Ming Feizhen yelled out to Ming Suwen in the loudest voice he had ever spoken to her with.
"What is this place? Who is this bunch? Must you torment yourself… and me this way before you're satisfied?"
Like a gust of wind, Ming Feizhen zipped over. The guards virtually didn’t even catch the sight of him shift from one place to the next. As a matter of fact, they didn’t even sense him, but there was no question that he had whizzed past them.
He grabbed Ming Suwen’s slender, supple and white arm. Voice muffled, he asked, “Young Shiyi, what are you angry with me about?"
Ming Feizhen glimpsed at the crowd, and then utilised Voice Transmission, “There are too many people here. Let’s talk somewhere else. You should, at least, tell me why you’re angry with me, shouldn’t you?”
But nonetheless, before Ming Feizhen could use force, Ming Suwen had already shaken his hold off!
“I’m angry with the way you’re behaving right now!” declared the usually suave, unfettered, beautiful and hospitable Ming Suwen, who had lost control of her emotions. "You always want to explain this and explain that to me, try to comfort and pamper me, speak to me in a gentle tone and take things to heart. I want to comfort you! Who needs your generosity?! Who needs your hospitality?! I don't need you to take care of me! Have I given you permission to come so close to me? Have I given you permission to treat me nicely?"
Ming Feizhen never thought he'd anger his shiyi to the point that she'd ignore propriety and express her anger even through her body language.
"I… I… I just care about you."
A slightly cold look surfaced on Ming Suwen's gorgeous face. She snickered, "All right, then. Since you love to care about people so much and are so good at it, why not use your caring skills on other women? Did someone force you to listen to me? Did anyone force you to forego sleep to gather herbs for me when I'm sick? Did anyone tell you to come to my rescue whenever I'm in danger? Did I ask you to treat me so nice? Who are you of mine?! Why do you have to be responsible for me? If you want to be dutiful, go and be dutiful to someone else! You must've been born to aggravate me. Since you've angered me, I… I…"
Ming Suwen's eyes turned red. Words wouldn't come up again. If they crossed the last line, then the thin paper screen between them would no longer exist.
"Enough, enough. If I keep going, how will he hold his head up at the sect?" said Ming Suwen, in her mind, shedding tears as she stopped herself.
"You're… so nice to me. Why not be nice to me forever? Why do you want me to go back by myself…? Why didn't you visit me when I was on the brink of death when I fell ill on Mount Daluo?" asked Ming Suwen.
With his blood rushing to his head, his heart throbbing and his mind in panic, he asked, "Ar-Are you sick? Why did nobody tell me?!"
A helpless smile bloomed on Ming Suwen's face. Ming Feizhen instantly understood what happened.
Ming Suwen fell ill as soon as she returned to Mount Daluo from Nanjing. It was clear that her illness was a psychological illness. Naturally, everyone on Mount Daluo kept a lid on it; they couldn't let Ming Feizhen know. Otherwise, he'd definitely return. That, in turn, would only deepen their love for each other.
"What, are there some things that nobody knows if neither you nor I mention it? They all knew. My cousin knew. Your shifu knew. Your martial uncle knew. Your shiniang also knew. Else, why did I not visit you in over a year during your life of seclusion in Nanjing? They didn't tell me where you were, so I searched for you from beyond the border and back into the Central Plain. They view me as a crazy woman who doesn't know shame. I couldn't care less how they evaluated me. You know me well enough. You even know what I care about, but you never took it to heart."
"Young Shiyi… I…"
Ming Suwen was able to think of far more than Ming Feizhen possibly could.
As though he had something clogged in his throat, causing him pain that inhibited his ability to speak, he forced himself to enunciate his thoughts, "Whatever the case, it was I, who let you down."
Ming Feizhen's reaction stabbed at Ming Suwen's heart, but she was even angrier. Her fury almost came out as a belt, "I don't want your apology! I don't want you to care about me! I don't want you to care about me, comfort me and take care of me! After the sleepless nights and bright days, I end up finding out that I'm just a responsibility to you!"
Ming Feizhen's face turned ghastly pale upon hearing the word "responsibility". He never considered Ming Suwen’s significance in his life, while she was a step ahead and had found the answer.
"Is the fate that brought about our meeting when we were three and months old respectively, just a form of obligation?" wondered Ming Feizhen.
Ming Suwen’s tears finally fell from her eyes. The representation of their owner’s strong character coursed down from those curved eyelashes, but the clear crystals left behind on them accentuated the beauty of her dazzling eyes.
"Henceforward, your obligation is over. You can leave now."
"I can't do that."
Ming Suwen could seemingly see the face behind the bronze mask. The face she was familiar with since childhood had a tinge of loneliness and a pale smile.
"This is how we've been since we were kids… I will only ever be nice to you. I didn't know you were angry. What else, besides comforting and pampering you, can I do? I don't know why I want to care about you, but that's all I can do."
There was a silence between them as if it was raining. It was as if they had forgotten there were hundreds of pairs of eyes watching them. Nevertheless, the audience was emotionally invested enough that they couldn't bear to disturb the two.
"All right, then. I only have one question for you, then…" stated Ming Suwen. Teeth clenched, she asked, "Will you come on the night of New Year's Eve?"
