Chapter 8: Can I Cut Off My Love?
On the night of Blade Cry, the atmosphere in the room of the martial arts tournament participant, Ash Tuling, was silent.
"So."
Beichen's somewhat dull voice was heard in the oppressive air.
"This round of competition is over. Ten winning teams, totaling twenty people, will participate in the semi-finals. These people—"
Beichen took out a list and took a look at it.
"Ruyi and Redis, Glenshe and Fifth Wing, Carina and Sumo, Lingdier and Seton, Amy and Kaia, Rody and Camilla, Faron and Gigat, Feiyi and Vivian—according to Xiaopeng, these people all have innocent identities. Could they be followers of the Jafa Pandora's Clan?"
Xiao Ping nodded expressionlessly.
"Well... the competition... I'm kind of thinking of giving up. Since the Jafa Divine Group has no chance of winning, there's no need for me to participate. I want to focus my future actions on more important matters."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Xiao Peng frowned unhappily:
"You keep saying you want to become stronger and build a nation, but why would you give up the opportunity to bring the world's strongest force under your command? Don't you know how much easier our situation would be with Xia Blood?"
“…”
Beichen didn't answer, but Xiaoying raised his chin, glanced at her and sneered.
"I know you're still insisting on the idea that 'your sword belongs only to Xiang Ying,' right? I don't object. You can win and transfer the contract rights to Gu Yinyue."
"What if Xiaxue doesn't agree to the transfer?"
"Then why don't you just sign a contract and not use him? You can use the brand to make him work for us. Don't forget, the great country of Youyu was conquered in a few days by relying on Xia's blood."
"……I know……"
Beichen lowered his voice and shook his head, seeming to be still hesitant.
The atmosphere became more depressing. As if unable to bear seeing Beichen's depressed look, Gu Yinyue took the initiative to speak.
"There's something that's troubling me. ...Didn't you say that when the accident happened, the weapons were all poisoned, preventing them from transforming into weapons? Why did that guy named Lahan say he was a Quantized Longsword right from the start? How did he determine that?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions became serious. Beichen also raised his head and stared at Gu Yinyue in surprise:
"He knows our intelligence!?"
"Yeah." Gu Yinyue nodded, frowning. "And they seem to know quite a bit... I wonder where they got the information from. Also, they haven't revealed Atlas's true identity yet—perhaps there's a deeper meaning behind that."
There was silence in the room again, and then Ling Shuang spoke.
"Well, then, let me report the intelligence I've gathered. The golden behemoth that appeared on the night of the previous moonquake wasn't just confined to the Kingdom of Latia. It also appeared in Sazam, Arcadia, and Heyang. And somehow, the results of our research have spread to the public. Many are now privately saying that the golden behemoth is also a weapon. The voices of concern are growing louder, and it seems the Kingdom of Latia has begun enacting laws to regulate weapons of war."
Ling Shuang spoke with a disdainful smile, her tone full of disdain for humans.
"The shadow of the previous weapon attack on the master has not yet dissipated. This time, when I was gathering intelligence, I saw many ridiculous sides of humans. Sister, you must not become like that."
"How is that possible?"
Beichen laughed helplessly, while Lingshuang shrugged and looked at Xifeng and Gu Yinyue.
"What about you guys? Did Xiao Peng give you guys some instructions?"
"It hasn't been finalized yet, so let's not talk about it for now."
Xifeng half-closed his eyes and brushed the matter off lightly, seemingly without explaining what he had been told. Gu Yinyue did the same and just nodded slightly.
Seeing this, Beichen did not force them - she knew that everything they did was beneficial to themselves. Since Xiaoying did not let them speak, he must have his reasons. So she should wait for them to speak on their own initiative.
She shook her head, trying to cheer herself up.
"Anyway, I have to prepare for a full-scale attack on the Jafa Divine Group. As for whether or not to participate in the competition—I'll seriously consider it. But right now… I want to go out and relax. Is that okay?"
"That would be great," Xifeng raised his eyebrows lightly, "If you don't know how to adjust your mood, then you are really useless. Do you need my escort?"
"No need to waste time, I'm just strolling around. Black Disaster, Su Jie... could you two be my bodyguards?"
The Geminis naturally wanted the opportunity to be alone. Heihuo and Sujie immediately nodded hurriedly, and threw a provocative look at Xifeng, in return for the latter's rolling eyes.
