Chapter 772: Gentle on the Outside and Strong on the Inside (IV)

Pan Yuyin's words hit the nail on the head. Liu Xunyi felt like he had been hit on the head. His expression froze immediately, and a hint of frustration flashed in the depths of his eyes, but he did not answer for a long time.

"Even if you don't admit it, I can guess about 80% of it." Pan Yuyin said lightly, "Just now in the princess's tent, your words and actions have betrayed your heart. I am also a woman, so I naturally understand what it means for a man to be so selfless and even go beyond the etiquette of respect and inferiority to care for another woman."

When Pan Yuyin said this, she seemed relaxed and casual, talking freely, but in fact her tone implied a subtle complex emotion, even... an indescribable loss and sadness.

After all, they were married.

After all, they used to go out together.

After all, they were once husband and wife.

Once upon a time, when the few survivors of the Pan family had gone through untold hardships and decided to leave the sad place of Yingchuan and go far away, Pan Yuyin had mustered up the courage to say a few "heartfelt words" to Liu Xunyi, but was interrupted by Xunzhen, who knew what was going on, and strangled her heartfelt words, which "saved" Liu Xunyi's life, and also "saved" Pan Yuyin's life.

After all, once you leave something unsaid, you may never say it again in your life.

"It seems that my bet was right." Pan Yuyin laughed at herself and said teasingly, "If I threaten you with your own life, you may not tell me the truth. But if I threaten you with the princess's life, you will definitely tell me everything you know."

"Miss Pan, I know this is not your intention. You can't hurt a stranger..."

"Do you really understand me?" Pan Yuyin looked at Liu Xunyi with contempt in her eyes, "Just like do I really understand you? I think the answer may disappoint both of us."

"Not necessarily!" Liu Xunyi blurted out in a hurry.

"Really?" A hint of anticipation appeared in Pan Yuyin's eyes.

Liu Xunyi was stunned, and suddenly realized that he had just said something inappropriate, which almost made Pan Yuyin notice something, so he changed the subject and explained: "What I mean is... you will definitely not harm the princess."

"It's rare that you trust me so much, but this time... I may disappoint you."

Facing Pan Yuyin's dejected expression, Liu Xunyi's eyes suddenly changed, and he asked cautiously: "What do you mean?"

"To be honest, what I just fed the princess... is a chronic poison. Once it takes effect, even a Daluo Jinxian will be unable to save her life."

"What? How dare you poison the princess?"

Pan Yuyin's straightforward words made Liu Xunyi's heart jump to his throat. At this moment, he no longer cared about his gentlemanly manners. His worry about Zhao Xin and his disappointment in Pan Yuyin were instantly intertwined, making him extremely angry, ashamed, and annoyed...

In a flash, Liu Xunyi rushed to Pan Yuyin with great momentum and grabbed her arm tightly without saying anything. The sudden pain made Pan Yuyin frown, sweat ran down her face, and she couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

"Tell me, where is the antidote?"

At this moment, Liu Xunyi's brows were furious, his teeth were gnashing, and his ferocious and terrifying appearance frightened Pan Yuyin so much that her face turned pale and her whole body trembled.

Unfortunately, her acupoints were tightly sealed, so she could neither retreat nor hide. She could only stand there motionless and endure Liu Xunyi's wrath.

But even so, she still did not intend to give in. She endured the intense pain that almost broke her bones and muscles, and said stubbornly: "The antidote is with you. If you don't want the princess to get hurt, tell me the real cause of Uncle Luo's death."

"Don't force me!"

When Liu Xunyi thought of the innocent suffering Zhao Xin who was in critical condition and might die at any time, his rage gushed out.

As he spoke, the force between his fingers increased again. Looking at his posture, he wanted to crush Pan Yuyin's bones alive, without any mercy or hesitation.

"what……"

With Liu Xunyi's strength, even a big and strong man would find it hard to bear, let alone a weak and delicate girl? Therefore, Pan Yuyin, who was on the verge of fainting, subconsciously let out a wail, and beads of sweat flowed down her fair and fat cheeks like water.

As if awakened by Pan Yuyin's cry of pain, Liu Xunyi was stunned for a moment, and his lost rationality gradually returned, especially when he saw Pan Yuyin's pale face and tears, his heart seemed to be stabbed by a sharp sword. He subconsciously loosened his right hand, and his pupils trembled constantly, as if he couldn't believe what he had just done.

"Miss Pan...Miss Pan, I..."

The words came to his lips, but he couldn't say them no matter what. It wasn't that Liu Xunyi was shy, but Pan Yuyin's painful expression made him feel guilty. He felt that no matter what he said, it would be pale and powerless. Not only could he not make amends, but it would also seem like he was trying to quibble.

"The more you pinch me, the deeper your love for the princess becomes..." Pan Yuyin, who had gradually recovered from her shock, did not seem to blame Liu Xunyi, but murmured to herself with a complicated expression, "Just now, I truly felt it..."

"Miss Pan, why do you have to do this?" Liu Xunyi said painfully, "If I hurt you, the first person I would feel sorry for is Mr. Pan..." "But if you are indifferent, the first person you would feel sorry for is the princess." Pan Yuyin said weakly, "I still say the same thing. If you don't want the princess to get into trouble, then tell me the truth about Uncle Luo's death."

