“Withdraw?” Liu Ziyi repeated.
“Mn. He believes continuing to participate in the martial tournament has no meaning. Besides, the Vibrating Blade Sect suffered such an accident yesterday; as the eldest senior brother, Chou Zaiqi is not wrong to look after his junior brothers more.”
“He…” Liu Ziyi furrowed his brows tightly. “He said it has no meaning? What does that mean?”
Liu Ziyi could more or less guess. After all, when this blade fanatic forced his way up to the Fuajian Sect, he had stated in person that if this trial lacked him, it would lose all meaning entirely. And now that Qin Xiaoyi had also been defeated by his hands, this would naturally only serve to solidify such a view.
“He said next year,” Shen Zhuoqing looked at Liu Ziyi, yearning to reach out and smooth away the tightly knitted brows on Liu Ziyi’s face, “next year he will definitely come to duel with Xiao-Liu and decide the victor.”
Liu Ziyi fell silent for a moment before biting his inner lip and cursing in a low voice:
“This lunatic.”
“When did he say this? Did Xiaoyi hear it?”
“In front of thousands of cultivators at the martial arena, saying it right to Qin Xiaoyi.”
Shen Zhuoqing spoke with a heavy tone, making it evident just how much he had glossed over the actual words.
That bastard must have defeated Xiaoyi and then declared, “How could someone like you win Liu Ziyi’s favor?” before announcing to everyone that he was withdrawing from the tournament!
Where did that leave Qin Xiaoyi?
“If he had decided to withdraw long ago, why not withdraw before the match? Clearly, when his junior brother was infected with the Gu, his match hadn’t even happened yet!”
Liu Ziyi felt rather annoyed; the moment he thought back on it, he could imagine just how hurt Qin Xiaoyi must have felt.
“If he had withdrawn before the match, it probably would have shown even less respect for Junior Brother Qin,” Shen Zhuoqing said, raising a hand to cover the fist slowly tightening on the tabletop. Meticulously massaging open the clenched fingers while taking care of the wound, he continued:
“You should ask Junior Brother Qin about the specifics later; I wasn’t at the martial arena either, a disciple who brought up food is the one who informed Senior Brother.”
Unfortunately, Shen Zhuoqing’s pacification bore little fruit. In his anger, Liu Ziyi actually grabbed Shen Zhuoqing’s hand in reverse, tightening his grip as he asked: “Where is he now? I need to find him!”
This movement caused Shen Zhuoqing’s heartbeat to skip a beat, a wave of tingling warmth blossoming where their palms met, prompting him to instinctively reply:
“Junior Brother Qin is naturally in Youning Valley.”
“No, I mean that blade fanatic!”
Seeing him with his brows raised in anger, looking for all the world like a cat baring its claws, Shen Zhuoqing could only lower his gaze to the scrolls before him and say helplessly: “He is already preparing to head down the mountain, Senior Brother will go with you.”
“Once we return, we’ll make up for the morning cultivation session.”
“… Mn, we still have to make up for that, Senior Brother, you really are petty,” Liu Ziyi muttered softly.
Shen Zhuoqing acted as though he heard nothing, simply standing up to say: “Let’s go, Xiao-Liu. With sword flight, we should still be able to catch up to them heading down the mountain.”
Habit makes it easy.
When Shen Zhuoqing carried Liu Ziyi down the mountain via sword flight for the second time, Liu Ziyi no longer carried the awkward stiffness of the day before, though his hand still dared not grip too tightly. It was as if some strange premonition in the dark was wildly warning him to maintain a normal distance from his senior brother.
By the time Shen Zhuoqing stopped in front of the mountain gate, Liu Ziyi happened to catch sight of a group of figures not far away. Every single one of them carried long blades strapped to their backs, making it obvious at a glance that they were Chou Zaiqi and his fellow sect brothers and sisters.
As for Pu Yue, who had been severely injured yesterday, he had recovered his vitality by today. With only Chou Zaiqi looking after him and supporting him by his side, he was able to walk about freely on his own most of the time.
“Chou Zaiqi!”
Liu Ziyi shouted from afar.
The person whose name was called paused in his steps, his raised face revealing a pair of eyes filled with surprise and astonishment. He was certainly familiar with this familiar voice, yet he hadn’t expected Liu Ziyi to actually appear.
However, the astonishment and surprise lasted only a fleeting moment. Catching a glimpse of what seemed to be a trace of anger on the other’s face, his expression reverted to a cold indifference, and as if trying to pick a fight, he said:
“Liu Ziyi? You’re already well enough to run up and down the mountain?”
Liu Ziyi couldn’t be bothered to care about his half-provocative remarks.
