Volume 1

27 Evil or Cold?

Seeing that incomparably familiar, and yet endlessly unfamiliar face appear before my eyes, I couldn’t help inhaling a deep breath.

Unbeknownst to me, Gaoqin Jiuye suddenly appeared in front of me. He sat on the branch of a nearby tree, arms crossed over his chest, ruthless and vicious eyes locked on me. He was dressed as before: a white hoodie, black jeans, and a pair of bright yellow sneakers on his feet.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I didn’t know what to say.

Previously, I hadn’t gotten a chance to look at him clearly, so this time, I quietly stood at a distance and examined him carefully. He hadn’t changed at all. A sunny and cool appearance. A pleasant and attractive voice. The only difference was that his once gentle-as-water eyes now carried an indescribable and unspeakable malice. I’ve never seen eyes with such ruthlessness and unfeeling.

He wasn’t Gao Qi.

When the thought landed in my mind, a trace of sadness passed in my eyes.

“Hey, do you keep staring at me because you’ve fallen for me?” That perplexing yet charming voice that left me bewitched every time I heard it, rang in my ears again. It echoed and lingered, cold and yet not unwarm.

I knew my face must have looked infatuated. I didn’t want it to be so, but I couldn’t control it. When I was alive, I’d been completely unable to resist him. Now that I was dead, it seemed that my ghost was also more than willing to fall under his spell. The thing I liked more than anything was his voice.

I don’t know how many times, after I’d grown exhausted from being bullied and excluded, his voice was able to soothe me. His voice had this power to penetrate through my skin, the power to carry warmth into my heart. Even though his voice now had an added wickedness, it still had its charm.

Evil. Darkness. They were things that have always been with me anyway.

“Come here,” Gaoqin Jiuye said, with a smile to me.

I couldn’t stop myself. With light steps, I closed the distance between us.

“Shen’er.”

I don’t know why, but suddenly, Nie Zun’s carefree voice sounded in my ears, the same way it had in that dream. His voice also had a bewitching quality, but it was different to Gaoqin Jiuye’s. His voice was enchanting but not wicked. Charming, but not warm. And it always had that carefree, indifferent and unhurried calm to it. As if nothing in the world were important enough to provoke him.

Nie Zun’s voice was always able to clear my thoughts. I don’t know where the voice came from. I looked around, but Nie Zun was nowhere to be seen.

When I turned back to Gaoqin Jiuye, he looked at me with a curious expression. It seemed like he’d found a new toy to play with. His lips moved slightly, “Hah, how interesting. My persuasion don’t seem to have effected on you.”

I froze. Persuasion?

I suddenly recalled Jiao S saying that he was called a persuader.

The infatuation in my eyes slowly receded, replaced by a touch of coldness. “I’m still a district commander. Even if your mental force was high, it wouldn’t be so different from mine. Surely not enough to effect me.”

Gaoqin Jiuye raised his brows. “Who said my persuasion relies on mental force to control others?”

I frowned. What was he saying? Before my thoughts got too far, he suddeny jumped down from the tree. Dressed in leisurely clothing, but emanating a kind of visciousness, he walked over to me casually. For some reason, I felt some kind of force pressing on me, and I subconsciously stepped back.

He stopped two meters in front of me. “What is your motive for coming to the Southern District? He looked at me, sharp malice in his eyes, without so much as a hint of warmth.

“To meet with Si Luo.”

At the mention of Si Luo’s name, Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes hardened. “Do you think you’re all qualified to meet with him?”

I scoffed. “Are you his superfan or something? We’re both district commanders, so what’s wrong with meeting each other? What kind of act of superiority is he putting on?”

Gaoqin Jiuye’s cold and malicious appearance left me melancholic. If he had Senior Gao Qi’s appearance, he shouldn’t be acting this way.

He sneered, “He’s not the one acting superior. I am. If I refuse to let you meet him, then it’s best to quit your wishful thinking. I don’t care why you came here, just leave. Go back to where you came from. The Southern District is not involved in outside affairs. Whatever you’re wanting to do, don’t implicate Si Luo in it.”

I took a hard long look at him. “Even if we cannot meet Si Luo, we must at least find our friends. In each of our districts, a young girl has gone missing. We suspect they are in your district. We can’t not investigate this.”

Gaoqin Jiuye raised his brows again. “Lost some kids? That’s just a sign of your incompetence.”

What?

