Afraid something else might come out of Hua Qing’s mouth, Peng Pei quickly calls out, “Summon Gu Nan Yi!”

“Summon Gu Nan Yi…” 

Feng Zhi Wei immediately turned her body and raised her head to look towards the far distance with concern in her eyes. Ning Yi, who had been sipping his tea slowly suddenly started to cough. 

For some reason, the cough became worse as it continued, vibrating through his chest. Feeling something coming up his throat, Ning Yi quickly raised his cup to his mouth to hide it. 

A stain of red, silently diffused in the clear turquoise tea.

Ning Yi stared at the tea that is gradually turning red. His eyes reflected on the reddish water’s surface, and there was a hint of regret in them. Recalling the expression in Feng Zhi Wei’s eyes just now, that sort of fervent concern, something he doesn’t remember she had ever shown towards him. 

She gave Gu Nin Yi her truest emotions without any concealment but to him, she gave her most guarded wary thoughts.

Ning Yi smiled, his eyes were calm in the reddish water’s reflection. 

In the world of love, whose heart falls first, is the first one to feel sorrow. 

He would’ve liked to be a loner, to manipulate this world without a single worry for the rest of his life…but he ended up meeting another loner who was even more ruthless than him. 

And now, there is nothing left to be said but to drink the blood of his own heart. 

Seventh Prince who sat beside him, leaned over, looked at him with concern, and said “Sixth brother, is your tea cold? I will tell someone to change it out.” 

Seventh Prince made a move to go take the teacup but Ning Yi had already leaned away and tossed the tea into the bonsai tree planter behind them. As the tea quickly disappeared at the roots of the tree, Ning Yi smiled and said, “This tea is really bitter.” 

======================

Sounds of heavy shackles being dragged on the ground came like a giant taking one step at a time, coming closer and closer. Zang Young, who had previously worked at the Ministry of Punishment looked surprised and muttered, “Why did they put that on him?” 

Although his voice was low, drowned by the especially loud echoes of the shackles but Feng Zhi Wei still heard it clearly. Frowning, Feng Zhi Wei wondered if there was something she didn’t know. 

Gu Nan Yi’s figure appeared at the door, coming in one step at a time. Hua Qing let out an exclamation when she saw him. Feng Zhi Wei looked down and saw that everywhere Gu Nan Yi had passed, the hard stones on the ground had all shattered.

It is unimaginable how heavy the shackles must be in order to crush the stones on the ground just by their weight. 

How difficult must it be for Gu Nan Yi to walk all this way?

Feng Zhi Wei only knew that whatever Peng Pei used to constrain Gu Nan Yi can’t be good but her heart sank after seeing the shocked expression on Zhang Yong’s face, beset by a vague feeling that she must’ve overlooked something. 

With a raised eyebrow, there was finally a hint of anger on Feng Zhi Wei. 

Gu Nan Yi came and stood still but doesn’t come close to her.  A bit puzzled, Feng Zhi Wei turned her head and motioned for him to come closer so she could also take a closer look at the shackles but Gu Nan Yi did not budge. 

Feng Zhi Wei had no choice but to kneel in that direction. Startled when she suddenly felt a chill coming at her, Feng Zhi Wei had no time to react as Peng Pei was already talking. 

“Gu Nan Yi.” Peng Pei asked coldly, “Two nights ago, Official Ji Jiang of the Ministry of Rites was attacked in close proximity and was immobilized by a hit on his acupoint before he was abandoned in the cellar. The martial art of Dian Xue (a hit on acupoints, usually used to “freeze” someone- as in making someone unable to move. “Dian Xue” is fairly common in Chinese martial art movies or novels set in ancient times.) can only be done by those who are highly skilled in martial arts. There are people who have seen you use Dian Xue in the past. You are also someone who would be familiar with the layout of the Ministry of Rites. On this matter, do you have any explanations to give?”

Ji Jiang came forward and gave a detailed account of how a person dressed in black had jumped down from the wall, came close to him, and reached out with a hand to hit his “silence” acupoint. (Different acupoints correspond with different functions of the body. A “silence” acupoint would affect someone’s voicebox.) Ji Jiang’s vivid descriptions were accompanied by lots of gesturing, demonstrating what had happened, making it apparent that the person in black had gone through a lot to hit his “silence” acupoint.

Peg Pei stared at Gu Nan Yi grimly, Gu Nan Yi looked back at him with indifference, as if he had not understood his words. His eyes behind the veil were clear and pure. Reflected by that sort of eyes, everyone would feel that they are a bit unclean. 

