Chapter 30: Hanging by a Thread

“Brother Situ, please stop mocking me,” Lei Qing said with a look of utter misery, as if the sky had fallen on him. “If I had known that girl, who was dressing as a man and wandering the streets, refusing to go home and staying at an inn instead, was the daughter of the Grand Preceptor of the Cabinet, I wouldn’t have dared do it even if you put a knife to my neck and gave me ten bear hearts and leopard galls.” Actually, speaking of this matter, Lei Qing felt truly depressed and unlucky. Even if Lei Qing hadn’t met all the noble sons and daughters of the Imperial Capital, he at least knew most of them. But that Yu Shanshan, the daughter of Yu Tianji, had not grown up in the capital since she was a child. Under the instigation of a few bad friends, the tragedy had happened just like that.

Leng Yuewu’s body trembled slightly, as if she had also heard something she cared about.

“What a disgrace, look at you,” Situ Nan said. On his wretched face, however, shone a sacred light, and he spoke with a self-righteous expression. “So what if you peeked at the daughter of the Grand Preceptor of the Cabinet taking a bath? Being a man, that is an honor. How can you give up on the great cause of philandering just because of a little setback? We lechers must fight on despite repeated defeats and never give up. At worst, we regroup and try again. However, Yu Tianji is indeed not to be trifled with. Next time, you must weigh your own abilities before acting. Even those of us determined to be flower-picking thieves must use some strategy and wisdom.”

Lei Qing cursed inwardly. You are the one determined to be a flower-picking thief, your whole family are flower-picking thieves. And next time? Next time my foot. Do you think I, Lei Jiu, am as wretched as you?

“I’ll give you a chance to be the first to taste the Palace Master of the Fighting Qi Holy Land,” Situ Nan said, glancing at Leng Yuewu and chuckling. “Kid, what are you hesitating for? This is a once-in-a-century opportunity. Let me tell you, based on my years of experience roaming among women, even though this Leng Yuewu is not young, she is still a virgin. Kid, it’s your lucky day.”

Lucky my foot. Lei Qing knew very well that Situ Nan was a cunning old fox; how could he possibly let him take such advantage? He was clearly sending him to test whether Leng Yuewu still had combat power . If she did, fine, he would be the scapegoat. But if the test revealed that Leng Yuewu was poisoned to the bone, he certainly wouldn’t really let him have his way, and he would be left to eat the leftovers.

It had nothing to do with anything else; it was just a man’s nature.

After buttering him up for half a day, the only gain was probably that Situ Nan really thought he was the same kind of person as him—a man forced to flee for his life because he was hunted for philandering. Well, although that was indeed the fact, Lei Qing still considered himself different from Situ Nan.

But things had reached a point where Lei Qing had no chance to go back on his word. Hearing this, he put on a look of drooling over Leng Yuewu, appearing extremely lustful. With eyes that looked as if he wanted to pounce on her and ravage her fiercely, he stared fixedly at Leng Yuewu’s heaving chest—caused by the poison—and swallowed his saliva. He spoke with difficulty: “Brother Situ, isn’t this bad? You went to great trouble to capture Leng Yuewu. How about you go first, and I’ll just have the leftovers.”

First brew, second brew—such professional terminology. Leng Yuewu was already burning with extreme rage. If she hadn’t used all her Fighting Qi to resist the aphrodisiac poison, and was already on the verge of being unable to hold on, she would have long since jumped up and chopped these two despicable and shameless lechers into pieces.

“Kid, I told you to go, so go. Don’t refuse my kindness, or don’t blame me for getting angry,” Situ Nan said, revealing a fierce light in his triangular, rat-like eyes.

Kindness my soul, your little schemes are known to everyone. Lei Qing cursed in his heart, but on his face, he revealed an expression of uncontrollable eagerness and laughed. “Since Brother Situ is so generous, I will humbly accept.” Rubbing his hands, he began to walk toward Leng Yuewu.

