Chapter 5 Just Friends 05
About half an hour later, the two boys who had been fighting knelt in a row before the head of the family.
Xiao Hanzhou lowered his eyes and looked over.
The two kneeling boys were a stark contrast: one was covered in dust and bloodstains, while the other's clothes were spotless.
Xiao Hanzhou showed no bias. He neither showed concern for the injured Xiao Zhiyu nor praised Jiang Zhaoyu, who was clearly superior. He simply asked, "Who struck first?"
Jiang Zhaoyu: "Me."
Xiao Zhiyu didn't speak; he wasn't in the mood to speak at the moment.
In that "fight" just now, he was almost powerless to fight back. Xiao Zhiyu thought several times that he was going to die at the hands of his opponent. If his opponent hadn't held back, he probably wouldn't even have had the chance to kneel here now.
But more than his injuries, what he couldn't accept was the discovery that this person had been letting him win all along? In their usual sparring matches, Jiang Zhaoyu had been letting him win the whole time?!
For a boy of this age, this is an even greater humiliation than losing.
Xiao Zhiyu couldn't help but wonder how the other person viewed and thought about his usual actions. Perhaps they just saw him as a clown for amusement and found him both laughable and boring.
The latter thought almost drove him crazy. In the latter half of the "fight", Xiao Zhiyu lost all his strategy and just rushed forward. Most of the injuries on his body were sustained during that time.
Xiao Hanzhou didn't pay attention to Xiao Zhiyu's emotions; he wasn't particularly perceptive. At this moment, he simply looked at Jiang Zhaoyu and asked a second question, "Do you have anything to say?"
This kind of question was extremely rare for Xiao Hanzhou.
He was giving Jiang Zhaoyu a chance to explain.
Jiang Zhaoyu, however, seemed oblivious to the good intentions. He simply lowered his head and replied curtly with two words, "No."
Xiao Hanzhou glanced at the person again, his expression unchanged. "Unauthorized attack on a fellow disciple is against the Xiao family's rules..."
—His cultivation was stripped, and he was expelled from the Xiao family.
Guessing what the patriarch was about to say, a series of gasps came from the doorway—it was the disciples who had been peeking in, piled on top of each other. They never expected the patriarch to impose such a severe punishment; that was Senior Brother Jiang!
The person at the bottom was so startled that he swayed twice. As a result, the disciples practically tumbled and crawled into the main hall.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Hanzhou, who was speaking, paused and his expression darkened further.
In the short time that followed, the disciples who had rolled in knelt down neatly one after another. Although they could not see the expression on the patriarch's face because they had their heads down, they could still feel the sudden drop in air pressure in the room.
However, some people withstood the pressure and pleaded, "Patriarch, please understand that our eldest brother has always strictly abided by the sect rules and set an example for all disciples. There must be a reason for this incident."
It wouldn't be accurate to say that Jiang Zhaoyu was particularly popular within the sect. After all, that's just his personality; he rarely socialized, and his relationship with his later fellow disciples was merely so-so.
However, the title of "Senior Brother" already created an invisible distance between him and the others, so Jiang Zhaoyu's actions didn't seem problematic. Besides, he could indeed suppress his cultivation level, and if any fellow disciples mustered the courage to ask him for guidance, he, though taciturn, was never stingy with his instruction.
As time went on, his fellow disciples came to accept this senior brother, so when the first person spoke, he was immediately echoed by the other disciples.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Hanzhou glanced at Jiang Zhaoyu, who remained silent with her head down.
Xiao Hanzhou couldn't help but drift into a slight reverie. If it were before...
But he quickly remembered that even in the past, the master and disciple rarely had conversations outside of routine matters. If they were alone together, it was common for them to spend the whole day cultivating without exchanging a single word.
On the contrary, A-Yi always manages to get the child to say something.
Thinking about this, Xiao Hanzhou's thoughts drifted further and further away.
He recalled that he had just left the Crimson Snow Realm when he saw A-Yi delivering a letter informing him that he was going on a journey and his return date was uncertain. When he returned, he was only informed by his disciples that "Young Master Ren" had been gone for many days.
Without a second thought, Xiao Hanzhou immediately ordered his men to give chase.
He never imagined that the two of them would separate. How could he and A-Yi separate? He would sometimes go to secret realms to train or venture into dangerous places alone, but no matter when he turned back, A-Yi would always be standing there waiting for him.
Xiao Hanzhou was used to this, and he never thought that the other party would take the initiative to leave.
A vague premonition of impending loss arose in Xiao Hanzhou's heart, and he couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Driven by this emotion, the pursuit became quite a commotion, and rumors spread throughout Tianhuan City that the Xiao family was hunting down a fugitive. Some said it was the mortal enemy who had instigated the Xiao family's massacre years ago; others guessed it was the thief who stole the Xiao family's heirloom; still others speculated that the person had thoroughly mocked the Xiao family patriarch, who was now enraged...
