Chapter 153: Cruel Necessity (Part Two)

At three quarters past the Chen hour, the sun had already climbed high into the sky. Luoyang city was bustling with noise and excitement; streams of pedestrians crowded the streets, and the calls of street vendors rose and fell in a continuous chorus, presenting a remarkably lively scene. Yet, to Helan Minzhi, this was merely a cacophony of irritating sounds, especially after he had spent the entire previous night engaging in rigorous battles with three women. He found the din exceptionally grating and wished he could take a blade and slaughter every last one of those noisy shop assistants. Of course, such thoughts were merely a fantasy and quite impossible to put into practice, so he could only spit a heavy wad of phlegm onto the ground, mutter a low curse, hunch his shoulders, and climb into the carriage that had been waiting by the steps. He casually tossed out an order: "To the imperial city!"

In truth, Helan Minzhi wanted to go to the imperial palace about one hundred and twenty thousand percent less than anything else, simply because he had no desire to endure Empress Wu's endless nagging. If it were at all possible, Helan Minzhi would much rather hide away in his own mansion in a daze than accept what ordinary people considered the ultimate honor. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to go, since the terrifying might of Empress Wu was something Helan Minzhi could not possibly resist. Therefore, no matter how much resentment he harbored, he had to drag his wine-and-women-weakened body out of his bed of indulgence bright and early, and the intensity of the fury burning in his heart could well be imagined.

"Bad luck! Utterly damned bad luck!"

Helan Minzhi sat in the carriage, staring blankly for a long while. The more he thought about it, the more suffocated and angry he felt, and the more suffocated he felt, the more phlegm rose in his throat. Feeling an itch in his throat, he prepared to spit, and so he angrily cursed out loud, lifting the carriage curtain to spit outside. Yet the moment he lifted the small curtain on the left side of the carriage, he instantly realized something was terribly wrong—the carriage was definitely not traveling on the road to the imperial palace!

"You bastards, what road are you taking? Have you a death wish? Why aren't you..."

Furious to the extreme, Helan Minzhi cursed violently as he ripped the curtain open, rolling up his sleeves with the intention of dealing the coachman a harsh lesson. But before he could finish his tirade, he suddenly saw a flash of cold light, and a gleaming dagger was already pressed against his neck. He shuddered violently, and his words were cut short right in the middle.

"Y-you, who are you? D-don't do anything rash..."

Despite Helan Minzhi's overbearing and tyrannical behavior at court and among the common people, his actual courage was rather limited. The moment he laid eyes on that glittering, bone-chilling dagger, his legs instantly turned to jelly. Upon noticing the extremely fierce appearance of the newcomer, he was frightened out of his wits, trembling and stammering incoherently.

"Please sit properly, Young Master Helan. Otherwise, this little one cannot guarantee that his hand won't tremble, and if I were to accidentally injure the young master, that wouldn't be very pleasant." The intruder smiled with a grim grin, gently pressing the dagger down a fraction, mocking Helan Minzhi. Without caring how unsightly Helan Minzhi's expression was, the man used his free left hand to give him a gentle shove, pushing Helan Minzhi back to his original seat. Immediately afterward, with a flash of movement, the man entered the carriage as well, sitting down right beside Helan Minzhi while keeping the dagger steadily pressed against his neck.

"Let's not resort to violence. Name your price for money and wealth, whatever this family possesses, I will certainly not let Your Excellency down." Seeing that the other party did not immediately kill him, Helan Minzhi assumed the man was merely a kidnapper after wealth. His heart settled somewhat, and for the sake of preserving his life, he hastily signaled his willingness to cooperate.

"Shut your mouth and sit quietly!"

Generous though Helan Minzhi was trying to be, the intruder utterly ignored his offer. With a cold snort, the man rebuked him angrily, causing Helan Minzhi to shrink his neck in terror, not daring to speak another word. He could only lean fearfully against the wall of the carriage carriage, his eyeballs rolling frantically as he undoubtedly calculated ways to make his escape. Unfortunately, the man was clearly a seasoned professional and showed not the slightest hint of relaxation, his grip on the dagger remaining utterly steady. Finding no other course of action, Helan Minzhi could only accept his fate with a pale and ashen expression.

"Get out of the carriage!"

Just as Helan Minzhi was anxiously pondering countermeasures, the carriage stopped at some unknown moment. The burly man beside him produced a cloth hood from his robe with one hand, unceremoniously slipped it over Helan Minzhi's head, and then pressed the dagger down slightly as he issued a cold command.

"Good sir, please don't do this, this family—"

Helan Minzhi was thoroughly terrified this time, refusing to get out of the carriage and muttering pleas for mercy. Unfortunately, the other party paid him no heed at all. With a single-handed heave, the man hoisted Helan Minzhi up by his chest and leaped out of the carriage without a second glance. Striding like flying, he carried him straight into a residence, weaving through courtyards and alleys until they reached a side room in the back courtyard. He casually dropped Helan Minzhi—who had turned as limp as a piece of mud—onto the floor, and then cupped his fists toward a tall youth standing with his hands behind his back before the window sill, reporting, "Reporting, the person has been brought here."

"Mmm."

The tall youth did not turn around, merely raising a hand and emitting a soft acknowledgment. Seeing this, the fierce-looking man did not say any more. Reaching out, he yanked the black hood off Helan Minzhi's head, bowed deeply toward the back of the tall youth, and silently backed out of the room.

