But in this world, there was only one Red Adornment, too.
(1) But I'm afraid
Red Adornment did not return to the Southern Frontier, and Ji Hanchu did not leave either.
Her revenge was unfinished. Yin Fangchuan was still alive. She could not leave.
Ji Hanchu kept watch outside. She never saw him leave, nor did he come looking for her again. He simply kept watch in silence.
Sometimes, watching him sit in the tree, Red Adornment would fall into a daze. What was he waiting for? For her to stop killing, or for her to return to the Southern Frontier and never come back?
She really wanted to tell him not to wait. What he wanted would never happen. Righteous and evil could not coexist; they were better off going their separate ways.
But she never said it. Ji Hanchu would not listen even if she did. The Yin Clan knew she was responsible and had strengthened their defenses. Unable to find an opening to kill Yin Fangchuan for the time being, she simply stayed locked in this stalemate with him.
As the stalemate dragged on, what came was not an opportunity to kill, but an assassin who had come to kill her.
An ordinary assassin would have been manageable, but the one who came was Ji Jingsheng.
He came alone, one man with one saber, truly as though he were slaughtering a chicken.
"Someone asked me to kill you," he said briefly, standing opposite her.
Red Adornment only had to think to know who it was. Who else could it be but Ji Zhiyuan, who always kept his word? If she left Yin Yuanya alone, he would leave her alone. The moment she made a move, he sent someone to slaughter her.
When traveling the jianghu, nothing mattered more than keeping faith.
Red Adornment stood against a wall. Ji Jingsheng had chosen his spot well, intercepting her in a narrow lane. The moon was dark and the wind high-a fine night for murder.
The wall behind her was damp and uncomfortable to lean against, so she simply pushed herself up onto it. "Why do you listen to Ji Zhiyuan?"
Ji Jingsheng liked to let people die knowing why. "Second Ji is my nephew. He asked me."
Red Adornment said, "Then I'm asking you, too. Don't kill me."
Ji Jingsheng said, "You're not my nephew. Asking won't help."
Utterly shameless, Red Adornment said, "I'm your nephew's wife."
At that, Ji Jingsheng actually lowered his saber. He looked doubtfully at the little woman on the wall, not quite believing her. "Second Ji?"
Red Adornment said, "Ji San."
Ji Jingsheng raised his saber again. "Impossible."
Red Adornment said, "It's true. If you cut me down, he'll be heartbroken."
Torn, Ji Jingsheng looked at his saber, then at her.
After a while, he chose to trust his instincts. From what he knew of Ji Hanchu, no matter how he looked at it, Ji Hanchu did not seem like someone who would like this sort of woman.
As Precarious Leaning came out, killing intent surged. Glittering cold light flowed along the blade, radiating a savage, murderous power.
An unerring thrust drove toward Red Adornment's heart, yet she neither dodged nor ducked. She simply sat leisurely on the wall, smiling as she watched him approach.
Clang-
Precarious Leaning met Star Pendant with an ear-splitting crash.
Amid the flashing blades, Red Adornment played with her hair without even lifting her eyelids. "I told you, I really am your nephew's wife. You wouldn't believe me."
Ji Jingsheng stared in disbelief at Ji Hanchu, who stood before the low wall in the lane. "You..."
Ji Hanchu interrupted him. "Second Uncle, don't kill her."
Recovering, Ji Jingsheng shook his head. "Second Ji asked me, and I agreed." When entrusted with something, one had to see it through.
So what if Red Adornment was the woman Ji Hanchu liked? He had given his word and had to keep it. Those were the rules of the First Gate.
Ji Hanchu clenched his teeth. "No."
He refused with reddened eyes, without looking at how heartless the woman on the wall was. He wanted to protect her-at least until she could leave safely.
Ji Jingsheng waved him aside. "Move."
Ji Hanchu tightened his grip on Star Pendant. "Second Uncle, please."
Ji Jingsheng refused. He could not be bothered to argue with Ji Hanchu anymore. All this business about a nephew's wife was giving him a headache. He only wanted to kill this woman quickly and return to his woodcarving.
His saber was fast, but Red Adornment reacted faster. She had already prepared herself when he had given his categorical refusal.
Seeing the saber sweep toward her like a gale scattering the clouds, she reckoned it would cut straight through her if it landed. Her saber skills were poor, but her ability to flee for her life was first-rate. She pushed off with her feet and spun to evade it.
Red Adornment had judged the blade's course precisely, but Ji Jingsheng's saber was too terrifying. She had thought she had a seventy-percent chance of evading this strike. Who would have expected him to see through her escape route and change his blade's direction on the spot, instantly reducing her chances to twenty percent?
Red Adornment's heart trembled-Ji Jingsheng truly was formidable.
She was already moving very fast. She had not expected someone to be faster still.
Red Adornment did not even notice how Ji Hanchu lunged over. She only saw a shadow flash before her eyes before she was gathered into a warm chest. Then a heavy, muffled grunt sounded beside her ear. The sound of something heavy striking bone was unmistakable.
The force was tremendous. Even with Ji Hanchu taking the blow for Red Adornment, the impact left her numb through his body.
Frightened, Red Adornment frantically pulled Ji Hanchu away and reached behind him, feeling all over his back. Finding no blood, she pulled open his clothes. A broad patch across his shoulder and back was purple-red and black, looking horrifying against his fine, tender skin.
Ji Jingsheng's eyes were sharp. He had altered the strike at the last instant, but it was too late to withdraw his saber. All its force had gathered in the back of the blade and slammed into Ji Hanchu.
Red Adornment released Ji Hanchu. Seeing his mild expression, she could not help snapping, "Are you sick in the head? Who told you to take that blow for me!"
Ji Hanchu coughed lightly twice and staggered to his feet, shaking his head. "I'm fine."
Red Adornment's heart ached unbearably. She touched his back again and asked, "Does it hurt?"
Ji Hanchu shook his head again. Holding her hand tightly, he drew her behind him and said to Ji Jingsheng, "Second Uncle, let her go."
