Because this was a dead end, just like his feelings.
(1) Let her go
This time, she had to get down whether she wanted to or not.
The two hurriedly straightened their clothes. Red Adornment sat brazenly on the table, her fair, tender legs dangling and swinging. Her skirt fell only a little below her knees, leaving part of her lower legs bare.
Ji Hanchu watched her quietly.
Misunderstanding, Red Adornment lowered her head and fished a brocade pouch out of her clothes-the very one she had taken from him.
She opened it for him to see. The jade bracelet lay inside, perfectly intact.
"I told you I wasn't lying." With that, she swiftly stuffed it back into her bosom, as though a moment's delay would truly see it snatched away.
Ji Hanchu reached into the wardrobe, took out a white outer robe, and tried to put it on her.
Red Adornment dodged quickly. "What are you doing? I'm not wearing that."
Ji Hanchu insisted on draping it over her.
Red Adornment frowned in distaste, waving her hands like the wind. "Get it away, get it away, get it away."
Ji Hanchu had no choice but to give up.
But there was something he still had to tell her. "I don't know what he's here for. If anything goes wrong, seize your chance and leave."
Red Adornment asked, "You didn't summon him?"
Ji Hanchu shook his head and lowered his voice. "My elder brother and I aren't close."
Red Adornment thought that made sense. Behind so many displays of brotherly affection lay bloody struggles over profit. There was no denying that the position of head of the Gusu Ji Clan was enticing. With profit at the forefront, brotherly affection had to take a back seat. No one could be blamed for that; everything had its order of precedence.
Red Adornment propped up her chin, her eyes innocent and pure. "If you want to be clan head, I'll kill him for you right now."
She made no attempt to conceal those words. She deliberately said them for Ji Zhiyuan outside to hear, and for Ji Hanchu to hear as well.
But unexpectedly, his expression remained indifferent. He was less stirred than he had been during their intimacy just now.
He said, "I don't want to be clan head."
Red Adornment asked, "Why?"
Ji Hanchu did not answer that question, only warned her again. "If anything goes wrong, leave at once."
Red Adornment laughed. "Do you take the rest of your Ji Family for fools? I'll probably be shot full of arrows the moment I step outside."
Ji Hanchu said, "I'll stop them."
Red Adornment raised an eyebrow.
In the candlelight, his features were handsome and refined. "I told you, I would keep you safe tonight."
Red Adornment's heart was unexpectedly kneaded once again, softening so much that she almost began seriously considering whether to spare Yin Yuanya.
Fortunately, it was only almost. She reined herself in at the cliff's edge, because Ji Zhiyuan pushed the door open and came straight inside.
The Ji Family brothers bore little resemblance to one another, a point displayed to the fullest in Ji Hanchu and Ji Zhiyuan. The young man in the wheelchair looked a little younger than Ji Hanchu, with round eyes and round cheeks. Seated in his wheelchair, his trouser legs hanging empty, he looked all the more harmless and pitiable.
Only those round eyes, behind a swirling veil of mist, somehow seemed colder the longer one looked.
The young man pushing him had much plainer features. Expressionless, he stopped and nodded to Ji Hanchu. "Third Young Master."
Ji Zhiyuan turned to Red Adornment. "Qi Jin, master of the Fifth Gate."
Red Adornment politely cupped her hands as well and shook them toward him.
Ji Zhiyuan nodded in turn and cupped his hands. "Ji Zhiyuan, master of the Fourth Gate, second in this generation of the Ji Family. You may call me 'Second Young Master,' as outsiders do, or 'elder brother,' as my third brother does."
Red Adornment said, "I'd rather just call you by name."
Ji Zhiyuan said, "As you please."
How interesting. She had met someone even better at pretending than she was.
Ji Zhiyuan smiled at Red Adornment on the table. "You killed those people from the Yin Clan."
There was no doubt in his words, only certainty.
Red Adornment said airily, "Yes, I killed them."
Ji Zhiyuan said, "You were also behind Grandfather's poisoning last time."
Red Adornment said, "I was."
Ji Zhiyuan asked, "Are you planning to make a second attempt on him?"
Red Adornment nodded. "I am."
Bracing his hands on the wheelchair's armrests, Ji Zhiyuan leaned forward slightly and asked as though negotiating, "Could you refrain from killing him?"
Red Adornment thought he really knew how to pretend. His pretense was so hypocritical that it was almost endearing.
And she said exactly what she thought. "Second Young Master, you really are amusing."
Ji Zhiyuan smiled faintly. "Then, in view of the amusement I've given you, consider what I just said."
Red Adornment fingered the Buddhist beads on her wrist. "I'd already made a deal with Ji San. If he pleased me, I would consider sparing Yin Yuanya. Unfortunately, you interrupted us before I got my way, so I don't know how to settle this account."
At those words, the hypocritical man glanced sideways, the silent man raised his eyes, and the gentle, sunny man flushed.
Ji Hanchu rebuked her quietly. "Red Adornment!"
Red Adornment clapped her hands, jumped off the table, and walked up to Ji Zhiyuan. Just as she was about to bend down, Qi Jin darted over to block her.
Remaining in that position, she told Ji Zhiyuan, "You can try to stop me. If you manage it, I'll be yours to deal with."
Afterward, she even winked at him, lively and playful.
She always liked speaking this way and was accustomed to letting her tongue run unchecked. Even perfectly ordinary words acquired a measure of flirtation from her lips.
