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Capítulo 18

Suddenly, a figure drifted over, looking lost and dejected. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Xiao Xun.

Ye Xiao ignored him and continued to mimic the donkey's head-down circling.

Xiao Xun walked up to her and poured out his troubles to her.

"Boss, do you think I'm really unattractive?"

Ye Xiao turned around in surprise: "You're so listless every day, what's the point of having charm?"

Xiao Xun continued to complain: "It doesn't really matter... but I'm really unwilling to lose to that ugly monster Qingcheng..."

Ye Xiao absentmindedly tried to smooth things over: "Hmm... one's an ugly duckling, the other's a simpleton... he shouldn't have lost to him, they're at least evenly matched..."

Ignoring Ye Xiao's blatant sarcasm, Xiao Xun continued rambling, "...But Shen Wan can't just ignore my existence and my self-respect like that, and suddenly throw herself into the second brother's arms..."

A thunderclap suddenly rang out in the clear blue sky. Ye Xiao jumped up with a howl, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Xiao Xun: "What did you say? What did you just say?"

Xiao Xun didn't understand why his boss suddenly acted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, rambling on and on about what had just happened to Ye Xiao. Ye Xiao seemed particularly interested, asking about every detail, especially the expressions, words, and actions of the two at the time.

"I didn't see clearly. The two of them were being so affectionate without any restraint. How could I possibly take a closer look..." Xiao Xun was very embarrassed.

Ye Xiao remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Xiao Xun's mind, and the sentence he had been keeping to himself burst out: "Boss, you don't actually like the second brother either? Did that hurt you?"

Ye Xiao's expression was grim. He nodded heavily and murmured, "I'm devastated. I was wrong... were all my previous guesses wrong?"

Shen Wan was a guest specially invited by Yuan Peixin, and she stayed by the lotus pond in the inner hall of Langjing Manor.

In the evening, after another thunderstorm, the air was fresh and pleasant, and silver dewdrops rolled on the lotus leaves, making the whole place sparkle.

A lotus flower about to bloom, graceful as a young girl with her fragrant shoulders half-exposed.

Shen Wan pushed open the door, turned around and stared at Luo Qingcheng with a satisfied smile: "Brother Luo, come in and sit for a while."

"Xiao Wan... I'll leave here. I need to go back now." Luo Qingcheng stopped at her door and said goodbye.

Shen Wan slowly lowered her head: "You still want to marry her? Just for the Langjing Manor's immense wealth?"

Luo Qingcheng looked away, gazing at the lotus leaves filling the pond, his watery eyes reflecting a verdant scene: "I have my responsibilities."

Shen Wan sighed softly, "I...I will definitely find what Father left behind...and you won't go against your own wishes...and marry someone you don't like..."

Luo Qingcheng gently shook his head: "Xiao Wan, this has nothing to do with you... Don't get involved. This is a man's matter, it's my matter."

Shen Wan was about to say something when Luo Qingcheng's suddenly intense gaze stopped her.

Luo Qingcheng stepped into the house, paced a few steps, and suddenly said to Shen Wan, "Xiao Wan, go to the kitchen and bring a basin of boiling water, the hotter the better..."

Shen Wan opened her beautiful eyes wide, looking charming and alluring: "What are you doing?"

A scream rang out: "No!" and a person rolled out from under the bed.

Shen Wan screamed in fright and threw herself into Luo Qingcheng's arms. Luo Qingcheng stiffened slightly and pushed her away imperceptibly.

The figure got up and said with a fawning smile, "Don't bring any more hot water... Qingcheng, I just came to remind you that you haven't been home for several days, and the Lanzhou boat race is tomorrow... Should we discuss the specific details..."

Shen Wan looked at the girl in front of her in surprise. Her delicate face was full of life, and her big eyes quickly and cleverly darted around.

"Who are you……"

"Ye Xiao." Ye Xiao smiled generously, showing no shame for his actions. "I just looked under your bed, uh, there was a lot of dust. Be careful to sweep it clean next time... You got me covered in dust..."

Shen Wan's mouth dropped open: "Ye Xiao? You're a girl? Not... a brother?"

Ye Xiao's mouth dropped open: "Can't women be brothers?"

Shen Wan turned her head to look at Luo Qingcheng.

