AUBTN -Chapter 69 True Acting

His figure flashed like a ghost, instantly appearing behind the woman in black. Two fingers shot out like iron pincers, aiming straight for her throat.

The black-clad woman, trapped between fronts, had no choice but to spin around to block.

Yu Qing, who had been cowering in the corner, suddenly found courage from somewhere. She lunged forward, intending to wrap her arms around the woman’s waist to stop her from escaping.

But her foot slipped, and in her panicked flailing, her hands happened—by pure coincidence—to grab the edge of the mask on the woman’s face.

“Rip—”

The mask came off with a snap.

The sounds of combat in the secret room stopped abruptly.

Lu Yan’s blade froze midair, and Shen Jue’s fingers were only half an inch from the other’s throat.

All three of them turned their gaze to the face now exposed to the air.

It was a delicate yet unmistakably familiar face!

Yu Qing’s mouth dropped open, and the mask fell from her hands with a clatter.

“Song… Song Zhaoyuan?”

Song Zhaoyuan looked at the three shocked faces before her. Her previously cold and sharp eyes crumbled instantly.

In their place was the despair and helplessness of someone who had been unmasked.

She gritted her teeth.

“It’s me.”

Her gaze shifted to Shen Jue, then Lu Yan, and finally landed on Yu Qing, still utterly dumbfounded. A smile twisted on her lips—uglier than tears.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you… I just… wanted to beg for my sister’s life.”

Shen Jue squinted, his eyes scanning her face before settling on Lu Yan.

“Your fiancée is quite interesting!”

Lu Yan shot him a glare. “Shut up!”

“Wh-what is going on?” Yu Qing was stunned too!

How could the cheerful, innocent Song Zhaoyuan turn out to be the assassin known as Huamei!

“Interesting.”

Shen Jue slowly withdrew his hand.

“Lord Lu’s childhood friend can not only fight but imitate both my and Lord Lu’s techniques—and she’s entangled with the Jiang family! Looks like the Jiang waters are murkier than I imagined.”

Lu Yan sheathed his blade, his gaze icy as he fixed it on Song Zhaoyuan. “Who exactly are you?”

Having been unmasked, Song Zhaoyuan no longer pretended. Her previous innocence was completely gone.

Yu Qing looked utterly crushed. Lu Yan thought she was just scared—but in truth, her mind was breaking!

【This is what I call acting… a whole-level demolition of skill. My four years of acting training were for nothing—this is real acting! She’s been acting the whole way, and not a single person saw through her.】

Lu Yan “…”

“Song Zhaoyuan.”

His eyes bore into Huamei, cold and sharp.

“Or… perhaps I should be asking who you really are?”

Yu Qing shrank further into the corner, still clutching the mask she had pulled off, teetering on the edge of a total worldview collapse.

【Does anyone understand? I thought I was here for the plot… turns out I’m just an extra.】

【That acting… Hollywood owes her a little golden statue. Even my theater teacher would cry seeing this!】

Shen Jue, by contrast, remained much calmer than Lu Yan.

He spoke slowly and deliberately.

“Lord Lu, put your blade away first.”

“Since identities are out in the open, why not sit down and hear this childhood friend’s story? I’m quite curious what kind of underworld vagabond could fool us so thoroughly.”

Lu Yan shot Shen Jue a cold glance, but in the end, he suppressed his murderous intent and sheathed his embroidered Spring Blade.

“Speak.”

Song Zhaoyuan—no, it should be Huamei!

She slowly lifted her head.

At this moment, there was not a trace of the timidity or innocence that had been in her eyes before.

In its place was a resilience and calm born from enduring countless hardships.

Since her identity had been exposed, there was nothing left to hide.

“My name isn’t Song Zhaoyuan.”

She spoke, her voice hoarse but carrying the boldness unique to wandering heroes.

“My real name is Huamei. I belong to no sect or clan—I am just a wandering knight of the Jianghu.”

Lu Yan sneered. “A wandering knight knows the techniques of the Jinyiwei?”

Huamei gave a wry smile.

“Traveling the Jianghu, one can never have too many skills. As for why I know your moves… seeing them enough naturally makes them familiar. The renown of Your Excellencies spreads like thunder through the Jianghu. Many want to kill you, naturally many also try to imitate you.”

Yu Qing stood aside, wide-eyed in astonishment.

【Wow… a prodigy type, huh!】

Shen Jue chuckled lightly.

“Then tell me, why all the scheming—pretending to be the Song family’s lost heiress to get close to Lu Yan? Don’t tell me it’s because you admire him.”

Huamei’s gaze passed beyond the two of them, resting on some point in the void. Her eyes softened unexpectedly.

“To repay a debt of gratitude.”

She spoke decisively.

“Three years ago, I was being pursued by enemies in Su City, gravely wounded, collapsing in the rain-soaked streets. It was Jiang Ruyi, the Second Miss of the Jiang family, who saved me.”

Her memory seemed to drift back to that rainy night.

“She is a lady of wealth and privilege, whose hands never touched the common water of daily life, yet for me—a wandering soul of unknown origins—she secretly summoned doctors, personally brewed medicine, and even defied her own uncle.”

“My life… she gave me.”

Huamei lifted her head, staring straight into Lu Yan’s cold eyes.

“Lord Lu, in your eyes, Jiang Ruyi may just be the weak, pampered daughter of a salt merchant, someone easy to bully. But in my eyes, she is the purest and kindest person in this world.”

“So you helped her kill people?” Lu Yan demanded.

“Kill people?” Huamei’s eyes flashed with a sharpness.

“Jiang Huai, that old thief—did he not deserve it?”

Her words, dripping with hatred, echoed through the enclosed stone chamber.

Lu Yan snorted. “You know what I’m talking about! That ship full of innocent people at sea—are you seriously going to claim you had nothing to do with it?”

Huamei also sneered coldly. “Innocent? Anyone connected to Jiang Huai is far from innocent!”

“The world says the Jiang family is wealthy and generous. But who knows how Jiang Ruyi’s parents really died?”

Huamei ground her teeth.

“Five years ago, Jiang Ruyi’s parents died suddenly. Half their estate fell entirely into Jiang Huai’s hands. He claimed it was natural causes, but in truth—it was poison! All for that unimaginable wealth!”

“Not only did he seize the estate, he also used Jiang Ruyi’s life as leverage, imprisoning her in the backyard, raising her like a caged bird, all for the day he could claim the rest of her inheritance!”

Yu Qing drew a sharp breath.

【What kind of over-the-top rich family feud is this? This is so melodramatic!】

【Poor girl… so tragically beautiful and strong.】

Lu Yan’s brows furrowed tighter.

Although he had known Jiang Huai was unscrupulous, he hadn’t realized such a ruthless secret lay behind it.

“If you had grievances, why not go to the authorities?” Shen Jue interjected casually, as if he’d seen such theatrics countless times.

“Go to the authorities?” Huamei laughed as if she’d heard the world’s biggest joke.

“The magistrate of Su City has long been Jiang Huai’s guest of honor! Officials who tried to investigate the Jiang family in the previous two terms are long dead and buried! In Su City, Jiang Huai is heaven itself—the government is merely a kennel he runs!”