Beichen didn't notice any of this. He just straightened his clothes, greeted everyone in the room, and then took the twins out.
"I'm gone."
Longyun shook his head in the corner, then glanced at Xifeng with a little sympathy.
Xifeng frowned immediately:
"What's that look in your eyes? Are you saying I'm unhappy about my ranking being behind the Gemini? Stop kidding, I'm not one of those low-level guys who take advantage of others all day long. I don't care about such nonsense."
"Yeah, the thing is, I didn't say anything, okay, Brother Xifeng...does this count as admitting guilt?"
Longyun twitched his lips and complained, and Xifeng immediately became angry with an expressionless face. He took out the magic sniper rifle and aimed it at Longyun's crotch.
"Hey, at least aim at my forehead! What do you mean by aiming at my genitals?! Does my face really look so unsatisfied?! You're jealous of me, right? You must be jealous of me, right?!"
Ling Shuang and Na Luojia both sighed in contempt to laugh at the meaningless complaints. Gu Yinyue didn't even bother to look at it and sat down to the side to look at the list of semi-finalists.
"West wind, west wind."
Atlas, who had been standing in the corner as a decoration, suddenly spoke and tapped Xifeng's shoulder with his tail.
"Is Xifeng jealous?"
"No." Xifeng answered immediately at lightning speed.
"Is the west wind sour?"
"No." Xifeng answered immediately without changing his expression.
"Is Xifeng jealous?"
"No!" Xifeng felt the vein on his forehead twitch.
"The west wind is a vinegar jar."
"no!"
"Jealous husband."
"no!!"
"A grudge."
“No!!”
"Auntie."
"...That doesn't matter anymore. How about I really destroy your Gate of Truth with one shot?"
"...?" Atlas tilted his head innocently. "Is my Protoss Core's judgment function wrong again? Does Xifeng really not have a grudge? His body and brain wave data clearly—"
Xifeng immediately interrupted the other party:
"I said no, that's it, you saw it wrong!"
"oh."
Atlas said "oh" honestly, and he didn't pursue the matter any further after Xifeng said that, but he still blinked his expressionless mechanical eyes in confusion.
“…But I’m a grudge woman.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The room immediately fell into a subtle silence.
On the other side, Beichen, Heihuo and Sujie had not walked a few steps on the street when Sujie suddenly raised his head excitedly for a few seconds, then patted Beichen on the shoulder.
"Hey, today is such a good day! It's Moonquake Night! It coincides with Blade Crying Night. Looks like a new batch of Lunar Seeds will be born today."
"Eh? It's the night of the moonquake?!"
Beichen was excited for a few seconds, but immediately shrank her neck - she remembered the unsatisfied faces of the warriors during the last moonquake night.
"Why are you looking so defensive?"
Seeing Beichen shrinking back, Heihuo became unhappy.
"If we really want to mess around, we can force our way in even if it's not the night of the moonquake, right? We have plenty of tricks up our sleeves! [Beep──]ah, [Beep──], [Beep──────], whatever, there's nothing we can't use!"
"Yeah, look how considerate we are! If we keep going on like this, we'll all be driven to impotence by a life of abstinence—impotence is terrible! We'll become useless old men! We'll have beer bellies and double chins! We'll even break our bones running a hundred meters!"
"Even if I don't have any experience in that area, I know that what you are talking about has nothing to do with impotence!" Beichen complained with cold sweat, and then immediately came to his senses: "No! Why am I talking about these weird topics with you!"
Black Harm immediately pulled the flesh on her cheek in dissatisfaction.
"What's so strange about that?! This is one of life's great pleasures. Look, it's because you're so unromantic that your bust isn't even as big as mine!"
"Hey Black Malice, don't you think comparing busts with girls is weird?"
"...Then what else can we compete with? You don't have an Armstrong cannon down there to compare to mine."
“That would be scary!!”
Beichen twitched his lips and let out a strange cry, then quickened his pace and walked a short distance in a huff. Only then did he calm down after Su Jie's strange comfort of "I know you don't have the Armstrong Spin Cannon" (?).
But they didn't walk for long before Beichen and Shuangzi suddenly stopped and exchanged glances with each other, their expressions no longer relaxed.
They were being followed.
Although he did not sense any murderous intent or malice, Beichen, as a Phantom Spirit Martial Master, was already extremely sensitive to auras, especially the auras of the target on himself.
