Crunch——The thick wooden door of the firewood room was pushed open from the outside, letting a gush of cold wind blow in. Li Shinian couldn"t help but shrink back, wrapping her tattered clothes more tightly around her body.
Wind City was located in the northern frontier of the kingdom, thus the wind was colder and the snow was heavier than in Tiandu. Every time the cold wind blew, it was as though a fragmented knife was sc.r.a.ping across a person"s face.
Li Shinian, who was new to the area, was not accustomed to the harsh environment at this side of the country. Her face was dry, and lips and skin were cracked. It was only when she smeared some golden-eyed snake ointment that she felt a little better.
Li Shinian hated the weather in Wind City.
And hated everything about this Wind City.
Lu Lin stood at the door of the firewood room, looking at Li Shinian on the cold floor, and drew back the corners of his mouth in a smile.
Before the smile could bloom on his face, he heard his "hissing" inhaling sound.
Lu Lin covered his red and swollen cheeks, and snapped: “Li Shinian, you really want to do it the hard way. I didn"t want to hurt you, if you hadn"t suddenly gone mad at me, you wouldn"t have ended up in such a miserable state.”
“I hate myself for not killing you with that punch.” Li Shinian fumed, glowering coldly at Lu Lin.
“Kill me? If you hit me with that punch, you most likely would have been dead now.”
“What"s the difference between now and death?”
“There is obviously a difference.” Lu Lin went over to Li Shinian, glancing around at the harsh environment of the firewood room, and then gently sighed, “There is still time to regret your decision now. I"ll give you another chance, as long as you are willing to be my woman——”
“Pah.” Li Shinian very rudely interrupted Lu Lin: “You think you"re good enough?”
“You——” Lu Lin"s face went pale. “Who do you think you are? You"re just the daughter of a servant. I am the future Lord of Wind city, the rising star of the Kingdom. We are greatly valued by the imperial family——I am not good enough for you?”
“You are not worthy of me from head to toe, every hair on your head, every thread of your clothes. Lu Lin, you and father had betrayed your family, you have let down the ancestors of the Lu clan. Aren"t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”
“Struck by lightning?” Lu Lin burst into wild laughter. Pointing to the sky, he said, “If G.o.d really thinks we"re wrong, then strike me with a bolt of lightning——strike me with lightning——”
Rumble———
In the sky there were bursts of rumbling, like some unknown objects were exploding.
Unfortunately, it was just a thunderclap, which soon disappeared.
Lu Lin went blank for a moment, before bursting into laughter again, “Did you hear that? Thunder flew over my head, why did it not descend and strike me? That proves it also feels that we made the right choice.”
“You think we wanted to do something like this? You think we wanted to betray Lu Xingkong? Would our Lu clan fall into such a state had it not been for the old man doing things his own ways? Had it not been for Father"s timely contact with them, even the Lu clan"s Wind City would have been destroyed. If the entire Lu clan is wiped out and all of them died———it is also brought about by Lu Xingkong.”
“That Lu Xingkong is loyal to the Emperor and Kingdom, that Lu Xingkong wanted to be an important minister throughout all ages. We are not willing to give up our lives for that——You saw the result, didn"t you? Lu Xingkong had died, the Lu family and all people under them had been rooted out by the Song family. They are like stray dogs, being hunted, and then beheaded one after another——this is the bad luck and disaster that the old guy brought to the Lu family.”
Lu Lin"s expression was arrogant, laughing wildly. “Why should we follow them to die?”
“The evil people are able to find hundreds of high-sounding excuses for the evil they have done.” Li Shinian stated with a contemptuous face. “The lightning didn"t strike you, because it was afraid of dirtying itself——yell louder, see if the lightning will strike you this time.”
“Come lightning, come strike me——come lightning, come strike me——” Lu Lin raised his voice, shouting at the sky.
The guards at the door also stifled a laugh when they heard these words.
The servants outside quickly lowered their head to stare at their toes when they heard it.
The dog in the courtyard also howled along with him.
“Idiot.” Li Shinian spat out this word from her dried mouth.
