Lingyu tightened his grip around the candy in his hand until it hardened and crumbled. "Did you do it?"
"You just didn't know it. Otherwise, how do you explain how the rabbit kit, who lived so far away in the forest, got to the peak of Jun?"
Lingyu's anger flared. Centuries of agony stepped on his chest again. And did Wu Xuan know everything from the beginning? What a joke!
There was silence between them. Finally, Wu Xuan turned to look at Yu Lingyu.
"Actually, I didn't know at first either, but someone asked me to take that rabbit kit to Wen Sect.
Guess what he said! He said that the rabbit should live in Jun Peak. That's why I had to sneak up to Jun Peak almost every evening to spy."
An irrational fear flared up in Yu Lingyu's heart. If the thing Wu Xuan says is true, someone was willingly playing with his life.
"So, one day, what am I going to do when some freaky little guy comes and grabs my rabbit? Ha ha, I saw everything that happened that day, Yu Shidi! Oh no, Zi Feng.
Where is Yu Shidi's soul now?"
Yu Lingyu no longer had a reason to hide anything. Immersed in silence among the chirping of the birds, he finally opened his mouth.
"Lingyu and I, are not two. We are just one soul split into two remnants."
Wu Xuan's interest was piqued. Sitting up straight, he continued to stare at Yu Lingyu. "No wonder. Your look is the same as the rabbit soul's."
"What really happened that day, do you remember who asked to bring me here?" Wu Xuan shrugged as if he didn't know.
"I was badly injured that day. I remember that person had a long white beard. If he hadn't saved me, I would have died that day. In return, he asked me to take a golden cub to Jun Peak." Wu Xuan let out a sigh.
"And he asked me to protect that cub."
who are you? Yu Lingyu's inner thoughts screamed. who are you? who are you? who are you? Why are you protecting me? what do you want?
"How do you know that rabbit spirit is Zi Feng?"
"Your Demonic mark. It means God of Wind. Did you think I was stupid? These ancient signs may have already been hidden from the world's intelligence but not from me." Wu Xuan continued his rant.
He was lying...Lingyu feels it.
"Didn't you just think it was God of Fire? We are twins."
"You are deadly beautiful. So you must be Zi Feng." Wu Xuan muttered slowly, looking into the silvery brown eyes that shone through the mask. Yu Lingyu lingered for another question, but Wu Xuan remained silent.
Meanwhile, through the bamboo forest, distant bells were carried by the wind.
"Yu Shidi!" At the sound of Murong Meng's voice, Lingyu, who had stood up, went down by the giant plant, as Wu Xuan followed him.
Almost all the students were sitting in place, tired. Lan Mei and Yuan Yu Yi also seemed to have become good friends.
"Meng Shixiong," Yu Lingyu bowed his head slightly in greeting.
"Yu Shidi, where are your disciples?" Murong Meng asked in a worried tone.
"They went to town,"
"To Lilan City?"
"Yes. Is something wrong Meng Shixiong?"
Murong Meng shook his head in frustration. "Don't worry Yu Shidi." He said.
Yu Lingyu panicked as he said not to worry. "What's wrong?" Lingyu asked urgently.
"That- this, Shen Ming is your disciple?"
Yu Lingyu quickly shook his head. what then Shen Shidi! Can't you really live in peace? Yu Lingyu did not forget to send even Hu Mao with a group of disciples to protect them. So now again? A problem? Damn!
"I just received the news. It seems that they have a conflict with the Lotus Sect. If this escalates into a conflict between the two sects, I'm afraid-" Murong Meng stopped short of his words.
"Lotus sect? What are they doing in Lilan City?" Wu Xuan's voice rose.
"It's because of the Moonlit Sword Festival." Jin Fan said as he appeared from nowhere. Oh, Lingyu had completely forgotten that Lingxiao Sect disciple Jian Yu had also left with his group of disciples.
"Because of the Moon Sword Festival, the Wen Sect is busy and it's a very fertile time for the market in the city. What better time for an evil sect like the Lotus Sect to operate?" Jin Fan said as if he had been aware of everything before.
"Wait a minute, the Lingxiao Sect is here-"
"Stop Lotus sect's actions, really! We received a tip about a planned attack. I alerted Elder Shi."
No wonder. The Lingxiao Sect had the best information network in the world.
"So that's why you wanted to send Jian Yu to the city? Brother Jin! If you had told me such a thing, I would never have sent them to the city." Yu Lingyu's voice was raised, startling Wu Xuan slightly. There was a small smile at the corner of his mouth.
Awesome, Yu Shidi is awesome! Keep up the good work. His thoughts screamed.
