The breathtaking woman drew closer step by step, and the cold aura she gave off made Xu Yuan feel as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar.
At a moment like this, with life and death on the line, his mind was exceptionally clear. The words were already out. Regret was useless now. Even if he wanted to cry, all he could do was grit his teeth and keep acting.
Under the crushing pressure of Ran Qingmo's presence, Xu Yuan slowly let go of the wooden pillar beside him, steadied himself, and forced himself to meet her eyes. "Miss Ran, you seem surprised."
Ran Qingmo only stared at him coldly.
Xu Yuan smiled faintly through the pressure. "Fair enough. A secret on this level… Why would my father ever let a useless piece of trash like me know about it?"
As he spoke, his long phoenix-shaped eyes narrowed slightly. "But the Chancellor’s third son knowing this is one thing. What I find really interesting is… How did you, a disciple of the Sword Sect, come to know such a secret?"
The temple fell deathly silent. The meaning behind Xu Yuan's words could not have been clearer. There was no way someone like her should have known about it.
Ran Qingmo stared fixedly at the noble young man before her. The darkness of the rainy night did nothing to hinder her gaze. She asked, word by word, "What exactly are you implying?"
As she spoke, her steps stopped, and the tip of the sword in her hand dropped slightly.
Xu Yuan felt the mountain-like pressure pressing down on him suddenly ease. He quietly let out a breath of relief. The terror of nearly dying had burned away a lot of his hesitation. At a time like this, he absolutely could not back down.
"What am I implying?" He began to move again, slowly pacing around Ran Qingmo in the dark as though genuinely intrigued, his eyes sweeping back and forth over her graceful figure while his tone grew heavier with each sentence.
"If we're talking public matters, the Great Flame Empire has stood for more than 1,300 years. The Celeste Sword Sect was founded alongside the nation itself. Every sect master has served as the Imperial Preceptor of the Great Flame Empire. The current sect master is even the Crown Prince's martial arts teacher. The Sword Sect and the Great Flame Empire rise and fall together.
"If we're talking personal matters, my father and the Sect Master have been friends for decades. And you, Miss Ran, are the Sect Master's disciple. So I am curious what could possibly convince you that my father would move against the Sword Sect. Is that really such a hard question to understand?"
As she listened, Ran Qingmo's grip on her sword tightened slightly. She felt that there was something off about the man before her. From the moment he woke from unconsciousness, he had seemed like… a different person.
Her fine control over qi let her sense that although the Third Young Master’s face looked calm, his heart was pounding wildly. Inside, he was nowhere near as composed as he appeared. But now that the rumors everyone knew could no longer be trusted, she had no way of knowing how much he actually understood, or what cards he might still be hiding.
Looking at the human iceberg standing there in silence, Xu Yuan gradually felt his own nerves begin to settle. He suddenly changed direction and walked straight toward the woman in black, meeting her gaze head-on.
Under Ran Qingmo's watch, he stopped just one meter away, looking down at her from above.
"Miss Ran, put the sword away."
Ran Qingmo looked at him with the same indifferent gaze. At this point, she could already feel that his heartbeat was gradually calming. And then, in the next moment, she saw the man smile.
He bent slightly at the waist in front of her, raised two fingers, and gently caught the lowered blade between them, lifting it bit by bit until it rested against his completely unguarded throat.
With the sword at his throat, he looked her straight in the eyes. "If you will not put it away, then go ahead. Kill me."
Xu Yuan was certain the woman before him would not kill him of her own accord.
The instant the words left his mouth, Ran Qingmo's grip on the hilt tightened ever so slightly, and the blade pressed to his throat gave a low hum. A vast wave of killing intent crashed over him. For one hazy instant, Xu Yuan saw the image of his own head flying high into the air.
But in the next second, the illusion vanished. The woman still stood before him with her sword in hand, and his head, thankfully, was still attached to his neck. The brush with death made his eyes widen slightly. Having grown up in peaceful times, when had he ever seen anything like this? The sheer aura of death she had released in that instant left his legs a little weak.
The woman before him could make him this miserable just by letting off a trace of pressure, but the fact that she had only shown killing intent also proved one thing: She really would not kill him at this point in time.
Xu Yuan stared at her and said carefully, "Do you know? A threat you cannot carry out is just a joke. Put the sword away. Let us talk. I can help you."
The cold wind howled through the ruined temple. The blade at his throat was truly, painfully cold.
Xu Yuan had no system, no old grandpa in a ring, no cheat code waiting to save him. And the Third Young Master was an ordinary man, nothing more. His only advantage was his knowledge of Azure Point's plot and characters.
Unfortunately, that same advantage caused him to feel a sword hanging over his neck.
In the story of Azure Point, the Third Young Master always met a miserable end. On every single story branch, his ending was death. If he wanted to survive, Xu Yuan had to act early. He had to gamble.
Ran Qingmo lowered her eyes slightly. Xu Yuan couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but she did put the sword away.
The blade suddenly spun through a flourish. A ripple of blue sword light bloomed in the darkness, and then the weapon slipped cleanly back into its scabbard.
Wow… Xu Yuan instinctively reached up and touched his neck. Mhm. Good. Head still there. No line of blood, no neat little slit, nothing of the sort.
Ran Qingmo gave Xu Yuan's strange little movement an odd glance.
Xu Yuan smiled faintly at her and quietly began preparing his next line. Then in the very next instant, his smile froze.
After putting away her sword, Ran Qingmo silently bent down and picked up that thick, heavy wooden staff from the ground again.
Xu Yuan's eyes went wide. He hurriedly opened his mouth, trying to say something.
"Wa—"
Thunk! With a dull smack, he dropped straight to the floor before he could finish.