“Li Shinian——” Lu Lin"s expression suddenly became crazy and terrifying, even his eyes had turned blood red. “Young Master, I, is willing to stand here for you to make fun of, because I care about you. If I turn away now, do you know what your destiny will be? You"ll be locked up in this firewood room, with no food, no water, until you freeze to death———”
“Then let me freeze to death.” Li Shinian said in a deep voice.
Thinking of all the rumours that she had heard, the little girl"s eyes welled up with tears.
“Grandpa Lu had died in battle and the Lu family had disappeared. The whereabouts of Uncle Lu and my brother are unknown——Father and Mother are imprisoned, Uncle Xu and the others has been killed by you——what"s the point of living?”
“You don"t have to die.”
“When living is more painful than death, why not die?”
“You——”
“Lu Lin, don"t you get it?”
“What?”
“I don"t like you. I feel sick when I see you——from the first time I saw you, when you appeared in front of me with a fake smile on your face, I began to hate you. At that time I did not expose you, because you"re part of the Lu family and I gave face to the Lu family. Now that you have betrayed the Lu family and become worse than a beast——I have no reason to hide my att.i.tude towards you.”
“Lu Lin, you"re a clown.”
“Li Shinian———” Lu Lin"s eyes were bloodshot, staring fiercely at Li Shinian. “Aren"t you afraid that I"ll kill you?”
————————
“Get him out.” Li Muyang glowered at Song Gudu. “Get him out, and this deal can go on. If they hurt Li Shinian, even a strand of her hair, I will kill you——even if I die, I will never let you know the secret of the Dragon"s longevity.”
Song Gudu flicked his finger, letting the black ball of light fall into his palms.
As the light screen vanished, Li Muyang also lost trace of Li Shinian.
Song Gudu stored the black ball of light into his sleeves, looked at Li Muyang and said, “You have seen that Miss Shinian is now safe, but what happens next———I cannot control.”
“You despicable———”
“Despicable?” Song Gudu impatiently interrupted Li Muyang. “I do not care about these things. Li Muyang, what"s your answer?”
“——” Li Muyang did not respond.
He didn"t want to make a deal with Song Gudu, let alone let him know of the secret of the dragon"s longevity.
However, if he did not make this deal, the safety of his parents and Li Shinian——
“Let my parents and sister go, as well as all the people of the Lu clan that you have captured.” Li Muyang tried to bargain with Song Gudu. “Then I will tell you the secret of the dragon"s longevity——hundreds of years of life in exchange for the lives of a few people, it should be a very good deal for you, right?”
“Li Muyang, you"re trying to trick me.” Song Gudu calmly looked at Li Muyang. “You do not want to do this deal with me, you just want to stall for time to save your parents and sister and the Lu clan——Do you think you can blind my eyes with such a poor technique?”
“How do I know if you would turn around and kill us all after I tell you the secret of the dragon"s longevity——”
“I will swear on my honour——”
“A man who has just killed the Emperor and committed such a great crime is going to swear on his honour——who would believe him?”
“Do you have a better way?”
“As I have just said, let my parents and sister go, as well as all the people of the Lu family, if you can guarantee their lives and safety, I promise to give you the secret of the longevity of the dragons——Even if I deceive you, where can I go in the starry sky?”
“I have a simpler solution.”
“What?”
Song Gudu stretched out his hand and clutched at Li Muyang"s throat.
It was incredibly bizarre. They were clearly far apart, and in order to guard against Song Gudu"s sudden attack, Li Muyang was already on the alert all along and dared not get too close to him.
But when he reached out his hand, it was still so simple and easy to clutch Li Muyang"s neck———
It was as though Li Muyang"s neck had been waiting for him to grab it.
Li Muyang had no chance of fighting back at all, even [The Art of Traveling through Clouds and Summoning Rain] could not be used.
He had been in preparation and planning all this time, thinking that if Song Gudu launched an attack at him he would first use [The Art of Traveling through Clouds and Summoning Rain], a bodywork technique of the dragon clan to dodge, and then retaliate with a violent counterattack.
“How could this be?”
“Either make a deal with me or let me kill you.” Song Gudu"s thin and shrivelled face was a very short distance away, and his eyes were as deep as the starry river of the night sky. “Isn"t that a little simpler?”