Chapter Forty-Eight: Strangers in All but Name

A man, tipsy with drink, staggered out of the crowd clutching a large bowl of wine. His eyes gleamed as he fixed them on Silver Yao, reaching out to snatch away her mask. “Beauty, let me have a look!”

Silver Yao sneered coldly—disgusting. She extended her right leg and kicked him ruthlessly several meters away. In the same instant, her right hand flicked a long whip, looping it around his neck and yanking him back toward her.

Wasn’t it forbidden to kill today? Then let me be the one to break this rule!

Her right hand gave a sharp pull. The man, who had been dazed from the kick, now felt pain and snapped awake. Instinctively, he tried to pry the whip from his neck with both hands, terror filling his eyes as he stared at the woman before him.

He retreated, trembling, his drunkenness vanishing. Panic-stricken, he stammered, “Don’t—don’t come near me. You can’t lay a hand on me today! That’s the rule!”

Silver Yao’s smile was icy as she gazed at the man about to report to the King of Hell. “Is that so?” she replied, her lips curling into a wicked smile. With a powerful jerk, blood began to gush from the man’s neck. Just as she was about to finish the job and send his head rolling, causing the onlookers to gasp, the Wulin Alliance Leader, Chu Su Yi, appeared.

Without so much as a word, he reached out and seized Silver Yao’s whip, rescuing the man and calling servants to tend to his wounds. He then slowly straightened from his crouched stance. Chu Su Yi’s gaze was as calm and still as dead water; he regarded Silver Yao with unruffled eyes, then offered her a polite, courteous smile.

“Lady Serpent, I must apologize. My brother here was most disrespectful—please forgive him.”

How thoroughly gentlemanly! Have you truly forgotten me? Serpent Lady? So Li Su’s information was correct—you really are heartless, having truly forgotten me!

A strange ache welled up in Silver Yao’s heart, but her grip only tightened on the whip. She tried to wrench it free, but Chu Su Yi held on with iron resolve, his palm bleeding profusely, yet he refused to let go. Silver Yao could not fathom his actions.

Chu Su Yi, for his part, wanted to see just what sort of person this “Serpent Lady” was! Not a single soul had dared step forward to save the man. Clearly, she held considerable sway in the martial world. And yet, why did he have no recollection of her?

“How familiar this scene is!”

Silver Yao laughed at herself, a chill emanating from her hand and surging down the whip into Chu Su Yi’s grip. In an instant, his bloodied right hand was frozen solid. Chu Su Yi released the whip, melting the ice with his inner strength as he pondered Silver Yao’s words—familiar? Had this happened before? Why did he have not even the faintest memory…

Hearing Silver Yao’s remark, those who had attended the gathering three years before all turned to look, thinking for a moment, then nodding knowingly—indeed, such a thing had happened!

On the rooftop, Gu Shenyu and Muye Aishuo watched the scene unfold below. At Silver Yao’s words, Gu Shenyu was startled. He shifted his feet, causing the tiles to clatter softly, his gaze fixed intently on the “Serpent Lady Silver Yao” in the hall.

A faint sound reached Silver Yao’s ears. She followed its direction and, amusement flickering in her eyes, glanced toward where Gu Shenyu hid in the darkness. “Master Gu, do you still remember how, on the day of the grand assembly three years ago, you nearly died by my hand?”

At this, Gu Shenyu made no further attempt to conceal himself. He leapt down from the eaves, while Muye Aishuo remained where he was—this was not yet his moment to appear.

Entering the hall, Gu Shenyu suppressed his astonishment, cast a teasing look at Silver Yao, and, feigning casualness, joked, “Of course I remember. I doubt I’ll ever forget it. Have you come back just to claim my life?”

“Is that so? If I wanted your life, it would be no trouble at all,” Silver Yao replied with a mocking smile, stepping behind Gu Shenyu and looping her whip deftly around his neck.

Gu Shenyu’s heart skipped a beat—she was fast, but not enough to threaten him. “You’re as direct as ever, Serpent Lady!” With a nimble twist, he slipped free of her whip, then fell easily into conversation with Silver Yao as though they were old friends.

“Oh? Is that so? How is it I never noticed?” Silver Yao retorted, taking his banter in stride. Chu Su Yi watched the two, amazed at how they simply ignored his existence. How had he never known Shenyu had such a close friend?

Li Su lounged nearby, sipping wine, having already noticed the Ghost Doctor of Poisons. With a whisper-thin thread of sound, he greeted them, then resumed watching the drama unfold. Muye Aishuo was at first surprised, then glanced at the enigmatic, powerful man who sat silently at the wine table, offered a friendly smile, and continued to observe the hall.

Though Gu Shenyu conversed with Silver Yao as though they were old companions, he still could not be sure of her identity. “Are you truly Silver Yao?”

“Don’t believe me?” she countered, removing her mask with a single motion.

In the next instant, Gu Shenyu’s eyes widened in shock, while Chu Su Yi’s mind was flooded with a torrent of images, flashing rapidly through his thoughts.

Muye Aishuo was equally stunned, and those in the hall who had once seen Silver Yao’s true face held their breath, for they knew she had shattered the barrier she’d forged with her own life—how could she still be alive?

Hidden in the shadows, Nameless saw Silver Yao remove her mask and was immediately convinced. This, too, was knowledge of her enemy. Nameless quietly withdrew.

“Ha! Yao’er, let’s go.” Li Su laughed heartily, leaping from his seat to Silver Yao’s side, his smile dazzling.

Only then did the crowd truly take notice of this man—a demon in human form.

Silver Yao cast Li Su a cold glance. “Yes, I’ve achieved what I wanted.”

“Gu Shenyu, perhaps you suspect I’m wearing a human-skin mask, that I’m an imposter. Then let me tell you one more thing—this will settle my identity beyond doubt.” Silver Yao seemed amused at Gu Shenyu’s thoughtful astonishment; she leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Silver Fox.”

Sure enough, Gu Shenyu’s expression changed to one of utter amazement. This time, he knew the truth of the person before him.

“Yao’er?” The name slipped from Chu Su Yi’s lips in a whisper, as if he had called it countless times before, a heavy ache pressing on his heart. Images flickered and churned in his mind, leaving him dazed.

Silver Yao’s keen ears caught the sound. She glanced at Chu Su Yi in confusion, then turned and walked away. Li Su followed, fanning himself with effortless elegance.

“Silver Yao, there is someone who truly loves you. For you, he would give up everything!” For reasons he could not explain, Gu Shenyu suddenly called out after her retreating figure. He knew what Silver Yao meant to Su Yi; he knew that if not for that “Dream’s End” potion, Su Yi would have scoured the world for her.

Silver Yao turned, coolly asking, “And then?”

Gu Shenyu found himself speechless, not knowing what to say.

“And then, when he saw me again, he treated me as a stranger,” Silver Yao answered for him, mercilessly finishing the sentence, though it cut into her own heart like a knife. She turned and left without hesitation.

“He had his reasons,” Gu Shenyu murmured softly.

Silver Yao paid him no heed. Li Su frowned, hurried to catch up, and disappeared with her through the great doors.

Chu Su Yi listened to their exchange and watched Silver Yao’s departing figure. For reasons he could not name, his heart felt inexplicably unsettled.