Upon hearing this, Fang Huo bit his lower lip and laughed so hard he collapsed onto the table.
Sect Leader Qi stroked his white beard and said, "I believe that Wen Moyin is even more untouchable."
"Oh?" the sallow-faced boy asked, puzzled. Young people always yearn for beautiful things, and are usually particularly vulnerable to beautiful women.
Sect Leader Qi said, "Being unorthodox is not scary; what is scary is being cunning and scheming."
Before they could finish speaking, they heard a loud crash from below. The three of them looked down and saw a teacup lying on the ground, its contents scattered everywhere.
When the three of them sat up, they were surprised to find a woman in scarlet clothes sitting in front of them.
"Miss Ban!" Sect Leader Qi was somewhat startled by her sudden appearance. Then, remembering his earlier comments about Wen Moyin, his expression changed several times.
Ban Lan sat there expressionless, pointed to a plate of fish ball soup that had just been served on the table, and said, "Who told you to order the same dish as me?"
Fang Huo glanced at the plate of fish ball soup in front of him and inwardly cried out: This girl is starting to provoke me...
The sallow-faced youth looked disdainful and said, "Who do we have here? It's you, young lady. Instead of hiding at home and crying after being dumped by a man, you're out running around. You're really persistent." His tone was extremely sarcastic, but Ban Lan seemed not to hear it.
"You use a sword?" Ban Lan glanced at the long sword at the waist of the sallow-faced boy.
The sallow-faced youth scoffed, "You know about swords?"
Ban Lan shook her head and said, "I don't understand. He does." Ban Lan turned around and pointed at Fang Huo.
Fang Huo was picking up a fish ball and putting it in his mouth when he heard this, and immediately choked on the half-swallowed fish ball.
"Cough cough..." Fang Huo grabbed the tea on the table and gulped down two mouthfuls before he felt a little better.
What does this have to do with me? Fang Huo turned his head and glared fiercely at Ban Lan.
The mistake was that Ban Lan and the boy were sitting very close together, and Fang Huo's resentful glance was completely absorbed by the yellow-faced boy.
A glint of light flashed in the young man's eyes, and he suddenly stood up and walked towards Fang Huo.
"Chen'er," Sect Leader Qi called out to the young man. He looked Fang Huo up and down but couldn't discern his origins, so he hesitated.
The sallow-faced youth said, "Master, I am just looking to see if this young hero is worthy of wielding a sword."
Fang Huo glanced at the sword at the yellow-faced boy's waist, but didn't look at it a second time. He simply turned back to continue eating the rice in his bowl.
Fang Huo had relatively large ears, somewhat round eyes, and naturally thin, long eyebrows. Although he wasn't exactly delicate-looking, he always seemed like someone who would suffer in silence.
Fang Huo put down his chopsticks, picked up a spoon, ladled himself a small bowl of soup, and sipped it with loud "tsk tsk" sounds, the white porcelain spoon and bowl occasionally clinking together.
"What a promising young man..." Ban Lan rubbed her nose and turned to look at the sallow-faced boy.
Whether she saw it too late or she didn't see it clearly at all, she only saw the boy's hand holding the sword tremble slightly, and the long sword at his waist shot out like a black dragon emerging from its cave, thrusting straight towards Fang Huo's nape.
Fang Huo was still eating, a thin layer of soup clinging to his upper lip as he carefully picked out the scallions from his bowl. Suddenly, he felt a tickle in his nose, sneezed, and then sneezed, causing him to turn his head away.
In the blink of an eye, the cold blade barely grazed his neck.
The sword fell, the hair was cut, but the person was unharmed.
The sword's momentum didn't stop, and the sudden flash of sword light made Fang Huo squint.
When he opened his eyes again, a plate of fish balls on the table had been cut in half and scattered all over the floor.
The sallow-faced boy kept a straight face, but couldn't hide the smugness in his eyes, and said, "Now our two tables won't have the same dishes anymore, right?"
Fang Huo took a sip of tea, rinsed his mouth, and said, "The fish balls are cut quite well."
Ban Lan chimed in, "It's a pity it's the cook's skill."
What perfect teamwork! Fang Huo raised an eyebrow at Ban Lan in a suggestive manner, while Ban Lan looked away, gazing elsewhere.
The sallow-faced boy's face turned purplish-red, and the veins on his hand gripping the sword were clearly visible.
The burly man with a bushy beard was furious when he heard this and shouted, "Junior Brother Zhou, that kid's sword hanging at his waist is just for show. Judging from his sullen look, he probably can't even draw his sword."
Upon hearing this, Fang Huo subconsciously reached for the Qingguang Sword at his waist, seemingly just to confirm whether it was there or not.
He had a pair of beautiful hands, with nimble and long fingers. When he brushed his hand across the sword, one couldn't help but envy the sword hanging at his waist.
The sallow-faced boy stared blankly at Fang Huo's fair fingers. He never took his eyes off Fang Huo's hands, yet he still couldn't see how Fang Huo had drawn his sword.
He only caught a fleeting glimpse of a sword, followed by the four-foot-long sword resting on his neck.
"I can't make fish balls, but I'm pretty good at cutting human heads," Fang Huo said, sticking out his tongue.
The sword's aura was menacing, slowly gnawing at the yellow-faced boy's neck.
The boy's sallow face gradually contorted, and he stammered, "Young...young hero, spare my life..."
"Useless thing!" Master Qi's face immediately darkened. With a flick of his arm, he drew his iron sword and thrust it toward Fang Huo with a hissing sound.
Ban Lan extended a slender, delicate finger and poked the burly man with a thick beard, saying, "Hey, your master has already made a move, what are you still sitting here for?"
