"Baoyi!"
In desperation, Zhou Yunxi didn"t realise that he"d blurted out her name, and not Thirteen.
After Zhou Yunxi changed his clothes, he"d heard someone yelling outside the door and faint sounds of people fighting nearby. He pushed open the door and saw a familiar shadow falling down the stairs and sprawling in front of him. His heart immediately sank and his body rushed forward uncontrollably.
Baoyi held onto his arm, her mouth moving but no words came out. She vomited a mouthful of blood, dyeing red his newly changed moon white shirt.
"People…want to…harm you."
After that, Baoyi seems to have fainted from the pain. She felt like she had a hole in her back, plus she had fallen down the stairs and possibly gotten a concussion. She clutched the hem of Zhou Yunxi"s clothes tightly, not letting go even when she was unconscious.
She can"t die yet, if she died, many people in this story will die, Zhou Yunxi included.
Previously, Baoyi didn"t know that she cared that much about looks. At this moment, she"s actually thinking about —— even if it"s for the sake of his face, Zhou Yunxi could not die.
In her hazed confusion, she did not know what she had said. She only faintly heard someone promise her: "…will not die, I will not die, you will also not die!"
Her heart seemed to be suddenly relieved before a huge pain hit her and Baoyi completely pa.s.sed out.
Zhou Shizi held a suddenly motionless Baoyi as his heart rushed into a panic: "Baoyi? Baoyi!"
Long ago, the commotion had already alarmed the Third Prince and Lu Qingluo who were upstairs. Originally, Third Prince had wanted Lu Qingluo to hide while he came out to check the situation by himself. He just happened to see the small shadow guard being chased to death and didn"t think much about it, hitting the flying short sword that was heading towards Baoyi"s vest and was about to chase the person but unexpectedly, Lu Qingluo exclaimed aloud and came downstairs.
"Baoyi!" Lu Qingluo was pushed away by Zhou Shizi as soon as she"s near. Lu Qingluo fell to the ground and almost rolled down the stairs but Third Prince quickly caught her.
"Zhou Shizi! Please calm down!" Zhou Yuncheng said.
"Who did this?" Zhou Yunxi"s body was emitting vicious currents, causing people to tremble with fear. He suddenly drew his sword and pointed it at Zhou Yuncheng: "Zhou Yuncheng, is it you!"
"It"s not the Third Prince!" Lu Qingluo said, "Not him! Shizi! It"s important to tend to Baoyi Guniang"s wounds first!"
Lu Qingluo"s words seemed to finally call back Zhou Yunxi"s mind. The little face in his embrace was almost lifeless but her body was still warm, her heart still beating and she was still breathing.
She"s still alive.
Zhou Yunxi threw down his sword and carried Baoyi, shouting: "Lai ren[1]! Prepare the carriage, we"re going home!"
When a Duan w.a.n.gfu bodyguard stepped forward to take over carrying Baoyi, Zhou Yunxi glared ferociously at that guard and carried Baoyi as he boarded the carriage.
"Zhou Yunxi!"
Hearing the voice, Zhou Shizi lifted up the curtain and glanced coldly at the Third Prince who was standing outside.
The Third Prince saw that Lu Qingluo was trembling as she stood amongst the troops and was unable to endure any longer. He said: "It was the Second Prince"s man."
Zhou Yunxi"s face was expressionless, as if he wasn"t surprised or suspicious. Furthermore, there wasn"t any sorrow or agitation found on his face. It seemed as if the person who"d lost control of himself in the building wasn"t the same person. As if the half-dead person in the carriage didn"t affect his state of mind at all.
Without a word, he let down the curtain and didn"t glance outside again. Naturally, no one saw him tighten his grip in both hands as his fingers almost dug out blood from his palm.
"Return home!"
The carriage slowly left the spring breeze intoxication and Zhou Yuncheng looked at the carriage that was now far away, lost in thoughts.
When Baoyi woke up again, the sun was setting.
She wasn"t in her own room but in Dao Shifu"s little medicine hut in Duan Qinw.a.n.g"s Palace.
Seeing that she"d woken up, Dao Shifu gave her a cold look and handed over a bowl of black lacquered medicine.
Baoyi"s brows knotted.
Knowing that this wasn"t the time to be wilful, she took the bowl wordlessly and drank it in one breath before fainting again.