Ji Jingsheng turned his head away rather than look at him.
Ji Hanchu said, "If you want to kill her, kill me first. As long as I'm here, I won't let anyone harm a hair on her head."
Those words carried far too much weight. Ji Jingsheng had watched Ji Hanchu grow up. He had clumsily fed him, made him a wooden horse, and taught him saber techniques. That bond was not something a single request from Ji Zhiyuan could rival.
Rules could not be broken, but if keeping them came at the cost of Ji Hanchu's life, Ji Jingsheng would rather break them.
He hung Precarious Leaning at his waist and told Red Adornment, "I won't kill you."
Red Adornment said with complete assurance, "You should have done that from the start."
Without anyone to kill, Ji Jingsheng had nothing to do. He took his saber and prepared to leave, but halfway away, he stopped and returned to Red Adornment.
Under his scrutiny, Red Adornment warily reached for her saddle nails.
He was a madman, after all. No one could guess what a madman truly thought.
Ji Jingsheng looked at her in bewilderment for a while, then somehow abruptly grew downcast.
He lowered his head and looked at his toes like an overgrown child. When he spoke, his voice held a sorrow that would not dissipate.
"You look like someone I knew."
His lips moved, grief spreading.
"I miss her so much."
Red Adornment got Ji Hanchu back to There Is an Inn.
Once the door closed, she stripped off Ji Hanchu's clothes without ceremony. The black-and-blue bruising on his back had deepened. Unsure whether he had internal injuries, she asked him directly, "How do you feel?"
Ji Hanchu said, "Nothing serious. Just superficial injuries."
His medical skills were far better than Red Adornment's. If he said the injuries were superficial, that meant he really was all right.
But even these superficial injuries were bad enough.
Red Adornment climbed off him. "I'll find you some medicinal liquor."
Ji Hanchu caught her. Propping himself up into a sitting position, he embraced her, bowing his head slightly as he held her against his chest.
He asked softly, "Why won't you go back?"
Red Adornment said, "I'm going to kill Yin Fangchuan. Until she dies, I'm not leaving."
Ji Hanchu said, "You've seen it. A lot of people want to kill you."
Red Adornment pulled free of his embrace. "So what?"
"Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Red Adornment toyed with Crescent Moon. "No. If I die, none of them will live."
Ji Hanchu said, "But I'm afraid."
Red Adornment froze slightly.
Ji Hanchu was almost pleading. His worry and anguish were tormenting him to the brink of madness. If he could, he wanted to let Red Adornment look into his heart, so she would know what a wasteland of ruins it had become.
He had crushed his own heart and cut off the light, swallowed by darkness.
(2) White bones' lament
Red Adornment's heart pounded. Pressing her lips together, she said awkwardly, "I'll find some medicine. Wait here."
She went out and hurried downstairs in some disarray, her steps quick, as though fleeing something.
In the main hall, the plump innkeeper was dozing with her head propped on her hand.
The innkeeper's surname was Liu. She was outrageously unscrupulous in business and none too polite with her words. Red Adornment walked over and slapped the counter, startling her awake.
Rubbing her eyes, Liu Xinlü saw the pretty young woman standing before her and frowned without bothering to hide it.
Red Adornment said, "Get me some medicinal liquor."
Liu Xinlü said, "Fifty taels."
Red Adornment drove Crescent Moon into the wooden counter. "Say that again."
Fully awake now, Liu Xinlü wailed like a squealing pig. "My elmwood counter-!"
Red Adornment pulled out her blade. "How much?"
Hands on her hips, Liu Xinlü jabbed a finger almost into her nose. "You're paying for my elmwood counter! It's brand-new! A hundred taels, not a single coin less!"
Red Adornment slowly twirled her blade.
Liu Xinlü gritted her teeth. "Seventy taels. No less!"
Red Adornment said, "See if that hand of yours is worth seventy taels."
Her blade plunged down in front of Liu Xinlü's finger, frightening her so badly that her fat quivered.
A leaf of gold fluttered onto the counter.
Ji Hanchu arrived just in time and reached out to pull Red Adornment away.
"Don't be so fierce."
He had draped his outer robe around himself. His face was pale, his lips bloodless, and his fingers icy.
That saber strike had injured him badly.
Seeing someone arrive, Liu Xinlü swiftly pocketed the gold leaf. A pair of small, darting eyes appeared behind the counter and looked upward. When she spotted Ji Hanchu, she could not hold back an admiring "Wow."
Exquisite. Truly an exquisite specimen of a man.
Ji Hanchu already had the bearing of a young master from a great family, with refinement and good breeding steeped into his bones. Even without speaking, he was as clear and lustrous as jade. Now that he was injured, the ailing young master had an added touch of vulnerability that stirred tenderness, making him exceedingly endearing.
Liu Xinlü said, "Young master, are you the one who needs medicinal liquor?"
Ji Hanchu nodded.
Liu Xinlü fished a bottle of medicinal liquor out from beneath the counter and raised it high above her head. "It's yours. Free."
Red Adornment laughed in anger. "You already pocketed the gold leaf."
Liu Xinlü said, "That was compensation for my counter."
Ji Hanchu accepted the medicinal liquor and said politely, "Thank you."
Liu Xinlü beamed, revealing her nose as well. "What's your surname, young master? Come by whenever you have time. I'll treat you to a drink."
Ji Hanchu said, "My surname is Ji."
Liu Xinlü rose farther, revealing her chin. "Young Master Ji, how were you injured? Is it serious? Would you like..."
Red Adornment lashed her whip across the counter and planted herself in front of Ji Hanchu. "He wouldn't," she said coldly.
Liu Xinlü ducked her head back down, trembling. One plump finger emerged from behind the counter to point at Red Adornment as she said in a shaking voice, "Young Master Ji, your wife is truly fierce."
Ji Hanchu sighed and drew Red Adornment into his arms. "Let's go upstairs."
Red Adornment glanced at Liu Xinlü and snorted, then stepped forward to support Ji Hanchu as they slowly went upstairs.
