Chapter 38 Just Friends
Xiao Hanzhou finally couldn't hold on any longer and knelt on the ground, but it wasn't just because of emotional turmoil.
Yan Shuoyun glanced at Hong Xuzi, who was staring at Xiao Hanzhou with no expression, but Yan Shuoyun did not think that he was just "looking".
Yan Shuoyun still doesn't know Hong Xuzi's true cultivation level, but he has experienced the unintentional release of a trace of pressure. Xiao Hanzhou is currently enduring even more, with blood slowly seeping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Even so, the young man's back remained ramrod straight.
This ordinary posture became exceptionally difficult under these circumstances; his shoulders were trembling unnaturally, clearly indicating immense pressure on his entire body, yet he remained upright and refused to bend over. Although it was only in its nascent stage, it resembled an unyielding longsword.
Yan Shuoyun glanced at it once and then looked away.
This is not surprising, after all, if this person were truly worthless, A-Yi wouldn't have made the mistake.
To be fair, Xiao Hanzhou is exceptionally outstanding as a cultivator in terms of patience, perseverance, talent, and comprehension. Even Yan Shuoyun, who doesn't particularly like him, has to admit this.
—He just doesn't care much about A-Yi.
Hong Xuzi realized that Ren Yi's injuries from back then seemed to be related to Xiao Hanzhou, so he ultimately didn't do anything to the latter. After all, neither Qing Ran nor her soul contract partner had taken any action yet, and as her senior uncle, he couldn't overstep his bounds.
Xiao Hanzhou, who had narrowly escaped death from Hong Xuzi, went to Hancang Peak and knelt at its foot to beg for an audience.
When Yan Shuoyun saw his actions, he just chuckled and didn't join in the fun.
In the past, Yan Shuoyun would have worried about Ren Yi's attitude and whether he would soften his stance. But after learning the inside story, he now saw Xiao Hanzhou as someone who was simply enjoying himself.
Watching the spectacle wasn't that important; Yan Shuoyun was eager to investigate what the soul contract on Ren Yi was and whether there was a way to break it. With this matter on his mind, he only glanced at Xiao Hanzhou's "entertainment" before leaving without a second thought.
The entire Cold Cang Peak was enveloped by the divine sense of the Sword Venerable's alt account, so Ren Yi naturally discovered Xiao Hanzhou's request for an audience.
Of the three people who have entered the illusion realm so far (not counting his own alias), although the Yan siblings are top-tier in terms of both aptitude and cultivation among their peers, Ren Yi still believes that Xiao Hanzhou is more likely to be the chosen one after considering all factors. Therefore, Ren Yi is basically certain that the latter is the heir to this illusion realm.
However, just to be on the safe side, Ren Yi still plans to wait until the secret realm officially opens and after meeting all the trial cultivators who have entered the secret realm before giving Ning Shuang to the latter. However, that is purely out of a cautious and safe mindset. Unless there are extremely special circumstances—such as the appearance of some arrogant person who suddenly becomes powerful and has his followers flock to him (if such a situation really occurs, Ren Yi will have to investigate whether the other party is indeed the villainous boss)—he will not change his choice this time.
In most cases, Ren Yi maintains a very calm and composed mindset when facing his chosen one, who is essentially the client.
After all, if you don't have a good mindset, you would have broken down and been transferred to another department long ago.
This time was no exception. After discovering that Xiao Hanzhou was requesting an audience, he didn't think much of it and let him in directly.
Xiao Hanzhou looked at the suddenly disappearing restriction in front of him, hesitated for a moment, got up, took a step forward, and entered the area of Hancang Peak without any hindrance.
This overly easy agreement made Xiao Hanzhou feel more uneasy than happy to finally meet him.
A-Yi was willing to see him? After what he did, A-Yi was still willing to see him? And she agreed so easily.
Xiao Hanzhou seemed to have a sudden realization.
