A Terrified World, Only You and Me (7)

"You've got the wrong person."

Ruan Su fixed her eyes on the casually dressed middle-aged man holding a sword. Her knife-wielding stance lowered slightly as she tried to explain in a cool voice:

"Xiao Yi isn't the young master you're looking for."

Fu Ming raised a brow at that. Paying no heed to the little girl's hostility, he chuckled and shook his head.

"Whether he is my young master or not isn't for you to decide."

As he spoke, his gaze passed over Ruan Su and settled on the boy wrapped in an oversized fur cloak. Raising his brows, he asked:

"Eldest Young Master, I'm curious—how did you discover them? Those two may not have been very clever, but surely they wouldn't have revealed their killing intent before you in advance? Or did you kill them both after they made their move?"

"I said it! Xiao Yi isn't..." Ruan Su tightened her grip around her short blade.

"Sis, it's useless."

Qin Yi calmly interrupted Ruan Su. There was not a ripple in his eyes as he lightly shook his head, stating a simple fact:

"He has already decided that I am Qin Ke."

"Qin Ke?"

Hearing that name, Fu Ming stroked his chin and gave a soft laugh. His drooping eyes carried a lazy smile.

"You can consider making up a story for me now. If it's exciting enough, you should still be able to live for quite a while longer."

Qin Yi remained silent.

Seeing this, Fu Ming let out a soft sigh. As he stepped forward, he said in an unhurried voice:

"To be honest, as an external affairs retainer, I really didn't want to get tangled up in your family's mess. But unfortunately, that woman gave me far too much, so..."

Whoosh—

Before his words had even fallen,

A streak of Sword Qi shot forward without warning from behind the siblings, striking the ground by Fu Ming's advancing foot and carving a deep gash through the leaf-covered black earth!

A strange, hard male voice came from behind them:

"Step back."

Qin Yi turned at the sound, only to see a middle-aged man in the black robes of an Immortal Guest House retainer standing atop the trunk of an ancient tree behind them. He had appeared at some unknown moment, almost blending into the forest shadows.

One of the old proprietor's people?

"Ho..."

Looking at the sudden arrival, Fu Ming's eyes showed a trace of surprise. He took one step back and raised a hand in a French salute, indicating that he could refrain from acting for the moment. After staring at the other man for several breaths, he smiled lazily.

"The Heavenly Realm?

"That's what you inner martial artists call it, isn't it?"

As he spoke,

Fu Ming stroked his chin again, lowering his eyes and furrowing his brow as he thought seriously for a moment. Then he muttered to himself:

"Hmm... or was it the Innate Realm? Tsk... I never paid much attention to this sort of thing, but people at your level should be rare even among martial artists, shouldn't they? How did one appear in such a small place?"

As he spoke, Fu Ming caught sight of the somewhat familiar emblem on the other man's black clothes and abruptly understood.

"Oh, you're one of that proprietor's men? Then it isn't strange. The first time I met him, I thought he was just putting on airs, so I didn't pay him any mind. But after staying in this town for a few days, I realized that fellow really was formidable. In such a chaotic borderland, everything was remarkably orderly. Still, I remember that you didn't seem to be present at the clothing shop that day?"

While Fu Ming spoke, Qin Yi quietly pulled Ruan Su backward. That Immortal Guest House retainer's "step back" had been meant for the two of them as well.

The black-clad middle-aged man descended as lightly as a fallen leaf. His face was stern as he slowly walked before the siblings and said softly:

"I happened to be making a breakthrough and was unable to welcome you from afar. Does Mr. Fu have any objections?"

Fu Ming froze for an instant at those words, then laughed dumbly and hurriedly waved his hand.

"No objections, of course no objections. How would a passerby like me dare have objections to a Heavenly Realm expert? Heh heh..."

The black-clad middle-aged man revealed no expression. His eyes watched every movement the other man might make.

"I don't know why your clan has put on this little show, but the proprietor's current task for me is to protect these two children. If possible, I ask that you wait a while. The proprietor will arrive shortly. When he does, whether these siblings live or die can be decided by you and the proprietor together. How about it?"

