Best Young Master
Chapter 394 - 349 Love and Hatred

Chapter 394: Chapter 349 Love and Hatred

Wudang Mountain, located in the eastern part of the Bashan Mountains, is also known as Taihe Mountain, Xieluo Mountain, Shanshang Mountain, and Immortal Room Mountain. With ancient names such as "Tai Yue," "Xuan Yue," and "Da Yue," it is a Taoist Holy Land and the birthplace of Wudang Fist, acclaimed as "an unrivaled beautiful realm since ancient times, the number one Immortal Mountain in the world."

"You little bastard, if you hadn’t returned to the Ye Family, would I have traveled thousands of miles to Dong Hai to find you?"

Two days later, in the afternoon on the mid-slopes of Wudang Mountain, Xu Longxiang glanced at the fog-enshrouded Yuxu Palace and thought of how he had been refused entry by Ye Fan two days before. He was so frustrated that he couldn’t help cursing.

That day, after being turned away by Ye Fan, he really wanted to grab his sword, rush to Ao Xiang Villa, and cut down Ye Fan with a single strike, but due to fear of violating the Yanhuang Organization’s rules and fear of reprisals from the Ye Family behind Ye Fan, he didn’t dare to do so. He didn’t even vent his anger on those two bodyguards but left swallowing his anger.

As the sunset began to sink behind the mountains, Xu Longxiang arrived outside Yuxu Palace of the Wudang Sect.

"Big Senior Brother!"

At the entrance of Yuxu Palace, two Taoists who were sweeping the floor saw Xu Longxiang with a sullen face and were so frightened that their hands shook, and they hurriedly paid their respects and greeted him.

Ignoring the greetings from the two Taoists, Xu Longxiang walked straight toward the residence of Heavenly Master Zhang.

Along the way, many Taoists, just like the two at the entrance, greeted Xu Longxiang upon seeing him, but he ignored them all.

This made those Taoists of the Wudang Sect very curious as to which ill-fated person had offended Xu Longxiang.

Out of curiosity, they all decided internally that in the coming days, they would steer clear of Xu Longxiang, lest they run into his gunfire and suffer an undeserved calamity.

"Longxiang, come in."

A moment later, when Xu Longxiang arrived at the residence of Heavenly Master Zhang, the door automatically opened, and Heavenly Master Zhang’s voice came from inside the room.

Xu Longxiang adjusted his emotions and hastened his steps, entering the room.

In the room, Heavenly Master Zhang sat cross-legged on a cushion with several incense sticks in the incense burner behind him. The smoke miraculously encircled Heavenly Master Zhang, making him look as if he were in an Immortal Realm, imparting a sense of holiness.

"Master." Xu Longxiang paid his respects.

"Longxiang, has the Ye lad agreed to a reconciliation?"

Heavenly Master Zhang asked directly, not having entered seclusion these past two days, as he was waiting for Xu Longxiang to bring back news.

"No," replied Xu Longxiang truthfully.

"What happened?"

Heavenly Master Zhang stood up and flicked his horsetail whisk, and the smoke miraculously dispersed, then vanished without a trace.

The horsetail whisk in his hand, like the Taiyin Xuan Sword, was one of Wudang Sect’s treasures and a High-level Magic Artifact.

"Master, that little bastard directly turned me away at the door!" As Xu Longxiang spoke, he looked up, with his anger clearly displayed on his face.

Upon hearing this, Heavenly Master Zhang’s eyebrows slightly raised: "Tell me the details."

"Two days ago, after I arrived in Dong Hai, I went straight to Ao Xiang Villa. I was stopped outside the villa by two people, then I introduced myself and asked them to report to that bastard."

As he recalled the incident, Xu Longxiang grew increasingly angry, "Who would have thought, after waiting the time it takes for three sticks of incense to burn, there was still no response. So, I told them again that I wanted to speak with that bastard, and in the end, that bastard had his underlings tell me that he was too busy to see me!"

"Judging by his past behavior, it’s not difficult to see that he is a smart man. Since you went there personally, he should be able to guess our intentions—could it be that he’s determined to move against our Wudang Sect?"

