The figure beyond the waterfall did not move, though a low chuckle drifted through the mist.
"The way you eat that cake... you look just like a dog."
Li Qiao slowly wrapped the oilpaper and tucked it away, seemingly unwilling to engage. He turned toward the stone path along the cliffside.
But the figure behind the curtain of water followed closely, like a ghost rising from the depths. His voice carried a malice that was impossible to ignore.
"Where is that 'sister' of yours? Why aren't you by her side? Or did you find her boring as well, so you slipped away alone, as eager as I am to find some excitement here?"
The youth in black finally stopped. He glanced up at the cliff above; it was silent, with no sign of anyone else.
"I work for the Medicine Hall. This is my task."
"You work for the Medicine Hall?" Yuxiao let out a laugh so sharp it was almost grating, as if he had heard something absurd. "A malicious ghost is a malicious ghost; the human skin you wear is bound to slough off sooner or later. There is no one else here. How long do you intend to keep up this act, and for whom?"
The faint trace of a smile vanished from the youth's face in an instant.
His carefully suppressed killing intent merged with the pervasive mist. The figure on the other side of the waterfall sensed it immediately and decided to strike first.
The tip of a whip, carrying a fierce wind, sliced through the water curtain. The splashing torrent slid down the surrounding stone walls, only to be shattered into fine pearls by the dancing length of the whip.
However, when the whip landed, the shadow that should have been standing by the spring was no longer there.
The missed whip retracted behind the waterfall like a snake. Yuxiao stepped directly through the curtain of water, walking toward the black-clad youth who had somehow moved beneath the cliff face.
Yuxiao was not wearing his white robes today. Instead, he had changed into gray, water-repellent gear, likely to avoid the hidden assassins of the World’s Number One Villa stationed on the island.
The rushing waterfall had soaked him through, lending his every movement an irrepressible, seductive grace. These were the marks left by years of rigorous training and grooming, traces that could not be easily erased. His entire being had become warped by this aura; the more ferocious his gaze became, the more pathetic he appeared.
Yuxiao stopped. He noticed the expression in the black-clad youth’s eyes as he watched him, and his face immediately soured.
"Why do you look at me like that? Do you truly think you are any different from me?"
The youth remained silent, his gaze fixed on a few crumbs of cake scattered on the ground. Yuxiao followed his gaze, and a mocking curl touched his lips.
"A sugar cake worth seven coins an ounce... and it's enough to make you willingly become a wood-chopping cleaver for clearing land? I find that hard to believe."
As he spoke, he raised his foot and stomped hard on the white crumbs, grinding them into the dirt until every trace disappeared into the mud.
"For people like us, there are some things we are better off not knowing if we want to live happily," Yuxiao’s voice grew increasingly venomous. "Just like the taste of that sugar cake. If you never taste it, you will never know if it is sweet or bitter, sour or astringent. Naturally, you won't crave it later. Don't you agree?"
Before his words could even land, the silent youth finally moved.
His right hand drew his saber slowly, as if still hampered by the injury from the previous night. The rusted blade scraped against the scabbard’s throat, producing a thin, piercing screech that sounded like metal rasping against bone.
"You're finally willing to draw your blade." Yuxiao’s eyes widened with excitement, but when he saw the rusted metal, he couldn't hide his disappointment. "Though, this blade isn't quite what I imagined. Have you gone so long without swinging it that you've forgotten the taste of killing?"
Li Qiao kept his eyes lowered, not looking at Yuxiao.
"Did Zhu Fuxue send you?"
Hearing this, Yuxiao giggled again.
"You surely don't think that I've sought you out time and again because my Sect Master has actually taken a fancy to you?"
Li Qiao remained deaf to the laughter, responding only with a sigh.
"Zhu Fuxue must have many headaches keeping you by his side. Looking at you, you must have been out in the world for some years, yet you are still so stupid as to choose this place to strike."
The smile on Yuxiao’s face froze.
The youth rarely spoke, but when he did, he struck exactly where it hurt.
Yuxiao prided himself on being clever and charming, the most favored of all. As long as he served his master well, he would never want for food or clothing, and he could look down upon those in the Villa who were beneath him with dignity and flair.
