Nan Shiying’s face was a picture of pure villainy.
At least, that’s how the cook and the other two saw her. In that moment, they felt there was no one more twisted on earth.
The innkeeper and the waiter, their hands hidden in their sleeves, their backs slightly hunched, their soles gripping the ground, sank their weight.
They had adjusted their bodies to their peak readiness.
The instant the cook shouted was the moment they would strike.
“Good!”
The cook didn’t curse loudly. She nodded calmly, her voice no longer rough, a touch of clarity trailing its end.
The innkeeper and the waiter’s heads snapped around. They glared at the cook and unleashed a torrent of curses.
“Good? You call that good?”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
Before the curses had finished, a narrow bamboo tube slid from the waiter’s sleeve. He grabbed it, flicked his wrist, and his other hand landed on the tube’s end. “Pretty boy, die!”
He roared and twisted the switch at the end.
A stone shot through the air, piercing the waiter’s wrist. The splashing blood flew out with the bamboo tube. The waiter grunted, clutching his wrist as he retreated.
Nan Shiying, seeing his strange movements and peculiar footwork, appeared where the bamboo tube was about to fall in the blink of an eye.
The innkeeper did not seize the opportunity to interfere. Instead, he too retreated.
Their choice told Nan Shiying only one thing: that bamboo tube must be an astonishingly powerful weapon.
Ying Yi, like a ghost, silently entered the ruined temple and reappeared behind the waiter. He drew his sword and thrust horizontally.
*Clang~*
A flying boning knife deflected Ying Yi’s sword. It was only at this moment that the waiter and the innkeeper discovered Ying Yi, who had crept up behind them.
If not for the cook, they would have already been dead by the sword.
“Enough!”
The cook stopped this futile resistance, which was like ants trying to shake a tree. Even if the Storm Needle could heavily injure or even kill them, what would be the use? Not to mention that after killing her, they would still have to face her escorts. Even if they were lucky enough to escape today, they would face endless pursuit.
It was merely a piece of meat, what difference could it make?
The cook turned and looked at Nan Shiying. “You mean what you say?”
Nan Shiying tossed aside the stone in her hand and pointed at the bamboo tube on the ground. Ying Yi flicked his wrist, his sword tip lifted the bamboo tube, and then he grasped it. He sheathed his sword and walked to Nan Shiying’s side, handing her the tube.
Nan Shiying waved her hand. “You won’t fail to understand. Take it back and let Mo Wei have a look.”
Ying Yi silently tucked the bamboo tube into his怀.
Xiao Man pursed her lips.
If it were Xuan Yi, he definitely wouldn’t have handed this thing to the young lady.
Under these circumstances, Nan Shiying’s indifference placed immense pressure on the innkeeper and the other two. Resistance, like battle, required a unified effort; once it faltered, it was difficult to regain momentum. After their reliance, the Storm Needle, was taken by her escort, they had lost their only leverage.
The cook picked up her boning knife silently. Unconcerned by the eyes of others, she lifted the hem of her clothes, revealing her undergarments. She gestured to her thigh and then slashed at it.
Blood immediately appeared. The knife cut into flesh. She did not pull it out but twisted her wrist, aiming to slice off a piece of meat diagonally upwards.
“That’s enough!”
Nan Shiying did not let her actually cut the flesh.
She adjusted her sleeve and asked gently, “What are your plans from now on? Would you like to live somewhere else?”
The cook, who had stopped, now heard her words and directly cut a piece of flesh from her leg. She grabbed the severed meat and limped towards Nan Shiying, blood dripping down her thigh, quickly soaking her entire pant leg.
Nan Shiying watched the cook, who held the bloody thigh meat in her left hand and walked towards her step by step, pondering why she was doing this!
The cook’s face seemed to wear a mask, making it impossible to discern her true expression. Only the hand holding the boning knife trembled slightly, its protruding knuckles white to the bone.
“I’ll make it for you right away. After it’s done, please fulfill your promise.”
Nan Shiying: “……”
Seeing Nan Shiying’s lack of a response, the cook suddenly burst into laughter, her laughter filled with sorrow. She flung the meat at Nan Shiying’s feet. The blood from the meat splattered onto Nan Shiying’s face.
Nan Shiying frowned.
“You…”
“To fall into your hands today, I was destined to die. Heh~ I actually believed you, believed you would keep your promise. I was so foolish, truly. I shouldn’t have stopped them just now. Even if we were to die, we should have torn a piece of flesh from you.”
Nan Shiying was silent for a second. She looked at the indignant cook, then at her bleeding thigh. She understood. The other party thought she wouldn’t keep her promise?
“Why?”
Nan Shiying pointed at herself and asked, “When did I say I wanted your lives?”
“Heh, why pretend now? You asked if we wanted to live somewhere else, did you really intend to arrange a place for us to stay?”
Nan Shiying was silent for a second. Seeing the cook about to speak again, Nan Shiying felt that if this continued, she would really send them all to have a chat with Yama.
Did she look like someone who enjoyed toying with people in the palm of her hand?
“What if I say, yes?”
The cook choked. She looked at Nan Shiying, recalling the cook’s tales about her actions to the innkeeper and the waiter. She looked like a complete monster.
What normal person would desecrate corpses!
Nan Shiying looked at the cook, perhaps understanding what she was thinking. It was one thing for Hui Jing to maliciously speculate about her, but what right did these three, who ran a black inn and treated corpses as resources, have to consider her a monster?
Silence fell between them.
The atmosphere became tense.
“My elder brother is the kindest and best person in this world. He provides free medical treatment, saves people, and manages floods. Even now, there are statues erected by the common people in Yuzhou City to honor him. And you! You run black inns, eat raw human flesh, gouge out hearts, and gnaw on bones. You are the epitome of perversion! How dare you feel indignant? Don’t say my brother deceived you, but even if he did, so what?”
“Every word my brother speaks to you is a form of benevolence!!”
“Furthermore, if my brother wanted you dead, do you think you would still be standing here breathing? From the very beginning, my brother had no intention of killing you. Otherwise, the moment you stepped into the ruined temple, your heads would have been severed!!”
The cook and the other two were utterly devastated by the tirade, but there was one point they refused to concede!
“We only sell, we don’t eat!!!!!”
“Pah, even more twisted!”