Chapter 294: A cold duke can be warm hearted, too
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He was so domineering even in front of others! Han Yunxi had just breathed in a few mouthfuls of fresh air when she was overwhelmed by his masculine scent again. He’d come too suddenly with his kiss in tow for her to even think. Right now, her mind was completely blank. Though this second kiss wasn’t as rough as the first, it was just as strong, intense, and warm. Its owner sought to deepen the kiss endlessly, as if he could never get enough.
The sword in Long Feiye’s hands rested its tip against the ground while his other hand kept its own on Han Yunxi. His left hand was splattered with traces of his recent massacre, while his right held evidence of his despotic passion. It made for a stunning sight as he stood in the midst of all the assassins!
But Mu Yingdong couldn’t stand looking at them anymore.
Long Feiye was simply going too far. Forgot about barging into his Mu estate and killing his subordinates, he was actually disdaining his Mu Clan guards with such a method? Wasn’t it just humiliating him?
“Someone come, summon all the guards! If His Highness Duke of Qin wants to get intimate here, then I’ll make sure he has his fill!” Mu Yingdong’s shouts were heard by all the assassins in the area as well as Long Feiye. Still, Long Feiye only focused on continuing his kiss, his motions growing ever more gentle yet persistent as he kept on.
In any case, he was in no mood to pay Mu Yingdong any attention.
Very soon, a large crowd of guards were summoned to the scene, where they formed an airtight circle around the bamboo house. A row of archers made up the front line, all of them pointing arrows as they waited for Mu Yingdong’s orders. Mu Yingdong had already been driven mad with rage from Long Feiye ignoring him. He’d seen arrogant types before, but no one like Long Feiye!
“Aim for Han Yunxi!” Mu Yingdong wasn’t a fool. He could tell that she was Long Feiye’s weak point. This wasn’t to threaten Long Feiye, but to kill him for real. His shrewd eyes narrowed as he raised his hand, preparing to signal them for attack. But Long Feiye chose this moment to release Han Yunxi.
Han Yunxi’s little face was full of fury after her lips were freed. She was about to speak up when Long Feiye buried her head into his chest to shield her. His cold gaze swept across the line of archers before resting on Mu Yingdong, who felt an inexplicable tremor at the sight. Still, he didn’t acknowledge the feeling. He’d spent his entire life struggling through various storms. As the clan head of the Mu family, how could he fear a mere duke of Tianning? He didn’t believe it!
“Someone, have…”
Before he finished, Long Feiye forcefully cut him off. “Mu Yingdong, your lordship will gift ten arrows into your daughter for each one you shoot tonight!”
Mu Yingdong’s heart jumped at the words. For a while, he couldn’t even speak. His raised hand turned stiff in the air, not daring to lower and signal the attack.
His daughter?
Who else could it be but Mu Linger? This was the daughter that Mu Yingdong cared about the most, because she was the Mu Clan’s genius pharmacist. She was the Mu family’s strongest chip if they hoped to dominate all of Medicine City. This time he had purposely let Linger go to showcase her talents at Medical City. She could accumulate social connections at the same time. But somehow, Mu Linger had disappeared halfway and was still missing now. He had lost five days of sleep over the matter already.
“Long Feiye, my Mu Clan holds no enmity with you. What do you mean by kidnapping my daughter?” Mu Yingdong demanded.
If he hadn’t ran into Han Yunxi tonight, he really would have little to do with the Duke of Qin’s estate. After all, the grudge between Jun Yixie and Long Feiye was Jun Yixie’s personal business, and had nothing to do with him or his clan.
“No enmity? Mu Linger almost took your lordship’s wangfei’s life, and you call this no enmity?” Long Feiye gave a cold snort. Buried in his chest, Han Yunxi realized that this fellow had found out what had happened in the Sky Pit after all. So he was the one that’d taken Mu Linger away.
Was he seeking revenge on her behalf? Then what about Duanmu Yao?
Han Yunxi had been tangled up in too many things, too many times. This time, she chose to stay silent, allowing him to press her into his sturdy chest as she calmed her breathing to listen to his strong heartbeats.
“It’s impossible for Ling’er to have hurt her. She isn’t even acquainted with Han Yunxi. Don’t you make malicious attacks to slander her name,” Mu Yingdong said with determination. He knew Linger’s personality best. Although she could be stubborn at times, her heart was kind to begin with. Why would she ever hurt someone out of the blue?
“Whether or not you believe it is up to you.” Long Feiye was a very busy man who didn’t have time to waste words here. He glanced at the unconscious Mute Granny by their side and asked Han Yunxi in a low voice, “You want to take her along?”
“Yes,” Han Yunxi only replied with one word.
“Alright.” There was a magnetic quality to Long Feiye’s voice when he spoke in a low tone like this. It wasn’t as cold as his tone to Mu Yingdong, but sounded like someone who’d do everything to indulge a request. Unfortunately, Han Yunxi wasn’t paying enough attention to notice. Her eyes were lowered, her thoughts unreadable.
“Chu Xifeng, take the person away.” Long Feiye ordered. A group of guards with Chu Xifeng at the lead appeared from four directions. Reality proved that Long Feiye had come here prepared. After chasing Lil Thing to this spot, he’d seen Han Yunxi with Gu Qishao and sensed the ambush lying in wait around them. Right after that, he’d told Chu Xifeng to bring the guards here. As for where Lil Thing ran off to then, he’d lost all interest in finding out.
