Watching the people hiding in the shadows fall one by one, the screams echoing one after another, the strong man’s hands trembled uncontrollably as he held the gun, his eyes flickering as he stared intently at the masked youth who appeared beside the man. The sinister, cold smile sent a chill down his spine, and the bizarre killing method made him quake with fear.

The youth tilted his head slightly, those brilliant blue eyes growing dim, his deep, dark eyes appraising the strong man up and down. After a moment, he clicked his tongue lightly and chuckled softly, "Ah, so you didn’t shoot just now; what a pity. Otherwise, you would be with your friends right now..."

His starry eyes gleaming with a strange wickedness, his red lips curved broadly, his voice low and deliberate, "Taking a walk... across Nai-he Bridge!"

The tone shifted, innocent and curious, "I heard that the Naihe Bridge is lined with blooming otherworldly flowers, do you know?"

"N-no... I don’t know," the strong man stammered, his steps subconsciously retreating backward.

The youth chuckled softly, but suddenly, the curve of his lips faded away, the wickedness in his starry eyes vanished without a trace, replaced by indifference and coldness. He tilted his chin slightly, gazing down at the strong man like a sovereign, "Then you can go and see it for me."

As he spoke, the blue in his starry eyes flared to life, the strong man’s eyes widened, watching his own hand holding the pistol, beyond his control. With a terrified gaze, his wrist turned slightly, and the muzzle was aimed at his temple.

Ever since joining Yu Du, the strong man thought he might one day die. To prevent that day, he learned to use guns and knives and had killed countless people. Among them were enemies in battles, targets ordered to be eliminated, those seemingly innocuous but deemed dangerous, and even those completely innocent save for incurring his annoyance and meeting their deaths at his own hands.

He originally believed he was no longer afraid of death, having killed so many people, enough to accompany him in his grave. He thought he was mentally prepared for death, but in this moment, he realized he was afraid — not because of weakness, but due to the cold indifference of the masked youth before him. Those clear, rippleless starry eyes looked at him as if he were already a dead man.

The overwhelming pressure, the imminent death, and his own hands holding a gun to his temple; these were things the strong man had never imagined would be his death. Most importantly, he had no power to resist.

"W-why?" The strong man stammered, "I didn’t shoot, nor did I order them to shoot at you. I can let you pass as a bystander. If you spare me, I’ll willingly lead you to any of Yu Du’s secret tunnels and chambers. Just spare me!"

"Spare you?" The youth echoed softly, as if in deep thought. Suddenly, she turned to the man beside her who had been smiling at her all along, "Second Young Master Ji, what do you think?"

The man shrugged with a faint smile, "It’s up to Little Nine, but just now, second brother was really scared to death," he said, turning his gaze coldly to the strong man, "This was truly the first time I’ve ever been threatened with a gun."

With a helpless shrug, the youth sighed softly, looking at the strong man innocently, "You see, it looks like no one’s planning to let you go." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"W-why?"

"Why?" the youth repeated, then sneered after a long pause. She looked at the strong man indifferently, one hand in her pocket, the other slowly forming the shape of a gun and aiming at him, saying calmly, "Because you wanted to kill my second brother, so why... would I keep you alive?"

As her words fell, facing the strong man’s terrified expression, the youth laughed coldly and wickedly, her red lips parted slightly, mimicking the sound of a gunshot, ’Bang.’ In that instant, the strong man pulled the trigger on himself, the gunshot rang out, and blood burst from his temple. The strong man, with eyes wide open, collapsed straight to the ground, maintaining the posture of shooting.

Glancing at the strong man, the man chuckled lightly, "Tsk, I didn’t expect our Little Nine to let people die with their eyes open."

After withdrawing the spiritual power from the man before her, Bi Xia looked at him with a half smile, "Ji Qiutang, don’t come here if you’re not capable. Next time, you won’t be so lucky to wait for me to save you."

Ji Qiutang paused, the smile originally on his lips vanished in an instant, his shoulders drooped, panting exaggeratedly, looking nothing like the calm and gentle gentleman he seemed before, "Honestly, I was really scared to death just now. I thought you weren’t coming back!"