Yes, it's not like he's been doing this for the first time, and those things weren't just done recently... Although A-Yi always acts like nothing's wrong, and even comforts him, how could the other party not take it to heart at all?
He genuinely believed that nothing was wrong, and that A-Yi didn't care.
So they demanded more and more each time, until it became a habit.
In the end, he actually asked A-Yi for the spiritual root.
Xiao Hanzhou couldn't fathom how he had lost his mind back then! How could he have done such a thing?!
That's a spiritual root! The foundation of a cultivator.
Even if A-Yi possessed Dao bones, that was not a reason to give away his spiritual root, let alone Dao bones... Xiao Hanzhou couldn't help but recall Yan Shuoyun's words, "The Xiao family head should be the one who knows best." The throbbing pain in his heart made him almost curl up. His back, which had remained straight even under the oppressive pressure, was now hunched over and trembling slightly as if he couldn't bear the pain.
Xiao Hanzhou had no memory of this incident, but he knew very clearly that he was the only one who could make A Yi willingly lose his Dao bones.
He was completely unaware of this at the moment, and it was only because A-Yi had kept it from him.
Daoist bones, spiritual roots...
He personally ruined A-Yi's path.
Xiao Hanzhou almost wanted to laugh, a self-mocking laugh.
But as her facial muscles twitched and contorted, water droplets fell, her face becoming wet with tears.
Xiao Hanzhou suddenly remembered the message he received after leaving Chixue. Every word and phrase clearly said "farewell," but even at that time, Ayi chose the most euphemistic way of saying it, so he just took it as an ordinary message.
When they met again in Xizhou, he still harbored resentment towards A-Yi's indifference... But now, what right did he have to have such thoughts? After he did such an outrageous thing, A-Yi didn't even say a harsh word to him; after he did such an unforgivable thing, he even shamelessly hoped to beg for forgiveness.
Memories of the past kept flashing through his mind. As Xiao Hanzhou walked up the mountain path of Hancang Peak, he felt as if he were stepping on ice blades with every step. It was a kind of icy and bone-chilling pain.
However, after Ren Yichu's grand transformation of Hancang Peak during his visit to the secret realm, the peak was no longer covered by its original frosty and desolate appearance. Instead, the vegetation that had been rapidly cultivated by spiritual energy in a very short time had given the entire mountain a vibrant and lively appearance.
The lush canopy of trees cast shadows along the path, and Xiao Hanzhou felt as if these dark shadows were concealing his despicable and shameless side. However, the sunlight that pierced through the gaps in the canopy cast bright spots on the ground, and this distinct light seemed to mercilessly cut through his ridiculous and clumsy disguise, exposing his dirty side to the scorching light.
But all he wanted was to see A-Yi...
I just wanted to see the other person.
He wanted to repay the debt.
Whether it's cultivation level, spiritual root, or... life itself, as long as A-Yi wants it, he's willing to offer it up with both hands.
He only hoped that A-Yi wouldn't hate him.
Ren Yi had no idea about Xiao Hanzhou's complicated thoughts along the way. In fact, he didn't think that Xiao Hanzhou's request to see him at Hancang Peak had anything to do with his own account.
Ren Yi thought the other party was looking for the Sword Master's alt account.
Unlike his main character, whose role as a tool is still unclear, Ren Yi made some deductions about the latter's tool type after learning about the time difference between the Sword Master's era and that of that time. He figured it was either a supportive old man who was the cheat system's companion, or a deceased old man who was the cheat system's companion (…). Furthermore, after witnessing the arena sparring match earlier and seeing that familiar sword intent, Ren Yi became even more certain of this identity.
Han Cang Peak was originally the territory of the Sword Master's alt account. When Xiao Hanzhou knelt down at the foot of the peak and adopted this "apprenticeship" posture, the Sword Master's alt account's divine sense detected it. Ren Yi did not connect this matter with the main account at all, and directly attributed the whole thing to the alt account based on preconceived notions.