Once the door was closed and his clothes removed, the bruises seemed darker still.
She dipped her fingers in the medicinal liquor and rubbed it onto Ji Hanchu's back, using particular force for fear that the stagnant blood would not disperse.
Red Adornment admitted that half of it was deliberate. She had a nasty sense of fun and insisted on making Ji Hanchu cry out.
But no matter how hard she pressed, Ji Hanchu made not a sound.
Red Adornment began to doubt the strength of her hands. Leaning down beside Ji Hanchu's ear, she asked, "Doesn't it hurt?"
Ji Hanchu said mildly, "It does."
Red Adornment said, "Then why don't you cry out?"
Ji Hanchu exposed her. "You're doing it on purpose."
Red Adornment laughed. Not caring whether she got medicinal liquor on herself, she pressed down on his shoulder and leaned in to kiss his ear, smiling enchantingly. "Don't hold it in. Cry out if it hurts. I'll be gentler."
Ji Hanchu's earlobes reddened. With her pressed skin to skin against him like this, the thing in his chest ached too.
He shifted his position unobtrusively. Luckily, Red Adornment was concentrating on applying the medicine and did not notice.
Gentle pressure would not work on an injury this severe. Despite her words, Red Adornment still pressed hard. Yet Ji Hanchu continued to grit his teeth, a ring of cold sweat forming on his forehead, without letting a single word escape.
Red Adornment wiped his sweat with her sleeve. "Young Master Ji San really is a man."
Ji Hanchu gave a bitter smile, utterly drained of strength. "Get off first. I have something to tell you."
Red Adornment obediently climbed off.
Ji Hanchu put his clothes on and sat at the edge of the bed. Watching her wash her hands in the basin, he asked, "Could you stop killing?"
Red Adornment dried her hands, walked over, and bent slightly at the waist, her shadow enveloping him completely. "You've asked so many times, and I've answered so many times. No."
Ji Hanchu kissed her forehead. "Stop killing. Go back."
Red Adornment knocked his hand away. "Are you ever going to stop?"
Ji Hanchu said, "Second Uncle was only the beginning. There'll be many more. As long as you stay here, you'll be in danger."
Red Adornment nodded. "I know that better than you. With one death after another in the Yin Clan, they've lost so much face that they'll dig three feet into the ground to find the killer and take revenge. But sparing Yin Yuanya is the greatest regret of my life. I won't let it happen a second time, so I won't spare Yin Fangchuan."
She straightened and looked toward the door, enunciating each word with meaning. "There's no room for discussion. She's going to die."
The door opened, and a slender figure rushed in, wielding Qi Jin's long saber and swinging it at Red Adornment without any technique. "I'll kill you!"
Yin Qingyan knew no martial arts whatsoever. Even with the intent to kill, she could not keep her saber hand steady. Red Adornment easily evaded her with lightness skill, then made sure to kick her in the knee, sending her straight into Qi Jin's arms behind her.
Qi Jin caught Yin Qingyan, seized the saber, and stood in front of her, his expression savage and his gaze icy.
A rotund figure emerged behind them and scurried inside, running to Ji Hanchu's bed and clutching his hand. "Fight all you want, but don't hurt any bystanders. Please, don't hurt any bystanders!"
Ji Hanchu knitted his brows, looking at Qi Jin and Yin Qingyan, then at Xie Liyou. "What's going on?"
Xie Liyou raised a hand and said innocently, "Miss Yin insisted on coming to see you, so Fifth brought her. I just tagged along to have a look. Really, I'm only watching. Don't hurt me."
Ji Hanchu lowered his head, his brows tightly furrowed.
Things were more troublesome than he had thought.
While he was at his wits' end, Red Adornment was perfectly at ease. Her fingertips rested on her prayer beads as she gave a sly smile and said to Yin Qingyan, "Little rabbit, we meet again." Her gaze settled on Yin Qingyan's fair, slender neck. The skin there was smooth, without a single scar.
"It healed nicely," she said. "Not even a scar."
Yin Qingyan froze, then raised her hand and stammered, "Y-you... it was you..."
"M-me... it was me!" Red Adornment said, smiling. "I was the one who hurt you! What, don't you remember? Oh, right, I drugged you. I almost forgot myself. Little Fatty even fed it to you personally."
Qi Jin turned, fixing Xie Liyou with a chilling stare that sent cold shivers down his back.
Ji Hanchu looked up and silently watched Qi Jin.
Qi Jin pressed his lips together and turned away.
Xie Liyou, meanwhile, could not begin to explain his grievances. Waving his hands, he said, "Fifth Brother, let me explain. It's not what you think..."
Red Adornment interrupted him, pointing at the two before her. "What did you come here for?"
Yin Qingyan's cheeks flushed with anger, tears misting her eyes, as pitiful as pear blossoms drenched in rain. "You hurt my grandfather, and you tried to kill my mother! I'm going to kill you!"
She had already heard that someone was deliberately targeting the Yin Clan and had been frightened and alarmed. Now she had learned that the woman fooling around with her third cousin was the very demoness harming her family. How could she accept it?
Her mother said the demoness had put a gu curse on her cousin, leaving him so infatuated with her that he seemed possessed.
Red Adornment laughed disdainfully, brimming with mockery. "Kill me? How? With those embroidery hands of yours, or with those tears?"
Yin Qingyan's voice turned tearful as she tugged Qi Jin's sleeve. "A-Jin, brother."
She had barely called out before Qi Jin drew his saber and came at Red Adornment without another word.
But after only two steps, the saber clattered to the floor. Its wielder's internal energy had already been sealed.
Red Adornment took her hand off her prayer beads, her smile growing wilder. Who was she? A female rakshasa from the Southern Frontier. How could she let enemies stand before her for so long without striking first?
Xie Liyou was close to tears. "I really only came to have a look! Why did you poison me too?"
Red Adornment lifted a hand to her lips. "Shh."
She bent to pick up the saber, then tossed it at Yin Qingyan's feet. The sharp clatter made Yin Qingyan shudder.
