Bo Qinghuan - Capítulo 33
"I'm willing." The person in his arms suddenly interrupted him, repeating softly, "I'm willing."
Her heart began to flutter, little by little, until she could no longer contain herself. Xia Yi lowered her face and kissed Yun Chan's lips. Their lips met, filled with a deep and lingering affection.
After a long silence, he declared, as if making a vow: "We will be together."
"Um."
She wants to be with him. Just this once, even if she's wrong, she doesn't want to turn back. Can she be forgiven?
Yun Chan responded, rested her head against his chest, and looked out the window.
The sky outside the window was overcast, with dark clouds pressing down, clearly a sign that a storm was brewing.
---
On the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, heroes from all over the world gathered at Xiaming Manor to attend the wedding of the master of the number one manor in the world and Miss Yun of Feiyun Fortress.
The village was brightly decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, red paper pasted on doors and windows, an overwhelmingly festive atmosphere of red. Even the wedding dresses were bright red, almost unreal to wear. The ceremony for bowing to heaven and earth was held in the main hall of Xiaming Manor, a place Yun Chan had actually visited countless times.
Even with his eyes closed, he could walk accurately to the table.
But at this moment, as Ji Yue held her hand, her legs suddenly felt weak.
A red rope tied with a love knot was handed over. Yun Chan, whose head was covered with a red veil, took a deep breath and was about to reach out to take it when the other end of the red rope suddenly slipped down.
Ji Yue stared in disbelief. Xia Yi was also a little stunned. She wiped the sweat from her palms and hurriedly picked up the love knot again, but she was too nervous and her hand trembled, causing the red string to slip down again.
The fact that the dignified lord of the number one manor in the world was so nervous in the grand hall that he repeatedly slipped his hand was quite a spectacle in the martial arts world, and the heroes in the audience were practically dumbfounded. Xia Yi blushed and muttered angrily, "Forget it, Xiao Chan, just give me your hand."
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Ji Yue, who was standing to the side, almost fainted and whispered urgently, "Master, this is not proper etiquette."
Yun Chan was also amused, and all her unease vanished in an instant. She couldn't resist the urge to lift the veil and see Xia Yi's blushing face.
Luo Shou, who was waiting to officiate the wedding, laughed and said, "You two are really something. It's not easy for you to get married, how can you not even keep to this basic etiquette?" After saying that, he took the two ends of the red rope and placed them in their hands.
"We will be together."
The other end of the red rope was tied to his hand. After three kowtows, they were destined to be together forever.
Luo Shou stroked his beard with satisfaction, and was about to instruct the two little ones to quickly perform the wedding ceremony when a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.
Hidden under the red scarf, Yun Chan was unaware of what was happening outside. Ji Yue whispered beside her, "It's the Yuanqing Sect."
The clamor buzzed in her ears, and Yun Chan's blood instantly froze.
Everyone at Xiaming Manor was somewhat surprised. For the past month, the entire Yuanqing Sect had been searching for the missing Sect Leader Tan. Although they had received congratulatory gifts from them a couple of days ago, they never expected that their people would come to attend the ceremony today.
The villa's steward, Mr. Li, quickly stepped forward: "Thank you all for sending Yuanqing to support us. Please take your seats."
The Yuanqing faction members remained unmoved.
The assembled heroes looked at each other in bewilderment. The entire Yuanqing Sect had come, all forty-three of them, and each of them had an icy expression. Were they here to invite trouble?
Those in the crowd who knew about Sect Leader Tan's disappearance began to whisper among themselves: "Could it be that Sect Leader Tan has met with some misfortune, and that's why they've come to Xia Ming Manor to seek justice?"
"But we can't bring this up on the day of Master Xia's wedding."
A disciple of the Yuanqing Sect was the first to object: "Take charge? We're here to avenge our master!"
Butler Li was baffled: "What do you mean by that!"
The disciple's eyes were sharp as he stared directly at the groom in the hall: "This Xia Yi is the leader of the Qingtu Sect, the one who harmed our master!"
His words shocked everyone present, and a murmur rippled through the crowd: "Young man, are you joking?"
"Nonsense! Has this person gone mad?"
"Today is the joyous occasion of Master Xia and Miss Yun's wedding. What is the meaning of Yuan Qing sending someone here to spout nonsense?"
The noise rose and fell, but the disciples of the Yuanqing Sect all remained solemn. The heroes gradually sensed something was wrong and fell silent.
