Crossing the Long Wind at Night
At this moment, A Qiu was already following the sword, directly following Wan Qiqing's suction force, crashing into his net-like palm shadows.
Suddenly, her other hand shot out, as white as an orchid, its posture changing beautifully, instantly transforming into several forms, avoiding the sharpness of Wan Qiqing's claws at every turn, yet skillfully parrying and neutralizing his palm strikes and claw attacks.
This close-quarters combat between master and disciple was extremely dangerous. In terms of strength and stamina, A Qiu was no match for Wan Qiqing. Several times, she relied on her natural speed and the exquisite "Flower-Breaking Hand" derived from Chu Yuanyi's Wind and Thunder Palm to block Wan Qiqing's palms, which were filled with innate true energy.
In this way, Wan Qiqing could not harm her in the slightest, but because she could not bring herself to strike hard, she could only barely block Wan Qiqing's attacks and could not win.
The same situation applies to Wan Qiqing. A Qiu wields the famous sword "Louyue" in his right hand, whose sharpness is not easily countered, while his left hand is unpredictable and elusive. Despite the strange and fierce nature of his palm techniques, he cannot gain the slightest advantage.
In such a stalemate, the battle was essentially about skill and the endurance of one's breath. And this was exactly what Wan Qiqing hadn't expected.
Based on A Qiu's past abilities, she might not be entirely without a chance against him, but that was only because of her lightning-fast speed and unpredictable moves. A Qiu's "Spirit Ape Thrust Technique" originated from her own insights, with unexpected and bizarre moves, and because A Qiu frequently created new variations, even Wan Qiqing didn't know exactly how many moves she had. If he were to suddenly face A Qiu's deadly attack, Wan Qiqing knew he wouldn't be confident of escaping unscathed.
However, if we're talking about pure, unadulterated combat skills, A Qiu is no match for his profound inner strength.
Unexpectedly, after only a short separation, A Qiu's skill in exchanging blows was no less profound or sustained than Gu Yi's. Moreover, his internal energy was clearly of the same origin as Gu Yi's, pure and yang, with seemingly inexhaustible power.
Wan Qiqing suddenly brushed aside A Qiu's attack with his sleeve and shouted, "What method did Gu Yi use to make your skill level improve to this extent in just one or two months?"
Caught off guard, A Qiu was asked this question by Wan Qiqing. Recalling the scene when Gu Yi passed on his skills to her, her face turned red, but she immediately calmed herself down. She knew that Wan Qiqing must not know that Gu Yi had lost his skills.
She smiled and said, "Master, do you feel that you haven't taught well enough, and that ten years of your teaching is not as good as one year of the Young Master's teaching?"
Normally, she would never deliberately provoke her master like this, making him unhappy. However, Wan Qiqing is such a clever person that if she doesn't distract him, he can probably guess what's going on.
Wan Qiqing fell for the trap and angrily said, "If you feel that I haven't taught you well enough, then stop calling me master!" As he spoke, he immediately turned his back to the outside, not only ceasing to make any moves, but also seemingly not wanting to pay any more attention to A Qiu.
A Qiu sheathed her sword but did not retreat. Instead, she boldly stepped forward, grabbed Wan Qiqing's plain white robe, and said softly, "As long as Master has not killed A Qiu, A Qiu will always be your disciple. Even if you want to expel me from the sect, it doesn't count."
She said it that way, but in her heart, she truly meant it.
As long as Wan Qiqing doesn't harbor any ruthless intent towards her, she can't truly harden her heart towards him. In the end, Wan Qiqing only feels gratitude towards her, not resentment. Even if the care and education she received over the years lacked some human warmth, how could she expect that from the master who raised her?
Wan Qiqing felt her hand gently sway, and his usually hardened heart softened in a way that even he found unfamiliar.
Throughout his life, he traversed the realms of love, politics, and martial arts, seemingly able to get whatever he wanted, yet no one ever dared to act coquettishly in his presence.
Flirting is a woman's weapon, and he never gave them the chance to use it in front of him. But now, in his middle age, facing this disciple whose every move didn't resemble that person's, yet who always had a unique temperament similar to that person, his heart inexplicably softened.
The familiar yet strange feeling, like looking at each other from another world, made it hard for him not to lower his guard. And this slight relaxation turned even the hardest steel into the softest silk, and for a moment his heart was filled with an overwhelming sense of bewilderment, as if in a dream.
He had never noticed the resemblance between Ah Qiu and that person before.
If that person had pleaded with him as softly as A Qiu is now, or even uttered a declaration like A Qiu's, "I will not leave you until you kill me," would he no longer be the lonely master of Lanling Hall, Wan Qiqing? Would he have enjoyed many more days of reading by the company of a beautiful woman, instead of sitting alone in the twilight of Songxue Hall, facing the sunset over the mountains, playing the Jiangnan flute in solitude, reminiscing about the irretrievable past and the happiest time of his life?
Wan Qiqing said in a hoarse voice, "A Qiu!"
A-Qiu obediently replied from behind him, "Disciple is here."
Wan Qiqing said, "Do you know when I would choose to kill you if I really wanted to?"
A Qiu calmly replied, "I will strike at the exact moment you throw Master Gu Yi's zither and I rush to catch it."
Wan Qiqing was jolted awake by a bucket of cold water, as if waking from an old dream. He smiled bitterly, thinking that A Qiu was still like that person after all. Her calmness and rationality, her unwavering belief that she would rather die than bend, were all elegance and pride etched into the bones of their bloodline.
