Chapter 218 Zou Qian: That's fine (lights a cigarette.jpg)
After that night, before going to the outer city, Mei Liangyu would always come to Yueshan to bring food to Yu Sui and see what she had learned that day, so that Yu Sui could release her excitement without any worries.
These days, Wu Huaiwei and Zou Qian have gotten used to Yu Sui going down the mountain at the appointed time.
Just like when she was a child learning riding and archery with her brothers, Yu Sui wouldn't stay a moment longer. Even if the two sides were fighting fiercely, she would stop and leave.
This action left Zou Qian and Wu Huaiwei with a somewhat complicated feeling.
The allure of being personally taught by two great masters of the Yin-Yang School is still less than that of the tenth-realm kid who delivers meals on time down the mountain.
After Yu Sui left today, only Wu Huaiwei and Zou Qian remained, looking at each other and trying to calm their newly stirred teaching emotions.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Zou Qian couldn't help but laugh out loud as she scratched her neck, seemingly lost in thought.
Standing on the opposite star chart, Wu Huaiwei moved her eyes and looked at him. Even though she saw that Zou Qian had scratched his neck so badly that not a single piece of skin was intact, she did not stop him.
Seeing that Zou Qian couldn't stop laughing, Wu Huaiwei finally asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"I just find it a little funny." Zou Qian raised her chin in the direction Yu Sui left and said, "When we were her age, we wouldn't have dared to run away halfway through a lesson. Just being looked up to by a sage would make us happy for days, let alone being taught by a sage in person."
"When it came to Nangong Sui... she made me realize that even saints aren't that great."
“Kids these days are much more rebellious than we were back then.” Wu Huaiwei narrowed her phoenix eyes and spoke in a gentle tone: “Moreover, the Zou family is a large family of the Yin-Yang School, with many, if not more, saints in the family. You are the eldest young master of the Zou family. I don’t believe that you will be happy for days just because a saint looks up to you.”
“That depends on the person,” Zou Qian said. “If someone is chosen by a saint they have admired since childhood, then yes, they will.”
"A saint I've revered since childhood?" Wu Huaiwei raised an eyebrow, sizing up Zou Qian as she asked, "Do you have one?"
"I guess so." Zou Qian's tone was uncertain, but her expression was indifferent. She pointed to her head with her other finger. "You know I'm not very good here, so I can't remember some things."
"The Heart-Bearing Mantra will make you forget what you consider most important, but how come you don't even know who cast the Heart-Bearing Mantra on you?" Wu Huaiwei mocked. "Could it be that the person you care about most cast the Heart-Bearing Mantra on you?"
Zou Qian paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "What you're saying isn't impossible."
Wu Huaiwei: "Don't let me be right."
“I always felt that the Heart-Piercing Mantra didn’t erase the memories of a particular person from my mind,” Zou Qian said, shaking her head, her tone unusually certain. “It wasn’t a particular person.”
Wu Huaiwei examined the star bell on her wrist, tidying up the golden iron plate, and said casually, "Then tell me, what do you think the Heart-Bearing Mantra made you forget?"
Zou Qian countered, "What do you think I care about most?"
Wu Huaiwei: "What is it?"
Zou Qian: "Didn't I ask you?"
“I’m not you, how would I know what you care about? Some people treasure something, while others discard it like trash.” Wu Huaiwei looked at him with amusement, her tone leisurely, “The most terrifying thing about the Heart-Piercing Bead Mantra is not that it makes you forget what you care about most, but that it makes you realize that you have forgotten, and spend your whole life searching for this question.”
Zou Qian snapped her fingers with her other hand and stared in Wu Huaiwei's direction, saying, "That's right, once you become obsessed, you'll be trapped in it and spend your whole life pursuing things that are unattainable."
He glanced down at the wounds on his shoulders and neck, his voice becoming low: "Once a thought arises, it's hard to extinguish; stubbornness leads to madness. I can already feel myself becoming more and more out of control."
Wu Huaiwei gazed at him, lost in thought and silent.
The uncontrollable madness that occurs while fully conscious is truly terrifying.
