before slowly saying:

"I thought you would take a desperate gamble, choose to kill me, and then return to that venomous woman..."

Thud.

Before he finished speaking, Fan You decisively kowtowed to Qin Yi.

"This lowly one would not dare. Please punish this lowly one for his earlier foolishness. This lowly one has already awakened. So long as you return to the Lineage, those who have stolen your authority..."

"Enough."

Qin Yi interrupted him and slowly walked toward him, his footsteps rustling. "It seems you are not completely stupid. At least you can tell that I am willing to take you in. On this return to the Lineage, I do indeed need someone to introduce me to the situation."

Thud!

As though granted a pardon, Fan You hurriedly kowtowed to Qin Yi again.

"Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master! Thank—"

Before his words could finish,

Fan You had just raised his head to look toward the boy over ten feet away when three beams of light, arriving without any warning, pierced straight through his body.

Head, heart, Dantian.

Cultivators were people too. If their vital points were pierced while they had let down their guard, death was unavoidable.

The remaining withered leaves drifted down with a soft rustle. The mountain road was carpeted gold, while blood gradually spreading from the corpse dyed the earth red and gave off wisps of white mist.

Qin Yi silently watched the man's corpse collapse to the ground and softly exhaled.

If he could have, he truly would not have minded taking in a subordinate like this. He would not even have minded staging a drama of a civet cat replacing the crown prince within the Qin Family.

He had rather wanted to borrow the Qin Family's influence to contend against that mysterious mother and daughter surnamed Meng.

Unfortunately, the Qin Family was that little brother's Lineage, and the Lineage also had methods of inspection. It was merely that concubines were too lowly to qualify to use them.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Qin Yi controlled the Resonance Threads, preparing to finish Fan You off by cutting off his head.

At a distance of over ten feet, needle-shaped Resonance Threads were the fastest and best suited for mid-to-long-range sneak attacks, but they were far less reliable than cutting off a head...

Hm?

Before the thought had even settled, wisps of dark-blue phantoms had already wound around and seeped into Fan You's corpse within his sight.

Before Qin Yi could think further, he saw the corpse's fingers suddenly twitch. Then it abruptly climbed up from the ground.

What was happening?

It had revived?

Buzz—

At this sudden change, the Resonance Threads instantly recoiled and wound around his body. Qin Yi shot backward at full speed, the wind howling past his ears as his eyes locked onto the man who had risen from death.

And when he saw Fan You's dilated pupils—those blank, hollow eyes devoid of any awareness—Qin Yi suddenly realized that his common sense needed to be reconstructed.

This was not resurrection...

The corpse was moving!