Mingyi wasn’t surprised. After all, everyone lived for themselves, and Ji Bozhai truly had no reason to help her. If he wouldn’t give it, she’d find a chance to steal it herself. If she couldn’t steal it, she’d let it go. With only half a year left to live, she’d better hurry and see the desert sunset.
So she fell silent, leaning lazily against the carriage wall to rest.
Ji Bozhai wasn’t satisfied with her reaction. “Not going to keep pleading?”
“What’s the point?” She smiled with her eyes closed. “Even if you agreed after I begged desperately, you might not keep your word.”
“Your resentment doesn’t seem aimed solely at the antidote.” He raised a brow. “What, do you have other grievances against me?”
“How would I dare? Your Essence Power is formidable—you could strangle me without lifting a finger.” Her smile was radiant. “Displeasing you would be courting death.”
Ji Bozhai frowned.
He didn’t much like Mingyi like this. He preferred her earlier self—gazing up at him with a soft, sweet smile, free of any chill.
Yet he also felt that the person before him now was closer to her true nature.
How had a woman with Essence Power fallen so low as to become a Dancing Girl in servitude?
“I originally intended to kill you,” he murmured.
Her closed lashes trembled slightly, and Mingyi pressed her lips together.
“But I’ve changed my mind.” His tone was indifferent. “Since you’re already dying, you may as well stay by my side. I’d like to watch you die slowly.”
How cruel. He was always so generous to his other lovers—why was he so harsh only with her?
Mingyi couldn’t understand, but she didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she turned her head to look out the window.
The nights in Star Yearn City were truly beautiful, with a dazzling Milky Way unseen in other cities. The nearest stars loomed larger than the moon, their surfaces pockmarked as if someone had dug craters into them.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to be buried in one of those craters after death? she mused.
The woman before him tilted her head back, her eyes unusually bright—nothing like someone on the brink of death.
Ji Bozhai was momentarily dazzled by her gaze and irritably looked away.
Back at his residence, Ji Bozhai ordered a search of the Lord of Flowing Radiance’s quarters, retrieving all the hidden vials she had stashed away. “Something as crucial as an antidote—who would just stuff it anywhere?” he mocked.
Mingyi smiled. “Desperation clouds judgment.”
He waved for the items to be taken away, then stepped forward, forcing her to retreat step by step.
“Surely not, my lord.” Her smile grew strained. “After everything that’s happened today, you still have the energy for… Luan Feng affairs?”
“I’ve never examined your Meridians. There’s no harm in doing so tonight.”
Mingyi’s expression darkened. “I refuse.”
“Fine,” he said. “Then I won’t spare Twenty-Seven’s life either.”
“…The difference between humans and beasts is that humans have humanity.” She gritted her teeth. “Twenty-Seven has never harmed you. Why must she die?”
“I said everyone who trespasses into Cyan Tile Courtyard must die.” Ji Bozhai’s voice was icy. “Did you think I was joking?”
It was just a shabby courtyard, and she hadn’t even found the antidote. Was it really worth this?
Mingyi lowered her head, took a deep breath, and when she looked up again, her face was bright with a cheerful smile. “Go ahead, my lord. Examine as you please.”
Ji Bozhai bent down, scooped her up, and tossed her onto the bed.
Mingyi rolled with the motion, wrapping herself tightly in the brocade quilt like a cocoon. But the blanket was no barrier—the moment his weight pressed down, inky Essence Power invaded her Meridians.Beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead as Mingyi closed her eyes, desperately trying to use the techniques from the Arcane Scrolls she'd once seen in his study to disguise her meridians to mimic those of a Fighter from Star Yearn City.
Ji Bozhai didn't pay attention to which city's techniques her meridians followed, but was secretly shocked by their damaged state.
The cruelty of the Sky of Eternal Regret lay in how it latched onto one's meridians. If the antidote was discontinued for more than three months, the poison would seep into the meridians, corroding the carefully cultivated pathways that a Fighter had spent years building until they became utterly ruined.
Mingyi's meridians were now like a sieve full of holes. That she could still wield Essence Power today might truly be a final, desperate strike before death.
As a fellow Fighter, looking at those meridians filled him with despair, yet she seemed unaffected, accepting her fate with equanimity, showing no distress whatsoever.
He couldn't help but wonder if she had even cultivated these meridians herself.
"Now that you've seen my meridians, I've bared myself completely to you, my lord," Mingyi chattered on. "So could you treat me better in my remaining six months? I don't need luxury, but at least don't lock me in the woodshed so often—it's truly filthy there."
Withdrawing his Essence Power, Ji Bozhai responded coldly, "That depends on your performance."
"What kind of performance?" She wrinkled her nose.
"Don't overthink it. I've lost interest in you." He rose and moved to the other side of the bed, speaking indifferently. "But Da Si intends to elevate your status. From now on, you'll have more places to go and more tasks to complete for me."
Mingyi almost laughed in frustration. "You'd even exploit a dying woman?"
"Complete my demands, and after your death, I'll ensure Twenty-Seven is properly taken care of."
"Deal." She snapped her fingers.
Ji Bozhai frowned at her mannerism, unaccustomed to it. "In my presence, maintain your previous demeanor."
So demanding.
Rolling her eyes inwardly, Mingyi immediately put on a coquettish smile. "This servant understands~"
"The envoy leaves Star Yearn City the day after tomorrow. Find a way to place an item on Bo Yuankui's beast-drawn carriage," he instructed. "I'll give it to you two hours beforehand."
Bo Yuankui's carriage?
Mingyi's face fell. "My lord, with his Essence Power, wouldn't he detect anyone approaching?"
"That's why I'm sending you." His tone was merciless. "Figure it out yourself."
What a fickle man. When they were intimate, he called her "Yi'er," but now that he'd lost interest, it was "figure it out yourself."
"This servant will do her best," she muttered.
The man before her stood and left without another glance, stepping out of the Lord of Flowing Radiance's residence. As he passed through the doorway, he ordered Granny Xun, "Prepare the beast-drawn carriage for the villa."
"Yes, my lord."
Since she was the only woman in the main residence who no longer held his interest, naturally, he had to go to the villa.
Watching him leave, Mingyi couldn't help but regret her past choices. Back when she was still powerful, why hadn't she bought several villas and kept a few men like he did? What a waste.
After winding through the corridors, Ji Bozhai summoned Buxiu.
"Send someone to Sunspire City to investigate which families have daughters who can wield Essence Power. Also, find out where Twenty-Seven truly came from."
"Yes, my lord."
He stood in the courtyard for a while, gazing at the flowers in the garden, then turned to look at the lush bamboo by the wall of the Lord of Flowing Radiance's residence. Irritated, he flicked his sleeve.
It wasn't that he cared about her past—he just believed in knowing one's enemy to ensure victory.
Women were replaceable, after all. Whether he replaced them sooner or later made no difference. It wasn't a big deal.However, it was one thing for him to want to change voluntarily, but quite another for others to force him to do so.
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