"Why?"
"Man Feiyue only likes money, handsome men, and anything that can make her grow taller and bigger. She has always been indifferent to martial arts manuals and status in the martial arts world."
"With a reputation in the martial arts world comes money, and with martial arts manuals comes a reputation in the martial arts world, doesn't it?"
"She likes money because it can be used to buy handsome men. If you give her handsome men directly, will she still like money?"
"you mean?"
"When I came in, I saw people from Hongling Temple escorting in a group of teenagers, about thirty or forty in total. Each one of them looked exactly to her liking."
Xuezhi was stunned: "She took the 'Snow Lotus Sword of the Vast Ocean' and exchanged it for these people?"
I think so.
Is that all she aspires to?
"Everyone's pursuits are different. To her, handsome men are probably like Chonghuo Palace is to you."
Xuezhi remained silent.
Shangguan said, "Even so, she treats Feng She in a completely different way than others."
"What's the difference?"
"She either dotes on everyone else or completely banishes them to the cold palace. No one has ever been able to stay by her side and receive her attention while being bullied like this. I heard that she has expelled Feng She from Hongling Temple more than ten times, and each time he comes back, he always manages to stand in a higher position than before. This situation has been particularly serious in the last two years."
"Yes. When I first met Xiao She, he wasn't very high up and was often bullied by his fellow disciples, but he was already acting alone with Man Feiyue."
“It’s true that Feng She grew up in Hongling Temple and sees human life as worthless, but it’s quite difficult for him to develop that kind of personality.”
"That kind of twisted, sharp-tongued personality?"
"No. Haven't you noticed that the men at Hongling Temple all behave rather effeminately, and they also lack a sense of responsibility? Although Feng She acted strangely at Hongling Temple, he was no different from other teenagers after he came out."
"Ha, you noticed too?" Xuezhi slapped Shangguan Tou's hand hard. "Xiao She may have a sharp tongue, but he's still very manly!"
"Mm." Shangguan Tou smiled and nodded, then grasped Xuezhi's hand in return. "It's fine if you're close to him, but you can't do anything to betray me, understand?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Xuezhi awkwardly shook off his hand. "I would never do anything to wrong you."
Shangguan Tou completely ignored her actions, instead pushing aside the dry grass beside her, sitting closer, and taking her hand again.
"Only when I'm with you do I think that maybe I really was created by God just for you."
The candlelight flickered, casting shadows. He smiled faintly, his amber eyes clear as mirrors, but three red tears at the corners of his eyes gave his face a somewhat eerie, even sinister, appearance.
Xuezhi felt even more uncomfortable and shrank to the side: "Stop trying to fool me with those cheesy words. I'm not the kind of person who's easily fooled."
"Zhi'er, don't you think we're really a good match, in every way?" Shangguan Tou gently stroked her long hair, a faint smile on his lips. "You're still young, but you can't always follow your second father around. If no one takes care of you, you'll definitely suffer when you're traveling the world."
"If you don't suffer losses, you'll never grow up. I don't care."
"Silly girl, you really are Uncle Lin's daughter." Shangguan Tou couldn't help but laugh. "Let's put that aside and talk about your personality. With your bad temper, it's hard to find someone who would spoil you like I do."
"I don't want to be pampered."
“Alright then, let’s not talk about personality.” Shangguan Tou said seriously, “Don’t you think we’re very compatible in some ways?”
"In a certain aspect?" Xuezhi thought about it, and it felt like all the blood in her body rushed to her face. So she shoved him hard. "Vulgar!!"
As a result of the push, Shangguan Tou crashed into the wall, breathing weakly. Xuezhi then remembered that he had been poisoned and quickly crawled over to grab his hand to look at it—his right hand was already half blue.
"You still have time to joke with me? The poison is already spreading!" Xuezhi stood up abruptly, rushed to the iron gate to look outside, and stamped her feet anxiously. "It's over, Man Feiyue isn't here. What do we do, what do we do!"
"It's okay, we can always find a way."