Wiping her tears, Yin Qingyan said, "Demoness! Demoness... mm, demoness..."
Red Adornment hooked a finger beneath her chin and gently wiped away her tears, brushing the back of her hand against her cheek. "Didn't you want to kill me? I'm standing right in front of you. Go on."
Her murmur sounded like a lover's call, yet chilled the heart through.
Red Adornment's expression was terrifying. Yin Qingyan's face went from red to white as she kept shrinking behind Qi Jin.
Red Adornment pinched Yin Qingyan's cheek. "Your cousin is the only one in this room who's a match for me. But ask him yourself whether he's willing to lay a hand on me."
Reminded by her words, Yin Qingyan looked toward Ji Hanchu through tear-blurred eyes.
Ji Hanchu had been silent from the start. At this, he gathered his clothes around him and walked over, standing beside Red Adornment. "Stop frightening her."
Red Adornment turned her head. "What, your heart aches for her?" With that, she drew Crescent Moon and pressed it against Yin Qingyan's face. "Fine. If your heart aches for her, that's all the more reason to torment her properly."
Ji Hanchu scooped Red Adornment into his arms, securing her waist so she could not move about.
This tormenting imp loved provoking him with her words. Who knew who had taught her to wield the arrogance of being favored so masterfully? The wound on his back still hurt. She knew better than anyone whom his heart ached for most.
Red Adornment refused to settle down. Truly believing he was restraining her for Yin Qingyan's sake, her anger swelled from three parts to seven, and she lifted her foot to kick Yin Qingyan.
Ji Hanchu moved closer, holding her tighter and drawing her back from them.
"What poison did you give them?" he asked.
Red Adornment shoved at him with her palm. "Your heart aches for her?"
Ji Hanchu said, "It only sealed their internal energy? Was there anything else?"
Unable to push him away, Red Adornment slapped the back of his hand. "Does your heart ache for her or not?"
Ji Hanchu said, "I didn't bring my medicine pouch. Do you have the antidote?"
Her temper rising, Red Adornment grabbed his face and tugged, leaving two red marks. "I asked if your heart aches for the little rabbit! I'm talking to you. Did you hear me?"
"..."
Xie Liyou tottered over, clutching his head, and whispered, "Ji San, stop trying to reason with her. Coax her."
Otherwise, what if the poison woman got angry and simply poisoned them to death...? He swore that even as a ghost, he would never let Third Ji off.
Ji Hanchu sighed and rubbed the top of Red Adornment's head. "I'm already yours. Can't you spare this little bit of generosity?"
That sounded pleasant.
Red Adornment caught a corner of his robe, her lips curving in satisfaction, and buried her whole face in his chest, flirting as though no one else were there. "You're mine?"
Ji Hanchu awkwardly averted his eyes and answered softly, "Mm."
Red Adornment was happy. When she was happy, everyone looked agreeable to her, and today she even brought out the kindness she usually kept hoarded away.
Looking at Xie Liyou and Qi Jin, whose limbs had gone weak, she said, "I only gave them some medicine to seal their internal energy, mixed with a little poison. What if they tried to kill me otherwise? As for the antidote..."
She took a medicine bottle from inside her clothes and set it on the table.
"One pill a day. There's only a day's supply here. Take today's, then ask me for more tomorrow."
Xie Liyou cherished his life and silently reached for the bottle.
Leaning against Ji Hanchu, Red Adornment felt she really was a nasty piece of work. Yet however nasty she was, Ji Hanchu still liked her-liked her terribly much.
That made her very happy.
She wrapped her arms around Ji Hanchu, putting on the full appearance of a demure little woman, but the eyes showing over his shoulder held boundless malice. She looked coldly at Qi Jin and Yin Qingyan nearby. "When I leave, I'll give Ji San the antidote. Until then, I suggest none of you entertain any ideas you shouldn't. Otherwise..."
Yin Qingyan shivered, clinging to Qi Jin's arm. Her pretty little face had lost all color, and even her voice trembled. "Otherwise what?"
Red Adornment's eyes curved with her smile. "Otherwise, I'll eat you up."
Those eyes were innocent, guileless, pure.
Those words were earnest, ruthless, cruel.
Yin Qingyan sucked in a cold breath. "Aren't you afraid of going to hell and suffering retribution?"
"Hell? Retribution?" Red Adornment laughed.
She thought the little rabbit was so naive it was almost adorable. The Yin Clan's blood was so filthy, yet they all wanted to preserve purity for those they cherished.
How noble! Red Adornment thought.
But what she loved most was destroying other people's innocence and purity.
She left Ji Hanchu's embrace, crouched down, and brushed Yin Qingyan's nose. "Do you know why the Buddha created hell despite being so merciful?"
Yin Qingyan glared at Red Adornment, biting her lower lip and backing away.
Red Adornment told her, "Because suffering and karmic burdens never cease in this world, and evil ghosts need somewhere to belong. Nothing else can be taken along, but karma follows this body. I don't need to go to hell. Wherever I am is hell."
(III) The moon in the sky
And so Red Adornment kept Yin Qingyan and Qi Jin confined at her side through a mixture of house arrest and threats. Xie Liyou took it most calmly, eating and sleeping well and returning to Five Gates every few days to handle business. He oversaw intelligence and was always fond of roaming about, so even now that he was "imprisoned," no one thought anything was amiss.
One rabbit, however, could no longer bear it by the fourth day.
At the dining table, Yin Qingyan and Qi Jin sat on one side, with Red Adornment and Ji Hanchu on the other. Xie Liyou sat at the head, holding his bowl and burying his face in his rice, pretending he did not exist.
Eerie, tense, peculiar.
That was how others described the people at this table.
The delicately pretty girl glared at the girl opposite her the moment she sat down. That woman, dressed entirely in red and exuding wickedness, smiled and dropped a piece of meat into her bowl.
Red Adornment said, "Eat. It's not poisoned."
Yin Qingyan slammed down her chopsticks. "Once my mother and my great-uncle find you, we'll see if you still dare act so arrogantly!"
