This little ghost—no, this little old man—was quite agile.
In a few rapid movements, he darted in front of Li Ruoshui. He attempted to sever the silver threads with his dagger, but was blocked by Li Ruoshui’s reverse-handed parry, the sword tip nearly grazing his throat.
“In close combat, having a shorter weapon doesn’t necessarily give you the advantage. You must learn to treat your sword as an extension of your own hand. You have to adapt to both long and short ranges.”
After saying this, Lu Zhiyao moved his fingers slightly. Li Ruoshui’s foot involuntarily took a large step into a forward stance, and her sword thrust forward.
“This is a thrust. Concentrate power at the sword’s tip. Go forward without hesitation. You can break through most techniques with this.”
Li Ruoshui sighed. Her hand was forced to withdraw, and she took a few steps back, unable to resist muttering under her breath, “If you’re going to teach, just teach. Why are you long-winded?”
Lu Zhiyao lowered his head with a soft laugh. The silver threads at his fingertips twitched. He pulled Li Ruoshui’s hands together into a clasped fist salute. Then he made her bow slightly at the waist. He was making her apology to him. “Going through the motions while speaking helps you remember more deeply.”
“You’ve done more than enough!”
Li Ruoshui stared at her forcibly clasped hands. Her eyes and heart only spelled out two words:
Utterly tired.
She’s truly tired.
Lu Zhiyao is like a child manipulating the strings. He is indeed teaching her, but his way of teaching is akin to a video game. Going through the motions for you, teaching her through real life battles while amusing himself being the puppeteer.
The little old man only reached Li Ruoshui’s waist in height. He seemed to grow increasingly furious as he suddenly sprang up two meters into the air.
He held a short blade in each hand now. He took out another one at some point. In the next moment, a net of blade shadows rained down, weaving a dense web of attacks.
Lu Zhiyao pulled Li Ruoshui back a few steps, then raised the sword to meet the blows. “This is blocking. Don’t look at his blades. Trust your muscle memory.”
Lu Zhiyao stood up, his fingers resting on the silver threads as they moved rapidly. “What muscle memory do I even have?!”
Li Ruoshui was using movements that didn’t belong to her to parry the blades. The feeling was different from being in the arena. Back then, she was forced to receive attacks, and each blow she blocked meant she got hit. It offered no enjoyment whatsoever. But now, she felt deeply involved. It almost felt like she was experiencing the illusion that she was the one executing all these moves.
“Clever.” Lu Zhiyao nodded with satisfaction. Walking along the beam, he guided her to advance and attack. “Next are sword techniques. I came up with them myself, but techniques have no fixed form. You can create your own too.”
Li Ruoshui and the little old man stared wide-eyed at each other, both equally horrified.
Li Ruoshui’s hand speed was too fast. Not only was it hard for the little old man to handle, even Li Ruoshui herself was shocked.
On the beam, Lu Zhiyao moved as if on level ground, seemingly unaware of the resistance from the two below. He shook his head slightly with regret. “It’s a shame I don’t have enough threads. I can’t teach you how to turn your wrist.”
Li Ruoshui screamed mentally: ‘Enough is enough! Can’t you see the little old man is getting whacked into the ground? I’m starting to feel the joy of playing whack-a-mole!’
The little old man rolled back and forth on the ground to dodge the edge of her sword. He seemed pushed to his limits and so decided to risk it all on one final gamble as he grit his teeth.
He suddenly shot up, both short blades meeting the descending sword squarely. Channeling his internal energy, he vibrated the sword right out of Li Ruoshui’s hand, sending it flying. It ended up deeply embedded into the bedpost.
Seizing the opening, he threw both short blades forward with force, aiming directly for Li Ruoshui’s eyes, only to have them intercepted halfway by a thrown knife.
The old man was stunned: ‘What kind of monster is that on the beam? He still had enough strength to spare to knock away my blades?!’
The little old man didn’t waste any more time. He immediately flipped out the window and fled.
Lu Zhiyao didn’t hesitate either. He somersaulted down from the beam, carrying Li Ruoshui on his back as he gave chase.
“I can’t see. You’ll have to guide me.”
