"Master..."
Yun Ying was utterly terrified. Her fingertips whitened around the firewood she clutched, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
"Hmph, look at you, your mind wandering off somewhere. You little slut... still thinking about a man at a time like this. Have you forgotten your task?"
That hoarse voice sounded like a rusty knife scraping porcelain. "Since you're so infatuated with this brat, I'll kill him first and let him wait for you on the road to the Yellow Springs..."
Yun Ying went limp with fear. Her knees struck the ground with a muffled thud, and both hands dug desperately into the edge of the stove as she pleaded in despair, "M-Master... no... Master, I'm begging you. Don't kill him..."
Yun Ying knew only too well how formidable the dark, scrawny old man's methods were: he could enter the heart of the Vertical Sword Sect without a sound. Killing the gravely wounded Qu Yong now would be as easy as crushing an ant.
"Begging me... then I'll give you one last chance!"
The old man's phantom moved half a foot closer. He extended a twiglike finger and pinched the back of Yun Ying's neck, his sinister breath mingling with the steam from the medicine pot as it washed over her face. He sneered, "Within three days, get the Forging Technique and give it to me... Not only will I spare him, I'll even remove the Nightmare-Suppressing Nail from your body and give you back your freedom!"
"Master!"
Yun Ying cried out and reached for that hand, only to pass through what felt like a mass of icy mist. "Master... is that really true? You mustn't lie to me."
"Lie to you?" The old man's face suddenly split open, revealing churning black mist behind it. "You little whore... even your life