In Second Qingzhou, “Don’t you dare move.”
He Liansheng lifted his wrist, forcing Xing Shuishui’s hand up with it.
The young man spoke coldly: “Tell Hua Yue to come out and undo this cursed thing. I don’t care if you marry Du Dizhu.”
Hua Wushan’s face turned red: “I’m not… I don’t like men!”
The elder beside them spoke gravely: “Young Master He, our Tower Master said she’ll meet when the time is right. There’s no need to rush. Besides, Hua Yu Tower has forty-nine formations of mystical arts. If things turn violent, you may not come out ahead.”
Li Guanyu caught the key point: “Your Tower Master knew we would come looking for her?”
The elder replied: “Regarding the matter of Luo Dan Kingdom, our Tower Master has nothing to say. But it depends on whether you have what it takes to bring her back to Lingshan.”
That was rather arrogant…
Li Guanxing said: “What skill is there in hiding inside a tower?”
The elder responded casually: “Then you’re free to leave.”
“Hua Yu Tower rarely opens to outsiders. This time it’s only for the marriage selection. We’re not here specifically for Lingshan’s interrogation. Please don’t disturb us.”
Li Guanxing wanted to say something but was stopped by his sister.
Li Guanyu said: “We apologize, Elder. We were thoughtless this time. We hope to meet the Tower Master next time.”
He Liansheng turned and left. Xing Shuishui didn’t want to stay either – she felt Xue Sansi studying her, and those cultivators nearby hadn’t taken their eyes off her.
She looked back at them.
The cultivators quickly averted their gaze, pretending to look at the sky and ground with odd expressions.
What are you looking at? Never seen a mortal before?
Seeing them leave, Hua Wushan reached out: “Hey! Why… why are you leaving?”
What else was there to stay for?
Hua Wushan called out persistently: “Miss, meeting you is fate! This young master likes cute girls like you. You must come to the marriage selection! Our Hua Yu Tower has no shortage of money.”
Xing Shuishui’s steps faltered.
He Liansheng looked back at her, deliberately wrapping the red string around his wrist several more times before striding forward. Xing Shuishui felt the string tighten and had to run to keep up, afraid she’d trip if she lost focus.
It was… quite sudden.
She felt He Liansheng was angry but didn’t know why. After thinking for a while, Xing Shuishui figured it might be because the red string couldn’t be undone yet. She was quite annoyed by it too. Couldn’t the string be dyed a different color? They’d been misunderstood the whole way.
After leaving Hua Yu Tower.
Li Guanxing asked: “Sister, we should have caught them all off guard earlier.” Before Li Guanyu could respond.
Xing Shuishui cut in: “You can still go back now if you want to catch them all.”
Li Guanxing snorted: “What do you know? If we wait a few days, who knows what traps they’ll set for us.”
Li Guanyu said gently: “There weren’t just us in the tower then. If we’d fought, others wouldn’t have stayed neutral. Plus, didn’t you hear about the formations in the tower? It wasn’t the right time.”
Li Guanxing realized she had a point.
Xing Shuishui asked: “Sister Guanyu, are we really waiting for the marriage selection day?”
Li Guanxing looked at her: “Since that young master fell for you at first sight, I say you should pretend to go along with it. Find out what Hua Yue of Hua Yu Tower is up to, and learn about those forty-nine formations while you’re at it.”
Xing Shuishui shook her head: “No. I don’t like that young master. And I don’t believe in love at first sight.”
Li Guanxing said: “You don’t have to really like him. It’s called the beauty strategy! You can get some information by playing hard to get.”
He Liansheng said coldly: “Li Guanxing, is this what your master teaches you? I should have a good talk with Master Chiqing when we return to Lingshan.”
Li Guanxing almost choked: “Hey, don’t- don’t- don’t! I was just joking. I don’t believe a young master would fall for her at first sight either! And this is strange – Xing Shuishui is just a mortal, there’s nothing to gain. Unless…”
Xing Shuishui stopped and asked: “Unless what?”
Li Guanxing hid behind his sister, glancing at He Liansheng.
“Unless he’s testing if you two are really destined partners…”
Xing Shuishui’s downcast eyes lifted. What horrifying words! Anyone could see He Liansheng hated her.
Li Guanxing said seriously: “Actually, you don’t know, many people want He Liansheng dead. Not just at Lingshan – after he left the mountain, countless others wished for his death. Think about it, He Liansheng is already a Celestial Master at such a young age. In a few years, he’ll dominate the cultivation world. The major demon mountains will be his first targets.”
He Liansheng’s talent was indeed remarkable.
Even Xing Shuishui was amazed. Du Dizhu probably wanted him dead too.
He Liansheng smirked contemptuously: “Kill me? Just a bunch of worthless fools overestimating themselves. Thinking they can stir up trouble.”
Li Guanxing said: “That’s easy for you to say now! But what will you do if you develop a weakness in the future?”
He Liansheng denied: “I won’t.”
Li Guanxing found some courage from somewhere: “You’re not really practicing the Path of No Emotions. Everyone has feelings. Didn’t you fail when you tried the Path of No Emotions before?”
He realized something was wrong after speaking and tried to pull Li Guanyu away.
Unexpectedly, He Liansheng stood still, his expression fluctuating.
Xing Shuishui watched him, remembering scenes of He Liansheng on Fan Xinya. In her past life, she couldn’t stand it after three days, but He Liansheng stayed for seven full days. Logically, someone like him shouldn’t have failed at cultivating the Path of No Emotions, so why did he fail?
She was puzzled too, but there was no point dwelling on it.