“If you know you can’t see, then why are you chasing?!”
Li Ruoshui clung tightly to his shoulders. At the moment, she was on the verge of collapse. Being dragged here by the System to romance a lunatic must be punishment for something she did wrong in a past life. That’s why she had to suffer so much now.
“Jump! About three or four meters ahead!”
Being carried by Lu Zhiyao as he dashed across rooftops was like riding a rollercoaster without safety restraints. Li Ruoshui kept her eyes glued to the path ahead. She didn’t dare close her eyes or even lose focus for a second, terrified she might fall off any moment.
The little old man ahead glanced back from time to time. Noticing that they were able to chase up to him, he cursed and sped up.
And Lu Zhiyao, without the slightest hesitation, dashed forward. He seemed utterly unconcerned about whether there might be pitfalls or traps ahead. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
His dark hair tangled and flew in the night wind. Clear, joyful laughter escaped his throat. Among the three people present, only he was truly happy.
Infected by his mood, Li Ruoshui actually started to find this speed somewhat exhilarating and couldn’t help but curl the corners of her lips upward.
But, in the next second, her smile vanished.
Standing on the empty street ahead were not only the short little old man but also a carriage, surrounded by numerous figures in black.
A woman in white was just entering the carriage. One foot through the door. Her silhouette looked somewhat familiar.
The little old man glared at them with a sinister look, spat, his expression no longer holding the earlier panic.
Lu Zhiyao landed on the street with Li Ruoshui and swept the edges of his robe in unconcealable delight.
Looking at the cadre of men before them, Li Ruoshui sucked in a breath. She pulled Lu Zhiyao back a few steps, whispering in his ear, “We left in too much of a hurry. I forgot the sword. Let’s make a run for it first.”
“You think you can run?”
The little old man stood beside the carriage. He looked like the classic bully relying on someone else’s power [1] as he was only about the same height as the wheel. “Since you dared chase me all the way here, you should be prepared to die.”
If one little old man was this tough, she would be an idiot if she tried to stay. Knowing when to yield and when to advance had always been one of Li Ruoshui’s strengths.
Li Ruoshui immediately jumped onto Lu Zhiyao’s back and patted him urgently on the back. “Run, quick!”
“You wish!” One of the men in black charged forward.
Lu Zhiyao grabbed Li Ruoshui by the collar and yanked her in front of him, showing no courtesy to the attacker or her. He sidestepped, seized the knife from the man’s hand, slit his throat with a backhand motion, and placed the knife hilt into Li Ruoshui’s palm.
His movements were clean and decisive, as if he wasn’t committing an act of death.
“Who says a sword is important? There’s nothing that can’t be discarded.” His tone was gentle, like a soft summer breeze. “A sword? Don’t we have one right here?”
Li Ruoshui looked at the corpse before them, eyes wide open. Her heart was pounding wildly, and her palm gripping the hilt was sweaty.
What does Lu Zhiyao mean? He’s not going to make me kill someone, is he?
“I’m just a beginner, an-and…”
“You’re so lucky. You just learned sword techniques—” Lu Zhiyao stood behind her, his hand sliding to her wrist. Raising the knife toward the crowd, he said, “—and now you get to learn how to apply them in combat.”
“I really don’t want this ‘blessing’… especially from you.”
Li Ruoshui was now regretting her decision to apply to be his student. Knowing his nature, how could she have thought for a second he had an ounce of kindness in him?
“Get them!”
The men in black opposite had been momentarily intimidated by Lu Zhiyao’s actions, but they heard a few light taps against the carriage wall. They had no choice but to steel themselves and attack.
As the cadre began charging forward with their weapons, the curtain of the carriage lifted slightly, revealing a corner of a white dress and a pair of eyes filled with a curiosity akin to a young girl.
Li Ruoshui froze, her mind racing through a hundred possibilities, but the oncoming attackers interrupted her and diverted her attention.
“They’re coming.” Lu Zhiyao’s tone lifted. Gripping Li Ruoshui’s wrist, he began to teach her his so-called ‘application of techniques,’ looking thoroughly full of energy and excitement.
