Under the watchful eyes of almost everyone in the martial arts world, Hua Chongyang could only avert his gaze and softly utter a single word:
"……meeting."
"Very well." Lan Wuxie nodded, a barely perceptible smile appearing on his lips. "From this day forward, you are the Palace Master of Lan Ying Palace. Tomorrow morning, we will set off back to Lan Ying Palace."
Before he could finish speaking, Rong Chenfei was the first to jump out and stop him:
"Lan Wuxie, you think you can just leave like that?"
As Lan Wuxie turned around as if she hadn't heard, Rong Chenfei's first sword strike had already landed. The situation was somewhat expected; Hua Chongyang had anticipated that once they had invited Lan Wuxie, they wouldn't let it go easily.
To her surprise, Rong Chenfei exchanged ten blows with Lan Wuxie in the blink of an eye, each move swift and fierce. Compared to his performance at the martial arts tournament, he seemed to have improved dramatically, his movements far more ruthless, completely unlike the style of Wudang martial arts. Had he been concealing his skills at the tournament, or had his martial arts truly advanced?
She turned to look at Ji Chong beside her and found that Ji Chong was also frowning and staring at Rong Chenfei with a look of surprise and doubt.
Hua Chongyang understood the situation.
Unless Rong Chenfei also managed to deceive Ji Chong, his martial arts skills have indeed improved significantly in a short period of time.
Lan Wuxie clearly noticed this as well; his previously nonchalant expression instantly turned fierce, and he switched from using one palm to both hands to deal with Rong Chenfei. The two grappled from the hall to outside the door. While everyone was still watching nervously, Hua Chongyang suddenly heard Bo Jiang shout behind him:
"Lan Wuxie is a wicked fiend who killed Alliance Leader Rong and Sect Leader Yue. Why bother talking about morality with him? Let's all attack him together!"
Before she could finish speaking, several of her subordinates from the Southern Chu Manor leaped towards the open space behind Lan Wuxie. Lan Wuxie noticed this, struck Rong Chenfei hard with a palm, then turned and swiftly flicked her sleeve.
Although it was widely rumored in the martial arts world that Lan Wuxie was ruthless in killing, this was the first time Hua Chongyang had witnessed him kill someone. Bo Jiang's two subordinates were blasted seven or eight zhang away by the ruthless internal force, slamming into the wall and landing on the ground, their bodies mangled and bloody.
Some of the timid female disciples in the hall screamed.
Hua Chongyang forced himself to stand upright, suppressing his nausea. The few people in the hall who had been itching to move dared not move again. In the ensuing silence, Bo Jiang spoke, his voice trembling slightly:
"Don't be afraid of him! He hasn't practiced the Azure Sky Heart Sutra; his internal energy cultivation is already at its limit! As long as we all attack together, Lan Wuxie will surely die a horrible death today!"
Some, eager to win, were spurred on and drew their weapons to attack.
Lan Wuxie, who had been standing outside the hall with his back to everyone, slowly turned around.
The black satin robe fluttered in the wind, and the first one to rush out was a young disciple of the Spirit Sect. Before he even got close to Lan Wuxie, Lan Wuxie raised his hand, and the powerful force made him stagger backward. Fortunately, Ji Chong caught him.
No one dared to step forward again. Lan Wuxie raised her eyes, still looking at Hua Chongyang, and after a long while, slowly spoke:
"Do you want to come with me?"
Before he could finish speaking, Bo Jiang, standing next to Hua Chongyang, waved his hand and gritted his teeth, reprimanding the remaining men beside him:
"Attack them all at once!"
She snatched the long whip from her subordinate and lashed out with it. The whip struck Lan Wuxie, who dodged to the side but kept his gaze fixed on Hua Chongyang.
Hua Chongyang wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Lan Wuxie's movements seemed much slower this time, and also...
"He's not going to make it."
It was Situ Qingliu's voice.
She wasn't mistaken.
Bo Jiang's whip lashed out at Lan Wuxie a second time, this time without him even dodging, the braid striking his left arm directly.
Lan Wuxie continued to stare intently at Hua Chongyang.
Hua Chongyang finally realized that she was not mistaken; the way Lan Wuxie had looked at her just now was exactly the same as the way he had looked at someone else.
...Zu Xian.
Without blinking, she drew her sword and leaped forward to block Bo Jiang's third whip strike. The whip tip grazed her cheek swiftly and fiercely. Hua Chongyang had no time to protect herself. She turned and grabbed Lan Wuxie's sleeve, threw down her sword with her right hand, and lifted the golden mask off Lan Wuxie's face.
It's not Zu Xian's face.
