Love & Redemption
Chapter 138: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji - 45 - Li Ze Palace (2)

Chapter 138: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji Chapter 45 - Li Ze Palace (2)

Lize Palace was located on a remote island overseas, with treacherous terrain and well-concealed, such that even hundreds of years might pass without a visitor. Among the Five Great Sects that hosted the Flower Pinning Conference, it was the only one that didn’t offer its own martial arts arena. The other four Sects were aware of the numerous strict rules of the Sect, including the requirement to wear masks and the prohibition against contact with women. Given that many female disciples participated in the Flower Pinning Conference, how could the event proceed without allowing women to enter?

Thus, the young disciples of Lize Palace had scarcely ever seen outsiders near their own gates. According to the Sect’s rules, disciples needed to wear masks when outside, but inside the palace, such formalities were unnecessary. Therefore, the disciples playing in the water by the sea all showed their true faces and merely carried their masks at their waists.

Xuanji and her two companions had barged in directly using Sword Control, so swiftly that by the time anyone realized it, they were already standing beneath the twin White Jade Pavilions. Upon seeing that the leader was a young woman with a scruffy and dirty old man following her, pushing a wheelchair with a handsome youth sitting in it, the disciples were all stunned, having never before seen outsiders intrude so rudely. Some of the more conscientious disciples hurriedly donned their masks.

As soon as Xuanji landed, she unceremoniously drew her sword and shouted at the unsuspecting young disciples who were frolicking in the water, "Release Yu Sifeng!"

Some of the young disciples had never left the palace before and were seeing a woman for the first time today. Despite Xuanji’s fierce demeanor and threatening sword, her beautiful face and graceful figure had them spellbound. She repeated her demand several times to no response, her frustration mounting, until she finally sent a sword flying, splashing a large spray of water onto them and snapping them back to reality. They reacted with various cries, some turning to flee and others clumsily trying to put on their masks, yet no one answered her.

Seeing Xuanji losing her temper, Liu Yihuan sighed and said, "Hey, take it easy! After all, isn’t this their territory? Don’t you understand the principle of behaving according to the host’s rules?"

After straightening his disheveled collar and untidily ruffled hair, which hadn’t been combed in ten years, he strolled over with a carefree attitude and addressed the several dazed door-guarding disciples, "We are visitors from outside, seeking an audience with the Palace Master of Lize Palace. Could you please inform him?"

The door-guarding disciples, finding him indescribably sleazy, felt an instinctive disgust, and their reluctance to convey the message was compounded by Xuanji’s aggressive entrance. They promptly replied, "The Palace Master is out and not currently in the palace. Please leave and return another day."

Liu Yihuan chuckled and said, "Trying to deceive me? If the Palace Master isn’t present, why is the lamp lit on that pavilion?"

He pointed towards the left White Jade Pavilion, where indeed atop the high pavilion there was a small loft. The loft itself was empty except for a long-burning lamp flickering brightly. Realizing that he knew about one of Lize Palace’s unspoken rules, the disciples were moved. Traditionally, the lamp on the left symbolized the Great Palace Master’s presence in the palace, while the lamp on the right indicated the Vice Palace Master’s presence. Generally, only members of Lize Palace were privy to this rule, making them all the more suspicious of Liu Yihuan, a stranger who knew it so clearly.

As soon as he posed the question, the crowd became alert, observing them with eyes that scrutinized for spies. One of them said gravely, "The Palace Master has instructed us to tell all visitors that he is not within the palace and to ask them to leave at once. Please do not act presumptuously in front of Lize Palace!"

Having held back her mounting anger, Xuanji saw that the man was impolite. Without further ado, her treasure sword, Bengyu, hummed vibrantly with sword qi, ready to execute the man on her command.

Seeing her ready to strike, the disciples swiftly drew their weapons, and both parties faced each other, neither willing to back down. Liu Yihuan grimaced and said, "Hey, what’s with the high and mighty attitude recently, Lize Palace? A Palace Master isn’t an Emperor; what makes him so difficult to meet? Let me see... Oh, your waist wears a Purple Token; you must be of the seventh generation. The Palace Master belongs merely to the second generation; by rank, I am his senior. You should even be thankful he didn’t have to greet us personally!"

Recognizing from the color of their waist tokens their generational rank, they grew even more suspect. Unlike other Sects that ranked generations with suffixes like ’Min’, Lize Palace used differently colored tokens—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple—to signify generations, with one cycle every seven generations. The guards wearing purple tokens were of the seventh generation while the subsequent second and third generations would wear new red and orange tokens.

"You... who are you?!" a door-guarding disciple finally asked sharply, signalling to others to encircle them, prepared to apprehend them at any sign of dispute and send them to the Punishment Hall.

Seemingly unbothered, Liu Yihuan chuckled and scratched himself before pulling out a grubby token from within his filthy bosom, "Here, take a look, what is this?"