Although the system says the story is over by now, the role of the "tool" is still there. The protagonist has actually come to ask to become his apprentice, so how could he turn him away? Besides, he's waiting for someone to take over the secret realm and take the blame for his alternate account.
Ren Yi told the Sword Master's alt account to wait patiently in the cave, while the main account, which had been completely excluded, was currently keeping Yan Er company.
The young girl rushed back from Fuling Peak immediately after breaking through her cultivation barrier. She was depressed for a long time after learning that she had just missed Lord Ren's emergence from seclusion.
To appease Yan'er and celebrate her cultivation advancement, Ren Yi took out a lot of items from his storage bag, letting Yan'er choose a celebratory gift. Among them were several personal items, good things snatched from his alternate account's inventory. Although the alternate account could also send gifts, considering Yan'er's nervous and reserved demeanor in front of it, it would be too difficult for the young girl to express her preferences directly, so he had to have the main account do it on her behalf.
To Ren Yi's surprise, Yan Er neither chose those ancient spiritual herbs nor those spiritual artifacts with dazzling spiritual light. She didn't even pick some crystals with very beautiful patterns that would be attractive to girls of all ages. Instead, she chose a piece of warm jade that looked ordinary and had no spiritual light at all.
Ren Yi paused for a moment, wondering if Yan Er was just embarrassed.
He asked, "Just this piece of jade? Aren't you going to pick out anything else?"
Ren Yi originally wanted to say that there was no need to be polite with him, but Yan Er seemed to really like the jade.
He blinked in confusion, thinking that the system might only collect information in the illusion, and the content was limited to the Taichu Sect tens of thousands of years ago, so the information might be a bit outdated.
The system for controlling the secondary and auxiliary accounts is QAQ~
Fortunately, Yan'er quickly cleared the system's name. The girl blushed, looked away shyly, and explained softly, "Brother Ren always wore this jade pendant with him before, so..."
She hesitated for a moment, then realized that what she was doing might not be right, and it seemed a bit like taking something that someone else liked. She quickly said, "I didn't mean to insist on it. If Brother Ren likes it, I'll get something else."
Ren Yi looked at the jade pendant with some suspicion after hearing Yan Er's words.
As a mission taker who frequently travels between various small worlds, Ren Yi sometimes brings back souvenirs from the mission world. However, no matter what it is, once it leaves the original world, its special energy system will be erased, leaving only an empty shell for viewing, becoming a true souvenir that can only be looked at. Therefore, he doesn't limit himself to whether something has spiritual power or not when buying things.
But this jade pendant...
Ren Yi looked it over from all angles and admitted that the carving and the quality of the jade were indeed excellent. However, jade is found in many small worlds, and Ren Yi already has many pieces in his collection, covering all colors and types. This particular piece simply wasn't worth him using up his allotted quota from each world to bring back.
After thinking for a long time, Ren Yi could only conclude that it was probably just something he bought on a whim.
As for Yan'er's statement that she always wore it, Ren Yi didn't take it to heart. If it weren't for the requirements of the mission character, Ren Yi was actually a very rough person. It would be difficult for him to even remember to wear such accessories. Generally, once he chose one, he wouldn't change it. It just so happened that this piece of jade was the kind that wouldn't look strange no matter what clothes he wore with it. Thinking of this, Ren Yi felt that he seemed to understand why he had always worn this jade.
Having figured things out, Ren Yi's brows relaxed, and he smiled at Yan Er, who had become tense, saying casually, "It's nothing, it's not important. If you like it, take it."
As he said this, Ren Yi didn't think the jade was much of a gift. He gestured to the pile of things that hadn't been put away yet and asked, "Take a look, is there anything else you like?"
...
[It's nothing important.]
This seemingly casual remark was like the most powerful sword intent Xiao Hanzhou had ever seen, piercing straight into his unsuspecting heart, leaving it dripping with blood.
That soft, even gentle voice echoed in his mind, and Xiao Hanzhou stood frozen not far away, not daring to go forward for a moment.
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