Chapter 1: Destined Meeting
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The world was divided into 4 sections, the largest of which being the nation of Xi Yue, followed by Qi Lin. The other two countries were Nan Jiang and Bei Lang. Although the 4 countries appeared to get along, for many years, there had been undercurrents of unrest and disorder.
Xi Yue was a prosperous country with great military strength. They had the most territory, and the common people lived in peace. The emperor had recently ascended the throne and ruled wisely. The officials were also loyal. However, beneath the prosperity, there were pests and parasites that sowed discord and dissent.
The Feng Family was one of Xi Yue's oldest families, but it was a family shrouded in mystery. Xi Yue was not the only one that was afraid of them; the other 3 countries also did not dare offend them.
Feng Ming was the Feng family's seventh patriarch and considered a genius among genii. It was said that nobody could match Feng Ming's appearance and golden eyes. He was extravagant but indifferent, and was known as the ice lord. He handled all of his affairs with cruelty and ruthlessness. Anyone who got in his way was eliminated.
However, they were all rumours. Nobody had ever personally confirmed them because anyone who had known the details were already dead.
Bai Xi was the captain of the anti-terrorism division in the National Security Bureau. She died in the middle of an explosion during a mission and was reborn in Xi Yue as the Bai family's ugly second young miss.
The prologue to this story starts here.
The dim light of the setting sun was the colour of blood. Rays of light shone through the clouds that dotted the horizon. It would have been a breathtaking sight, but it was ruined by the stench of blood. In the light of the setting sun, several corpses were scattered on the ground, fresh blood staining the earth.
"Tch, this time I thought it was a beautiful girl, but it was actually an ugly woman. It's truly an affront to my sword." The green-clothed man shuddered after looking at the corpse on the ground.
After the black-clothed man heard the words, he glanced indifferently at the ugly woman and sighed helplessly. This woman only had an ordinary appearance, not an ugly one, but Lao Si1 categorised her as ugly regardless.
"Third older brother2, this woman was all show and had no martial arts skills; anyone can beat her. At least her entourage was not bad. But, it is unlikely we two younger brothers will need to take things into our own hands. Eldest brother really belittles us two brothers," the green-clothed man grumbled, full of resentment. He originally thought that his eldest brother would look for a master. He didn't expect that the ugly girl would actually have no skills in martial arts, which was truly a disgrace. This was simply spiting him.
Fortunately, the disgraceful woman's dead bodyguards were worthy of his attention. It was worth it to draw his sword and face them, otherwise he would have left already.
"Enough. Don't complain. I heard that this commission is quite a lot, several times higher than previously. Eldest brother is cautious, of course." The black-clothed man wiped his bloodstained sword dry and sheathed it slowly.
"Mm, for the sake of sharing the commission, this time we will consider this good practice."
"Go and cut the woman's head off, and then we should return and complete the mission." The black-clothed man went on horseback, looked up at the sky, and back down to the ground at the corpse. He also wanted to know eldest brother's current plans. Really, that woman and her entourage were unworthy of being disposed of by Lao Si and himself. But, his eldest brother… Was it only because of the generous commission? Perhaps he had another reason?
"I really think that I should be in command." The green-clothed man was dissatisfied with his third older brother. If only third older brother wasn't busy, then he could do the assignment.
"Careful, we don't want to mess things up3."
"I know. Out of all seven brothers, you are the most long-winded and act the most like a married woman." The green-clothed man rolled his eyes and walked towards the corpse.
They didn’t know that as the green-clothed man started to complain, lying on the ground, the corpse in turn had started listening to their words one by one.
She had been the imposing captain of the anti-terrorism division in the National Security Bureau. Now, she had somehow become Bai Xi, a woman known to be all show, but without practical skills. She ground her teeth in frustration. She would definitely let them know that she, a woman who was known to be ugly and not for her martial arts, would be able to take their lives. However, right now she did not have the time to dwell on this further because she had heard that they wanted to chop off her head. Instinctively, due to her desire to survive, when the sword was about to reach her, a pair of fierce eyes opened. She kicked at the waist of the green-clothed man and quickly broke his wrist. She then seized the sword in his hand and immediately stabbed the green-clothed man's vital points. The series of movements were all completed in an instant.
