Chapter 555: Blood-Eyed Approach

In the city streets, a grey-clad figure wearing a veiled bamboo hat glanced at the sign of the Bai family rice shop as he passed, but did not stop. He only paused when he reached a fork in the road, raising a hand to adjust his hat brim and settling the covering over his eyes with both hands.

Through the veil, his eyes glowed red once more. He surveyed his surroundings, pinpointed his destination, and then the crimson light in his eyes faded. He turned at the intersection and walked away.

On the third floor of the library pavilion, a beam of light fell upon Dong Liangyu's wrist, revealing clearly visible veins beneath her fair skin.

Shi Chun looked at the money in her palm, his heart skipped a beat, then he exhaled in relief. He'd been startled, thinking he'd been recognized.

But then he thought, that's not right. He was sure he had given seven coins; he couldn't have miscounted that badly.

He lowered his head slightly and indeed began to visually count the stack of coins in her palm.

Unbeknownst to him, Dong Liangyu was taking the opportunity to observe him closely.

His gaze, along with subtle habitual gestures, including the shape of his ear canal and earlobe — details that might deceive a man — were difficult to hide from a meticulous woman, especially one who had taken notice of him. Such a woman could even remember the exact location of the specks in his eyes.

With just that brief encounter, although Dong Liangyu didn't possess the skill to see through his disguise, she easily recognized who he was.

Shi Chun, having counted the money, couldn't help but raise a hand to scratch his chin. It really was six coins; one was missing. Yet, he remembered giving seven. He raised his gaze, a suspicious look in his eyes.

Meeting Dong Liangyu's forthright gaze, he immediately dismissed his suspicion. He knew this family quite well; this woman's character was not one to pocket a single coin. He'd stake his life on it. If not for their differing paths, she would make an excellent wife.

He then started doubting himself again: Had he made a mistake when taking out the money, accidentally dropping one?

Crucially, he had no way to verify. He didn't even know how much loose change he had on him. He was too wealthy now to bother counting such small sums.

Alright, if one was missing, he'd simply add one.

Without a word, he feigned reaching into his sleeve, then pulled out another coin and gently placed it in her palm.

He thought that was finally the end of it, but found her eyes still fixed on him with an unwavering gaze. He then said in a hoarse voice, nodding apologetically, "My apologies, I miscounted. It wasn't intentional."

Dong Liangyu, however, stared at him and said, "You should know that most people who pay to read on the second floor do so to save a couple of coins. In such a situation, they would at least mention that they were sure they didn't shortchange anyone."

Shi Chun froze for a moment, immediately sensing something was amiss, but still explained, "Miss, you possess such graceful charm and extraordinary presence; you are clearly a lady of noble character. Naturally, you wouldn't make things difficult for me over a single coin. It must have been my mistake. Besides, not everyone who reads upstairs is short on money. Some simply prefer the quiet upstairs and dislike being disturbed."

To prove his point, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a coin pouch. As soon as he opened the mouth of the pouch, a surge of golden energy immediately billowed out.

It signaled he was a wealthy man, not one to quibble over a single coin. He then put the money pouch away.

Dong Liangyu lowered the hand holding the money. "Cough, cough. My family was implicated and arrested because of you. My father was tortured and nearly died. Who exactly are you?"

Shi Chun froze. With things stated so plainly, there was no point in feigning ignorance any longer.

While silent, he quickly activated his right eye's special ability to scan his surroundings. The third floor was empty, as was the floor above. Downstairs, there was a figure hunched over a book in a corner, but it seemed there was no ambush.

It was normal for few people to be around at this hour.

He looked back at Dong Liangyu, speechless. He couldn't fathom how she had recognized him, or rather, how quickly she had recognized him—it was beyond his imagination.

Most importantly, by openly exposing his identity like this, wasn't she afraid he would kill her to silence her?

Alright, he was mistaken. This family still believed in the law.

Moreover, this family was quite reasonable.

Hmm, fine, then he would be reasonable.