But in this youth's mouth, it all turned sour. His irritation and jealousy could no longer be concealed.
"The one who should be afraid right now is you. I am merely out seeking a bit of private work in my spare time, while you are a traitor whom everyone in the Villa is authorized to kill," Yuxiao said viciously, his threats tumbling out of his mouth. "Tell me, if I make a bit more noise, what do you think your end will be?"
The events of the previous day flashed through his mind, and a sense of realization dawned in the black-clad youth’s light brown eyes.
"You were at the Lotus Market."
Realizing he had let a detail slip because he was provoked, Yuxiao’s voice hitched, but he quickly recovered.
"To have escaped the Villa for so many years, you truly do have some skill. However, there is no wall in this world that does not leak air. First, you offended the Compassionate Raiment Needle, and then you paraded in and out of the Lotus Market. Do you truly take everyone else for a fool?"
"I didn't offend her; I let her escape," Li Qiao paused, then added, "There won't be a next time."
What arrogance—speaking as if he hadn't been the one forced to flee using someone else's momentum the night before.
The remnant of the smile vanished from Yuxiao’s lips, his voice turning cold and low.
"Next time? There is no next time."
Before his voice faded, his body moved. The long whip in his hand lashed out along the ground, striking at a treacherous angle. Even when the first strike missed, he did not pull back; instead, he used the momentum to wantonly destroy the narrow rock walls.
This weapon lacked the lethal force of a saber or sword, but it was incredibly noisy. Wherever it passed, gravel and dust were kicked up, simultaneously interfering with the senses, disrupting rhythm, and psychologically torturing the opponent.
The surrounding rock walls had been eroded by water for years and were already loose. Now, under the lashing of Yuxiao’s whip, fragments of stone crumbled away like fresh pastry crust. If a man-sized rock fell down the cliff, the noise would be significant enough to stir trouble for the high-alert World’s Number One Villa.
The moment his opponent moved, Li Qiao perceived his sinister intent.
But in the end, they were just stones. They were no harder to deal with than the martial artists who had died beneath his blade. He did not need to strain his eyes through the rising dust to know the position of every rock. His right hand swung the saber in a horizontal mid-air slash, and the row of falling stones instantly shattered into egg-sized pieces, their impact in the hot spring immediately drowned out by the roar of the waterfall.
"It's so boring watching you dodge like this." Yuxiao flicked his wrist, and a pitch-black poisonous needle suddenly emerged from the tip of his black-and-red whip. The long body of the whip writhed on the ground with his movements, looking like the tail of a venomous scorpion. "Is it those two fingers affecting you? If so, I really must say I'm sorry."
The black-clad youth stared at the insect-like soft whip. After a long moment, the corners of his mouth suddenly twitched upward.
"It has indeed been seven or eight years since I left the Villa. I don't know much about newcomers like you, which is why I was cautious. But looking at it now, I was overthinking."
Yuxiao took this as mere bravado, until he saw the youth slowly shift the saber to his left hand.
He froze for a moment, then snorted coldly.
"I've injured your right hand. What difference does it make if you switch to your left..."
Before he could finish, his vision blurred. The youth who had been standing there with the blade was gone.
In a panic, he whirled his whip into a defensive circle and scrambled back several steps. Yet, in the next heartbeat, he still felt a killing intent coil around his neck and a chill pierce his throat.
That killing intent seemed to come from nowhere, constantly shifting positions, yet also seemed to come from every direction at once. The coldness pressed against his skin, bone-deep; it felt as if it were far away, yet also right before his eyes.
A shudder crawled out from the depths of his bones, traveling through his meridians. Even the supple, flexible whip seemed to sense something and turned rigid. A moment later, the sound of breaking air reached his right ear with a half-beat delay. He twisted his body with every ounce of his training, narrowly saving his neck from the blade that was too fast to see.
Only when he stood still did he realize that his whip had been sliced into three sections. The ulna of his right hand, which had held the whip, had its meridians shattered, nearly bursting with blood from the shock.
The black-clad youth stood seven paces in front of him, still looking like the rustic villager from the lakeshore the night before, save for his eyes. They were terrifyingly hollow.
Those were the eyes of one who had killed countless times.
"I am indeed a boring person. My saber style is also very boring. Because most methods of killing in this world are boring."
