Bad things happen often

Chapter 87

Ye Li was stunned and couldn't react at all.

After finishing her short story, she smiled and said, "Luckily, I didn't marry into that family, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable..."

Ye Li thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Are you silly! Of course you should marry into the Lian family! The Divine Arrow family, you'll never have to worry about food or clothing again!"

"How could he do this... Besides," Xiaoxiao lowered her eyes, a hint of regret in her voice, "he didn't marry me because he loved me. He'll definitely regret it later, and then it'll be even more troublesome..."

After hearing this, Ye Li reached out and poked Xiao Xiao's head. "Silly you! He clearly likes you!"

"Huh?" Xiao Xiao held her head and looked at Ye Li timidly.

Ye Li counted on her fingers and said, "Respecting you, protecting you, pitying you, letting you spend money freely, letting you cause trouble as you please, not caring about family background, indulging you, forgiving you... If this isn't liking, then what is?" Ye Li put down her fingers and glared at Xiao Xiao, "Besides, you stole the array diagram this time, and you still came back safely, didn't you? 'The Lian family's divine arrows can hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces!' Do you think that's just empty talk? If he wanted to shoot your leg, he wouldn't have shot your hand! Isn't it obvious that he likes you, likes you so much that he can't bear to hurt you, and even if you wrong him, he's willing to continue protecting you. Wow... Where is justice?! I'm starting to feel sorry for the young master of the Lian family now..."

Xiao Xiao was stunned. "But...but he said..."

“‘But’ my foot!” Ye Li pushed the little head again. “Whether you like someone or not isn’t something you hear with your ears, it’s something you see with your eyes! Tsk, if a man could treat me this well, I’d kill and set fires for him! And you even stole the array diagram! You heartless bastard!”

Xiao Xiao became a little anxious, "You don't know anything at all! There's no way I could be with him! My master broke into the Lian family and hurt people; he's his enemy!"

"It was your master who hurt you, not you! He wants to marry you, not your master! What does it matter!" Ye Li shouted, hands on her hips.

"I..." Xiao Xiao was speechless.

Ye Li was about to say a few more words when suddenly, she remembered something. "Wait... Xiao Xiao, you just said that your master broke into the Lian family and injured people?"

Xiao Xiao felt a little lost.

"Your master... could it be 'Ghost Master' Han Qing?" Ye Li asked in a low voice.

Xiao Xiao didn't know whether she should answer. The "Music Workshop" was exceptionally well-informed; since Helan Qifeng could find out her master's identity, the disciples within the workshop wouldn't know much more...

Ye Li didn't press further, and continued, "Now that you mention it, I understand. No wonder those people wanted the East Sea to hand you over; it turns out it was for the 'Nine Emperors' Divine Artifact'... After the Shenxiao Sect returned to the court, the emperor immediately gave them important positions and even had the Lian family assist them. Suppressing the East Sea bandits was just a pretext; their real goal was the 'Nine Emperors' Divine Artifact' of the East Sea!"

Xiao Xiao was taken aback. "The East Sea also has 'Nine Emperors' Divine Artifacts'?"

“Yes…” Ye Li said, “I’ve been lurking in the East Sea for so many years, all to track down the whereabouts of this divine artifact. It seems the imperial court is determined to obtain it this time…”

Hearing this, Xiao Xiao realized that what she had encountered was no small matter. No wonder even Wei Qi and Shi Mi had come...

Ye Li frowned, pondered for a moment, and then her expression turned fearful. "Xiao Xiao... is Wen Su your father's brother, or... your master's?"

Xiao Xiao replied, "My master..."

Ye Li grabbed her and said, "You're in trouble! Come with me right now!"

Xiao Xiao, completely bewildered, asked, "Senior sister, what's wrong?"

Ye Li said, "You've been fooled! The 'Ghost Master' has no brothers! You've heard me tell you, Wen Su was an orphan adopted by the island lord when he was ten years old, that was seventeen years ago!"

"Seventeen years ago..."

“That’s right! Seventeen years ago. Seventeen years ago, the Ghost Master was at the height of his power, enjoying his prime. How could his own brother have ended up in the East Sea? ... In recent years, the East Sea has spared no effort in searching for the other 'Nine Emperors' artifacts.' You must have been tricked into coming here!” Ye Li said urgently.

"Impossible..." Xiao Xiao shook her head. "Impossible, my master and my uncle look very alike, even their habits and mannerisms are similar..."