Ji Zhiyuan did not mind and could even smile at her, but hearing it made Ji Hanchu feel uncomfortable.
Ever since Red Adornment had called Ji Zhiyuan amusing, he had been uncomfortable.
He was not the only person she treated this way.
She found him entertaining, so she entangled herself with him.
Now she found Ji Zhiyuan entertaining, so she entangled herself with Ji Zhiyuan.
Otherwise, why did her eyes keep resting on Ji Zhiyuan, without sparing him so much as a sidelong glance?
His heart was in turmoil, and he instinctively avoided looking their way. He did not notice Ji Zhiyuan's smiling gaze abruptly turn cold and stern, his false benevolence giving way to his true face.
Ji Zhiyuan leaned back in his wheelchair, his expression frosty. As though tired, he briefly closed his eyes and told Qi Jin beside him, "Negotiations have failed. Forget it."
His tone held a little regret, but a heavy killing intent had already risen around him.
He knew no martial arts, so naturally, someone else would act on his behalf.
Qi Jin pushed him into a corner of the room, then turned and walked toward Red Adornment. She made no attempt to dodge, standing leisurely beside the table and even beginning to whistle.
Just as Qi Jin neared her, the strength in his arm poised to strike, a sharp weapon swept across his vision. A blade flashed, and the edge of the Star Pendant pointed straight at him.
Qi Jin's expression darkened. "Do you know what you're doing?"
All the hidden guards of the Fourth and Fifth Gates were at the door. If the Second Young Master wanted her dead today, she could not walk out alive.
Ji Hanchu said, "I promised her I would protect her."
Qi Jin said, "Once she's dead, the promise needn't count."
Ji Hanchu did not hesitate. "No."
Without proud bones, a person was nothing but a lump of rotten flesh.
A good man bore righteousness on his shoulders, held rivers and mountains within his breast, and carried proud bones in his spine. This was the foundation on which he stood in the world.
The wrongs committed, the promises borne, the conscience cast aside-a person might forget, but Heaven knew, and so did ghosts and gods.
Ji Hanchu stepped forward, shielding Red Adornment.
"Wait, wait!" Several urgent cries rang out. Then someone pushed the door open from outside, and a large yet nimble figure squeezed inside.
Red Adornment looked back and grinned. "Why is it you again, little fatty?"
Xie Liyou wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Born to toil, born to toil. There's simply nothing for it."
Qi Jin snapped, "Xie Liyou, get out of the way!"
Xie Liyou said, "Don't be rash. Harmony brings wealth, everyone. Harmony brings wealth."
Qi Jin narrowed his eyes, a cold gleam flashing through them.
Ji Zhiyuan coughed at just the right moment, raised his eyes toward the doorway, and studied it for a while before turning to Xie Liyou with a smile. "How many men have you brought this time, Gate Master Xie?"
Xie Liyou's smile was even more honest and endearing than his. He shook his head repeatedly. "Not many, not many. Everyone I could bring. I really had no choice. Who doesn't know that every man around the Second Young Master is an expert from the Yin Clan? Luckily, I don't bother with that blasted martial virtue and called in a few helpers too. Otherwise, if a fight really broke out, I feared Ji San wouldn't escape even with wings, however far his hands and eyes might reach."
Ji Zhiyuan half smiled. "Such deep brotherly affection."
"Of course." Xie Liyou's smile was seamless. "We're all disciples of the Gusu Ji Clan. Who here isn't a good brother to everyone else?"
Qi Jin knitted his brows. Seeing that Xie Liyou intended to say more, he lost patience. Before Xie Liyou could speak, he raised his saber and swung with the force of a swirling wind. He turned its edge aside, however, striking toward Xie Liyou with the back of the blade, intending to force him back. One fewer person meddling in these muddy waters would be all the better.
"Watch out-"
Ji Hanchu darted over. The Star Pendant struck Qi Jin's blade hard, its powerful internal force driving him three full steps backward. The blade did not even touch the hem of Xie Liyou's clothes.
Ji Hanchu stood in front of Xie Liyou, his expression turning cold. "You've gone too far."
"If I wanted his life, what would you do?" Qi Jin demanded angrily.
A sharp look suddenly rose in Ji Hanchu's gentle eyes. He said nothing, merely raising the Star Pendant before him. His meaning required no words.
Qi Jin held his saber upright and pressed his lips together.
He commanded the Fifth Gate, excelled at commerce and calculation, and had a self-taught gift for money. Others embellished his abilities until he was hailed as a living God of Wealth who could all but turn stone into gold, yet he had failed to achieve mastery in saber techniques.
No matter how hard he worked, a single swing made it clear even to an outsider that he fell far more than a little short of Ji Hanchu.
He trained bitterly, yet could never grasp the way. He could not catch up, could not overtake, could not make it in time.
Whether in saber techniques or with the person he loved.
Xie Liyou chuckled, but his smile was indescribably strained. "I say, Fifth, why get so worked up? We're all on the same side."
Qi Jin sneered. "Who's on the same side as you?"
"Enough, A-Jin. Say less." Ji Zhiyuan rested his elbows on his wheelchair, his fingers interlaced before him. His previous words had been directed at Qi Jin; the next were for Ji Hanchu. Looking at him, he sighed. "You shouldn't have done this."
Ji Hanchu said, each word distinct, "Let them go."
"Letting Xie Liyou go is certainly possible. But her..." Ji Zhiyuan glanced toward Red Adornment and smiled mockingly. "We've been brothers for twenty years. Why put yourself through this for a woman?"