"Go back." Luo Qingcheng picked up Ye Xiao, showing no mercy, and dragged her out the door.

Shen Wan's mouth dropped open again. Her brother Luo had always been a bit cold, but he was rarely this rude...

They remained silent the entire way.

Luo Qingcheng broke the silence.

"Don't you want to ask anything?"

Ye Xiao was overjoyed: "I want to know! Did you and Shen Wan know each other before? Are you in cahoots with Wan San? What is your relationship with Shen Rujun? And... very importantly, what exactly is the thing Shen Wan mentioned that her father left behind?"

Luo Qingcheng stopped in his tracks: "You really want to know?"

Ye Xiao nodded.

"I won't say," Luo Qingcheng said, and strode ahead.

Ye Xiao almost tripped and fell over. She took small, resentful steps and jogged after him.

It was past midnight. Xiao Xun was dragged out of bed by Ye Xiao again. Still half asleep, he stared blankly at the moonlight streaming in through the window.

"I was wrong," Ye Xiao said dejectedly. "I thought Wan San killed Shen Rujun, and I even thought Qing Cheng was in cahoots with Wan San..."

"Qingcheng...isn't he in cahoots with Wan San?" Xiao Xun asked.

Unsurprisingly, Ye Xiao tapped him on the head: "Idiot! Of course, it's still possible they're in cahoots. But he knows Shen Wan... and most likely Shen Rujun too. What does that mean?"

"Are acquaintances unreliable? Could the people around you also kill you?" Xiao Xun pondered.

With a thud, he was hit on the head again, and annoyed, he lay down, intending to go back to sleep.

Hearing Ye Xiao's voice, "The three of them might be in cahoots! Think about it, Shen Rujun always stays at Tianbao Inn whenever he returns to his hometown. What does that mean? Tianbao Inn is likely one of their communication points. Shen Rujun carried something important with him, but he didn't give it to Wan San. We all know this because Wan San has been searching for that thing ever since. He stayed at the inn for a long time. Why is that?"

“Yes… he’s going to give the thing to someone else.” Xiao Xun snapped out of his daze and finally stopped being stupid.

Ye Xiao nodded approvingly: "He must be waiting for someone, someone he trusts, someone he can entrust with this. Could that person be Qingcheng?"

Xiao Xun said "Oh," and finally asked the crucial question that had been on his mind: "What exactly is that thing?"

The Storm in Biluo Lake

"Many people actually know what that thing is. The Martial Alliance knows, Shen Wan knows, and Qingcheng knows too. Unfortunately, none of them are willing to tell us. Perhaps it would be easier to find a breakthrough from the dead, after all, the deceased Shen Rujun also knew." Ye Xiao sighed.

Xiao Xun suddenly had a thought: Could that thing be related to the Netherworld City?

Luo Qingcheng saw Ye Xiao busy at the door when he got up early in the morning.

"What kind of trouble is this now?" He leaned against the door frame.

Ye Xiao laughed loudly: "Haha! The wind is from the southeast today!"

Luo Qingcheng said, "Oh, it's summer now! Southeast winds are common. It's not like Zhuge Liang borrowed the east wind; that was winter!"

Ye Xiao ignored him and continued to wail and howl at the top of her lungs: "If the east wind had not favored Ye Xiao, the Bronze Sparrow Terrace would have locked up the light city in the depths of spring..."

Luo Qingcheng was furious. "The Bronze Sparrow Terrace locks Qingcheng up in the depths of spring! How frivolous! Who am I, Luo Qingcheng, to be locked up by someone so easily?"

It was a cloudy day, with pale, inky clouds rolling low across the sky, obscuring the intense, fiery summer sun.

The southeast wind was unusually strong, blowing in gusts. Biluo Lake was no longer as smooth as a mirror, but rather had quite a few waves. Only the pure white Biluo flowers still grew densely along the riverbank, stretching as far as the eye could see, swaying gently with the waves, reflecting the sky and water, looking exceptionally beautiful.

"Strange," Ye Xiao muttered, looking at the star-like blossoms.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and get on the boat, the competition is about to start..." Luo Qingcheng interrupted her rambling without any politeness.

"Why haven't I seen a single withered Biluo flower? Does it have such a long blooming period?" Ye Xiao continued to ramble on.

