Opening up the window, icy cold wind hit her face, Murong Yun Shu shuddered. May was always over, but it"s still frigid in the mountains. Fog at the bottom, clear moon in the sky, sudden she felt that she was up on the top of the world and a sense of contentment washed over her.

Murong Yun Shu was startled by the sudden send of contentment. She laughed silently to herself; she wondered if she would feel even more contended if she just took a leap from here....

While random thoughts raced through her head, she smelled an ever so light hint of fragrance in the air, gone before one could catch it. Then the sound of the bolt on the door being juggled opened, Murong Yun shu frowned lightly, a ever so light smile spread from her brows.

A squeak, and the door was opened.

"Didn"t your dad teach you that you should always knock before entering a room?" said Murong Yun Shu in a steady tone. She turned around slowly and looked at the intruder with her bright eyes and a barely detectable smile.

The intruder was quite surprised that she was still conscious after the fragrance, let alone her tone as though she has been expecting her. She was dumbfounded for a few seconds, then noticed the wide opened window behind her, "You lucked out."

"My luck has always been quite good," Murong Yun Shu stealthily moved her left hand behind her body steady herself on the window rim. The wind blew away most of the fragrance, but she did inhale a little after all. She felt a little dizzy, but luckily she was still conscious.

Murong Yun Shu shook her head, the moonlight allowed her to take a look at the intruder. Her body shape suggested that it"s a female, with a limp, since he has a cane in one hand. Her face was masked, but from her eyes Murong Yun Shu determined that she was about 30 or 40 years old.

"So what"s the purpose of your visit at this hour in the night?"

"Hrm, too kill you, of course," said the woman.

"Then do it."

The masked woman was surprised, then sneered, "Aren"t you going to ask me why?"

"Would that change your mind if I ask?"

"No, still going to kill you!"

That made Murong Yun Shu laughed, "Then why would I want to bother?"

The masked woman was taken aback, "Aren"t you afraid?"

Murong Yun Shu smiled and ignored her question. She was unruffled, her smile that of a tranquil lake, deep and bottomless.

The masked woman hesitated briefly before slowly approaching her with her cane. She stared at her intently, watching out for any tricks.

One step, two, three, four, five.... all of a sudden, her cane slipped and she took a nose dive down, a loud thud. She immediately tried to get back up, but slipped again and feel back onto the ground.

"You...." A strike to the head before she could finish her words, and she was out cold.

Light was restored in the room, Lu"er with a chair above her head was ever so proud of herself, "Miss, I wasn"t half bad, right?" Lu"er was the one who delivered the fast, accurate, and ruthless strike.

"How come its you?" Asked Murong Yun Shu.

"Nie Qing said he refuses to hit women."

Murong Yun Shu raised her brows and looked at the masculine man holding the candle, "Good practice."

Nie Qing snickered and turned away coolly.

"Miss, what did you put on the bed sheet?" asked Lu"er, referring to the dusty bed sheet under the masked woman.

"Ice."

"Where did you get ice from in this season?" She didn"t even know miss had left her room at all.

Nie Qing was quite curious how she accomplished that as well. When she asked him to grab a chair, hide in the corner, and "play it by the ear", he was expecting hand-to-hand combat. He didn"t expect victory to come so easily.

Murong Yun Shu lowered her head and said feebly, "It"s not strange to have ice when it"s bone-chilling cold in the mountains." Not to mention the cliff outside the window, one could practically die from hypothermia. The fragrance was really getting to her now, she just wanted to lie down and sleep. As to her preparation for the night, she soaked the bed sheet in water, then dangled it out with a rope and a teapot at the end out into the fog. When she pulled it back up an hour ago it was already covered in ice. She laid it out onto the floor and covered it up with dirt so it looked like regular floor -- there was no need to explain this to anyone2.

"You two didn"t inhale any poisonous fragrance?" She was feeling dizzier but the other two were unaffected. She wasn"t happy about that.

"No," Lu"er shook her head. Qie Ning expressed that he had never heard of such a thing.

Seems she wasn"t lucky enough after all, she shouldn"t have stood in front of the window. She sighed and rubbed between her eyes. "Tie her up, then wake her up for interrogation," said Murong Yun Shu referring to the masked woman on the floor.

****

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Next scheduled update: Tuesday, Oct 2 - Ch 21.1 - Debt and Injustice.

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