Ji Hanchu looked at him calmly. "Let her go, and you can be clan head."
(2) Bad fellow
Ji Zhiyuan received those lightly spoken words just as lightly. "Is that so?"
But his hands, which had abruptly gone still, showed he was not calm-at least, not as calm as he appeared.
Ji Hanchu said, "It should have been yours to begin with."
Ji Zhiyuan wheeled himself over. Qi Jin sheathed his saber and stood behind him.
He looked at Red Adornment, then at Ji Hanchu. "The others are dead, and that's that. But she must not touch Grandfather. So long as you persuade her to stop, I won't pursue what happened to him."
"Really?"
Ji Zhiyuan nodded.
Ji Hanchu put away the Star Pendant, took Red Adornment's hand in one hand, and put his other arm around Xie Liyou. He pushed Xie Liyou through the doorway before leading Red Adornment out.
"Stay out of this and go back," Ji Hanchu told Xie Liyou. "Just pretend you saw nothing and know nothing."
"Ji San," Xie Liyou said helplessly, "you should know me too. I can't possibly abandon you."
"My elder brother won't hurt me."
"Bullshit!" Xie Liyou pointed behind himself. "You say he won't hurt you? Then why did he summon all these people? To admire the moon?"
They looked behind him. Beneath the moonlight, the courtyard had silently filled with people, some from the Yin Clan and others from the Five Gates... The atmosphere was all drawn swords and strung bows.
Ji Hanchu's grip on the Star Pendant tightened, then loosened. "It's all right. Everything is settled now."
Xie Liyou said, "What am I supposed to say to you?"
He looked toward Red Adornment, shook his head, and raised a thumb with a sigh. "You truly are capable, miss. My admiration, my admiration."
Red Adornment smiled.
She was particularly clever at a time like this. She had heard everything Ji Hanchu and Ji Zhiyuan had just said, but neither agreed nor objected. Ji Hanchu had done all the talking, after all. She had remained silent from start to finish. When the time came to attack Yin Yuanya, she would not be in the wrong.
Xie Liyou left with his men. Ji Hanchu still hesitated a little. He glanced back at Ji Zhiyuan. "She and I..."
Ji Zhiyuan tilted his head up slightly, his smile as pure as ever, his eyes curved with a child's innocence.
"What woman? Tonight, I've seen no one here except my third brother." He even gestured toward the door, inviting them to leave.
Red Adornment swore she had never encountered anyone more false than Ji Zhiyuan in her entire life. He seemed to have two faces and was well practiced at using both. By comparison, Ji Hanchu, that reserved, disciplined little stick-in-the-mud, would probably never learn such hypocrisy in his lifetime.
Still, she looked at Ji Hanchu's back as he shielded her and thought, What use did a person have for so many faces? One was enough. Especially when I quite like this one. That's already enough.
Red Adornment poked her head out from behind Ji Hanchu. "Ji Zhiyuan, I'll remember you. I hope we meet again."
As she spoke, she whistled provocatively once more. "Of course, that's if you're still alive by then."
Resting his hands on his wheelchair, Ji Zhiyuan smiled. "Thank you for your auspicious words. I'll certainly strive to stay alive and do my best to outlive you."
Ji Hanchu pulled her out and pressed her into his arms, blocking the "tender, loving" gaze she exchanged with Ji Zhiyuan, then reached to open the door. Red Adornment leaned into his embrace, breathing in the familiar, fresh scent of medicine on him. Her heart gradually settled. This night of chaos and turmoil was finally about to end.
Just as Ji Hanchu was about to open the door, a sudden whoosh split the air. Reacting quickly, he held Red Adornment and dodged to the side.
Three impacts rang out. All three hidden weapons from behind struck the doorframe. Three abacus beads embedded themselves deep in the wood, cracks spreading in a ring around them.
Ji Zhiyuan shouted, "A-Jin, stop!"
Qi Jin held his saber, veins bulging on his arm, and stared fixedly at Red Adornment. "Second Young Master, we can't let her leave."
Red Adornment looked at the abacus beads and sighed softly. Draped over Ji Hanchu's shoulder, she asked quietly, "Tell me, why are there people in this world who insist on rushing to their deaths?"
The regret in her words made it seem as though Qi Jin were already a corpse.
Qi Jin gathered his qi, his blade trembling slightly. His killing intent grew stronger, but in Red Adornment's eyes, it was not worth mentioning.
So not every gate master in the Gusu Ji Clan is as formidable as this little stick-in-the-mud.
Ji Zhiyuan frowned, his voice growing sterner as he ordered, "A-Jin, put down your saber. I said, let them go."
Qi Jin glared fiercely at Red Adornment. "I want her dead."
Ji Zhiyuan sighed. "Even if you kill her, do you think Little Yan'er will thank you?"
Qi Jin said, "I don't want her gratitude. I want her wish fulfilled."
After listening to these few exchanges, Red Adornment understood.
So that little white rabbit also had someone who secretly loved her and was willing to give everything for her.
She hugged Ji Hanchu. "The stories in your Ji Family really are tangled with tender yearning. But what good would killing me do? Even if I died, you still wouldn't fancy that cousin of yours."
Ji Hanchu lowered his head to look at her.
Red Adornment took a deep breath of his medicinal scent, her voice very soft. "Young Master Ji San likes a wicked woman who kills, sets fires, and is steeped in sin. A bland little white rabbit isn't to your taste."
