Chapter 120: What’s There to Be Afraid Of?

Thanks to “pn,” “Yang Lianshier,” “Shaolin Jackfruit,” “Baby Haohao12,” and “The Pharaoh’s Dancer” for your generous rewards. My thanks as well to everyone who has left comments in the review section, and to all the brothers and sisters who have joined the group! And thank you to everyone who has followed this book!

Have you ever experienced the nightmare of stepping into empty air and plunging from a cliff, falling endlessly without ever touching the ground?

Have you ever experienced the terror of walking alone at night, hearing footsteps behind you, only to turn around and find no one there?

The fright Lin Zhan was suffering at that moment was much the same.

Then he saw a mass of darkness fly out of thin air. It was pitch-black and strangely shaped, though not particularly fast.

“Holy crap, what a huge hidden weapon!” Lin Zhan had no time to dodge. He could only catch it with his bare hands, then swiftly shifted sideways on his sword to the corner of a rock. The white bone tower appeared and stood in front of him, giving him solid protection on every side.

Looking down, he discovered that the black mass in his hands was actually a charred Paradise Chicken.

“Hahaha, did you burn this yourself?” Lin Zhan had completely forgotten that his life was in danger. He simply could not hold back his laughter.

He had left two Paradise Chickens for Shui Hanmeng, raw ones, assuming she would roast them herself. Apparently, she had cooked them into this state—utterly inedible. Lin Zhan noticed two rows of tiny tooth marks on them as well.

“Tell me, why did you run away? After all the trust I placed in you!” Shui Hanmeng’s voice came from above. A moment later, the flexible edge of the Hanmeng Sword coiled around Lin Zhan’s neck.

Lin Zhan had accounted for the space in front, behind, and to either side of him, but there was no way to cover the area overhead. Shui Hanmeng had exploited that opening and captured him alive once more.

If he did not run, was he supposed to wait for death? She was a female assassin, and he was her target. The two of them were natural enemies.

Lin Zhan felt deeply dispirited, but he did not say any of that aloud. He merely said, “Have you mistaken me for someone else? I don’t know you.”

“Stop pretending. I would recognize your aura even if you were reduced to ashes,” Shui Hanmeng said coldly, pulling Lin Zhan out from behind the bone tower.

This time, the flexible sword never left Lin Zhan’s neck for even a moment.

“Bring out the wine!”

After roasting two more delicious, tender Paradise Chickens, Shui Hanmeng issued the command.

Lin Zhan did as he was told, though he found the situation strange. The day before, Shui Hanmeng had gotten drunk, which had allowed him to escape. Now she was taking the initiative to ask for wine. What was going on?

“Have you still not reunited with your senior brother?” Lin Zhan asked curiously. With a sword at his neck and its hilt in the other person’s hand, he felt extremely frustrated. The situation was beginning to resemble some sort of—

“He’s dead!”

“Who killed him?”

“I did!”

Lin Zhan immediately drew his neck in. His heart turned to ashes. A female assassin who could even kill her own senior brother and show no regard for kinship was certainly not someone to be trifled with.

He fell silent at once, and Shui Hanmeng said nothing either.

On the mountaintop that night, there was only the whisper of the wind. The silence was almost frightening.

Lin Zhan did not eat any of the Paradise Chicken. Both chickens, along with an entire jar of wine, were placed before Shui Hanmeng.

The two of them sat directly on the ground.

“Today, I don’t want to kill anyone anymore.”

After saying this, Shui Hanmeng withdrew the Hanmeng Sword from around Lin Zhan’s neck and unexpectedly removed the black veil covering her face.

Before eating the chicken, she seized the jar and took a long, fierce drink.

“You may leave.” Shui Hanmeng wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve and spoke indifferently.

There was not the slightest ripple on her face. She seemed to maintain an extraordinarily calm state of mind.

Lin Zhan stared at her face. It was unquestionably the most beautiful face within five thousand miles, but for the first time, an icy, ruthless beauty emerged in Shui Hanmeng’s expression. The aura of an assassin came from deep within her now; it was clearly not something she was merely pretending to be.

Lin Zhan sighed and rose to leave. After a moment’s thought, however, he sat back down.

“Why aren’t you leaving? Aren’t you afraid I’ll change my mind and kill you?” Shui Hanmeng picked up a Paradise Chicken and glanced at him.

Lin Zhan stayed behind not because she was beautiful and he had begun entertaining foolish fantasies. Rather, he felt that Shui Hanmeng’s mental state was deeply abnormal. Killing her own senior brother was something no one could have expected. He was curious, but that was not the most important reason.

The most important thing was that Lin Zhan desperately wanted to resolve this pursuit. Otherwise, he would have to remain on guard from morning till night against the appearance of the female assassin. Since he was weaker than her, such a life would certainly be an agony worse than death.

He knew it was probably impossible, but he had to try before he could give up.

Lin Zhan was a very straightforward man. He occasionally had a few devious ideas, but when it came to serious or important matters, he preferred to deal with them in the simplest way possible.

“Can you stop trying to kill me?” Lin Zhan asked directly.

“No.”

“We have no grudge against each other. We didn’t even know each other before, and even now, it’s not as though we truly know one another,” Lin Zhan continued.

“Since you put it that way, then I’ll tell you plainly as well. This has nothing to do with who you are. If it were someone else, as long as they were a transmigrator from the outside world, the Shadowless Hall would kill them without exception. Before this, my senior brother was still alive, so there was a chance that someone else might carry out the task. Now I’m the only one left to execute it. The person who kills you will be me.”

“Damn.”

Lin Zhan sighed, clasped his hands behind his head, and leaned against the rock behind him.

Once again, they had reached an impasse.

For the moment, Shui Hanmeng showed no intention of driving him away. She simply ate the Paradise Chicken, occasionally taking a few sips of wine.

Lin Zhan watched her eat. Her movements were meticulous and refined, almost ladylike. First, she carefully removed the bones one by one with her fingers. Then she separated the meat into fine strands and slowly placed them in her mouth, chewing every bite with deliberate patience.

It was nothing like the uninhibited way she had eaten the day before.

“Why did you kill your senior brother?” Lin Zhan asked again, unable to restrain himself.

“Shut up!” Shui Hanmeng did not even raise her head.

But Lin Zhan clearly saw a strand of chicken fall from her fingers the instant he asked the question.

“You said yesterday that you and your senior brother grew up together, and that he always took good care of you. You were lucky to have him with you on this journey, so how did it—”

Lin Zhan paid no attention to her interruption and continued speaking.

“Those things I said yesterday? That was only because I fell for your trick. I don’t even remember what I said. Do you really think you can still believe me?” Shui Hanmeng finally lifted her head and looked directly at him.

That direct gaze made Lin Zhan somewhat uneasy.

It had nothing to do with killing intent. It was the sort of embarrassment a man felt when a woman stared straight at him.

Lin Zhan was no wealthy, handsome playboy, while Shui Hanmeng was practically a goddess. Her unwavering gaze left him at a loss, but in the end, he still met her eyes bravely.

I’m going to keep staring. What of it? Who’s afraid of whom?

Dealing with women had never been Lin Zhan’s strong suit.

Back in college, during his relationship with Ling Qier, he had always occupied the weaker position. That was not because Ling Qier bullied him or treated him badly, but because he had always instinctively regarded himself as an insignificant nobody. Even after entering this Blue Ice World, he still carried that mentality to some extent.

By now, Lin Zhan clearly understood the flaws in his character, and he was working hard to change and improve himself.

Besides, he now had the confidence to back it up. He was no longer afraid of flashing blades or the threat of death. A mere woman? What was there to fear?