Finally, he sighed and resumed his original voice, saying, "Did I implicate your family? I truly didn't know about that. I never intended to bring trouble upon your family, nor did I expect that leaving your home would still cause you harm. It was precisely because I didn't want to implicate you that I left the library. Second Miss, please believe me, I never had any ill intent towards your family."

He did indeed consider silencing her. If he killed her, no one would know he had been there.

However, he still hoped to reason with her. After all, many people frequented this library, and an empty upper floor would be easily noticed. If a commotion occurred, his trip would be in vain and would also hinder his subsequent inquiries about Bai Qiru in the city.

Dong Liangyu said, "I believe you, which is why I didn't secretly report you to the city guard. I just want to know who you are. Is that too much to ask?"

Shi Chun replied, "Second Miss, I came here with no ill intentions. Some things are better left unknown. The less you know, the safer you will be."

Dong Liangyu retorted, "Nonsense! Cough, cough..."

Shi Chun explained, "If you know who I am and I don't silence you, others might assume they can use your family to threaten me. At that point, your entire family would truly be implicated."

Dong Liangyu was silenced by his words, and after a while, she asked, "Since you've already left, why did you come back?"

Shi Chun replied, "Some habits are hard to break. I'm a person who loves to read; I'm a scholar at heart. If not for that, I wouldn't have been serendipitously hired by you to do odd jobs at the library back then. If I don't read for three days, I feel restless and out of sorts. The collection at Chaoyue Pavilion is too vast, encompassing everything imaginable, like an ocean of knowledge. I certainly hadn't read enough when I was here before, so I couldn't help but return."

Dong Liangyu, with the light still on her shoulder and neck, pursed her lips. Her gaze wavered as she asked again, "Is there no other reason?"

Shi Chun sighed, "Your family has no wealth, no power, and no strength. What else could I do at the library pavilion besides read? It truly is just a scholar's hobby."

He then tried to add, "Second Miss, I'll quietly come to read, and quietly leave when I'm done. Considering our past acquaintance, if you pretend not to recognize me, no one will suspect anything, and there will be no problems. Would that be acceptable?"

If she didn't agree, he truly would have no choice but to resort to deadly measures.

Dong Liangyu spread her palm and counted the money. Like magic, she counted eight coins. She picked one out and gently placed it on a nearby bookshelf, saying, "I miscounted."

Refusing to take any advantage, she turned and left immediately.

She went straight downstairs to her designated post, sat down, and picked up a book to continue reading. She appeared calm and peaceful, though she still coughed occasionally.

However, Shi Chun, with his petty concerns, both trusted Dong Liangyu's character, continuing to search for books on the shelves, and yet occasionally used his right eye's special ability to check if Dong Liangyu was still in her original spot.

His actions and thoughts were extremely contradictory, making him quite tired. His frequent use of his right eye's special ability had severely depleted his blood energy, and he hadn't had a chance to recover.

Downstairs in the main hall, the red-clad woman, feigning sleep with her head propped up, paused the light tapping of her finger on the ledger. On the third-floor bookshelf, a book Shi Chun had looked through and replaced would immediately slide out a bit, silently.

At this moment, outside the library pavilion, a grey-clad figure wearing a veiled bamboo hat stood.

The grey-clad figure looked up at the sign and muttered, "Chaoyue Pavilion."

He was clearly somewhat surprised.

He raised a hand, removed his veiled hat, and put it away, revealing an unremarkable, sallow face. He then stepped into the library, where the scent of wine permeated the air and sounds of argument and discussion rose and fell.

He surveyed the scene in the hall. As he passed the counter, he saw the red-clad woman feigning sleep behind it, her eyes half-open as she subtly pointed to a notice on the counter. He paused to read the contents, gaining a rough understanding of the reading fees here.

However, he wasn't there to read; he was looking for someone. But he had never met the target person himself, and with a crowd inside the pavilion, he didn't know which one was his target.

Nor was it convenient to openly activate his 'demonic eye' for observation.

The key problem was not knowing if the person was among the crowd in the hall. If they were, even if he exposed himself, he could quickly grab the person and flee without issue.

