Evil Spirit - chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Yunlan Sister!”

Li Jiaojiao ran happily toward Shen Yunlan, practically bursting with joy.

She had been racking her brains these past few days, trying to find a way to tag along with the main group, and today, the opportunity had practically delivered itself to her doorstep.

Duan Qinglian was crazy and full of malicious ideas to torment her. Even if she was lucky enough to survive, with her own frail body, how many times could she endure it?

But now, as long as she clung tightly to Shen Yunlan and refused to let go, she had nothing to fear.

Li Jiaojiao had long known that Shen Yunlan was a true saint. Though she showed no mercy to Evil Spirits and demons, she was the very embodiment of justice when it came to people.

Otherwise, how could it be that in the original story, no matter how much the original host schemed or caused trouble, Shen Yunlan always protected her?

“Young Princess!”

Seeing Li Jiaojiao, Shen Yunlan’s usually cool expression also brightened a little, her cold voice lifting with a hint of warmth.

Two days ago, due to her own negligence, she had left Li Jiaojiao on the pleasure boat. By the time she returned, both the Evil Spirit and the young Princess had vanished without a trace. She had blamed herself for a long time.

She had tried everything to track Li Jiaojiao down to this place.

Seeing Li Jiaojiao so lively and energetic, Shen Yunlan finally felt a bit relieved.

But the young Princess, who usually treated her with sharp words and coldness, was now suddenly so affectionate-it left her at a loss.

“Li Jiaojiao!”

Just as Li Jiaojiao was clinging to Shen Yunlan’s arm, refusing to let go, she heard someone call her name.

The voice was tinged with annoyance, not soft and gentle like Duan Qinglian’s, but clear and vibrant, the voice of a spirited young man.

She turned her head and saw a youth with jet-black hair tied high, dressed in a dark Feiyu Robe, glaring at her.

The boy was strikingly handsome, with brows that seemed to reach his temples and sideburns as if cut by a blade. But the anger on his face gave Li Jiaojiao a bad feeling.

“Brother Zhiyi.” Li Jiaojiao forced a couple of awkward laughs. If this perfect match for the heroine wasn’t the male lead, then who was?

Fang Zhiyi walked over and, like picking up a chick, peeled Li Jiaojiao off Shen Yunlan. “Li Jiaojiao, can’t you go a single day without causing trouble? Do you know that my father sent me out at the crack of dawn to look for you? I couldn’t even get a proper night’s sleep.”

Fang Zhiyi’s father and Li Jiaojiao’s father were old friends. Back when Li Jiaojiao was still in open-crotch pants, their fathers had fought side by side on the battlefield several times. To continue their brotherhood, they had arranged a childhood engagement for their children.

As they grew up, Fang Zhiyi’s father became a general, while Li Jiaojiao’s father retired from the army and lived as a leisurely prince in the Capital. Still, Fang Zhiyi’s father had long regarded Li Jiaojiao as his future daughter-in-law, doting on her even more than her own father did.

She could already imagine how, on the day she went missing, Fang Zhiyi had been dragged out of bed and kicked out of the General’s Mansion.

“Brother Zhiyi, I was wrong.” Li Jiaojiao hung her head and apologized sincerely.

Fang Zhiyi was stunned for a moment. This was the first time Li Jiaojiao had admitted fault so easily.

He let go of Li Jiaojiao, leaned in close, and stared at her for a long time without blinking.

“Did you take the wrong medicine?”

What a jerk!

Li Jiaojiao glared back at him. He must be the one who took the wrong medicine-she apologized and he still scolded her.

“Enough,” Shen Yunlan stepped in to mediate. “It’s not the young Princess’s fault. I was too careless and left her with the Evil Spirit.”

An absolute angel!

Li Jiaojiao looked at Shen Yunlan with eyes full of gratitude, her resolve to cling to this thigh even stronger.

She recounted her experiences from the past two days to Shen Yunlan and Fang Zhiyi. Although Shen Yunlan found it hard to believe, seeing Li Jiaojiao safe and lively, she eventually accepted what she heard.

In the past, whenever she encountered ghosts, she killed them; whenever she met demons, she subdued them. Her grandfather had always taught her that not a trace of evil should be allowed in the world. But could Evil Spirits really be divided into good and bad?

After about half an hour, the guest room door opened again.

