Chapter 210.1 - If I Were a Grandmaster

210.1 – If I Were a Grandmaster

“Anyhow, have you ever heard of ‘lingchi‘ [1]?”

The lass stroked the shorty’s face with a finger.

Consequently, as if he was really cut, the shorty shuddered and pulled his face away. But no matter how he tried, he could not escape the lass’s finger.

“A total of 3,600 cuts [1], it lives up to the name of death by a thousand cuts. Tsk, it hurts just to think about it.”

“Ah… ah — ah!”

Unable to move his mouth, the shorty could only issue unintelligible, hoarse sounds.

“I forgot to say that I’m not really proficient with a knife. But don’t worry, I’m good at magic! Even if I accidentally sever a finger, I can use magic to reattach it.

Xue Qilin shed the smile on her face, and her gaze turned frosty. Her gaze easily passed through the shorty’s eyes and reached his heart.

“In other words, I am absolutely capable of letting you enjoy 3,600 cuts.”

The shorty couldn’t move his gaze away nor blink, his eyes wide opened. He feels like the lass will take out a knife and cut him once he closes his eyes and relaxes. He could only squeeze out “ah, ah” calls from his throat.

Xue Qilin fell silent and quietly explored the abyss of the shorty’s eyes, as if she wants to dig something out of his eyes, or is thinking about how to dig out his eyeballs.

Gradually, the shorty lowered his head, stopped shivering, and turned silent from despair.

He gave up — or in other words, he accepted his fate, and so was no longer afraid, no longer resisted.

Satisfied with the shorty’s reaction, Xue Qilin grinned.

“That’s a good boy!” She touched the shorty’s head. “Now, you will answer my question, won’t you?”

The shorty’s drooping head moved up and down to nod.

“Humph, I thought you to be a tough guy who would rather die than surrender. I didn’t expect you to give in.”

Xue Qilin snorted, then propped herself up on her knees and stood up.

Since it’s not certain that the other party will answer the question truthfully, a fire called hope has to be lit — Xue Qilin mused. She looked expressionlessly at the shorty sitting on the ground and spoke in a tone that could freeze anything.

“I don’t want to waste too much time on you — not even to kill you. I only have one question.”

— whether you live or die depends on your answer.

Xue Qilin’s words divulged that the shorty is not at the end of the road, that there is still some leeway.

As a matter of fact, she is not a bloodthirsty person, she doesn’t have evil tendencies such as torturing people. She just wants to know who the owner of these “mice” is and whether or not they have any relation with the back stage manipulator who had the Shadow Gate abduct Gong Tianqing.

As long as there is hope placed in front of a person trapped in despair, they will seize it without hesitation, much like a drowning man will clutch at a straw.

When the shorty realized that things have changed, he slowly raised his head and cast Xue Qilin a look of disbelief, as if asking, “really?”

“I’m not interested in you guys. You should know what I’m really interested in.”

Xue Qilin asked in a cold voice, “Who is your master?”

The shorty’s issued “oh, oh” sounds, as if to express his inability to speak.

However, Xue Qilin did not remove the restriction placed on the other party’s mouth.

“Don’t expect me to let you talk. I don’t want reach into your mouth and get the poison out, I don’t want to get my hand dirty.”

Xue Qilin spread her arms and looked at the shorty’s bosom.

“Do you have a knife on you? People like you must have a knife or two hidden. Take out a knife and prick your finger. You can use blood instead of ink and your finger instead of a brush. Look! Like this, don’t you have all the tools you need to write?”

Seeing the shorty hesitate, Xue Qilin sneered.

“I don’t have much patience. If you continue to hesitate, I don’t mind taking out your intestines, and then stuff them back in and sew you up.”

The shorty trembled violently. Then, he put his hand into his sleeve, fumbled inside, and took out a dagger.

Next —

The shorty burst out with incredible strength and lunged at the Xue Qilin abruptly. At the same time, he stabbed at her with the dagger.

In the dark alley, the dagger twinkled with cold light and traced a silver-white trajectory in the air. Faced with this abrupt counterattack, Xue Qilin remained still. She just wrinkled her nose.

“Eat my loli kick!”

Wham!

A shock wave spread in all directions.

The tip of the dagger stopped right in front of Xue Qilin’s eyes. Although there is only a short distance to go, but it cannot advance at all. The shorty revealed an expression of unwillingness. Then, Xue Qilin’s right foot sank deep into his abdomen.

This scene only lasted for a moment, and then it collapsed and shattered as the shorty was sent flying backwards like a kite with its string cut.

The shorty fell several zhang away and scattered a row of bamboo leaning against a wall of the alley. While shaking, he struggled to prop himself up, and then vomited. He vomited and and gain, and even vomited blood. The bright red liquid was even mixed with some fragments of flesh.

However, the culprit who dealt him severe damage showed a look of surprise and frowned.

Was the attack that heavy? But I deliberately restrained my strength… Filled with doubts, Xue Qilin approached the shorty who can’t stop vomiting blood. When her toes burst into the other party’s field of vision, she was right in front of the shorty’s eyes.

In his eyes, there is a shade of ridicule and a sense of satisfaction that you get after receiving the liberation you’ve been longing for for a long time.

Looking at the shorty, who cannot stop vomiting blood, Xue Qilin was taken aback for a while.

— don’t tell me…

When she thought of a possibility, Xue Qilin grabbed the shorty’s right hand. While pulling him up, she put her index and middle fingers on the other party’s wrist, and then widened her eyes and stared at the shorty.

“You…”

The shorty’s insides are a mess.

True qi poured out from his broken meridians like water from a broken dam and wreaked havoc in his body, twisting his internal organs into pieces.

Xue Qilin grabbed the shorty’s lapel with the other hand and drew his face to in front of her eyes.

“– you severed your meridians!”

When he was kicked by Xue Qilin, he cleverly focused the impact in one point, so as to shatter a section of his meridians. While letting his true qi go wild, he intentionally drove it to strike at the resulting gap, which eventually led to the complete collapse of the meridians.

The shorty smiled peacefully, and then spat blood on Xue Qilin’s face.

Disregarding the warm liquid that stained her fair face, Xue Qilin waved her finger to remove “Bind” and asked in a resounding tone, “Speak — hurry up and speak! Who is your master? Where is Gong Tianqing! Tell me!”

However, no matter how Xue Qilin shook the man, he just kept smiling, which could be either interpreted as him mocking Xue Qilin’s carelessness or feeling relieved that he is going to die.

“Xue Qilin, you look down on us too much.”

As if she was doused with a bucket of cold water, Xue Qilin suddenly stopped and became silent.

Maybe she really underestimated the man — no, it should be, she underestimated the value of the word “loyalty”.

— the word “loyalty” can prompt people to risk life and limb undaunted by perils.

Soon, the shorty, who fell on the ground, no longer made any sounds.

Looking at the blood mixed with fragments of flesh and foam flowing out of his mouth, Xue Qilin was silent for a period of time.

“How loyal…”

[1] – lingchi involves 3,600 cuts