Chapter 87 Pretty girl, weird song

“Are you done laughing?”

The child's maniac laughter was interrupted by Qin Yu's icy voice. Horror slowly crept up the child's face, as he was shocked beyond belief.

"You survived?" The voice that came out was that of a mature adult. His knife did not penetrate into Qin Yu, as he was wearing his Golden Silk Armor.

“The one that should be dead isn’t me, but you.” Qin Yu revealed a sinister smile.

“No...!” The child’s pupils dilated, and he let out a scream of despair.

A flash of crimson light silenced his screams. His tiny head flew across the air and his blood painted an arc across the sky. The decapitated head then fell and rolled on the ground, and in the process, its skin was slowly peeled, revealing the face of a bearded adult man. He was a midget who was dressing as a child.

The bulky man who was in cahoots with the midget looked on in horror as his comrades’ head was decapitated. He screamed and fled in a panic.

“Trying to escape? Do you think it’ll be this easy? Wind, chase!” Qin Yu activated his Spiritual Nature of Wind. Like a phantom, he breezed past the bulky man instantly and appeared in front of him.

The bulky man was in the midst of a hurried escape when he saw Qin Yu grinning in front of him, blood saber in hand. He let out a second scream, turned, and ran away in another direction.

However, no matter how he tried to escape, Qin Yu, armed with his Blood Saber, would always appear in front of him while smiling eerily. He was left in a state of despair.

He did not know how long he had been running for, or where he had run to.

When he finally collapsed from exhaustion, his body turned to jelly, and he sat on the ground and panted heavily.

“Why did you stop? You seemed pretty good at running.”

Qin Yu’s struck terror in the bulky man’s heart. Weakly, he raised his head, fear and despair swirling in his eyes.

“Pant...pant...who are you? Are you a ghost? H.. How could you be so fast?” He was panting so hard that he was barely able to speak.

“Obviously I’m human. You, on the other hand, shall soon be a ghost.” Qin Yu smiled warmly and strolled to the front of the bulky man. The bulky man was thrown into further despair as he stared at the Blood Saber in Qin Yu's hand.

“Ple... Please, don’t kill me. Please, I beg you.” He was tired and could no longer run, although running didn't do him any good in the first place. Qin Yu’s speed was simply too fast for him.

“Give me one reason to spare your life.” Qin Yu’s smile remains etched on his face, and he looked as harmless as one could possibly be. However, in the eyes of the bulky man, he was more dangerous than a killer who had a knife pressed against his neck.

“If you spare my life, I can tell you who it was that wanted you dead.” The bulky man stated his conditions to bargain for his life.

“A pretty good reason indeed. Fine, now tell me. Who was it that wanted me dead?” The smile on Qin Yu’s face vanished and was replaced with a scowl.

“It’s…” Before the bulky man could finish his sentence, the whistle of multiple projectiles slicing through the air could be heard. A number of them were targeted at Qin Yu, while only one was targeted at the bulky man.

Qin Yu swung his saber in the direction of the incoming assault. Ding! Ding! Ding! Sparks flew as the projectiles collided with Qin Yu’s saber, before bouncing off and ricocheting through the air. When he turned his attention towards the bulky man, he was already dead.

“Who was that?” Like a bolt of lightning, Qin Yu's hawk-like vision pierced through the darkness, and he scanned his surroundings. He also focused his senses to monitor for any motion or breathing. Alas, only the howling wind and the joyful cheers from the festival goers could be heard.

Qin Yu was shocked at the formidability of the hiding technique employed by his assailant. Even he was unable to see through this technique.

Seeing that no one else was around, and that the bulky man was already dead, he felt no need to stay any longer. He stashed away his Blood Saber and walked off. He had already guessed who it was that wanted him dead.

The first assassination attempt was in the bathhouse and the second was here. It was his first time in Bao Ding City. He had no acquaintances here and certainly did not offend anyone other than the woman he brought back from the mountain.