Ming Feizhen fell silent. He was participating in the fuma selection, but not to represent himself or Liu Shan Men. Additionally, if he didn't partake in it, he wouldn't be able to take back Night Fortress. Heaven knows what schemes Jingan had in store, as well. He had to participate in the selection at all costs.
Voice muffled, Ming Suwen exclaimed, "If you can't come… leave now!"
"Young Shiyi… must you really do this?"
"Don't push it. I've never owed you anything," replied Ming Suwwen. A cold expression surfaced on her beautiful face. She pinched the back of her hand with her fingers, stabbing her fingernails deep into her flesh. It hurt enough to inhibit any detectible sensations. When she spoke again, her tone was bitter, "So, you can marry other women, but I can't marry other men?"
"Hey, hey, hey, you two done or what?" one of the drunkards complained, after finally waking up.
Waking up to see the ethereal beauty of Courtesan Juese was enough for the drunkard to jolt himself sober. However, he was frightened when he noticed the man with the bronze mask. After all that arguing, it turned out to be a lover's bicker.
"This place is for entertainment. If you two want to make love or argue, take it somewhere else. Hey, buddy, don't touch the head. Touch the head, and you'll shed tears. If you've sent your wife to a brothel, you have to be ready to part. Look at your stunner of a wife. I don't have enough money to have her first night, but no dramas; I'll definitely have her second night. With your gorgeous looks, you probably serve a good number of patrons every night, huh? No problem. I'll join the crew. I don't mind used goods…"
The more he said, the more overboard he went. The flame of rage in Ming Feizhen's eyes could almost burn a hole in him, and he only grew angrier and angrier. Everyone who witnessed Ming Feizhen's power before furtively mouthed, "Are you trying to get killed?!! Shut! Up!"
Ming Suwen still refused to spare Ming Feizhen a glance. The reason she faced her back to him seemed to be to prevent giving him a chance to speak.
Ming Feizhen pursed his lips. His face turned pale underneath the mask. Suddenly, he faced upward toward the sky and laughed loudly, "Fine, fine, fine! My young shiyi said she wants to offer her virginity. Who has ever dared to stop her from doing what she wants?!"
Ming Feizhen picked up the broadsword Jin Wangsun had at his waist all of a sudden. The broadsword was the commonly seen iron broadsword with a very thin blade. Again, to avoid suspicion, Jin Wangsun chose a blade that was worse quality than you could find from a hawker on the street. In Ming Feizhen's hand, however, a light flick of the blade was akin to a dragon's roar, firing off killing intent from the blade and seething his blood. With a gentle horizontal swing, the qi blasted outward as if it was a wall of energy. If Jin Wangsun was present to witness the power Ming Feizhen demonstrated, he would know better than ever provoke the man.
The blade's qi illuminated brighter than snow, but Ming Feizhen wasn't done with just that. He thrust the tip upward, took in a breath of air and swung down with technique you'd see a butcher at the market use. Ming Suwen was the only one to realise the peril to follow. The others? They were oblivious of what was to come.
If Ming Feizhen wanted to hack someone, there was nobody within his vicinity to hack. If he was swinging his blade, there was nothing remarkable or profound about it. The only clear fact was that he possessed tremendous might. There were no clues to help identify his style.
Realising the danger, Ming Suwen exclaimed, "What are you going to do?!"
No response. When Ming Feizhen vigorously opened his eyes, two blood-red pearls were unveiled.
With a single downward vertical swing, a blinding light came down! It looked as though there was a burning white energy aura on the blade, one that would burn all in its path and cut at the speed of lightning. The white flame appeared was visible for just a split second before disappearing into the floor.
Ming Feizhen merely slashed the air. There was no identifiable technique, but nonetheless, his brute force was enough to leave one gaping from astonishment.
The moment the crowd realised what happened, they suddenly felt the floor enough their feet quake. After Ming Feizhen's slashed into the floor or to be to precise, the boat, a crack appeared on the boat. Like a crack in an iceberg, the crack continued to enlarge until finally…
*Creak… Creak…. Crack!*
The bow snapped!
The brothel became suddenly rocked on the river surface. The clear breeze blew the waters. Within moments, the bow swallowed more water than it could handle, thereby sinking straight down into the river. A bow that was tough enough to function as a building was chopped off with the one slash!
Fortunately for Ethereal Beauty Boat, it consisted of many linked up boats, therefore avoiding sinking. Having said that, the hall they were in instantly became a ruin. It was now night outside. People walking along the shore instantly noticed. If one looked closely, they would catch the sight of an utterly stunned Second Princess, Li Hongzhuang among those people walking.
Princess Hongzhuang followed Ming Feizhen to the boat, but was a moment late. She listened in from the shore, but never imagined Ming Feizhen would slash off an entire section of a boat. She most definitely didn't expect Ming Feizhen to fuse with the man she yearned for day and night again.
Ming Feizhen didn't see Second Princess. He violently threw away the broadsword. Then, she swept his blood-red gaze over the people, who were as terrified as though they had the blade right up against their necks.
"Let me inform you all of this now. If anyone dares to come on New Year's Eve, I'll dare to kill him!"
Ming Feizhen then met with Ming Suwen's eyes. The two of them both had things they had yet to say, but Ming Feizhen resolutely turned and left without a word.
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