Hearing her say this, Ji Hanchu flushed again. "Mind your words."
And so, Red Adornment fell silent.
There was plenty of time ahead. Had Ji Zhiyuan not arrived so suddenly, Ji Hanchu might really have lost himself in the moment and agreed. When another opportunity came, she would be sure to tease him properly again, to see whether, when the Little Immortal Physician was torn by emotion, his face showed guilt tormented by righteousness or pleasure steeped in desire.
That would certainly be far more enjoyable than killing.
Ji Zhiyuan pressed Qi Jin's hand down and took his saber away. "Let's go."
Qi Jin grew frantic. "Second Young Master!"
Red Adornment stepped out of Ji Hanchu's arms and stood beside the door, her gaze sharpening.
She had genuinely believed Ji Zhiyuan just now, never expecting the man he brought to go back on his word. Actually, she could rather understand Qi Jin's suffering. Just look at his blue-and-white robes, utterly at odds with his bearing. He was clearly imitating Ji Hanchu, and doing a terrible job of it-trying to paint a tiger, only to end up with a dog.
Qi Jin wanted to kill her because even he could see that Ji Hanchu treated her differently. He was determined to eliminate any future trouble for Yin Qingyan. Someone who loved so deeply without being loved in return, who would grit his teeth and swallow blood to fulfill his beloved's wishes even with his heart steeped in bitter coptis-she thought he was slightly more genuine than Ji Zhiyuan.
But understanding was one thing. Qi Jin had struck underhandedly, and she would not suffer for nothing. She was no saint.
What she practiced was the crooked path of demons, not the way of the Buddha.
"Ji Zhiyuan, this friend of yours isn't very honorable," Red Adornment said.
Smiling, she raised both hands toward Qi Jin, who immediately eyed her warily.
Yet there was nothing in her hands. She merely mimed drawing a bow at him. Perhaps because he knew how cunning and ruthless this demoness was, he panicked despite knowing she was unarmed.
Red Adornment closed one eye and made a convincing show of drawing and loosing an arrow, even supplying a "whoosh" herself. Unable to withstand his alarm, Qi Jin stumbled back two steps and nearly collided with Ji Zhiyuan's wheelchair.
Naturally, nothing happened.
"Timid as a mouse," Red Adornment mocked.
Qi Jin's expression darkened further.
Red Adornment had always been brazen and overbearing. She would have loved Qi Jin to actually fight her. She was about to provoke him further when Ji Hanchu caught her wrist.
Every prayer bead on that wrist gleamed with a soft luster. Ji Hanchu's gaze darkened. "The antidote."
Red Adornment played dumb. "What antidote?"
"Your prayer beads are hollow, and you keep venomous creatures inside," Ji Hanchu said. "Pretending to draw a bow was a feint to the east while striking in the west. Your insects had already succeeded."
Qi Jin's expression changed. Almost the instant Ji Hanchu finished speaking, a piercing agony shot through his leg. He bent down and pulled up his trouser leg. A large patch of bluish black had already formed on his calf and was slowly spreading toward his groin.
Red Adornment lifted her hand. "He attacked first. Crippling one of his legs isn't excessive."
Qi Jin snatched his saber from Ji Zhiyuan's hand. His eyes reddened as he slashed at an opening in Red Adornment's guard.
Ji Hanchu had drawn the Star Pendant the moment Qi Jin picked up his saber. Then he swept Red Adornment behind him, met Qi Jin's blade head-on with the Star Pendant, and followed with a sweeping kick squarely to his kneecap. Qi Jin staggered and dropped to one knee.
Qi Jin gasped for breath. His poisoned leg had already gone numb. Before, he had wanted to kill her for Yin Qingyan. Now, for his own sake, he had to kill Red Adornment too.
"Give him the antidote," Ji Hanchu said.
Red Adornment refused. "So he can come and kill me again?"
"He won't kill you."
She gave a mocking laugh. "He looks perfectly willing to me."
Ji Hanchu shook his head. "I'll protect you."
I. Will. Protect. You.
This was bad. She couldn't listen anymore.
If she kept listening, that mouth of his really would save Yin Yuanya's wretched life.
Touching the prayer beads at her wrist, Red Adornment gently turned them. She looked at Qi Jin and blew another short whistle. Soon, two or three small black insects crawled out onto the ground. She crouched, and they climbed along her fingertips and back inside the beads.
She kicked the saber Qi Jin was bracing against the ground, jolting his entire body. "Let some blood once a day. You'll be fine in half a month."
Qi Jin's face twisted with rage. "Just you wait!"
Red Adornment did not let him finish. A flick of her foot sent him sprawling onto the ground again.
Her abilities came from Yaoguang and Tianxuan, but her sharp tongue took entirely after Tianshu. She had no notion of accumulating virtue through kind words. "I don't like waiting. If you're looking for death, I can oblige you right now."
Ji Hanchu hurried forward, caught her by the shoulders, and pulled her far away from Qi Jin.
At this rate, dawn would break before they finished.
He put an arm around her waist and, without another glance at the two men behind them, tilted his head. "Let's go."
At last, they pushed open the door.
A sea of bows and crossbows, and a dense mass of heads, all faced their direction. Seeing the two of them emerge, without any audible command, everyone moved as one and turned their backs in perfect unison.
Their orders were not to act without orders.
The Second Young Master's meaning was clear: they were not arresting this woman tonight.
The hidden guards exchanged glances, then vanished into the night like the wind.
