“He left me alone.” Nestled in the corner of the room and gazing at the open door, Esme found herself alone. Reflecting on the recent moments that had led to her embarrassment, she remained rooted to her spot, remembering how Ryuk had mentioned he was heading to the library.
“Should I find him?” Esme finally decided that there was no need for her to stay inside and act embarrassed as she stood before a small glimmer that formed near her tiara. Her body vanished, directly teleporting outside the guest allotment building’s area.
—-
“Young miss, we have brought the elder’s body,” a robed man materialized in front of Yao Lian as he knelt, while beside him lay a body that was completely destroyed. With hardly enough evidence to recognize it, it was the same elder whom Yao Lian had sent into the lower town to poison Liu Wei.
“Take her and provide her with a respectful burial near the blossom tree at the edge of the mountain,” Yao Lian declared while her fists were clenched. Her jaw revealed her frustration, remembering the humiliation she had to endure yesterday at the hands of those who killed her aunt.
Looking towards the man who disappeared, Yao Lian sat on her bed, supporting her chin with her palm as she looked coldly toward the wall of her room. Remembering each word that man had warned her about, she felt frustrated. But while doing so, she at least knew that the woman accompanying him, wearing a white dress with golden eyes, was not as strong as he was.
Given that Yao Lian was sure that the young man had killed her aunt, she was aware that a woman called Esme was a weakling whom she could use to her benefit. But considering how irritating and annoying she was, Yao Lian couldn’t help but think of a way to get rid of her.
“Should I poison her?” Yao Lian clenched her eyes tightly while trying to control her anger, thinking about using the most lethal poison she had in her arsenal to poison that woman. But her mind was also aware that considering how much that woman was favored by that young master, it was most likely he would shred her if she laid a hand on his woman.
So she wasn’t going to target that weakling, since she was well aware that a person can forgive his enemy harming him, but could never do the same if the enemy targeted their family or loved ones.
“Poison? Am I in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
Suddenly, a womanly voice, calm yet composed, caused Yao Lian’s eyes to widen before turning in the direction of a window where a white-dressed woman stood, looking at her with her golden eyes.
“You? What are you doing here?” Not hesitating at all, as she had enough justification to deal with this intruder entering her room without approval, Yao Lian inquired calmly, standing slowly from the bed. Her fingers circled the air as a ring began to materialize, moving rapidly until it created a ripple in the internal energy present in the nearby atmosphere, forming fire due to its friction and soon turning into a ring of fire.
“Oh, that’s…” Esme cast her gaze at the fire ring held by Yao Lian, pressed her finger to her lips, and tilted her head in a teasing manner as she mockingly informed, “I was on my way to the library but was not aware of the direction. I thought I should hire a guide.”
“You!” Yao Lian yelled, clenching her fist, thinking to instantly attack this woman. However, sensing how this woman had arrived on the 8th floor of the building without her detection, she became more aware that this woman was not weak at all, prompting her to snap her fingers as the ring vanished and turn toward the direction of her door as she added, “Let me guide you.”
At this moment, Yao Lian wanted nothing more than to shred this woman, but she was far more aware of the consequences of attacking her inside the room, knowing well that this could only be harmful to her.
“Stop there, here, hold it and just tell me the direction.” Esme lifted a comb from near the drawer and offered it to Yao Lian while understanding that this place was too large, with several buildings and land masses in between. If she traveled by foot, it would take her half a day to reach the library, deciding to teleport directly to the library while also wanting to put Yao Lian in her place.
“….How dare you!” Yao Lian clenched her fist tight enough for her nails to dig into her own palm, seeing how this woman was clearly mocking her by showing that she couldn’t even let her touch her hand, offering a comb to hold.
But gulping down her pride, she imagined the consequences she would face if she tried to attack this woman. Given that young master’s strength, it was most probable that he would harm her Lian family to vent his anger on Yao Lian.
Unbeknownst to Yao Lian, her family had already been annihilated by the Wei family the previous night, without any means for her to be informed—at the hands of the very young master she believed she had to be wary of in order to safeguard her same family.
Unaware that no matter what path she chose, she would be forced to walk the path that particular young master decided, Yao Lian moved and grabbed the comb, informing, “It’s near the pill creation furnace palace.”
She informed, while both of them vanished from there, directly teleporting in front of the library.
“Where is it?” Esme looked in front of her, where the only thing she could see were huge rubble of wooden architecture fallen on the ground, scattered throughout the place, with several dead bodies lying here and there, including children.
‘?!?!’
“N-no….! Wh-what did he do?” Yao Lian, looking at the sight in front of her, couldn’t understand exactly what happened here. But putting together Esme’s words, who had informed her about the presence of the young master here in the library, she could at least guess that only he possessed the strength to destroy a whole library filled with scrolls and internal energy, prompting her to glare at Esme.
“I don’t think he will ever harm children,” Esme said, looking towards the state of this place while several family members of a family rushed to take those injured ones out of this place, blinking blankly while looking towards Yao Lian as she folded her hands to support her man.
“Huh? Even you believe in your words?! I said where is he!” Yao Lian again yelled, seeing how Esme’s expression was clearly showing her doubts that it was indeed that young master’s work, causing her to feel frustrated as there was a hidden book at the top of the library which Yao Lian had been eyeing for several years but couldn’t get her hands on it considering that it was only allowed for the heirs belonging to the Wei family to go to the top floor.
And here now the whole building had collapsed while books were scattered.
She didn’t know if she would even be able to find that particular book, all because of a young man who had first threatened her on the call, then humiliated her by using her as a guide and now even destroyed her ambition to become stronger, causing her to turn her gaze down before lifting up as with wide eyes glaring towards the sky she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Damn you….! Rui Ke!!!!”