Mu Yingdong didn’t dare act recklessly now that Mu Linger was involved. Once he saw Long Feiye’s guards appear, he grew even more reluctant to act. He kept his unhappiness in his heart, feeling extremely stifled!
“Long Feiye, you can both leave. Bringing along that person is fine too, but please hand over Linger,” Mu Yingdong’s tone had turned significantly softer.
“Your lordship didn’t come to discuss terms with you,” Long Feiye refused to yield an inch. He signaled Chu Xifeng with an icy look, and the latter started walking towards Mute Granny.
Long Feiye wasn’t being rude. This was simply a world where the weak were food for the strong. If you were weaker by thirds, then your foe would be stronger by thirds. With his weakness firmly in Long Feiye’s grasp, Mu Yingdong had the guts but no actions to back it up.
“Long Feiye, just what will make you release Linger?”
Long Feiye gave a soft snort before leaving with Han Yunxi, while Chu Xifeng departed with Mute Granny at the same time. Mu Yingdong chased after them a few steps, shouting at the top of his lungs. “Long Feiye, if you dare to touch a hair on Linger’s head, my Mu Clan won’t just let the matter drop!”
It was a pity that Long Feiye didn’t even stop to look back.
Furious and worried, Mu Yingdong clenched his fists as he paced back and forth. No matter what, he had to rescue Linger–even if he resorted to begging. After thinking things over, his eyes finally rested on the door to the bamboo house as he muttered to himself.
“Mu Xin…Han Yunxi…”
Once the assassins were dismissed, Mu Yingdong left as well. No one noticed the streak of red that left the forest to chase in the direction that Long Feiye had disappeared to.
—
Han Yunxi couldn’t keep silent once Long Feiye had brought her out of the Mu estate. She started struggling against him in earnest.
“Gu Qishao brought you out of Medical City?” Long Feiye asked coldly.
“You, let go! I’ve already returned the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion. I told you a long time ago, our bridges are bridges and our roads are roads! We have nothing to do with each other now, and I owe you nothing!” Han Yunxi’s voice was even colder. Her temper was worse than Long Feiye’s when he brought up Gu Qishao. That fellow had even said back at the inn that he’d never abandon her unless she died. It had only been a few hours, but he’d ended up leaving himself.
As expected, his words could only be treated as a joke rather than taken seriously.
“Long Feiye, I only married you because of imperial decree! And to preserve my tiny life! I don’t owe you a thing! If you take offence to the title of Qin Wangfei, then I promise I’ll change my name and surname before disappearing off the face of Tianning Country! Just pretend that Qin Wangfei died!” Han Yunxi glared at Long Feiye as she spat out the words.
Long Feiye tightened his grip on her waist without a word as he grew exceptionally quiet. It was enough to make Han Yunxi fall apart. Could she not afford to offend him, or hide from him? What did this guy want? Was he just treating her as some piece of property?
She wouldn’t accept that!
“Let go! Long Feiye, I hate you! Who you think I am? Do you think you can bully me whenever you want?!”
Long Feiye was still silent, infuriating Han Yunxi even more. She took out her needles and stuck three by Long Feiye’s neck with a warning, “Let me go, or shoulder the consequences.”
But Long Feiye neither let her go or spoke up. He landed on a roof and quietly watched her. Han Yunxi tightly clutched her needles, coming dangerously close to attacking him. But in the end, she still couldn’t bear to do it.
Long Feiye, I must have gone insane to tolerate your silence like this!
Han Yunxi tossed aside her needles and laughed coldly. “Your kisses…are certainly cheap!”
“Han Yunxi, I promised the Celestial Mountain Sword Sect’s sect leader–my master–to protect Duanmu Yao until she turns eighteen.” Long Feiye suddenly explained.
It caught her completely off-guard!
Han Yunxi’s heart lurched and narrowly stopped beating altogether. What did he just say? Did he just explain why he saved Duanmu Yao? She’d been conflicted about the answer for so long, but he simply told her outright. Before she could fully digest the news, Long Feiye spoke again.
“Last time when I was killing the poison python…and also, that time at the Sky Pit…”
He seemed to be stuttering, or perhaps he was trying to think as he talked. In any case, the reserved and taciturn Duke of Qin stammered his way through the entire sentence.
“I’m only protecting her so she doesn’t die, there’s no other meaning behind it… At the Sky Pit, I didn’t expect you to get pushed outside like that.”
His master’s orders to ‘protect’ actually included many other things, but Long Feiye had already violated these orders by only protecting Duanmu Yao so she wouldn’t die and nothing more.
Han Yunxi had never heard Long Feiye speak like this, much less seen such a soft, sincere light in his eyes. This was the same man who had held complete power over the Mu Clan just then with his cruel and callous ways!
So now, he was giving her an explanation to explain his actions?
So now, he knew she took offense to Duanmu Yao? He even remembered that time with the poison python?
So he had been aware of her feelings the entire time?
Han Yunxi stared at Long Feiye’s gentle eyes and felt her heart soften. She admitted that she was hopeless, yielding to him like this. But the sight of such a Long Feiye seem to untangle all the knots in her heart. Her temper dissipated along with her grudge, leaving Spring flowers to blossom in their wake.
“Are you explaining yourself to me?” Han Yunxi asked while knowing the answer.
Long Feiye seemed a bit uneasy, because he actually avoided her gaze.
“Hey, are you or aren’t you?” Han Yunxi was someone who wanted a foot after gaining an inch. Her eyes were bright and clear as she stared straight at him.