Zou Qian continued, "To find the answer to the Heart-Piercing Curse, I will stop at nothing, kill many people, and disrupt the world without a care. Although your Reverse Star Technique can restrain me, you are not from the Nine Provinces Star Sea, so you are ultimately a little short and cannot kill me."
Wu Huaiwei only said one sentence: "The Heart-Piercing Pearl Mantra does indeed easily produce madmen."
Zou Qian looked towards the foot of Mount Yue and squinted, saying, "Nangong Sui can do things you can't."
Wu Huaiwei bluntly asked, "Kill you?"
Zou Qian scratched his neck and hummed in agreement. He stretched his shoulders and neck, then looked up at Wu Huaiwei and said, "You don't need to fight me, that's good."
Wu Huaiwei sneered indifferently, "Whether you want to kill people or stir up trouble in the world, killing you is none of my business."
"It doesn't matter." Zou Qian was even more indifferent than Wu Huaiwei. "I just hope that someone will be able to stop me when the time comes."
Wu Huaiwei: "It's better to rely on yourself than on others."
Zou Qian: "It's easier said than done."
When Yu Sui returned, she only saw Zou Qian sitting in the middle of the star chart, and Wu Huaiwei was nowhere to be seen.
She looked around: "Where's Dean Wu?"
"They're gone." Zou Qian stood up from the ground. "I heard a student came looking for them."
Yu Sui asked thoughtfully, "Is it Senior Brother Pu Heng?"
Zou Qian thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Is that so?"
During this period, Yu Sui discovered that Pu Heng came to Yueshan very frequently, almost every day.
Sometimes it was in the morning, sometimes at night. Yu Sui never heard him and Wu Huaiwei talk. Every time she learned that Pu Heng had come, Wu Huaiwei would leave the observatory.
Wu Huaiwei naturally wouldn't let Pu Heng know or see the two sages teaching each other.
"Dean Wu isn't here, that's perfect. Here, take this for you." Yu Sui quietly took out a small jade gourd from the mechanism box and handed it to Zou Qian. "Would you like to try it?"
Zou Qian glanced at her with some surprise, then sat back down, reached out and took the jade gourd. Upon opening it, she smelled a rich aroma of wine.
"Oh." Zou Qian looked up at Yu Sui again, this time with a hint of teasing in her eyes, "Knowing how to respect teachers and elders, that's very good."
Unlike Wu Huaiwei, Zou Qian insisted on presenting himself as an instructor and master to Yu Sui. He refused to accept any teaching for nothing.
Yu Sui smiled and squatted down opposite Zou Qian, her posture obedient. She explained softly, "This is what I asked my senior brother to buy yesterday. I smelled the sweet fruity aroma of the wine that Dean Wu gave you, like sour apricot wine, so I found one with a similar taste. I don't know if it suits your taste."
My family owns many shops in the outer city, and we have no shortage of wine or similar products. If you'd like, I'll have my senior brother bring some other things tomorrow.
"Take more." Zou Qian finished all the wine in the jade gourd in one gulp. "Take all the sour, sweet, and spicy wines, just not bitter ones."
“Okay.” Yu Sui nodded.
Zou Qian examined the jade gourd in her hand, not looking at Yu Sui, but said, "People say that if someone is unusually attentive, they must have something to gain. What do you want to know by bringing wine tonight?"
"You've been practicing with me lately. Although Dean Wu invited you, you're still an elder and a saint of the academy, so I can't let you teach me for nothing."
Yu Sui pointed to the jade gourd in his hand: "This is my way of showing my respect to you."
"Oh?" Zou Qian lifted her eyelids to look at her, then threw the jade gourd back. "Then I want it."
"I'll definitely bring it to you tomorrow," Yu Sui said with a smile.
She put away the jade gourd and said, "Actually, I'm still a little curious, curious about your relationship with the agricultural sage of Yan."
Zou Qian laughed at her: "You just said it was a gift to show your filial piety, and now you've changed your mind?"
“Sending wine is sending wine, and asking questions is asking questions; they are not the same thing,” Yu Sui said solemnly. “Even if you don’t tell me, I will still send you some tomorrow.”