There was no need to ask or speak. The best hidden guards were those who did not talk.
After leading Red Adornment out of the Ji Family estate, Ji Hanchu let go of her hand.
She had thought he would leave, but he did not. He simply walked slowly along the road ahead.
She caught up and searched for something to say. "Are you angry again?"
Ji Hanchu ignored her.
Red Adornment edged closer. "Ji Zhiyuan's man was the one who played dirty. If I hadn't fought back, he would definitely have killed me."
"With Qi Jin's martial skills, he couldn't kill you," Ji Hanchu said. Being killed by her was more like it.
Red Adornment caught the edge of his robe. "That may be true, but he still took a shot at me from behind. Speaking of which, I originally thought your brother was the biggest hypocrite, but it turns out he actually keeps his word. That whatever-it-was Fifth Gate Master isn't half as good as him..."
The longer she spoke, the angrier Ji Hanchu became, and the worse his expression grew.
Ji Zhiyuan again!
Was she that taken with Ji Zhiyuan?
Was finding him interesting not enough? Did she have to keep going on about him in his ear?
She had treated him as amusement, toyed with him, and now she had taken a fancy to his elder brother?
After that, would she-would she do everything she had done to him all over again with his brother?
At the thought, a chill rose through Ji Hanchu. For the first time, resentment toward Ji Zhiyuan stirred in his heart.
He knew he should not. Ever since meeting Red Adornment, there had been so many things he "should not" have done.
Worst of all was trading the position of family head for Red Adornment. He knew perfectly well that he had already rejected his uncle's demand, yet he had still acted so despicably. What seemed a bargain was really a threat. Using the very method he most despised, he had traded something that did not belong to him for his most beloved treasure.
Only now did his father's teachings make him feel ashamed.
Most hateful of all was this "treasure," who spoke of nothing but his brother. Every word tormented Ji Hanchu.
Naturally, Red Adornment knew nothing of the twists and turns in his mind. Only halfway through speaking did she notice something was wrong with him.
"Hey, Ji San, you..."
Before she could finish, Ji Hanchu yanked her in front of him. The sight before her changed from his furious face to a moon suspended in the night sky. He shoved her straight down into the grass beside the road, pressed his entire body hard against hers, and pinned her beneath a long kiss.
That kiss held so many emotions: forcefulness, jealousy, anger, helplessness. Like ants crawling over his heart, wave after wave of itching, insisting on throwing him into turmoil, making him endure it.
Ji Hanchu really did seem not to know how to kiss. He merely blundered about clumsily, biting Red Adornment's lower lip until it hurt. At first she enjoyed it, but later she began to struggle. He was far too reckless, and the stones beneath her back were uncomfortable too. Yet the moment she tried to resist, Ji Hanchu pressed her down harder.
When the kiss ended, warm breath still lingered around her neck. Ji Hanchu lay over her, panting, one arm around her waist and the other hand cradling the back of her head.
Red Adornment had melted into a puddle, as dazed as he was. His chest pressed painfully against hers. The tip of her tongue was numb, and the corners of her mouth were probably swollen red too...
"Are you satisfied?"
Gritting his teeth, Ji Hanchu propped himself up and gently touched her face, her lips.
Lowering himself a little, he leaned straight toward her until they could see their reflections in each other's eyes. He looked at Red Adornment, this heartless female ghost, this demon who killed without blinking, this wretch...
"Have you had enough pleasure now?" His breathing gradually steadied, his voice edged with ice. "I'm asking you, Red Adornment. Have you had enough pleasure now?"
(III) One, two, three
Red Adornment looked at Ji Hanchu. He lay over her, and at such close quarters, the emotions in his eyes were plain.
The world was peaceful. There was not even any wind.
Ji Hanchu watched Red Adornment quietly. He looked in great pain, his gaze deep, what lay within it almost impossible to conceal anymore.
Red Adornment caught a fissure amid the vast emotions in his eyes and peered inside. She saw Ji Hanchu standing on a barren plain, daylight on one side and darkness on the other, wavering, struggling, tearing apart.
Deep inside, he was defending himself with all his ugliness exposed, defending his tottering integrity and morality.
Red Adornment pushed him away and sat on the grass, facing him.
She brushed the stray grass from her clothes, looked into his ink-black eyes, and asked, "Are all people from the Central Plains like you?"
Ji Hanchu raised his lowered eyes. "What?" he asked softly.
Red Adornment laughed. "Falling in love with someone so easily." She held up three fingers. "Three times. We've only met three times."
Ji Hanchu turned his face away.
A long time later, he collected himself and asked her, "Who is Hongxiu to you?"
The smile on Red Adornment's face faded at once. Not only did it fade, a layer of coldness even surfaced.
She abruptly rose and looked down at Ji Hanchu. "Are you starting again?"
"Starting what?"
Red Adornment laughed coldly, her smile filled with indescribable mockery. "Making up stories as though you know everything. Overflowing with kindness for no reason. Where did you hear some tragic tale that you insist on forcing onto me, so you can conclude I had some unavoidable hardship? Is that it?"
"I heard a few things from Xie Liyou," Ji Hanchu said. "If you really have a reason that leaves you no choice, then we..."
We might not necessarily have to fight until only one of us survives.
But Red Adornment gave Ji Hanchu no chance to respond. She spoke rapidly, her tone sharp and coldly detached. "Forget it, Ji Hanchu. You're not finding reasons for me. You're finding excuses for yourself. Because it's humiliating for the universally praised Little Immortal Physician to fall for a demoness. Now you're desperate to find a reason that makes it seem less shameful."
