Guide sur le vent et la fumée

Chapitre 27

What a wonderful person he was, her childhood sweetheart. He had made her angry, comforted her, and spoiled her. The two had been playing together since they were six years old. Despite arguing for so many years, she had never truly hated him.

But why has her summer mood become so terrifying?

Or perhaps, I never truly knew him.

Yun Chan suddenly stopped crying. She smiled sadly, "Fine, if you won't give it to us, then we'll have no future either!"

The Henchmen's Rescue Plan

The fortress had inexplicably become bustling with activity these past few days, and security was much tighter than usual, as if something big was about to happen. However, Yun Chan seemed to have lost her soul, truly hiding in her room and refusing to come out. Qin Hu had come to check on her several times, assuming she was with Xia Yi again.

They had argued, but she never bothered with such girlish thoughts. After patting Yun Chan's head and saying she would no longer confine her, she hurriedly left again.

As night deepened, Yun Chan lay in bed, and the moment she closed her eyes, countless flashes of swords and blades flooded her mind. In a chaotic dream, Lou Lou emerged, his face pale, and after laughing and saying "Very good" three times, he drew his sword and lunged at her. Yun

The cicada was too frightened to move, watching helplessly as the knife tip slowly approached, then sliced through bones and tendons like cutting vegetables, before piercing Xia Yi's body.

"Ah—" Yun Chan screamed and woke up with a start.

Ji Yue rushed into the room, anxiously asking, "Miss, did you have a nightmare?"

Yun Chan didn't even glance at her, just hugged the blanket and breathed heavily.

Ji Yue then withdrew, retreating all the way to the flowerbed in the courtyard, where she stood motionless, guarding the area. Since Yun Chan returned from Xia Ming Manor, she hadn't spoken a single word to her. Ji Yue smiled bitterly; before, her young mistress and the manor lord would argue fiercely...

She ignored the manor lord, never expecting to receive such treatment herself.

Her thoughts drifted. Ji Yue still remembered the day she and Qing Qi rushed back to the manor to face their punishment, thinking they were doomed. But when they saw the manor lord, they found his face was more lifeless than ever before, looking even more like a dying man than they did.

That person.

That night, the manor lord only said one sentence to her—

"Go back to Xiao Chan's side. If she still wants you, continue to protect her. If she doesn't want you anymore, then end your own life."

Ji Yue shook her head, banishing these chaotic thoughts, and quickly stood up. The young lady disliked having lights on in the courtyard at night, so it was usually very dark. Fortunately, over the years Ji Yue had become accustomed to seeing in such darkness.

She drew her short sword and swiftly thrust it towards a furtive figure lurking in the shadows under the eaves.

The figure was about to sneak into the house when he suddenly felt an attack from behind. He quickly turned around, jumped back, and used the gold ring on his hand to block Ji Yue's short sword. He whispered, "Don't hit me! Don't hit me! I'm Ugly Girl's friend. We're on the same side."

Hearing the commotion, Yun Chan inside the house quickly opened the door and ran out. Seeing the scene outside, she immediately stepped forward to protect Qian Jun, then glared at Ji Yue and said, "Don't hurt her."

Yun Chan's expression when she spoke was as if she were looking at her enemy.

Ji Yue felt a bitter taste in her mouth. She had probably overestimated herself; those days of listening to her mistress's coquettish nagging, gossip, and complaints were probably gone forever. She sheathed her short sword, bowed her head, and retreated to the flowerbed.

Bad people, all bad people. They all conspired to deceive her, and then turned around and acted like they'd been bullied by her. Yun Chan looked at Ji Yue's dejected appearance, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent and returned to her room. On the contrary, Qian...

Jun found it strange and followed Yun Chan into the house, asking, "Your guard is really odd. Why does he look like he owes you money?"

Yun Chan was too lazy to answer her, and only asked listlessly, "Why are you here?"

Qianjun angrily reached out and ruffled her head with his claws: "Why are you making me look like I owe you money? I'm your senior sister now, you should respect your teacher, don't you know that?"

Yun Chan gave a weak hum in response.

Qianjun stopped what she was doing: "Why aren't you saying anything? Did you have another fight with your terrifying fiancé?"

To everyone's surprise, Yun Chan pouted and replied, "We'll never fight again."

Qianjun didn't react for a moment: "What do you mean?"

"Qianjun, I hate him, I hate him. What a jerk, what a liar!" Without warning, Yun Chan suddenly threw herself into Qianjun's arms and burst into tears, as if releasing all the pent-up frustration of the past few days, crying until she was breathless. Qianjun held Yun...

The cicada endured it for a long time, but finally couldn't help but push her away.

Qianjun wiped the snot and tears off his clothes with a disgusted look on his face and said fiercely, "You better tell me what happened that's worth crying like this."