But if he exposed himself first, creating a huge commotion without immediately finding the person, he would have to gamble that there were no masters in the city capable of fighting him.

Of course, the likelihood of encountering such a master by chance was low, but if he could silently abduct the person, he could maximize the target's value.

Just then, Dong Liangying, seeing that he clearly looked unfamiliar with the place, approached and kindly reminded him, "All the books are on the second floor; you need to go upstairs to retrieve them."

The grey-clad figure gave a slight nod in acknowledgment. He complied readily, as this provided a perfect cover for him to observe slowly.

Reaching a corner, out of sight of others, and seeing no one on the stairs, his eyes once again transformed into crimson pupils. He prepared to use the cover of the corner to discreetly observe the people in the main hall.

To his astonishment, as soon as his 'demonic eye' appeared, he realized that the elusive clue with the target's distinctive features was right before him; he didn't even need to peek towards the main hall.

His crimson eyes followed the clue upwards, discovering that his target had gone upstairs. He immediately proceeded upstairs at a measured pace.

Sensing someone near the staircase landing, his crimson eyes quickly reverted to normal. He soon saw Dong Liangyu, who was seated there, on guard.

Seeing a customer, Dong Liangyu, sitting upright, slightly inclined her head in greeting.

The grey-clad figure also bowed, walking directly past Dong Liangyu. Upon reaching the dense rows of bookshelves, he scanned to confirm no one was nearby. His crimson eyes immediately reappeared, again locking onto the clue with the target's features. He promptly followed the clue.

"Whoosh!" Dong Liangyu, startled by the sound of the sliding door opening again, turned her head. She was somewhat surprised: How had another stranger managed to directly find the hidden sliding door?

Meanwhile, the grey-clad figure had already proceeded non-stop to the third floor, his steps making no sound whatsoever upon landing.

Coincidentally, because of Dong Liangyu's earlier commotion, Shi Chun had been periodically using his right eye's special ability to check if Dong Liangyu was still there. As a result, no matter how light the footsteps were, they were useless; they couldn't escape the sight of his right eye.

At first, Shi Chun merely noticed another person had come up to the library pavilion and didn't think much of it. Another person looking for books to read—wasn't that perfectly normal?

Of course, the distance was also a factor.

But as the distance closed, it was different. Once he was closer, Shi Chun's right eye felt as if it had been pricked by a needle; his eyelid twitched, and his nerves instantly tensed.

He couldn't help but instinctively become wary. He saw the 'demonic essence' within the newcomer's body, something he was all too familiar with and unlikely to mistake.

Moreover, the density of the newcomer's demonic essence could be described as astonishing; he had never seen a demon cultivator with such potent demonic essence.

A demonic cultivator also came to the library to read?

It was entirely possible; who stipulated that demonic cultivators couldn't come to read?

However, he soon realized something was wrong. The other person's behavior showed no intention of looking for books, yet they were gradually approaching him. Even more critically, though he strained his ears, he couldn't detect the slightest sound of footsteps.

This was certainly not the reaction of a normal reader.

A strong sense of danger quickly made his heart pound like a drum.

He couldn't help but be nervous, knowing he might be facing an unprecedented master of the demonic path.

He dared not put down the book in his hands, fearing he might make the slightest sound, and he too began to tiptoe.

It wasn't just masters who could walk without making a sound; the pair of 'Cloud-Stepping Boots' he wore were also extraordinary; he didn't even need to touch the ground.

Like a thief, he crouched low, using his familiarity with the library pavilion to subtly maneuver, quietly slip around, and discreetly circle, using the bookshelves for cover.

He didn't even dare to breathe deeply.

Fortunately, the other party hadn't used any spells to search from beginning to end, which he found somewhat strange. Why use a clumsy method when one could use magic to locate someone?

Behind the counter in the main hall, the red-clad woman, feigning sleep with her head propped up, slowly halted the tapping of her finger on the ledger. A glint of light seemed to shimmer beneath her drooping eyelids.