Jin Fan's face shrunk. He also didn't seem to expect any of this to happen. Shaking his fluffy white robes that fluttered in the wind, he tightened his grip around the sword in his right hand.
"Let us go without delay," he said.
"Yu Yi!" Hearing Wu Xuan's voice, Lan Mei and Yuan Yu Yi, who were moaning, rushed towards him. "Da Shixiong?"
"Summon our disciples. Tell them to go to Lilan City right now. If they see even one member of the Lotus Sect," Wu Xuan paused and took a deep breath. "Kill."
Yuan Yu Yi was slightly startled. "Lotus sect?" she asked in surprise.
"Now go," Yuan Yu Yi, who was startled by Wu Xuan's voice, ran without looking back.
"Yu Shidi, you're not going? Are you?" Murong Meng asked in surprise. Lingyu did not remember Meng ever worrying about him like this.
"I'm leaving, they're my apprentices."
"You stay here. I'll go." Murong Meng said.
It was a well-known fact throughout the Wen Sect that Yu Lingyu was both timid and incompetent. Murong Meng was worried that Lingyu would not be able to at least protect himself if he were to clash with the Lotus Sect. He did not want Lingyu to be in danger. After all, this is a matter of life and death.
"Meng Shixiong," Yu Lingyu said with a gentle smile. "You must be here, to protect the peak. Leave my apprentices to me." Lingyu said, patting Murong Meng's shoulder gently. Murong Meng remained silent at Wu Xuan's pretensions, although he seemed to dislike it.
"Come alive again." He said as he placed the long sword slung on his back into Lingyu's hand.
"If you don't come again, don't yell at me for setting that freaking room on fire!" Regaining his brief temper, Murong Meng left, shouting for the others to go to their chambers.
Yu Lingyu still gripped the silver-sheathed sword in his hand in surprise. Except for Da Shixiong, no one bothered about him. At least he thought so. But when it came to a more serious matter, Yu Lingyu couldn't help but admit that Jun Peak was still thinking about him.
"Yu Shixiong!" Just as they were about to descend the mountain, a voice full of worry and exhaustion stopped them. It was Lan Mei.
Approaching Yu Lingyu, she placed a small wallet in his hand.
"Smoke bombs," she said slowly. "If you want."
Lingyu pressed it into his Qiankun wallet. "Thank you, Lan Shimei."
"Thank Murong Shixiong. Be careful, Yu Shixiong. Bring back our little brothers and sisters." She said with a smile.
They were already standing in front of the entrance to Jun Peak.
If Yu Lingyu was correct, there was a considerable distance from Murong Meng's cabin to here. With a grateful glance at Lan Mei, Yu Lingyu descended from the peak with the others.
"Jun Peak and its mines!" After walking a short distance, Wu Xuan cursed. "Would it be worse if you trained in swordsmanship rather than making weapons?"
The Lingxiao students who were moving in order with each other looked like a group of white cranes walking in the night. Their pure white robes stood out in the falling darkness.
When they reached the place where the seats were rented, there was no one to rent. Wu Xuan's face contorted in anger. But at the same time, as if he remembered something, his anger quickly receded, like a sea wave going to the shore and going back to the sea.
Juyao Peak was faster than them.
"Use swords." Seeing that there were no horses, Jin Fan said. "Brother Yu, will you come with me?" Jin Fan asked as he stood on his sword that was already floating above the ground. "No need. He's coming with me." Rolling his eyes, Wu Xuan muttered with hidden anger.
"See you in town then." In the blink of an eye, the Lingxiao disciples quickly disappeared into the sky. Oh no wonder, they were Lord Fengshen's followers.
"Wait a minute, why didn't we use swords in the first place than find horses." They looked face to face at Wu Xuan's question. "I forgot there was such a thing," Lingyu replied timidly.
"And what about those damn birds? They didn't even bother to mention it." Pulling the sword in his right hand out of its sheath, Wu Xuan snarled.
As the long, sharp sword was imbued with soul energy and floated a few inches above the ground, Xuan stepped onto it, placing his right foot on it. He extended his hand to Lingyu, inviting him to travel with him. Hanging onto Murong Meng's sword, Yu Lingyu grabbed Wu Xuan's hand and climbed onto the sword in front of him.
As Wu Xuan's right hand wrapped around Lingyu's waist, the sword shot up with a speed that cut even the wind. It sped through the clouds.
"A good sword," Yu Lingyu said as the cold night wind ruffled his hair.
As it was a clear night, the moon was nowhere to be seen except for the stars that spread across the sky. "Wu Xu," Wu Xuan shouted, avoiding the sound of the wind.
"The name of the sword is Wu Xu!"