Ji Hanchu's hand trembled. He said nothing.
If he had only been guessing at first, Red Adornment's reaction had now confirmed it.
Yet the words she spoke hurt him so much.
Red Adornment approached, looked straight into his eyes, and continued, "Am I right, Young Master Ji San?"
Ji Hanchu braced himself against the ground and rose. "No," he said quietly.
But Red Adornment would never believe him. Not only did she disbelieve him, she grew even more aggressive because Ji Hanchu had mentioned a taboo she kept buried deep within her heart.
"I'll tell you right now. I have no hidden hardships, and no reasons whatsoever. I simply like killing. Killing gives me pleasure, far more pleasure than being with you. When I told you before that I would consider sparing Yin Yuanya, that was the real lie. I will never spare him. Only one of us can live."
Ji Hanchu pressed his lips together, a slight crack appearing in his forbearing expression.
Red Adornment grabbed his arm and crowded in front of him. "Ji Hanchu, if you want to stop me, just kill me. Otherwise, indulge me. Don't stand in the middle wavering, and don't expect me to let go. Otherwise, I'll look down on you."
With that, she released him, turned, and left without looking back.
Ji Hanchu stared fixedly at her retreating figure. Even after she disappeared into the night, he did not say another word.
She said she simply liked killing, but of course he did not believe her. She had had countless opportunities to attack Yin Qingyan and Qi Jin, or even kill Xie Liyou, yet she had done none of those things.
But just as Xie Liyou had said, she was connected by countless threads to Hongxiu, who had disappeared all those years ago. Her objective was also clear: she was here for the Yin Clan.
That was the thorniest part, because it was a deadlock, just like his feelings.
Walls on every side, every road exhausted.
Did Red Adornment like killing?
Of course not.
But dislike it though she might, some people had to die. Yin Sanping, for instance.
If he did not descend into hell, it would make a mockery of the life she had lived.
Violent winds rose in the night. In the courtyard of the Waterside Inn, nothing could be heard but the wind, howling back and forth like a female ghost weeping in the darkness.
Yin Sanping was trapped in the courtyard like a caged beast. Whichever way he went was a dead end.
There was a door ahead. Dragging his injured leg, he staggered and crawled toward it. Before his hand could touch the door, a long arrow shot through his palm from behind.
Blood splattered everywhere. He screamed shrilly, but no one answered.
Everyone within five li had been drugged into a deathlike sleep. Only he remained awake. The Waterside Inn had become his execution ground.
The person behind him stood on the roof with a bow in hand, her red robes flying in the fierce wind. Great swathes of her skirt swayed and flowed into his vision, blurring into a vengeful ghost.
Yin Sanping shuffled backward, palms scraping the ground, sucking in breath after breath from the pain. "A ghost... a ghost..." he stammered.
The woman in red laughed, nocked another arrow, and drew her bow, its icy arrowhead aimed at him. "You're right. I'm a ghost."
She released her hand. The long arrow flew straight out and struck the ground a foot in front of Yin Sanping. His face turned deathly pale with terror. Warm liquid spilled between his legs, its rank stench unbearable.
Red Adornment nocked another arrow and spoke softly. "Where a female ghost dwells is naturally the hell of unending torment."
The arrow flew, missing again.
Yin Sanping was already too frightened to remember how to walk.
Another arrow grazed his cheek, sending piercing pain through his face.
A female ghost... a female ghost had crawled out of hell for revenge. She wanted him dead. He would never survive today... What should he do? What should he do?
The mournful wind raged. The woman in red was more terrifying than a vengeful ghost.
Red Adornment began drawing her bow again.
In truth, her archery was terrible. The martial arts of the world were vast and profound, but her skills were severely lopsided. Only with a whip did she show any real proficiency.
Though Tianshu had accompanied her to the Central Plains, he had always left everything to her. Red Adornment did not care either. She wanted to kill with her own hands, using the most vicious methods, the cruelest means.
"I'll give you three chances," she said mildly. "Three arrows. If you can escape them, I'll let you go."
Yin Sanping swallowed and looked at her uncertainly. His desire to survive drove him to scan his surroundings quickly, searching for a way out.
Red Adornment drew an arrow from her quiver. "One."
Yin Sanping had already started running.
He had judged correctly. She had locked every door of the Waterside Inn, but there was plenty of cover in the courtyard. Escaping three arrows would not be difficult.
Despite his severe injuries, he could still run astonishingly fast. The strength people possessed when their lives hung by a thread was truly tremendous.
Red Adornment was in no hurry. She leisurely aimed at his moving figure, occasionally drawing the bow hard enough to make it creak. The more he scrambled in abject terror, the harder she laughed.
Watching Yin Sanping, she closed her eyes, then opened them again. "Back then, you were the one who suggested forcing her to recite the Wind-Chasing Saber Manual. She couldn't recite it at all, so you broke one of her legs and forced her to be your target in the courtyard. You broke it, then set it again. The left leg today, the right tomorrow..."
Whoosh-
The first arrow missed and struck the stonework of the well.
How could Yin Sanping hear what she was saying? All his attention was fixed on dodging the arrows. He wished he could shrink himself smaller, then smaller still.
Red Adornment could imagine how desperate her senior sister had been when they played with her as a living target in a courtyard like this one.
It had been winter that year. Her senior sister had even just given birth.
