Chapter 66

The man’s face remained calm, seemingly unaffected by the corpses at his feet. He stepped over the bloody mess between them and slowly walked towards her.

His calm demeanor evoked Shen Yao Xing’s fear of his cold-blooded nature.

“She wanted to kill you, so I had to kill her.”

This unexpected explanation startled Shen Yao Xing, vaguely recalling the man’s previous promise not to kill again.

Raising her eyes to survey the horrific scene around them, doubt immediately arose, “Did… you do this?”

Jiang Ming Yue lowered his gaze, looking at the young girl’s delicate face for a long while before calmly denying, “No.”

Shen Yao Xing was half-skeptical, after all, this person was used to being ruthless, who knew if these words were true or false.

“It-it really wasn’t Young Master Yin…” Bai Sha, who had followed, hadn’t fully recovered from the earlier beheading scene. She wasn’t afraid of the bloody scene, but terrified that the “fragile” Young Master Yin actually knew martial arts!

Moreover, he acted without the slightest hesitation, his practiced manner inspiring fear.

As soon as the woman spoke, everyone’s gaze focused on her, except for Jiang Ming Yue.

Bai Sha swallowed, “Since the young miss came down the mountain, I’ve been guarding outside Young Master Yin’s room. He never left his chamber.”

Hearing this, Shen Yao Xing’s doubts lessened somewhat, but then she thought, if this person wanted to kill, why would he need to do it himself? Any one of his subordinates could easily wipe out a stronghold.

But he shouldn’t have a reason to do so.

Besides, hadn’t he agreed to marry someone? If he really wanted to make a move, he should have done so before going up the mountain.

Unable to make sense of it all, Shen Yao Xing didn’t consider another possibility – that the man had done this merely to make her jealous.

With Bai Sha’s support, Shen Yao Xing stood up and suddenly had a flash of insight. She quickly ran to the Chief’s bedroom, and sure enough, the long box that held the deerskin map was now empty.

“It seems those people came for this map.” Meng Xin Yi, who had followed, glanced at the empty box and said softly.

Shen Yao Xing remained silent, her gaze falling on the box. Why didn’t they come earlier or later, but only after they had entered the stronghold and seen the map? The answer was obvious.

Among them, apart from Jiang Ming Yue, no one cared about this broken map.

However… it wasn’t necessary to kill everyone.

Shen Yao Xing’s mood was somewhat complex. When she went out, she saw Qian Er panting as she transported corpses to that empty space on the back mountain.

Seeing the young girl approach, she didn’t stop, picking up a severed limb and placing it on the wooden cart. Her pale face and slightly trembling hands revealed her inner turmoil.

“I…” Shen Yao Xing’s lips moved.

But Qian Er shook her head, “Miss Shen, you don’t need to say anything. I know it wasn’t you who did this. If it really was you, with your skills, you wouldn’t have waited until now.” Even if it really was them, Qian Er couldn’t do anything about it. Rather than inviting trouble, it was better to pretend she knew nothing.

At this point, staying alive was the priority.

Shen Yao Xing pursed her lips, not saying anything more, realizing that now, anything said would be useless.

After helping to bury the bodies, Qian Er bid them farewell, saying she was going to find a new place to live. She even properly promised Shen Yao Xing that she would never engage in thievery again.

She looked as if she feared Shen Yao Xing might chase after her at any moment.

Shen Yao Xing found it amusing and waved goodbye to her.

A slender shadow fell over her from behind. Knowing who it was, Shen Yao Xing turned around without looking and walked directly towards the prepared carriage.

Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes darkened slightly, “Are you suspecting me?”

Hearing the man’s words, Shen Yao Xing’s steps faltered briefly. After a moment of silence, she simply shrugged while facing away from him, then quickened her pace to leave.

Whether it was him or not, it didn’t matter to her anyway.

