Only after the lingering auras in midair had completely faded away did Li Guanqi finally breathe a sigh of relief beneath the quilt.
Yet his hot breath stirred a restless warmth in the woman beside him, prompting her to shift slightly despite herself.
That subtle movement made Li Guanqi realize his hand was resting somewhere utterly inappropriate.
'What kind of shoddy crap was that?! Not only did it cover less than a hundred zhang, it was completely random!'
Right now, his entire weight pressed down upon her. His left hand clamped over her mouth, while his right hand… twitched almost by reflex.
"Mmh… nggh…"
A muffled whimper from beneath him shattered the fragile silence between them.
Li Guanqi hastily pulled back the quilt, tumbling off the bed to land lightly on the floor.
Yet his hand remained clamped firmly over the woman's mouth.
Sweeping his divine sense across the room, he finally saw her face clearly.
He had to admit she was strikingly beautiful, bringing an old verse unbidden to his mind:
'Distant hills sketch her slender, dark brows; slender willows shape her supple waist. Made up, she stands in the vernal breeze; a single smile is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.'
Applying those lines to the woman before him was by no means an exaggeration.
A gentle softness lingered between her brows, though right now her gaze held far more shame, indignation, and dread.
Li Guanqi raised an index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, and the woman nodded with full cooperation.
Only then did he slowly withdraw his hand, though his right fingers immediately formed a sword-hand!
He had no intention of capsizing in a shallow ditch.
No matter how breathtaking she was, if she showed the slightest sign of treachery, he would strike instantly and make his escape.
Yet after sitting up, the woman made no sudden moves and uttered not a sound.
Instead, she looked at Li Guanqi with deep grievance, her ethereal voice chiming softly.
"Could you… please turn around?"
Only then did Li Guanqi notice that she had already retired for the night, dressed in mere wisps of bedclothes.
"Ahem… right… Make it quick."
"Mm…"
The woman murmured in response. Fortunately, no lamp was lit in the room, which spared Su Qiu some of her mortification.
She hurriedly donned her outer robes. In the meantime, torchlight flared outside the door, accompanied by the rapid patter of running footsteps.
Bang, bang, bang!
With a swift flicker, Li Guanqi slipped behind the bed's sheer curtains. His sword casket slid open without a whisper of sound, and he gripped the Red Lotus sword in his palm!
A patrol guard's voice immediately barked from the other side of the door.
"Young Mistress, by order of the Villa Master, we are inspecting every quarter of the villa. Please open the door!"
Li Guanqi's brow twitched. He mused inwardly, 'Young Mistress? Fang Hao's wife?'
Yet the woman on the bed called out in sharp displeasure.
"What is all the rushing for?!"
"Wait outside!"
The knocking and shouting ceased at once. Rustling about as if dressing, the woman lit an oil lamp in the room, then rose to open the door.
All of this unfolded under Li Guanqi's divine sense. She showed no signs of deceit, nor did she cast any covert glances toward the guard.
The guard took only a cursory glance into the room before bowing his head to speak.
"Young Mistress, an intruder broke into the villa tonight. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, please call for us immediately."
Her face dark with irritation, she waved a hand dismissively.
"Understood."
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and she leaned against the wood, her chest heaving slightly.
It was clear that she, too, had been terrified.
Once the guards had moved off into the distance, she lit the remaining oil lamps by the entryway. With the light situated there, anyone looking from outside would see only glare, unable to discern any silhouettes within the room.
Li Guanqi took a seat beside a table, casually pouring himself a cup of tea.
The crisis just now had been razor-thin. Had she betrayed him in the slightest, she would have died, but escaping the villa alive would have become nearly impossible for him as well.
The woman naturally sat down across from him, pouring herself a cup and downing it in one draught.
Though she drank with rough abandon, every gesture she made carried an undeniable noble elegance.
Li Guanqi's gaze fell upon a memorial tablet behind her. It was inscribed with the name of Fang Hao, alongside his wife, Su Qiu.
"Su Qiu?"
The woman nodded, the panic from earlier entirely gone from her eyes.
Looking at the black-clad figure whose face was concealed save for his eyes, she showed no hint of evasion.
Yet Li Guanqi could tell she was busy guessing at his identity, though she remained uncertain.
Tucking her hands into her sleeves, she asked softly, "Why didn't you kill me?"
Li Guanqi glanced toward the door. The patrols through the villa had multiplied several times over, and two faint sweeps of divine sense brushed by periodically.
Slipping away right now would be exceedingly difficult. At the same time, he could not leave his assumed guard identity unattended for too long.
Even if the new recruits had not yet been formally inducted as official guards, given tonight's chaos, they might well be dragged out to patrol during the second half of the night.
Li Guanqi shook his head faintly, answering in a deliberately raspy tone.
"You are not my target."
A strange light instantly flashed through Su Qiu's eyes!
Fixing her gaze upon him, she whispered with absolute certainty, "You killed Fang Hao!"
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes at her, but Su Qiu met his stare without the slightest fear.
Suddenly, Li Guanqi offered a meaningful smile and spoke softly.
"I killed your husband. Why isn't there a shred of hatred in your eyes?"
At his words, Su Qiu smiled as well. Her laughter was boundless and unburdened, making no effort to conceal her delight.
"Why should I hate you?"
"Were it not for fear of drawing attention, this humble woman would gladly drop to her knees and kowtow to you to express my gratitude."
"In a manner of speaking, calling you my benefactor wouldn't be an exaggeration in the slightest."
Her voice remained faint, audible only to the two of them.
Li Guanqi turned the thought over in his mind, thoroughly intrigued.
"Fascinating."
"I should still have a little time. If you don't mind, why not share your story?"
A bitter smile touched Su Qiu's lips as she murmured in a low voice.
"What is there to tell?"
"It's the same old cliché."
"I am nothing more than the princess of a fallen kingdom. My parents are dead, my dynasty erased."
"Yet I was abducted by my enemies and forced to marry one of them."
"Isn't it absurd? Sharing a bed with the murderer of my father, completely powerless to take his life."
"I… wish every last soul in Changfeng Villa were dead!"
By the time she finished, those limpid, pool-like eyes held nothing but raw hatred and murderous intent.
Her shoulders trembled as her chest heaved with violent emotion.
Taking all of this in, a sudden spark of inspiration struck Li Guanqi's mind, giving birth to an audacious plan.
He could be virtually certain that what Su Qiu said was the truth.
A mere mortal, devoid of primal energy.
From her bearing and speech, she was indeed no daughter of a prominent cultivation clan, but an imperial princess from a mortal dynasty in the secular realm below.
In that case… why not use her as an opening!
Li Guanqi retrieved the shadow-casting stone from his robes. Channeling primal energy into it, an image projected into the air before Su Qiu's eyes.
The scene was so explicit, however, that color rushed to her face, turning her red to the tips of her ears.
Yet her eyes went wide as she stared at the woman in the projection!
Li Guanqi caught on at once and pressed urgently, "Who is the woman in this image?"
Su Qiu answered in a heavy voice, "Guan Lin!"
"Why… why would she be in the Second Master's room?!"
Her words were drenched in shock and bewilderment, mixed with emotions Li Guanqi couldn't quite decipher.
"Who is she? Why are you so stunned?"
Su Qiu looked up at Li Guanqi. After a long silence, she leaned forward and whispered, "She… is Fang Yishan's lover!"
Li Guanqi froze in place.
'Holy hell… the second brother is sleeping with the eldest brother's woman!'
'No wonder Fang Zhongnan said those words back then!'
Looking down at the shadow-casting stone in his hand, a daring scheme took root in his mind.
Chapter 214