"You…" The green-clothed man's pupils widened as he was unable to believe that the damn woman had suddenly come back to life. He was even more unable to believe that he had been stabbed by her, a woman who he had looked down upon mere moments ago.
"Lao Si!" The black-clothed man on horseback quickly leapt to catch the falling green-clothed man and immediately sealed the acupressure point on his companion, but it was too late. Bai Xi's sword had accurately found the green-clothed man's heart, killing him.
Bai Xi kneeled on the ground, gasping for air. The use of her skills had strained her body, but she knew that she was successful in her attack, as the other party was unaware that she was still alive and therefore was not vigilant in approaching her. The other party was also brave and didn't expect her to pull that trick. If it had been otherwise, her strength would not have been enough for her to kill the man. She knew she was not safe since she had just exhausted her energy to deal with that one man, and now she couldn't muster the strength to deal with the other.
"You didn't die." The black-clothed man glared as he took five steps away from Bai Xi, aware that she might not be the only one who didn't die. He was also wary since she killed Lao Si. He wanted the woman to be pulled apart by five horses; only then would his anger be appeased.
The black-clothed man darted forward, grabbing Bai Xi by the neck using the Cold Way martial arts style. "You can rest assured; I won't choke you to death. I will let you experience a life worse than death."
After hearing those words, Bai Xi stopped struggling. She knew that her life was presently not in danger, but she still frantically tried to think of a way to escape this situation. Just as she was thinking of a way to escape, her body suddenly dropped to the ground and an arm fell in front of her.
Bai Xi stared blankly at the severed arm before looking up at the black-clothed man. What was going on?
The steady clop of horse hooves hitting the ground attracted the attention of the two people. A carriage rolled by leisurely. The carriage driver was focussed on his task, continuing to drive between Bai Xi and the black-clothed man as if they did not exist.
Bai Xi stared, stunned, at the horse carriage before switching her gaze to the road. Had the carriage driver really cut off the black-clothed man's arm not to rescue her, but because he blocked the road with the carriage? Wait, a carriage? Also, the black-clothed man's outfit? A carriage driver outfit? Was it a disguise?
This… Bai Xi swiftly recovered from her shock and pushed her uncertainties to the back of her mind. She still wanted to come up with a way to escape since her survival was her top priority. Even if the black-clothed man had his arm chopped off, she felt unsafe. Perhaps she could use the carriage to help her escape the black-clothed man chasing after her.
In one leap, Bai Xi entered the window of the carriage. The carriage driver didn't expect her to jump into the carriage and hesitated. While trying to decide whether he wanted to help this person, he heard someone from inside the carriage say two words: "just drive". The boss had given his instructions, so he merely continued driving.
The carriage continued to travel slowly. The black-clothed man, who had fallen, turned pale as he watched the carriage leave. He had already forgotten that his arm had been chopped off. He had also forgotten about the target he wanted to kill, who had disappeared. He was terrified. If he was not mistaken, the mark on the carriage indicated that it belonged to the Feng family. When did that person appear in the capital?
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1Lao si (老四) - this is a nickname for the fourth eldest brother, which literally translates to Old Four
2Third brother refers to the son that is the third oldest. The eldest would be called 'eldest brother', the second eldest is 'second older brother', and so forth. For the eldest one, they would address others as "second younger brother" and so forth.
3Crashes into everything (this is Chinese slang, which basically means to ruin everything, or mess things up).
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Bai Xi (白汐) - Her name translates to White Evening-Tide
Translator Comments:
I have no idea how to do hyperlinked footnotes, so I must apologise for that…
Also, I am translating the chapters as I read them, so I don’t know what will happen.