Heavenly Master Zhang’s frown deepened. Although he was not afraid of Ye Fan’s retaliation, deep down, he would have preferred to make peace with Ye Fan.

"Master, it’s quite obvious. He must hate us because of Elder Mu and the junior brother’s affairs, which is why he turned me away. And given his past behavior, he will certainly look for an opportunity to strike at us."

Xu Longxiang spoke with a flicker of cold light in his eyes, "That bastard is too arrogant—if he doesn’t want to save face, then there’s no need for us to talk anymore!"

This time, Heavenly Master Zhang did not speak.

A trace of anger began to emerge in his eyes.

Wudang and Shaolin have been representatives of the Huaxia Martial Arts World since ancient times, with Wudang enjoying the patronage of feudal emperors and reaching its zenith during the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Yongle "built the Forbidden City to the north and refurbished Wudang to the south," and the Wudang Daoist School was known as the "Imperial Family Temple."

Today, although Wudang Sect is not as dazzling as it was during the Ming Dynasty, it still stands as a towering presence in the Huaxia Martial Arts World, otherwise, the biennial ’Qing bang competition’ would not be held at Wudang this summer.

Besides, as the Wudang Sect Leader and like Chu Xuanji, he is one of the few Supreme Strongmen who have stepped into the Gang Qi Realm in both Martial Arts and Magic, equivalent to the Beidou of the Huaxia Martial Arts World!

In his view, the conduct of Father and Son Murong may have been wrong, but Ye Wenhao and Ye Fan, father and son, have already killed them and taken the Taiyin Xuan Sword.

Now, with the Ye Family behind him, Ye Fan is posing such a high attitude, which is a complete insult to both the Wudang Sect and himself as the Wudang Sect Leader!

"Longxiang."

After a moment of silence, Heavenly Master Zhang spoke again, with a flash of coldness in his eyes and a subtle killing intent emerging from him, causing the airflow to stir and his Taoist robe to flutter loudly.

"Your disciple is here!"

Sensing the change in Heavenly Master Zhang’s aura, Xu Longxiang felt a surge of emotion and bowed in response.

"Tomorrow, you will go down the mountain again," Heavenly Master Zhang commanded coldly: "This time, conceal your tracks, and be absolutely sure not to be noticed by anyone from the Yanhuang Organization."

"Master, does this mean to secretly eliminate that little bastard?" Xu Longxiang was overjoyed.

"One should leave some leeway in doing things, so as to meet each other in the future. If he insists on pushing our Wudang Sect to a dead end, then let me send him on his way first!"

Heavenly Master Zhang nodded, speaking decisively: "Longxiang, when you strike, you must ensure there is no room for error; make sure it’s a fatal blow and dispose of the body without a trace, leaving no evidence or clues behind!"

"Master, rest assured, your disciple knows what to do."

Xu Longxiang bowed to accept the command and then left the room, rubbing his hands together eagerly, as if he could hardly wait to take Ye Fan down and settle the resentment in his heart.

...

As the sunset completely dropped behind the mountain and darkness gradually descended, Ye Fan didn’t head to villa number 10 to dine nor did he sit cross-legged on the piece of jade stone in the middle of the courtyard to cultivate; instead, he stood on the villa’s balcony, looking out at the brilliant night lights in the distance, feeling a deep emptiness within.

In fact, two days ago, when he finished reading the letter that Su Liuli had left behind, his heart became hollow, as though he had lost something important.

He didn’t know why he felt this way.

This was the first time he had ever felt like this.

"Do you want to eat something?"

After night had completely enveloped the sky, Su Yuxin came to Ye Fan’s side. Seeing Ye Fan’s disconsolate face, she spoke softly.

"I’m not hungry," Ye Fan said, shaking his head gently.

"People need food as iron needs steel; even though you are an Innate Martial Artist, you can’t just not eat," said Su Yuxin.

"I can’t eat."

Upon hearing that, Ye Fan retracted his gaze and looked at Su Yuxin, who was only a stone’s throw away, and his mood turned complicated.