Strictly speaking, she did not faint. It was due to the bitterness that her soul had left her body and her five senses were numbed. This acidic and cool coptis bile, all those liquorice bitter gourd soup, in front of Dao Shifu"s bowl of inhuman things, are all honey. Honey![2]
"Shifu, do you have a name for this medicine?" Baoyi groaned weakly, her voice dull.
Her soul was still floating and her taste buds were still suffering in h.e.l.l.
"Not yet, do you have an idea?"
"Yes," Baoyi said weakly, "Let"s call it……"Life is meaningless[3]."
Dao Shifu smirked: "You still have the strength to joke, looks like you"re not dying."
Dao Shifu put down the medicine bowl before he turned around, sat down and began to wipe his sword.
Ever since Dao Shifu became a Shifu, he no longer had to undertake tasks personally. His sword must not have been out of its sheath for ten years.
Now, as Dao Shifu was wiping the sword, it wasn"t one of general maintenance as Baoyi could even smell the scent of blood.
"Master, did you leave[4] the mountain?"
"Yeah." Dao Shifu seemed to have just returned, still carrying the antisocial behaviour he used when doing business.
"Who was it that had such honour."
Dao Shifu smiled, even revealing a mouthful of neat white teeth, looking gloomy.
"Shizi said that there was a stupid thing that got bitten by a dog and almost died. He felt very embarra.s.sed and ordered me kill that dog. By the way, I also need to teach this stupid thing a little lesson."
Baoyi smiled stiffly.
She watched as Dao Shifu threw a dagger onto the ground —— it was the one that almost stabbed her through the back in the restaurant. In terms of shadow guards, their swords were always by their side, if the sword wasn"t there, then the person is definitely gone.
Dao Shifu had never failed in his entire life, this time was also not an exception.
Seeing that Baoyi did not speak, Dao Shifu gave a sarcastic smile: "That kind of trash could also bully you to this degree. How do I usually teach you?"
"Just as humans make mistakes, so can a horse stumble"[5] Baoyi mumbled.
"What about concealment of internal injuries without authorisation? What do you have to say?"
She knew it, the truth couldn"t be hidden!
Baoyi ignored the pain as she sat up, "Shifu, you didn"t tell Shizi right?"
Dao Shifu glanced at her: "What do you think?"
"Shifu," Baoyi displayed a pitiful expression, "I know that it was wrong of me to hide the truth from you, but……I had no choice. Once a shadow guard is useless, the only road left is to die. Shifu, I don"t want to die."
"Don"t want to die? You don"t want to die?" Dao Shifu looked at her as if he were sizing up some sort of freak, "Why don"t I see it?"
She"s saying that she doesn"t want to die but her actions are clearly death-seeking!
Dao Shifu frowned and didn"t say anything in the end.
"Since you"re awake, go back. It"s vexing to look at you!"
Baoyi breathed a sigh of relief and staggered off the bed before giving a sincere bow.
"Thank you Shifu."
She still couldn"t let Zhou Yunxi know that she"d lost her martial arts skills. She can only gamble that even though Dao Shifu had never said it, he"d always been extremely good to her and now that she"d made an excuse of being afraid of death, he would help her to conceal the truth.
Dao Shifu has very good medical skills, Baoyi was already able to get out of bed, just that her back still hurt badly. Leaving the medicine hut, she walked very slowly as she supported herself against the wall, practically moving her body step by step. She had wanted to go back quietly to rest but when she pa.s.sed by the garden, she ran into Zhou Yunxi who had a worried look on his face.
When Zhou Shizi saw Baoyi bent at the waist as she held her abdomen with her face distorted, his anxious eyes suddenly turned into anger.
"Who told you to go running about!" Zhou Shizi looked unhappy. "Are you afraid of not dying fast enough?"
His shadow guard was in a coma for three days, it was as if she"d died and he was suddenly tortured by an unknown fear for three days. He was terror-stricken and had gone to the medicine hut to look for her but was told that she had left.
How would Baoyi know about all this, she"d only walked a few steps before feeling that her breath was disordered and her whole body was aching. Being roared at right now only added to her grievances. But not to mention that Zhou Shizi only roared a few words at her, Zhou Shizi is her master and if he wanted to beat and scold her, she couldn"t fight back with her current status.
Who knew that an a.s.sa.s.sin would suddenly appear. The derivative s.p.a.ce is the derivative s.p.a.ce after all. It"s not as stable as the main world and the plot doesn"t follow the script. It"s necessary to be more careful in the future.