Red Adornment folded her arms. "I'm so frightened. Hurry and call them over."
Yin Qingyan's eyes reddened with anger. Pampered since childhood, when had she ever suffered such humiliation? She seized Qi Jin's wrist and pointed at Red Adornment. "A-Jin, brother, hit her!"
Red Adornment laughed aloud, leaned closer, and tipped up her chin. "Why do you call for A-Jin, brother, over every little thing?"
Before she had finished, a saber came cleaving through the air toward her wrist. With only the form and no internal energy behind it, the stroke was limp, unlike a saber wielder's.
Before it could touch Red Adornment's hair, Ji Hanchu seized Qi Jin's right shoulder and tightened his grip. Qi Jin broke into a cold sweat from the pain. Ji Hanchu twisted his arm behind his back and snatched away his saber.
Qi Jin shouted angrily, "Have you gone mad?"
"I say, Fifth Brother..." Xie Liyou could not help beginning.
Qi Jin swung his hand viciously at him. "Shut up!"
As the words left his mouth, a chopstick flew into his wrist. Pain and numbness surged through it, and his palm barely brushed past Xie Liyou's cheek.
Xie Liyou did not budge, as though he had expected this. Raising a hand, he pressed Qi Jin's hand down. "Don't be so hot-tempered. Look, we're all in Miss Red Adornment's palm now. Better behave ourselves. A man needs to know which way the wind blows."
Yin Qingyan stamped her foot. "Branch Master Xie, how can you act like this?"
Xie Liyou said, "I've always clung to life and feared death. Being timid as a mouse is my nature. Can't change it. Nothing I can do."
"You!" Yin Qingyan flushed angrily and pulled Qi Jin toward her, though her eyes remained fixed on Ji Hanchu. "A-Jin, brother!"
Ji Hanchu said nothing. Having confiscated the saber, he silently returned to Red Adornment's side.
Red Adornment scratched beneath Yin Qingyan's chin and deliberately spoke loudly enough for everyone at the table to hear. "You know, calling someone 'brother' is only interesting in bed."
Ji Hanchu's hand paused on the saber.
How could Red Adornment pass up a chance to tease him? She turned and batted her eyes at him seductively. "Am I right, Brother Ji San?"
Sweet and coy, soft and tender, overflowing with allure.
She was clearly no Jiangnan woman, yet when she wheedled, her voice held one part softness, two parts charm, and seven parts allure-utterly captivating, enough to melt half a man's bones.
Ji Hanchu handed her a bowl. "Eat your meal properly."
Red Adornment said, "I don't want food."
She wound herself around him, pressing against his body as though she had turned to boneless water. "I want you."
Ji Hanchu's ears reddened. He turned aside, evading those words and pretending not to hear.
As though struck by lightning, Yin Qingyan froze beside the table, staring straight at Ji Hanchu in disbelief.
Her third cousin had always been gentle and courteous. How could he keep yielding to this demoness...? Right, the demoness must have planted gu in him and made him like this!
Yin Qingyan wiped away her tears and choked out, "Demoness, I'll have someone kill you."
Red Adornment had teased her enough. She had kept Yin Qingyan to lure Yin Fangchuan out. With Yin Fangchuan's daughter in her hands, she refused to believe Yin Fangchuan would not come. Yet she waited and waited, and several days passed without Yin Fangchuan coming at all.
Without Yin Fangchuan coming, Yin Qingyan was merely an eyesore here.
The little rabbit was delicate and frail, and her gaze was so soft it beguiled whoever she looked at, with three additional parts of admiration whenever she looked at Ji Hanchu. Red Adornment truly disliked the sight of her. Countless wicked ideas had risen in her mind these past few days, each more venomous than the last.
But she could not carry them out yet, because Ji Hanchu was here. She had to find another good opportunity.
Once Yin Qingyan had cried enough, she wiped her face between sniffles, her eyes darting toward Ji Hanchu with mingled reproach and resentment.
Red Adornment drove a chopstick into the tabletop. "What are you staring at? Keep looking and I'll gouge your eyes out."
Qi Jin said, "You wouldn't dare!"
Her eyes red, Yin Qingyan hid behind Qi Jin, then poked her head out to address Ji Hanchu. "Cousin, this demoness is so vicious. Don't let her bewitch you. She must have planted gu in you."
Ji Hanchu shook his head, pulled out the chopstick, and handed Xie Liyou a gold leaf to pay for the damage.
He pulled Red Adornment to her feet and gently stroked her back to soothe her, as though coaxing a sulking child.
Ji Hanchu said, "Red Adornment is only saying that. She won't do anything to you."
Red Adornment said, "I will."
Yin Qingyan clutched Qi Jin's sleeve and stamped her foot resentfully.
Only after watching the two leave did Yin Qingyan dare come out. She sat back at the table, but looking at the lavish spread and recalling the scene just now, she could not eat a bite.
Qi Jin urged her, "Miss, eat at least a little."
Holding her chopsticks, Yin Qingyan looked forlornly in the direction they had left. "Do you think she really put gu in my cousin?"
Only that could explain why her cousin was so utterly bewitched.
She could not accept in her heart that the third cousin she had wanted to marry since childhood might willingly fall into the demoness's snare.
Even though the truth was already so plain.
Perhaps the events of the day had been too shocking. That evening, Yin Qingyan slipped away while Qi Jin was not paying attention and secretly sought out Red Adornment.
When love and jealousy went to a woman's head, she truly became one warrior holding the pass against ten thousand. She never considered that Red Adornment might kill her, nor cared that Red Adornment had poisoned her. She had only one thought: persuade Red Adornment to let go.
Such was a young lady from a great family who had been sheltered too well-innocent and guileless, with ten thousand lives still insufficient to survive the jianghu.
Still wearing the red clothes from earlier, Red Adornment was swinging in the rear courtyard, all alone.
Yin Qingyan was a little afraid. Forcing herself not to tremble, she walked up to her and said softly, "I have something to say to you."