A wave of anger rolled over my chest. Disregarding his appearance, I glared fiercely at him. “Is it a hobby in the Southern District to kidnap kids? I’m incompetent? If you kidnap a child, does that make you competent? What? I didn’t expect that someone as young as yourself would be a pedophile.” Anger clouded my judgement, and without much thought, I mocked him without a bit of hesitation.

Gaoqin Jiuye looked taken aback by my sudden attack. Then he laughed out loud and said, “And if I’m a pedophile, so what? As a pedophile, I wouldn’t like a strange woman like you. Next time you see me, try not to drool.”

My temper flared. “Who drools when they see you?! Just because you look like my senior, did you think I would pay attention to you? My senior wore bright yellow sneakers because it was individualistic, but why are you copying him? Knock-off!”

He must have never been cursed at in his life, for his cold brows knit together. “What did you say? You madwoman, what did you call me? Who’s copying your senior? Who is your senior, even?”

I can endure anything, but I won’t let anyone speak ill of my Senior Gao Qi. In an instant, I grabbed the bow on my back with my left hand and an arrow with my right. I aimed it at Gaoqin Jiuye in front of me. “If you speak another insolent word, I will shoot your mouth. Do you believe me?”

Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes suddenly lit up. As he stared at my bow, he said, “Nice bow. Won’t you give it to me?” Then he reached a hand out to me.

Without hesitating, I shot an arrow. He quickly sidestepped and easily dodged it. Before I could shoot another arrow, he grabbed onto my bow with his right hand.

“This bow is really quite nice,” he admired the bow, completely disregarding me.

I glared at him. “Get your hands off. This belongs to me, so don’t even think about it!”

But he ignored me. With the tiniest bit of effort, he grabbed the bow out of my hand.

“You!” I stepped forward to take it back, but then, his eyes swept over me. I had a bad feeling.

Suddenly, the air around me started to condense together. Before I could react, the air between us started to form a vortex, similar to Jiao S’ ability.

As he looked over my bow in his hands, he said, “Don’t advance. I have no intention of going easy on you because you’re a woman.”

I scoffed. Without hesitating, I stepped forward and extended an arm. With a push of mental force to add strength fo my left arm, I moved to snatch back my bow. My feet and a shoulder got caught in his MF whirlwind and started to get sliced up. But I didn’t retreat in pain. I pushed forward and grabbed my bow with my left hand.

When I stepped back, my right shoulder had been shaved off, and my left foot was cut off. Fresh blood flowed out.

With another push of mental force, I leapt back. After putting a safe distance between us, I returned my bow to my back. I bent over, reaching for my ankle, and grabbed Piercer with my left hand. My foot and shoulder had healed by then as well.

Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes trembled. Without stepping closer, he said, “No hesitation at all, huh. Looks like you’re not afraid of pain. Fitting of a district commander. But I was just taking a look. Did you need to act so ruthlessly?”

I replied coldly, “I don’t like other people touching the things I like.” As I spoke, I raised Piercer in front of me to deter his attacking.

Gaoqin Jiuye didn’t pay much attention to the action at first, but after a moment, he suddenly paused. An incredulous expression crossed his face as he looked at the weapon in my hand.

“What, do you enjoy longing for others’ weapons that much?” I sneered as I cracked Piercer. A violet light flashed.

He furrowed his pretty brows, but his eyes were still locked on the whip in my hand. “Why do you have Piercer?”

“A shop in the marketplace gave it to me,” I replied casually.

Gaoqin Jiuye raised his head slightly. “The ones who gave you the weapon, were they a couple?”

Recalling Ah Wen’s cruel death, my heart ached. “Yes. And the wife died in front of my eyes. Many tragedies have been occurring in the Western District lately. That’s why we came to see your district commander.”

A coldness flashed across Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes. “Ah Wen died?”

“You know her?”

Gaoqin Jiuye didn’t respond. His eyes flit over to Piercer again, and then he finally said, “Piercer isn’t for you to use. It’d be best to return it to its owner. The weapon will bring catastrophe. If its user doesn’t die of their own accord, they will be killed by someone else. I told Ah Zhan and Ah Wen not to reveal it to anyone, so I don’t know why they gave it to you. I’ll investigate Ah Wen’s death; no need for you to bother. I don’t suppose you’d be able to help them anyway.”

I hated being belittled. With a deep frown, I clenched Piercer and glared at him.

But then he gave a wicked laugh and waved a dismissive hand at me. “If you have the time to try proving yourself to me, why don’t you go back and check on your friends. For example, your Jiao S, who likes to roam about on her own.”

After he spoke, he disappeared with a gust of wind.

My heart dropped. What happened to Jiao S?

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