"You care a lot about Liu Li." Su Yuxin sighed softly.

Care about her?

Ye Fan was stunned, a memory of his first meeting with Su Liuli surfaced in his mind; he hadn’t liked her willful attitude then.

He also remembered Su Liuli’s birthday party, where she announced publicly that he too was a birthday celebrant. When he took the stage, his smile was bright and radiant.

That smile, like the most enchanting scenery in the world, was deeply etched into the recesses of his heart.

Although that image hadn’t appeared before Su Liuli left, he had never forgotten it.

He couldn’t forget, either, the day when, as if by some devilish influence, he had become united in spirit with Su Liuli.

"These past two days, you haven’t eaten or cultivated, just standing here in a daze. All of this is enough to prove that you do care about her." Seeing that Ye Fan did not speak, Su Yuxin bit her lip gently and said with a complicated expression.

"I don’t know if it’s caring, but after I read that letter, I suddenly felt very lost, and memories of being with her keep surfacing in my mind." Ye Fan thought for a moment and did not hide this from Su Yuxin.

Su Yuxin gave a wry smile: "Then you do care."

"But I didn’t feel like this before, I just thought of her as a friend," Ye Fan said, puzzled.

Unable to help herself, Su Yuxin’s gaze drifted back toward the dazzling night scene in the distance. Her feelings were like an overturned bottle of mixed flavors, extremely complex. "You didn’t have that feeling before because you didn’t know about Liu Li’s secret affection for you. In fact, Liu Li has already occupied a very important place in your heart; it’s just that you haven’t realized it yourself. It’s just as the saying goes, ’you can’t see the true face of Mount Lu because you are right in the middle of it.’"

"Perhaps," Ye Fan murmured, smiling bitterly, his emotions tangled.

"Since you care, then you should go find her and bring her back."

Su Yuxin’s gaze returned to Ye Fan, her previously complicated expression replaced by one of calm.

"Yuxin, you..."

Ye Fan was taken aback, having not expected Su Yuxin to say such a thing.

"You want to ask why I would say that, right?" Su Yuxin laughed, her laugh tinged with helplessness.

Ye Fan nodded with a complex look on his face.

"From a selfish standpoint, no woman wishes to share a man with others, and I am no exception," Su Yuxin slowly said. "But...my life was saved by you. Besides that, you’ve done so much for me, more than I could ever repay in this lifetime—not to mention I’ve had the good fortune to become your woman. For me, this has already been the biggest blessing from heaven; I dare not ask for more."

"Moreover, Liu Li is my sister. Although she’s only my cousin, to me there’s no difference from a sibling. I can’t bear to see her in pain, nor do I wish to see her join a Buddhist sect."

As she spoke, determination shone in Su Yuxin’s eyes. "Ye Fan, although Liu Li’s parents are alive, she’s just like you—almost devoid of their love. She may appear to be very cheerful and carefree, acting like she’s always in good spirits, but actually, all that is just a mask she wears to hide her loneliness and vulnerability inside."

Shocked by Su Yuxin’s words, Ye Fan’s heart skipped a beat, his thoughts involuntarily flashing to Su Liuli crying her heart out, and he felt a twinge of pain.

"Liu Li has been lonely for twenty years, and once she really joins a Buddhist sect, she’ll be alone for life."

Looking earnestly into Ye Fan’s eyes, Su Yuxin spoke word by word, "Before she finds that hidden master and truly commits to a Buddhist sect, bring her back. Otherwise, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life, and I’ll be tortured by guilt forever."

"Thank you, Yuxin."

Filled with gratitude, Ye Fan had so much to say, but in the end, he only offered thanks.

"I’ll wait for you to bring Liu Li back."

Su Yuxin smiled and then, not waiting for a response from Ye Fan, she leaped from the balcony and vanished into the night.

"Su Liuli, even if I have to traverse thousands of mountains and rivers, go to the ends of the earth, I will find you!"

Ye Fan cast his gaze towards the western sky and silently pledged to himself.

...

...(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please cast your recommendation and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)