Even so, Xuezhi paced in front of the iron gate no less than a hundred times over the next day, but Man Feiyue did not appear. Shangguan Tou, on the other hand, spoke less and less, simply sitting by the wall regulating his internal energy. By the seventh day, the blue discoloration had spread to her elbows, and the color was growing darker. Xuezhi was so anxious that she was almost in tears, but she forced herself to calm down and think of a solution. After discussing a plan with Shangguan Tou, the iron gate remained empty.
By the morning of the eighth day, the blue had turned black and spread to the shoulders.
Full moon has arrived.
“If this continues, someone will die.” Xuezhi’s voice was trembling with tears as she spoke from inside the iron gate. “If Manyiyue wants that manual, I’ll ask my second father to give it to her. Anyway, we can’t learn it.”
"No. That was left behind by Palace Master Lian. How can we just give it away like that?"
“We have to think of something. Even if you die, she definitely won’t let me go. We might as well finish the deal with her sooner.” Xuezhi, carrying Man Feiyue on her back, wiped away her tears. “She wants to grow taller, right? At worst, we can give her the ‘Queen Mother of the Ruixiang Pill’ from the palace…”
Shangguan Tou glanced outside the iron gate and hurriedly covered Xuezhi's mouth.
"Haha, I heard you!" Man Feiyue's eyes suddenly widened, like a hungry tiger that hadn't eaten for three days. She pounced and grabbed the iron bars: "Chong Xuezhi, give me that pill, and I'll release you immediately!"
102
"Okay!" Xuezhi stood up, sobbing, wiping away her tears. "Let me out, I'll..."
“Master Man, don’t listen to her nonsense. There is no such thing as the Queen Mother of the Ruixiang Pill. She’s just saying this to trick you into letting us out.”
Man Feiyue couldn't hear a word, her hands gripping the iron bars trembling slightly: "Chong Xuezhi, are you lying?"
"I didn't!" Xuezhi hurriedly stood up and said, "If you don't believe me, you can plant the poison in me first, and when I come back, I'll show you the Queen Mother's Pill, and then you can detoxify us."
"Stop talking!" With that, Shangguan Tou stood up, grabbed Xuezhi's wrist, and covered her mouth.
"Shangguan Tou, let her go!"
Shangguan Tou pulled Xuezhi inside, making her face away from the iron bars. He glanced back warily at Man Feiyue, then fell silent. Man Feiyue grew even more anxious and pounded on the iron bars.
"If you don't let her go, I'll kill you right now!"
Shangguan Tou coldly replied, "In the world of martial arts, people have long since disregarded life and death. If you're afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, and you don't fight to the death, who's afraid of you?"
Xuezhi continued to whimper under his control. Manyue looked at him, then at Xuezhi, and finally took out the key and opened the iron gate.
"You'd better not come any closer." Shangguan Tou dragged Xuezhi away from her.
“You are a dying man, why would I be afraid of you?” Man Feiyue rushed forward and grabbed Xuezhi’s hand.
Shangguan Tou struck her hand with a palm strike, and she retaliated with a backhand. Shangguan Tou held Xuezhi in one hand while wrestling with Man Feiyue with the other. After a while, Xuezhi was being pulled and tugged for some time. Shangguan Tou hooked a wooden stick with his toe, tossed it into the air, spun it several times, and aimed it straight at Man Feiyue's face. Man Feiyue did a backflip and dodged. In the blink of an eye, Shangguan Tou had already pushed Xuezhi outside the door, then leaped forward and kicked the iron gate shut.
"Walk!"
Xuezhi stumbled and almost fell, staring at him blankly.
"Let's go!" Shangguan Tou didn't even have a chance to turn around before he started fighting with Man Feiyue inside.
"You—" Man Feiyue was furious and attacked even more viciously.
"Wait, why me?" Xuezhi rushed back to the iron bars, momentarily flustered and at a loss. "Didn't we agree to come out together? You—"
"That cage can only hold one person. Remember, just pull the rope next to the cage to get up," Shangguan Tou said quickly, turning around. "We can get reinforcements once we get out! Let's go!"
Xuezhi hesitated for a long time before turning to run away. But as soon as she turned around, Shangguan Tou was struck by Man Feiyue and slammed heavily against the wall. She heard it, but dared not turn back. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and rushed into the iron cage in one breath.