If A-Qiu were less intelligent, she could have gotten the better of him. But she was too clever and too rational, so he had to force himself to harden his heart and teach her a lesson time and time again.
Wan Qiqing had completely lost his killing intent at this moment, and said with a wry smile, "Then how can you be so sure that your master won't really kill you?"
When A Qiu risked her life to retrieve Gu Yi's "Spirit Pivot," she was indeed giving it her all and couldn't afford to be distracted. Because Wan Qiqing had focused all his strength into the zither, the direction in which he threw it was both tricky and strange. If she had been even slightly distracted, the result would probably have been a broken pillar and snapped strings.
If Wan Qiqing had seized the opportunity to strike, it's almost certain that A Qiu would have been in grave danger.
When he heard A Qiu come up, he stopped the music the moment she stepped onto the platform and deliberately threw "Ling Shu" out. It is possible that he intended to set a trap.
Naqin Aqiu shouldn't have accepted it. Any assassin knows that doing so would put themselves in danger.
Ah Qiu whispered behind him, "I don't know if Master will take the opportunity to kill me."
Wan Qiqing trembled violently and turned around in disbelief to look at A Qiu.
A-Qiu looked back at him and said clearly, "At that time, all I cared about was that the spirit core must not be damaged."
She continued lightly and quickly, "I only know that if it weren't for me, Master wouldn't have appeared at Master Gu Yi's Jinling Terrace tonight, much less deliberately smash his zither to vent his anger. If the Ling Shu is destroyed tonight, there is no doubt that the root cause lies with me. I don't want to see such a situation."
Wan Qiqing's face suddenly turned pale, and a sad smile appeared on his lips. He said, "A Qiu, have you ever thought that you have overestimated your importance in my heart? Why do you think that I would be so narrow-minded as to smash Gu Yi's zither for the sake of someone as insignificant as you?"
He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing out of Jinlingtai, watching the night wind whistling through the branches, and sighed, "No one has ever truly angered me, because I feel that everyone in this world is merely a pawn in the game of the universe. And you, A-Qiu, are no different in my eyes. All my efforts are nothing more than the Way and the art, and will never contain any feelings of joy, hate, love, or resentment."
A Qiu, however, refused to back down, saying, "If Master only wanted to compete with Master Gu Yi, there would be no need for you to come here tonight. The world is vast, Lanling Hall can challenge the Young Master Yu Zhe, and Master can also personally seek out Master Gu Yi for a duel. There is no need to enter his room and play his zither. Master would never stoop to such petty and despicable acts."
Wan Qiqing's face drained of color, and he could no longer utter a single word.
This was probably the first time in his life that someone had pointed out to him to his face that he cared. He had always thought that he didn't care.
Ah Qiu's eyes were clear and bright, so pure. Only with such purity could one clearly see the feelings hidden in his heart, feelings that even he himself was unaware of.
Although the nature of this situation is different from that of the past, it is remarkably similar to that of the past, except that back then, it was all in vain.
After a long pause, he said quietly, "So, you're betting on my feelings for you, and you're certain that I wouldn't bear to kill you?"
His eyes held an indescribable mix of disappointment and something else: "So, all my feelings for you are worth is Gu Yi's zither?"
A Qiu looked back at Wan Qiqing with a complicated expression and said, "No. Master, I think I've already said it. I didn't know if you would kill me. In that moment, I only knew that I had to protect Master Gu Yi's zither. If you had used your full strength at that time, the result would most likely have been that both the person and the zither would have been destroyed."
Wan Qiqing shouted sternly, "Didn't I teach you that life is far more important than any material possession? Or did Gu Yi not teach you that either? If he were here today and saw you die for his zither, would that be the result he wanted to see?"
A Qiu said softly but firmly, "From the first time I heard the sound of Ling Shu playing under Master Gu Yi's hands, I felt like I was coming home. I cannot see it destroyed because of me. That is not only my loyalty to Master Gu Yi, but also a kind of obsession in my heart."
Unexpectedly, Wan Qiqing's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He said in a hoarse voice, "The feeling of coming home? So, Lanling Hall is the place that raised you, but you never feel that it is home."
He laughed loudly, "Gu Yi's zither music makes you feel like you're home, but you've been listening to my flute music for over ten years in the back mountain of Shenbing Hall, and you don't feel like it's home."
A-Qiu clearly said, "How could Master's flute playing give people any feeling? Master's flute playing only contains deep loneliness and traces of a heart that is like a rootless duckweed. It is Master's freedom, and it is also Master's pain. But it is definitely not a home where anyone can rest in peace."
Wan Qiqing established Lanling Hall not as a home for any of its members. Lanling Hall was a temple for assassins, a sacred place for strategists, and a base for scouts and cavalry, but it could not be a home.
A-Qiu didn't intend to blame her master for this, after all, her master owed her nothing. But she hoped her master would face the truth.
They faced both their true selves and the true nature of the Lanling Hall's master-disciple lineage.
The master himself was not a warm person, yet he hoped that his disciples would be attached to him, which was impossible for her at least.
Wan Qiqing laughed and said, "Since you think my music is inferior to Gu Yi's, then I want to see if you, Gu Yi's disciple and the Grand Music Master of the New Dynasty, can surpass your master and possess a musical style that surpasses mine."
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