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4
Xuezhi and Lin Fengzi met at the Shaolin Weapon Ranking Tournament last year. Xuezhi was two years older than Fengzi and remembered her childhood very clearly, but Fengzi was sent to Lingjian Manor before she was four years old and only had a vague impression of Xuezhi. So, for Xuezhi, that meeting at the tournament was a reunion. But for Lin Fengzi, it was their first meeting.
Whether it was fate or something else, only the two girls were present at the time, but Feng Zi, though only fourteen, was already strikingly beautiful, even Xue Zhi couldn't help but look at her. Just as Xue Zhi finally managed to ignore her, the little girl in the snow-white pleated skirt ran over and, upon seeing Xue Zhi, immediately asked her name. Xue Zhi ignored her; it was Hai Tang who answered for her. Feng Zi, with her particularly gentle personality and ever-smiling nature, immediately beamed like a flower, saying, "You look so kind; can I call you 'sister'?"
Therefore, Feng Zi was defined by Xue Zhi as "a shameless person who thinks he knows everything and claims to be related to others everywhere".
Regardless of whether Xuezhi agreed or not, from that moment on, Fengzi accepted this older sister as her own.
Even as she continued to call him that, Xuezhi's big eyes narrowed into slits, and the corners of her eyes appeared even more upturned: "Who is your sister? I said, we won't let you have the room."
Feng Zi frowned slightly, looking hurt: "Sister, don't treat me like this."
At this moment, Yuan Shuangshuang looked Xuezhi up and down and sneered, "Where did this barbaric girl come from? Do you have the right to speak here?"
Feng Zi said, "Master, she is Chong Xuezhi, the young master of Chonghuo Palace."
Many people were watching the spectacle unfold.
Everyone, including Chong Xuezhi, thought that after Feng Zi said that, Yuan Shuangshuang would be greatly surprised, and then adopt her typical submissive demeanor when speaking to Lin Xuanfeng, trying to win Xuezhi over. But Yuan Shuangshuang was only slightly surprised, then tilted her head, widened her eyes, and said:
"Oh, so she's Chonglian's daughter."
Xuezhi stared at her, a small flame beginning to burn in her eyes.
"Your father has passed away, what are you doing at the Heroes' Gathering? Go home and tend to his memorial tablet, accumulate some good karma, otherwise you'll have to pay for the sins your father committed by indiscriminately killing innocent people. We never said we wanted this house from you, I'll go find it now—"
At this point, Yuan Shuangshuang lashed out with her long whip, and just in time, she wrapped it around Chong Xuezhi's wrist. The long sword that Xuezhi had been aiming at her now pointed squarely at the people from Chonghuo Palace. Xuezhi tried to pull her hand away, but the whip was like a thorny bramble with teeth, tightening its grip the more she tried to pull.
"I also come from a swordsmanship background, but I know that this sword cannot be held like this. Young Master Chong, is it that your sword is too weak, or is the Chonghuo Palace's swordsmanship just a name without substance?"
"You are not allowed to insult my father!"
"I did not insult your father. It was you who bullied my disciple first."
"That's a personal feud between me and Lin Fengzi, don't interfere, Auntie!"
Upon hearing the word "aunt," Yuan Shuangshuang's face instantly changed color, and she raised her hand, ready to slap her. But when her palm was only millimeters away from the woman's cheek, she suddenly stopped.
Her wrist was gripped by three fingers. Turning around, she saw that it was Mu Yuan who had done it. But he didn't even look at Yuan Shuangshuang, only saying, "Let her go."
Yuan Shuangshuang ignored him. But no matter how she moved her arm, her wrist seemed to be bound by invisible shackles and she couldn't move it. She had no choice but to loosen the long whip that was binding Xuezhi and swing it at Mu Yuan. Mu Yuan reached out and caught the whip, which wrapped around his palm several times. He pulled hard, but didn't let go with his other hand. The two began to struggle. Yuan Shuangshuang was naturally no match for Mu Yuan's strength, and soon her forehead was covered in a fine sweat.
At this moment, an abacus was placed in the hands of the two people.
"If this continues, both of you will be disqualified from the competition. You two should think carefully."