It seems unlikely that even if someone were to go mad, it would be impossible for all forty-odd people in the entire department to go mad at the same time.
The once radiant Tan Shiyao was now devoid of any beauty, her haggard face glistening with tears. Suddenly, she pointed her sword at Xia Yi in the center of the hall and cried out in a sorrowful voice, "Brother Xia, is my father in your hands?"
Xia Yi gripped the red rope in her hand tightly, her expression unchanged: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Shen Yao drew his sword and said coldly, "You'll know once we exchange blows." After saying that, he raised his sword and attacked with lightning speed.
Knowing Shen Yao's skill, Xia Yi dared not confront him directly and casually grabbed a dragon and phoenix candlestick from the table to defend herself. Shen Yao, however, treated it as nothing, slicing the red candle in half with one sword, and then following up with two more swords like shadows, leaving no room for maneuver.
In the festive hall, one was the leader of the Heroes' Gathering, and the other was the lord of the number one manor in the world, yet they were actually fighting to the death. None of the guests had ever experienced anything like this before, and for a moment they didn't know how to react.
Xia Yi gripped the red rope tightly with her left hand, refusing to let go, and fought Shen Yao with only one hand. Shen Yao ignored him, thrusting his long sword out like a storm, but after more than a dozen moves, he couldn't do anything to Xia Yi.
As the crowd watched in alarm, a white figure suddenly flashed in from outside the door, severing the red rope binding Xia Yi and Yun Chan's hands with a single sword stroke. The red silk love knot instantly rolled to the ground, and anger finally appeared in Xia Yi's peach blossom eyes.
Yun Chan's hands and feet were ice cold.
The Yuanqing faction had long suspected Xiaming Manor, and Tan Ying had been killed by Xia Yi. These were things they had been trying to force themselves to forget, but in the end, they could not escape them.
Even if I make the same mistake just once, is that not allowed?
The white figure blurred, quickly joining forces with Shen Yao to attack Xia Yi. Both unleashed deadly attacks, while Xia Yi, unarmed, saw the unfavorable situation. Some of the onlookers, unable to contain their impatience, were about to rush forward to help, but suddenly a faint golden light emanated from Xia Yi's palm.
He suddenly shattered the longswords of his two opponents with the force of his palm.
Bai Ying smiled, gracefully stepped back two paces, and stood high on the altar used for the wedding ceremony. Shen Yao also abandoned his broken sword, withdrew his hand, and retreated to Tan Shiyao's side.
Only then did everyone realize that the man in white was Lou Guyan, the leader of the Ink Pavilion. The heroes were all furious: "It's that demon!"
Lou Lou slowly pointed down and said, "The demon is right there. Didn't you see that Master Xia just used the Boundless Technique?"
In truth, the Boundless Technique has been lost for a long time, and very few people have ever seen this skill. Immediately, someone scoffed: "You're spouting nonsense! How could Master Xia possibly know that demonic art!"
Lou Lou smiled: "Why not? When the Xia family annexed the Qingtu Sect, they coerced the sect leader to hand over the Boundless Technique manual. So what's so strange about the Xia family's descendants knowing the Boundless Technique?"
"To annex the Demonic Sect?" Someone in the crowd caught on to Lou Lou's words and couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.
While those present couldn't be certain whether Xia Yi had used the Boundless Technique, some experts could discern that his technique was indeed of the same style as Lou Guyan's. Furthermore, the fact that the usually upright and unyielding Yuanqing Sect had collectively launched an attack quickly escalated the situation.
A few people began to have some doubts.
However, Xia Ming Manor held considerable prestige in the martial arts world, and some still loudly argued: "So what if Old Master Xia obtained the Boundless Manual from the Demonic Sect back then? Xia Ming Manor has upheld justice in the martial arts world for generations. The Boundless Manual falling into the hands of the righteous sects is a different matter entirely."
The power in the hands of the underworld is incomparable. So what if Master Xia has mastered the Boundless Technique?!
Lou Lou smiled and looked at the speaker, then asked, "If it's alright, why has the Xia family been so secretive about it? Does anyone in the martial arts world know that the successive heads of Xia Ming Manor all possessed unparalleled martial arts skills?"
The person being questioned was immediately speechless, and a look of doubt gradually appeared on their face.