After crying her fill, Yun Chan, with tears still in her eyes and hiccups, finally told Qian Jun everything that had happened that day, albeit haltingly.

Qianjun was astonished: "Wow, is Master Xia so cunning? I knew he wasn't a good person a long time ago."

Hearing her say that, Yun Chan sniffled and wanted to cry again: "What should I do? I want my original Xia Yi back."

Qianjun said irritably, "He's the same Xia Manor Lord from before."

"No, that's not it."

“That’s right.” Qianjun turned Yun Chan’s face to the side, taking advantage of the situation to sow discord. “He’s always been this treacherous. You just didn’t know it before.”

"No! You're the one who's insidious!" Yun Chan said fiercely to the beauty.

Qianjun was so angry that his veins bulged: "Me, treacherous? Humph, if I were treacherous, I wouldn't have rushed here to inform you!"

Yun Chan asked, puzzled, "What do you mean, 'notify me'?"

"I'm informing you that your treacherous fiancé is currently rallying the righteous sects of the martial arts world to kill the Mo Pavilion!" Qianjun held her breath, almost blurting out these words, but seeing Yun Chan's haggard appearance, she ultimately couldn't bear it and had to change her words:

I'm informing you that the Qingtu Cult has recently killed several sect leaders. The martial world is extremely dangerous now, so don't venture out recklessly for a while. Also, your master, that old hag, asked me to tell you that she'll be testing your martial arts progress in a few days. If you don't...

"Fine, then I'll cut off your legs, you hear me?"

Seeing Yun Chan's half-dead state, Qian Jun thought for a moment and then comforted her again: "Don't think about it. He's just the Xia Yi you used to be. You've only learned more about his sinister and vicious side now, but that doesn't mean you're still the same person you were before."

"The summer breeze that was meant to be good to you has disappeared."

Yun Chan had already jumped onto the bed, buried her face in the pillow, and pretended to be dead. Qian Jun stared at her for a long time, then finally sighed and left.

The next morning, Yun Chan finally stepped out of her room after a long absence, only to find her father, Yun Tianhai, and mother, Qin Hu, leading a large group of people as if they were about to leave. Curious, she immediately ran over and asked, "Father, Mother, where are you going? What happened?"

"Is that right?"

Yun Tianhai glanced at her and instructed, "Your mother and I are going to Xiaming Manor and will be back tonight. Xiao Chan, stay in the fort and don't run around."

Yun Chan felt a growing sense of unease: "What are Father and Mother going to Xia Ming Manor for?"

Qin Hu didn't intend to hide it from her: "Recently, the remnants of the Demonic Cult have been wreaking havoc in the martial arts world again. As the leading force in the martial arts world, Xia Ming Manor has called on all sects to come and discuss how to deal with the Demonic Cult."

Yun Tianhai also said, "The remnants of the Demonic Sect are still harboring evil intentions. This time they have made a comeback. If we do not stop them as soon as possible, they may become a great calamity for the martial arts world in the future."

Yun Chan hurriedly asked, "Then the remnants of the Demonic Sect you mentioned, are you referring to the Mo Pavilion?"

"It is the Ink Pavilion." Qin Hu glanced at her. "Xiao Chan, I heard before that Lou Guyan, who saved you, is the head of the Ink Pavilion?"

"Uh, he, he's from the Ink Pavilion." Yun Chan stammered, then said anxiously, "So, let's not get involved in Feiyun Fortress. Even if they're bad, they have no grudge against us."

Qin Hu's face suddenly turned cold: "How could there be no enmity? More than twenty years ago, your master was killed by the Demonic Sect!"

Yun Chan was stunned: "Master?" It was more than twenty years ago again?

Qin Hu said no more and turned to leave with Yun Tianhai.

Yun Chan clutched her head, frantic with worry. How could she convince everyone that the Ink Pavilion and the Qingtu Sect had nothing to do with each other? She had already caused enough harm to her lackeys; was she really going to stand by and watch everyone destroy the Ink Pavilion? She didn't even know if her lackeys were dead or alive.

Thinking of this, Yun Chan finally gritted her teeth and chased after him out the door.

She only realized after stepping outside that there were quite a few martial arts practitioners on the surrounding streets heading towards Xia Ming Manor. Yun Chan was alarmed; just how many people had Xia Yi gathered? Anxious, she turned into an empty alleyway hoping to take a shortcut, but unexpectedly...

Suddenly, a woman in purple jumped out and attacked her.

Yun Chan spun around and narrowly avoided a palm strike, then recognized the woman and exclaimed, "You're one of the henchmen's subordinates?"

Zi Ying didn't answer at all, instead flipping her hand to attack Yun Chan again. Her martial arts were extremely high, but she had only held back because she wanted to capture Yun Chan alive. Yun Chan also noticed this, and after barely managing to exchange a few blows, she seized an opening and urgently said, "Are you going to capture me to rescue me?"