Leng Yuewu’s apricot eyes suddenly widened, and her whole body trembling, she stared fixedly at Lei Qing. She tightly gripped the gorgeous Ice Soul Sword, which radiated a cold air, in her flawless jade hand, which was shaking uncontrollably. It seemed that if Lei Qing really dared to approach her, she would strike him down with her sword, even if she had to use every ounce of her strength.

Such a murderous look made Lei Qing shudder slightly. However, he still maintained a lustful look and walked forward slowly. At the same time, his eyes were fixed on Leng Yuewu’s eyes, which were angry but could no longer hide a trace of spring feeling.

Lei Qing grew up in the Imperial Capital and had seen a lot of romantic affairs. He was naturally familiar with the meaning of that trace of spring feeling in Leng Yuewu’s eyes. He prayed in his heart, “Leng Yuewu, oh Leng Yuewu, I hope you are still conscious and have some strength left. Otherwise, we are destined to die here today.”

When he took two more steps forward, Lei Qing finally made his move. Since his back was turned to Situ Nan, the shameless and lustful expression on his face vanished, becoming calm and solemn. At the same time, he winked at Leng Yuewu. He was still praying in his heart, “Leng Yuewu, you must be smart about this. You are the great Palace Master of the Fighting Qi Holy Land; surely you aren’t as brainless as those big-chested, empty-headed women?”

At this moment, Lei Qing’s back was already sweating from nervousness. He knew that the cunning old fox Situ Nan was definitely observing the reactions of the two, especially Leng Yuewu’s reaction and expression. Once he discovered any flaw, things would definitely go bad.

Although Lei Qing’s cultivation was about to reach the peak of the Bronze Rank, the gap between him and a Holy Rank expert like Situ Nan was simply too huge. Let alone the fact that the lecher was lame in one leg, even if both legs were lame, he probably wasn’t someone Lei Qing could handle. To turn the tables this time, it required the full cooperation of Leng Yuewu, himself, and Zuo Qianqian to catch Situ Nan off guard.

Although Zuo Qianqian was young, she had fought alongside Lei Qing many times. She was never arrogant or brainless, and had provided strong fire support at critical moments several times. Although the two had known each other for only a month or two, they had already built up understanding and trust.

What worried Lei Qing was actually Leng Yuewu. This high-and-mighty, fairy-like existence was powerful and had a high status. But the higher the level of such an existence, the harder it was to maintain reason and fighting spirit in adversity and setbacks.

After Lei Qing showed his expression and signaled with his eyes, he not only hoped that Leng Yuewu would understand but also needed her to trust, cooperate, and control herself. Otherwise, once she gave the game away, the only choice left for Lei Qing would be to immediately flee with Zuo Qianqian. As for whether they could escape, and what would happen to Leng Yuewu in the end, that would no longer be within Lei Qing’s concern.

But what he hoped for most was to work together to kill Situ Nan. This path seemed the most dangerous. But in reality, if executed well, it was the safest path. This was also the reason why Lei Qing did not flee immediately with Zuo Qianqian after being exposed at the beginning, because even if they fled then, there was a high probability that the lame Situ Nan would catch up, since Situ Nan was a Holy Rank assassin extremely skilled in tracking.

What relieved Lei Qing slightly was that Leng Yuewu was not the kind of big-chested, brainless woman he worried about. Upon seeing Lei Qing suddenly change his face and the signal he gave, her expression—full of anger and disdain—seemed to remain completely unchanged. Even her hand, which was still holding the sword, continued to tremble.

Her complete lack of expression and reaction made Lei Qing both happy and worried. He was happy that she might have understood his hint and planned to cooperate immediately. There was also the possibility that this lady had not understood his signal at all.

But things had reached a point where Lei Qing could not hesitate. He put on the expression of a wicked lecher again and walked forward eagerly, drooling and smiling obscenely. “I never thought I, Lei Jiu, would have the honor in this life to play with the great Palace Master of Moon Cold Palace. Even if I die right away, it will be worth it.”

……