Keep him alive

"What is it?" Yinyue asked, peering from the screen. She noticed Chiyin's lips pursed into a thin line, and how tight his fingers pressed against 01's wrist.

Chiyin's eyes darted to the ground in deep thought before his gaze returned to 01's pale face. He loosened his hold on 01's wrist and shook his head. "Not good news."

"How bad is his condition?"

"Bad enough to cost you a small fortune. I need a thousand year old ginseng and Lingzhi to treat. And it doesn't stop there," Chiyin replied. "Depends on how much you like him."

"He works for me. Nothing more," Yinyue spoke, her tone firm. She glanced at Chiyin, searching his face for any sign of judgment or accusation. Her answer didn't deny but it didn't answer his question directly.

It was a statement of one fact. Nothing to do with how much she liked or disliked a person.

"W-water…," 01 whimpered again.

She snapped her fingers, summoning a manservant who scurried in at her command. "See to his needs. Give him some water."

The manservant bowed and hurried out of the room to fetch the drinking water, leaving Yinyue and Chiyin to continue their discussion. If she fed 01 water, her action would encourage more unnecessary questions from Chiyin. His words made her uncomfortable like he was accusing her of an illicit relationship.

"So do you want me to do everything to save him?"

She nodded. "Just keep him alive."

"Is that an order?" He asked with a smirk. Yinyue sensed resistance in his voice like he wasn't happy to comply.

"More a request. I need him alive," she replied.

"Why? You have to give a good reason now."

She didn't feel like explaining anything to him. However, the more she tried not to answer, the more Chiyin will push her for an explanation.

Yinyue didn't even know where to start. Tell her uncle that she lived a lifetime before and 01 had tried to save her in her first life? Wait, she thought and bit her lips. Even she wasn't sure who saved her — whether it was Ashina or 01.

Bloody twins, she cursed silently. Their voices sounded the same. In her first life, she was already blind when one rescued her.

She couldn't let 01 die because of Ashina's veiled threat. Never had she felt so helpless. This second life deviated from the first. Too many variables to gamble against. That made her head hurt.

One thing she could be sure of — no winning scenarios to salvage the situation if 01 died.

Ashina scared her. Compared to the border princes and her scheming half-brothers, his intelligence and cunning exceeded theirs. Even hers. He made her feel powerless and defenceless, like an animal cornered by a trained hunter.

His presence alone could make her feel as though she stood on the edge of the ravine where one wrong move could send her plunging into an endless abyss of never ending despair.

If she could compare Ashina to anyone, it would be her Emperor-father. Both could snuff her breath out with ease.

Given a choice, she preferred never to meet Ashina again.

"Well?" Chiyin asked impatiently, disrupting her thoughts. She felt like a criminal interrogated for questioning about a crime.

"Fine, I like 01."

Yinyue hoped her lie could stave off any further questioning.

"Liar!" Chiyin called her out, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Tell me how I feel then?"

"If a woman really liked a man a lot, she'll be bawling her eyes out or begging me to save him. Or do some big emotional gesture…oh I don't know…fawn over him…feed him personally," he replied.

Yinyue resisted the overwhelming urge to throw an insult back at him. Not everyone, let alone women, act the same.

Her uncle must have mingled with too many devious women who knew how to exaggerate. Some used tears or sweet talk to sway a man. Others will even injure themselves to frame others. In her first life, she experienced those tricks used to frame her up.

Another temptation pop up in her head. Maybe she would play the game by throwing herself at 01's bed and wailing aloud, just to annoy Chiyin for a laugh.

Yet, Yinyue was no longer that naive girl she was in her first life. She held more power in this second life than she could even dreamt of. Along with power, came hidden dangers.

For every talented person, there's someone even more talented. Ashina's appearance in her life slapped that saying in her face.

"So why do you want to keep him alive?"

Chiyin's persistence irked her even more. Like a wolf, he wouldn't back down once he bit in. If she didn't need his help, she would throw him out of her residence, uncle or no uncle.

"Do you REALLY need to know why?"

"Yes," he replied, ignoring the sarcastic tone in her voice.

Her lips twitched from irritation. If she didn't reveal the reason, he may not treat 01.

"Then, the Simurg leader requested it."

Chiyin was taken aback by her answer. With the Simurg, they gave orders, not request. The way she stared him in the eye told him she wasn't joking. He came to a conclusion that blackmail must have been used but what could they hold on Yinyue?

Every part of the scenario didn't sit right with him. The Simurg's treatment of 01 proved that he held some special status with them. Why would they waste time slaughtering his assailants? And patching them up?

Despite their brutal reputation, the Simurg didn't kill or heal people without reason. There must be an ulterior motive behind their actions.

"What did the Simurg want?"

"The correct question is what did they threaten me with, not what they want." She snorted coldly.

His conclusion confirmed didn't leave Chiyin feeling good.

"Do you know who the hell is 01?" Chiyin turned and stared at 01.

"Yes but the less you know the better for you," she replied. "What do you know about the current Simurg leader?"

Chiyin rushed forward and grabbed her shoulders. "Don't tell me you dealt with him!"

The look of panic in Chiyin's eyes told her he knew.

"Might as well tell me."

Chiyin released his grip on her shoulders and looked away. "Let's just say between him and the previous leader, I find the previous one to be the reasonable one."

Each time an underworld syndicate in the Black Mountains changed their leadership, other syndicates will test the new leader's mantle and abilities by trespassing on their turf to haze them. Only the Qisha and Black Peony syndicates stayed out of the hazing. the elders of both syndicates refused to offend others without reason.

When the Simurg changed their leader recently, an underworld syndicate followed the same tradition but got burnt. Not just psychologically. Their main headquarters and half their members razed to the ground the next day. Everyone thought the matter will pass after that incident.

They were all wrong.

After a month, the syndicate fell apart. Their branches in the Black Mountains filled with dead, rotting bodies, found by villagers out on a hunt who smelled a powerful stench and followed the carrion birds to the location.

The current Simurg leader didn't just go after the ones responsible, he purged the entire syndicate out of the Black Mountains.

Chiyin covered his face in dismay. "Need to tell my pa, your grandfather. He's more experienced dealing with the Simurg."

Last thing Yinyue needed was Hua Dushen's involvement. She didn't want to complicate the situation more.

"And what can he do? Blow the matter up and risk the entire Qisha syndicate? No." She shook her head. "All I need is to keep 01 alive and that's what you're here for."