Love & Redemption
Chapter 145: Volume 4 Sudden Split of the China Dream - 2 Timid Love (2)

Chapter 145: Volume 4 Sudden Split of the China Dream Chapter 2 Timid Love (2)

Book ID: 1018852

"Immortal Return"

The latest masterpiece by Yuan Bupo, welcome everyone to support it~~

*********************************

However, the shock was yet to come, as upon reading the message, both were taken aback. Chu Lei’s first words read: "The renegade Zhong Minyan has betrayed his sect and committed heinous crimes. Henceforth, he is expelled from the sect and shall have no further relations with the Shaoyang Sect. This statement stands as proof."

Xuanji exclaimed in shock, "He... he actually announced it to the world! He’s expelled Sixth Brother from the sect!"

Yu Sifeng snatched the message and read it quickly. His face immediately turned pale as he said softly, "He... he killed Chen Minjue! And he left the body at the front gate of the Shaoyang Sect! Everyone saw it!"

Xuanji gasped for air. The two stared at each other in stunned silence for a while until she suddenly said in a low voice, "I don’t believe it! Sixth Brother wouldn’t do such a thing! He’s always been someone tough on the outside but soft at heart... He definitely wouldn’t kill Second Senior Brother!"

Yu Sifeng shook his head. After a long while, he finally said, "Your father is furious about this and has sworn to capture him and bring him to justice. He has ordered us to show no mercy if we see him... He also said that this was a provocation by the demons. We need to be careful and cautious while we’re outside, which is why he sent Red Bird to find us, leaving it as an assistant."

He then looked at the date under the message: Gengzi Month Bingmao Day, which was half a month ago. Chu Lei wasn’t sure if they were still in Germu, so he had Red Bird search everywhere, which took a lot of time.

Xuanji clenched her clothes tightly, her face turning pale. After a long pause, she still repeated the same line, "I don’t believe it!"

Yu Sifeng let out a sigh, spread out the message on the table, and whispered, "I also don’t believe it. Right now, I want to go to Buzhou Mountain to ask Min Yan for an explanation!"

Xuanji quickly stood up and said, "Then we should go right now..." But, upon second thought, she immediately sat back down and shook her head, "No, not going."

She grabbed Yu Sifeng’s sleeve and said softly, "Your injuries haven’t fully healed. I won’t put myself in danger again, and with our current abilities, we would only be marching to our deaths if we tried to break in."

Yu Sifeng was taken aback by her calm reasonableness. Xuanji’s grip was tight, as if she was forcefully repressing the panic in her heart. After a while, she calmed down a bit and said, "We’re not strong enough yet, not at the point where we can rescue them without a scratch. But one day... one day..."

Clearly agitated inside, her pale lips trembled slightly, and tears glistened in her eyes, but she held them back with great effort, "I will make Wu Tong pay for my Second Senior Brother’s vengeance, Sixth Brother’s, and Linglong’s...!"

Yu Sifeng raised his hand, embraced her shoulder, and pressed her head into his chest, speaking softly, "The fact that you think this way shows you’ve matured a lot. I’ll join you in seeking these revenges, two people are always better than one."

She nodded silently, her soft hair sticking to his neck, a tingling, itchy sensation. His heart swayed, but as the mood wasn’t right, he just sighed and said, "Let’s leave this place tomorrow, head for Qingyang. See if Brother Liu is there."

Xuanji simply nodded, not saying a word.

Yu Sifeng felt the atmosphere becoming increasingly awkward. Although they were both deeply disturbed by the matter of Zhong Minyan, it was already late at night. Having a girl in his room, curled up in his embrace—it just didn’t seem proper. Red Bird on the table looked up at them, chirped twice, and then nestled its head back under its wing to continue sleeping. It seemed to like Yu Sifeng’s room just as much as Xuanji did.

"Xuanji... it’s late, you should go back to your room to rest. We have to set off early tomorrow," he said softly, stroking her hair.

She murmured an "Mhm" in response, and finally sat up straight. Her face was wet, tears lingering on her cheeks, looking pitiful. He instinctively reached out to wipe them away, but they only seemed to increase, her tears falling into his palm, scalding hot.

"Xuanji," his voice sounded like a sigh.

She shook her head, looking pitiable, and said, "Sifeng... I don’t want to go back, my heart is aching... will you... will you stay and talk with me for a bit?"

Yu Sifeng said softly, "Talk about what?"