Xiao Xiao stopped herself before she could finish speaking. That's right... how could there possibly be two people in the world who are so similar...?

“Even if they look alike, they’re not necessarily brothers!” Ye Li said. “Anyway, there’s definitely something fishy about this. You should leave with me quickly, or it will be too late!” As she spoke, she pulled Xiao Xiao away.

Xiao Xiao stood still, refusing to take a step. "No..." she began, her voice trembling slightly, "My martial uncle is very good to me, he even saved me..."

"How could you be so naive! I've known Wen Su for way longer than you have. He's never been this nice to anyone!" Ye Li stamped her foot in frustration. "You've been tricked!"

Suddenly, many scenes flashed through Xiaoxiao's mind. In the underground palace of Jiyu Manor, Wen Su had once coldly and ruthlessly said he would abandon the lives of his disciples just to obtain the "Three Corpse Divine Needles"... When they came to the East Sea, Lin Zhi also said that Wen Su's attitude towards her was very different from his attitude towards others... Could it be...?

"Xiaoxiao, the Lian family has retreated. I'm confident I can escape from the East Sea. Come with me!" Ye Li said, holding her hands.

"Senior Sister..." Xiao Xiao was in a state of confusion and helplessness, not knowing what to do. What should she do if her Uncle-Master was not her Uncle-Master?

Seeing this, Ye Li was about to try to persuade her again when suddenly, a strange murderous aura alerted her.

Xiao Xiao also noticed something was wrong and looked around.

A group of disciples from the East Sea slowly approached, each of them holding a weapon.

Just as Xiao Xiao was feeling confused, Ye Li suddenly exclaimed, "A ghost! Aaaaaaah!"

Xiao was startled. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the disciples had blank expressions and crippled bodies; they were clearly not alive! And she recognized a few of them; they had been placed in the mourning hall not long ago!

"Walking zombies!!!" Xiao Xiao exclaimed in surprise.

Upon hearing this, Ye Li exclaimed, "Ah! No way!!!"

At this moment, the zombies closed in and began to attack fiercely.

Xiao Xiao and Ye Li screamed and dodged.

Xiao Xiao was unarmed and wounded; there was absolutely no way she could defeat this group of zombies. Now, she could only wait for someone to save her life!

Just as the two were screaming in terror, a figure suddenly entered the fray. With a flash of light, the heads of the two zombies were severed.

The visitor was none other than Wen Su.

Wen Su knocked away several zombies, grabbed Xiao Xiao, and said, "Come with me."

At that moment, Xiaoxiao subconsciously wanted to pull her hand back, but she hesitated.

Wen Su pulled Xiao Xiao up and made a path. After walking a few steps, they arrived at a house.

He pushed open the door, let Xiaoxiao in, and said, "Stay inside, don't come out!"

Xiao Xiao watched him close the door and heard a commotion outside, with flames rising and sounds of fighting filling the air.

That's right, he only saved her... Just like Lin Zhi and Ye Li said, he had never been kind to anyone except her...

Xiao Xiao glanced at the faint figure outside the door and unconsciously took a few steps back. Then, she bumped into the table.

Startled, she turned around. Amidst the chaos, she now realized this room must be a disciple's quarters in the East Sea. The furnishings and layout were similar for all the disciples' rooms, but this one only had a bed, clearly belonging to a higher-ranking disciple. The room was filled with the pleasant aroma of ambergris…

Xiao Xiao looked around the room with a bit of a blank expression, and then noticed the papers on the table.

She stood there stunned for a long time before picking up the paper. The handwriting was elegant and graceful, yet it carried a free and unrestrained spirit. Especially the stroke with a slight upward curve, as if it were about to leap up. She knew these characters very well; when she was little, someone had held her hand and taught her to write them stroke by stroke. She had looked at those beautiful characters with great envy.

She trembled, no longer caring about the contents of the paper, but frantically searching for the signature. Those two words, at this moment, were utterly shocking—Wen Su…

Wen Su... No matter how similar the two people are, it's impossible for their handwriting to be exactly the same...

Thinking back on Wen Su's actions now, she felt a chill in her heart, a sense of fear, and a feeling of hopelessness. His tone of voice, his demeanor, the way he walked, the way he drank tea, the way he played the zither, the smell on his body... all of this seemed like a conspiracy, a carefully laid trap.