"Is that right?"

Zi Ying paused, then struck again with an even more vicious palm: "You caused the Pavilion Master to suffer the torment of soul devouring. If you don't hand over the antidote today, I will make sure you die without a burial place."

The fact that Zi Ying was asking her for the antidote meant the henchmen weren't dead yet, and Yun Chan was overjoyed. Afraid that speaking too loudly would alert the many martial artists on the street, she lightly leaped into the depths of the alley while saying to Zi Ying, "

"Wait, stop hitting me. I wanted to give you the antidote, but I don't have any."

"You think I'd believe that? If there's no antidote, then I'll send you to your grave with the sect leader."

"Really, the antidote is with Xia Yi. You can take me to him and exchange it for the antidote." After saying that, Yun Chan stopped and looked like she was about to surrender and cooperate.

Without hesitation, Zi Ying grabbed Yun Chan and dragged her toward Xia Ming Manor.

Yun Chan shouted, "Wait, wait, wait! You're just going to drag me out like this? There are so many martial arts practitioners on the street. Do you think you can get to Xia Ming Manor looking like you're holding a hostage? Let me go! I'll go with you!"

Zi Ying said coldly, "Don't try any tricks. If I let you go, you'll immediately call for help once we're on the street."

"If I really intended to call for help, I wouldn't have led you to this deep alley!" Yun Chan explained patiently. "I also want to save the henchmen, believe me. I'll cooperate with you to get Xia Yi to give me the antidote!"

"Trust you? You're the one who poisoned the Pavilion Master, and you'd actually want to save him?"

"I didn't poison you. If you don't believe me, you can give me some poison yourself. If Xia Yi doesn't give you the antidote, then just let me die from the poison." Yun Chan looked at Zi Ying with a sincere expression, but her heart was pounding with fear, afraid that this woman really would poison her.

If Xia Yi were to give her a poison pill, and Xia Yi refused to hand over the antidote, then she would truly be dead.

But she couldn't think of any other way to save her henchmen.

Fortunately, Zi Ying seemed to believe her somewhat and released her, saying, "You'd better not try anything funny. If you dare to call for help, I'll kill you with my sword right now. Let's see if they can save people faster, or if my sword can."

Yun Chan nodded obediently: "Okay, let's go then. When we get to the villa, I'll pretend to be kidnapped by you."

Whose foolishness is it, whose misfortune?

Xiaming Manor was very close to Feiyun Fortress. Yun Chan and Zi Ying soon arrived at the manor's gate. They saw wave after wave of martial arts figures entering the manor. Yun Chan was somewhat nervous, fearing that she might endanger Zi Ying as well.

After giving Ziying a nervous once-over, she said, "Don't keep such a straight face. What if someone notices something's up?"

Zi Ying glanced at her and asked only, "How do you plan to get in?"

"Go in through the main gate. Just pretend you're from Feiyun Fort and follow me in. But once you're inside, don't make any rash moves. When you see Xia Yi, I'll give you a signal. Once you get the signal, then you can kidnap me."

Zi Ying's gaze lingered on Yun Chan's face for a moment, neither confirming nor denying.

Yun Chan glanced at the gate again, finally swallowed hard, and pulled Zi Ying along, saying, "Let's go in."

The guards at the gate all recognized Yun Chan. As soon as they saw her arrive, they immediately bowed their heads respectfully and said, "Lord Yun and Madam Yun have just arrived. Let me escort Miss Yun over."

Yun Chan hurriedly waved her hands: "No, no, I came here secretly, please don't make a fuss."

"They came secretly?" The guards found it strange, but who dared to interfere in Miss Yun's affairs? They readily allowed them to pass. Because of the large number of people present, the meeting place was chosen to be a spacious open-air training ground within the manor. Yun Chan entered...

Inside the manor, they passed through without hindrance. Worried that encountering her parents would cause trouble, she led Ziyingjing to a corner, eventually blending into a group of people some distance away from the Feiyun Fortress crowd, where they stopped and waited for Xia Yi to come out.

The sun was shining brightly during the day, and the training ground was bustling with noise. Someone shouted, "Master Xia is here!" Everyone immediately turned to look. Yun Chan, her palms sweating with nervousness, also craned her neck to search for Xia Yi.

A figure appeared.

Dressed in fiery red, Xia Yi slowly emerged from behind the crowd. The previously noisy group of heroes instantly fell silent.

Yun Chan, hidden in the crowd, quietly watched him. With just one glance, she could no longer look away.

Those beautiful peach blossom eyes were dull and lifeless, their sockets sunken, as if they hadn't slept for days and nights. Her whole person seemed to be covered in a layer of dust, and all traces of her former arrogance were gone.