If she could fall asleep now, it would be a miracle.
Li Fei coughed dryly twice, trying to appear less nervous. It was just a shoulder touch, nothing more.
“Um, Xiuyuan…” She racked her brain for a topic, suddenly remembering the giant sword he had summoned in front of the horde of demons that afternoon. She immediately asked, “What was that celestial technique? How were you able to use it?”
For young disciples like them, the limit of their power was previously the Tai’a technique to summon flying swords. But she could sense the difference in the celestial technique he had used when the miasma was dense, along with its terrifying destructive power. It was not on the same level as their previous techniques. Moreover, with the miasma so thick, there was no spiritual energy. How had he managed to cast the spell?
Lei Xiuyuan was silent for a moment, then said softly, “I don’t know. I used it instinctively.”
Instinctively? Just like five years ago when facing Elder Zhengyun in Qingqiu? Afterward, he had fainted from the intense pain – that was the aftereffect of pushing his potential to the extreme, right?
Two outbursts, both for her sake.
Li Fei’s throat felt as if it were filled with sand again. She gently rested her head on his shoulder and said in a low voice, “Xiuyuan, don’t be so reckless and risk your life next time.”
He lightly flicked her cheek twice. “Alright, go to sleep.”
Li Fei shook her head. “I can’t sleep. Let’s talk. By the way, Le Cailing seems to hate you particularly. What are you going to do about it?”
Lei Xiuyuan replied indifferently, “Too many people hate me. If I worried about each one, I’d wear myself out.”
It was this kind of attitude – looking down on others as if everyone in the world were fools! Since coming out of the Dan Cave, he had become somewhat gentler than before, but his inner nature hadn’t changed a bit.
Li Fei couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re still the same as ever.”
Back at the academy, she both hated and envied him – hated his irritating personality, envied his exceptional talent. Now the hate was gone, but the envy hadn’t lessened one bit. She felt an indescribable envy in her heart. He was a normal person, with the best talent, a bright future ahead. His arrogance and aloofness stemmed from his righteous genius.
She could never be so righteous. She had to hide and conceal her secrets, pretending to be a normal person.
Li Fei’s throat tightened. Staring at the blurry night scene in the distance, she said in a low voice, “Xiuyuan, this afternoon… those demons, and the Zhu Yan… I…”
She wanted to confide in him. If there was anyone in this world she could tell everything to, it would be Lei Xiuyuan. She could hardly believe how much she trusted him now. But how to say it? To tell this young man she cared about most that she was different? He was so smart, he could probably guess eight or nine parts out of ten, but guessing was different from her telling him directly.
She felt a vague fear in her heart, an indescribable fear that prevented her from saying anything.
“I know,” Lei Xiuyuan’s hand suddenly covered her head, applying a little pressure to make her lean closer to him. “Don’t say it.”
Li Fei’s eyes stung with heat. He said: he knew.
“If I’m different from others…” she murmured, “If I’m different from all of you… what should I do?”
He suddenly lowered his head again, gently pressing a kiss to her forehead. “That little difference of yours, I’ve already suppressed it. No one can see it.”
She snorted with laughter. Was this the tone of a prodigy? So arrogant, so conceited, so unlikeable.
As she laughed, her face began to heat up again. Just now, he had kissed her again, right?
“Ahem…” Li Fei coughed twice. “You, you just…”
“Hmm?” He pretended not to know.
“Nothing…” She cowardly retreated again, not daring to ask.
After a long pause, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly asked, “What’s the name of that fox demon?”
Li Fei answered instinctively, “Ri Yan.”
As soon as she said it, she covered her mouth, glaring at him with a mix of anger and surprise. He was fishing for information? He chose this moment to fish for information! She had carelessly fallen for it!
Seeing her eyes wide with shock, Lei Xiuyuan couldn’t help but smile. He gently pinched her cheek and pulled it lightly. “Now we’re even.”
Even? Was he referring to being hunted by Elder Zhengyun because of Ri Yan? It had been five years, and this child had kept it in his heart all this time!
“Talking to you requires a hundred percent attention,” Li Fei said, feeling a bit dejected. This was the first time she had mentioned Ri Yan in front of an outsider.
Lei Xiuyuan just smiled. As he smiled, he leaned against the wooden cabin and said softly, “I’ll forget everything by tomorrow morning.”
Li Fei’s heart trembled. She stared at him in a daze, feeling as if tears were about to fall again. She had been crying so easily lately. She quickly lowered her head, hiding her face in her knees.
He didn’t say anything more, and neither did she. Dawn hadn’t broken yet, the night breeze was cool, distant tree shadows loomed, and nearby water flowed rapidly. All of Li Fei’s earlier worries had long since vanished. Her tense body gradually relaxed, allowing herself to lean against Lei Xiuyuan. The warmth from his body was comforting.
Even though she sometimes felt she disliked him, she was still deeply attracted to him. Sometimes she thought he was fragile and easily hurt, yet he surprised her with his resilience.
She thanked the heavens for letting them meet.
The group’s trial in Lilie Valley was quickly completed. Whether it was the disciples’ imagination or not, they all felt that from the second day onward, the demons and fierce beasts they encountered seemed a bit listless, lacking their usual ferocity. This directly led to most disciples completing the trial ahead of schedule.
Passing through the spiritual energy source, everyone felt a shift in light and shadow, and in an instant, they were transported from Lilie Valley to a great hall – the main hall of Wuyue Tingwen Peak.
Su Wan praised, “How amazing. They can set up a formation here, saving us the return journey.”
Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice trembling from the front: “Junior Brother Lei, Junior Brother Deng… you’ve finally arrived.”
