Chapter 28: Li Yuyan's Secret
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“Qi... Qi Xiaolong.”
Was this the prodigy hailed as the foremost genius of Jiangcheng and even the entire province of Jiangnan?
Legend had it that when Young Master Qi was ten, he caught the eye of an otherworldly master, who took him away to the mysterious Green Mountain to study the Dao. Apart from members of the Qi family, scarcely anyone had ever truly seen him.
Li Yuyan took a step back and regarded the young man before her warily. “How can you prove that you’re Qi Xiaolong?”
The young man smiled, took out his identity card, and handed it to her.
Li Yuyan accepted it and glanced over the details. To her surprise, the name really was Qi Xiaolong.
“Would you like me to have someone open the gates and invite you into the estate for a while?” Qi Xiaolong asked gently.
Li Yuyan stiffened. “No... there’s no need.”
Qi Xiaolong nodded. “As it happens, I only just returned to Jiangcheng today, and I’m not in much of a hurry to go home either.”
“Li Yuyan, you came looking for me because you need something, didn’t you?”
Li Yuyan lowered her head, unsure for a moment how to begin.
Qi Xiaolong paused, then continued, “I know everything that happened to the Li family today. That Guan Sheng killed Xu Tao.”
“You only brought that man into your Li family group yesterday and appointed him head of security. Your relationship with him is clearly far from ordinary.”
Li Yuyan clenched the corner of her clothes as her heart began to pound.
Seeing the tension in her expression, Qi Xiaolong said gravely, “You came to me to save him?”
Li Yuyan closed her eyes and nodded forcefully. “Yes.”
“If you can save him, I... I...”
Before she could finish, Qi Xiaolong interrupted her. “I can. I’ll save him.”
“What?”
At those words, Li Yuyan abruptly raised her head and stared into Qi Xiaolong’s eyes as though she had heard something unbelievable.
“Really?” Her body trembled.
Qi Xiaolong stood with his hands behind his back. “As long as you willingly marry me, follow me, and devote everything you have to me, I will help you save him.”
“I know that three years ago, when I sent someone to the Li family with the news, you were deeply unwilling. You even resented me.”
“Back then, I had no way to descend from the mountain, nor could I offer you enough sincerity. But now I have returned. Do you think this is enough?”
“Enough...” Li Yuyan hesitated only briefly before answering.
If Qi Xiaolong personally intervened, Guan Sheng would surely be safe.
Though Guan Sheng had killed someone, Xu Tao had been in the wrong first.
As long as Guan Sheng remained unharmed, then... then that would be enough...
As for herself...
Li Yuyan had never considered her own future. The scene at the Li family’s old residence that day remained vivid in her mind.
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A few words from outsiders had been enough to make her the target of everyone’s condemnation.
They were blood relatives, yet not one of them had stood on her side.
Even her grandfather had been bitterly disappointed in her.
She had lost all hope in the Li family.
And the career to which she had devoted herself probably would not survive much longer either.
Her ideals were gone.
Her family was gone.
To be honest, there seemed little point in remaining alive.
If she could use the rest of her long, empty life to ensure the safety of the man who had twice stepped forward when she was in her greatest peril, then it would at least be a worthwhile bargain.
At some point, Li Yuyan realized that she no longer hated Guan Sheng quite as much.
Even though that man had taken her first time.
A tear slid from the corner of her eye and dissolved into the rain beneath the night sky.
Li Yuyan drew a deep breath, as if she had made an immensely important decision.
“Then it’s settled.”
“You save Guan Sheng, and I... I’ll be yours from now on.”
Qi Xiaolong reached out and patted her on the head. “Then it’s settled.”
“You may leave.”
Li Yuyan said nothing. Holding her umbrella, she hurried away, her hastening footsteps seeming almost like an escape.
Qi Xiaolong could sense the barrier between them.
“Heh.”
Watching her figure vanish at the end of the road, Qi Xiaolong turned and left. He climbed into a red Ferrari parked by the roadside.
He did not return to the Qi family residence. Instead, he lit a cigar in the car and took several deep puffs.
At that moment, an ugly old servant wearing a cloak, seated in the driver’s seat, spoke slowly.
“Young Master, aren’t you going into the Qi residence?”
Qi Xiaolong’s voice was cold. “The Qi family and I have long since ceased to belong to the same world.”
“They’re nothing but a pack of vulgar people.”
“Have someone look into it and see whether the City Protection Bureau can release a man named Guan Sheng first.”
“Once I have obtained what I want, send someone to kill him.”
The old servant cupped his hands. “Yes, Young Master.”
Qi Xiaolong’s gaze turned icy. “He dared to carry on with my woman. He’s courting death.”
“By the way, has the cinnabar mark from Green Mountain arrived?”
The old servant shook his head. “Not yet, but it’s already on the way. It should arrive tomorrow. Young Master, are you really so eager to obtain Miss Yuyan’s Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart?”
The corner of Qi Xiaolong’s mouth lifted, his expression savage. “Why else do you think I hurried down the mountain?”
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“The Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart. It is a treasure countless martial artists dream of possessing, appearing only once every thousand years and existing solely within women.”
“Ancient texts record that if a woman who possesses the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart willingly offers it up, a martial artist who consumes it can refine his bones and blood, shedding his mortal form and undergoing a complete transformation.”
“It took me tremendous effort to find her. How could I possibly let her slip through my fingers?”
The old servant was somewhat puzzled. “Then why do you need the cinnabar mark?”
Qi Xiaolong gave him a sinister smile. “You don’t understand.”
“For a woman, the man who takes her first time is often the one to whom she gives her entire heart.”
“Once the cinnabar mark is applied, after she gives up her virginity, she will be utterly subdued.”
“When the cinnabar mark arrives, I will take Li Yuyan’s first time. After that, it will only be a matter of time before she offers me her Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart.”
Only then did the old servant understand Qi Xiaolong’s intentions.
“I understand, Young Master!”
“Rest assured. Anyone who dares obstruct Miss Yuyan from offering her Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart to you will die.”
As he spoke, Qi Xiaolong suddenly remembered something else and asked, “Is it true that a great personage is coming to Jiangcheng tomorrow?”
The old servant hesitated. “We cannot say for certain. Our people are still investigating. If that personage appears in Jiangcheng, I will report it to you immediately.”
Qi Xiaolong crushed the cigar in his hand. “Remember, do not reveal the slightest trace. Since I intend to win that personage’s favor, none of my actions can appear too deliberate.”
“Yes!”
—
Before long, the night passed, the rain dispersed, and the sun emerged.
In the prison of the City Protection Bureau, Guan Sheng, who had sat cross-legged throughout the night, opened his eyes. Without realizing it, noon had arrived once again.
“Good fortune to you, Lord Guan.”
“Good fortune to you, Lord Guan.”
“...”
Every prisoner greeted Guan Sheng.
After giving a slight nod, Guan Sheng looked outside the cell. Wang Sihu had already been standing there for some time.
He let out a cold laugh. “Such a loyal watchdog?”
“You stood guard over me all night?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Wang Sihu flew into a rage!