She closed the distance between herself and the Geminis, turned from the mainland into a deserted alley, and then tried to contact Xifeng through the mental communication channel. Luckily, he was within the contact range, so she was ready to summon him at any time.
"Come out."
Beichen turned around and spoke to the deserted alley entrance.
A clear woman's laughter sounded, and after a while, a woman in gorgeous clothes walked out from the corner of the entrance. She looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a pretty face and very luxurious clothes. She seemed to be a noble.
The woman looked at Beichen for a few seconds and smiled with interest.
"As expected of the Speedy Killing White Shadow, you're quite perceptive. Please don't be nervous, I mean no harm."
But how could Beichen easily believe the words of someone who was following her? She just took a step back calmly.
"Alright." The woman smiled helplessly and spread her hands. "My name is Finn Roan Latia, and I'm the Duke of the Roan family. Do you need me to prove my identity?"
"No thanks, I'm here to meet you, Your Excellency the Duke."
Beichen said this and nodded to her formally.
"May I ask what is the purpose of His Excellency the Duke coming to see me?"
"Okay, that's straightforward! Then I don't have to say any polite words."
The Duchess, named Fern, smiled with satisfaction.
"I'm here to make a deal with you. I want to buy the contract rights to your hook claw."
As soon as these words were spoken, not only did Heihuo and Sujie's expressions suddenly become ugly, but Beichen's expression also suddenly became extremely cold.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't understand what Your Excellency the Duke said."
"There are two full-body combat weapons, which are even rarer than the Star Vein species. Plus, both of them have the look I like, so I'm taking the liberty of discussing this with you."
With every word the Duke spoke, Beichen's eyes became colder and sharper. By the end of her words, there was almost a murderous aura surrounding her.
Seeing Beichen's expression, the Duke was not surprised. He just smiled and opened the small fan with velvet edge in his hand.
"Of course. I've just observed you two and I've noticed that you seem to have a good relationship, so I'll definitely offer you something that satisfies you. How about this? I have the mining rights to a Star Spirit Mine, and today happens to be the day of Moonquake and Blade Cry. So, I'll use all the Moon Seeds produced in this mine today to exchange for these two. What do you think?"
Heihuo and Sujie narrowed their eyes and almost laughed out of anger.
In their past lives, they might have been proud of their high value and willing to support this deal to prove their worth, but for them now, this sentence is extremely harsh.
——As if to remind them that no matter how much they resemble humans, no matter how deep the emotional bond with their masters, by definition, they are still commodities that can be bargained and transferred——at least in the eyes of others, that's how it is.
"I see."
Beichen spoke softly, and this sentence shocked the twins behind her. Noticing that her words seemed to have caused ambiguity, Beichen immediately turned around, took each of their hands, and smiled at them reassuringly.
"I understand what you mean, Your Excellency."
As she spoke, she looked unflinchingly at the elegantly dressed noble across from her. Her tone was sincere and respectful, but her stern eyes and straight back also spoke of her pride and uncompromising spirit.
"Originally, as a person like me, I should have replied: 'My hook claws also have their own consciousness. Whether they stay or go is up to them. I have no right to decide.' However—"
She took a slow breath.
"However, I can't say it. What I want to say now is this instead."
Time paused for a few seconds.
"Black Disaster and Su Jie are mine! Forget about exchanging them for weapons from a Star Spirit Mine. Even if you offered every single Yeyue Seed in the world—sorry, they're not for sale! Before they achieved full-body weapon form, did anyone covet them? But I've been their partner since their Three-Eyes Era. Regardless of whether they possess an exceptional full-body weapon form, they are my most important partners!"
As she spoke, she pulled Heihuo and Sujie's hands tightly, and smiled proudly in their relieved and ecstatic gazes.
"Compared to anyone who looks at them with judgmental eyes, I am the one who deserves their Spiritual Martial Division! If anyone dares to take them away from me, let alone the Duke—"
She lowered her voice, and a hint of cruelty flashed in her eyes.
She knew the current situation and shouldn't offend the Duke of a country again.
But this alone was unacceptable. … This alone was her bottom line, and there would be absolutely no compromise, not even the slightest change.
...Xiang Ying has already left.
Black Disaster and Su Jie must never leave me. ...No matter what, I can't fail to protect them!
"On this point alone, I won't compromise even if you're the king!!"
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