Though she thought this way, when the man leaned closer to her in the carriage, Shen Yao Xing still couldn’t help but move away. Perhaps it was psychological, but when he came close, she always seemed to catch a faint scent of blood.

Even though she had known of his murderous nature before, she had never felt this averse.

Those people in the stronghold had treated them quite well after all…

The girl’s undisguised rejection caused Jiang Ming Yue’s face to completely darken. His hand on the cushion tightened slightly, his dark pupils fixed on her.

The temperature in the carriage suddenly dropped.

Meng Xin Yi, who had been resting with her eyes closed opposite them, slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze swept over the two, but when it moved to the man’s face, she met those emotionless eyes.

He stared at her coldly, as if seeing through everything she was thinking at that moment.

Seeing Meng Xin Yi leave the carriage, Shen Yao Xing wanted to follow, but the person behind her stubbornly held onto her clothes.

Shen Yao Xing’s brows furrowed so tightly they could almost kill a fly. She turned back with a sour face, “What exactly do you want?” Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes lingered on the girl’s face for a while, his voice soft: “You don’t believe me?” “I believe, I believe, I believe.”

The girl very perfunctorily pulled back her clothes and sat down on one side, turning her back to him.

It felt like his heart had been squeezed, the pain obvious. Jiang Ming Yue lowered his eyes and slowly withdrew his hand, no longer leaning towards her, sitting at a distance from the girl.

The two didn’t speak another word until nightfall.

Once again camping in the wild, the lit bonfire illuminated the varied expressions on everyone’s faces. Bai Sha looked at one person then another, then glanced at the carriage not far away, asking softly, “Why hasn’t Young Master Yin come down?” Shen Yao Xing, with drooping eyelids and little energy, shook her head, “I don’t know.” “Young Miss… are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

What could be wrong? Probably just didn’t sleep well last night, her head was a bit messy.

“Oh…”

Bai Sha retracted her head and didn’t ask further.

Late at night, when Shen Yao Xing and the others had all fallen asleep, Meng Xin Yi, who was leaning against a tree, slowly opened her eyes. She first made sure the three were sound asleep before using her lightness skill to leap into the depths of the forest.

The Grand Elder had been waiting in the deep forest for a long time. Seeing the person arrive so late, her face showed displeasure, “Why are you so late? I thought you weren’t coming.” “I couldn’t let them notice,” Meng Xin Yi said calmly.

“What if they noticed? With your current backing, are you afraid of them?” The Grand Elder’s wrinkled face looked even more grotesque and ugly in the darkness. Meng Xin Yi didn’t understand how such a fool could sit in the position of Grand Elder of the Thousand Pardons Sect.

Too lazy to waste more words with her, Meng Xin Yi stretched out her hand, “Give me the thing.” “The thing? I was just about to ask you, I searched that thief leader’s nest today as you said, but there was no deerskin map at all!”

The old woman seemed somewhat angry as she spoke, feeling that the younger woman hadn’t explained clearly.

Meng Xin Yi looked at her calmly, a strange color flashing in her eyes, “You want to keep it for yourself?” “Nonsense, I just said that broken stronghold didn’t have any deerskin map. You’re clearly holding a grudge about that bone-softening powder incident and playing tricks on me. Now you want to push the blame onto me?” “Don’t forget, without me, you still wouldn’t have gotten those two deerskin maps from the Longevity Pavilion.” The Grand Elder’s face was gloomy, her words ending in gritted teeth.

That look didn’t seem to be lying. Meng Xin Yi raised her eyes to scan the surroundings, the corner of her mouth slightly curling, “That’s not necessarily true.” The woman’s ambiguous words made the Grand Elder raise her guard.

“What do you mean by that?”

Meng Xin Yi’s gaze returned to the person in front of her. She suddenly leaned towards her, and as the other was about to step back, she swiftly raised her hand to pinch the acupoint on her shoulder.

The Grand Elder’s drooping triangular eyes suddenly widened, her body stiffening inch by inch, completely unable to move!

