The Azure Cloud Formation Reveals Mysterious Secrets
Chapter 52
The young man, dressed in a white robe embroidered with cranes, sat in a wheelchair. Despite the summer heat, a thick blanket covered his legs. His silver hair was loose on both sides of his shoulders, tied with a jade hairpin. A sword mark burned between his brows, and his lips were pale and colorless. He looked to be in his early twenties, and his face, which should have been full of youthful energy, was completely expressionless.
"Li Yuanqing, you're still sick, what are you doing out here?"
Li Fengye was furious, but Li Yuanqing squinted and questioned her with dissatisfaction, "Sister, why didn't you listen to me?"
"What did you say?" Li Fengye didn't react at first, until she followed the other person's gaze and it slowly fell on the necklace that the person had given her this morning. Li Fengye immediately realized, "This is the Peeping Stone?"
Li Yuanqing remained noncommittal, showing no sign of the guilt one would expect from someone who had been exposed. He simply said coldly, "That's not important. What's important is that you have to send the person I have high hopes for to the inner sect."
Li Fengye looked at his younger brother and asked from the bottom of his heart, "Weren't you making a fuss about meeting that little girl from the Xuanling Sect just a few days ago? Why have you changed your mind about her today?"
Li Yuanqing lowered his eyes, his gaze expressionless. "Just tell me if it's okay or not."
There was still no explanation.
"Don't you already know? A woman from a remote little place, it's already an honor and a favor that the Qingyun Sect has to protect her family. The Qingyun Sect is not short of geniuses. She is talented, that's true, but compared to me, some elders have already gotten there first. Do you think you're the only one who discovered her summoning talisman?"
Li Fengye put her hands on her hips, looked at Li Yuanqing, and sincerely advised, "So you should just give up on this idea."
"With one or two girls around, when will you put your mind on something worthwhile?"
Li Fengye talked on and on, but when she turned around, she realized that the person had already left in a wheelchair.
Li Fengye was also having a terrible headache dealing with her rebellious younger brother.
*
The moment she was ejected from the formation, Zhou Yulin, dressed in a pale blue robe covered in mud and grime, was dusting herself off as she prepared to leave. Suddenly, someone blocked her path.
It was a woman dressed in pink, her eyes filled with suppressed resentment, yet she seemed to be forced by something, and asked with a forced smile, "What's your name?"
Zhou Yulin sensed the oppressive aura emanating from this person, but remained outwardly calm, inwardly she was utterly perplexed. She didn't recognize him; why was he coming over like he was seeking revenge, like a wife catching her husband's mistress?
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Zhou Yulin asked politely.
Unexpectedly, the little follower next to the woman spoke without any politeness.
"Senior Sister Zhenzhen is asking you a question, you ugly monster, why aren't you answering?"
"Hey, are you deaf?"
"I'm deaf. It's alright, I'll be going now."
Unexpectedly, this person actually ignored her and Ye Zhenzhen, which made Su Yi angry. "Ungrateful! It's an honor for Master to take a liking to her. How can she not appreciate kindness? Senior Sister, let's not stoop to her level."
Ye Zhenzhen also frowned, completely surprised that this ordinary-looking disciple would ignore her and leave directly.
"Never mind, this is the best attitude for her, and Master won't show any mercy."
Ye Zhenzhen was aware of her master's methods.
A ruthless glint flashed in her eyes as she coldly said, "We'll see."
Having just shaken off the two men, he slapped Zhou Yulin hard on the back, saying, "Hey, long time no see!"
Turning around and seeing Yu Tao'er's bright smile, Zhou Yulin's lips twitched, his expression unreadable. "I remember we just met, Miss Yu. I still have the IOU you wrote in my sleeve. Do you need me to help you remember?"
"..." Yu Tao'er looked at Zhou Zhao, who treated her like a stranger, as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight, "Don't you remember me?" Her tone sounded somewhat resentful.
Zhou Yulin knew that this person had poor comprehension skills, so she simply took out the IOU that Yu Tao'er had slipped into her palm a moment before she came out of the formation, and was about to read it aloud. However, this was not an IOU.
"Hey, I don't recognize you, but my Gu worms do."
The midday sun shone on the man, obscuring his expression. Yet, the nonchalant tone of his voice evoked a deep sense of familiarity, and the seed of doubt that had been planted in her heart finally sprouted on this day.
A light and melodious voice fell into my ear, "How have you been, Little Moon?"
A purple scorpion emerged from her sleeve and crawled onto the woman's slender fingertip.
In her palm was a sun and moon seal that shone brightly together.
Sun and Moon Imprint, Divine Medicine Valley.
It goes without saying who the person in front of you is.
Yu Tao'er looked at her with a smile, her arrogant and domineering aura undiminished, but Zhou Yulin had never connected the two of them.
"It's been a long time."
“Of course, you’ve been dead for three years.” The other person smiled.
That really is like bringing up the very thing you don't want to talk about.
“That year, everyone thought you were dead.” The scorching midday sun shone on the two of them as Yu Tao’er slowly recalled, “Only two people didn’t believe it, one of whom was me.” She smiled and pointed her finger slowly into the air. Zhou Yulin looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a tall figure carrying a bow standing there, having waited for an unknown amount of time.
"One of them is him, but unlike me, he's a madman."
Yu Tao'er didn't want to make a fool of herself, so she patted Zhou Yulin on the shoulder and left.
Zhou Yulin hesitated for a few seconds before stepping forward.
"There's no need to attract too much attention. We'll discuss everything more carefully once we're inside the sect."
"I know." It's good that he knows. Zhou Yulin was just worried that this person might do something stupid, like trying to look cool and then launching a devastating attack that would attract the attention of the elders. That wouldn't be good.
