Chapter 56: Tricking Another One, Lord Pei Plucks the Stars with a Single Hand
Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Tricking Another One, Lord Pei Plucks the Stars with a Single Hand
"You’re not afraid to die?"
The Shaking Light Saintess finally spoke. Her crisp voice was like a clear spring, like a singing oriole—melodious and lovely to the ear.
Pei Shaoqing nodded and replied, "I am."
"It doesn’t seem like it." The Shaking Light Saintess shook her head.
She was not usually talkative, but things were different when facing the man who had murdered Kaiyang.
And she was in no hurry to strike.
After all, even if Pei Shaoqing had consumed and refined that Spirit Pill, he would at most have crossed from being a common person into the Body Refining Realm. For her, killing him would still be as easy as crushing an insect.
Pei Shaoqing smiled. "Because I’m not going to die."
"You’re very confident." The Shaking Light Saintess felt she was being underestimated. Her gaze was like a knife, her tone icy.
"The Saintess misunderstands. I am, of course, no match for you," Pei Shaoqing explained with a calm smile. "What I mean is, you won’t kill me."
The Shaking Light Saintess instantly caught the key information in his statement. "How do you know who I am?"
She had not introduced herself since entering.
Pei Shaoqing didn’t answer the question, instead saying, "I’ve long heard from Captain Wang that the Saintess possesses a beauty that could topple nations, a beauty not of this world. I thought he was exaggerating, but seeing you today, I know his words were true."
"Captain Wang has betrayed the Holy Sect?" The Shaking Light Saintess’s eyes turned cold, her murderous intent plain to see.
The corners of Pei Shaoqing’s mouth lifted slightly. Through this probing exchange, he had gained a better understanding of the Shaking Light Saintess.
Her exceptional talent and condescending arrogance, combined with her lack of experience in the Jianghu, meant that while her power was immense, she lacked worldly wisdom.
To put it nicely, she was naive.
To put it bluntly, she was all brawn and no brains.
Pei Shaoqing laughed. "Does the Saintess have so little faith in the Holy Sect? Have you not considered that it was Captain Wang who persuaded me to betray the Court and join you?"
"What did you say?" For the first time, a strong fluctuation entered the Shaking Light Saintess’s voice. She then sneered, "Nonsense. If you had already joined the Holy Sect, why would Kaiyang die at your hands?"
"He didn’t die at my hands!" Pei Shaoqing answered with a frank expression. Before the Shaking Light Saintess could react, he asked, "Does the Saintess believe the Kaiyang Saint Heir would slaughter his own brethren just to hoard a Spirit Pill?"
"Among the seven of us martial siblings, not one would stoop so low for a single Spirit Pill," the Shaking Light Saintess replied coldly. She didn’t believe it for a second.
And Pei Shaoqing’s previous answer made her feel even more strongly that there was a hidden story behind Kaiyang’s death. She wanted to uncover the truth.
’I knew you wouldn’t believe it.’
’Because County Magistrate Wang didn’t believe it at first either.’
’The Kaiyang Saint Heir knew you wouldn’t believe it, which is why he dared to act so unscrupulously.’
Pei Shaoqing sneered inwardly, but on the surface, he sighed and said in a low voice, "The Kaiyang Saint Heir is indeed incapable of such a thing. He did not die by my hand, nor did the Spirit Pill fall into my possession."
"The letter Captain Wang wrote was an act of desperation. Its contents were three parts truth and seven parts falsehood. The matter is complicated and cannot be explained in just a few words."
"If the Saintess wishes to resolve her many doubts, you can take me to see Captain Wang. You need only ask him to know if my words are true or false."
He estimated that Liu Yuheng should have arrived by now.
The fact that Pei Shaoqing could name Captain Wang and recognize her at a glance made the Shaking Light Saintess believe at least thirty percent of his words. The rest she would have to verify with Captain Wang.
"Fine. We’ll go to the Tongzhou Branch right now. If you dare to deceive me, I will grind your bones to dust."
The Shaking Light Saintess’s tone was calm. After tossing out the threat, she paid him no further mind, turning to walk out on her own.
This was the absolute confidence she had in her own strength.
Pei Shaoqing quickly followed, asking with feigned curiosity, "If I may ask, what realm is the Saintess at now?"
"Mid-stage Wandering Dragon." The Shaking Light Saintess answered calmly, but her chin lifted slightly.
"The Saintess is truly a once-in-a-generation talent!" Pei Shaoqing, now just a step behind the Shaking Light Saintess, exclaimed. At the same time, he sighed with envy. "And pitiful me, I haven’t even entered the first rank."
The Shaking Light Saintess paid him no mind. She had heard such exclamations of amazement all her life. She reached out to open the door.
At that exact moment, Pei Shaoqing channeled his True Qi and struck the center of the Shaking Light Saintess’s back with all his might.
"BOOM!"
They were too close, and she had exposed her back to him. Caught completely off guard, the Shaking Light Saintess was thrown forward, smashing through the door and crashing heavily to the ground outside. A mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips.
"Take down this demoness for me at once!"
Pei Shaoqing took a step out and roared the order.