The speaker was the innkeeper, Boss Qi. It's said that he was a prominent figure in his youth, but because of his graying beard, few remember how imposing he was back then. His imposing presence has faded, but his prestige remains. He has a very close relationship with the organizers of the Heroes' Gathering, and they have a three-point agreement: participants are not allowed to cause trouble in the inn, or they will be disqualified.
Yuan Shuangshuang had no choice but to give up.
Mu Yuan bowed to her, then returned to his seat with Xue Zhi.
As soon as he sat down, Xuezhi pointed at his hand and said urgently, "It's bleeding."
Mu Yuan looked at his palm, which was covered with countless tiny red dots. He seemed oblivious to the pain, rubbing his hands on the hand towel on the table. Xue Zhi quickly grabbed his wrist: "What are you doing? Who knows what that aunt put on her whip? What if someone gets poisoned and dies?"
"Don't worry, there are so many people here, she couldn't possibly poison it." Mu Yuan smiled. "Time to eat."
"Even if you're not poisoned, you still need to be bandaged up. Don't move." Xuezhi took out some medicine from her bosom, pulled out the small red stopper, shook some powder onto his hand, and then took out a roll of gauze and slowly wrapped it around his hand. "All done."
Mu Yuan said, "It's truly remarkable that the young palace master carries all of these with him."
"Hehe, what I wanted to do most in the past was to become a divine doctor and then travel the world with my two fathers. Whenever they were injured, I would bandage them up, and whenever someone bullied me, they would protect me. Unfortunately, their martial arts skills were too high. The only time I bandaged up my second father was when he climbed a tree to pick fruit for my father and then fell down from the tree."
Mu Yuan suddenly stopped laughing: "Young Palace Master will have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the entire Chonghuo Palace in the future, so you can't speak so willfully."
“Protector Mu is only a year older than me, but he talks like a decrepit old man.”
"real?"
Xuezhi nodded seriously: "Really."
At that moment, a shout came from the second floor of the inn: "Qingmei, don't run away! Give me back my wife's hairpin!"
In the stairwell, a clear voice replied, "It's too late now, she'll leave later!" The words were accompanied by footsteps, and a boy sitting on the second-floor stair railing suddenly slid down.
Xuezhi looked up and immediately saw that beautiful face.
"Qingmei, you're not a kid anymore, behave yourself!" the man on the second floor shouted.
The boy named Qingmei shook the silver phoenix hairpin in his hand and said, "Thank you, Uncle Feng!"
5
After saying that, he ran straight out of the inn. He seemed to disappear from sight. But everyone was watching him. His attire wasn't flashy; he wore only blue and white, with a blue headband. Yet, he exuded a youthful vitality, a rare and striking beauty that effortlessly drew attention.
"Sigh, that brat, I thought he'd grown up a bit!" A sigh came from upstairs, and then silence.
"Qingmei? Her name really suits her." Xuezhi frowned slightly. "It's too feminine. Hongtao would be better."
Even so, his eyes remained fixed on Qingmei's back.
“It’s not the ‘green plum’ of ‘green plum wine,’ but the ‘light’ of ‘light’ and the ‘eyebrow’ of ‘eyebrow’.” Haitang flipped through the list Mu Yuan had compiled. “Judging from the sword at his waist, he should be Xia Qingmei from Lingjian Villa. He participated in the martial arts competition just the day before yesterday and came in thirteenth place. He’s a dark horse.”
"Xia Qingmei?" Xuezhi's eyebrows furrowed even more violently. "I didn't realize she was so capable."
Liuli raised an eyebrow and looked at Xuezhi: "Why are you reacting so strongly?"
"Where did I have a big reaction? Can't I even talk about it?" Xuezhi immediately buried her head in her food.
Zhu Sha laughed and said, "Could it be that you've fallen for a handsome young man?"
"I didn't!"
"The more you deny it, the more likely it is to happen."
Haitang laughed and said, "Stop teasing the young palace master. It's normal for children to deny what they like. Don't make her cry, or it will be hard to coax her later."
Xuezhi almost exploded and overturned the table, but was eventually coaxed back down by the three guardians. Mu Yuan sighed, while Chequ looked at them expressionlessly, having already transcended immortality.
These uncles and aunts, the protectors, had all watched Xuezhi grow up and had almost all changed her diapers. That's why Xuezhi could establish authority in front of the new Chonghuo Palace disciples, but she couldn't do so in front of them.
