The stray cat beside the weeds sensed the presence of a person.
The kitten hopped and skipped toward the feet of the man in black.
It shook its little head and rubbed against the man’s shoes.
“Get away! Damn cat!”
A sharp, miserable cry pierced the air as the man in black grabbed the kitten by the neck and lifted it into the air.
His fingers tightened slowly, and the kitten’s breathing grew weaker. He cast a disdainful glance before flinging the kitten away with a loud “thud” and turning to leave.
Just as the kitten was about to hit the ground, a pair of slender, jade-like hands caught it steadily.
The man in black abruptly turned around.
A cold wind rose, and several falling leaves shimmered with a ghostly silver light, flying toward the man’s face like sharp blades.
The leaves grazed his cheek, leaving a deep, bloody gash.
The man staggered backward several steps.
At that moment, a woman’s light laughter reached his ears. “Do you think the imperial palace is a place you can come and go as you please? Hmm?”
In the pitch-black night, the woman wore a crimson cloak. Above it was an exquisite face, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. Her dark hair cascaded down to her waist, and her slender, jade-like hands cradled the kitten she had just saved.
Her entire presence seemed utterly out of place amidst the unfathomable darkness surrounding her.
The man in black wiped the blood from his cheek, his eyes filled with venomous malice. “Who are you? How dare you block my path?”
Gu Xi’s lips curved slightly as she casually lowered her gaze, never once looking up at the man.
With one hand holding the kitten, she toyed with a sharp dagger in the other.
A gentle smile graced her face, but to the man in black, that smile was chillingly unsettling.
“Who I am doesn’t matter. You disturbed my dinner tonight, so I came specifically to settle accounts with you.”
At the mention of “dinner,” the man instantly recalled the Golden Scale Guards’ earlier words about “protecting Her Highness.”
He stared at her in disbelief, his voice filled with malice. “You’re that Princess Yun Xi!”
His gaze shifted abruptly to the fallen leaves on the ground. “But aren’t you supposed to be a sickly invalid?”
In an instant, the surrounding leaves stirred, and a bitingly cold wind swept through, slicing across faces like blades.
The man tried to retreat, but something invisible blocked his path, leaving him unable to move.
He strained again, only to find his Internal Energy completely gone. His eyes widened in terror.
“What kind of person are you?!”
Gu Xi slowly lifted her eyelids, the curve of her lips deepening. Yet, to the man in black, that smile seemed like a demon’s death warrant.
She walked toward him step by step, each footfall striking his heart like a heavy stone, filling him with dread.
“I was only planning to scare you a little tonight.”
“But you reek of bloodlust. It seems you’ve killed many good people. In that case, I cannot let you go.”
“Also, if I had arrived a moment later, this innocent kitten would have been strangled to death by you.”
“Let me think about how to kill you. Should I skin you and turn you into a human-skin lantern, or…”
The casual mention of “skinning” sounded as ordinary as discussing what to eat for the day.
Inside the Void Space, the Celestial Beast had just woken up and was nearly scared to death by these words.
The Little Beast removed its tiny eye mask.
What happened? Who provoked this great demon again?
Play dead, play dead, it’s too terrifying, too terrifying, it’s better to just play dead.
Another soft chuckle echoed, the sound growing increasingly eerie in the ears of the man in black.
Suddenly, the sharp blade, gleaming with a cold light, struck. The man in black struggled, his eyes widening more and more.
He wanted to scream, but no sound escaped his lips.
And that invisible force once again tightly bound his feet.
Until the sound of the blade slicing through flesh echoed, one cut after another.
Blood splattered across the ground, staining the snow that had yet to melt.
The white snow was instantly dyed with a glaring patch of crimson.
The man in black convulsed in pain, scrambling forward on all fours, but several more leaves flew toward him, cutting his legs.
It felt like an eternity.
The man in black was left with only a faint breath, lying weakly on the ground.
In the same spot.
Gu Xi wanted to deliver the final blow, but she sensed the presence of others gradually approaching, drawing closer and closer.
Likely the patrolling Golden Scale Guards.
Holding the cat in her arms, she turned and vanished into the pitch-black night.
After Gu Xi left.
A few seconds later, footsteps grew nearer, and the arrivals were Jun Qi and the Black Shadow, “Han Qi.”
Jun Qi stood with his hands behind his back, frowning as he looked at the body on the ground.
Han Qi’s voice was filled with astonishment, “Master, who… who did this? Is there such a person in the palace?”
Jun Qi did not speak. His deep, unfathomable gaze fell upon the blood-stained dagger on the ground.
He reached out, picked up the dagger from the pool of blood, and rubbed his fingers over the sharp tip of the blade.
A smile curled at the corner of his lips, but it was cold, so cold, as if even more frigid than bone-chilling frost.
“Han Qi, this assassin disturbed my dinner. I came here seeking revenge.”
“But now, he has already been killed with this dagger. What should I kill?”
“Tell me, what should I do?”
“…” Han Qi wiped the sweat from his brow. “M-Master, he’s not dead yet. It seems he still has a faint breath.”
As soon as the words fell.
Suddenly, the blade flew from Jun Qi’s hand, piercing the throat of the man in black on the ground.
Blood splattered, covering Han Qi’s face.
The mistakenly injured Han Qi, wiping the blood from his face: “…”
In the boundless night, the smile on Jun Qi’s face completely vanished. Half of the young man’s face was hidden in the darkness, while the other half was illuminated by moonlight. His deep, pool-like eyes narrowed slightly.
“Investigate. Find out the origin of this dagger.”
“Such a person, hiding in the Chu Kingdom’s palace… what a waste of talent…”