Red Adornment kept swinging without lifting her head. "Go ahead."
Yin Qingyan grabbed the swing's ropes and pulled hard to stop her. Breathing lightly, she said, "Can you let my cousin go?"
Red Adornment found this strange. Did the little rabbit even know whom she was speaking to? Her life was still in Red Adornment's hands. Who had given her such courage? This was the first time she had seen a captive asking her captor to release someone else.
Red Adornment could not help marveling at how much painstaking effort the Yin Clan must have put into raising Yin Qingyan safely to this age.
Yin Qingyan summoned her courage. "Miss Red Adornment, he is the moon in the sky. If you have feelings for him too, how can you bear to watch him sink into ruin with you?"
Holding the ropes, Red Adornment slowly began swinging again.
"He's willing."
Yin Qingyan accused her, "You put gu in him."
Red Adornment scoffed. "If I really had that kind of gu, your A-Jin, brother, would be the first to ask me for it."
She truly wanted Yin Qingyan to see Ji Hanchu keeping watch outside, impossible to beat away or scold into leaving. She had not clung to him. He had fallen into obsession himself.
Yin Qingyan said, "You're lying. You did plant gu in him! Let him go, or... or I..."
Red Adornment whistled. "Or what?"
Yin Qingyan lowered her head. She truly feared Red Adornment. Seeking advantage and avoiding danger was human instinct; as soon as she drew near Red Adornment, she knew how dangerous this woman was.
She did not merely kill people. She could steal souls too.
Her third cousin, the third cousin she had admired most all her life... Red Adornment had stolen him away...
Yin Qingyan kept her head lowered, her voice so quiet it was almost inaudible. "Or I'll beg you."
Red Adornment said, "Is he that wonderful?"
Yin Qingyan nodded. "Third Cousin is the best person in the world."
Red Adornment hooked her fingers around the ropes and watched Yin Qingyan. She was right. Ji Hanchu was indeed wonderful, and precious. But so what? Why should she give someone she liked to anyone else?
Even if they had no future, even if she could not stay, she would not give Ji Hanchu away. He was unwilling, and so was she. Good and evil stood opposed; love did not.
Red Adornment gripped the ropes and, with a heave, rose to stand on the swing, her red clothes billowing, every movement alluring.
She looked down at Yin Qingyan, her brows edged with coldness. "The moon in the sky? If you hadn't said so, I'd have thought he was your pet. Let me make this clear. I don't care whether he's the moon in the sky or snow on the ground. I'm claiming the Ji family's third young master. Out of respect for the affection between you, I'm giving you fair warning: don't stand in my way, or I won't show mercy again."
Red Adornment crouched again, seized her wrist, and pulled her into her arms. Yin Qingyan trembled. Only now did the urge to flee that had arisen earlier surge through her, but she could no longer escape.
Without the slightest tenderness, Red Adornment tightened her arms and forced Yin Qingyan to raise her head. Above them hung a full moon, clear and bright.
As she bent over, her womanly fragrance became especially distinct. It smelled lovely, tinged with medicine. Spending day and night with Ji Hanchu had left some of his scent on her.
Such ironclad proof of intimacy cut into Yin Qingyan's heart, hurting her so badly she could not breathe.
Red Adornment lowered her voice and whispered in her ear, "Look up. This moon is mine, and so is Ji Hanchu."
Yin Qingyan's eyelashes trembled violently. She shuddered, regretting it, and opened her mouth to call for Qi Jin, only to remember that he was not beside her at all. Utterly helpless, she could do nothing but cry.
Red Adornment wiped away her tears, sealed several of her acupoints, stepped off the swing, and slipped an arm around her waist, taking her into the room.
The room was small. After looking around, Red Adornment stuffed her into the wardrobe. When she shut the door, she left a crack that faced the bed.
She sealed Yin Qingyan's mute acupoint. Seeing her face full of terror and bewilderment, she smiled, wild and wicked. "Didn't you say I put a gu curse on him? Then watch closely. See just how your third cousin treats a notorious demoness like me."
(IV) A slow refrain
After tossing Yin Qingyan into the wardrobe, Red Adornment calculated the time. There was still a while before Ji Hanchu took his bath.
The injury on his back had not fully healed, and the bruising would not fade, so he had simply prepared a medicinal bath himself and soaked in it for an hour every night.
Neither Qi Jin nor Xie Liyou was around. Red Adornment thought nothing of it. After wandering along the corridor, she went to the main hall.
In the hall, Liu Xinlü was busy ordering a waiter to water down the wine in the jars. She did not even lift her eyelids when Red Adornment appeared.
Red Adornment walked over and stood beside the wine table. "This is how you do business?"
Liu Xinlü put the lid on. "This is called careful budgeting. Do you really think everyone has mountains of gold and jade like your man?"
Red Adornment tilted her head and fell quiet for a moment. "He won't be for much longer."
Liu Xinlü was baffled. "Huh?"
"He won't be my man for much longer." Red Adornment sat down at the wine table. "I'm leaving, and I won't be coming back."
Liu Xinlü sat down too. "Where are you going?"
Red Adornment said, "Home."
"Don't you two share a home?"
Liu Xinlü truly thought they were husband and wife. Although their temperaments seemed poles apart, one refined and the other wild, the love in Young Master Ji's eyes when he looked at the fierce woman could not be faked.
Red Adornment's expression was calm, her tone indifferent. "We're not married. His home is in Jiangnan. Mine is somewhere farther away. Once things here are settled, I'll go back, and I won't return."
Liu Xinlü clicked her tongue. "So you're having an illicit affair."
Red Adornment paused, then smiled faintly. "You could say that."
Liu Xinlü had accepted a pile of gold leaves from Ji Hanchu, enough money to buy another inn. She admired Young Master Ji immensely, and hearing Red Adornment say this, she could not help taking his side.
Liu Xinlü said, "Listen, you fierce woman..."
A blade flashed. Crescent Moon left its sheath.