Truly, as the saying goes: ‘A lady’s heart is the most venomous.’ Qin Yu smirked as he faded into the shadows of the night while thinking: "Hmph, you want Lao Zi dead? Not so easy!"

After he left, a figure came out from the shadows and stared at the distant back of Qin Yu. He murmured in disbelief: "Could an Immersion Realm Cultivator be so strong?"

“He looked as if he hadn’t given it his all.” said another man who also walked out from the shadows.

“What do you think?” The first figure asked.

“Unless we can field a Transformation Realm expert, it’ll be foolish to think we can kill him.”

“Activate a Transformation Realm expert just so Gao Qiu could please a woman? Hmmph, I am not interested. We are already giving him face by monitoring this man.”

“What if he requests the Duke to give out an order?

“We shall see if he is that capable. Let’s go.”

The two figures then swiftly faded into the darkness.

The fighting previously did not affect the festival tonight. In the world of Martial Arts, killing and fighting were so common that it would be easily forgotten.

Qin Yu admired the lanterns that adorned the streets until he was attracted to a special place in the distance.

In that place, there was a lake, and on its banks were buildings decorated with many flowers and lanterns. The different colors of the flowers reflected off the lake, and the light from the lanterns shone through magnificently, leaving a striking scene.

Lights shimmering on the lake, the full moon hanging brightly in the sky, and the glow of lanterns dimly lighting up the surroundings. This was truly a sight to behold.

A ten feet tall pavilion stood in the middle of the lake, crowned by stunningly beautiful flowers.

At this moment, a veiled lady dressed in white sat gracefully in the pavilion. A zither was in front of her, and every time her pale slender hands plucked its strings, a magnificent sound was produced. Soon, the beautiful sounds harmonized into a heartwarming and soul-stirring melody.

The buildings by the lake were packed to the brim with young men, and some of them were quietly listening and admiring the graceful music. Of course, there were even more men who were focused on the lady in the pavilion. Even without seeing her looks, just her figure alone was enough to let people know that the lady was an angel.

“The more I look at Miss Su, the deeper I fall in love. Sigh, a pity I’m not able to see her unveiled face. If I am able to, I would have no more regrets.”

One of the buildings adjourned with flowers by the bank had the same height as the pavilion on the lake. From there, one had the best angle to look at the beauty in the pavilion. Hence, the price for a seat here was steep, and the young men who were able to occupy its five tables all had a decent background.

The person who exclaimed in pity just now was a studious-looking young man seated at the table closest to the front.

“Brother Yu Ru is indeed an emotional man. Don’t worry though, for Miss Su’s veil would be removed tonight. When that time comes, you can admire her all you like.” Another person said confidently.

Yu Ru looked at the young man that talked to him, and he smiled as he replied: "Brother Qing Chen is so confident that tonight, there would be someone who could come up with an answer to Miss Su's poetry?"

“Haha, I wouldn’t know about others, but I, Qing Chen, definitely could! I am a man of many talents, and I know everything, from the stars and the moon to the ground below our feet. How could there be any poetry that I have no reply to?”

This young man was none other than Qing Yun’s braggart brother, Qing Chen. How could the man with many talents, Qing Chen, miss out on a place with pretty girls and poetry?

Qing Yun was forced to come with him after he pestered her for ages. However, as the place only accepted men, Qing Yun was forced to dress in a man’s robes.

Luckily, she had disguised her gender. If not, her appearance, which did not pale in comparison to Miss Su, would shock the people around her.

“Ge, can you be any more humble?” Qing Yun was annoyed, but at the same time, she had no ways to deal with her braggart brother.

“Hehe, what a braggart. People from the Qing family are just like this.” Someone from another table sneered.

Qing Chen glared at the person speaking and ridiculed him. “I was wondering who it was that was barking like a dog with rabies. So it was young master Qin Zhao from the Qin family. What would an uneducated man like you know? Do you know poetry? Come and compete with me if you dare to. If you win, I’ll kowtow to you. If you don’t dare to, then keep your dirty mouth shut. Stop spewing shit everywhere.”