She choked up, then suddenly pushed his hand away and said softly, "Do you hate me? Is that why you find me annoying?"

Yu Sifeng was shocked and said urgently, "No! Why would you think that...?"

She whispered, "You’re growing to hate me more and more. You weren’t like this before... Did I do something wrong again? I’m such a fool, always making mistakes, and I don’t even realize what I’m doing wrong... it’s normal for you to feel annoyed, sometimes I feel annoyed with myself..."

"Xuanji," he raised his voice.

She paused, blinking, and the tears on her eyelashes fell onto her hand.

"If you feel... unhappy being with me, you, you can go back..."

"Go back where?" His voice suddenly sharpened. Xuanji startled and looked up at him. His face was pale, eyes deep, staring fixedly at her, asking, "Are you saying I should go back to Lize Palace?"

Xuanji jumped up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and cried, "It’s all your fault! Why do you always make it seem like it’s my fault? Sifeng! I don’t want you to leave! You... can’t you stop being like this?!"

Yu Sifeng, unguarded against her sudden burst of emotion, was knocked backward by her forceful embrace, and they both fell to the ground with a thump. Xuanji felt a sharp pain in her arm and immediately forgot her tears, grimacing in pain and clutching her arm instead.

"Don’t move, let me see." Yu Sifeng lay on the ground, pulling her arm in front of his eyes. He rolled up her sleeve and, as expected, saw her elbow was grazed, about to bleed. He immediately took out ointment from his waist pouch and carefully applied it to her injury. Afterwards, he wrapped a layer of bandage tightly around it.

Xuanji, by then, had no more thoughts of crying. She fluttered her eyelashes, preoccupied with the pain. Suddenly, she felt him lower his head and gently kiss her wrist. His hot lips slowly climbed up, eventually settling on the most sensitive part of her skin inside her elbow. She couldn’t help but let out an "Ah," her face turning bright red. She tried to pull away her hand, but couldn’t. It seemed as if the pain in her arm had also lessened.

"Xuanji," he called her, then suddenly broke into a slight smile and beckoned her with his fingers. "Come here, I have something to tell you."

She hesitated for a moment, feeling suddenly shy, and shook her head with flushed cheeks. Attempting to stand up by pushing against the ground, she was caught off guard when he pulled her arm, causing her to fall back onto him, both of them tumbling together.

"My injury! My injury!" she exclaimed, pushing herself up quickly, scared of pressing on his chest. Unexpectedly, her nape was forcefully pushed by him, and she fell back down, her cheek burning against his. Their faces were pressed tightly together, his arm so strong, it almost seemed like he wanted to meld her into his body. Xuanji felt as if there was a little rabbit in her chest thumping too fast and couldn’t help but softly call out to him, "Si Feng..."

He placed his hand on the back of her neck and murmured, "Don’t talk. This is fine..."

Xuanji stayed still, like a wooden person lying beside his cheek without moving, not even daring to breathe heavily. She felt that their current position was very strange; having a bed and choosing to sleep on the ground was like playing a game of stacking arhats. Yet, for some reason, she grew increasingly nervous, as if she was suffocating, and there was a vague instinct, like a small hook, continuously prodding her, reminding her of something indescribable.

After a long while, Yu Sifeng let out a deep chuckle and said softly, "Sometimes, we really do act like fools."

Xuanji turned her face away, her lips accidentally brushing against his cheek. Her face flushed, and she hastily said, "I... I..."

He turned his head, kissed her cheek too, and softly said, "I will never find you annoying. Xuanji, it’s just that I’ve been too clumsy, it has nothing to do with you."

She looked at him timidly, like a wronged child. Yu Sifeng’s brow unfurled into a smile and said, "But this is really not proper right now. Let’s go to the bed, lie down, and talk, shall we?"

He picked her up by the waist, walked to the bed, spread out the blankets, and gently laid her on them. Xuanji’s face suddenly flared red, an odd feeling washing over her, prompting her to sit up quickly and whisper, "No, no... it’s better not to, I’m going back to my room to sleep."

He didn’t stop her, only smiling as he asked, "Don’t you need me to keep you company and talk?"

Frantically shaking her head, she said, "No, no... I feel... this somehow isn’t right... even though... I don’t know why... I should go back."

As she got up to leave, he suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist, spinning her world around as she found herself brought back to the bed and falling onto it. Suddenly, she felt his weight on top of her. Xuanji was trembling inside, her tongue even going numb, staring blankly into his dark eyes, unable to utter a word.