Liu Xinlü immediately lunged forward, sprawling her entire fat body across the wine table. "Don't stab it! I just bought this! It really is new this time!"
Red Adornment casually tossed Crescent Moon onto the table and poured herself a cup of tea. "Red Adornment."
Liu Xinlü wiped away her cold sweat and gave a dry laugh. "Miss Red Adornment."
She got back onto the floor and poured herself a cup of water, gulping it down. Wiping her mouth boldly with her hand, she resumed, "You're just going to leave like that? What about Young Master Ji?"
"What about him?" Red Adornment said breezily. "His life will be much easier without me."
Liu Xinlü shook her head, raised her arm, and rolled up her sleeve, revealing a conspicuous scar.
"Not necessarily. When I was young, I used to quarrel with my husband too. I always thought life was hard and I'd be better off alone. But before I'd even figured out that muddle of a life, he died. A perfectly healthy man, gone just like that, leaving me nothing but a scar. Only then did I realize that without him, life truly became unbearable."
Red Adornment glanced at it and said mildly, "But you still survived."
Liu Xinlü did not hide it. She stroked the scar, a rare tenderness rippling over the face that looked coarse beneath its folds of fat. "I think about him every day. Everyone says you'll forget eventually, but he's been gone so long, and I still haven't managed to forget."
Red Adornment said nothing more and sipped her tea.
Liu Xinlü said earnestly, "Even if you're leaving, why not take him with you?"
It was not that Red Adornment had never considered it, but...
"He wouldn't want to."
Liu Xinlü said, "You haven't even asked. How do you know he wouldn't?"
Red Adornment put down her teacup and turned. "How do you know I haven't asked?"
"I can tell." Liu Xinlü held up two fingers and pointed at her own eyes. "Otherwise, would he look at you like that? One glance tells me you're a heartless, fickle thing."
Red Adornment turned fully toward her. Liu Xinlü shuddered and instinctively reached for the table.
She simply lifted Liu Xinlü up and seated her opposite, hoisting that enormous body as easily as a child.
"What if I ask, and he refuses?"
It was not impossible. After all, even Red Adornment herself could not be certain who Ji Hanchu would choose if she stood on one side and propriety, worldly convention, and the Ji Clan stood on the other.
He had already chosen her over morality. If anything else were added, Red Adornment had no confidence.
Hearing this, Liu Xinlü immediately understood and gave a meaningful smile.
She turned and ran to the counter, bent over, and rummaged around for a while before producing a wine bottle and setting it in front of Red Adornment with a smack.
"Our exclusive medicinal wine, 'A Jar of Wine.'" Liu Xinlü cradled the jar and held it out to Red Adornment. "Made with a secret recipe. Just one sip. I guarantee one sip will make him obedient."
"..."
Liu Xinlü tapped her fingers against it and declared heartily, "Five taels a jar. Honest prices for young and old alike."
"..." What a racket.
Red Adornment rose and swept away, but after stepping onto the stairs, she stopped.
Liu Xinlü hugged the wine jar, beaming.
She turned and tipped her chin at Liu Xinlü below.
Liu Xinlü understood at once. "Five taels."
Red Adornment nodded.
"Get me some."
After eating, Ji Hanchu asked the waiter to prepare his medicinal bath.
Having taken his money, the waiter worked briskly. Before long, he had placed the tub in the room, mixed the water, and withdrawn.
It was not only to heal his injury. It was also a habit of many years: he liked cleanliness and could not tolerate the slightest dirt on his body. Thus, even though autumn had arrived, he still insisted on bathing every day.
But today, facing the steaming tub before him, he remained motionless for a long time.
The rafters were reflected in the water. A sly young woman sat up there openly watching him, her gaze hot and direct.
Ji Hanchu pulled his half-removed clothes back on and looked up at the rafters. "What are you hiding up there for?"
Red Adornment jumped down and embraced him from behind, pressing her face against his injury.
Ji Hanchu turned his head and patted her on the head. "Little liar."
Red Adornment said, "What have I lied to you about this time?"
How self-aware of her, knowing to say "this time."
Ji Hanchu's gaze fell on the tightly shut wardrobe in the corner. "You never poisoned Liyou and the others."
Red Adornment pretended not to understand. "I did. Otherwise, would that Qi fellow let me off? He would have gone to inform on me long ago." After all, she had offended Qi Jin before. With old grudges piled on top of new ones, he was quite eager to kill her too.
Ji Hanchu was so used to her lies that by now he had acquired experience. Added to his consistently good medical skills, it was easy for him to see through the deception.
"You only gave them Bone-Softening Powder when they first arrived, temporarily sealing their martial arts. You lied that they'd been poisoned and needed to ask you for an antidote every day, but the antidote you gave them was the actual poison suppressing their internal energy."
Red Adornment had not expected him to see through it. Rather than surprise, she felt more delight.
She brushed aside his hair and kissed the back of his neck, licking happily. Her hands would not behave either, reaching around to feel him.
"Ji San, you're so clever," Red Adornment said. "But even if I poisoned them, so what? They were the stupid ones. Besides, it's a slow-acting poison. I've controlled it very carefully. Nobody will die. Once they stop taking it, their internal energy will recover after a while." As she spoke, her fingers curled around his collar, tugging at the fabric and drawing him an inch closer.
Amid the swirling steam, her cheeks bloomed peach-blossom red, as though something had set them aflame.
"Brother Ji San, weren't you going to bathe? Shall I help you wash?" Red Adornment leaned close and hugged him tightly, her words improper and her eyes teasing.
Ji Hanchu blushed so deeply that even his chest reddened. He kept glancing at the wardrobe, his whole body seeming to burn. That most vulnerable place in his heart was being tugged back and forth again, held in her hands as she made him suffer and struggle.
"Red Adornment, wait." He caught both her hands and squeezed his eyes shut.
A clammy sweat broke out across his chest, sticking his clothes to it. Red Adornment burst out laughing at the sight, stepping back a little and folding her arms as she watched him.
