The sword tip behind his neck had barely touched him, yet Li Yangya felt a chill beyond describing.
Where the sword touched, it felt as though ants were biting him; an intensely unpleasant sensation instantly spread through his whole body. After those teasing words, no further sound came from above his head. Yet in that silence, Li Yangya's hair stood on end and every muscle went taut-not in readiness to attack, but in the body's instinctive response to a blade at his flesh.
That suffocating silence made the moments stretch interminably. Only after a long while did the dreadfully tense Li Yangya realize that the chilling point against the vital spot behind his neck had quietly withdrawn.
Fine. So he never meant to hurt me.
By now, this formidable man of the wild borderlands had lost both nerve and spirit, and dared not entertain the slightest thought of striking back. Against an enemy with such courage and cunning, schemes were clearly futile. Thus the soldiers, who had scarcely dared breathe after seeing the youth's gesture, witnessed an astonishing sight: the corpse that Hall Master Zhang had treated with such ceremony suddenly rolled over and rose, speaking as though nothing had happened.
"Ah, the sword was colder after all."
At that ingratiating reply, the youth's placid face concealed an immense surge of relief.
"Why help a tyrant commit atrocities and obstruct the army's campaign against the bandits?"
His tone remained even, neither heated nor hurried.
"You mean these mountain bandits?"
"True, they may be guilty of every conceivable evil, but for months they sincerely protected me while I sought treasure. I ought to avert disaster for them. That was all."
That peculiar reasoning left Xing Yan momentarily bewildered.
After a brief silence, the two facing each other exclaimed almost simultaneously:
"Treasure