"You were also the one who suggested taking her into the snowy mountains to destroy her body and erase the evidence. She couldn't die in Jiangnan, or the Ji Family would surely find her. Then there would be no explaining it..."
As she spoke, the second arrow flew.
"Two."
The arrow grazed between Yin Sanping's legs, leaving a bloody line as he narrowly dodged it.
Red Adornment raised her head and drew the third arrow. Deep sorrow lay on her face, and her heart felt as though someone had hacked it with a blade, leaving it dripping blood.
She said, each word distinct, "What did she do wrong? What gave you the right to humiliate her like this?"
What gave them the right?
No one told her what gave them the right.
Yin Sanping would never answer. He was huddled behind the well, trembling.
He dared not lift his head to look and could only concentrate on listening. The wind beside his ears seemed to have stopped. There was no sound of a bow being drawn, and the woman's murmuring had vanished too.
Had that she-devil left?
Yin Sanping dared not gamble. He gritted his teeth and stayed utterly still, but even after a long wait, he heard no sound of the third arrow coming.
Had she really left?
Had she let him off just like that?
Clinging to that lucky hope, he quietly poked his head past the edge of the well, exposing his eyes to scan his surroundings.
On the roof, beneath the eaves, in the courtyard... nothing. Nothing anywhere.
He held his breath, not daring to move rashly. He looked again and again, watching for a full quarter of an hour before slowly letting out a breath of relief.
She really had left.
After all that torment, he finally relaxed completely. Not a shred of strength remained in his body. He slumped backward, closed his eyes, and gasped for breath.
Only after finally catching his breath did he think of sending a signal. Who knew where this terrifying witch had sprung from? Her martial arts were sinister, but she was rather pretty. If they could capture her alive, perhaps they could have some fun with her before she died...
The thought made Yin Sanping want to laugh. He rubbed his blood-blurred eyes and opened them, then met a pair of slightly reddened eyes.
The ghost had been behind him all along.
Before he could react, before he could make a sound, an arrow had already plunged into his chest.
A clean movement. One arrow through the heart.
Red Adornment pulled the long arrow out again and gazed at Yin Sanping's corpse. He had died so quickly that his face was still frozen in shock.
With a clatter, she tossed the arrow beside the corpse.
She lifted her foot and wiped the blood from her sole on the body, cold and unhurried.
"Three."
(IV) Stop beating
Red Adornment washed the smell of blood from her body. When she returned to the Riverside Inn, Tianshu was still amusing himself with his insects.
Seeing her return, he casually raised his head and asked, "How many left?"
Red Adornment counted. "Two."
Yin Yuanya and Yin Fangchuan.
All the slaughter and sin slowly settled into stillness. The debts were being settled one by one. Blood had washed over them once, leaving the last two evil ghosts still in the mortal world.
One had given the orders; the other had killed her and destroyed her heart.
Yet these two devil-hearted people had gone to great lengths to protect Yin Qiqi, who knew nothing of the world. They had concealed every sin and left her the light. So the flowers she saw were red, the sky was blue, and human hearts were good. She stood in the sunshine, never knowing that heaps of white bones lay buried beneath her feet.
There was no saying whether she was at fault. Their positions were different, and Red Adornment could not understand her.
Tianshu asked, "You're not killing the sect master's wife?"
Red Adornment said, "No."
Tianshu gave her a sidelong glance. "You're rather kind to her."
Red Adornment smiled without speaking.
Innocent evil was the most vicious of all.
If Yin Qiqi had not spent her days tearfully complaining, Yin Fangchuan would never have conceived his wicked intentions. But there was nothing to be done. Her senior sister would not let her kill her.
Tianshu asked, "What about the others?"
Red Adornment closed her eyes wearily. "Forget it."
Tianshu took the Buddhist beads from her hand and twisted them, revealing tiny holes. Venomous insects crawled along his fingers and inside.
He did not much approve of such benevolence. "Knowing and not reporting it is a crime too. You're too softhearted."
Red Adornment opened her eyes, looking somewhat puzzled.
Tianshu asked, "What?"
Red Adornment turned her head. "You think I'm softhearted?"
Tianshu trotted out the same old line. "A woman's misplaced mercy will never accomplish great things."
Red Adornment silently curled her lips, coiled the Bone-Setting Whip several times, and hung it at her waist.
She really had been a little too softhearted lately.
Some people in this world were born without any sense of good or evil. They were ghosts from hell, unbound by the morals of the mortal world.
Someone like her had never had any affinity with the word "kindness."
She did not love slaughter, but she was selfish and self-centered by nature, coldhearted and rebellious to the bone. What little humanity she possessed had all been given to her senior sister, whose kindness to her weighed as heavily as a mountain.
"Knowing and not reporting it is a crime, but reporting it means death." Red Adornment turned back and gazed at the moonlight over the river. "Even ants cling to life. What is wrong with people simply wanting to live in peace?"
These were words her senior sister had spoken to her when she first came to the Central Plains. Red Adornment had originally intended to wipe out the entire household, but her senior sister had repeatedly insisted that she spare the innocent.
Her senior sister had always been like that. Kind in life, and kind even in death.
Tianshu snorted, utterly disdainful.
While he sorted his venomous creatures, Red Adornment grew curious and asked, "Martial Uncle, is there a kind of gu that makes someone willingly obey you once it's planted, so he'll do whatever you want?"
Without raising his head, Tianshu said, "Puppet Gu." It was the original Living Dead Gu.
