Rong Nianfeng was riding his little dark cloud and had only made it halfway when he spotted a familiar figure in the distance.
To his surprise, it was actually Ye Xingchen. Standing beside the youth was a young girl who wore no cosmetics. Her lips were as red as cinnabar, and she looked thoroughly lovely and moving. Looking down from above, the scene resembled a date. The young girl lowered her head daintily, her eyes reflecting the gentle warmth of autumn water, while her slightly clenched hands seemed to express a sentiment that was difficult to put into words.
Rong Nianfeng initially thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. After confirming the sight repeatedly, a wave of gratification washed over him, and he nodded in approval. The reason was none other than the young girl before him being Liu Li’er. Just a few days ago, he had been pondering how to orchestrate a meeting between the two of them.
He had originally thought he would have to wait until the Jiuyou Secret Realm six months later, so this meeting saved him a great deal of trouble.
As expected, a story plot that had veered off course would correct itself after all.
Delighted by this development, he lowered his altitude slightly, eager to eavesdrop on whatever sweet nothingness they were whispering to each other.
“Ha, I have finally caught you.” Liu Li’er held a vertical bamboo flute in her hand as she glared coldly at Ye Xingchen. “I truly did not expect you to become such a useless waste nowadays. If I had not inquired repeatedly and learned that your sword technique class was at the Xuantian Hall today, I really might not have been able to ambush you.”
At this point, Liu Li’er glared at him resentfully.
She had not expected this person to be so incredibly lazy. She had stood guard for nearly half a month consecutively before finally seeing him come down the mountain to attend a sword technique class.
Ye Xingchen coughed slightly, habitually wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, and spoke in a weak voice: “Who are you?”
Both Liu Li’er and Rong Nianfeng, who was hiding in the corner, were struck speechless.
Rong Nianfeng felt exasperated at his failure to meet expectations, thinking to himself that this girl was the absolute love of his life. How could he possibly not recognize her? As the person holding the knowledge of the entire plot, Rong Nianfeng knew the situation better than anyone else.
When Ye Xingchen was eight years old, he had once lost his way near the Hemen Sect. It was Liu Li’er who had rescued him from the jaws of an exotic beast. She had carried him on her back, walking continuously for a day and a night before bringing him back to the Hemen Sect to recuperate from his injuries. It was also because Ye Xingchen saw the young girl forming hand seals in front of him that the seeds of pursuing immortality were silently planted in his heart.
By a stroke of fortune, Immortal Venerable Wuji took note of his natural talent and brought him back to the Xuantian Sword Sect for the disciple trials.
One could say that Liu Li’er was also the catalyst for Ye Xingchen’s cultivation journey.
Furthermore, during the later events in the Kunwu Secret Realm, the Xuantian Sword Sect entered the area along with the other four upper-tier sects and a multitude of mid-tier sects. For reasons unknown, the Kunwu Secret Realm began to collapse, and Ye Xingchen repaid his old debt of gratitude by carrying Liu Li’er out safely.
From that moment on, the two youths, experiencing the first awakenings of love, secretly chatted up a storm through their spiritual communication plaques and even met down the mountain several times.
Yet now you claim you do not recognize her? What kind of joke is this?
Liu Li’er jumped with rage, her gaze filled with resentment as she knitted her brows: “I knew you had already forgotten about me.”
Ye Xingchen used a handkerchief to cover his mouth. The color on his lips had completely vanished. He took a large step backward and said in terror: “I am still an innocent young bachelor; you must not slander me.”
It was a rare occasion for him to descend the mountain today, as he feared the sword technique Elder might think he had passed away. He had tossed and turned in bed for a long time before deciding that he still needed to make the trip, at least to let the Elder know he was still alive.
He had flown on his sword halfway before feeling entirely drained of strength, forcing him to travel the remaining distance on foot. He had never anticipated that this woman would suddenly appear out of nowhere and play a vertical flute without saying a word.
Sound cultivators utilized sound as a weapon, transforming notes into sharp blades. If he had not dodged quickly just now, he would probably be in an even worse condition.
Could she be someone sent by Liu Wen and his lackeys?
He frowned, sizing up the woman before him, and shook his head.
She did not look the part either.
Liu Li’er spoke in a cold tone, her gaze locking onto Ye Xingchen: “Do you remember that you once saved someone in the Kunwu Secret Realm?”
Upon hearing this, Ye Xingchen recalled carefully for a moment and nodded: “It seems there was indeed such an occurrence.”