Just like Qing Chen and Qing Yun, Qin Zhao was on a mission and coincidentally was able to attend the flower lantern festival. Hence, he spent a fortune to purchase a seat here.

Qin Zhao's position had drastically risen compared to the past, and he was now the top of his generation of youths at the Qin family.

Ever since people returned from the Killing Array, the Imperial family handsomely rewarded every single person that walked out alive as a form of reassuring and pacifying the public. In Luosang City, Qin Zhao could even walk freely in and out of the City Governor’s residence without notice.

Other than the handsome reward from the Imperial family, the Qin family spared no effort in raising and cultivating him. Combined with his innate talent, Qin Zhao was already at the peak of Immersion Realm. A twenty-year-old Immersion Realm cultivator could easily be considered as one of the top talents of their generation.

With his strength greatly increasing, so too did his pride and ego. Thus, this resulted in the small squabble with Qing Chen just now.

Besides, he did not like people from the Qing family in the first place. He could not forget the disgrace of being beaten by Qing Yun on the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain previously. If he was still as weak as before, he would not dare to have any other thoughts, but now that he had the strength of a Peak Immersion Realm cultivator, he was desperately looking for ways to humiliate the Qing family to regain his face.

“A fake scholar like you only knows how to chatter endlessly. Fight me if you dare.” Qin Zhao stood up in a rage and shouted at Qing Chen. He wanted to rely on his martial prowess to humiliate Qing Chen.

“Pfft, scholars like us are not uneducated like you. As the saying goes, ‘Manners maketh men’. If I were to fight with you, wouldn’t I be as ill-mannered and petty as you?” Qing Chen shook his head in circles as he muttered.

“You are the god damn petty man! Do you believe I’ll kill you right now?” Qin Zhao was definitely no match when it came to bickering with Qing Chen.

“All of you shut up! Whoever dares to make noise again will have to get the hell out.” A loud roar boomed through the air as a middle-aged man walked up the floor. He was the manager of this building.

The middle-aged man walked over and scanned his eyes across everyone who was seated before he stated coldly, “Sit down and listen to my Young Mistress’ song and poetry.”

“Miss Su is your family’s Young Mistress?” Qing Chen asked loudly as if he was very amazed and shocked.

Qing Yun felt an urge to kick him in the nuts. Did he have to be so exaggerated?

Others looked at Qing Chen as if they were looking at a clown. This was common knowledge, yet he actually did not know about it? This building and the small lake all belonged to the Su family. If she wasn’t the young mistress of the Su family, she would not be allowed to sing at the pavilion.

Qing Chen sensed the looks of mockery targeted at him. He laughed shyly before saying “Hehe… my apologies, this is my first time in Bao Ding City, hence my lack of knowledge. My bad, my bad.” Even though he was apologizing, the wretched smile on his face betrayed him. He did not look apologetic at all.

“You should shut your mouth. Regardless of who you are, I will throw you down from here if you don’t.” The middle-aged man stared at Qing Chen, sending chills down his spine. Forcing a smile on his face, Qing Chen obediently sat down quietly as he gazed at the pretty girl in the pavilion.

When will the moon be clear and bright?

With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky.

[1. Taken from http://www.2abc8.com/new/23518/]

The soulful voice of the young lady rang out. In an instant, everyone became silent, as they focused seriously on listening and appreciating the beautiful music.

I don't know what season it would be in the heavens on this night.

I'd like to ride the wind to fly home.

Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me.

Dancing with my moon-lit shadow

It does not seem like the human world.

[2. Still taken from http://www.2abc8.com/new/23518/]

Her stirring voice echoed through the crowd as they immersed themselves in the music. Only one person was shocked by the song and lyrics. It was Qin Yu, who stood amongst the crowd by the lake.

The lyrics of the song sent Qin Yu’s mind into a whirlpool of thoughts.

How could this be? The lyrics should simply not belong to this world.

Who was she? And does she know these lyrics? Why is she singing such a song?

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