Chapter 102: A Bitter Journey in the Sea of Love
Looking out into the distance, the Beggars' Sect saw that within the city of Jinan, there were still thousands of mountains and countless rivers.
The mountain scenery is as shimmering as water, rippling and sparkling. Green flowers and red leaves shyly smile, as if painting their eyebrows on a clear day. Looking further down, another green mountain rises from the water's surface, revealing the inverted landscape only in perfect clarity. The jagged rocks resemble the corners of a precipitous cliff. The two complement each other, creating a seamless, embroidered tapestry of natural beauty. Guided by the clear breeze and reflecting the water, the landscape stretches for countless miles, never ceasing its continuous beauty even amidst other clamor.
This was the scenery Xie Huailing was facing. Generally speaking, she didn't have the interest in appreciating scenery. Literati always had something to write about when appreciating scenery, and even the bustling people of the martial arts world always had some purpose in appreciating it. But at this moment, she was unusually able to reach an emotional resonance with some landscape poets throughout history, and she only wanted this beautiful world to comfort her soul.
There was nothing wrong with her; her ears hurt a little, and her head also ached.
If she merely shifted her gaze a few inches to the side, Zhu Qiqi's tear-streaked face would come into view. A few bitter tears clung to her face, sliding down her tear tracks, vividly depicting her heartbreak. Her delicate face was filled with sorrow from her tears, and if her mouth hadn't been constantly talking, anyone who came would have felt moved by her plight.
Unfortunately, Zhu Qiqi wasn't mute, so whoever came and watched her make a scene for a quarter of an hour had to empathize with Xie Huailing.
The reason Xie Huailing is still sitting here is not because she has patience, but because she has run out of options.
Originally, when she held Zhu Qiqi and told her to go back to her courtyard and talk things over properly, Zhu Qiqi had become quite well. Hearing that Xie Huailing was willing to help her, her tears stopped falling, and she even laughed a little. But as soon as she went outside and saw a scene of a dispute between a man and a woman from the Beggars' Sect, things changed. Especially since the girl in the scene was strikingly beautiful, had been pursuing a man for half a year without success, and complained that he was cold to her, always saying he was doing it for her own good but never actually being with her. As Zhu Qiqi listened, she felt empathy for her.
While others simply watched the drama unfold, she rushed over and immediately spoke up for the girl. Despite her own struggles in the sea of love with "Shen Lang," she was equally fierce when criticizing other men, each word flying from her lips as if slowing down would tarnish her reputation as Miss Zhu Qi.
But the man was also sharp-tongued, turning the tables on Zhu Qiqi and the girl, throwing mud at them without batting an eye. Zhu Qiqi was furious and thought about striking first, but before she could, she remembered Xie Huailing's words: think things through before acting. She realized that acting prematurely would give others something to talk about. So she looked to the side and decided it would be better to get Xie Huailing's help, and lifted Xie Huailing up, who was trying to run away.
Xie Huailing: ?
She genuinely felt that Zhu Qiqi was a bit of a jinx to her, and she wasn't kidding.
Xie Huailing, who had been brought up, had no choice but to argue with the man. Under pure attack, the man quickly became enraged after losing the argument and wanted to strike first. At this moment, Zhu Qiqi was finally able to make her move. With a light-footed skill, she beat the man into a pig's head amidst the girl's screams.
Then, after she finished hitting him, she pursed her lips and ran away, leaving behind a large group of dumbfounded people, a screaming girl, a pig who had fainted, and a desperate Xie Huailing with his eyes closed, who had to clean up the mess.
There was no time to lament her misfortune. The first thing she did upon arriving at the scene was to throw out the medical bills. She revealed her identity to the people next to her and told them not to spread the word. Then she caught up without stopping and ran a long, grueling 800-meter run before finally finding Zhu Qiqi, who had buried herself under the covers, in the side room of her own courtyard.