Red Adornment was dissatisfied. "I don't want the kind that makes him lose consciousness. I want him to be able to hear and see, and still obediently do as I say."
Tianshu tossed the Buddhist beads back. "In your dreams."
Disappointment was written all over Red Adornment's face.
Tianshu had little patience for her romantic entanglements. He was already tired of staying in Jiangnan and urged her, "Get on with it. I can kill a chicken faster than you kill people."
"..."
Tianshu said, "I'm hungry. Go buy a roast chicken."
Red Adornment said, "I can't kill chickens as fast as I kill people. Kill it yourself."
A strange silence followed.
Under Tianshu's half-smiling gaze, Red Adornment walked straight to the door without looking back, took her money pouch, and went out to buy chicken.
Tianshu folded his arms and watched her open the door. Outside, the night was black as ink, and a full moon hung high.
Tianshu said, "Girl, would you like to try the Heart-Severing Gu?"
The Heart-Severing Gu lived up to its name. Once planted in the body, it caused no abnormalities, but whenever romantic feelings stirred, the gu would tear at flesh and blood until those feelings were utterly severed.
Using the night as cover, Red Adornment deliberately ignored Tianshu's warning. She lifted the string of Buddhist beads and stepped outside. "No."
Tianshu narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Red Adornment left and reached the rooftop in a few steps. Tianshu moved to the window, watching her figure rise and fall through the night. He gave a quiet snort and spoke softly before closing the door.
"Don't forget how your senior sister died."
Red Adornment's steps paused. She turned and looked at the now tightly shut window, and her expression suddenly turned playful. The corners of her mouth lifted as she said to that silhouette, "There's no need to plant a gu in me. Don't worry. I won't forget."
The night was so still that the occasional cries of birds and beasts became its only disturbances.
Red Adornment killed swiftly, her blade falling as soon as her hand rose. Though she could not match the speed of killing chickens, she was not far behind.
At this rate, if things went smoothly with the next two, she would probably return to the Southern Frontier in a few days.
Once she returned, she would probably never come to the Central Plains again in this lifetime.
She and Ji Hanchu would part forever.
Red Adornment admitted that she was somewhat reluctant to let go.
This man was very clean, openhearted and compassionate, neither hypocritical nor indiscriminate with his kindness. He retained a compassion for the suffering of the world while also bearing the habits of the jianghu. That mixture held a powerful attraction for her.
Ordinarily, someone this spotless ought to be sent down to hell to get thoroughly dirtied. But he also happened to be handsome. Red Adornment did not want to dirty him; she only wanted to try this so-called love between a man and a woman with him.
Heaven knew how unwilling she was to leave without trying it.
Red Adornment hesitated between roast chicken and Ji Hanchu, then chose Ji Hanchu.
She thought that once she killed Yin Yuanya and Yin Fangchuan, the Ji Family would probably turn heaven and earth upside down to find her and take revenge. She and Ji Hanchu would never have another chance to exchange a proper word.
Naturally, she had to seize the moment. A beautiful night was worth a thousand pieces of gold.
When she arrived at the Five Gates, no one noticed her.
Red Adornment found Ji Hanchu's room, sat on the roof, and quietly lifted a tile.
The Third Gate was probably the poorest of the Five Gates. At least the Fourth Gate and Fifth Gate had hidden guards, while the First Gate itself dealt in murder and plunder and would hardly be short of people. Though Xie Liyou had few truly capable fighters under him, he lived lavishly by trading inconsequential intelligence and conducting business in the shadows. Uninformed outsiders might have thought he was the gate master in charge of the finances.
Only Ji Hanchu's place had just a few maids and medicine boys coming and going. It looked pitiful, not at all befitting the dignified Third Young Master.
Red Adornment peered through the gap in the tiles.
Some medicinal ingredients were piled in the room. Ji Hanchu was carefully pounding herbs with a stone mortar and pestle. Beside a few thick medical books on the desk nearby lay several empty brocade pouches.
He had changed into clothes that looked a little too large. His collar hung loose, and looking down from the roof, Red Adornment could see an exquisitely shaped stretch of his exposed collarbone.
Ji Hanchu kept quietly pounding the medicine. As Red Adornment watched, the thing inside her chest gradually began to beat a little faster.
She watched silently for a while, then straightened. Her gaze settled on the empty vault of the sky, and her expression cooled.
She raised a hand to her chest. There, beneath skin and flesh, something was beating, heedless of its own life.
Red Adornment raised her head and looked at the Buddhist beads in her hand by the faint moonlight. Slowly closing her eyes, she murmured, "Stop beating."
Stop beating.
But it was not a gu insect in her hand. It was beyond her control.
Thump, thump, thump.
She opened her eyes. Pale moonlight shone through the narrow slits. She smiled and fell backward into the moonlight.
The man pounded herbs in his room, while she sat on the roof watching the moon.
The moon climbed higher, illuminating the wasteland in her heart.
Someone stood there, in a pitch-black, shadowed mire. All it took was a lift of the eyes to see warm light.
Just as it had been in his eyes that day, he had feebly defended himself, allowing himself to be slowly swallowed under the lure of darkness. She had laughed at him, mocked him, teased and deceived him, thinking herself perfectly in control. Only now did she realize that the light, too, was drawing her in, enveloping her.
"Stop beating," she said softly, murmuring to herself.
The answer was a series of beats, each stronger than the last.
Stop beating.
The human heart was a wilderness overgrown with grass. One day, a spring breeze would sweep through, and it would grow again.