Seeing that Baoyi"s face was filled with pain and she wasn"t talking, Zhou Shizi"s face was filled with fear again, "Why, is your wound hurting?"
Baoyi pursed her lips and nodded, trying to look innocent.
"It"s hurting yet you"re still running around!" Zhou Shizi glared at her before suddenly turning to the servant girls behind him who"d long been terrified by him and reprimanded. "Foolish things[6], hurry up and support her!"
"Yes, Yes!"
The two girls quickly stepped forward, one on her left and one on her right, very cautious as they supported her to stand.
When she returned to her room, the two servant girls helped her to lie down.
Because the wound is on her back, when she was lying flat, it was inevitable that the affected part would be touched. But Baoyi didn"t want to lie on her stomach so she clenched her teeth and endured. Even so, it still hurt a lot until sweat appeared on her forehead.
Zhou Shizi faced the two servant girls and scolded: "What are you all doing, can"t you see that she"s in pain?"
The servant girls were scolded till both their eyes were red.
Of course it"ll hurt when there"s a wound, they were only mere servants, not doctors.
Baoyi really couldn"t continue watching this any further and said, "Both of you should go out first."
As if they"d been granted amnesty, the two servant girls were about to excuse themselves when they felt Zhou Shizi"s fierce gaze from behind them and their figure stiffened at once.
"They"re not to leave! You"re hurt, they"re here to wait upon you."
Bao Yi didn"t know whether to laugh or cry.
She didn"t expect that Zhou Yunxi"s reaction when she sustained an injury would be so big. She controlled her temper and said, "Shizi, I don"t need."
She"s a bodyguard, where is the sense in a bodyguard that has servants to serve her?
"What do you not need?" Zhou Shizi glared at her, clearly not intending to discuss this issue with her.
Baoyi had no choice but to soften her voice and beg, "Shizi, please ask them to leave first. I have something to say to you."
Speaking in this soft manner, it seemed as if she were flirting. Zhou Yunxi seems to be more receptive towards this att.i.tude. With a cold hum, he signalled with his eyes and the two servant girls were immediately overwhelmed with grat.i.tude as they left.
When they were alone, Zhou Yunxi regained his cold and sullen appearance. With an imposing manner[7], he sat on the edge of her bed, not avoiding the topic.
"Speak!"
Big Brother, are you interrogating a convict? Baoyi was in a good mood and only found it ridiculous.
"Shizi, what about Lu Qingluo?"
That day, she"d lost consciousness and didn"t know whether Lu Qingluo and the Third Prince had succeeded. It seems like she"d been in a coma for several days and listening to Dao Shifu, the Second Prince"s guard was killed. Then what about the Third Prince? For these past few days, did Third Prince make any movement?
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The author has something to say:
Zhou Shizi is very shameless[8]~
Today, 《Experts》 will also be updated and the final chapter will be completed, remember to read. XOXO
This translation is brought to you by:
Iluska & Maelani Translations
Translator: Iluska
Editor: Sugakookie
1. 来人 (lái rén) It"s used (by people of position) to call for their people to come. (Can"t think of a suitable translation for it so…yeah)↩
2. Basically, the medicine that Dao Shifu gave her (coptis bile), is so bad that other medicines like liquorice bitter gourd soup would be good (honey) in comparison.↩
3. 生无可恋 (shēng wú kě liàn) Literal meaning – there"s nothing left to love in life. To capture the humour in the original text, we"ve translated it to "Life is meaningless".↩
4. 出山 (chū shān) means to come out of retirement.↩
5. 人有失手，马有失蹄 (rén yǒu shī shǒu, mǎ yǒu shī tí) Literal translation – just as humans make mistakes, so can a horse stumble. It"s an idiom that means that even the best can make mistakes.↩
6. 眼色 (yǎn sè) to take a cue and act as the occasion calls for. Zhou Shizi scolded them by saying that they didn"t have 眼色, we"ve translate it to mean "foolish".↩
7. 大马金刀 (dà mǎ jīn dāo) Means to do something (usually sitting down) with an imposing manner or dignified air.↩
8. 护短 (hùduǎn) This word has a negative meaning which means that the person will defend themselves and their family from other people criticising their faults. (sugakookie is tired and cannot think anymore so let"s just say that Zhou Shizi is shameless. Heh.)↩
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