"But the princess..."

"Before sunset, the princess's life is safe." Pan Yuyin was confident, so she said seriously, "Brother Liu, I still firmly believe in my beliefs and my understanding of you. You... will never kill Uncle Luo, right?"

"Lord Luo is dead, and I... am now standing before you as the 'Song Dynasty's envoy'. Do I need to explain anything?" Facing the unyielding Pan Yuyin, Liu Xunyi's momentum gradually became weak and depressed. "No matter who killed Lord Luo, I am one of the culprits who killed him. No matter how I argue, I can't stay out of it. Miss Pan, if you insist on avenging Lord Luo..."

At this point, Liu Xunyi suddenly raised his head, untied the acupuncture points for Pan Yuyin with his left hand, and drew the sword out of its sheath with his right hand at lightning speed. Before Pan Yuyin could exclaim, Liu Xunyi had already stuffed the Wuji Sword into her hand.

"What are you..."

"Come, aim here!" Liu Xunyi taught Pan Yuyin how to hold the sword tightly, and put the extremely sharp tip of the sword against her heart, saying righteously, "If you want to avenge Lord Luo, stab it with the sword, don't hesitate."

"You..." Pan Yuyin was surprised, and tears immediately fell like rain. The hand holding the sword could not help but tremble violently. She choked and said, "Uncle Luo...did you really kill him?"

"Yes." Liu Xunyi nodded heavily. "I repay kindness with hatred, so my death is not a pity. I just hope that after I die, Miss Pan can distinguish between kindness and resentment and let the princess go..."

Pan Yuyin's eyes were blurred with tears, but she still couldn't believe it and kept muttering, "Uncle Luo...did you really kill him?"

"Yes." Liu Xunyi said firmly and loudly.

"Swear to me, swear to the princess whose life is hanging by a thread, swear to my grandfather in the underworld, don't lie to me!"

This time, Liu Xunyi hesitated subconsciously, then his eyes fixed and he argued: "Lord Luo did die because of me..."

Pan Yuyin was very thoughtful. She guessed something from Liu Xunyi's subtle expression and asked, "Then tell me, why did you turn against Uncle Luo? And why did you insist on killing him?"

Liu Xunyi said impatiently: "I am an official appointed by the court, and Lord Luo is a tyrant in the martial arts world. If I offer him amnesty and he refuses, we will definitely fight to the death. What's so strange about that?"

"Even so, you won't kill him!" Pan Yuyin insisted.

"You are not me, so how can you assert that?"

"Just because you risked your life to fight Qin Tianjiu for our Pan family, I know you are definitely not a heartless hypocrite." Pan Yuyin insisted, "And when we were in the Heartless Valley, you jumped off the Cliff of Oblivion to complete the task assigned by Uncle Luo. If you say that all this was an act, and you pretended to be so close to Uncle Luo, I would rather die than believe it!"

"But that's the fact..."

"That's not the case!" Pan Yuyin said firmly, "Tell me, what happened in the Xianwang Mansion on the seventh night of the twelfth lunar month last year? If you are impartial and can do your job for the court without regard for your relatives, why did only Uncle Luo die? Why are Madam Luo, Miss Luo, and Master Luo all safe and sound? Don't you like to root out the problem the most? Why did you only root out the problem this time?"

"This……"

"Brother Liu, what are you hiding?" The more Liu Xunyi hesitated, the more Pan Yuyin was convinced that her guess was right, so she struck while the iron was hot and asked urgently, "Now you have become the target of public criticism. Everyone in the world regards you as the criminal who killed Uncle Luo, and you may die at any time. If you have been wronged... or if there is someone else who killed Uncle Luo, why don't you say it? Is there anything more important than your honor, life, and future?"

Looking at Pan Yuyin, who was crying and in agony, Liu Xunyi felt very uncomfortable and said angrily, "Miss Pan, my honor, my life, my future... why do you care so much?"

"I'm not worried about you, but myself." Pan Yuyin sobbed, "Grandpa told me since I was a child that there is a righteous spirit in the world, there is justice in the world, good and evil will be rewarded, and cause and effect will cycle. If you really killed Uncle Luo, then you can't distinguish between good and evil, and cause and effect are contradictory. Then what's the point of my belief that I have persisted for twenty years?"

Looking at Pan Yuyin's eyes that were almost crazy but full of sincerity and desire, Liu Xunyi gradually came to his senses and slowly understood Pan Yuyin's unswerving original intention, and understood that she would never give up because of his vague words. He also understood that every sentence and every word he answered her was very likely to shake her innocence, her kindness, her adherence to faith, and even... change her mind, thus affecting her life.

With this in mind, Liu Xunyi could no longer bear to use perfunctory words to put off Pan Yuyin, who believed in the righteousness of heaven and earth and the morality of the world.

Moreover, she had saved Liu Xunyi's life. In short, Pan Yuyin's kindness to him was no less than his kindness to the Pan family.

"Miss Pan, I... can tell you the whole story. But you must promise me that this matter is known to heaven, earth, you and me. Never, ever let a third person know about it." Liu Xunyi suppressed all the thoughts and entanglements deep in his heart, his expression solemn and every word sonorous.

"Why?"

"To protect a girl like you...who has always held on to her beliefs but suffered innocently!"

……

(End of this chapter)