As it turned out, Zhou Yulin's concerns were justified.
She gnawed on the shriveled sesame seed cake, watching Chen Muyao lead the team to first place in the afternoon competition, until she had crushed the cake into powder.
"..."
In particular, Qu Suiwan and Gu Ling were sitting next to her.
"Ahhh, that bow-drawing move is so cool! Those hands are so beautiful!"
"Bullshit! It's clearly our young master who's handsome!"
"Zhao Zhao, do you think it's too late for me to find someone from the Arrow Academy to date?"
"Tch, love-struck."
"Are you talking to me?" Qu Suiwan realized this only then and turned to look at Gu Ling next to Zhou Zhao. "Do I know you?"
"I don't know him," Gu Ling replied matter-of-factly. "So what?"
Qu Suiwan rarely met someone so outgoing, so she took a few more glances. But after just a few glances, she felt that this person looked familiar. She raised her chin and stared at Gu Ling with a direct gaze that made Gu Ling feel intimidated.
"By the way, your face does look somewhat familiar."
"Just say you like me. These days, tricks don't work." Gu Ling was feeling smug when he overheard someone whispering on the other side, "Why does this look like someone I've seen on a wanted poster before?"
Gu Ling's smile lasted less than three seconds before he lost his smugness. He waved his hand and said, "My face is pretty common. You must have mistaken me for someone else. Alright, alright, let's watch the game."
Qu Suiwan finally gave up, but the doubts lingering in her mind still wouldn't dissipate.
On which wanted poster did I see it?
The sound of gongs and drums interrupted her thoughts.
The afternoon session has ended.
Chen Muyao stepped out of the formation, a handsome young man, his clothes spotless. He carried a bow on his back and was surrounded by a group of people, including his former teammates and mostly disciples watching from the sidelines.
Among this group of people, Zhou Yulin saw a familiar face.
It was the person who had lent her the umbrella that day. He probably couldn't squeeze into the crowd, so he waved and prepared to leave. At that moment, Zhou Yulin called out to him.
"This is...my umbrella?" Jun Fengqiu thought for a while, but seemed to remember nothing. "It's alright, since I gave it to you, you can keep it."
The face that resembled Linghu Miao by eight parts made Zhou Yulin a little dazed. "Um, I haven't asked your name yet. If I can enter the inner sect in the future, we can be considered friends."
"The gentleman and I meet again in late autumn; my name is Jun Fengqiu."
"Senior Brother Jun, do you have any brothers or sisters?"
Zhou Yulin had many questions she wanted to ask, but now she could only suppress her thoughts and ask them little by little, "Because a friend of mine looks somewhat like my senior brother."
Clinging to the last glimmer of hope, Zhou Yulin looked at Jun Fengqiu, who remained silent in thought.
Unfortunately, the man shook his head and said decisively, "I am the only son in my family. I have no other brothers or sisters."
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
Sensing the distance in Jun Fengqiu's tone, Zhou Yulin had no choice but to put down the basket of questions she had prepared and watch him leave.
Is it really possible for such coincidences to happen in the world?
Or perhaps I'm just being paranoid.
Chen Muyao casually answered the questions of the people next to him in the crowd. Zhou Yulin glanced at him, and unlike her indignation in her previous life, she chose to leave quietly this time because she was a little hungry.
In her past life, she might have felt resentful because Chen Muyao was popular, but having lived through a lifetime, she understands that she has already gained a lot, and contentment is the most important thing in life.
Whether she is popular or not is inherently at odds with the principles she adheres to, and to confine herself to such a narrow view is indeed somewhat short-sighted.
Moreover, she glanced at Gu Ling and Qu Suiwan waving at her; it really was time to eat. But before she'd taken two steps, someone grabbed her hand from behind through her sleeve. Zhou Yulin was completely bewildered.
Until the boy's teasing voice fell behind him.
"Yes, this is my Daoist partner, Zhou Zhao."
Suddenly, it felt like a thunderbolt struck, and the impending storm seemed to be brewing right before my eyes.
Zhou Yulin cursed inwardly. The piercing gazes around her were like knives, and the pain was excruciating, heart-wrenching.
“…I don’t know him.” He gritted his teeth and forced out the most pathetic sentence.
"Oh?" the boy said pitifully, "Is Zhaozhao angry with me?"
"..."
The green tea tricks that Zhou Yulin used on Chen Muyao back then have now been learned perfectly by him. It's even said that the new generation surpasses the old.
"No." Zhou Yulin wished she could find a hole to hide in right now.
How can this person not be heartless?
That's incredibly dark.
In the end, Chen Muyao swaggered out of the encirclement behind Zhou Yulin. While Chen Muyao appeared to be the most dazzling, there was actually only one target to attack.
After walking away, Zhou Yulin stomped hard on Chen Muyao's foot.
"Who gave you permission to spread this message?"
Unexpectedly, the person didn't answer but instead asked a question.
"What is your relationship with Jun Fengqiu?" Once out of the crowd, Chen Muyao's fake smile vanished. He stared directly at Zhou Yulin, his tone cold, radiating a chilling aura.
"It's none of your business, why are you so concerned?" Zhou Yulin was about to return to what had just happened, but when she opened her eyes, she sensed the murderous aura emanating from this person.
It's a little sour.
And what's even more serious is that something's not right.
An absurd idea flashed through Zhou Yulin's mind.
"Chen Muyao," she said slowly, carefully choosing her words.
Are you...jealous?
Suddenly, the wind picked up.
She noticed her nemesis's reddened earlobes and his eyes, which he hastily looked away from, avoiding her gaze. He coughed lightly, feigning composure, "N-nothing."
Huh? Zhou Yulin finally realized that something was wrong.
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