With a broad forehead, long eyebrows, and sideburns as if cut by a knife, and features on a fair face as if sculpted, Hua Chongyang only then realized how handsome Lan Wuxie's pointed chin was after the mask was removed. But upon closer inspection, he noticed a mole in the center of Lan Wuxie's cheek. It was originally a very small and faint mole, but it looked exceptionally prominent because of his fair skin. Hua Chongyang stared at him for a moment, then couldn't help but murmur aloud:
"Is...it you?"
Lan Wuxie, his gaze gentle, raised his hand to touch the bleeding wound on Hua Chongyang's face, but Hua Chongyang instinctively dodged. A whistling wind brushed past Hua Chongyang's ear as he swiftly grasped Bo Jiang's long whip through his sleeve with his left hand, his gaze turning ruthless. So close, Hua Chongyang watched as he swung his arm, throwing Bo Jiang away in an instant. A figure flew past, catching Bo Jiang and falling to the ground together, spitting out a mouthful of blood—it was Rong Chenfei who had caught Bo Jiang.
She couldn't help but feel secretly alarmed.
Seeing Rong Chenfei coughing up blood from Zu Xian's internal force, Ji Feixiang immediately ran out of the hall:
"Senior Brother!"
As she approached Rong Chenfei, she shoved aside the relatively unharmed Bo Jiang, supported Rong Chenfei's swaying shoulder, and turned to look at Ji Chong:
"Father! Come quickly and save Senior Brother!"
Ji Chong remained as steady as on the stage, his face expressionless and motionless. Ji Feixiang glanced at Ji Chong, then looked down at Rong Chenfei, who was shielding Bo Jiang with his body, and finally realized that something was wrong. She raised her eyes and glared at Bo Jiang. But Bo Jiang was clutching his chest, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his beautiful eyes fixed on Lan Wuxie, filled with hatred.
Hua Chongyang, standing to the side, saw everything clearly and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The martial world is the martial world; how many treacherous schemes are there? Who can truly see through them? In her opinion, Ye Qinghua was right:
"Although Ji Feixiang is annoyingly arrogant, she's a bit silly, but ultimately a good child."
Even if Ji Feixiang, who is considered a good girl, were to fight ten of them together, they probably wouldn't be able to defeat Bo Jiang. Just by looking at the way Bo Jiang looks at Lan Wuxie, you can tell that this woman is not simple and is not easy to mess with.
For the first time, Hua Chongyang suddenly felt that the gossip and rumors might not be entirely false. Now, she didn't believe that there was no grudge between Bo Jiang and Lan Wuxie; moreover, for the scheming Bo Jiang to show such an expression, it must be more than just ordinary love and hate.
But Lan Wuxie...
Hua Chongyang turned to Lan Wuxie, who was standing to the side, and studied him for a long time, still unable to believe it:
"you--"
When she opened her mouth, her mind went blank, and involuntarily, the image of the boy with a mole on his cheek from Lan Ying Palace seven years ago came to mind.
Back then, she was still a fool, with the silly air she brought from Shaolin Temple. After beating up Ji Feixiang on Wudang Mountain, she sneaked down the mountain to find Yan Zhao.
The world is so vast, where could a twelve-year-old child possibly go? She only heard from Uncle Ji's master's wife that Yan Zhao was in Lan Ying Palace, which was in Sichuan. So she packed her bags and hurried along with an easy-going old beggar from the Beggar Clan. After enduring wind and rain for several months, she finally arrived in Sichuan. Only then did she ask the old man about Lan Ying Palace.
During her months on Wudang Mountain, she had heard many sarcastic remarks from Ji Feixiang's mother, and after months of traveling and hearing rumors, she had a premonition that the man named Yan Zhao was... not as good as her mother said. When she asked the old man from the Beggars' Sect, he asked her why she was inquiring about this. She hesitated for a moment and said that she was going to find a relative.
The old man's expression changed immediately, and he casually brushed her off. The next day, when Hua Chongyang opened her eyes, she never saw him again—and along with him, the few taels of silver she had on her body also disappeared.
Hua Chongyang was so surprised and shocked that he couldn't even cry.
Hua Chongyang wandered the streets for three days; on the fourth day, when she could no longer bear the hunger, true to her status as Hua Chuxue's daughter, she gritted her teeth, unfurled a banner with the words "Yan Zhao" written on it, and hung it up in the street. Sure enough, the next day a stranger came, inquired about her name and background, and then gave her a bag of silver and told her to leave.
Hua Chongyang, of course, refused. He pestered the man relentlessly for a whole day, and finally used a tracking method to get to the mountain with him.
The first person she met on the mountain was someone whose name she now knew was Lan Wuxie.