Ji Hanchu closed his hands around hers, gripping tightly. He drew a deep breath and pulled her straight to the wardrobe.
Red Adornment had never intended to hide it from him. Her fingers caressed his cheek. "My dear brother, don't you think this is fun?"
Ji Hanchu looked at her silently.
After a long moment, Red Adornment pursed her lips in disappointment, gave a little huff, and stepped back.
Ji Hanchu withdrew his gaze, walked up to the wardrobe, and opened it.
Yin Qingyan was inside, two clear trails of tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were red, making her look very much like a rabbit.
Ji Hanchu unsealed Yin Qingyan's mute acupoint. Before he could do more, Red Adornment blocked the door, refusing to let him release the others. She turned, bracing one hand against the wardrobe door and patting Yin Qingyan's face with the other. "Did you see?"
Yin Qingyan said nothing, only cried.
Red Adornment pulled Ji Hanchu in front of her, tugged him down, and kissed him with lingering passion, making no attempt to conceal her love.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Yin Qingyan staring at them as though struck by lightning.
Red Adornment felt satisfaction, genuine satisfaction. "Look at that hopeless cousin of yours. Does he look like he's under a gu curse?"
Ji Hanchu slowly released her, his gaze somewhat complicated.
Yin Qingyan had been shut in the wardrobe for so long, yet all her fear then could not compare with what she felt now.
She held back again and again, gritting her teeth, her lips trembling violently. At last, she forced words out of her throat, her voice already hoarse. "How could you do this?!"
Her cousin, her Brother Hanchu, how could he do this... how could this happen...
Yin Qingyan's mind was in turmoil. She had seen so much, everything she should and should not have seen.
Her third cousin held the demoness, kissed her, coaxed her. When he saw Red Adornment up on the rafters, the demoness herself had not noticed, but Yin Qingyan had seen it perfectly clearly. Her cousin was so happy, as though being secretly watched by Red Adornment was the happiest thing in the world.
The spying did not matter. What mattered was that she had come to him.
Jealousy, fear, and anger circled in her heart. Yin Qingyan forgot her upbringing, forgot etiquette. Staring fixedly at the man and woman before her, she cried at the top of her lungs, "How could you do this-"
Her third cousin had become someone else's "Brother Ji San."
Ji Hanchu said quietly, "I'm sorry."
Deep affection was always betrayed. Others had wronged him, and he had wronged someone else.
But Yin Qingyan could not take it in. An apology was not what she wanted. An apology meant rejection, meant betrayal, meant "I don't love you."
She could not accept it. How could she willingly let someone steal him away like this?
Yin Qingyan raised her head and looked at Ji Hanchu, her tear-filled eyes holding more sorrow than words could express. "Cousin."
Ji Hanchu lifted his eyes to her.
Yin Qingyan bit through her lower lip. Blood trickled down, staining her teeth red. "There is only one Qingyan in this world. If you miss your chance, she'll be gone."
At those words, Red Adornment tilted her head and frowned at Ji Hanchu.
Silence lingered in the room. Ji Hanchu kept his head lowered, saying nothing and looking at no one, as though lost in a daze.
But a closer look would reveal that his hands were trembling faintly.
After a long while, he raised his head and met Yin Qingyan's gaze. There was far too much emotion in his eyes, but to Yin Qingyan, all that remained was magnified heartache.
Such, such heartache.
Ji Hanchu pressed his lips together and gave a faint smile. It held an indescribable bitterness, along with release, as though he had considered it for a long time and finally accepted his fate.
Looking at Yin Qingyan, he said lightly, "But there is only one Red Adornment in this world too."
If he missed his chance, she would be gone.
Yin Qingyan had always hoped he would fall in love with Jiangnan's soft, delicate sky blue, never knowing that what he truly loved was the desert's bewitching red.
Ever since she was little, the elders in her family had told Yin Qingyan that when she grew up, she would marry her third cousin.
Her third cousin, that youth as precious and pure as the moon in the sky.
His name was Ji Hanchu.
She had liked him since childhood. Although he was always distant with her, he treated everyone that way, courteous, gentle, and gracious.
So she had thought that was simply his nature, and that she was still different to him.
But later, Yin Qingyan discovered that he treated her no differently at all. His true "difference" had been given to an exotic girl from the Southern Frontier.
That girl was beautiful and full of spirit, a spirit that girls raised under the proprieties of the Central Plains did not possess. If Yin Qingyan was the morning mist over Jiangnan's water towns, then she was the radiant sun that never set over the Southern Frontier's vast desert.
She also had such a bewitching name: Red Adornment.
Her mother had said that demoness from the Southern Frontier would destroy him.
Yin Qingyan had not believed it at first, so she had insisted on coming, begging Qi Jin to bring her to Ji Hanchu.
But once she found him, she regretted it.
Not because she feared the demoness would poison her and take her life, but because her cousin, the Gusu Ji Clan's most refined and upright Little Medical Immortal, Young Master Ji San with a Buddha's healing hands and benevolent heart, with dazzling talent, who neither pursued empty fame nor entered the mundane world, had truly fallen in love with a red-robed she-devil who had killed countless people.
Jealousy drove her nearly mad, yet even the words "Brother Ji San" sounded sweeter from Red Adornment's lips.
Her voice was clear and mellow, tinged with playful sweetness, its final notes lingering.
She had always restrained herself and called him Cousin. She called Qi Jin "Brother" far more often instead.
Because she liked him too much, she feared getting close, feared displeasing him.
Yet she had never imagined she would lose him like this.
What Red Adornment had shown her was an entirely different Ji Hanchu.
Her third cousin was the gentlest person in the world, yet he looked at Red Adornment like a wild beast. Beneath that gentleness lay possessiveness, wildness, aggression, and even a trace of indescribable madness. He clearly looked as though he wanted to devour her alive, yet hid every emotion behind propriety and morality.
Red Adornment, Red Adornment.
Every time he spoke her name, his tenderness could have been wrung out like water.
She loved freedom. He loved her.
They had met, and their love ran deep and long. There had never been the slightest room for her.