Rejected Beauty Practices the Villain Play
Chapter 83: Killing and Fighting

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Killing and Fighting

Xie Xun stood under the curtain of rain wearing a bamboo raincoat. His left leg ached faintly from the cold and repeated straining, but his gaze lingered on the girl’s gentle and pristine profile. He hated Fengyu for trapping him in the Capital City, despised her extravagance and wastefulness, and loathed her hypocrisy and selfishness. He had never imagined it was she who had been helping the old, weak, and young in the northern part of the city for the past three years without seeking any recognition. The Capital City hadn’t even heard a word of her efforts.

He was someone who could decide life and death with a single glance, yet in the midst of the raging wind and snowstorms, he admitted—this time, he had misjudged.

There was a perplexing contradiction within her, as if she were one soul with two natures. She could kill without hesitation. If the Empress offended her, she would demand Imperial Uncle Lv pay the price. In her eyes, a single strand of her own hair was worth more than someone else’s life. She was greedy and hoarded wealth from all corners of the world, yet she pitied the weak, willing to scatter her fortunes generously.

Half demon wreaking havoc on the world, half deity safeguarding all living beings.

"Fengyu, you..." Lin Xiao’s chest tightened in pain. Fengyu furrowed her brows and said lightly, "Lin Xiao, do what you need to do. I have my own affairs to handle."

Lin Xiao had known Fengyu for three years. From love at first sight at Xiangguo Temple to three years of teasing and aloofness at the Imperial College, in his eyes, Fengyu was delicate and soft, untainted by worldly dust. She wore splendid garments and flaunted them around. Who would have thought that such a Fengyu would appear in the northern districts of the city, selflessly providing disaster relief?

When Lin Xiao was discharged from the hospital, he saw Xie Xun standing quietly under the eaves, like someone watching snow in the rain, like someone searching for flowers shrouded in mist. Snow piled up, breaking frail branches under its weight. Lin Xiao asked, "Did the Young Marquis already know the Third Miss was here?"

Xie Xun nodded. Lin Xiao asked, "Her health is frail. Why don’t you persuade her to return home?"

"If she wants to return, she will, naturally," Xie Xun’s voice traveled through the wind and snow. "I’m not anyone to her. Why should I bother persuading her?"

Coordination and logistics in post-disaster reconstruction were especially critical. While Fengyu could not physically repair the infrastructure like the Kyoto Capital Guard, her role in maintaining order was indispensable. During the first year of relief and rebuilding, everything was chaotic. Now, it was second nature to her. She knew better than anyone how to allocate supplies, assign personnel, prioritize injuries, and determine who was best suited to comfort residents, record data, or handle logistics. With her there, people from the Feng Family, the escort agency, and the commercial associations could operate more effectively.

Xie Xun thought to himself, if not for Fengyu, relying solely on the Kyoto Capital Guard for repairs would have turned this place into utter chaos long ago. Xie Xun had worked briefly in logistics in Ningzhou and knew how tedious and crucial the work was. He couldn’t help but think of Su Yuejiao, who had also handled logistics coordination in Ningzhou—organizing grain transport, daily food distribution, military farming, and injured soldier welfare. Without reliable logistics, even the invincible Northern Iron Cavalry would collapse into disarray.

Nuanyang came rushing through the rain, her face visibly anxious. "Master, there’s trouble!"

In the Southwest District of Six Cross Street, the Kyoto Capital Guard had clashed with the civilians. When Xie Xun and Lin Xiao arrived, they saw a guard kicking an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy into the blizzard. The boy wore thin clothes, his hair soaked by the torrential rain, his eyes bloodshot. Several guards stood under the eaves laughing recklessly as the boy furiously shouted that he would fight them to the death, only to be kicked back into the rain again.

"I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!" the boy screamed with heart-wrenching fury, but his injuries left him collapsed in the rain. His forehead struck a piece of rubble, and fresh blood, mingled with rainwater, flowed into his eyes.

Two women wailed and tried to intervene but were blocked inside the house by the Kyoto Capital Guard. Their clothes were in tatters, and they looked utterly disheveled. The houses in this part of the Southwest District were densely packed and severely run-down, with walls built from bricks and stones, roofs mostly covered by thin tiles with an additional layer of thatch. The wind and snow had torn away the thatch, hailstones had damaged the roofs, and the already fragile walls were collapsing under the weight of the storm.

Zhang Boxin and Lin Xiao had arranged for civilians in this area to be relocated to the eastern district, where Fengyu was stationed. This area needed complete reconstruction after its collapse, which was no quick task. For now, finding specialized craftsmen to do proper repairs was impossible. While the Kyoto Capital Guard could only make temporary fixes to the roofs, providing shelter from the elements, proper reconstruction would require skilled workers.

"What’s going on here!" Xie Xun’s voice cut through the storm like a clap of thunder echoing over the ruins.

The guards under the eaves were startled by Xie Xun’s presence. A bolt of lightning split the dense clouds, and a deafening thunderclap filled the sky. Four Kyoto guards hastily straightened their robes; one was even fumbling to tie his belt. They rushed into the rain curtain to greet him, saying, "Greetings, Young Marquis."

Xie Xun’s hand gripped the hilt of his sword, his eyes dark as storm clouds rolling in the sky. "What are you doing?"

The guards behind him exchanged uneasy glances. Each stood out in the rain, feeling the growing intensity of Xie Xun’s murderous aura.

Lin Xiao’s face was ashen. These four guards were men he had brought along, two of whom were collateral relatives of the Lin Family. By family rank, they should have addressed Lin Xiao as Second Uncle. They were still young, only seventeen or eighteen, their most reckless age. Behind the broken door lay two girls, with bruised faces, cracked lips bleeding, their tattered clothing exposing fresh claw marks in the biting storm.

"Young Marquis, we were relocating them to a safer place," protested one of the Lin Family youths. "They refused to leave the ruins, and a small dispute arose."

"Yes, yes. It was just a minor argument. We’ll take them to the eastern district right away," another guard echoed with agreement.

"Nonsense!" The bloodied boy clawed his way out of the filthy water, pointing to accuse them of their crimes. "They assaulted my sisters; they’re monsters!"

"Young Marquis, we’re being wronged. We come from the Lin Family—what beauties haven’t we seen? These peasant girls are nothing..." The Lin Family youth wiped the rain from his face, showing no sign of fear as he calmly continued his defense. His belt remained untied, and scratch marks from a woman’s nails were visible on his neck. He even turned back to sneer at the women behind the door curtain, mocking their plain appearances. But just as he turned his head, a flash of white light swept across like lightning streaking through the sky. A splash of blood dyed the snowy landscape.

Crimson spilled onto the ground. The boy’s mocking smile froze on his face as his hand flew to his neck. He fell into the rain, his blood rapidly staining the snow.

Blood dripped from Xie Xun’s sword into the rain. Lin Xiao and the guards behind him paled, standing in the rain, exchanging terrified glances at the sight of the Young Marquis effortlessly cutting down a noble youth.

The wind howled fiercely, the icy chill piercing their veins. The three remaining guards knelt abruptly, their faces drained of all color, furiously kowtowing and trembling as they begged amidst the muddy water. "Mercy, Young Marquis! Please spare us! We won’t do it again!"

The Kyoto Capital Guard, infamous for oppressing the people and extorting the merchants, had committed such heartless atrocities right under Xie Xun’s nose. His grip on his sword tightened, veins bulging on his hand. "With a natural disaster upon us, the people are already suffering. You were sent here to save them from calamity, not to bring them to ruin. You wear official uniforms and guard the Capital City, but act like criminals. Mercy? That’s something for King Yan to decide."