How could she have forgotten? The first time they met, she called him "Master," but he was indifferent and ignored her completely. It wasn't until the next day that he found her and said he was her martial uncle.

She finally understood that his insistence on her leaving Lian Zhao was not for her happiness, but because if she married into the Lian family, his plan would completely fail.

She finally understood that when she was wrongly accused of being a traitor, his willingness to protect her at all costs wasn't because he believed her, but because he couldn't let her die…

It was all a scam...

Xiao Xiao closed her eyes, trying hard to stop thinking about it. Her master had said, don't look at the reasons, look at the results. Whatever his reasons, he had saved her many times. He was just impersonating her uncle, deceiving her; she hadn't lost anything yet… no… not yet…

However, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, making her lose all rationality.

He impersonated her martial uncle, and the only person in the world who could expose him was the Ghost Master. There could only be one reason he could deceive her so confidently: he knew from the beginning that the Ghost Master was dead…

And the only person in this world who would know about this could be... the murderer...

Xiao Xiao opened her eyes, her heart suddenly filled with a mixture of sorrow, anger, sadness, and hatred.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Wen Su walked in, about to speak. But Xiao Xiao suddenly turned around, looking at him with fear and full of vigilance.

“Xiaoxiao…” he said, somewhat puzzled.

The paper in her small hand was crumpled beyond recognition. Looking at him, covered in blood, she asked in a trembling voice, tinged with a hint of anger, "Who...who are you...?"

In that instant, he finally understood. His world fell into a deathly silence...

...

Beneath the Nine Springs [Part 1]

Wen Su felt a tightness in his throat, wanting to explain something, but he couldn't utter a single word. The woman before him didn't have anger or murderous intent in her eyes, but the undisguised fear and helplessness frightened him.

Xiao Xiao lowered her head slightly, and the paper in her hand slipped gently from between her fingers. "You... also want to obtain the 'Nine Emperors' Divine Artifact'?" Her voice became confused.

The word "no" was so close to his lips, but when he tried to say it, his heart clenched, and he forcefully suppressed it.

At this moment, the zombies behind Wen Su stood up and attacked him.

In the instant Wen Su was distracted, Xiao Xiao immediately rushed over, did a low roll, and rolled out of the door. Then, she ran away without looking back.

Wen Su wanted to give chase, but the walking corpses around him wouldn't let him get away. He wanted to shout, but he didn't know what to shout. He felt the world was in chaos, his mind was in turmoil, and he was no longer as calm as before.

Suddenly, a sharp palm strike slashed in, blasting the two walking corpses beside Wen Su away. The meridians on the walking corpses burst open, and countless tiny Gu worms were forced out of the meridians, writhing on the ground.

"Island Master..." Wen Su looked at the person not far away before speaking.

By this time, most of the zombies had been subdued, and the situation was gradually stabilizing. Wen Jing slowly walked over and said, "Given this situation, what are you still doing here?"

Seeing Wen Su remain silent, Wen Jing glanced up and frowned upon seeing the room he was in. "Where is your disciple?"

Wen Su's expression changed slightly, but he remained silent.

"I should have warned you, right? You can't let her into your room..." Wen Jing guessed what was going on and said coldly, "Go back to her."

"Island Master, she..."

"Are you going to have me do it myself?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Su no longer hesitated and chased after Xiao Xiao in the direction she had run off to.

...

Xiao Xiao had traveled a short distance using her light-footed skills, but she was already panting heavily and had to stop. The wound on her arm throbbed slightly, and she was covered in cold sweat. She looked around and saw only emptiness; there was nowhere to go.

She couldn't help but smile bitterly. All the kindness and care had been a lie. "He who possesses the Nine Emperor Artifacts possesses the world"... For this saying, she had lost everything she once had. In all the world, the only person who was truly kind to her, willing to give up these "Nine Emperor Artifacts," was her master. But where was her master?... Her master would never return... In this world, there was no one left to trust, no one left to rely on...

She could hear her heartbeat, neither fast nor slow, but unusually clear as it pounded in her chest, causing a dull ache.

Those memories, which had been buried deep within, were revived in that pain.

The master smiled, reached out and stroked her cheek, wiping away her tears. His eyes held the same gentle kindness as always. He wanted to speak several times, but each time he hesitated.

After her sobs subsided, he said with a sigh, his voice tinged with helplessness, "...Never be a good person..."

Hearing this, she choked up, bewildered. But this time, she never received an explanation.