"Oh, I see. Wu Shixiong! Lilan City below." Yu Lingyu shouted. He didn't even need a sword to fly. And there was no need to fake it with Wu Xuan. But Yu Lingyu was still anxious to keep his identity low. Landing in a place where there were not many people, they disguised themselves as ordinary traders. Taking off his mask, Lingyu tied a ribbon around his forehead to hide his demonic mark.
The mask crippled his powers. He wasn't ready to risk wearing it when he didn't know what was going to happen. They both pressed their swords into their Qiankun pouches and pressed forward, asking the men on the road for details.
"Why don't we go to the Crimson Phoenix Pavilion?" Yu Lingyu asked, raising his bamboo hat slightly. "It's the best place to gossip after all."
Wu Xuan stared at Yu Lingyu for a while.
Before he could answer there was a great uproar in the street, and the people were gathered in front of them.
"Get out of here!" It's a familiar voice. "Jian Yu!" Yu Lingyu and Wu Xuan suddenly said as they ran into the crowd.
A man in tattered, muddy white robes was fighting against several other large men. There were red spots on his cloak. His neatly combed hair was ruffled and sweat stuck to his face. The assembled people waited and were not at all anxious to help him.
Jian Yu was thrown backward by the strong man's blow and fell, overturning a nearby vegetable cart.
"You thief," Jian Yu muttered awkwardly, and the few burly men laughed mockingly.
"Curse as much as you can, ask for help if you want. No one will come to save you." The supposed leader of them said disdainfully.
"Oh is that so?" When they heard a disparaging voice behind them, the startled robbers turned around, but they laughed when they saw a tall and thin general trader wearing a bamboo hat. Yu Lingyu's gaze instinctively shifted to Wu Xuan's position beside him a moment ago. He was no longer there.
Yu Lingyu offered to help Jian Yu while Wu Xuan drew the attention of the robbers.
"Did I say something funny?" Wu Xuan further asked in a disdainful voice, crossing his arms across his chest. One man spat on the ground. "Run somewhere, or do you want to come with us?"
Wu Xuan let out a hiss.
"Too bad, didn't your parents teach you manners?" he asked, raising his bamboo hat slightly and looking at the robbers.
"You bastard!" Someone shouted, throwing the ax in his hand at Wu Xuan. Taking a quick turn, Wu Xuan kicked the person's leg with his foot while still holding his arms across his chest.
When the robber fell to his knees, Wu Xuan jumped on his back and kicked the other two, pushing them back a considerable distance.
Wu Xuan seemed to think that these lowly robbers were not even worthy of being his enemies. "LOOK OUT!" Yu Lingyu warned as the ax-wielding man from before attacked again, but easily dodged the blow and this time Xuan punched the man, breaking his nose.
"Hey, who are you?" shouted one of the other two, taking care of his helpless friend.
"Am I?" Wu Xuan asked with his hands on his hips.
"I'm your grand grandfather!"
Cursing Wu Xuan, the robbers quickly left the scene as laughter erupted among the crowd. After making sure they left, never to return, Wu Xuan rushed to Jian Yu. He was already standing on a street corner with Yu Lingyu.
"How is he?" he asked. Yu Lingyu shook his head from side to side as if to indicate that he was not in a good mood. "What happened? How did you get so injured?"
Jian Yu, who was lying on Yu Lingyu, looked at Wu Xuan. "Don't talk like you've ever worried." Jian Yu said awkwardly but with ferocity.
"Brother Yu, you need to hurry. Ask the Wen Sect for help. They are very strong." Even without saying the name, Yu Lingyu instinctively knew that Jian Yu meant the Lotus Sect.
"Are they of the Lotus sect?" Wu Xuan asked as he watched the bandits flee. "No, they're a bunch of useless bastards. If I hadn't been hurt, I'd have shaved them off." Clenching his hands, Jian Yu coughed again.
"Brother Jian, do you know where they are being held?"
Jian Yu shook his head as if to say no. "When Brother Shen had a conflict, I was watching from the sidelines. Who knows, he conflicts with Lotus sect. They suddenly disappeared. Even though I tried to intervene, I ended up like this."
"Did you send the information to the sect?" Yu Lingyu asked, gently placing his hands over Jian Yu's wounds. Although Jian Yu didn't realize it, his wounds were healing. Yu Lingyu was feeling guilty. The Lingxiao Sect were his followers. He had sympathy for Jian Yu.
"I thought you found out about this by accident. Did the Wen Sect get the information? The robbers caught me when I tried to. I didn't send the information." He said in surprise. Wu Xuan's brow furrowed in doubt.
Hu Mao! It must be him. However, Lingyu did not bother to tell Wu Xuan this.