"You know that the Breath of Earth is inside me. For so many years, people have been trying to kill me and steal it every day. You and Yan Manfeng are old acquaintances. If they really try to kill me and steal it, I definitely can't beat you."
After listening, Zou Qian took a little time to think before speaking expressionlessly: "I said that only to make Dean Wu think it over. I don't want to do what she says and scare her."
I do know Yan Manfeng, but we're not particularly close. The Breath Soil is just a treasure for farmers; it's not that rare for other families.
Yan Manfeng lost the Breath of Earth because he was outmatched; a loss is a loss.
Although Yu Sui didn't know the specific details of Yan Manfeng losing the sacred agricultural artifact, the Breath Soil, he knew most of it.
During her early childhood, Madam Su did not shy away from talking to Nangong Ming about her.
From the fragments of their conversation, Yu Sui was able to reconstruct the cause and effect of the incident from back then.
Yan Manfeng lost the Breath of Earth, partly because of his junior sister Su Xing, but what completely destroyed Yan Manfeng's confidence and fighting spirit was Nangong Ming.
As Zou Qian spoke, she glanced at Yu Sui and then scoffed, "Don't worry, you possess the Breath of Earth. Your father will absolutely not allow anyone to successfully kill you, steal the treasure, and then take the Breath of Earth back to Yan Manfeng."
“I won’t go against your father either.”
Yu Sui was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "Why?"
“Why is there any reason?” Zou Qian asked curiously. “Killing you would be going against the entire Nangong family. The Nangong family is a prestigious clan and the only non-Nangong family member in Qingyang. If we kill you, we will be making an enemy of the Nangong family and Qingyang.”
He stared into the girl's dark, bright eyes and said meaningfully, "The Nangong family has more allies than enemies."
Yu Sui stared at him intently and asked, "So, are you an ally or an enemy of the Nangong family?"
Zou Qian stood up and said, "The answer to that question is not something you can hear."
Yu Sui's eyes followed Zou Qian as she stood up: "Since we are both saints, what is your opinion of Yan Manfeng?"
Zou Qian: "That's fine."
"Huh?" Yu Sui looked up in surprise.
Zou Qian looked down at her and repeated, "Just like that."
Yu Sui gestured in the air with his hand: "A sage must be a very powerful being, and Yan Manfeng is from the Yan Kingdom."
Zou Qian looked at her in confusion: "Yan Manfeng lost the Breath Soil and was seriously injured and almost died. Do you still want me to praise him as invincible?"
Yu Sui was speechless after hearing this.
Zou Qian glanced at the figure in the distance and said, "Dean Wu is back."
Yu Sui then got up from the ground and turned around.
Recently, the academy disciples have been so engrossed in the search for the World Destroyer by the Six Kingdoms' Beacon of Faith that they have been discussing it all day long, seemingly having forgotten about the Orchid Poison incident in the outer city some time ago.
Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu have not given up searching for Wei Ren and the mysterious person hiding behind the Listening Wind Ruler.
The two were terrified when they went to report to Ou Rushuang, thinking they might be beaten up, but Ou Rushuang remained calm and said nothing.
The calmer Ou Rushuang remained, the more panicked Zhang Xiangyun became.
After leaving Ou Rushuang, Zhang Xiangyun wrote down what had happened during that time and had it taken out of Taiyi and delivered to the Qingyang bandits.
Xuan Kui's men, carrying the letter, rode in a dragon chariot and flew away from Taiyi.
As night fell, the dragon chariot flew high above the sea, weaving through the clouds and mist, with the sea below appearing and disappearing intermittently, its end nowhere in sight.
The shadow on the corridor wall flashed by, and there was a knock on the cubicle door. The Xuan Kui member living inside cautiously opened the door, but there was no one there, nor did he see a dark figure slip through the crack in the door.
The man frowned and looked around the empty corridor for a while before finally closing the door.
A moment later, the door reopened.
The young man in blue robes who came out looked relaxed, and strolled away while playing with the unopened letter in his hand.
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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