HEART PROTECTION: CHAPTER 33
Yan Hui exited the water pavilion. Suddenly she remembered that Tian Yao probably didn't know where the mayor's house was.
She hurriedly left Wang Yu Luo to chase after him. But upon leaving, she saw that Tian Yao was waiting outside for her. He was facing the street with his hands behind his back.
Right on cue, sunlight poured down. It made Tian Yao's originally slim silhouette seem lofty, or perhaps after finding his dragon bones, he grew quite a bit......
In that moment, she heard her own heart violently throb again, "thump, thump". Yan Hui shook her head and firmly hit her chest. "Don't start acting up. Control yourself," she said. Yan Hui took a few deep breaths and slowly walked forward. "The mayor's house is this way. That fatty is a coward. When you scared him, he definitely ran home......"
Yan Hui strode forward. She turned her head back to look at Tian Yao and saw that he was wearing a mask that covered half his face. She was dumbfounded.
The eyes behind the mask looked over. Tian Yao stared at Yan Hui. He roughly explained: "Under these circumstances, I can talk to you this way. Lead on."
But Yan Hui retreated back two steps. She covered her face with her hands and peered through her fingers at Tian Yao: "Quickly take off the mask! Take it off, take it off!"
"......" Tian Yao restrained himself: "Didn't you say looking at my face......wasn't good?!"
"Then you should've gotten a black cloth and wrapped your entire head with it! What's a half-mask going to do?! Have you heard of 'half hidden behind a pipa' [1]. You're doing this on purpose to tempt me, aren't you!" Yan Hui boldly said. "I'm telling you, I'm a person under the influence of drugs! If you keep dressing half-revealed, then don't blame me for whatever I do to you next!"
"......" Tian Yao slightly gritted his teeth. He suddenly realized when facing someone as brazen as Yan Hui, he unexpectedly......didn't have an ability to ward them off.
Tian Yao sighed and took off the half-mask as Yan Hui wished. He untied the string, removed the mask with one hand, and turned his head to look at Yan Hui. The unruly fringe on his forehead fluttered in the wind: "Can you calm down now?"
Tian Yao looked at Yan Hui; Yan Hui looked at Tian Yao. Then without warning, two red lines dripped from Yan Hui's nose.
It was......a nosebleed.
Yan Hui used her sleeve to cover her nose: "I'll walk in front of you. You follow me. Try not to let me know where you are." With her hand still covering her nose, Yan Hui walked in front of Tian Yao. Her steps were rushed like she was running for her life.
"....." Tian Yao at Yan Hui's flustered back. For a moment, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He had lived for many years, but this was the first time seeing a love-stricken girl's reaction be so exaggerated and......honest.
Yan Hui covered her nose. Blood continued to flow, turning her sleeve red. Passersby stared at Yan Hui like she was an attraction. As Yan Hui kept walking, her anger kept growing. She was stewing with anger when she caught up to that fatty sneak, Wang Peng Yuan.
"Wang Peng Yuan!" Yan Hui steadily shouted out.
Wang Peng Yuan turned around and saw Yan Hui bearing down upon him like a vengeful ghost. Wang Peng Yuan immediately whipped his head around and called out to his two bodyguards: "Stop......Stop her......" He had just issued out the order. The bodyguards didn't even have time to react before Yan Hui silently advanced forward. Her movements were fast like the wind, striking the bodyguards on the neck. The bodyguards froze in place like two blocks of wood.
The people watching in the sidelines didn't even get a chance to enjoy the show before Yan Hui grabbed the fatty's lapel and dragged him into a deep alley.
Yan Hui propped her hand on the wall against Wang Peng Yuan's ear. She narrowed her eyes at him. Wang Peng Yuan looked at Yan Hui in panic: "Yan......Yan Hui. I....."
"You've gotten brave." Yan Hui smiled, but her murderous aura intensified. "Talk. Where did you get the lust fragrance you drugged me with?"
Wang Peng Yuan pressed against the wall: "I......I bought it yesterday......"
"Where?"
Wang Peng Yuan looked off to the side. Yan Hui narrowed her eyes and grabbed his ear: "Can you not hear me? Then this ear is useless. Shall I rip it off for you?"
"No, no, no!"
