Her instinct was correct; it was indeed Chu Dingjiang.
Sitting face to face, she finally noticed the flaw: his chin showed a faint stubble but no pores, indicating a thin covering on his face.
An Jiu was puzzled. Chu Dingjiang was strange enough, but with his build, even wearing a human skin mask wouldn’t make him resemble Hua Rongjian. Why disguise himself with such a conspicuous face? Many people in Bianjing knew Hua Rongjian!
“Are you alright?” An Jiu asked.
Chu Dingjiang shook his head.
After sitting for a while, Chu Dingjiang glanced at her and left.
An Jiu paid and followed him out of the teahouse.
They walked one behind the other on the main street for about an incense stick’s time before Chu Dingjiang turned into a small alley.
When An Jiu followed, Chu Dingjiang had vanished. She probed with her spirit force and found no transcendent masters nearby, only a ninth-level expert less than ten zhang away.
An Jiu stopped before a closed door. It opened to reveal Chu Dingjiang standing in the dim light, having removed his human skin mask and changed back to his original disguise.
“What’s going on? Your cultivation…” An Jiu entered, closing the door behind her.
The room contained only a table with a bamboo scroll and a bronze sparrow oil lamp. The furnishings were simple and rugged, quite different from the delicate, refined furniture of the Song Dynasty. Though An Jiu found it strange, she didn’t dwell on it.
Chu Dingjiang spread his hands. An Jiu saw several black objects embedded in his palms. He smiled, “I have some on my body too. They’ve restricted my powers and thoroughly exiled me to Konghe Court. Many want me dead. I need you now.”
So his appearance before her wasn’t coincidental.
“What do you need me to do?” An Jiu asked. Chu Dingjiang had helped her before; she wouldn’t refuse his request.
“Three years ago, I was only at the sixth level, with ninth-level spirit force. I reached the transcendent realm so quickly because I received a senior’s lifelong cultivation. Though there was some loss, it was enough to help me break through,” Chu Dingjiang didn’t answer directly, instead recounting the past. “Power that doesn’t belong to you is very unstable. I expended great effort to barely control this force.”
“Why? You’d rather take such a big risk?” An Jiu remembered him saying in the ancient temple that receiving someone else’s cultivation could lead to death if one’s meridians couldn’t contain the powerful internal energy. He was at the transcendent level; if he wanted to leave, no one could stop him. Why insist on staying in the Konghe Army despite such treatment?
Chu Dingjiang’s dark eyes were unsettling, and his words equally disturbing: “Ambition.”
An Jiu frowned. “You approached me just for today?”
When Chu Dingjiang said “ambition,” An Jiu felt a tightness in her chest, a feeling she’d only experienced when Mei Jiu was upset. She realized she was upset too.
He had been so kind to her, just to use her.
“Yes and no,” Chu Dingjiang said. “If I purely intended to use you, I wouldn’t tell you this. I’ve manipulated many people, but in my current situation, I don’t want to deceive you. If you refuse, I won’t force you.”
“I agree,” An Jiu pushed aside her unease. “Whatever your intentions were before, I owe you my life. That’s undeniable. Repaying debts is only right.”
“Fourteen.” Chu Dingjiang tried to grasp her hand but was evaded.
The door opened and closed, the room brightening then darkening, much like An Jiu’s heart at that moment.
Chu Dingjiang stared at the closed door, lowering his hand. He sat down, picked up a chess piece from the table, and rubbed the seal script on it, his heart filled with bitterness.
He could no longer generate pure emotions. Beneath his open-minded facade, lies and deceptions came easily. He had long anticipated that a relationship beginning with manipulation would wither when confronted with the truth, yet he still chose to tell her the truth.
Never in his life had he so desperately wanted to win someone’s heart.
He arranged chess pieces on the table to form the seal script character “Hua,” pursing his lips in a bitter smile.
If I could have your companionship, I surely wouldn’t be so lonely on this path, Mei Shisi. If I bore my heart and soul to you, would you stab me in the back when I’m vulnerable…
He had always favored risky, unconventional strategies in warfare. People called him the Heartless Young Master, but who could have foreseen this day?