Xing Shuishui walked beside He Liansheng: “He Liansheng, we still have many days until Hua Yu Tower’s marriage selection. No need to rush planning. Why don’t we go back and get some sleep? We haven’t slept well traveling these days, and I’m a bit tired.”
It was dusk, the sun setting but not yet fully below the horizon.
Xing Shuishui thought he would refuse and fell silent. Unexpectedly, He Liansheng gave a mocking laugh. Her drowsiness vanished, goosebumps rising – when He Liansheng acted like this, nothing good would come of it.
The young man stared at her and said coolly: “Then you better sleep well.”
Xing Shuishui was stunned. His next words were: “Because tonight we’re breaking into Hua Yu Tower, and you’ll suffer plenty.”
Xing Shuishui: “…”
She knew these people weren’t so well-behaved.
That night.
Dark clouds covered the moon, the streets were empty. The young man used lightness skills to jump from wall to tower, his movements swift and graceful. He carried Xing Shuishui in his hand. Just as she caught her breath, he leaped to another high tower.
Xing Shuishui got a mouthful of wind, cold air entering her collar, making her shiver.
She’d had enough of this!
Though Hua Yu Tower’s main gate was closed, windows were open on all sides, showing the bright lights inside.
He Liansheng carried her through a window. Candles burned in holders all around. Xing Shuishui hugged her arms and moved closer, feeling warmer.
He Liansheng held Taoyuan Sword, examining the dense array of treasure boxes on the wall: “Xing Shuishui, don’t touch anything inside.”
Xing Shuishui made a sound of agreement.
She tried to grab He Liansheng’s clothes but was intercepted by a silver thread. Even though she pulled back in time, the red string on her wrist touched the silver thread, instantly setting off the connected golden bells.
Ding ding ding— The sound rang eerily in the empty tower.
He Liansheng’s brows instantly drew together, killing intent surging forth.
“Did you hear bells? Seems someone’s broken in!”
“Who dares intrude into Hua Yu Tower!”
Before Xing Shuishui could finish examining the hidden mechanisms, He Liansheng pulled her toward a passage between the walls.
Wait, so fast – he should be more careful! There were traps everywhere! Who knew how many were part of those formations? After previous lessons, Xing Shuishui definitely didn’t want to die here. She didn’t dare lose focus, concentrating on avoiding these unpredictable silver threads.
He Liansheng glanced at Xing Shuishui’s unusually nimble reactions behind him, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.
Heh… finally…
Xing Shuishui was completely unaware she’d given herself away.
The tower maids pursued relentlessly, about to spot them. She saw a dark room nearby and pushed through the door without thinking. They stood by the door as footsteps pattered past outside without stopping.
“Where are they? They seemed to be here just now. Could it have been just a cat?”
“Did you report to the Tower Master?”
“Someone’s already reported. The Tower Master said to seal all exits. They won’t escape.”
Xing Shuishui looked at He Liansheng. Meaning: What now?
Everything was unclear – he shouldn’t confront them head-on!
He Liansheng examined the dark room, then narrowed his eyes at a spot. Xing Shuishui followed his gaze – there was a mechanism between the bookshelves that seemed to be a transport formation based on its aura.
Hua Yu Tower actually had a transport formation! Where did it lead?
The maids outside seemed to remember something: “There’s a room over there.”
Seeing the situation was critical, there was no time to think. He Liansheng pulled her directly into the formation.
After a bout of dizziness.
They were transported to a flower field where butterflies danced among purple evening primroses and chrysanthemums. Looking down from the field, there was only one small house.
Xing Shuishui looked at the sun overhead and said curiously: “Wasn’t it night outside? Why is it still bright here?”
He Liansheng said: “Pocket dimension.”
Xing Shuishui understood but pretended not to. They walked down through the flower field and entered the only house.
The owner wasn’t home, but it was clean, with a rocking chair, small table, tea stove, and fan – everything one would need.
“This couldn’t be Hua Yue’s residence, right?” Xing Shuishui said.
As she spoke, she didn’t really believe it. From the house’s layout, the resident was clearly an elderly person.
He Liansheng looked at a porcelain bottle on the table, even more skeptical: “Would Hua Yue use longevity pills?”
Just then, footsteps approached from outside, accompanied by an old person’s cough. They could see the owner’s silhouette through the window – they were returning.
Not wanting to startle anyone, Xing Shuishui looked around, climbed onto the bed, using the hanging curtains for cover, then looked back at He Liansheng.
“…”
He’d gone into the cabinet, his eyes warning her to come over too.
That cabinet could barely fit one person! Was he joking?
Xing Shuishui whispered: “You should come here instead!”
The young man held Taoyuan Sword, staring at her with mockery.
Xing Shuishui thought he would never come, and was about to grit her teeth and climb down to squeeze into the cabinet.
But then a breeze passed, lifting the curtains, light filtering through the rising fabric, casting pale gray shadows.
She just blinked, and He Liansheng was right in front of her.
When did he get there?
The young man pressed against her body, one hand propped beside her head, the other holding his sword. Though the position was intimate, the sword was pointed at her side.
Xing Shuishui’s wrist brushed against his hanging clothes uncomfortably, and she shifted. Well, being close to his hair was even more uncomfortable.
Xing Shuishui looked up.
Up close, his features were much more animated. The young man’s face was like peach blossoms reflected in spring water, his features stunningly unforgettable. Yet with such a face, his expression was fierce, deliberately pointing Taoyuan Sword’s tip at the bed as if he could kill her any second.
She stared, lost in thought. Would He Liansheng treat his destined partner like this in the future… no, he died early, there was no partner.
He Liansheng suddenly lowered his eyes to meet her gaze, his black pupils full of mockery. He moved close to her ear and coldly curled his lips: “Xing Shuishui, don’t you dare move.”
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