Meanwhile, outside the Fengtian Inn.
The Shen River flows gently, shrouded in a light drizzle.
The leader of the Snow Swallow Sect and his four disciples stood by the water, looking every bit like beautiful women in red holding bamboo umbrellas on a painted boat.
Yuan Shuangshuang looked at the whip in her hand and whispered to the people around her, "Who was the person who fought me in the inn just now?"
"Reporting to the Master, that is Mu Yuan, the Great Protector of Chonghuo Palace."
“Chong Xuezhi is nothing to fear. But Mu Yuan, I see he is quite skilled, why haven’t I heard of him before?”
"This... I don't know much about this person. I only know that he was personally selected by Chonglian, and I guess he is Chonghuo Palace's trump card."
"What exactly is Chonglian up to? Even in death, she can't let people rest in peace."
Feng Zi said softly, "Master, the person has been dead for so long, so let's not talk about it anymore."
Yuan Shuangshuang glanced at Feng Zi, then suddenly beamed and took Feng Zi's hand, saying, "My dear daughter, Chong Lian is a great demon whom everyone wants to kill. A man like that wouldn't be enough to warrant dying hundreds of times. Have you forgotten how Lingjian Manor was almost wiped out because of him?"
"I didn't see it."
"We won't say much more about that. Just look at who's behind us."
Feng Zi reluctantly turned around, only to be met by Xia Qingmei. The other three girls nudged Feng Zi with their elbows as soon as they saw him. Feng Zi smiled slightly and curtsied to Xia Qingmei: "Senior Brother."
Are you still participating in the Hero Tournament tomorrow?
Xia Qingmei was exceptionally spirited. However, in his spirited state, it seemed as if all the other girls had disappeared from his sight.
"Yes!" Feng Zi's eyes were glued to the Fengtian Inn. "My sister is going to participate in the Heroes' Tournament tomorrow, and my dream is to fight her. How can I not go?"
"elder sister?"
“My sworn sister, Chong Xuezhi.”
"Chong Xuezhi?" Xia Qingmei paused. "Is it Chong Xuezhi from Chonghuo Palace?"
"Yes."
“I don’t know this person, but regarding her father… you’d better be a little wary.”
Feng Zi glanced at Xia Qingmei, pouted, and said in a coquettish voice, "I don't like others sowing discord."
Xia Qingmei was taken aback: "That's not what I meant."
Yuan Shuangshuang said, "Hey, Feng Zi, listen to your senior brother. Look at Chong Xuezhi's hair, there are two red streaks. People say that's an ominous sign. Some people have even done a divination and said that she will become the number one female demon in the martial arts world, just like her father. If you get close to her then, I won't be able to protect you."
"I just love her red hair."
"Since Feng Zi likes it so much, there must be a reason..." Xia Qingmei started speaking up for Feng Zi again, and before leaving, she didn't forget to say a few sweet words to Yuan Shuangshuang.
As soon as he left, Yuan Shuangshuang laughed and said, "Tsk tsk, the children of Lingjian Manor are becoming more and more lovable every year. When Shangguan Tou left, I even complained to your father for a while. I didn't expect that Qingmei would become more and more pleasing to the eye."
Feng Zi nudged her fellow disciple with her elbow: "My sister just used the Hunyue Sword."
6
"A portrait of Shangguan Tou?" Chong Xuezhi put down her chopsticks and took the ink painting handed to her by the vendor. "You can sell this for money?"
"This is a deluxe edition portrait of Shangguan, exclusively sold by my store, no other store sells it."
When Chong Xuezhi saw the picture, her eyes widened, and she was so shocked that she almost dropped the steamed bun in her mouth: "Is this Shangguan Tou? He is clearly a Shaolin monk."
"Hey, miss, haven't you heard? Lots of girls are scrambling to get this one."
"I've only heard that he's a womanizer, but I don't know when he changed his peacock feathers to a bald head." Xuezhi shook her head. "People's aesthetic sense is a bit off these days."
Liuli glanced at the vendor and gave him an innocent smile: "Young man, don't you think this girl looks familiar?"
The vendor looked at Chong Xuezhi, then at Liuli: "She looks very familiar. This hero, you look familiar to me too."
Liu Li said, "This girl is Lin Yuhuang's daughter."