Blood poured from his right hand. Yuxiao clutched his wrist, his teeth bared in a snarl.
"You... you are a left-handed swordsman?"
Li Qiao remained silent, but Yuxiao’s expression became increasingly chaotic and frenzied.
"How can this be... how can this be?! Green Blade never passed down his techniques; there should be no one else in this world who uses this left-handed style! Who are you? Who exactly are you?!"
The youth finally moved.
His steps were slow, yet Yuxiao found himself unable to retreat. He could only stand rigid, watching the figure approach bit by bit.
Finally, the youth was close enough. Close enough that Yuxiao could see those eyes, which appeared exceptionally clear due to their light color. They were empty, like the cold waters of Lake Lixin, reflecting only his own terrified and bewildered face.
He felt the other's hand searching him, and a moment later, the paper flower was pulled out.
Li Qiao held the paper flower in one hand, looking it over before turning the petal that bore a name. Written there were three characters: *Jia Thirteen*.
"When you took this paper flower from the Lotus Market yesterday, didn't you already know who I was?"
In the Villa’s bounty rankings, the reward was determined by the fugitive's martial arts rank. If they weren't killed within a year, the reward doubled; after two years, it doubled again. It accumulated like this until the bounty was withdrawn.
Though he hadn't been much of a figure when he left the Villa, many years had passed, and he was naturally at the top of the list.
His name was more than just those three characters; it was a heavy weight of silver.
It was just that the young assassins who threw themselves forward for the reward never stopped to consider one thing: how he had managed to stay alive for so long after leaving the Villa.
Yuxiao looked at the paper flower, then at the man before him.
"When you were in the Villa, you should have practiced the Nether-Light Dharma King’s Evil-Warding Saber Technique, but what you just used was clearly something else. And your internal strength... it's definitely more than thirty percent." He paused, a look of disbelief crossing his face. "You... you neutralized the Qingfeng Powder?"
Li Qiao said nothing, allowing Yuxiao’s expression to gradually turn mad.
"No, that's impossible! You aren't the only one who has escaped the Villa over the years, but I've never heard of anyone lasting more than seven years. You must have found a way to get the antidote. That's it, isn't it? Isn't it?!"
As his words fell, he saw the youth pause, then speak expressionlessly.
"You've only been taking Qingfeng Powder for a few years, and your head is already failing you? There is no antidote for that stuff."
Yuxiao’s eyes flickered as if he had sensed something. He licked his lips and whispered, "There's no one else here; why play dumb? If you've found a new backer, they wouldn't let you go without giving you orders. I followed you that day at the Lotus Market. Among the paper flowers you turned in, the most recent death was a deputy under the Leisure Hall Master, and that was over half a year ago. Since then, you haven't taken a single bounty. Can someone afflicted by Qingfeng Powder with no medicine to take really be this leisurely?"
Li Qiao’s eyes shifted. He said deeply, "I don't lack money. Killing doesn't always have to be for a bounty."
Based on what he had seen at the Lotus Market, this explanation was indeed convincing.
But Yuxiao prided himself on a sharp intuition, a skill honed by years of serving the unpredictable Zhu Fuxue. His gut told him the man before him was hiding something. If not, there would be no need for these repeated explanations.
Under the effects of the Qingfeng Powder in his system, the pain in his wrist eased slightly. He seemed to regain a bit of his former edge and said tentatively, "I just remembered something. That woman following you... she seemed to be a medicine seller. Could it be that your Qingfeng Powder... was neutralized by her?"
Before he finished, the look in the youth's eyes changed.
No matter how much he had mocked or ridiculed him before, the youth had never shown such an expression. Everything was now unspoken; the suspicion in his heart became a certainty.
Yuxiao laughed as if it were the most incredible thing, his young face looking stiff and distorted because he rarely made such expressions.
"I wondered why you were willing to live with such an ugly woman who can't even walk properly—so that's why! Looking at her, does she even know your identity?" The more silent the youth became, the more certain Yuxiao’s tone grew, laced with a grating sense of schadenfreude. "Since she doesn't know about the Qingfeng Powder, she probably doesn't know you're from the World’s Number One Villa either. She knows nothing, yet she's willing to be your 'antidote.' It seems your skill at serving people is truly excellent."