Peng Pei swallowed hard, aware of Gu Nan Yi’s strangeness, he could only repeat again, “Official Ji Jiang of the Ministry of Rites…” 

Gu Nan Yi suddenly raised his hand. 

Peng Pei’s voice, was cut off abruptly. 

His mouth was still open, there was an opening sound but he could not get it to come out. His face turned red with effort but only a gurgling sound came from his throat. 

Obviously, his “silence” acupoint had been Dian Xue through space. 

“Ah, divine martial art skill!” Tenth Prince exclaimed, “Dian Xue through space!” 

Scholar Hu stroked his goatee with a smile, and said slowly “I say, Official Ji, although there are not many who can do Dian Xue, but Master Gu might not be the only one who can do it in the entire Imperial Capital, right? Are you sure that person in black is really Master Gu? In my opinion, Official Gu would not have to get close to you at all to execute Dian Xue. You would’ve fallen if he had just raised his hand on top of the wall.” 

Blushing, a red-faced Ji Jiang bowed “What Scholar Hu said is right. This subordinate only knew that night someone had hit my acupoint that night. I did not name Official Gu as the person.”

He stood a little closer to Gu Nan Yi who promptly backed to the side a bit, exuding the air of “you are dirty, don’t get me dirty too” sort of vibe.

Someone chuckled. Peng Pei glared at Ji Jiang but there was nothing he could do. In fact, his “silence” acupoint has yet to be released so he could only stand there stiffly with his mouth open, quite embarrassing. Unfortunately for him, Gu Nan Yi seemed to have forgotten about him and is calmly standing there, staring up at the sky.      

Feng Zhi Wei smiled, also looked up at the sky. 

Ning Yi is sipping his tea. Tenth Prince who had been full of energy is suddenly taking a nap. 

Hua Qing looked in curiously, examining Peng Pei’s open mouth. She suddenly clapped her hands and said with a laugh, “Official Pei, your left third tooth seemed to be decayed. Let me recommend a dental surgeon to you. He lives by the South Gate outside of the Wolf Heart and Dog Lung street. His surname is Gou (same sound as dog) and his name is Smelly Mouth. His dental skill is passed down in his family from generation to generation. I guarantee you, once you two meet, you will be fast friends and have no more cavities!” (Wolf Heart Dog Lung is an insult to describe people who are vicious and without morals.) 

Hua Qing burst out laughing after she finished speaking. Restricted by the tight shackles around his neck, Gu Nan Yi turned his head with much difficulty and gave Hua Qing a solemn look. 

Incidentally, that’s the highest praise from Master Gu. Hua Qing promptly became even more pleased with herself, ignoring the darkened expression on a few people’s faces.

Seeing that things are going nowhere, Second Prince stood up and said coldly, “Official Gu, since you have proved your innocence in this manner, then we will put that matter aside. However, confining Official Pei in this manner is also a serious crime!”

He was launching into a long speech but Gu Nan Yi just went on with his serious admiring of Official Pei’s cavity. 

Feng Zhi Wei looked back, gave him a smile, and transmitted a look of “let him go and observe his bad luck.” 

Gu Nan Yi immediately raised his hand. Peng Pei let out an “Ah…”, rubbed his throat, and gave a resentful glare at Gu Nan Yi before giving one to Hua Qing as well. 

Full of smiles, Hua Qing mouthed “don’t forget the dog mouth!” to him. 

Peng Pei’s face was stony but he didn’t dwell on Hua Qing’s humiliation and instead ordered the guards to take Ji Jiang and the others away. He was still counting on Ni Wenyu to testify but who knew the guy was so scared by Gu Nan Yi’s show of Dian Xue that he had crumpled to the ground. 

Before Peng Pei could say anything more, the just repaired drum of grievances was beaten once again, accompanied by a faint sound of clamoring. After listening carefully, it turns out to be a chant of “Let the shameless person who betrayed Official Wei get out here!” It was seemingly chanted by many people together in order for the words to be heard so clearly from such a long distance away. One can imagine that there must be a lot of students from the academy gathered at the entrance of the Ministry of Punishment. If it wasn’t for how well guarded the ministry was today, all those brash rich second-generation kids would’ve rushed in with swords in hand. 

Once Ni Wenyu heard the chants clearly, his face turned pale, his eyes rolled back, and fainted. 

  All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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