TSFLIP Chapter 227

Feng Guang’s dagger fell to the ground with a dull clang. She stared blankly at Xue Ran, unable to utter a single word.

“Master…” Guan Yueyue’s tears had long since dried, leaving her face hollow and drained. Desperately clinging to the last shred of faith in her heart, she whispered, “I have a heart condition because I’m weak… not because of some… other reason, right?”

“If by ‘other reason,’ you mean me poisoning you, then yes, it’s true.” Xue Ran’s tone was as calm as ever, his words light and unhurried. He didn’t so much as glance at the utterly broken Guan Yueyue, instead walking over to Feng Guang with a gentle smile. “Feng Guang, I bought the candied hawthorn you wanted.”

That tenderness in his voice was no different from how he had always treated her.

But Feng Guang’s heart had turned icy. She instinctively took a step back. His attitude toward her hadn’t changed, yet she was overcome with fear. If he could manipulate Guan Yueyue, who had grown up by his side, why did she have to believe that his affection for her was genuine?

Xue Ran noticed the fear in her eyes and sighed as though he were troubled. Setting the candied hawthorn on a stone table, his figure suddenly blurred. He gripped Nangong Li by the throat in the blink of an eye.

“Xiao Li’er,” Xue Ran murmured, his voice soft yet laced with malice, “you’ve revealed my secret. How should I punish you for that?” His upturned eyes sparkled with a deadly charm as his lips curled into a flawless smile—a smile more terrifying than any scowl.

At that moment, one could see a resemblance between Xue Ran and Nangong Li… no, it was more accurate to say that Nangong Li bore a shadow of Xue Ran. Nangong Li flaunted his danger openly, his allure a warning to others. But Xue Ran was different. His gentleness lured you in, and only then would you realize, too late, that you had entered the most perilous of places.

Hearing the soft “Xiao Li’er,” Nangong Li froze, stunned. Despite the pain in his throat, he hesitantly murmured, “Master?”

“So you still remember me.” Xue Ran’s thin lips curved upward, his smile both elegant and chilling.

“No… impossible! Twelve years ago, I killed you! You can’t be him!”

Xue Ran sighed wistfully. “Xiao Li’er, you’re so naive. If I hadn’t allowed you to kill me, how could you have ever become the leader of the Demon Sect?”

“Why… why would you…” Nangong Li gasped, struggling to breathe. “Why would you stage your death?”

“Because the Demon Sect was nothing more than a passing amusement to me, and I grew bored of it.” Xue Ran’s tone turned almost pitying as he continued, “I thought you were more capable than this. Yet here you are, spilling secrets that should never have been told. Do you realize… it’s been a long time since I last killed someone?”

Indeed, he rarely dirtied his own hands. Others always did the killing for him.

“Master! Please… don’t kill him!” Guan Yueyue had somehow managed to free herself from the loose ropes binding her. Though still weak, she stumbled forward and fell to her knees at Xue Ran’s feet, sobbing uncontrollably. “Master, I’m begging you… don’t kill him!”

“Yueyue… don’t beg him…” Nangong Li’s voice was faint, his face losing color. Poison coursed through his veins while Xue Ran’s grip tightened around his neck. To Guan Yueyue and Qing Yu, Xue Ran had always been gentle and considerate, but to Nangong Li, he was nothing short of a living nightmare.

Yes, this man—his master, who had taught him martial arts since childhood—was the source of all his nightmares. Nangong Li could still remember how, as a child, his master would teach him to read and write when in a good mood. But when bored, Xue Ran would lock him in a cage with wild beasts. Surviving meant he could continue being his disciple. Dying meant he would become another child’s gruesome meal.

No one understood better than Nangong Li just how cold Xue Ran was to his very core.