"Greetings, friend. I wonder what noble purpose you had in summoning this family here?"

Emerging abruptly from darkness into the light, Helan Minzhi's eyes naturally had some trouble adjusting. After rubbing them for a long while, he finally managed to see the situation inside the room clearly. Seeing that the fierce man who had previously kidnapped him was gone, his heart settled a bit more. He looked around left and right, and finally cast his gaze upon the figure standing with his back to him, asking with hesitant caution.

The figure standing with his back to him gave no reply, but slowly turned around, revealing a handsome and striking face. The moment Helan Minzhi caught sight of him, his eyes widened into perfect circles. He let out a strange, ghost-like cry of shock, pointed a trembling finger at the person, and stammered, "Y-you, you—you're Little Seven?"

"Cousin, it has been a long time. How have you been lately?"

The mastermind behind this kidnapping was none other than Li Xian. Seeing that Helan Minzhi had already recognized him, Li Xian remained completely unconcerned, asking back with a cheerful smile.

"Ha! It really is Little Seven! I was wondering, you looked so familiar—wait, no, it's just that your older brother was caught up in trivial matters and failed to go out to welcome Little Seven, but that's no reason to have your brother hauled in like this! This joke has gone a bit too far, you know." Seeing the full smile on Li Xian's face, the boulder in Helan Minzhi's heart dropped back into place. He swaggered over to a small table, slumped loosely into a seat, and exchanged a few breezy, bantering remarks.

Li Xian paid no attention to Helan Minzhi's wild chatter. Instead, he smiled faintly, walked unhurriedly over to the side of the table, and sat down cross-legged. He reached out to take a steaming teapot that was boiling near the edge of the table, poured two cups, pushed one of them across the table toward Helan Minzhi, and picked up the other cup to slowly sip from it at his leisure.

"Little Seven, say something! Why did you drag your brother here? You couldn't possibly be doing this just for fun, could you? Hmm?"

Helan Minzhi stared blankly for quite a while without getting a response from Li Xian, and his impatience soon flared up. Feeling a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, he snapped out a demand, completely forgetting his status as a prisoner in his overbearing attitude.

"Cousin, calm your impatience. Have a cup of tea to cool your temper first, and then we can talk."

Li Xian didn't even glance at Helan Minzhi, simply uttering those calm words with a tone that brooked no argument.

"Fine, fine, fine! I'll drink it! It's just a cup of tea, what's wrong with your brother drinking it? Ow..."

Helan Minzhi had been kidnapped for no reason and was naturally burning with irritation, yet he dared not throw a tantrum directly in front of Li Xian. He let out an angry huff, snatched up the teacup from the table, and threw his head back to gulp it down—forgetting entirely that the tea had just been boiling. He was instantly scalded and let out a yelp of pain.

Idiot! Li Xian couldn't be bothered to care about Helan Minzhi's wretched state. He rolled his eyes internally and expressed his contempt with a silent thought, yet he remained seated without moving an inch. He neither mocked Helan Minzhi's clumsy plight nor offered any words of comfort, simply sipping his tea with relish as if he hadn't noticed a thing.

"Little Seven, y-you've gone too far! Tea this hot, are you trying to scald your brother to death?!" Consumed by embarrassment and anger, Helan Minzhi finally snapped and burst out in fury, pointing a finger at Li Xian and raising his voice in rage.

Helan Minzhi's temper was not small, but Li Xian completely ignored him. He continued drinking his tea leisurely, letting Helan Minzhi bounce around like a clown until Helan Minzhi finally slumped back down to the floor out of sheer exhaustion. Only then did Li Xian calmly set his teacup down on the table, gaze steadily at Helan Minzhi, and say, "When Gu invited Cousin here today, there was indeed a matter I wish to entrust to you, and I hope Cousin will not refuse."

"Little Seven, have you lost your mind? Is this how you invite someone when you want a favor? I won't help! No help!"

Hearing that Li Xian had gone to such great lengths merely to ask for his assistance, Helan Minzhi blew his top instantly. He leaped to his feet, waving his hands in extreme frustration and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"You truly won't help?" Li Xian was completely unfazed. With a cold smile, he pressed the question.

"I won't! Whatever schemes Little Seven is running, go play them by yourself! Your brother has no time!" Helan Minzhi flicked his wide sleeve in a huff and petulantly refused.

"Heh, very well then. Gu will give you two choices: first, help Gu with this matter, and Gu will not treat you poorly. I won't promise too much, but three or five thousand strings of cash are certainly within reach. As for the second choice..." Li Xian smiled faintly, unconcerned, and set his teacup back down on the table. Then, with a sudden cold snort, he raised his hand. A flash of bright light sliced through the air, and the previously intact teacup was instantly split into eight equal pieces, while the surface of the table did not suffer even the slightest scratch.

"Y-you, you—what are you doing? I, I, I..."

Although Helan Minzhi's character was atrocious, he had actually practiced martial arts for a few years and originally possessed quite decent skills. Though his body had long been hollowed out by wine and women, his discerning eye remained; he instantly recognized how lethal Li Xian's sudden blade strike was. His face turned as pale as paper in an instant, and as he stared at Li Xian with terror-stricken eyes, he stammered incoherently, utterly at a loss for words.