The young swordsman still said nothing, letting Yuxiao’s mocking voice echo against the rock walls.
"It's all just a transaction, surely you understand? Name your price for the Qingfeng Powder antidote. What do you want? Gold? Women? Martial arts manuals?"
The black-clad youth fell into a total silence, whether he was considering the offer or merely weighing his options.
"Good things should be shared. You only need to hand her over. I have my ways of controlling her, making her willing to produce the antidote for us day and night. When that time comes, never mind you and me—this entire business of the World’s Number One Villa will be ours. Otherwise, if she falls into someone else's hands, we'll both lose this chance."
While his soft, bright lips spoke these tempting words, he used his pinky finger to extremely discreetly pull a green-glinting steel spike from his sleeve.
Losing a hand was nothing compared to the torture he had endured under Zhu Fuxue. Find a way to survive, then find a chance to bite back—that was how he had made it this far.
He had lived until now by reading people's hearts; he could use those same hearts to turn defeat into victory.
"Think about it. If the Villa Master finds out someone has neutralized the Qingfeng Powder, how do you think he'll react? The people of the Villa always pull up roots when they cut grass. Not only will you be unable to survive, but the people around you..."
*Shink.*
His words were finally cut short.
Yuxiao slowly looked down. He saw an extra pinky finger on the ground at his feet, along with that familiar steel spike.
He sluggishly raised his right hand, the one that had held the whip, only to find it had but four fingers left. The stump where the finger had been was a clean cut; only after a moment did the blood begin to seep out.
The black-clad youth’s voice rang out, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
"You shouldn't have used her to threaten me. I didn't kill you only because I found it troublesome."
Cold sweat dripped from Yuxiao’s forehead. He forced himself to stay calm, his voice squeezed through his teeth.
"If I were the only one who knew, you could kill me and be done with it. Unfortunately, my Sect Master also saw your 'sister.' If you kill me, he certainly won't let the two of you go easily..."
"Then I shall kill you first, then Zhu Fuxue."
As the youth spoke, he seemed to have finally solved the puzzle that had troubled him all night. The last invisible shackle binding him shattered. He flicked the blood droplets from the tip of his blade, like a beast shaking the dust from its fur before beginning a slaughter.
Yuxiao seemed to finally understand. He clutched his bleeding hand, still putting up a desperate resistance, but this time, the tremor in his voice could no longer be hidden.
"This... this is the territory of the World’s Number One Villa. If you kill me, you won't be able to hide for long..."
"Do you know why there is always a paper flower with my name on it in the Lotus Market? Why, after one is taken, another appears after a while? Where did all those people who came to kill me go?"
The youth spoke suddenly, a trace of mockery appearing on his somewhat numb face, as if he were describing a bothersome thing that had happened to someone else.
"In the first few years, I was indeed troubled by the Qingfeng Powder for a long time. But later, I gradually mastered a method. If my medicine supply was running low, I would simply reveal myself at a suitable time and place. Naturally, someone would bring the medicine right to my door. It's much more convenient than trying to find it myself."
Li Qiao couldn't help but sigh.
"Before I met her, that was the life I led. For as long as I have lived, that is how many greedy, foolish people like you have died beneath my blade." The youth slowly raised the tip of his saber, a fierce light flashing in his brown eyes. "She is my fellow traveler. If you want her dead, you want me dead."
The tremors of facing death swept through Yuxiao’s body. He was nearly crushed by a suffocating despair. He stumbled back half a step, then suddenly turned frantic, hatred erupting from his eyes like poison.
"You've finally shown your true colors. This is how someone from the World’s Number One Villa should look. But isn't it a pity that I'm the only one to see this face? Tell me, if your 'good sister' knew you were a base assassin who doesn't even deserve a name, that you've killed countless people, that you're this cruel, this heartless, this unscrupulous... she's a healer; wouldn't she immediately find you terrifying, find you disgusting, and not want to spend another moment with you..."
Yuxiao clearly had many more venomous words to say, but they ultimately turned into a single scream.
He lost the remaining four fingers of his right hand. He could only prop himself up with his bare palm against the ground, but the agonizing pain caused him to curl his body. His water-repellent clothes were stained with dust, making him look like an insect struggling in the mud.
