Of all the emotions that had greeted Changling when she first arrived, contempt had been chief among them. After she and Taoist Xu traded strikes, that contempt curdled into something harder and colder: open hostility. Only Ye Qi seemed unbothered. He blinked once, recovered from his surprise, and smiled at her with unhurried warmth. "Yes." A single word of agreement, and the room went rigid. Even Yu Ping found himself quietly worried on Ye Qi's behalf. This girl had just dismantled Taoist Xu without breaking a sweat. If she really wanted to arrange some private conversation between them, what was to stop her from swallowing the prince whole? No one moved. No one spoke. Changling crossed the floor toward Ye Qi, step by measured step. Then, without warning, the light dropped out of her vision, her legs dissolved beneath her, and she pitched forward into darkness. She landed squarely in his arms. Ye Qi stared at the ceiling for a moment. "What happened to her?...
Yu Ping hurled his scabbard to the ground and closed the distance fast. "Stop stalling with your plots and tricks, demon girl. Hand over the antidote and tell us where your master is being held. Push us further and you'll regret it." Changling's gaze dropped to the eagle-iron mark on the hilt of his sword. "Who is your master?" "Your subordinate Tianpo put him down. And you have the nerve to ask —" Yu Ping caught himself mid-sentence, his hand flying toward his blade. Ye Qi's palm settled quietly over the hilt and held it there. "Master Chi has profound cultivation. He won't fall so easily." "Your late master?" Changling said. "You mean Chizishan." Yu Ping went still. "What have you done to him?" Changling said nothing for a moment. It was actually him. More than ten years ago she had helped Feiyingmen settle a blood debt. The sect leader then was Kong Buwu, and trailing behind Kong Buwu every ...