Love & Redemption
Chapter 57 - 17 Qu Ru’s Truth (4)

Chapter 57: Chapter 17 Qu Ru’s Truth (4)

Both of them leaned against the trunk of the tree and sat for a while, gradually regaining their strength.

Yu Sifeng tried to move his arm, put on his coat, and said, "You seem to have learned quite a lot in these four years. The Fire Manipulation Technique you just used was really beautiful."

Xuanji, suddenly being complimented, couldn’t help but feel smug and chuckled, "That... That’s right!"

She was too embarrassed to ask what the "Fire Manipulation Technique" was, and even more embarrassed to tell him that she usually could only summon three or four Fire Dragons at most. Si Feng rarely complimented anyone, so she didn’t want to be laughed at by him again.

He laughed again, and then suddenly raised his hand to lightly scrape her nose, "Look how pleased you are."

Xuanji helped him tie the sash of his coat and bandaged the wound with a medicine pack. After all the work was done, the night had grown deeper, and the silvery full moon had risen to the center of the sky, looking like a jade plate placed overhead.

Yu Sifeng suddenly asked, "What time is it now?"

"Um, probably... almost past midnight."

"Why haven’t Min Yan and the others come back yet?"

When he mentioned this, Xuanji suddenly remembered the words Zhong Minyan and the others had reiterated before leaving, and she couldn’t help but jump up anxiously, "Oh no! Not good! They said that if they don’t come back by midnight, it means they’ve encountered danger! We... What should we..."

"Don’t panic." Yu Sifeng tried to stand up, only to feel his hands and feet were weak and powerless. He finally managed to stand up straight, but using Sword Control was absolutely impossible, "Did he leave any instructions?"

"Well... He said if they encountered danger, they would send a signal, and we should hurry back to Zhao Family Manor upon seeing it..." Xuanji said hesitantly.

Yu Sifeng pondered for a long while, "There hasn’t been any signal, so I guess..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud "bang" burst forth in the sky, igniting a dazzlingly red firework that cascaded down like falling petals, as red as blood. They both recognized this kind of signal firework, which was used as a warning only in times of urgent crisis.

Linglong and the others really did encounter danger on the front mountain!

The two of them exchanged a horrified look and, without caring about the numbness in their limbs or the pain of their wounds, hurriedly flew to the front mountain using Sword Control.

****

The front mountain of Haiwan was not as gentle and wooded as the back mountain, but was covered with rugged, odd-shaped rocks, among which were densely packed, hiding countless mountain caves. Linglong and her group had been circling the front mountain for half the day and were still unclear about which cave Yu Sifeng had seen during his strange dance earlier. Eventually, they became somewhat tired from flying and had to stop on a large rock for a rest.

"It’s even more difficult than finding a cave on Sun Peak; we could search for a year and still not find it." Linglong massaged her sore legs and took a drink from the water flask tied around her waist, tilting her head back for a gulp.

Zhong Minyan observed the surroundings and said pensively, "There’s something unusual here. There was such a ruckus on the back mountain, but it’s strangely quiet over here. It’s eerily quiet. I suppose that the one pulling the strings is close by, we should keep searching with more effort."

Hearing him say this, Linglong rallied her spirits, took another swig of water, patted the dust off her clothes, and said, "Let’s go! Let’s continue! Tonight we must find him no matter what!"

Lu Yanran leaned against a rock, sighed softly, and said, "With so many caves here, how can we possibly search... Why don’t we go back for today and come again tomorrow night?"

Zhong Minyan didn’t even have the chance to speak before Linglong scoffed, "Such poor stamina, and yet you talk about cultivation!"

Lu Yanran hummed, speaking slowly, "Yes, I’m just a frail girl, how can I compare with a wild woman full of energy, bouncing around lively."

"Who are you calling a female savage?!" Linglong pointed at her own nose, her willow eyebrows inverted in anger.

Lu Yanran gave a charming smile, "Did I say it was you? Why so sensitive."

Linglong jumped up again.

