Murim's Weakest Princess

Food arrived, but nobody ate anything. For the first time, Pu Jianming also noticed how his friend never actually ate anything. All these years, they only shared tea. He simply assumed the merchant had already eaten. However, with two cultivators present, the food was smelled more than tasted.

"Ah Song, why aren’t you eating?" Pu Jianming finally asked.

Smiling, Song Min deflected the question and bounced it right back.

"I’m not hungry. What about both of you? Young children need to eat to grow up."

Not missing a beat, Anji smiled politely. "We are both cultivators. We don’t really need to eat like ordinary folks."

"I see," Song Min circled the rim of his teacup. "What a shame. I ordered these specifically for guests. After all, it is rare for a small town like this to receive new visitors, especially one who only knows the luxury of the imperial palace."

That was a pointed accusation. Pu Jianming caught on immediately. Anji was a cultivator. Just because she met with the Emperor and Empress once and had connections with the Noble Consort did not mean she was spoiled.

"Ah Song, this child is a member of the Mystical Qilin Sect before she is the niece of the Noble Consort. Don’t you think it’s a little too much to assume she’s rejecting it because of personal taste?"

Song Min tapped his fingers on the marble table, any amusement wiped from his face. Pu Jianming had only seen his friend’s irritation a few times and recognised the signs.

"Old Pu, why are you defending her? You’ve literally just met her today. What could you possibly know about her more than me?"

It was true. However, Pu Jianming wanted to trust his heart. The man before him was a friend hiding many things.

"I wonder," he replied quietly. "Ah Song, who are you?"

The question hung in the air unanswered as two men stared at each other at length. Then, Song Min answered first.

"Who do you want me to be?"

Between the two men, Anji understood what that meant. Truthfully, she did not want Pu Jianming to take anyone’s side more than this. He was an unfortunate person trapped between two great forces. Even if he does nothing, Elder Shen would punish him. There was only one ending for a soul like Pu Jianming. The only thing that differs is how painful that ending would be.

"I don’t know," Pu Jianming broke eye contact first. "I don’t know, Ah Song. Who am I to you?"

Anji faded out as much as she could. Would Song Min even answer this?

"I don’t want to harm you, Old Pu. It’s not my intention because I really admire you," Song Min sighed. "But if you continue to stand against me and side with my enemies, even I can be very hurt and cruel."

Feeling the dam break in his heart, Pu Jianming clenched his fists under the table until they drew blood.

"Even more cruel than borrowing my hands to commit your murders?"

Pu Jianming could not look up. He was too busy holding back tears and maintaining a crumbling composure. However, Anji saw it— the serene smile on Song Min’s face.

"Old Pu, why say it like that? Everything was fine before she visited. What use is there to think about what you did? Your intentions were great, but other people simply decided to borrow it for different uses. Isn’t it the same everywhere? The same knife a blacksmith forges can be used to carve meat at a butcher shop or the neck of a criminal. The fault does not lie with the blacksmith, does it?"

Instead of feeling comforted by the devil’s whisper, Pu Jianming shut his eyes and trembled.

"I’d rather die than look the other way. Song Yi, you’ve committed a grave sin, and it was my fault for not knowing any better to stop you. I can’t stop you from using the knives I forged. But I can stop forging new ones for you."

Both Anji and Song Min realised at the same time what Pu Jianming meant, but Song Min moved more quickly.

Activating the curse, Pu Jianming’s attempt to destroy his golden core and blow himself up as a last-ditch attempt to stop evil failed. Anji noticed the three symbols glowing with her second sight. Except, they weren’t in a hairpin.

Tutting, Song Min frowned at Pu Jianming like a lazy uncle scolding a mischievous child.

"To think you’d force my hand like this. Old Pu, you’re too kind for your own good. Thankfully, you kept all my gifts, or I wouldn’t be able to stop you."

At first, Pu Jianming, who was frozen in animation, had no idea what Song Min was referring to. Song Min seemed to realise this as well, so he released partial control of Pu Jianming’s body.

The jade pendant, the ring, and even the fan that Song Min gifted him over the years now glowed lightly with traces of familiar symbols and spells. Anger surged, and Pu Jianming glared at Song Min.

"You planned this from the start... I was literally a puppet in your hand to live and to die at your whim. Song Yi, you truly are a monster."

Eyes hardening, Song Min smirked without emotion.

"Say what you want about me. It does not change the fact that you were nothing more than a naive frog in the well. I knew you would do something like this if you ever found out. Blame your stupidly good nature and intelligence. But know that I’d never lie. I promise not to harm you or the people you both deem dear unless they get in my way. My only target is the son of heaven and the corrupted system that caused nothing but misery."

Turning to Anji, Song Min levelled her with his stare.

"I don’t need soul control spells for you," he declared. "Your second brother is with me, and while I am treating him well, he’s close to death’s door because of his own stubbornness. If you’d rather waste time fighting me than saving him, you’re welcome to try."

Burning with helplessness, Anji noticed the tears reflecting her feelings absconding Pu Jianming’s eyes. She vowed not to shed a single tear, not because she was afraid of being seen as weak. But because she had already come to terms with the Ghost General in front of her.

"I won’t," she promised. "If you tell me that you’re not harming the people I deem dear in this life apart from the Emperor, I’ll believe you. My brother would hate for me to sully my hands with blood unless it’s from saving lives. However, how will you compensate those innocent lives already lost due to your ambition?"

How ironic. Song Min pinned her with his stare.

"All the time you broke the hairpin curses, thinking you saved them. You didn’t. Their souls now reside within me, giving me power to achieve my cause as eternal slaves. How would you compensate them first?"

A few hours ago, Anji would not have had an answer for this. But now? She knew.

"I’ll free them," she replied. "And then you as well."

The temperature in the air dropped by several degrees after her answer, turning Pu Jianming’s tears into salty ice crystals. But not even this made Anji change her mind. Why should she? She meant every word she said.

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