He leaned in close, his hot breath grazing her lips. Xuanji let out a series of moans, quickly turning her head away, feeling as if her entire body was about to ignite. She felt him whisper by her ear, "Don’t be so unguarded, I’m not a saint."

She shut her eyes tightly, unsure if she was afraid or anticipating something. After waiting for what seemed an eternity, the weight on her eased, and she heard rustling sounds. Hurriedly opening her eyes, she saw him looking relaxed, nonchalantly removing his outer garment and slipping under the blankets. Then, patting the pillow beside him, he smiled and said, "Just this once, never again. Come here, I’ll keep you company and talk."

Xuanji’s heart was filled with confusion and nervousness, with a faint sense of loss. After a long daze, she finally crawled over and lay on him like a big cat, whispering, "You’re right, we can both be fools sometimes. But the biggest fool is me."

He chuckled softly, his chest vibrating. Xuanji felt as though her entire body was immersed in warm water, so comfortable that she lazily played with his fingers. Little Silver Flower, probably startled by their recent "fierce battle," hesitantly poked its head out from the sleeve of his robe. It spat a cold letter into Xuanji’s palm as if inquiring.

The moment Xuanji saw it, an idea struck her, and she exclaimed, "Si Feng! Can I also raise a spiritual beast?"

She had seen many cultivators with spiritual beasts that could be very helpful in critical moments and thought it would be great to train one herself, lending her strength like the stripes on a tiger.

The more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed. She recited her thoughts like listing her treasures, "You’ve learned Yao Hua Swordsmanship, and your Yang Que Technique is improving. As for me, I haven’t yet perfected the swordsmanship of the Lize Palace. We still have to go to Buzhou Mountain to rescue people, and being half-baked won’t do. Raising a spiritual beast, preferably one that can fly or is light-bodied, would bolster that sword technique, making it much more powerful than it is now."

Yu Sifeng said, "Raising a spiritual beast isn’t like keeping a pet; it won’t show improvement in a year or two. Unless you catch a formidable demon, if you want to raise one from a young age like Little Silver Flower, it won’t be of any help without a decade or so of effort."

"Then let’s go catch a formidable demon."

Xuanji looked at her hands, then suddenly sighed softly, "If I could use Samadhi True Fire anytime, like on Buzhou Mountain and at Lize Palace, we wouldn’t have anything to worry about. But the spell is unreliable, so I can’t count on it."

Yu Sifeng laughed, "Then don’t count on it, and earnestly continue your cultivation. As for the spiritual beast, there will always be an opportunity to find one that is compatible with you. Rushing to find one now might not lead to finding a good match."

Xuanji nodded, gradually feeling her eyelids grow heavy, overwhelmed by tiredness. She yawned, pulled the covers around her, and nestled against his shoulder, rubbing it twice, whispering softly, "Si Feng... when it’s time for the Flower Pinning Conference, let’s plead with father together, alright?"

Yu Sifeng was slightly startled, then understood she was still troubled by the matter with Zhong Minyan. He smiled and nodded, "Alright. Perhaps the old man is just in a fit of anger, like last time at the Sacrificial Altar... I think your Second Senior Brother wouldn’t have killed Min Yan; he’s not that kind of person. There might be some misunderstanding or conspiracy involved."

Xuanji softly agreed, her breaths deepening as she fell into slumber. Yu Sifeng tucked in the corner of the blanket for her and was about to blow out the candle by the bed when he heard her murmur, "Second Senior Brother... Kaleidoscope... don’t go..." It seemed she was dreaming of her childhood at the Shaoyang Sect, where after she was injured by Wu Tong, Chen Minjue, fearing she’d be bored, brought her a kaleidoscope to play with and never took it back, a toy that had entertained her for a long time at Little Yang Peak.

"Xuanji?" Yu Sifeng called out to her, but when he looked down, he saw her brows tightly furrowed, large teardrops clinging to her eyelashes. She seemed to be dreaming as she murmured, "Kaleidoscope... Second Senior Brother... I’m sorry..."

He sighed deeply, reflecting on the upheavals of the past few months, and felt a tinge of desolation in his heart that kept him from sleep.

*****************

Suddenly, Si Feng leaned in, his hot breath brushing over her lips. Xuanji let out a string of moans from her throat, hastily turning her head away as if on fire from head to toe. She could feel him whispering close to her ear, "If you won’t give me a ticket, I won’t go on." (To be continued... To find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)