Zhu Qiqi's eyes were already red, her almond-shaped eyes turning into peeled lychees. She cried out and cursed Shen Lang, then began her outburst. Xie Huailing tried to comfort her, but to no avail. Nothing she said could help Zhu Qiqi; she simply couldn't let go of Shen Lang's matter. She kept saying things like "the next one will be better, the next one will be more obedient." When she blurted out, "The next one won't be Shen Lang again," Xie Huailing's mind went completely blank.
You can't hit her, you can't scold her, who knows what she might do on the Beggars' Sect's territory if you hit or scold her, you can't let her run away again; you want to ask Shaman for help, but she has her eye on her only friend, saying "best friend", and tears well up in her eyes.
At this point, Xie Huailing was completely out of options.
To be honest, she still harbored some resentment towards Shen Lang.
They've been at a loss ever since. Zhu Qiqi gets tired of crying too. After being left to cry by Xie Huailing for a full fifteen minutes, she wiped away her tears like a child who had no one to listen to her. Her sobs subsided considerably, and her words gradually became more logical, revealing some underlying meaning: "...In short, how could you treat me like this? I... I was just trying to be kind, I didn't know it would turn out like this! Huailing, why are you ignoring me? Do you also think I was wrong?"
She hiccuped, feeling a little embarrassed, and covered her mouth. Xie Huailing, whose ears were a bit better, saw that Xie Huailing was about to unleash her fury. In the spirit of "better to die than see Shen Lang die," she handed over a handkerchief and said, "No, how could that be? I just don't know exactly what happened between you and Shen Lang, so I don't know how to say it, but it's definitely his fault. Qiqi, you have good intentions, I know that all too well."
Yes, that's right. Xie Huailing hadn't heard the whole story yet, and Zhu Qiqi obviously hadn't noticed it at all. Not only had she not noticed, she had also forgotten that she hadn't mentioned it.
As soon as she got the handkerchief, Zhu Qiqi forgot all about her plan to accuse Xie Huailing of being heartless. Her love and hate were both intensely intense, and she couldn't remember many things. For a moment, she even thought that Xie Huailing was looking out for her, that it was just her personality. When she heard Xie Huailing stand by her side without saying a word, she foolishly assumed that she had misunderstood and hurriedly said, "It's my fault, then I'll talk to you properly."
Wiping away her tears, she recounted the story: "A while ago, Shen Lang wrote to me saying he planned to go to the border area and asked if I wanted to come along. I thought it would be good to go and see him, as I hadn't seen him for a month. So I told my family and set off for the border area. He couldn't stay idle at the border; after only a few days, he was helping the knights catch some wicked villains, and he didn't get a proper rest day or night."
"I felt sorry for him, thinking that it was good for him to fight evil and promote good, but it would be a waste for him to work so hard. I wanted to help him, but I was careless and fell into the trap of a villain. That so-called 'wonderful young man' insisted that I was framing him, put on a face of innocence, and everyone passing by turned around and accused me!"
At this point, Zhu Qiqi's tears welled up again. The pampered young lady, who was truly loved by her family, had suffered a real injustice. Xie Huailing sighed softly, having no other recourse, and carefully wiped away her tears.
Zhu Qiqi continued, "Shen Lang was also fooled by him. He wanted to apologize to 'Miao Langjun' on my behalf. How could I agree? I clearly saw him arresting people, and he even said he was going to arrest everyone to be his master's servants. It was his fault, so why should Shen Lang apologize on my behalf? Did he not believe me either? I was so angry that I argued with him, and after the argument, I ran away and bumped into a den of thieves."
Speaking of this, Zhu Qiqi's tone softened a bit as she said, "They found me before I could hide for long and came to capture me. I couldn't beat them, but luckily I had some things with me, so I managed to escape. On the way, I heard that you were in the Beggars' Sect. I didn't want to go back to find Shen Lang, nor did I want to go home, so I came to find you."
"Completely unsurprising." Xie Huailing listened with lifeless eyes, her gaze completely extinguished. She wanted to speak, but instead let out a long sigh. After the sigh, she reminded him, "Actually, there's another possibility. Let's assume that Shen Lang didn't suspect you?"