Liu Yuheng, Zhao Zilan, Ye Hanshuang, Song Youcai, and numerous other members of the Jing’an Guard swarmed forward at once.
At the same time, several other Jing’an Guards with drawn blades ran to Pei Shaoqing’s side, forming a protective circle around him.
Blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, the Shaking Light Saintess glared at Pei Shaoqing with a face full of hatred and fury. She forced her wounded, ambushed body to its feet to face her enemies.
Pei Shaoqing was at the peak of Qi Condensation, a full two minor realms below her. But a full-powered strike while she was completely defenseless had still left her in a terrible state.
Injured as she was, she might not even be a match for Liu Yuheng, let alone so many others.
As expected, she was beaten back again and again.
She tried to escape, but just as she leaped up, Crossbow Arrows flew in from all directions, forming a net that sealed off the sky.
Combined with the harassment from Zhao Zilan and the others,
she was forced back down to the ground.
Soon, the Shaking Light Saintess’s Soft Sword was knocked from her hand, and she was sent sprawling by another sword strike. Before she could rise, Liu Yuheng swiftly used True Qi to seal her Dantian.
Ye Hanshuang and Zhao Zilan crossed their longswords over her neck, pinning her to the ground and daring her to move.
The once high and mighty, untouchable Saintess now lay with her hair in disarray, her body covered in blood. Even her once-immaculate, jade-like feet were caked with dirt. She was a pathetic sight, a completely different person from before.
"HAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Pei Shaoqing, who had been watching the show with his hands behind his back, threw his head back and laughed as he strode forward. He lifted a foot and stomped it directly onto the Shaking Light Saintess’s back. She let out a pained cry, another mouthful of crimson blood spraying out.
"Bitch, you think you’re worthy of fighting me?"
"So what if you’re strong? You have no brain!"
Pei Shaoqing taunted her wantonly from his superior position.
He then moved his foot and crouched down, grabbing a handful of her hair and forcing her to look at him. He whispered with a brilliant smile, "I’ll tell you the truth. I was the one who killed Kaiyang. I was the one who took the Spirit Pill. This strength of mine? It’s all thanks to that Spirit Pill!"
What does it mean to not just kill the body, but also the spirit? This was it.
"Bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely kill you!" Having never suffered such a blow and such humiliation, the Shaking Light Saintess could no longer maintain the facade of an untouchable fairy. She gritted her teeth and roared.
Her defenses had been shattered.
"SLAP!" Pei Shaoqing raised a hand and slapped her across the face. He pinched her cheeks and said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, "Kill me? That fellow Kaiyang wanted to kill me too. And what was the result? I’m still alive and well, and it’s already been more than a week since he died."
"Oh, right." At this, Pei Shaoqing feigned a look of sudden realization. "That idiot was tricked by me too. I said I wanted to recruit him, and he actually believed it. The moment he dispersed his cultivation, my men pierced his ’pipa bones,’ leaving him unable to move, covered in his own blood."
"In the end, I shot him dead with an arrow. Tsk, tsk, a big old hole right between the eyes. Died on the spot. He couldn’t even close his eyes in death! HAHAHAHA! HAHAHA! HAHAHAHA!"
Song Youcai and Sun Youliang looked at each other. ’How come it feels like we’re the villains helping a tyrant?’
"You rely on nothing but schemes and sneak attacks, you don’t dare to fight head-on! What kind of hero are you!" The Shaking Light Saintess felt her heart twist as if a knife were turning in it, her eyes so bloodshot they felt they would burst.
The smile remained on Pei Shaoqing’s face. "Whether I’m a hero or not isn’t for you to decide. In the eyes of the Court and the common people, I am the hero who dealt a heavy blow to you rebels!"
As he spoke, he forcibly pulled an ancient-looking ring from the Shaking Light Saintess’s finger.
’Another Storage Magical Treasure. Lovely.’
"Give that back!" the Shaking Light Saintess cried out in alarm, but she was powerless to stop him. She could only close her eyes and say in a chilling voice, "Lapdog of the Court, just kill me! Take my head to your master and claim your reward."
"It would be a shame to kill such a beautiful woman. I never waste food; I always make sure to eat every last grain of rice in my bowl." Pei Shaoqing said, revealing the same kind of smile as a certain General Yuwen.
But the Shaking Light Saintess seemed not to hear him, simply repeating over and over, "Kill me! Kill me!"
Pei Shaoqing ordered, "Tie this assassin up and send her to the dungeons in my manor. I’ll deal with her slowly when I have the time. Also, just give her one bowl of water a day to keep her alive. No food without my command."
’The corruption of a saintess... my favorite.’
’He was going to mold the Saintess into his shape.’
"Yes, sir!"
Immediately, members of the Jing’an Guard found a rope and began to tie her up.
"What are you doing?! Pei Shaoqing! If you’re a man, kill me! Let me go! Let me go!"
The once high and mighty, transcendent Yao Guang Fairy had well and truly fallen from grace into the mortal world. She screamed and struggled emotionally, but it was all in vain.
"Nothing that happened here today is to be spoken of outside. Anyone who dares to disobey this order will die!" Pei Shaoqing warned coldly.
Everyone replied in unison, "As you command!"