Although Wang Peng Yuan had irritated Yan Hui before, she bore with it because of his status and because she didn't want to tarnish Chen Xing Mountain's reputation. Therefore, she just endured it. Every time she went to Yong Zhou City and met Wang Peng Yuan, she would run away the majority of the time. This time, Yan Hui was angered beyond belief. Since she wasn't a disciple of Chen Xing Mountain now, she didn't care about status or identity anymore. Now, she brought out intimidation tactics.
Upon seeing this kind of Yan Hui, Wang Peng Yuan was scared to the point that his face became ashen and his legs shook: "I heard what you said. I heard you.......I'll talk."
Yan Hui glared at him: "Spell it out. Where did you buy it, and who did you buy it from?"
"From......from Heavenly Fragrance Drugstore, at the southern part of the city. I bought it from the owner, Feng Ming ......"
Feng Ming.
When she heard that name, Yan Hui narrowed her eyes.
If it was to be said Yan Hui didn't recognize that name, that wouldn't be true at all. As someone who traveled the jianghu for a period of time, she ought to know that name. Feng Ming was the second-in-command of Qi Jue Group, which controlled all of the information in martial arts circles in Central Plains. He was vicious and arrogant. Everyone in the jianhu knew him.
If he was the one who put out the order to kill demons and refine their blood into lust fragrance, then Yan Hui gained a little more understanding of the situation.
It was just that Qi Jue Group......
Yan Hui frowned at this train of thought. A melodious voice suddenly came from behind: "Is there an antidote for the lust fragrance?"
Yan Hui felt her legs go weak when she heard that voice......
She hurriedly swung her head over and then hatefully slapped the wall. She stared at Wang Peng Yuan: "Quickly hand the antidote over to me!" If she had to live like this a few more days, then she would go crazy.
Wang Peng Yuan looked at Yan Hui and then looked at Tian Yao with alarm. He was so scared that tears filled his eyes: "There......there isn't an antidote."
Yan Hui laughed for a long time at that joke of a phrase, 'there isn't an antidote'. Then she had to restrain herself from throttling that damned Wang Peng Yuan: "You still dare buy a drug that has no antidote? And use it on me even there's no antidote?"
"I......I wanted you to like me, so you din't have another chance to leave me again!" Wang Peng Yuan cried. "You're mine!"
"Fuck off!" Yan Hui gritted her teeth. Her heart was aflame with fury, and she punched the wall right by Wang Peng Yuan's ear. "If you have the nerve to drug someone, then make sure you hit your target! Look at who you got, you pig!"
Tian Yao was a demon dragon who had been crippled and flayed by the strongest zhenren under the sun. He was doomed to walk a path of vengeance and rain terror and carnage. Making her fall in love with that kind of person, she was better off liking that pig instead. Then she could eat fine foods and sleep on a comfortable bed every day. What an easy life......
"Plip, plop" Two sounds indicated something fell onto the brick.
Wang Yuan Peng was terrified, and tears rushed out of his eyes: "You're, you're really mean......"
Yan Hui didn't care to pay attention to Wang Peng Yuan's words. She grabbed his collar and dragged him alongside her: "We're going to the south part of the city, and you're going to thoroughly ask if there's an antidote."
"I......I don't like you anymore."
Yan Hui didn't care if he liked her or not. She expressionlessly dragged him along.
Wang Peng Yuan was crying and explaining at the same time: "Don't go, don't go......When I was buying it, they told me there was no antidote." Yan Hui paused and listened to Wang Peng Yuan's sobs. "Yan Hui, you said last night you were with that person. Then, since you two are already together, there's.......there's no difference if you were drugged with the lust fragrance or not, right?"
Yan Hui was still standing still. She rubbed the space between her eyebrows which throbbed in pain.
"Don't make me go to Heavenly Fragrance......They said I couldn't tell outsiders about where I got the lust fragrance......"
That sentence made Tian Yao and Yan Hui simultaneously wrinkle their brows.
Tian Yao asked: "Who are the insiders?"
"Third rank......or higher officials. And specially designated people."
Third rank or higher......going by that, then only true nobles can buy the lust fragrance. Yan Hui thought about it and then released her hand to let Wang Peng Yuan go: "Alright, I won't force you to go to Heavenly Fragrance. Don't bring up what happened today to anyone. We will each pretend like it didn't happen."
