Chapter 26

The pale moonlight shone on the young man’s face, as beautiful as a banished immortal. His expression was calm, ignoring the dismembered limbs at his feet. He looked as harmless as a noble young master secluded in the inner chambers.

Shen Yao Xing swallowed hard, her hand moving to the dagger at her waist, fearing this person might lose control and not spare even her.

The young man lowered his gaze, taking out a handkerchief from somewhere, and methodically wiped the blood droplets from his sword blade. His eyes were dark as he spoke softly, “Why is Miss Shen here?”

His tone was as calm as if he had just been chopping vegetables.

Shen Yao Xing felt her stomach churning. Even though she had seen some major scenes before, she couldn’t withstand such a bloody sight in the middle of the night, especially with the pungent smell of blood assaulting her nose.

The young girl stepped back a bit, using the eaves to block the horrifying scene. Unexpectedly, as soon as she retreated, she saw the young man leap lightly, landing just one step away from her.

Shen Yao Xing’s nerves instantly tensed. She quickly jumped backward, widening the distance between them, and drew her dagger, holding it in front of her body, warily watching the person with the strange expression opposite her.

Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes were dark, a faint sneer tugging at his lips, “Why is Miss Shen so nervous? If I truly wanted to kill you, why would I have waited until today?”

His tone suggested he could easily take her life at will. Shen Yao Xing felt challenged, the fear in her heart instantly replaced by irritation. She felt the need to dampen this person’s confidence.

The young girl straightened up from her defensive posture, waving her dagger in the air, “Don’t act like you could definitely kill me alone. Don’t forget, last time at Mu Chi’s place, you couldn’t do anything to me. Didn’t I escape unscathed?”

Back then, she knew this person had strong murderous intent towards her, but thanks to her quick thinking, she managed to deceive him with just a handful of flour and escape.

The sneer disappeared from the young man’s lips. He stared at the smug young girl opposite him with a terrifying expression, his dark eyes glinting coldly, as if she might become a ghost under his sword the next moment.

The chill in the night air was particularly biting. The proud Shen Yao Xing shuddered, feeling a bit uneasy seeing his terrifying expression. Only then did she remember that this man seemed to care a lot about these things. She scratched her neck awkwardly and laughed nervously, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up…”

She suddenly raised her hand to her ear and blinked sincerely, “I swear, it was purely out of necessity at that time. If the tile hadn’t been so fragile, I wouldn’t have fallen down at all!”

The young man remained unmoved, his cold eyes hidden in the shadows fixed on the girl who kept explaining.

Shen Yao Xing’s mouth went dry from talking, but he showed no reaction. Too lazy to continue, she still had one thing she was curious about, “How did you end up here?”

“That’s what I should be asking. Wasn’t Miss Shen in the capital? How did you appear in this town?” Jiang Ming Yue coldly asked back, raising his hand holding the sword to sheathe it.

“I had some business, so I came over,” Shen Yao Xing said perfunctorily. The smell of blood lingering in the air hadn’t dissipated yet. Remembering the horrifying scene from earlier, her stomach started churning again. She uncomfortably raised her hand to cover her mouth, preventing the soup rising in her throat from coming out.

“You…” Shen Yao Xing didn’t know how to say it, finally tightening her grip on the dagger in her hand, stating, “You really kill without blinking an eye.”

Again with such words. Jiang Ming Yue’s face turned cold, his eyes fixed on the young girl like a venomous snake hidden in the dark, flicking its tongue. He turned his face slightly, lowering his gaze to glance at the dismembered limbs, then raised his eyes and said softly, “If I didn’t kill them, they would have taken my life. Survival of the fittest. If there’s blame, it’s only that they dared to harbor greedy thoughts despite their inferior skills.”

Though his words made sense, it wasn’t a reason to dismember people. Shen Yao Xing, whose worldview was constantly being refreshed, had no interest in arguing. Perhaps all psychopaths were like this; it was best to stay far away.

The young girl covered her mouth and turned sideways, waving her hand, “It’s fine, I’ll go first.”

“Is Miss Shen returning to the inn? Why don’t we go together?”

Shen Yao Xing was stunned, “You’re also staying at that inn?”

“There’s only one inn in this Meihua River town, what does Miss Shen think?”

After speaking, Jiang Ming Yue no longer paid attention to her. He lightly tapped his foot and leaped up, his snow-white clothes fluttering in the night sky, as if about to merge with the full moon behind him. In the blink of an eye, he had flown far away.

Shen Yao Xing stood dumbfounded, blinking. Only then did she remember that there was indeed only one inn in town, otherwise she and Meng Xin Yi wouldn’t have had to squeeze into one room. However, she had never encountered this person in the two or three days they had stayed there.

Perhaps he had just checked in recently.

Shen Yao Xing didn’t think too much about it. She glanced at the source of the bloody smell, frowned, and jumped off the roof, deciding it was better to walk back.

Back at the inn, she told Meng Xin Yi what had happened. Meng Xin Yi was somewhat surprised, “You say Young Master Ming Yue has also come to Meihua River town?”

“Mm,” Shen Yao Xing nodded, grabbing the melon seeds she had left on the table before going out and continued cracking them.

Meng Xin Yi frowned, feeling things weren’t that simple, “Young Master Ming Yue’s whereabouts have always been unpredictable. There must be a reason wherever he goes. How could he suddenly come to such a remote place?”

“Ah,” the young girl munched on the fragrant melon seeds in her mouth, quite unconcerned, “Didn’t you say this is a summer retreat? The weather is so hot, maybe he also came to escape the heat.”

But thinking about it, if he really felt hot, he could just hug that sword of his all day, after all, it had a built-in cooling function.