Fu Ming pondered the black-clad man's proposal for a moment, then smiled and gave a slight nod.

"Fine. As the saying goes, even a mighty dragon cannot crush a local snake. Besides, I trust that proprietor will make the right choice."

Ruan Su's brows drew together slightly. She instinctively gripped the thin short blade in her hand even tighter and wanted to step forward, but Qin Yi seized her firmly and stopped her.

He gently shook his head at her.

Ruan Su leaned close to Qin Yi's ear and asked in a voice as faint as a mosquito's hum:

"What do we do... Xiao Yi?"

Qin Yi did not care whether the two men before them could hear. He directly replied in a soft voice:

"Neither of them intends to let us leave now. We can only wait."

Ruan Su silently nodded, but her slender body remained taut, showing not the slightest sign of relaxing.

If Tuanzi had been willing to help, perhaps they could still pull off a body-control burst. But given their landlord-tenant relationship, it already showed considerable backbone that Tuanzi had not suddenly stabbed him in the back during the fight just now.

Amid the bleak, whistling cold wind, Fu Ming walked beneath an ancient tree, leaned against it with his sword in his arms, and simply closed his eyes to rest.

Time slipped away in silence. No one knew how long had passed before more than ten figures descended into the forest one after another like ghosts.

Among them was Nie Junyue, clad in brocade.

The old proprietor was clearly an inner martial arts expert as well.

Nie Junyue looked at the middle-aged man in blue robes confronting Mr. Wei, and his brow furrowed faintly without his realizing it. He had considered many possibilities on the way here, so the instant he saw the scene before him, he had already formed a rough guess.

After weighing his words a little, Nie Junyue looked at Fu Ming. His brocade robes glimmered darkly in the wind as he slowly said:

"I never expected you, sir, to be among the Qin family's prominent clan. I simply wonder..."

"There are some things that only you and I need to know. Saying them aloud would be rather ugly."

Fu Ming interrupted Nie Junyue. He casually lifted the tip of his sword; the cold gleam it drew through the air sliced apart a falling yellow leaf before pointing straight at Qin Yi.

"Stand by and do nothing now, and in exchange—or rather, as an investment—I will give you a path of cultivation suited to your own nature. With it, given your abilities, taking another step forward will be as easy as turning over your hand. In the future, we can also pursue deeper cooperation."

"..."

Hearing those terms, Nie Junyue's brows instantly knitted tight. He instinctively looked toward Qin Yi, wanting to hear what this monstrous boy would say.

Qin Yi stood quietly where he was, his great fur cloak trailing across the ground. Hearing Fu Ming's offer, he showed neither expression nor spoke a word. He merely turned calmly and met Nie Junyue's gaze.

They faced each other in silence.

Driven by profit, the look in Nie Junyue's eyes as he watched Qin Yi gradually turned cold.

"Do you have nothing to say?"

Qin Yi withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes.

"I've already said all I can say."

"Is that so... Then I can only apologize."

Nie Junyue took a deep breath, brushed at the space between his brows with a hint of helplessness, and said softly:

"Thank you for these past days."

Having said that,

Nie Junyue flicked his brocade sleeve and turned to leave.

The sun hung low in the west. The dying sun was blood-red, and golden flecks of light filtered through the canopy into the grim, murderous forest. Everything seemed so natural.

Mr. Wei suddenly moved. Silent as a shadow, no one saw how he exerted his strength. His sword swept directly toward Fu Ming's neck.

At that moment, more than ten top-tier inner martial arts experts attacked in unison.

[What path Immortal Guest House takes will depend entirely on your choice]

Nie Junyue stopped walking, turned back, and smiled lightly at Qin Yi.

Qin Yi did not look at him. He merely nodded in acknowledgment.

A useless mediocrity would miss an opportunity even if it were delivered to his door, but a capable person could seize it firmly in his palm.

Yet at that very moment, Qin Yi caught sight of Ruan Su trembling faintly at his side.

He looked over instinctively, only to see a fear he had never witnessed before on her fair face, along with the words she spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito's hum.

In the sunset,

An arm holding a sword suddenly flew high into the air without warning.

Then,

Her voice reached his ears.

It was one word.

"...Run."