Wang Peng Yuan bobbed his head up and down. It was clear he also feared the people at Heavenly Fragrance.
"From hence forth, don't come to bother me anymore. Otherwise......" Yan Hui narrowed her eyes. Wang Peng Yuan subconsciously shrank back and retreated two steps.
"Won't bother you, won't bother you!" He retreated two more steps. "I won't bother you again. I'm leaving!" He didn't even finish speaking before turning tail and frantically running away.
Yan Hui dusted off her hands. She heard Tian Yao say: "Let's go to Heavenly Pavilion to talk."
"There's no rush." Yan Hui didn't look back. She straightened out her clothes. "Let's go back to Wang Yu Luo and have lunch with Xian Ge."
Tian Yao didn't understand, so Yan Hui shot him a glance. She didn't plan on clarifying. She just wanted to flash him a mysterious look, but their eyes met and locked gazes. In that moment, Yan Hui's face involuntarily heated up. She could only turn back around and cover her face. She impatiently yelled: "Don't look at me! Don't look at me! My heart is starting to flutter again!"
"......"
When Tian Yao and Yan Hui returned to Wang Yu Luo, it looked like Xian Ge had just lazily risen from bed. She sat by the table, long, silky black hair spilling down on to the floor, unbound. Her languid posture made her seem even more charming.
Xian Ge looked at Yan Hui: "You know I get up late, yet you bring a man into my room?"
Yan Hui didn't even glance at Tian Yao and said: "He doesn't like woman."
Tian Yao: "......"
Actually, what Yan Hui said wasn't incorrect. After what happened in the past, every single person with emotion would find it extremely hard to feel love again. Even if the most beautiful woman appeared in front of Tian Yao, he would only see a person, nothing more.
However, after hearing Xian Ge let out a meaningful "Oh" sound in response, the normally patiently-enduring Tian Yao had the urge to shut Yan Hui's mouth.
Xian Ge waved her hand: "Sit first. I heard the Wang family's son came looking for you again. You also chased after him. What happened?"
"Fatty Wang tried to drug me with the lust fragrance made from fox demon blood. But he made a stupid mistake and caused me to like this fellow instead." Yan Hui gestured behind her. "Then I chased after that fatty to make him give me the antidote."
Xian Ge had been acknowledging and following along. However at those words, her hand that was holding the teacup slightly froze. She raised her eyes and rested her gaze on Yan Hui's face: "Oh......."
"I asked where he bought the lust fragrance. He said it was from Heavenly Fragrance in the south part of the city. Feng Ming gave it to him."
Xian Ge blew at her tea and took a sip. She didn't respond.
"If I'm not wrong, Feng Ming is the second-in-command of the Qi Jue Group. And Xian Ge, isn't your Wang Yu Luo part of Qi Jue Group?"
Tian Yao became startled at what he just heard, but the two people involved - Yan Hui and Xian Ge - had little reaction.
Tian Yao frowned. He still felt the urge toward Yan Hui. Since Xian Ge and Qi Jue Group were in the same nest, then how could they tell Xian Ge their leads about the lust fragrance?!
Tian Yao was still worried when Xian Ge put down her cup. She rather helplessly laughed: "Even though I warned you not to muddy the waters, you still had to splash around in it. When you realize you've stepped in mud, I'm not going to help you out."
Xian Ge's words had a joking tone. However, Yan Hui changed from her normally mischievous self and grimly said: "This concerns Chen Xing Mountain's reputation and my shi.......Ling Xiao. Xian Ge, you know me. Let alone muddy waters, even if there's a pot of boiling oil in front of me, I'll jump in."
Xian Ge sighed: "Silly fool."
Yan Hui actually laughed: "We are the same."
Xian Ge put down her cup and looked at Tian Yao: "Didn't you say the drug got on him? You don't care about your "sweetheart", yet you care about Chen Xing Mountain's affairs. Is the lust fragrance truly effective against you?"
"It's effective! When I look at him, it's like looking at the sun. There's sparkles."
Tian Yao, feeling rather burdened, pressed his hand against his forehead.
Yan Hui contained: "But this won't interfere with our business."
Because to Yan Hui, what she felt toward Chen Xing Mountain and Ling Xiao was never as simple as admiration and love. They were mixed with countless other emotions. It was an unrelinquishable......
Knot in her heart.