On the one side, the two young ladies were squabbling and trading verbal jabs; on the other, Zhong Minyan was listening with impatience and turned to Ruo Yu to ask, "How did Si Feng manage to find the person manipulating things behind the scenes a moment ago?"

Ruo Yu smiled and said, "It was a kind of witchcraft. Si Feng learned it by following the Palace Master for a few days, but he only learned the basics and ended up exhausting his strength."

"He knows witchcraft too?!" Zhong Minyan was both surprised and impressed. This brother, although a year younger than himself, really knew quite a lot. He had thought that after four years of diligent cultivation, he would finally surpass him, but it seemed he was still outdone.

"Can Ruo Yu do it too? Why not try to find out exactly which cave it is?"

Ruo Yu hurriedly shook his head and repeatedly said, "I’m ashamed... I can’t do these things. Si Feng is exceptionally gifted; we ordinary Lize Palace disciples can only admire him from afar."

Linglong was getting tired of bickering with Lu Yanran when she heard such humble words and couldn’t help but laugh, "Ruo Yu is too modest. Speaking of which, your iron slingshot is quite impressive. Oh right, Si Feng used to play with a slingshot too, did he learn it from you?"

She recalled the foolish things of her childhood, when, because Si Feng had made her a slingshot, she had taken quite a fancy to him. But it turned out he had a terrible temper, which had left her half dead with rage, and the sudden attraction she felt vanished without a trace. The affairs of childhood were truly a chaotic mess.

Ruo Yu nodded and said, "That’s right, Si Feng has always been eager to learn. He saw that my slingshot was well made that day and begged to play with it. It wasn’t long before he learned to make one himself. It seems that both the Palace Master and Vice Palace Master have special regard for Si Feng, and not without reason."

Everyone listened to his words and couldn’t help feeling impressed. Lu Yanran was even more visibly delighted. She had always had a fondness for the mysterious and eccentric Yu Sifeng. Now, hearing about his remarkable achievements, her heart was filled with sweet joy. She was eager to see him and talk to him right away.

Linglong couldn’t stand to see her so lovesick and immediately scoffed, "Who knows what Si Feng and your sister are doing right now... Oh, they haven’t seen each other in four years, so they must have a lot of whispers to share. Hmm, some people should not hold onto any wild hopes."

"Mind your own business!" Lu Yanran said, flustered and exasperated.

"Tsk, why are you getting agitated, I wasn’t even talking about you!"

"You..."

Zhong Minyan felt a headache coming on, as he was about to tell them to stop arguing, when suddenly from the southeast came the sound of flapping wings, like a large flock of birds in motion. Everyone immediately fell silent, stopped their bickering, and hid behind large rocks to look. They saw the dozens of Qu Ru Birds that had previously fled, now gathered together, circling and hovering below a cluster of rugged rocks, seemingly wanting to enter but not daring to, fluttering about in commotion.

"I remember there’s a cave over there!" Linglong suddenly recalled that underneath those sharp rocks lay a hidden small cave. Because it was so narrow that people had to bend over and suck in their bellies to barely squeeze in, they abandoned the search inside, "The culprit must be hiding in that cave!"

Zhong Minyan looked around and said in a deep voice, "Linglong, you come with me to provoke at the cave entrance. Ruo Yu, you lead Miss Lu around the back to see if there’s another entrance, and make sure he doesn’t escape!"

Everyone agreed and immediately split up to act.

Linglong couldn’t wait any longer and rushed ahead of Zhong Minyan. Her figure shot forth like lightning, heading straight for it. The Qu Ru Birds, caught off guard by someone suddenly emerging from the side, became disorganized. Linglong waved her broken gold, inflicting heavy casualties in a matter of moments.

Zhong Minyan followed closely behind her, cutting down the dozen or so Qu Ru trying to flee into the cave with his sword, the two of them seeming to have a tacit understanding as they changed position in mid-air. Zhong Minyan positioned himself at the entrance, took out a string of firecrackers from his bosom, lit them, and threw them into the cave with force.

A series of explosive sounds shook the earth, smoke billowed, and a dark figure suddenly shot out of the cave entrance, moving as fast as lightning, and in the blink of an eye was about to dive into another cave nearby.