The burly man with a thick beard said, "Dealing with that brat is a piece of cake; Master doesn't need anyone's help."
Before he could finish speaking, Fang Huo swiftly swung his sword and severed a section of Qi's beard.
Master Qi's face turned pale and then red, and his moves suddenly became more than twice as fierce.
"Damn it!" The burly man with a bushy beard jumped up when he saw this and was about to rush forward to help, but suddenly he saw a flash of crimson light and was blocked by Ban Lan.
"Who just called me a wild girl?" Ban Lan looked up, staring intently at the burly man's beard.
"Get out of the way!" The big man had no intention of getting entangled with her and reached out to push Ban Lan's shoulder.
To his surprise, he pushed something that missed.
"I knew you were going to push me." Ban Lan deftly dodged, sniffed, glanced at Fang Huo who was handling two opponents with ease, and slowly began to roll up her sleeves.
"I'm here to fight!" With that, Ban Lanxiu punched the sweaty man in the face.
"Damn it, you finally admit it!" Fang Huo shouted at Ban Lan as he drew his sword. He rarely swore, but the more he fought, the more unrestrained he became. He couldn't help but go berserk, and his sword danced like a rainbow, making Qi Zhou and the others unable to breathe.
Ban Lan wanted to laugh, but she didn't.
How long has it been since you last had a chair fight? Ban Lan couldn't remember.
Actually, she didn't like to stir up trouble. She just thought that if she rolled up her sleeves and got into a fight, she could find her way back to her old life...
That's all.
blindness
one,
The moon is full, and the fog is thin.
The moonlight, mingled with a light mist, appeared desolate and bleak.
The sound of footsteps coming from the end of the long street startled a few crows on the branches. A series of flapping wings shattered the quietude that the old street had been guarding.
This street is desolate. When the west wind sweeps through it with destructive force, it always leaves behind a mournful echo.
Before long, the three figures gradually became clear in the thin mist.
There were three men carrying long swords. The older man wore a faded gray robe, and as he walked, he would unconsciously twitch his chin, as if trying to suppress something extremely difficult to bear. His beard looked as if it had been cut in half with a very sharp pair of scissors, and thus, with the trembling of his chin, it looked quite comical.
Behind the old man were two men, one burly and one thin, one looking indignant and the other dejected.
The indignant man was tall and strong, with a full beard. Judging from his rapidly flaring nostrils, he must have suffered some great humiliation and was now feeling frustrated and unable to vent his anger.
Only the skinny boy who lagged behind kept his head down and dragged his feet, like a defeated rooster.
As he walked, the burly man with the bushy beard held back for a while, then held back again, but finally couldn't restrain himself and burst out cursing, "Damn it! If it weren't for that big-eared brat's help, I would have crushed that bitch surnamed Ban's bones long ago!"
Upon hearing this, the gray-robed elder abruptly stopped, turned around, glared fiercely at the burly man with the bushy beard, and said coldly, "What, haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"
When the old man turned around, half of his face was lightly covered with a silvery-white glow by the moonlight, making him appear even more lean and wiry.
This old man was none other than Master Qi, who had fought Fang Huo during the day.
If encountering Fang Huo was the greatest misfortune in Master Qi's life, then encountering Ban Lan was the worst of misfortunes.
He still remembers the last scene: Ban Lan, who was in the middle of the fight, suddenly broke away, jumped over, grabbed Fang Huo and ran away, saying as she ran that she had twisted her neck a bit from using too much force, so she suddenly didn't want to fight anymore, so let's go back to the mountain.
As Fang Huo was being dragged away, he didn't forget to turn back and call out to him, saying that it was getting dark and they should go back to wash up and go to sleep.
What a disgrace! What an utter disgrace!!!
Thinking of this, Master Qi's gloomy face grew even longer.
Seeing the burly man with the bushy beard looking unwilling and seemingly about to argue, Sect Leader Qi scolded, "Hmph! Do you want the whole world to know that I, the dignified Sect Leader of the Iron Sword Sect, can't even beat a mere brat?"
"No, no." Upon hearing this, the burly man with the bushy beard could only stammer out such a thing.
Headmaster Qi glanced around and saw that his most valued disciple was still hanging his head in a dejected manner. He couldn't help but feel angry again and shouted at the thin boy, "It doesn't matter if we disciples of the Iron Sword Sect lose in swordsmanship, but we must never lose our fighting spirit! Chen'er, raise your head!"
The sallow-faced boy raised his head as instructed, but as soon as he looked at Master Qi's face, he lowered his eyelids again because of his sharp gaze.
Sect Leader Qi was furious. He suppressed his anger and continued in a deep voice, "Look up at me!"
The sallow-faced boy had no choice but to raise his eyes and meet the gaze of Sect Leader Qi.
The moonlight suddenly dimmed. The expression on the yellow-faced boy's face after he looked up disappeared into the darkness.
Sect Leader Qi looked up. He gazed at the bright, solitary moon hanging high in the sky, but could only see a patch of clouds obscuring the moon and the hazy moon's shadow hidden behind them.
Before long, as the moon moved away from the clouds, its clear light shone on the world once more.
Sect Leader Qi slowly lowered his head, and only then did he see the boy's expression clearly.
The young man kept staring at him, his eyes filled with awe that seemed to have solidified. His wide-open eyes had long been dried by the wind, yet he still stared at Master Qi without blinking.
Master Qi felt a little intimidated by his gaze.
"Never mind, it's your first time traveling far from home with me, and you're so discouraged after a few setbacks. I can't blame you for that." Headmaster Qi sighed slightly and then continued on his way.
He had only taken one step when he stopped and turned around. He saw his disciple still standing in the same spot, staring wide-eyed at the place where he had just stood, as if he hadn't heard a word he said.