Meng Xin Yi was left speechless by the young girl’s naive words, and could only shake her head helplessly.

If it were really that simple, he wouldn’t be the young master of Changsheng Pavilion.

The next morning, Shen Yao Xing had just gotten up and was about to go downstairs to the hall for breakfast when she was irritated by Lin Luo Sheng, who had somehow found his way there.

“I’ve already said you don’t need to repay anything, just leave quickly!” The young girl raised her hand to pinch her brow, impatiently trying to send him away.

“No…” Lin Luo Sheng’s fair face was full of grievance. He lightly bit his pink lip and said stubbornly in a low voice, “Father once told me that gratitude is as vast as the sky, and one must repay it no matter what!”

“Oh,” Shen Yao Xing said expressionlessly, raising her hand to point at the woman watching from the side, “Then she also ‘saved’ you, why don’t you go repay her?”

The young man followed her gaze, suddenly pressed his pink lips tightly and lowered his head slightly. A visible blush spread from the root of his ears to encompass them. His doe eyes were somewhat at a loss, his fingers forcefully digging into his knuckles as he blushed red with embarrassment, not knowing how to respond, “I… I…”

He just wanted, just wanted to repay only the young girl.

Meng Xin Yi, who had been unexpectedly brought into this, was a bit confused. Realizing the young man’s expression, she became interested, “That makes sense. I wonder how Young Master Lin plans to repay me?”

Completely unaware of being teased, Lin Luo Sheng was at a loss. He furrowed his brows and thought for a while, then stammered, “How about I treat Miss Meng to a meal? Or, or I can give you some silver…”

“Ah, that’s perfect,” Shen Yao Xing seemed to have been waiting for these words, shamelessly extending her hand towards him, “Then give me some silver too. Once you’ve given it to us, we’ll be even, and you won’t have to worry about repaying the debt of gratitude anymore.”

Lin Luo Sheng suddenly looked up, anxious, “This, this can’t be the same!”

“How is it not the same?” What, showing favoritism in repaying gratitude?

Lin Luo Sheng couldn’t explain how it wasn’t the same, he just knew that her kindness couldn’t be repaid with just some silver. At a loss, his eyes reddened with anxiety, tears welling up in his eyes, his pitiful appearance making people want to protect him.

“…Don’t look at me like that.” Shen Yao Xing felt her scalp tingling under his gaze.

The young man rubbed his eyes and lowered his head without speaking.

After a long while, he murmured, “It’s just not the same…”

“Then what do you want?” Shen Yao Xing moved a bit to the side.

“You…” Lin Luo Sheng sniffled, his fingers tightening on the clothes at his knees. He thought seriously for a moment, then raised his wet doe eyes and suggested in a slightly hoarse voice, “How about you come stay at my home? We have many empty rooms, you can stay in whichever one you like…”

“Heh,” a cold laugh came from behind. Shen Yao Xing turned her head to see a man in plain clothes with a light veil over his face slowly walking towards them.

Accompanied by a sense of pressure, he stopped two steps behind the young girl, looking down at the three of them. His cold gaze swept over the young man’s face, finally stopping on the face of the person closest to him. His upturned eyes were covered in frost, his voice as melodious as harp strings, saying with unclear meaning, “Miss Shen really is blessed with admirers.”

Honestly, having gotten used to seeing this person in all white attire, it was truly hard to react when he suddenly dressed so “plainly”. Shen Yao Xing was already having a headache and had no mood to deal with him.

“Speaking of debts of gratitude, Miss Shen seems to still owe me one that hasn’t been repaid,” the man said calmly.

“Eh?” Shen Yao Xing looked completely confused, “When did I owe you a debt of gratitude?”

Jiang Ming Yue didn’t speak, his deep eyes coldly meeting hers.

Vaguely recalling the incident on the way back to the capital, she had just borrowed a ride in his carriage, yet this person could remember it until now! Shen Yao Xing had a moment of realization that this might be the biggest mistake she had ever made in her life.

She tugged at the corner of her mouth, “Do you… want to sit together?”

“How could that be good? I wouldn’t want to disturb Miss Shen,” the man said calmly, his dark pupils reflecting the young girl’s slightly awkward face.

“It’s not disturbing at all, it’s just having breakfast,” Shen Yao Xing turned her body, saying indifferently.

Beside her, Meng Xin Yi had already recognized the man’s identity and was quite surprised. She concealed it without showing any expression, stood up and smiled at the man, “Since we all know each other, why don’t we sit down together? The inn is quite crowded now, it’s not easy to find a seat.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand to indicate the empty seat opposite the young girl.

Jiang Ming Yue’s cold eyes turned slightly, his gaze sliding from the young girl to land on the woman’s smiling face. That gaze, as if looking at a dead person, made Meng Xin Yi’s heart tremble, her fingertips shaking slightly as she slowly clenched her fist.

The noble man withdrew his gaze and slowly sat down. Even after the meal was served, the woman was still standing there. Shen Yao Xing looked up, puzzled, “What are you doing? Are you going to eat standing up?”

Meng Xin Yi, her face slightly pale, came back to her senses. She looked at the young girl and sat down silently.

Shen Yao Xing didn’t notice her abnormality. She was eating when her sleeve was tugged from below. She pulled her sleeve back and moved further along the bench, “If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t pull and tug.”

Lin Luo Sheng pouted with grievance, his fingers under the table secretly pointing at the person sitting opposite her, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s, “Who is he?”

That timid tone carried a hint of questioning.

The young girl chewed on the candy beans in her mouth, glancing at the person opposite, and snorted coldly, “Anyway, he’s not my father.”

He didn’t come early or late, but chose to come and freeload just when she had an appetite.