Xuezhi was drenched in sweat. As the iron cage slowly rose, letting in slivers of light, she grew so anxious she almost jumped through it.
It felt like a hundred years had passed.
She finally stopped at the edge of the cliff.
Just then, a disciple of Hongling Temple happened to walk by. Upon seeing her, he shouted, "Who goes there?!"
Without a word, Xuezhi rushed over and punched the man in the head with considerable force, nearly breaking his knuckles. The man immediately lost consciousness. She quickly stripped him of his clothes, put them on, then smeared them heavily on the stone wall and vigorously wiped the dirt and grime from her face. Finally, she hung the chipped poison gourd on her waist and hurriedly began to search for her way out. However, after so many days in darkness, coupled with her naturally poor sense of direction, she had forgotten the way. She secretly asked a few people, telling them she was new, and finally found the entrance—the iron gate under the tree roots.
The iron gate was locked.
A group of people were drinking around a table near the entrance.
People were coming and going behind me.
Xuezhi slowly walked over and said in a low voice, "Senior brothers, I'm new here, please open the door."
"What are we going out to do?" one person asked absentmindedly.
"I need to take care of something."
"What do you need me for?"
"Looking for Senior Brother Feng."
“Feng She? Didn’t the Holy Mother say to let him fend for himself?” One of them put down his wine jar. “Your face is so dirty, you’re not a spy, are you?”
"Haha, senior brother, please don't joke with me. You all know that the relationship between the Holy Mother and Feng She is sometimes good and sometimes bad, there's nothing we can do about it."
"I knew you wouldn't dare." The man stood up, took out his key, and opened the door.
"Wait!" Before Xuezhi could even take a step, someone else stood up. "This gourd clearly belongs to the sixteenth prince, why is it with you—"
Before she finished speaking, Xuezhi had already kicked over the table. The group of people stood up, and Xuezhi kicked through the table, striking one of them in the abdomen, sending him sprawling. She then aimed at another person and punched him. That person actually pulled his junior brother, who had opened the door, to shield himself from the attack. Xuezhi kicked out again, and the person who opened the door dragged his senior brother to the ground. Xuezhi kicked a wine jar, shattering it, and the group was immediately engulfed in wine.
Xuezhi wiped her mouth and burst out the door.
Author's Note: My goal for today is 5 chapters!
This is Chapter 2!
103 104 105
103
Autumn had arrived. Escaping the ancient tree, fallen leaves swirled through the forest, twilight clouds blanketed the sky, and desolation filled the air. Many pursued her, but Xuezhi moved with incredible speed, quickly shaking off her pursuers. Once she had calmed down, she slowed her pace, beginning to think about who could rescue her.
The first person she thought of was Lin Yuhuang. However, she didn't know Lin Yuhuang's current whereabouts.
The second person I thought of was Mu Yuan. Finding Mu Yuan would definitely be fine.
But soon, her spirits plummeted—she suddenly remembered that Shangguan Tou had been poisoned for eight days. It would take at least four days to get from here to Chonghuo Palace and back with reinforcements. A one-way trip to Yue Shang Valley would also take four days. And in less than a day and a half, he would succumb to the poison and die.
If she went to Suzhou, she could only find Langya and Qiu Hongxiu. Xuezhi didn't know their strength, but she knew all too well how cruel Hongling Temple was.
The only place we could reach was Lingjian Manor.
However, given the relationship between Lin Xuanfeng and Shangguan Tou, he probably wished Shangguan Tou would die quickly, so how could he possibly bring people to save him?
However, if... if Chong Lian and Lin Yu Huang were used as bargaining chips, perhaps...
Without time to think further, Xuezhi immediately set off.
It was past midnight when Xuezhi arrived at the entrance of Lingjian Manor. The entire city of Suzhou was asleep, and the manor gates were closed, leaving the area deserted. By the time Xuezhi reached the top of the steps, her legs were so tired she could barely feel them, and even breathing was difficult. Even so, she used all her strength to smash the copper rings on the gate.
"Open the door!"