In late spring and early summer, on a pavilion perched on a cliff outside the mountain gate, a tall, slender young man in a purple robe sat on the railing, his long legs dangling over the edge of the cliff, the wind whipping through his clothes and blowing his hair.
Hua Chongyang couldn't help but stop as he passed the pavilion.
The mountain gate opposite was right in front of her. She vaguely recognized the three ancient characters on it, having read Shaolin ancient books. They were "Lanying Palace". Hua Chongyang stood outside the pavilion, gazing at the mountain gate, for a full quarter of an hour.
She only remembered the tall, gray mountain gate with its carved patterns, and the boy who had been so beautiful, his androgynous features far surpassing those of Rong Chenfei of Wudang Mountain. From that day forward, she would stay at the gate of Lanying Palace every day, and whenever someone came out, she would unfurl a scroll and approach them, asking:
"I want to see Yan Zhao. The one in the painting."
No one answered her, no one let her in, but no one chased her away from the gate, so Hua Chongyang concluded that Yan Zhao was here.
She stayed at that gate for two months. For the first three days, she fainted from hunger at the gate; afterwards, someone brought her food every day. For the first month, the person who brought the food remained silent. Later, the young man would occasionally pass by the gate, giving her a cold glance. Hua Chongyang couldn't hold back any longer, and on her third encounter with the young man, she viciously swung her fist:
"What are you looking at!"
The boy coldly withdrew his gaze and turned to walk away. By their fourth meeting, it was Hua Chongyang who stared at him for a long time, then suddenly rushed forward, holding the scroll, and grabbed the boy's sleeve:
"I'm looking for Yan Zhao, the person in the painting."
The boy didn't even glance at the scroll, but coldly looked at her hand tugging at his sleeve.
Hua Chongyang did not let go:
"I know he's here. Why won't he come out to see me?"
The boy struck out with his palm, but Hua Chongyang, who had a background in martial arts, threw down the scroll and parried the attack, cursing as he did so.
"I see you every day! We're practically acquaintances! Can you do me a favor?"
In the midst of their fists and kicks, Hua Chongyang accidentally lifted his sleeve and saw the black and purple marks all over his arm. He was so shocked that he took a step back.
The boy gave her a cold look, then turned and walked away.
On their fifth meeting, Hua Chongyang changed her strategy. She took out some medicine for bruises and sprains from her bundle and awkwardly tried to please him, setting aside her pride.
"I'll give you the medicine, you tell me where Yan Zhao is."
After this happened several times, the boy finally stopped and spoke impatiently:
"He won't see you, you should leave."
Hua Chongyang froze, the medicine she was holding clattering to the ground. The young man stared at her for a long time, then bent down to pick up the medicine and put it back in her hand. He turned around, only to hear Hua Chongyang's low voice behind him:
"Then I'll keep waiting. Until he comes."
Back then, she was really quite foolish. I don't know if she was taught that by her foolish mother or learned it from those stupid monks at Shaolin Temple. Even though she knew very well that Yan Zhao didn't want her before she stood at the foot of that mountain gate, she still foolishly wasted several months.
Looking back now, I realize we were just children then. And children have all the stubbornness that comes with being a child.
But she never imagined that seven years later, she would meet that taciturn boy again here.
Hua Chongyang grinned helplessly, raised his hand to wipe the blood seeping from his cheek, and gave a bitter smile to Lan Wuxie, who was spitting blood incessantly:
"I'll go with you. But for the sake of our past acquaintance, I beg you to grant me one request."
Not far away, Bo Jiang had already been helped up by those around him, and a group of people watched them in complete silence. Hua Chongyang didn't seem to care and said to Lan Wuxie, word by word:
"You'll spare Zu Xian, and you'll never see him again. I don't know what you plan to do with me, but if you agree to this, I'll go with you."
Ji Chong walked out of the hall and, across the group of people, asked Hua Chongyang:
"Chongyang, what did you promise him?"
Hua Chongyang seemed not to hear, her gaze fixed on Lan Wuxie. Lan Wuxie stared at her intently for a long time before speaking softly:
"...Double Ninth Festival."
Hua Chongyang was startled.
The voice was so familiar, so familiar that Hua Chongyang couldn't help but tremble. She recalled the look in the eyes she'd just given, thinking she'd mistaken him for someone else. A thought flashed through her mind, startling her so much that she took a step back, her hands trembling uncontrollably:
"you--"
Lan Wuxie followed her footsteps, his voice low and tender:
"Double Ninth Festival."
Blood trickled down his lips with the sound, staining the front of his black satin robe. Lan Wuxie seemed oblivious, reaching out to touch Hua Chongyang. Before Hua Chongyang could react, Rong Chenfei had already picked up the sword from the ground and viciously stabbed it at Lan Wuxie.