An Jiu turned around to see a figure emerging from the shadows, clad in a gray-black close-fitting outfit, yet bearing the delicate features of a handsome young man.
"It really is you, sister!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"Mei Ru Yan," An Jiu stated her name plainly.
Mei Ru Yan's steps faltered. Mei Jiu had always called her either "little sister" or "A Shun," almost never using her full name.
"Why so distant, sister?" Mei Ru Yan approached, her expression wounded and sorrowful. "I didn't receive any reply from Lord Chu in Yangzhou, so I took the risk and followed him to Bianjing. I thought you might return to Mei Shi, so I've been waiting nearby for over a month."
She removed her mask, revealing a strikingly beautiful face.
To An Jiu, Mei Ru Yan's beauty was quintessentially Eastern—her slender eyes could appear sharp or alluring. But in An Jiu's eyes, this face was also one skilled in deception. "If you were planning to manipulate a fool, I'm sorry to say that fool is no longer here."
Mei Ru Yan's expression stiffened before she feigned confusion. "What are you talking about, sister?"
"Drop the act," An Jiu said coolly. "Wei Yuzhi is as cunning as a ghost, and his mental strength allows him to manipulate external objects. How could you possibly escape from him?"
"His constitution was already weak. After using his ability to manipulate objects, he needed a long time to recover. That's how I managed to escape," Mei Ru Yan explained, her eyes welling with tears. "Sister, you have to believe me. I ran away to save you all, hoping I could seek refuge with you in the future. If you abandon me now, once Wei Yuzhi recovers, I’ll be as good as dead!"
In her desperation, she drew her sword and pressed it against her own neck. "If death is inevitable, I might as well end it now! Better than living in constant fear."
A slow smile spread across An Jiu's face—beautiful, yet frost-cold under the moonlight. "Starting today, my opinion of you has changed. You're not as impressive as I thought."
An Jiu felt a pang of disappointment. She had once admired Mei Ru Yan for growing up in hardship, like a flower clinging to a cliff—worldly and cunning, yes, but with a resilient beauty that surpassed Mei Jiu's delicate, sheltered fragility. But now, she realized Mei Jiu wasn’t so bad after all. At the very least, she was far better than this woman threatening suicide with a sword.
Mei Ru Yan lowered her blade, watching An Jiu stride away. "Why are you so convinced I have ill intentions?" she called after her.
"Because I don’t care about you at all," An Jiu replied without turning back, tossing the words over her shoulder like an afterthought.
Because she didn’t care, Mei Ru Yan’s life or death meant nothing to her.
Mei Ru Yan stood frozen.
This wasn’t the Mei Jiu she knew! Could a person really change so drastically?
An Jiu darted through the city, swift as an arrow.
Before long, she returned to the Crane Control Army.
Her first stop was Mo Sigui’s courtyard, where she tossed the Plum Fist Manual in front of him. "Check if anything’s missing."
Mo Sigui was meticulously filing his nails and didn’t bother looking up. "I’m not a Mei. How would I know what the manual is supposed to look like?"
"You can tell with other martial arts manuals. Why not this one?" An Jiu sat across from him, staring intently. "Have you gone blind recently?"
"Tsk!" Mo Sigui winced as he nicked his finger. Glaring at her, he snapped, "Is this how you ask for a favor?"Eyes locked in a staring contest for a long moment, An Jiu finally curled her lips. Just as she was about to say something nice to placate him, he raised a hand to stop her. "I know exactly what you're thinking, but save your breath. Even a toe could guess that a dog's mouth will never spit out ivory."
"It could," An Jiu said.
Mo Sigui was astonished. Picking up two scrolls from the table, his mood brightened. "You actually know how to mock yourself? I thought you only knew how to sting others with harsh words."
An Jiu leaned in to look at the scrolls with him and replied, "I just think you often make a lot of sense."
Thud! Mo Sigui slammed the scrolls onto the table. "I'm done reading!"
An Jiu hurriedly checked the scrolls to ensure they weren’t damaged before saying, "Psychologists say people who can’t control their emotions are prone to mental illness. You fly into rages for no reason—you should be careful."
"No reason?" Mo Sigui raised his voice, then deflated and picked up the manual again. "I’m about to lose my temper with you for good. Let me give you some heartfelt advice, Da Jiu—watch out, or one day I might just poison you to death!"
"You won’t," An Jiu said confidently. "Because you're too interested in my injuries."
"..." Mo Sigui felt like he was being twisted and kneaded in someone’s hands. The sensation was so strong and sudden that he was left speechless with "delight."
Seeing him frozen, An Jiu urged, "Hurry up and read."
Mo Sigui silently flipped through the pages at high speed. When he reached the last page of the second volume, he suddenly grinned and rolled up his sleeves. "Come on, let me guess—you went through a lot of trouble to get this, didn’t you? And yet, you still got played. This book is clearly incomplete. There should be at least two more fist techniques missing. Oh-ho, how the tables have turned! Finally, my day has come!"
"Exactly," An Jiu agreed wholeheartedly, stroking the scroll. "It did take a lot of effort. The previous family head gave me a jade pendant before he died, and I guarded it carefully all this time. Handing it over to them wasn’t easy—I hesitated for a whole day."
Mo Sigui’s laughter choked off.
"They gave me the manual so easily and didn’t try to take it back, so I figured some parts must’ve been withheld," An Jiu continued, her slender white fingers lightly tapping the table. "It’ll take me years to master what’s here. By then, if Mei Shi refuses to give me the rest or demands too much, I should be strong enough to take it by force. At the very worst, I can always steal it, right?"
Mo Sigui sneered. "I never knew you were so capable. My apologies."
His mockery was too exaggerated for An Jiu to ignore. "This is a serious matter..."
Mo Sigui grabbed a nail file. "Take Da Jiu and Xiao Yue to play somewhere else. Don’t disturb me while I’m working."
An Jiu thought, Filing nails counts as work now? But then she noticed him carefully sweeping the nail dust into a small paper packet with a brush. "Why are you collecting that?"
"For Medicine, of course," Mo Sigui said, grinning as if amused by some thought. "This is for your Medicine. Creeped out?"
"I’d swallow it even if you chopped off your fingers," An Jiu said, her gaze lingering on his hands.This time, it was Mo Sigui who felt uneasy. He tucked the paper package away and said, "Go on, get out of here! Go do whatever you're supposed to do!"
An Jiu returned to her room to carefully study the Plum Fist.
The method of generating force in the Plum Fist was quite different from the Tendon Severing Palm. The Tendon Severing Palm's power was fierce and brutal—while severing an opponent's meridians, it would also damage their flesh, essentially crippling them. In contrast, the Plum Fist employed the principle of "Hitting through the mountain," its force soft yet firm. According to the manual, if one mastered the Plum Fist to perfection, they could injure an opponent's internal organs without leaving the slightest trace on their skin. (To be continued...)
PS: Apologies for the late update. Some matters delayed me today, and I only had time to get to the computer close to 1 AM. Sorry to keep everyone waiting.
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