Everyone turned to see Ying Yuankai and his group of four sitting under a stone pillar, their faces pale green, tears glistening in their eyes as they looked at them. In front of them stood three people, one of whom was Le Cailing with a frosty expression.
Behind her were a man and a woman, both with three black stripes on their sleeves, indicating they were personal disciples of some unknown elder. Li Fei looked at the scene before her in confusion. From the looks of it, had Le Cailing specially called people to block Ying Yuankai and the others here? Were they waiting for them?
The female personal disciple behind Le Cailing stepped forward, bowing gracefully. She appeared to be in her early twenties, with a beautiful face, but like Le Cailing, she was as cold as ice.
“I am Hong Shunying, a personal disciple of Elder Qingle. Le Cailing is my junior sister. Fellow junior brothers and sisters, I fear my junior sister Le might have offended you in Lilie Valley. I ask that you consider our shared discipleship and not blame her.”
Her words were unexpectedly tactful, catching everyone off guard. Given their imposing manner, they had thought they were here to demand an explanation.
Deng Xiguang rubbed his nose and laughed foolishly, saying repeatedly, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. We were also at fault. How could we blame Junior Sister Le?”
Hong Shunying didn’t even look at him and continued, “Junior Sister Le’s celestial technique requires her not to speak to male disciples for three years. Perhaps her personality is also somewhat aloof. It’s normal for fellow disciples to have friction during a joint trial. If she’s unlikable, you can simply ignore her. However, causing her to break her technique is not good. I request an explanation from all of you.”
After this roundabout speech, it took everyone a while to understand that she was indeed here to demand an explanation.
Su Wan looked at Ying Yuankai. He and the others, with tears in their eyes, said softly, “They’ve kept us here for two days, not letting us leave, insisting on waiting for everyone to arrive to clarify the matter!”
Su Wan frowned and said, “Senior Sister Hong’s words are biased. If she didn’t say anything, how were we to know she was practicing a vow of silence technique? Are you suggesting we deliberately set her up? The situation at that time was special. We encountered the fierce beast, Zhu Yan…”
She recounted the events of that day in detail. As she spoke, Hong Shunying’s face grew increasingly gloomy. Finally, she turned back to glare at Le Cailing and said angrily, “This matches what these junior brothers said earlier. What more do you have to say? Look at your cultivation level! How dare you try to obtain something like Zhu Yan’s heart on your own! And now you’ve even left the trial early out of anger. I must report this to Master and let her decide how to punish you!”
These words made Le Cailing’s eyes redden, and two clear tears rolled down her cheeks, her face full of grievance and unwillingness.
The male personal disciple behind her suddenly spoke with a smile, “Junior Sister Hong, it’s not uncommon in this world for many mouths to melt gold. How can disciples of Elder Qingle be so easily startled? Perhaps the male disciples, seeing Junior Sister Le’s exceptional beauty, used some trick. This matter is full of mystery. Let’s not fully trust what they say just yet.”
Su Wan couldn’t help but laugh in anger. “Whether or not to speak is a decision only she can make for herself. Your forced arguments are unworthy of personal disciples.”
The male disciple smiled slightly, then suddenly called out, “Junior Sister Le.”
“Hm?” Le Cailing had been staring blankly at him as he spoke up for her. Caught off guard by his sudden call, she responded instinctively.
He said leisurely, “As Junior Sister has just demonstrated, sometimes speaking is not entirely one’s own decision. When I suddenly called out, it was natural for her to respond. If someone maliciously sets a trap, there are all sorts of methods that are hard to guard against. So, who’s making forced arguments now?”
Su Wan was immediately furious, but his twisted logic was hard to refute for a moment. She could only turn pale with anger.
Li Fei stepped forward and said coldly, “Who are you? With such nonsensical talk and distortion of facts, is there any justice left in this world?”
The male disciple, seeing another beautiful junior sister suddenly step out from behind, no less stunning than Le Cailing, and with a bewitching fragrance in her words, couldn’t help but brighten his eyes. “I am Qin Yangling, personal disciple of Elder Zhengxu. And this junior sister is…?”
“Who I am is none of your business,” Li Fei looked at him coldly. “I have no interest in Le Cailing’s beauty, nor would I use any tricks. She summoned Zhu Yan and then interfered when we were dealing with it. I was the one who kicked her zither away, otherwise she probably wouldn’t have broken her technique. What do you have to say about that? I didn’t know personal disciples could block people here like this. I wonder what Elder Qingle would think?”
Qin Yangling hadn’t expected her to look gentle and graceful yet speak so sharply. He couldn’t help but laugh.
Hong Shunying frowned slightly. “Junior Brother Qin is after all a personal disciple. How can you be so disrespectful?”
Honestly, she hadn’t been very willing to do this kind of blocking in the first place. But Le Cailing was Elder Qingle’s most valued disciple, destined to inherit the mantle of Zixi Peak’s Elder. If Elder Qingle found out that Le Cailing’s vow of silence technique had been broken, she would surely be shocked and disappointed. Le Cailing had also portrayed herself as completely blameless, and as her senior sister, Hong Shunying couldn’t just ignore it.
As for Qin Yangling, he had been sticking close to her for years, seemingly with intentions of pursuit. When this incident occurred, he volunteered to be a witness. With two personal disciples present, she felt more at ease about blocking people.
However, firstly, Lei Xiuyuan was Elder Guangwei’s most beloved disciple; secondly, after clarifying the matter, their side was clearly in the wrong; and thirdly, if they alarmed the elders to come, this matter would likely not end well.
Not wanting to make a big fuss, she immediately sighed and said, “Cailing, you were also at fault in this matter. In the future, you must not act so willfully on your own.”