Amid the clang of blades, Lu Zhiyao, with Li Ruoshui in tow, proactively stepped into the encirclement, letting out a low laugh befitting a villain.
His left hand pressed against the pulse in Li Ruoshui’s neck, his right gripping her wrist. While parrying incoming strikes, he guided Li Ruoshui to attack.
His steps were light, his laughter melodious. At this moment, he seemed the happiest person in the world. “Killing is so much fun. You’ll definitely like it.”
Bullshit!
A vein throbbed at Li Ruoshui’s temple, not from anger, but from straining to maintain some control over the knife, trying to counter the force of Lu Zhiyao’s grip.
Every time the blade was about to pierce someone’s heart, he could hear Li Ruoshui’s sharp intake of breath. She would exert extra force to pull the blade off course. Then, he could hear her sigh of relief followed by unconscious muttering to herself.
Probably cursing him, or perhaps praying to those useless gods.
He thought to himself: ‘How strange. Why not beg me, instead of those illusory things?’
“I’m just a novice! There’s plenty of time, big brother! Jumping straight to killing is way too intense!”
Li Ruoshui’s footwork was chaotic. She had to block blades while also suppressing the crazy energy of the person behind her. No one present was working harder than she was.
Perhaps the moonlight was particularly beautiful tonight, or perhaps he was simply too happy. He actually stopped, pushing Li Ruoshui out of the encirclement.
“Watch and learn.”
Staggering out of the circle, Li Ruoshui looked up at him, a bad feeling settling in her heart.
It seemed like a seal had come undone with Lu Zhiyao. Though the smile on his lips was as clear and gentle as the moonlight, his strikes were deadly and ruthless to the extreme. Every action left another body bleeding out on the floor.
The person inside the carriage let the curtain fall and tapped the wall. The little ghost immediately leaped onto the carriage, cracked the whip, and sped away from them.
Watching Lu Zhiyao’s entranced, intoxicated expression, Li Ruoshui couldn’t help but frown.
Lu Zhiyao’s smile appeared amiable and gentle, but in reality, he merely treated people like livestock to be slaughtered.
Killing, to him, was just a game that provided him stimulation. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he chose to do this pleasurable act within reasonable bounds. That’s why he previously chose to make a living by taking on bounty notices.
Ultimately though, people were just game pieces to him. They were just bleating lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Nothing more, nothing less.
Even with Lu Feiyue and Jiang Nian, he was merely slightly more polite. If killing those two could lead to something interesting, he would undoubtedly draw his sword without hesitation, utter a few high and mighty words, then act as he wished.
So, in his eyes, was she just another lamb awaiting slaughter?
The rating she previously received from the System was ‘average,’ meaning her previous romance strategy methods were ineffective, or simply not enough.
But—
As he said before, a person who fundamentally has no love, how could they possibly love someone else?
Would she always be stuck at an ‘average’ rating? Would everything she did be in vain? Could it be that she simply couldn’t go home?
The men in black who stayed to serve as cannon fodder fell one by one, covering the carriage’s escape.
Lu Zhiyao’s clothes were stained with blood, which turned deep black in the night, like an ink-wash landscape painting splashed across his robes. Despite the pure moonlight, it seemed to only serve to accentuate the dark splotches on his robes.
He had killed all of them. He let out a long sigh, threw the knife in his hand to the ground, where it landed with a mournful clang.
The long-standing, indescribable depression and restlessness vanished at this moment. Holding back a smile, suppressing his excitement. His eyelashes and fingers trembled as he turned to walk back towards Li Ruoshui.
“So, which parts of the techniques did you not understand?”
He half-crouched as he asked her, his robes disheveled, his eyelashes slightly curved. Warm blood slid down his cheek, presenting a kind of evanescent, ethereal beauty.
But halfway through his question, his body grew still on its own.
The depression and irritability he had just vented out came flooding back, stronger than before, overwhelming him like a tidal wave.
Oh.
“You’re afraid of me too.”
[1]This refers to the idiom ‘狐假虎威’ (hú jiǎ hǔ wēi), literally “a fox borrowing the tiger’s might,” meaning to bully or intimidate people by flaunting one’s powerful connections.