Chapter 1356 - 1032: Who Did You Originally Want the Snake to Kill?

Shang Ruyi’s footsteps faltered for a moment, but she still walked forward—the situation of Lei Yu was the best amongst all who rushed out of the stone room. Especially after cleaning herself up and changing clothes, she was so clean and tranquil as if she hadn’t gone through a life-and-death ordeal.

And all of this, naturally, was thanks to Ashina Zhuxie.

Seeing her safe and sound, Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "You were waiting for me."

"..."

Lei Yu didn’t speak immediately but looked down at her hand, the bandage still wrapped thinly around the tiger’s mouth. But it was clearly just for a minor external injury. From Shang Ruyi’s energetic and spirited appearance, everyone knew she hadn’t been poisoned by the snake.

Or rather, even if she was, she already had countermeasures in place, allowing her to survive.

Lei Yu said, "Originally, you intended to lure the snake to kill someone?"

Upon hearing these words, which practically tore off her mask, Shang Ruyi remained unfazed, only smiling as she said, "You always speak so directly, without a shred of concealment."

Lei Yu said, "I thought between us, there’s no need for concealment."

Hearing this, Shang Ruyi’s expression finally turned solemn. She glanced around, the guards in the distance were lighting fires to cook, the Turkic soldiers were drinking and roasting meat, some even noticed them but none dared to come closer.

Shang Ruyi said, "I also thought you wanted him dead."

"...!"

Hearing these words, Lei Yu’s expression slightly trembled.

Her breath became disordered, yet she didn’t respond to the sentence. After a moment of silence, she said, "So, you indeed intended to kill him?"

"Hmm."

"On that stick—"

"I mixed a concoction with snakeberry grass into water and secretly smeared it on the stick. This potion specifically attracts Silver Ring Poison Snake."

"So that’s it," Lei Yu slightly widened her eyes and said in a deep voice, "At the time, I felt it was strange, that stick was meant to beat the brush and startle the snake. It didn’t make sense that the snake would crawl up along the stick and bite people."

Shang Ruyi chuckled.

Lei Yu immediately frowned again and said, "But didn’t you expect him to notice something amiss? Even so, you could find an opportunity to discard it. Why continue using that stick? You know it would attract poisonous snakes."

"..."

"Could it be—"

At this point, she suddenly gasped sharply, as if realizing something.

Watching the flash in her eyes, Shang Ruyi seemed somewhat guilty, lowering her head slightly; seeing her like this, Lei Yu understood even more, and said in a deep voice, "Being bitten by the snake was part of your plan?"

Shang Ruyi lowered her head and nodded again, burying it even lower.

She said, "Hmm."

Lei Yu’s eyes seemed to flicker with flowing light: "Why?"

With the conversation reaching this point, there was no avoiding it anymore. Besides, it was her doing, she had to take responsibility. Shang Ruyi took a deep breath, finally raised her head to look at Lei Yu, and said in a low voice, "I had three—two plans. One, naturally was to lure the snake. If he died because of it, then the crisis of Xiazhou would be resolved, and I could remove a significant threat, a formidable enemy for the Dasheng Dynasty."

"..."

Lei Yu frowned deeply, looked at her with complex expressions, and said nothing.

Shang Ruyi paused as she looked at her like this, then continued, "But from our previous interaction, Zhuxie Khan is a very cautious person, my plan might not come true. Thus, the second plan was to follow through with this strategy, allowing myself to be bitten by the snake, to faint."

Lei Yu’s gaze turned cold, "You intended to extricate yourself from the quest of seeking Left General’s Tomb?"

Shang Ruyi said, "Yes."

Lei Yu said, "How could you know we would encounter these things? Left Tian wouldn’t have colluded with you beforehand, would he?"

Shang Ruyi shook her head, "Of course not, I hadn’t met him before this."

"Then you—"

"I was merely speculating. After the destruction of Wanggang Village, my brother continuously inquired information from his sect, hoping to know the whereabouts of Left General’s Tomb; though he didn’t get an accurate location, through various messages, he speculated the most likely location of Left General’s Tomb is Skytop Mountain."

"..."

"As for Zuo Chen An, he is even more cautious than Zhuxie Khan."

"..."

"He pays such close attention to the selection of his tomb site, how could there be no defenses inside the tomb itself."

Lei Yu immediately understood, "If Zuo Chen An’s tomb is still here, there must be mechanisms and traps inside to guard against grave robbers. Are you trying to get out of this mess when they encounter an ambush while searching?"

Shang Ruyi nodded, "Correct."

"..."

"Though, I hadn’t anticipated Left General’s Tomb to be deeply buried underground, but things did end up with the same results."

Lei Yu lightly laughed, "Indeed."

Although what they found wasn’t Left General’s Tomb, just a tunnel and a chamber Zuo Tian excavated for burying his brother Zuo Heng, they did indeed fall into danger, ultimately with Wang Shaoqiu dead in it. They barely escaped alive with a near-death experience.

Isn’t it ending up the same?

Lei Yu quietly stood there; under the moonlight, her appearance was still striking and captivating, yet the coolness in her eyes added an indescribable, heart-stirring fragmentation to her allure.

She bowed her head in thought for an unknown duration, finally raised her head, with bright eyes looking at Shang Ruyi, smiled and said, "People often say that after three days of separation, one should look at a person with new eyes, but I know that with you, I don’t need to."

"Oh."

"Because I have always known you are intelligent, a heroine rivaling any man."

"I don’t deserve such words."

"But this time, I still have to view you with fresh eyes."

"Why?"

"Because,"

Lei Yu looked at her, the smile on her face consistent, but in this cool night, while the surrounding pine trees rustled, they stood on a mountaintop that seemed unable to contain a whisper of wind, it instead appeared as a mask, Lei Yu calmly said: "Because from beginning to end, you never intended to tell me what you were going to do."

Her words added more chill to the already cool night.

A gust of cold wind blew between the two people at the right moment.

Shang Ruyi felt a bit of chill in her hands and feet, instinctively pinched her fingertips, then raised her head to look at Lei Yu, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "No."

"Hmm?"

"I didn’t intend from beginning to end not to tell you, I considered telling you. Just—"

"Just, you changed your mind."

"Yes."

"When did you change your mind."

"..."

Shang Ruyi was silent for a while, slowly raised her head, her bright eyes looked at Lei Yu, she said softly, "When you said you didn’t want to save Xiazhou, because it’s Eastern Turks’ territory."