"Huh?" Zhu Qiqi stopped crying in a daze, then cried out aggrievedly, "He clearly suspected me, and he still apologized on my behalf! If we can find him again, Huailing, you must help me teach him a lesson, he—"
"Stop, stop, wait!"
Dealing with Zhu Qiqi is a delicate task. Xie Huailing interrupted her at the right moment, otherwise her accusations would go on and on: "Listen to me first, let's assume, let's assume! Let's assume there is such a possibility: Shen Lang knows that you are not very smart... ah no, you are not a bad person and will not falsely accuse people."
"But at the time, no one believed you, and 'Miraculous Gentleman' gained the upper hand with his sharp tongue. You were unfamiliar with the area around the border and were very vulnerable to being taken advantage of. It would be even worse if you were hurt by the vengeful 'Miraculous Gentleman.' So he thought he would take the blame for you first and then try to find something to use against 'Miraculous Gentleman' later. Do you think that's possible?"
Zhu Qiqi was taken aback, then remembered and said, "Now that you mention it, he was indeed winking at me. But, I thought it was because of the sandstorm at the border and sand got into his eyes, so I gave him a handkerchief."
I knew it! You're a really nice person; you even handed him a handkerchief during our argument.
Xie Huailing closed her eyes, then opened them again: "It's good that you can understand. Be smarter next time and learn from your mistakes."
But Zhu Qiqi was no longer listening to any of that.
A sudden wave of regret washed over her. Rather than regretting all the suffering she had endured along the way, she would have slammed her hand on the table, stood up, and exclaimed, "I wronged Shen Lang?!"
Then she paced back and forth in the room like an ant about to be steamed. She stopped crying, but it seemed less like she should continue. Her regret grew stronger, just as she could feel guilty for a single word from Xie Huailing, and even more so for Shen Lang. Rather than valuing love, it would be more accurate to say that she was too clear about right and wrong. Once she knew her mistakes and the troubles she had encountered, they no longer mattered.
"I have to go back to find Shen Lang. I left him behind at the border. What am I going to do? He still has to deal with 'Miao Langjun'. I have to go and help him!"
There's nothing I can do. Won't you just make things worse by going?
But Xie Huailing couldn't say it out loud. Firstly, it wasn't the right time to talk about Zhu Qiqi, and secondly... she didn't have the time for it.
Zhu Qiqi hugged Xie Huailing tightly, her heart filled with mixed emotions: "Thank you, Huailing. You're so smart. If I hadn't come to find you, I would have continued to misunderstand you like this. No wonder you're so famous in the martial arts world!"
She didn't realize how terrifying the reputation of Xie Huailing really was; she only felt that her friend's intelligence was a great help, and she was quite proud of her: "I knew you were the quickest thinker; the people from the Six and a Half Hall definitely couldn't outsmart you! You're still willing to come with me, that's great, waaaaaah... And about that 'Wonderful Gentleman,' I'll tell you about it, and you can help me think about it!"
She shed tears of emotion again, completely unaware that Xie Huailing was such a kind person. She held him tightly, plunging her into despair once more.
Zhu Qiqi couldn't be hit or scolded, so she could only hate Shen Lang. Why did he invite her but not keep a proper eye on her? Wasn't the previous example enough? He should teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget!
Now Xie Huailing doesn't just hate a little, she truly hates.
Hearing Zhu Qiqi's heartfelt words of gratitude, Xie Huailing could only think about whether she could spread rumors about Shen Lang in front of Su Mengzhen and get Su Mengzhen to beat Shen Lang up.
Unable to come up with a solution, Zhu Qiqi turned Xie Huailing's head around, her eyes brimming with tears, and said again, "Oh right, I also brought you a gift, I almost forgot."
As she spoke, she reached into her sleeve. Xie Huailing thought of that herb from back then, and it was hard for her to say whether she really wanted it or not.
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It will play a role in this volume's system, but not much. I'm just mentioning it here to prevent everyone from forgetting about this little rascal.
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