He waved his hand again, not caring in the least: “If you wish to thank me, it is not completely impossible. I want to eat the braised pig trotters from the mortal realm.”
Liu Li’er’s face flushed with anger. Holding her flute, she sputtered incoherently before finally dropping a sentence: “Truly shameless.”
She immediately placed the flute to her lips: “If I do not avenge this great grievance today, it will be difficult to appease the hatred in my heart!”
As soon as she finished speaking, her slender fingers danced across the flute. The music cascaded from beneath her fingertips, suddenly becoming as rapid as thunder, lightning, wind, and rain, then slowing down like floating silk threads. Ye Xingchen also turned somewhat serious, drawing his sword to block the sharp blades of sound.
Ye Xingchen dodged her attacks expressionlessly. With each exchange, the surging spiritual energy actually sliced through the surrounding leaves, causing them to fall around their feet.
Looking at the countless sharp blades hovering behind Liu Li’er, the smile in his eyes faded slightly. He tilted his head back to look up and sighed helplessly: “Leaning into the wind, it seems I cannot attend the sword technique class again. If the Elder truly believes I am dead, there is nothing I can do about it.”
Suddenly, a cold light flashed, and the falling leaves obscured Liu Li’er’s vision.
Before she knew it, Ye Xingchen had already appeared behind her, placing his cold sword against her neck: “You lose.”
As his words fell, the hovering blades shattered into pieces, striking the fallen leaves powerlessly with muffled thuds.
Having witnessed the entire process, Rong Nianfeng was left completely speechless.
My dear brother, what on earth are you doing?
Do you not understand the concept of showing tenderness to the fairer sex?
“Wah!” Liu Li’er’s deer-like eyes turned completely red. Teardrops hung on her crow-feather lashes like a thin layer of mist as she raised her hand to wipe them away.
Ye Xingchen was instantly at a loss: “Do not cry.”
Hiding in the corner, Rong Nianfeng did not dare to blink. At this point, Ye Xingchen would surely raise his hand to wipe away Liu Li’er’s tears, right?
To his surprise, in the next instant, Ye Xingchen said fiercely: “If you cry any further, I will kill you.”
Rong Nianfeng knew it.
Was this not a classic demonstration of his consistent behavior?
Evidently, Liu Li’er was also frightened. She paused for a moment, and then she began to cry even louder.
She stammered: “That year in the Kunwu Secret Realm, if you had not thrown me into your cosmos bag, I would have already achieved a positive result with Brother Xiuyuan.”
As she spoke, a vague memory finally surfaced in Ye Xingchen’s mind.
Two years ago in the Kunwu Secret Realm, a bashful young girl was always following behind Song Xiuyuan. At that time, the master of the secret realm had fallen into a demonic state, and the group was busy fleeing for their lives. Ye Xingchen had found her to be an encumbrance, so he had thrown her into his cosmos bag.
When Liu Li’er finally emerged from the cosmos bag after being suffocated inside, she ended up falling flat on her face right in front of Song Xiuyuan.
Her dignity was completely shattered, and from then on, she never dared to speak to Song Xiuyuan again. It was only after returning to the sect that she realized that apart from knowing he was at the Xuantian Sword Sect and what his name was, she knew absolutely nothing else about him.
Naturally, she harbored a deep grudge against Ye Xingchen.
Hearing this, Ye Xingchen gave her a sympathetic look and returned his sword to its scabbard.
“Look at me. Even without you taking action, I will not survive for much longer anyway,” he said with a flat face. “Why don’t I assist you instead?”
With that, he raised his hands and earnestly pressed his two thumbs together in a gesture of playing matchmaker.
Liu Li’er stopped crying and asked: “Are your words true?”
Ye Xingchen nodded, coughing lightly: “A gentleman’s word is an ironclad bond.”
“Then it is a promise.”
Thus, without the slightest hesitation, Ye Xingchen swiftly revealed all of Song Xiuyuan’s usual class schedules.
Liu Li’er had arrived full of resentment, but she departed full of excitement, leaving behind an utterly bewildered Rong Nianfeng.
What? How could he not know that the person Liu Li’er actually liked was Song Xiuyuan?
Then what would happen to Ye Xingchen?
The plot had completely veered off course. Surely it could not be because of his cross-dressing, could it?
That was impossible. His minor cannon-fodder character, combined with the plot of Rong Nianxue, amounted to only a few sentences in the entire book. Even if he disappeared entirely, it should not have caused any impact.
“Bleah!” Suddenly, Ye Xingchen bent over and spat out a mouthful of blood.
