Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 438: Night Talk

The man wore a wide bamboo hat pulled low, hiding most of his face in shadow. There was not a trace of killing intent emanating from him. He simply stood there casually, as if he had always belonged to this study.

The mysterious figure did not look at Xu Qing. He merely lowered his head slightly, moving with a relaxed and natural grace as he poured himself a cup of tea.

Then, he set down the teapot, extended his right hand, and lifted the steaming cup.

Just as he raised the teacup.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The mysterious figure's index and middle fingers pressed together, tapping against the hard rosewood desk surface three times—extremely softly, yet with perfect rhythm.

Those three faint taps, when they fell upon Xu Qing's ears, might as well have been thunderclaps exploding from the heavens!

Xu Qing's pupils abruptly constricted. His right hand, gripping the short blade, suddenly released. His entire body stiffened as if struck by lightning, frozen in the master's chair.

This movement...

Back in the county school in Qingshi Town, in the courtyard of that dilapidated Building A, when the two of them would burn the midnight oil studying classics and discussing philosophy or simply chatting, that youth who always seemed to take so many things lightly would, whenever lost in thought or lifting his teacup, unconsciously tap his index and middle fingers three times on the table.It was a habit. A habit carved deep into his bones, one that could never be faked.

Xu Qing's breathing grew rapid. His gaze locked onto that figure in the green robe. His lips trembled slightly as if he wanted to say something, but he found his throat clogged as if stuffed with cotton, unable to produce a single sound.

At this moment, time seemed to freeze completely. Only the faint crackling of the candle flame remained in the study.

Silence.

A long, drawn-out silence.

No one knew how much time had passed before Xu Qing finally found his voice again. It came out hoarse and terrifying, as if scraped from sandpaper.

"You... you've been here all along?"

The hand holding the teacup paused slightly. The figure in the green robe did not remove his bamboo hat, nor did he turn around. In the dim light, he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Mmm."

without the

hardness tempered by experience, that

It really was him.

he not died in the frozen wasteland of the Northern Frontier, but he had returned. At this most critical juncture, when the Great Xing Dynasty's court was in turmoil,

eyes sting. He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the violent surge of emotions in his chest, making his voice as

littered with top-tier death-men who had died in grotesque ways, and the desperate, maddened look

turned around, holding the tea cup

candlelight illuminated his slightly gaunt jaw.

Instead, he lifted the teacup and took a light sip of the now-cold,

"Yes."

this answer, Xu Qing was stunned

stared fixedly at Su Ming, at

a moment, Xu Qing

the chair, letting out a

laughed with satisfaction. He laughed

torment was not death, not utter disgrace, but being crushed by a force he could never understand or contend with—and never

of death, was crueler and more thorough than any vengeance involving a thousand

both laugh and cry. He did not

he had

a translucent jade pendant, its surface shimmering with a

jade pendant on the desk in front

the token of the Cloud Hidden Sect's External Affairs Office." Su Ming's voice remained calm, but a subtle gravity had crept into his tone. "If in the future you encounter trouble in this mortal court that you cannot solve, take this to the Four Seas Trading Company in the eastern part of the city, and seek

for a moment, then, through the veil

will help

could guess the weight the name "Cloud Hidden Sect" carried.

hypocritically decline, nor did he

palm with immense solemnity, feeling its smooth, warm

leaving?" Xu Qing lifted his head, his gaze burning as he looked

Su Ming nodded.

Time to go

this night onward, they would follow two completely different paths. One would continue to rise and fall on the pinnacle of

two stood facing each

the study had burned to its