Chapter 18: Blocking the Blade

These streams of spiritual energy required no deliberate effort from Ye Fei to circulate; they flowed naturally through his blood and meridians, cleansing away the accumulating impurities within him. This was exactly why Ye Fei had the sudden inspiration to use this method to help his senior sister.

However, what surprised him was that, contrary to his expectations, infusing this strand of spiritual energy into his senior sister’s body did not cause her any discomfort or disrupt her blood flow. In fact, the effect far exceeded his imagination.

“It seems Senior Sister’s constitution is quite remarkable as well,” Ye Fei mused to himself, murmuring under his breath.

But just then, a chill swept over him as he sensed an icy glare, cold to the marrow, locking onto him.

“Senior Sister… heh heh...” Ye Fei grinned at his now fully awake senior sister.

“Move your hand away, or do you have a death wish?” Lin Qiqing glared at him through gritted teeth.

Ye Fei quickly withdrew his hand from her lower abdomen, chuckling, “Senior Sister, don’t catch a cold—hurry and put your clothes back on.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted them.

Lin Qiqing’s look was even more terrifying than when she was angry.

“Senior Sister…”

“Shut up!” Lin Qiqing drew a deep breath and turned her head aside, her voice icy. “Don’t mention what happened today to anyone, you hear me? If you dare say a word, I’ll castrate you myself! Don’t think I’ll show you mercy just because you’re my junior apprentice!”

“But, Senior Sister, we didn’t do anything,” Ye Fei protested innocently, spreading his hands. “Besides, I protected your dignity—in a way, I’m your savior!”

“Get lost!” Lin Qiqing retorted angrily. “You think I didn’t see you touching me just now?”

“That wasn’t touching—I was helping you expel toxins,” Ye Fei replied earnestly.

Lin Qiqing took another deep breath, clearly unwilling to argue further. Shooting him a fierce glare, she looked around the room, then suddenly snapped out of her daze. “What happened just now? Where’s Zhang Tianfeng?”

“Him? He ran off, scared by my heroic presence,” Ye Fei said with a grin. “Senior Sister, next time, don’t work with people like him. You’re so beautiful, with such a great figure—it’s easy to attract the wrong sort of attention.”

Lin Qiqing frowned slightly, as if struggling to recall what had happened earlier.

After a long pause, she fixed her gaze on Ye Fei. “Junior Brother, tell me honestly—did you lay hands on Zhang Shao?”

“…You could say that,” Ye Fei shrugged, making no attempt to hide it.

“You...” Lin Qiqing’s just-dissipated anger surged back, her face thunderous. “Do you have any idea how long it took me to establish a connection with Zhang Tianfeng? You ruined everything! Do you know how much this could cost my company?”

Confronted with her anxious interrogation, Ye Fei was utterly bewildered.

Hadn’t he just saved his senior sister?

Why did it seem as if she was completely dissatisfied with what he’d done?

“You…” Lin Qiqing appeared to read his thoughts. Steeling herself, she smoothed her heaving chest with a sigh, pulled her clothes up onto her shoulders, and said dejectedly, “Do you think I’ve followed our master all these years for nothing? Do you think I’m unaware of what Zhang Tianfeng is after?”

“I brought you here not to have you protect me, but simply to broaden your horizons.”

“Before we arrived, I’d already put safeguards in place outside.”

“If Zhang Tianfeng dared to try anything, one phone call and my people would’ve come in to take me away.”

“Even being cajoled into drinking was within my expectations.”

“You, why did you have to meddle?”

With that, she didn’t wait for Ye Fei’s response. She straightened, slipped on her high heels, donned her coat, slung her purse over her shoulder, and headed for the door.

Just as she was about to push it open, Lin Qiqing cast a cold glance back at Ye Fei.

“Next time, don’t try to play the hero.”

Ye Fei opened his mouth but was left speechless.

This was the first time he had ever seen Lin Qiqing lose her temper with him.

Moreover, she was so cold, so distant.

Yet what puzzled him even more was why his senior sister would willingly put herself in danger, humbling herself to cooperate with someone like Zhang Tianfeng.

Could it be that her own dignity was worth less than a contract worth a mere hundred million?

No, there was more to this than met the eye.

Ye Fei made a mental note, planning to follow his senior sister out and figure out how to make it up to her, when suddenly the private room’s door was flung open.

A wave of murderous intent, as chilling as a winter wind, rolled in from outside.

In an instant—

Ye Fei’s hair stood on end, his gaze sharpening as he stared at the doorway.

There stood a tall, powerfully built man, gripping a jet-black military knife, dressed in a dirty tank top, his eyes glinting with a sinister coldness. His muscular arms were covered in visible scars. Exuding a fierce aura, he raised his hand, aiming a slash at Lin Qiqing’s face.

“Senior Sister, watch out!”

Ye Fei’s pupils narrowed to pinpricks. Channeling his spiritual energy, he moved with a speed no ordinary human could match, appearing before Lin Qiqing in a flash and pulling her into his embrace, shielding her as they fell to the ground.

“Ah!” Lin Qiqing cried out.

The military knife, gleaming with a cold light, came slashing down onto Ye Fei’s back.

Intent only on protecting his senior sister, Ye Fei had no thought for the power behind the blade, nor for using his spiritual energy to shield his body. He simply let the edge bite into his back, tearing open a bloody gash.

“Hiss—” Ye Fei sucked in a sharp breath.

...

Half an hour earlier.

In a luxurious villa.

Qin Feiyang sat on the sofa, his eyes cold and sharp as he flicked ash from his cigarette. He eyed the man before him—a menacing figure in a filthy tank top—his voice low and grave. “Huzi, this is the man you found for me? He looks like a beggar.”

The man stared straight ahead, ignoring the comment.

To the side, Huzi, wearing a floral shirt and sporting dyed blond hair, bent over with a grin. “Young Master Qin, don’t underestimate this guy. He was personally trained by your father. At the age of ten, he was sent abroad to learn assassination techniques from a hunter organization.”

“Take a closer look at the knife at his waist. That’s the reward you get when you graduate from the hunter organization, forged from the purest obsidian. It’s worth ten million on the black market. If you stab someone with that, they’ll be half-dead, if not finished.”

“Oh? That impressive?” Qin Feiyang raised an eyebrow, then frowned. “Does my old man know about this?”

“Don’t worry, Young Master Qin, I know the rules.” Huzi laughed. “Agui only got back two days ago. Uncle Qin doesn’t know a thing. Honestly, this was such a simple job I could’ve had any one of my men handle it. But since it’s your order, and you said the other guy is tough, Agui happens to have some free time and hasn’t had a real fight in ages—perfect for him to get some practice.”