“You-you mustn’t act rashly! I promise to help you, I don’t want any benefits, and I’ll never disobey your orders in the future!” Her desperate struggle was truly a spectacle. Meng Xin Yi watched with interest, clicking her tongue in wonder: “If those hundreds of Thousand Pardons disciples were still alive and saw their respected Grand Elder in this state, I wonder what their expressions would be?” “You!” The Grand Elder’s face contorted again, but her expression was forever frozen at that moment.

As the body in front of her fell, Meng Xin Yi calmly rubbed her index finger, muttering to herself: “I’ve gotten a bit rusty…” But it was more than enough to deal with such a fool.

Glancing at the corpse on the ground, Meng Xin Yi turned to leave.

“It seems Miss Meng’s ruthlessness is no less than Ming Yue’s.” In the silent night, fine moonlight filtered through the leaves, falling on the man’s incomparably handsome features. The teardrop mole under his eye exuded a hint of bewitching charm, like a demon slowly emerging from the mist, quite alluring.

A flash of amazement passed through Meng Xin Yi’s eyes, feeling somewhat envious of the young girl for having such an exquisitely beautiful creature devoted to her.

“Young Master Ming Yue…” she murmured softly. Her originally calm brows took on a dreamy quality in the night mist as she examined the man’s features inch by inch, “How is Young Master Ming Yue here?” Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes were cold, “Why can’t I be here?” He asked in return, his cold eyes glancing at the corpse behind the woman, the corner of his lips curling in mockery: “Killing all those people in the stronghold to make her suspicious of me, is that what Miss Meng wished for?” “As expected of the young master of the Longevity Pavilion. But Young Master Ming Yue seems to underestimate me too much. Just this is far from enough.” The woman’s calm and composed manner aroused some interest in Jiang Ming Yue, “Isn’t Miss Meng afraid that I’ll tell her about these things?” Meng Xin Yi naturally knew who the “her” in the man’s mouth referred to, and she had full confidence in this.

“Does Young Master Ming Yue think… Yao Xing will believe you or believe me?” The most vulnerable part of his inner heart was mercilessly exposed, left open for ridicule and contempt. Yes, he was even less important to that person than this woman.

The curve of Jiang Ming Yue’s lips gradually faded, his beautiful almond eyes narrowing slightly, mixed with a cold killing intent, “You think I dare not kill you?” “Young Master Ming Yue could easily kill me if he wanted to, but… Young Master Ming Yue should be clear himself, if I really die by your hands, Yao Xing might hate you bitterly?” The woman seemed skilled at grasping people’s weaknesses, believing this to be the reason he dared not make a move.

Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes were like cold ice, sweeping scornfully over the self-righteous woman. The silver outlined on the edge of his clothes seemed to be coated with a layer of fluorescence in the moonlight. He leapt lightly, leaving without looking back.

Only after that eye-catching figure disappeared did Meng Xin Yi’s tense nerves finally relax.

It seemed her guess was correct, that usually cold and ruthless young master of the Longevity Pavilion truly loved Shen Yao Xing to death.

“Heh”

An ambiguous light laugh made the dark forest even more eerie. Meng Xin Yi raised her hand to brush off the dead leaves that had fallen on her shoulder and stepped away from the spot.

The next day, when Shen Yao Xing woke up, she found that the man had already left, without any warning. She didn’t even know when he had left.

“Young Miss, do you think Young Master Yin is angry?” Bai Sha leaned close to the girl and asked softly.

Angry?

What would he be angry about?

Shen Yao Xing couldn’t think of a reason. Perhaps he felt that after killing people, he should go somewhere to rest.

“Do you think it’s dangerous for Young Master Yin to leave alone like this?” Although she now knew Young Master Yin knew martial arts, he might not have the advantage if he encountered a large group of people.

“He’s much more capable than you, what are you worrying about?”

Shen Yao Xing wiped her face with a damp handkerchief, her demeanor as usual.