Li Jiaojiao ran in excitedly. “Ah Qing, Ah Qing, I’m back! Now I’ll take you to meet Yunlan Sister…”

Her words caught in her throat.
White gauze lay scattered across the floor, its innermost layers near the wound stained with rings of dried blood. The wounds on her palm and the back of her hand had split open once more, and fresh blood dripped from the silver Sword Line twisted around her fingertips.

“You’re back.” He gave her a gentle smile.

“What madness is this now!” Li Jiaojiao’s face turned pale as she hurried to pick up the fallen gauze and wrapped it around her wound.

But the blood flowed too much. Warm crimson seeped through the gaps in the gauze, staining her palm red as well.

Suddenly, his uninjured left hand gripped Li Jiaojiao’s throat.

In a daze, she was easily lifted off her feet, her toes dangling in the air, a suffocating pressure closing in.

“Why, why?…”

She forced out her question with difficulty.

How had she provoked him this time?

He smiled, yet his eyes surged with dangerous waves-the look he wore only when he was about to kill.

“I hate being lied to.”

His tightening grip crushed Li Jiaojiao’s throat so she could no longer utter a single word.

She really couldn’t understand this madman. She’d only stepped out for a moment-how had she lied to him again? Clearly, he’d tried to kill her time and time again, yet she still treated him kindly. Just now, she’d even tried to say good things about him, hoping Shen Yunlan would tolerate him.

Tears of suffocation slid from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the back of Duan Qinglian’s hand. His wounded right hand was still clutched in Li Jiaojiao’s palm, and as if in revenge, Li Jiaojiao poured all her fiery pain and pent-up grievances into his wound, squeezing down hard.

Through her blurred, tear-filled vision, Li Jiaojiao clearly saw Duan Qinglian’s shoulder tremble slightly. Then he leaned close to her ear.

“Harder.”

In his low, gentle voice there was actually a hint of pleasure in the pain.

Pervert!

Li Jiaojiao dug her nails in with all her hate.

“Bang-”

She was suddenly released and crashed heavily to the ground, gritting her teeth in pain.

“You really are obedient. Makes me almost reluctant to kill you,” Duan Qinglian squatted down, smiling at her.

Damn you, if that’s the case, why not just not kill me?

“But I’ll let you choose-strangled to death, or sliced to death by the Sword Line.”

“Wait!” Li Jiaojiao clutched her bruised neck. “At least tell me-how did I lie to you?”

As soon as she finished, Duan Qinglian’s shimmering eyes flashed with disbelief. Against his smiling face, the look was bizarre. “You lied to me and don’t even realize it.”

“You really ought to die.”

His voice was utterly innocent, as if she truly deserved death.

“You clearly said you’d take care of me.”

……

Li Jiaojiao felt she’d never catch up with Duan Qinglian’s logic in this lifetime.

“How did I not take care of you?”

“But you left me just now.” Duan Qinglian’s gaze drifted toward the window lattice; he’d seen everything clearly.

She’d looked so happy downstairs with someone else.

“That’s not it.” Li Jiaojiao shook her head, denying it. “I was afraid Yunlan Sister would misunderstand, so I rushed down to explain. If she thought you’d kidnapped me, I was afraid you two would fight, and you’re still injured…”

“So you didn’t lie to me?” Duan Qinglian lowered his eyelashes, the killing intent in his voice much diminished. He spoke softly, as if only to himself.

“Of course not. Otherwise, why would I have come back?”

Duan Qinglian shot her a glance, then lowered his eyes again, still seeming uncertain.

Li Jiaojiao felt this man’s paranoia was reaching perverse levels; he could always find a reason to kill from the most inexplicable angles.

After a quiet moment, seeing that his madness seemed to have subsided, Li Jiaojiao cautiously spoke: “Do you believe me now?”

“For now.”

As if making peace with his doubts, Duan Qinglian gave a cold, gentle smile, returning to his river-lotus-like composure.

Li Jiaojiao let out a sigh of relief, endured the burning pain in her neck, and struggled to her feet. “I’ll go ask the innkeeper for more medicine. Your wound’s split open again.”

With that, she hurried away.

Duan Qinglian sat again by the window. The breeze stirred, lifting the hair at his temples.

His features relaxed, gentle as the spring wind.