Yet he continued to howl, his gaze becoming more crazed.
"Your methods of torture aren't all that great. Or are you afraid to kill me, so you can only play these pathetic games?"
"I don't need to kill you with my own hands." Li Qiao’s gaze fell on the bloody palm, his voice devoid of emotion. "Now that your hands can no longer hold a weapon, if I let you go back, would your Sect Master still want you? Without your master's protection, could you survive even a single night?"
"What happens between me and the Sect Master is none of your business. You're nothing but an unwanted stray dog. Do you think that because you neutralized the Qingfeng Powder, you can escape all this and become a happy, ordinary person?" Yuxiao’s expression was hideous, every word spat out through his teeth. "You come from the Villa. Our fates were decided a long, long time ago. No one can change that."
Li Qiao watched the scene quietly, his calm mind suddenly struck by an inexplicable wave of nausea.
He was all too familiar with this scene; he had witnessed it countless times over the years. He knew that if he hadn't escaped the Villa, hadn't met his master, hadn't wandered the world alone all these years... hadn't met her, then the person struggling on the ground right now would be himself.
The venomous person on the ground was him. He was Yuxiao.
Originally, there was no difference between them.
Blood dripped from the rusted saber, forming a small puddle on the ground.
The youth spoke in a low voice, as if to himself.
"I left the Villa long ago."
"So what if you left?! You and I only know this one way to survive. I stay by the Sect Master's side for a place to belong; you stay by her side for an antidote. We are exactly the same—the kind of people who must depend on and exploit others at any time, parasites who suck out nutrients to survive, doing whatever it takes to stay alive. Your blood is cold, and the word 'betrayal' is carved into your bones. How could you ever live like a human being?!"
No, that wasn't right.
She said they were grasshoppers on the same string. She said he was her younger brother. She said she would teach him how family members treated each other. She said she would teach him what the human heart was.
In the two months he had lived in that village, no one had ever said he was a strange person. He was the Qin family’s younger brother from the Guoran Residence. He was the young man Li who measured medicine and collected payments. He was no different from anyone else in that village.
Yes, that tiny village held his real life, his world. This scene before him—twisted into a bloody mess in the mist—was nothing more than a nightmare he had once had.
"Shut up. I told you to shut up."
"You can't escape this life! You can't! He will find you! He will find you and drag you back to that hell! He'll find you sooner or later! He'll—"
Yuxiao’s curse came to an abrupt halt. He could clearly hear the sound of the blade entering flesh. A chill followed at the back of his neck. The vibration and dull thud of his vertebrae snapping and separating traveled through his flesh. The wind carried the mist into the gaps in his bones, and a warm liquid flowed out, soaking his back.
A trace of bewilderment and resentment remained frozen on his pale face, but more of his unwillingness had congealed in his eyes, gradually covered by the spreading red on the ground.
He could no longer turn that beautiful head, nor could he even twitch a finger.
Of course, he didn't have many fingers left to begin with.
The sudden confrontation ended there. Only the monotonous sound of the waterfall remained.
A pair of calloused hands picked up the blood-stained paper lotus and closed them around it.
Li Qiao squeezed his fingers together. The paper flower was instantly crushed and deformed until it turned into a mass of fine powder.
The powder spilled from between his fingers bit by bit, vanishing into the night air with the wind.
But his hand, with veins bulging from the effort, did not relax. He continued to grip with a nearly obsessive strength, as if he wanted to grind and destroy the name on that paper flower along with it, until not even a bone remained, and no one could ever remember or speak of it again.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 避水衣 | Water-repellent clothing | Specialized gear for staying dry. |
| 甲十三 | Jia Thirteen | Li Qiao's former codename/rank in the Villa. |
| 辟邪刀法 | Evil-Warding Saber Technique | A martial art style from the Villa. |
| 幽明法王 | Nether-Light Dharma King | A high-ranking figure or title within the Villa's hierarchy. |
| 青刀 | Green Blade | Likely a title or name of a master swordsman. |
| 璃心湖 | Lake Lixin | A location mentioned in the text. |
| 优游堂 | Leisure Hall | A division or branch within the Villa's organization. |