The rumors spread wider and wider, and even some members of the Xiao family who were unaware of the inside story believed them to be true.
Xiao Hanzhou overheard these rumors by chance and thought they were absurd. He wasn't looking for an enemy, but a friend.
As he thought this, a question suddenly arose in his mind: "Would an ordinary person make such a fuss over the departure of a friend?" However, this question that was quietly emerging was quickly suppressed. He and A-Yi were "close friends who would die for each other", how could they be regarded as "ordinary friends"?
Moreover, A-Yi has just lost his spiritual root. Even though he has a Dao bone in his body, his cultivation will inevitably suffer a great loss. Going out at this time would be too dangerous.
...
While Xiao Hanzhou's thoughts drifted away, the disciples below pleaded one after another, finally coming up with a plausible reason: "It's a 'sparring match'! Senior Brother and Senior Brother Xiao are sparring!!"
It's unclear which clever fellow came up with this idea, but it immediately garnered the approval of the kneeling disciples. However, this unanimous statement clearly contained a major flaw, and someone secretly glanced at Xiao Zhiyu, who remained silent with his head down.
The disciples below had actually sensed the undercurrents between Jiang Zhaoyu and Xiao Zhiyu. However, because Jiang Zhaoyu rarely responded, although these disciples could feel that the two were not on good terms, they couldn't quite gauge the extent of the conflict. Today's sudden incident caught everyone off guard.
Although they didn't know why their senior brother suddenly attacked, they could see that after Senior Brother Xiao pressed forward with his sword, their senior brother held back at every turn... Would Senior Brother Xiao plead for him out of consideration for this? Everyone had some doubts, feeling that the outcome of this guess was probably not so optimistic.
After all, they were from the same sect and knew each other well. Given Xiao Zhiyu's usual temperament, he should be furious right now, so why would he speak up for him?
Someone tugged at their companion's sleeve and quietly pointed in a direction. Xiao Zhiyu's forearm trembled slightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulged, and the blood-stained hem of his sleeve was almost torn to shreds.
Seeing this, his fellow disciples all thought to themselves, "This is bad."
No one dared to ask Xiao Zhiyu to plead for them anymore. They could only pray that their senior brother Xiao would not speak up at this moment, as it would be a blessing if he didn't add fuel to the fire.
But it was clear that this idea was going to fail. Xiao Zhiyu bowed deeply and began to speak, "Reporting to the Clan Head, this disciple and my Senior Brother—"
The fellow disciples next to him turned green and began to criticize the person who had first proposed the idea, saying that this was setting a trap for their senior brother.
The man wasn't about to back down either, glaring back at them one by one. The situation was so urgent, how could he possibly think of anything else?!
Just as everyone was sweating profusely and racking their brains for ideas, Xiao Zhiyu continued, "Indeed... in... sparring!"
The last few words seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, but he did indeed say "exchange of skills".
The fellow disciples who were pleading for him were all stunned. Even Jiang Zhaoyu, who had been keeping her head down as if she didn't care about her fate, couldn't help but turn her head to look. Xiao Zhiyu, however, simply remained in the bowing posture, not moving an inch.
In the end, the matter was settled as a "sparring match between fellow disciples." However, both of the parties involved were punished by copying the family rules ten times. Jiang Zhaoyu also received ten extra lashes for injuring a fellow disciple. After stepping down, he had to receive his punishment in the Discipline Hall.
This punishment was rather harsh for a "mistake" during a sparring match between fellow disciples. However, everyone present knew the inside story, and compared to "canceling cultivation and expelling from the Xiao family," this was a lenient approach. It was unusual for a family head to be so easy to talk to.
Everyone was puzzled, but when they retreated, they saw Bai Jinliu standing at the door at some unknown time.
They then realized that it was because Uncle Bai was there!
They naturally assumed that Uncle Bai had pleaded on their behalf when they hadn't seen him earlier, and couldn't help but think, "Uncle Bai's position in the patriarch's heart is truly extraordinary." They all greeted him respectfully.
With this mindset, they naturally didn't pay much attention to Bai Jinliu's cold expression, which was different from his usual gentle demeanor.
Instead, Bai Jinliu was the first to notice a gaze fixed on him.
Bai Jinliu realized his earlier lapse in composure, froze, and looked back. Seeing that it wasn't Xiao Hanzhou looking at him, he breathed a sigh of relief—it was Jiang Zhaoyu looking at him.
Their eyes met, and before Bai Jinliu could even manage his usual gentle smile, the latter had already curtsied slightly, said "Uncle Bai," and turned to leave without waiting for a reply.
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