He strode forward, blocking the path of the group directly alongside Shen Zhuoqing. Before questioning Chou Zaiqi, he first turned toward the junior brother Pu Yue standing off to the side, whose lips were tinged with a purplish hue.
“Since the Gu insect has already been removed, why not recuperate your injuries properly within Youning Valley before setting off?”
Furthermore, Pu Yue played a crucial role in investigating the matter of the Gu insects; he definitely could not be allowed to leave so easily.
The blade sect disciples around Pu Yue seemed to have more to say, but in the end, Chou Zaiqi was the one who spoke: “Although the Gu insect has been removed, he still hasn’t improved. The elders in the herb garden tried every method possible, yet they can only manage to hang onto half of Pu Yue’s life.”
“If we remain in this place, are we supposed to watch my junior brother slowly be tortured to death by the Gu poison?”
Gu poison.
Liu Ziyi furrowed his brows, stepping forward to grab Pu Yue’s wrist to check his pulse, only to suddenly discover that the flow of those meridians didn’t resemble poisoning at all.
“Chou Zaiqi, this is not Gu poison at all,” Liu Ziyi said.
Liu Ziyi had never viewed the extraction of a Gu insect as an easy task; otherwise, Luozhou wouldn’t lack someone proficient in Gu magic today. This situation was entirely within his expectations.
“… I’m afraid what was extracted yesterday was merely a secondary Gu. If you take him away from the Fuajian Sect now, you are simply sending him to his death.”
As soon as Liu Ziyi finished speaking, the expressions of both Chou Zaiqi and the other blade sect disciples turned grave. Only Pu Yue whispered: “Senior Brother, will I… will I die?”
“… No, you won’t.”
Chou Zaiqi looked at Pu Yue and gave a solemn promise.
“If you stay in the herb garden, there is still a glimmer of survival. Instead of leaving the sect to search for doctors, it would be better to summon someone to our Fuajian Sect to examine Junior Brother Pu.” Liu Ziyi’s persuasion finally took effect, and Chou Zaiqi’s attitude softened.
“What you said is right.”
“However, since I have already withdrawn from the martial tournament, it is naturally inappropriate for me to stay long in the Fuajian Sect. I am afraid this will also be a troublesome matter for your Fuajian Sect.”
Utter nonsense.
With an incident like that happening, Youning Valley was bound to keep them here no matter what, and these disciples of the Vibrating Blade Sect had to be kept within the Fuajian Sect until the incident was safely resolved, otherwise the consequences would be unpredictable.
“Please rest assured and stay, everyone; the Fuajian Sect will definitely take full responsibility for this matter,” Shen Zhuoqing finally spoke up from the side. As the Sect Master’s primary disciple, his words naturally carried greater persuasiveness.
“The journey from Luozhou to Zhongzhou is long and distant, but if the Vibrating Blade Sect intends to send someone to examine Junior Brother Pu, our Fuajian Sect will naturally cooperate and receive them.”
Chou Zaiqi and his group finally agreed to stay.
Their departure from the herb garden earlier had been done without permission, but right at that moment, they happened to run into the disciples from the herb garden who were searching for them in a hurry. Thus, Pu Yue and his group followed the herb garden disciples back to Youning Peak.
Leaving only Chou Zaiqi behind at the spot.
Only now did Liu Ziyi remember the purpose of this trip.
Mentioning the matter of withdrawing from the trial made Liu Ziyi angry.
Liu Ziyi stepped forward, shrinking the distance between the two of them down to three centimeters as he questioned him: “Your reason for withdrawing from the trial?”
Back when he abandoned the martial tournament, hadn’t Chou Zaiqi chased after him like a dog demanding a reason?
Now that the roles of the questioner and the questioned were reversed, Chou Zaiqi surely couldn’t have the face to reject him.
“I do not wish to continue the matches.”
Chou Zaiqi’s reply was crisp and decisive, leaving Liu Ziyi unable to continue pressing for a moment. After staring at him for a long time, he managed to squeeze out a few more words: “And why don’t you wish to?”
“No meaning.”
An expected answer.
And as expected, Liu Ziyi’s anger was ignited. Yet, simply tightening his brows on the surface, he lowered his voice and said: “So, you can just casually announce your withdrawal from the matches right after winning against your opponent?”
If Chou Zaiqi’s opponent yesterday had been himself.
Even if he had lost as well, Liu Ziyi wouldn’t have cared what Chou Zaiqi did.
Directing it at him would have been fine, but instead it harmed an innocent Qin Xiaoyi. He simply didn’t know whether to consider Chou Zaiqi obstinate or truly unhinged.
