Chapter 9: The First Assassin

“Why? Am I not allowed to come here?” Ji Qizhe laughed, “We’re leaving tonight, might as well take one last look…”

Gu Qingyu stood next to Jia Qizhe and watched the rippling pond. “It’s nice to be able to leave…”

“Do you really know medicine?” Jia Qizhe suddenly asked out of the blue.

Gu Qingyu nodded innocently, “yeah, well, a little… ”

“Can you guarantee that you can cure that man’s master?” He asked again.

“...No.” Gu Qingyu replied, “I’m not confident in my skills, but I probably could try something if it’s something related to emotions, or mental illnesses.”

“The issues of the mind.” Jia Qizhe looked at Gu Qingyu, dubious, “Wait, you can cure the issues of the mind?”

“Probably.” Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes. Hey, I was a psychiatrist in the modern world!She went back to her room after chatting a bit more with Jia Qizhe.

Soon, it was nightfall.

Gu Qingyu wore her black stealth suit and used the agility of her cat spirit powers to bring both herself and Xiao Qi to the crooked tree. As Xiao Qi knew a bit of magic, no one picked up on their trail. They finally got past a group of guards and arrived at the crooked tree. It appeared that Jia Qizhe and Qi Yichen have been waiting there for a while.

“This is?” Qi Yichen looked at Xiao Qi.

“Ohoh! She is my friend, and will be coming with us! Qi Yichen... is that okay?” Gu Qingyu looked at Qi Yichen nervously, his approval was needed after all.

Qi Yichen nodded, “Of course, if she is Qingyu’s friend…”

Since they decided to leave together, the master-servant relationship no longer existed between Gu Qingyu and Xiao Qi. They were equals now. That was why Gu Qingyu told Qi Yichen that Xiao Qi was her friend. Besides, it was the truth. Xiao Qi looked at Gu Qingyu with gratitude.

Qi Yichen smiled warmly, “Let’s go.”

“...Yes.” Gu Qingyu nodded. They nimbly jumped on top of the wall.

Right then, the second daughter of the Gu Family came to Gu Qingyu’s room. Gu Qingyu left her room lit with a candle in order to throw others off her trail.

The second daughter entered the room through the window. She pulled out the dagger hidden in her sleeve and stabbed the bed. But she quickly discovered that the sheets were empty and lifted them up frantically, before carefully slipping her dagger back into her sleeve. After all this, she ran out of the room in pretended panic. “Oh no! My younger sister is missing!”

Gu Qingyu saw all of this while she stood on the wall. She sighed, “Luckily we escaped tonight... Otherwise, I’m afraid I would have been lying in my sheets in a pool of blood, completely unaware of what had happened…”

Qi Yichen looked at Gu Qingyu with concern. He thought Gu Qingyu would be uncomfortable after she witnessed this, but reality proved otherwise.

“Finally! Let’s go!” Gu Qingyu breathed a long sigh of relief as she jumped down from the wall, “Oh, come on! Hurry up!”

“...” Qi Yichen jumped down too, speechless. Xiao Qi and Jia Qizhe soon followed. Soon, the footsteps of the running guards could be heard from the other side of the wall.

“Where’s the Third Young Miss?”

“I don’t know! Hurry! She could be anywhere!”

“We are doomed if we can’t find her!”

Gu Qingyu felt bad towards these guards, but she kept walking.

They arrived at a tavern outside the city.

“Waiter! “ Gu Qingyu and company walked into the tavern, exhausted. They sat down, and Gu Qingyu spoke like the traveling men from television. “Give us four...No, two rooms!”

She did bring quite a sum of money, but it was best to be a bit careful with it, so she changed the number of rooms. “...Um, some light snacks too.”

“Yes sir!” The tavern keeper seemed very passionate. He quickly brought a plate of steaming buns and a few dishes. “Please eat! The rooms are ready too!”

“Thank you.” Jia Qizhe said plainly.

Soon, everyone was well fed and satisfied.

“I will be in a room with Xiao Qi. Jia Qizhe, you’re with Qi Yichen. Let’s just save as much money as we can, okay?” Gu Qingyu rubbed her neck in embarrassment.

Jia Qizhe and Qi Yichen both nodded. They didn’t say anything. Everyone then went to their rooms.

Gu Qingyu and Xiao Qi laid on their beds and snuffed out their lights. Gu Qingyu looked around in their pitch-dark surroundings for a bit. She could not help but blurt, “Xiao Qi, are you asleep?”

“No, Young Miss…” Xiao Qi’s crisp voice seemed pleasant in the air.

“Don’t call me Young Miss anymore, call me Xiao Yu.” Gu Qingyu smiled, “We’re friends now!” She paused, then spoke again, “Xiao Qi, can you tell me your full name?”

“Young… Xiao Yu, my family name is Xun, so Xun Qi is my full name.”

“Hm... it’s a really beautiful name!” Gu Qingyu was pleased, Xiao Qi was the first friend she made in the ancient times.

“Yes…” Xiao Qi smiled gently.

Suddenly, a dark shadow zipped by the window and went next door. Gu Qingyu saw the shadow as she was staring out the window with her night vision. She sat up and put on her shoes immediately.

“What’s wrong, Xiao Yu?” Xiao Qi looked at Gu Qingyu.

“Someone went into Jia Qizhe’s room!” Gu Qingyu slipped on her shoes, pulled Xiao Qi to her side and stuck their ears to the wall, hoping to pick something that could tell them what was going on.

Unfortunately, the walls of the tavern were too well-built, so Xiao Qi couldn’t hear anything. But since Gu Qingyu was a cat spirit, she had a sharper sense of hearing. There seems to be sounds of fighting next door!

Gu Qingyu told Xiao Qi, “Wait for me, I’ll go help them!”

“What?” Xiao Qi heard nothing.

“Just wait for me.” Gu Qingyu left that line behind, then ran to Jia Qizhe’s room. She kicked down their door without thinking. “Jia Qizhe, Qi Yichen, I’m here to….”

She swallowed her last word back as her eyes dropped to the black-robed man lying on the floor… I must be stupid to rush over in such a hurry! How did I forget that two martial art experts live here?

Qi Yichen looked at Gu Qingyu and smiled, “It seems you’re a little late.”

“...” Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes. She felt like a fool. “What is this? Someone wanted to assassinate one of you?”

Just as Jia Qizhe wanted to speak, the black-robed man on the floor jumped up, and lunged towards Gu Qingyu with a dagger!