In his palm he held a token, bright as vermillion, and inscribed with golden letters: Jiazi Yihai. The disciples were shocked beyond pale; a red token indicated that he was from the first generation of Lize Palace, even older than the current Palace Master. The predecessors who held red tokens had long ago disappeared into seclusion, became Elders, and were even honored by the Palace Master himself. How could this man, never seen before in Lize Palace, possess such a token?

The guards wavered, with voices rising in discussion—some suggested reporting directly to the Palace Master, while others staunchly disagreed, assuming the token was stolen, and advised apprehending them immediately. Amid the dispute, they became distracted from the three visitors, easing the previously tense atmosphere.

"Tsk, a bunch of naïve fools!" Liu Yihuan sneered, "Only the shortsighted produce such narrow-minded disciples, tsk tsk~~ Indeed, leaving here was a great decision! Wonderful!"

Xuanji couldn’t help but wonder, "Brother Liu... is that token real? Were you once part of the Lize Palace?"

"Is there even a fake one?" Liu Yihuan glared and said irritably, "Of course I was from Lize Palace, but that was in the past! Otherwise, how would I know Little Phoenix? He and I have a deep connection!"

Xuanji wanted to ask how he had managed to escape Lize Palace without being punished years ago, but before she could ask, a commotion erupted at the gate, followed by a harsh voice shouting, "Who is causing trouble in front of Lize Palace?!"

The arguing guard disciples immediately changed their expression, turned around, knelt down, and said in unison, "We’ve seen Elder Luo!"

Liu Yihuan focused his gaze and saw about a dozen disciples in green robes emerge from the gate, with the leader wearing a fiery-red Shura mask, thin in stature but posing haughtily, walking with his head held high and chest out, exuding an air of unrivaled arrogance. Upon seeing him, Xuanji involuntarily exclaimed, "Ah!" Liu Yihuan quickly asked, "What, do you know him?"

Xuanji whispered, "Last time at Little Yang Peak, it was he who followed behind that Palace Master, very fierce, constantly shouting about punishing Si Feng."

Liu Yihuan laughed and said, "That’s natural; as an Elder of the Punishment Hall, he naturally has to clarify rewards and punishments. Don’t be fooled by his appearance; he is very powerful! An old fellow who holds a Red Card, even the two Palace Masters give him some respect. When he recognizes me, he will definitely be furious; it’s definitely going to be a good show, just wait."

His fury is considered a good show? It might just turn into a big fight, truly a person who revels in chaos.

That Elder Luo stepped forward and first glanced at Xuanji, then coldly said, "Women are not allowed in Lize Palace! Miss, leave quickly, or don’t blame us for disrespecting Sect Leader Chu of Shaoyang Sect!"

Xuanji was startled and urgently said, "You remember who I am!"

Elder Luo sneered and said, "The talented daughter of Sect Leader Chu, how could I not recognize her!"

He really was petty and vengeful! Xuanji was shocked. Back at Little Yang Peak, they had barely exchanged a few words; she was still just a child then, and after four years her appearance had completely changed. Yet he recognized her instantly, showing he had held onto that incident all this time, a true example of a vindictive nature.

Elder Luo then said, "Yu Sifeng is a disciple of our sect, and matters concerning him are for our sect to decide, not for outsiders to interfere with. Now that his time away for gaining experience is over, he naturally returns to Lize Palace. If you wish to see him, you may have to wait until fate allows."

Liu Yihuan, seeing him mumbling for ages without recognizing him, couldn’t help but be stupefied. He had arranged himself expectantly, waiting for him to be shocked upon recognition, yet he failed to realize who he was. Liu Yihuan could only sigh deeply and said, "Old Luo, long time no see, and your words are still unpleasing."

Elder Luo, upon being addressed this way, was slightly shaken, his gaze circled tightly around Liu Yihuan, scanning him from head to toe, before he finally exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, "It’s you! You... you even dare to come back!"

His voice, already hoarse and odd, became even more grating as he raised his voice, causing discomfort. Liu Yihuan laughed heartily, "Finally recognized! What reason have I not to come back? I haven’t done anything wrong!"

Seeing him, Elder Luo was filled with both old and new resentments, and said sternly, "So it was you who caused the trouble! Humph! Whether you’ve done something wrong, you know best! Who exactly enraged the Old Palace Master to death, you know even better! Now... now that you are pleased with yourself, why come back? Seeking death?"

Finishing his words, he glanced at Xuanji and then at a stoic Ting Nu, so furious that his body trembled slightly, he yelled, "Rebellion! Not only do you have the audacity to return but you’ve also come back to stir trouble! I failed to execute you, the traitor, under the sword back then, today I will use your blood to sacrifice to the Old Palace Master!"

With a "clang", he drew the treasure sword from his waist. The sword, twisted like a snake and blue in color, was exquisitely and strangely shaped. Liu Yihuan turned back to Xuanji with a malicious smile, whispered, "See, didn’t I tell you? The show has started." (To be continued. For more updates, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters, author support, and legal reading!)