“The tournament rules state that participants may choose to forfeit and withdraw at any time.”
Chou Zaiqi replied indifferently. Seeing Liu Ziyi’s complexion grow increasingly worse from what he said, and likely finally reading something out of that expression, he suddenly let out a low chuckle.
Liu Ziyi was stunned by that laugh, the phrase “What are you laughing at?” still stuck in his throat when he heard Chou Zaiqi say:
“You couldn’t possibly think I was targeting that junior brother of yours, could you?”
“What kind of person do you take me, Chou Zaiqi, for?”
Liu Ziyi looked at him in silence, saying nothing.
What kind of person? Well… probably someone whose mental state wasn’t quite normal.
“I withdrew from the tournament simply because I felt continuing would be a waste of time. After all, the junior brother you recognize is not the opponent I am searching for.”
“Qin Xiaoyi has immense strength,” Chou Zaiqi looked at Liu Ziyi and said, “He loves the Dao of the sword far more than you do. Through this exchange of blows, I can also confirm that he practices cultivation much more diligently than you.”
“I respect him, but he is not the purpose of this trip.”
The single-eyed fanatic was actually capable of uttering words like “I respect him” and “He has immense strength,” which immediately caused Liu Ziyi to widen his eyes in shock. After about two seconds, he finally recovered and said:
“Then why did you proclaim on the martial stage that you will duel to decide the victor with me another day? If thousands of cultivators present heard that, what kind of gossip do you think will spread?”
Chou Zaiqi finally understood what account Liu Ziyi was coming to settle with him. Lowering his gaze toward Liu Ziyi, he closed the distance between them even further until their noses were nearly touching before he spoke: “Then you likely didn’t finish listening to what I said.”
“I said, ‘Daoist Friend Qin’s swordsmanship is flourishing, Chou’s battle today was thoroughly satisfying, and win or lose I am well content. However, being tied up with urgent matters recently, it is inconvenient to continue the matches. I only hope to revisit Tianshuang Cliff next year to duel to the victor with Daoist Friend Liu, Liu Ziyi, who regrettably sustained injuries and withdrew from the competition.’
From start to finish, not once did I look down upon my opponent.”
Liu Ziyi felt Shen Zhuoqing grab his wrist from behind, gently pulling him back to make him take a slight step away, opening up the excessive distance between the two of them.
Yet Liu Ziyi stubbornly kept his eyes fixed on Chou Zaiqi, continuing: “So your withdrawal from the tournament wasn’t intended to humiliate my junior brother…”
“Hmph.”
Chou Zaiqi cast a glance at Liu Ziyi with his clear eye and merely remarked: “Of course.”
When it came to the path of Dao, this erratic blade fanatic actually understood respect quite well. Except for the Liu Ziyi standing right before him, toward whom he always held a uniquely distorted sentiment, both admiring and lamenting, both pursuing and resenting his casual ease.
Liu Ziyi fell silent for two seconds before finally uttering a “Sorry,” offering an explanation for his impulsiveness, “I thought you would stir up some further friction with my junior brother.”
Chou Zaiqi didn’t mind. Perhaps because it was rare to see Liu Ziyi looking apologetic like this, he instead crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow faintly, and said: “You should go say these things to that junior brother of yours. You should know that if he knew you cared about him this much, he would undoubtedly be very happy.”
“Hm?”
Liu Ziyi narrowed his eyes, responding as if he hadn’t quite understood.
“Affection being pure is a good thing.”
Chou Zaiqi spoke as if implying something deeper.
However, the next second, Shen Zhuoqing, who had remained silent behind them, stepped forward and raised a hand to pull Liu Ziyi behind his back.
A reaction as though a particular string had been suddenly plucked caught the attention of Chou Zaiqi opposite them. That eye skilled at reading people and discerning hearts quickly arrived at an entirely different hypothesis.
Even this senior brother harbored the exact same sentiment as that Qin fellow…
Chou Zaiqi looked at Liu Ziyi and simply stated:
“My questions have been asked, and you’ve kept Pu Yue here as well. It’s about time you let me head down the mountain, right?”
Shen Zhuoqing’s temperatureless gaze landed on Chou Zaiqi as he offered an explanation:
“The martial tournament has not yet concluded, and the person who planted the Gu has yet to be unmasked. Our sect is in a state of full alert and will certainly not allow anyone closely connected to this matter to pass.”
Even great masters from other sects far removed from this incident, as well as visitors from the Eight Desolations, had to have their names registered before being permitted to leave the sect.
Chou Zaiqi pondered for a moment before following up with: “What if I said the person who planted the Gu might be outside Tianshuang Cliff?”