Lou Lou's smile faded, and he turned his gaze to Xia Yi, saying, "It's a pity, though. The Boundless Technique has two volumes, but the Xia family only obtained the first volume back then. Master Xia, don't you think so?"
Xia Yi's eyes darkened slightly, but she remained silent.
Lou Lou didn't seem to care and continued, "The first volume of the Boundless Technique focuses on training the Governing Vessel (Du Mai), and the second volume focuses on training the Conception Vessel (Ren Mai). Only after mastering both volumes can the Qi flow smoothly through the Governing and Conception Vessels, reaching the Transcendental Realm. Conversely, if one only trains one volume, it will cause internal imbalances..."
"The imbalance of Yin and Yang energies leads to qi deviation and demonic possession." At this point, his expression brightened. "Several generations of Xia Ming Manor lords have died young in recent years, all because they only cultivated the first volume, accumulating excessive Yang internal energy within their bodies that they couldn't neutralize. Ultimately, they were consumed by the backlash of this internal energy, burning themselves to death."
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Upon hearing this, Yun Chan was greatly shocked. She suddenly ripped off the red veil from her head and looked directly at Xia Yi.
At this moment, none of the heroes cared about the bride's actions; they were all still reeling from the shocking events they had just heard.
Lou Lou's brows gradually hardened with a chilling aura: "Twenty years ago, your father, Xia Yue, realized something was wrong after mastering the first volume of the Boundless Technique, but it was too late. Desperate to survive, he tried to use the Ice Silkworm of the Xijiang Mu family to suppress the backlash of his pure Yang internal energy."
They secretly mobilized the Qingtu Sect to massacre the entire Mu family of Xijiang and seize the Ice Silkworm.
The assembled heroes gasped in shock. Although they knew very little about the reasons for the massacre of the Mu family of Xijiang, they had all heard of this bloody incident.
Lou Lou sneered, "Although the Mu family is a minor sect, they have always revered the righteous path. In fact, given Xia Yue's status back then, the Mu family would have offered up the Ice Silkworm with just a word from him. However, Xia Yue had a guilty conscience and feared that his cultivation of the Boundless Technique would be exposed, so he chose to secretly..."
They used the Qingtu Cult to carry out a ruthless attack.
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Someone whispered, "You mean the previous Xia Yue Manor Lord mobilized the Qingtu Sect?"
"Exactly!" A voice filled with anger suddenly broke in. Everyone turned to look, only to see that it was Shen Yao who had spoken.
Shen Yao replied in a deep voice, "On the surface, the Xia family destroyed the Qingtu Sect, but secretly they used Honglu to bring the Qingtu Sect under their control, manipulating both the righteous and the wicked in the martial arts world. For fifty years, anyone among the various sects who had even slightly seen through this matter..."
Those who showed any signs were all silenced. Even my master..." He said, but his face suddenly showed grief, and he could not continue.
Zhao, the leader of the Jiaolong Gang, still found it hard to believe: "What Boundless Technique, what demonic possession, it's all just your word, words are no proof!"
Lou Lou remained calm and composed: "If you do not believe me and the Yuanqing faction, you can ask Madam Yun."
"Mother?" Yun Chan was startled and turned her head sharply.
Qin Hu, however, didn't even glance at her, and stepped forward, saying loudly, "Twenty years ago, my master, the renowned physician Xue Ren, noticed something amiss with Old Master Xia during a visit to Xia Ming Manor. My master, a man of both benevolence and skill, immediately and enthusiastically treated Xia..."
The old master of the manor took his pulse. The result revealed that Old Master Xia was suffering from a backlash of internal energy caused by a qi deviation, exactly as Lou Guyan had said earlier.
Everyone was shocked. The legendary healer Xue Ren died more than twenty years ago; could he also have been murdered by Xia Ming Manor?
Qin Hu closed his eyes, seemingly lost in memories, but his voice gradually became indignant: "Back then, my master couldn't understand why Xia Yue, whose martial arts at Xiaming Manor were peaceful and steady, would have a body full of pure Yang internal energy running rampant within him. But he didn't suspect anything."
He was only focused on finding a way to help Master Xia resolve the internal heat poison. Little did he know that before he could even devise a solution, his master was suddenly killed by the Qingtu Sect! At this point, a fierce glint appeared in Qin Hu's eyes. "Before he died, my master told me that the person who harmed him possessed a hundred beasts..."
"Totem... I never understood how my master offended the Qingtu Cult back then! Now I understand."