Finally, Luo Qingcheng unleashed his trump card again: "Don't you know everything? Why are you asking others?" He immediately shut his mouth and obediently boarded the ship.

Dozens of boats are already waiting at the starting point, ready to set off.

Dragon boats, sailboats, all kinds of boats are available.

Ye Xiao and his group found a small grasshopper boat, not very big, just enough to hold three people.

Ye Xiao had it modified; a mast was erected and a sail was hoisted.

After the fireworks, dozens of boats raced off from the starting point.

Ye Xiao laughed loudly and raised the sail.

Luo Qingcheng and Xiao Xun each held a giant oar and used their internal energy to propel the small boat at breakneck speed.

"This is the 'Wings of the Wind' made by the 'Ghost Axe Flying to the Sky' of Tiangong Valley. It can be used as a sail, or it can be modified to hang on your body and glide in the sky..." Ye Xiao said proudly.

Luo Qingcheng said, "Oh, it's a pity. 'Ghost Axe Flying Sky' has created many aerial weapons, the most famous of which, 'Heavenly Weapon,' is said to be invincible to human beings... You asked 'Ghost Axe Flying Sky' for this useless thing?"

Ye Xiao glared at him angrily: "I think this thing is the most fun, it can even take you to the sky..."

Amidst laughter and conversation, the small grasshopper boat has already sailed against the wind and waves, leading the way by a wide margin.

Suddenly, she heard a neat chant behind her. Ye Xiao, who was by the sail, turned around and saw a long, narrow dragon boat coming like an arrow. On it were two rows of strong men wielding oars. At the bow was a man in white clothes, whose gaze was like a sharp sword piercing Ye Xiao, as if he wanted to tear her to pieces.

Ye Xiao felt a pang of fear and quickly turned around. Remembering Huang Tingfeng's icy gaze behind him, he shuddered: "Our old rival is watching us like a fly! Everyone, give it your all!"

Luo Qingcheng sneered from the bow of the boat: "Xiaoxiao, there's a loophole in your words. According to you, they are flies, and we are shit... Flies love to stare at shit..."

Ye Xiao almost suffocated because he couldn't catch his breath. But then he heard Luo Qingcheng and Xiao Xun shout and use all their strength. Both of them had deep and long-lasting internal energy. In an instant, the small boat flew several miles away, leaving the fly behind them far behind.

Just as the colorful ball was clearly in sight, a soft hissing sound came from behind.

Ye Xiao turned around and saw two burly men bending over by the dragon boat, fiddling with something in the water. His heart sank, and he peered over and saw that they seemed to be pulling in a net.

"What are they doing?" Ye Xiao muttered to himself, hearing Xiao Xun behind him cry out in pain.

"What's stuck to my oar?!"

Ye Xiao rushed to the side of the boat and saw that both of their oars were caught in the flying net that was shot at them, and they could not move.

Luo Qingcheng sneered, and with a slight pull of his wrist, the burly man pulling in the net on the dragon boat cried out and fell into the water along with the net.

Suddenly, a flash of snow appeared, and Luo Qingcheng instinctively raised his oar to block it. With a muffled splash, the oar was sliced in two by the flash of snow.

The streak of snow swirled in the air a few times before plunging into the water like a fish.

"Idiot! This is just a common hidden weapon called 'Flying Back and Forth'! You could have just dodged it, why did you break the weapon!" Ye Xiao was extremely anxious, ignoring Luo Qingcheng's already unpleasant look, and started to scold.

Suddenly, a figure soared into the sky like a crane, seemingly about to pierce through the dark clouds that rolled low in the sky.

The man flipped in the air, and as his sleeves passed by, waves several feet high rose up on the water, crashing straight towards the people on the dragon boat.

In the blink of an eye, cries of pain filled the air as several burly men fell into the water, and the entire boat was thrown about to capsize.

The man stopped in mid-air and descended slowly like a god, landing on the grasshopper boat. He was secretly pleased that he had finally avenged the arrow wound.

But then Ye Xiao continued to yell, "Idiot! So what if the oar is broken? There are other ways to do it. Why did you have to show off your martial arts skills? You let so many people overtake you for no reason! You damaged this dragon boat, so why should we compete for first place?"