Chapter 164: Daoist Hu and the Little Fox
The sparring on the Spirit Boat lasted an entire hour, until both Qin Hongye and Mu Jixue were utterly exhausted.
At the end, they glared at each other viciously, refusing to admit defeat, their mutual disgust deepening.
However, Yun Zhonghe clapped enthusiastically, celebrating their spectacular display of friendly sparring.
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! The ladies’ martial skills have truly broadened my horizons!”
Yun Zhonghe’s praise echoed, leaving the two beautiful maidens shocked and staring at him with bewilderment.
Mu Jixue: ?
Qin Hongye: ?
But seeing Yun Zhonghe’s amused smile, they felt as if he was misunderstanding something, and fell into silence.
The atmosphere instantly turned tense.
Hmm? Did I say something wrong?
“Thank you for your compliments, young master Yun. I only know some simple spells; compared to you and Senior Sister Mu, I am nothing exceptional.”
Qin Hongye broke the silence first, smiling and leaning towards Mu Jixue, appearing very close-knit with her.
Mu Jixue instinctively wanted to pull away, revealing a look of disdain.
But Qin Hongye whispered, “Our little grudges don’t need to affect young master Yun. Clearly, he doesn’t want us at odds. I don’t want to worry him, let alone cause him trouble. You understand, right?”
Despite being a bit of a crazy person, Qin Hongye was quite sharp and level-headed compared to Mu Jixue.
She didn’t want Yun Zhonghe to fuss over them again.
Moreover, it was really between them.
Qin Hongye glanced coldly at Mu Jixue, saying, “I am not in the mood for this friend game, but I’d rather not see Yun Zhonghe pay more. Don’t you want him to help you? So, play along nicely.”
Those words made Mu Jixue shudder fiercely.
Back when Yun Zhonghe had said something similar, she wouldn’t have submitted so easily. Today, however, she had decided to change and not cause Yun Zhonghe any more trouble.
Thus, Mu Jixue took a deep breath and forced a smile, “Senior Sister Qin is too modest. Without you holding back, I would never have lasted so long.”
“Huh?”
This wasn’t Yun Zhonghe or Lin Zhongyu speaking; it was Qin Hongye, who looked surprised. She hadn’t expected Mu Jixue to be so cooperative.
In fact, she didn’t even throw tantrums anymore.
Lin Zhongyu, previously worried, felt that Mu Jixue must have remembered her promise to mend her ways, and the good vibes from Yun Zhonghe seemed to have really impacted her.
At this moment, Lin Zhongyu felt incredibly excited—the matured Mu Jixue was finally here.
Yun Zhonghe also felt good about it, because with his pushy encouragement, the two girls had managed to spar for a whole hour.
This improved relationship was solid!
…
Afterwards, Mu Jixue and Qin Hongye maintained a polite facade in public while privately competing and jockeying for position.
But their spiritual energy had been completely drained, so all they could do was end the battle temporarily.
As for Qin Hongye’s attempt to knock out Yun Zhonghe and take advantage of him, they kept it secret.
Qin Hongye, naturally, wouldn’t spill the beans about Yun Zhonghe, but Mu Jixue wanted to share yet couldn’t find an appropriate opportunity. She feared Yun Zhonghe might not believe her and might lecture her about getting along with Qin Hongye.
Like how Lin Zhongyu had lectured her before about getting along better with Yun Zhonghe.
Wah… Why am I always getting lectured?
Mu Jixue really felt agitated.
On the other hand, after the incident, Yun Zhonghe found it odd that he suddenly fainted during his chat with Qin Hongye.
So, he asked Tao Jiu’er, but she seemed to have passed out too.
“It’s really regrettable, young master, that I should act this way on the first day out.”
Seeing her expression, she also appeared tired.
Yun Zhonghe was confused—had they been drugged?
Come to think of it, in the original game, if Qin Hongye walked the route of the villainous cannon fodder, she would resort to such measures to get closer to Mu Jixue. She would stop at nothing.
But now, that was behind her. Besides, it wasn’t Qin Hongye alone then. The possibilities of Qin Hongye doing anything suspicious with him were slim.
Impossible! Absolutely not!
Since he couldn’t figure it out, there was no point in thinking further.
“Speaking of which, Xue Yunjian still hasn’t reacted.”
Yun Zhonghe gave up on Qin Hongye and Mu Jixue’s matter and examined his new sword.
He still didn’t understand whether the morning’s experience was real or a hallucination. He had many questions, but couldn’t wake it up.
He didn’t know how to activate the Xue Yunjian either.
Right then, his communication jade amulet buzzed with activity.
Someone sent him a message?
Yun Zhonghe put aside Xue Yunjian and took out the jade amulet, pouring his spiritual energy into it to investigate.
To his surprise, it was Daoist Hu.
Little Fox: “Brother Yun, heard you’re off to Xuantian Sect today? Can I visit you? I want to send you off.”
There was a strange feeling, as if Yun Zhonghe saw a tiny yellow fox wagging its tail wildly in front of his eyes.
Quite doglike antics.
This was weird—why did he think of a fox? It could have just as easily been a dog.
Even though they belonged to the same family of canine species.
Shaking his head, he dismissed the unusual thought.
Yun Zhonghe replied, “I’m already on my way to Xuantian Sect. Coincidentally, Miss Qin Hongye is heading back too and offered to give me a ride.”
Explaining his situation.
These days, Little Fox had been pampering her stung face in the inn, applying medicine daily in hopes of reducing the swelling and revealing her true appearance sooner.
While everyone else had visited Cloud Manor to meet Yun Zhonghe, Little Fox had not come yet.
She actually did want to catch up with Yun Zhonghe.
In fact, these past few days, she occasionally sent messages to Yun Zhonghe, sometimes sharing her experiences in the guesthouse in Cangzhou City, other times complaining about the lack of variety in the market there.
Yesterday, she mentioned that her seniors had come looking for her, so maybe she’d be leaving Cangzhou City soon.
Yet, she kept making excuses, hoping to meet Yun Zhonghe before she left.
When she finally healed her face and was ready to visit, Yun Zhonghe had already left.
She wanted to cry so badly.