He staggered forward a few steps, looking as though he were about to collapse. Almost instinctively, Rong Nianfeng rushed out and supported the pale youth.
The anticipated pain did not arrive. Ye Xingchen followed the supporting hands upward with his gaze, only to see Rong Nianfeng sporting two massive dark circles around his eyes like a panda, with a small ghost resting on his head with closed eyes.
Ye Xingchen was stunned. Then, he spat out another mouthful of blood.
Rong Nianfeng did not care about that. His mind was entirely consumed by thoughts of what to do with the plotline. If Liu Li’er did not like Ye Xingchen, then the Grand Elder of the Hemen Sect would not offer the Nine-Revolution Heaven and Earth Pill in order to arrange a Dao companion covenant between Liu Li’er and Ye Xingchen. Without the Nine-Revolution Heaven and Earth Pill, Ye Xingchen would be unable to recover his cultivation, and his strange illness would never be cured.
Judging by the way he was coughing right now, whether he could even stay alive was a massive question mark.
If Ye Xingchen died and this world lost its protagonist, would the entire world vanish along with him?
If it vanished, everything he had worked so hard to possess would disappear as well.
In his previous life, he was an orphan. Although he did not voice it, he was genuinely happy in his heart when he discovered he had an older sister. Ma Laoliu might have been fierce, but he treated him reasonably well; knowing that cultivation was difficult in the lower-tier sects, he had tried everything to temper his physical body. There were also those senior and junior sisters in the sect who would secretly deliver food to him whenever he committed a mistake and was confined to the back mountain for reflection.
He lowered his gaze, his hands tightening slightly.
Ye Xingchen absolutely could not die.
It was the first time Ye Xingchen had ever seen such a solemn expression on Rong Nianfeng’s face, and a teasing look appeared in his eyes: “What is it? Is eavesdropping that interesting?”
Rong Nianfeng snapped back to reality and immediately nodded: “It is highly interesting.”
With that, he hoisted the youth onto the little dark cloud and headed toward Lingyun Peak, offering a weak explanation: “I did not do it on purpose. I simply happened to cross paths with you after leaving the Corpse Puppet Pavilion.”
He hummed a couple of times, and these words could not be considered false. It was indeed an accidental encounter; he had merely eavesdropped along the way.
Ye Xingchen initially responded in a muddled manner, but after a moment, all sound ceased. Rong Nianfeng turned his head and discovered that the youth had already fallen fast asleep.
The youth’s face carried an unnatural pallor, and even in his sleep, his brows remained knitted. The crimson flowing cloud robes made him appear increasingly weak and sickly. Even though he did nothing but sleep day in and day out, the area beneath his eyes still retained a deep shade of blue.
However, Rong Nianfeng could not completely disregard the plot at present. Although the storyline had crumbled to the point where even its own creator would fail to recognize it, the conversation between the two just now had explicitly mentioned the Kunwu Secret Realm.
Furthermore, the fact that the Xuantian Sword Sect had still gone to the Shuiyun Sect to propose marriage, along with the appearance of Xie Si’an, proved without a doubt that the framework of the plotline still existed.
This period of study had not been described with excessive detail in the book, so he would still have to wait for the Jiuyou Secret Realm six months later to verify everything.
There, Ye Xingchen would experience being personally sacrificed by his own senior brothers and sisters of the Xuantian Sword Sect to a demonic cultivator who was on the verge of reaching the peak of the Void Refining stage. His entire cultivation would be forcibly drained by the demonic cultivator, his limbs and bones shattered, reducing him to a genuine invalid.
If Immortal Venerable Wuji had not arrived in the nick of time, he might have lost even his spiritual roots.
If a cultivator lost their cultivation, they could still cultivate anew, but if their spiritual roots were destroyed, the situation would be completely beyond remedy.
In the Jiuyou Secret Realm, in order to protect Ye Xingchen, Immortal Venerable Wuji also sustained severe injuries during the battle with that demonic cultivator. Upon returning to Lingyun Peak, he went straight into isolated cultivation.
The Jiuyou Secret Realm was a massive turning point in the book. Ye Xingchen lost his entire cultivation, Immortal Venerable Wuji went into seclusion, and although the senior brothers and sisters of the Yuxu Palace did not voice it, they still harbored a grudge against Ye Xingchen. The disciples of the other peaks naturally intensified their bullying and humiliation toward him.
This was an unavoidable trajectory. Rong Nianfeng lowered his head, his eyes darkening slightly.