"Ah..." Lan Fan screamed.
The blade landed near his heart.
It was a shallow cut, and not much blood flowed, but for some reason, he couldn't stop screaming. He even convulsed, as if in great pain.
"What kind of sorcery are you performing?" Chu Qianli asked Lan Qing, looking confused.
"Nothing much, just piercing his vital point to cripple his martial arts. From now on, he can no longer use the Lan family's secret techniques."
Lan Qing flicked his knife, shaking off the blood before sheathing it.
"Then I..." Chu Qianli still didn't understand.
Lan Qing smiled, "Since he can no longer use the Lan family's secret techniques, the life-and-death pact between you is naturally void."
"No way? That simple?" If it had been this simple, she should have just cut him down from the start, saving herself and Feng Yexuan so much suffering.
"Killing him would be impossible. Not only would the life-and-death pact not be broken, but you would have to die with him."
Lan Qing smiled and looked at her abdomen. His gaze seemed to understand much, but he didn't say a word.
"The life-and-death pact was forged with his sorcery. If his sorcery is gone, the life-and-death pact will also disappear."
He turned and walked towards the large tree where Feng Dingchu was.
His steps seemed light, but in the blink of an eye, he was standing not far from Feng Dingchu.
In the wind, only his pleasant and melodious, yet cold and unfeeling voice remained:
"If you still harbor resentment, now that the life-and-death pact is broken, you can cut him down with a single blow, and you will suffer no ill effects."
Chu Qianli looked at Lan Fan, who lay on the ground, his strength gone after the intense pain, gazing at her weakly.
With just one glance, she was stunned again.
She saw Lan Fan's once handsome face visibly aging at an alarming rate.
Yes, aging!
Fine lines appeared on his face first, and soon, these fine lines turned into genuine wrinkles.
His face seemed to dehydrate, transforming from a beautiful young man into an old man with a face full of wrinkles.
And his hair.
His raven black hair turned white, inch by inch, until it was completely white.
Chu Qianli looked up at Lan Qing, who stood on the tree trunk, "What happened to him..."
"He was already over seventy years old. He only used the Lan family's secret techniques to make himself look as young as twenty. Now that the Lan family's secret techniques are gone, he has naturally reverted to his original appearance."
Chu Qianli looked at him, then at Lan Fan, the shock still lingering.
So, the Lan family's secret techniques were truly that powerful!
She could never have guessed that Lan Fan was actually a seventy-year-old man.
Did this mean... the Lan family's secret techniques could grant eternal youth?
Looking at Lan Qing again, Chu Qianli's eyes filled with excitement, "Can I... learn it?"
If she could learn the Lan family's secret techniques, she could stay beautiful and youthful forever... Oh my! Who wouldn't want that?
Even though she always said she didn't rely on her looks, she was still a woman.
What woman didn't love beauty? Who didn't want to stay young and beautiful forever?
Chu Qianli's starry eyes sparkled with captivating light in the darkness, "Xiao Qingqing—"
Lan Qing felt a chill run down his spine, almost causing him to lose his balance and fall from the tree.
"Don't call me that. I'm not your 'Xiao Qingqing'."
He never expected that the seemingly stoic Chu Qianli would also resort to such fawning.
He thought she was cold and indifferent, uninterested in anything.
Lan Qing waved his hand, "Besides, you are not a descendant of the Lan clan. Even if I taught you, you wouldn't be able to learn it."