Liu Qingyin stared at him for a long moment before lowering her gaze and speaking softly, “You… you’re not like Master. Master wasn’t one to talk so much.”
A faint bitter smile touched Qin Yunxi’s lips, and his voice dropped. “Before, I simply held myself back. Our roles were different back then—I only needed to tell you what I wanted you to accomplish, and you would follow it without question. There was no need to explain the process, which made it seem as though I had everything under control.”
“Is that so?” Liu Qingyin murmured, her gaze dropping as she lightly toyed with the teacup before her.
After a pause, she spoke again, showing a slight smile, “Nevertheless, I have to thank you. If not for your foresight and careful planning, we’d probably be in the same position as Wang Yanzhi and Yang Zhao. I can’t imagine what that would have been like—surrounded and attacked by angry mobs. Even now, with no malice directed at me, I can barely suppress the violent urge for destruction rising in my heart. If someone were to strike or curse me, I don’t know if I’d be able to stop myself from retaliating. Most likely, I would’ve been eliminated for harming someone, just like Wang Yanzhi and Yang Zhao.”
“You won’t harm anyone,” Qin Yunxi said firmly. “You’ve done it before. Qingyin, you’re stronger than you think.”
Liu Qingyin lifted her eyes. Their gazes met, and after a moment, a wry smile appeared on her lips. “If I manage it, it’s only because of Master. I don’t want to disappoint him or give him any reason to disdain me. But if he trusted and accepted me as unconditionally as you do, perhaps… perhaps he wouldn’t be as captivating to me. Senior Brother, maybe that’s why I feel nothing for you. What’s too easy, too readily given, ends up lacking interest. Even if you were really Master, I wouldn’t fall for the current you.”
Qin Yunxi stared at her for a moment, then sighed in resignation. What is love, actually? How could a simple shift in identity make everything feel so wrong?
He gently placed his teacup back on the table and turned his attention to the commotion on the street. There, Lin Jiu had been discovered by the angry townsfolk. They shoved her toward the overturned carriage, leaving her to stand awkwardly by its side, looking pitiful.
For a moment, Qin Yunxi felt his chest constrict, but he quickly composed himself, tightening the grip on his sword. No, he could not afford any hint of pity! The only thing that mattered now was to kill her as soon as possible.
Wang Yanzhi and Yang Zhao had already been eliminated, and the movements of the other four Wang family members were well within his control—they would soon arrive to fight over the wagon’s ‘medicine.’ The impending chaos was inevitable, and when it erupted, the Wang family’s forces would be significantly reduced. Only then would he gain enough leeway to deal with Lin Qiu.
As his thoughts shifted, Qin Yunxi’s gaze passed over the crowd and fell on Wang Weizhi’s figure.
Fortunately, he thought, this likely strongest contender was hardly a threat. In their previous life, Liu Qingyin had been able to beat him, and the outcome would surely be no different this time.
…
By the wagon, the shouts and malice of the mob roared like a tidal wave. On the brink of losing his sanity to their malice, Wang Weizhi kept his bloodshot eyes fixed on Lin Jiu.
Her face had gotten paler by each moment, clearly suffering from the same excruciating pain, yet her posture remained upright as determination flickered in her deep black eyes.
Unwilling to be overshadowed by a weak woman, Wang Weizhi snorted lightly and moved his tall, slender frame to shield her.
“Eh?” Lin Jiu gasped in surprise. “Wang Weizhi, you’re such a good person!”
“Hmph! I just pity you for being weak and pathetic. Move back,” Wang Weizhi replied without turning his head, raising his left arm to block a large potato hurled from the crowd.
Ji Yuan laughed derisively. “What a touching scene! Wang Weizhi, are you admitting defeat? It’s good that you are self-aware enough—knowing you can’t beat me, you immediately settle for her!”
Under the dual siege of pain and violent impulses, Wang Weizhi had no energy to exchange barbs. In contrast, Ji Yuan, long used to the agony of the devil blood since his descent into this path, currently held a considerable advantage.
As if reading the youth’s thoughts, Ji Yuan’s twisted grin morphed into a chilling smirk, his mocking voice turning ghostly. “What? Are you feeling unfair? How laughable. You eat your fill every day, but the moment you go hungry, you curse the heavens? Do you think the beggars who starve every day are luckier than you?”
Wang Weizhi bit his lower lip so hard that a tearing sound was audible. Lin Jiu heard him rasp out hoarsely, each word enunciated with effort, “My mother… was also a devil.”
Though his voice was near whisper, Lin Jiu and Ji Yuan both heard him clearly.
“Oh?” Ji Yuan’s smile faded, his gaze dark and probing as it roved over Wang Weizhi’s pale face. “Doesn’t seem like it. But you don’t strike me as the type to lie.”
Lin Jiu was equally stunned. Wang Weizhi’s upbringing had never been mentioned in the original story. Who would have imagined that this young genius, the pride of the prestigious Wang family, had a devil for a mother? It completely changed her perception of him. When Wang Weizhi had seized control of the Wang family, there must have been plenty of opposition, and yet the transition of power appeared seamless, with no hint of scandal.
At least, that was how it seemed to the public.
Now, however, Lin Jiu realized that the future version of this proud young man must have done countless maneuvers to neutralize a web of hidden schemes behind the scenes.
‘Such an impressive guy, and yet he would fall so easily for Liu Qingyin! What a shame, what a pity!’
She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly once more.
“No more nonsense,” Wang Weizhi rasped. “What now?!”
“Hmph,” Ji Yuan brushed over the corner of his eye, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “What else? Of course we should grab the medicine and leave! Or what? Are you treating that old man as your real father now? Strike now while he’s still alive—once he’s dead, we are their next targets.”
Before his words even settled, a loud voice suddenly rang out from the crowd: “Set it on fire!”
“Yeah! Yeah!” came the response from countless others.
Lin Jiu scanned the faces of the crowd. Although these were illusions, they were as vivid and lifelike as real people.
After a moment of contemplation, she gently tugged on Wang Weizhi’s sleeve and whispered, “Do you still have enough strength to use your sword?”
He sneered. “Obviously.”
“Cut the wagon from above and split it open.”
Wang Weizhi’s lips curled into a smirk. “You’re so sure the wagon isn’t filled with bones?”
“It’s not,” Lin Jiu replied firmly. “There wasn’t enough time for such a large-scale operation. He wouldn’t risk drawing too much attention.”
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So basically Liu Qingying is in love with the identity and not the man himself. So sad for him since in this life he didn’t succeed in taking over their master’s body.