"Cai Shu had always been willful and demanding, and her standards were high. Could it be that Luo Bei was truly a heaven-blessed genius, enough that even Cai Shu viewed him in a different light?"
Watching Luo Bei and Cai Shu approach, Ming Hao thought this to himself in surprise.
"Martial Uncle Ming Hao." The moment Luo Bei spotted Ming Hao, he quickly stepped forward and asked anxiously, "We saw someone release a Flying Flame Talisman in the mountains just now. Did one of our Senior Brothers encounter danger? Are they all right?"
Rather than asking anything else, he first asked after his fellow disciples' safety. His character is quite good. Ming Hao silently approved, though his expression remained unchanged. He merely shook his head. "Gongyang Bojin and Zou Shen ran into a Gnawing Tiger. Gongyang Bojin was struck once, but it was only a flesh wound. His life is not in danger."
"A Gnawing Tiger?" Luo Bei froze. At once, an image surfaced in his mind of the savage beast the old storyteller had once described to him: eyes like bronze bells that glowed blue at night, exposed fangs sharp as blades, a body twelve feet long, and a long tail like shears. It came and went like the wind, a rare and fearsome beast, ten times more vicious than an ordinary tiger. "There are beasts like that in Tianzhu Peak?"
"Luo Bei, aren't you embarrassed? A Gnawing Tiger isn't anything rare. If you dared go to Tianyue Peak, forget Gnawing Tigers—even Eight-armed Demonic Apes would be there for you to see." Hearing Luo Bei mutter to himself, Cai Shu curled her lips in disdain again and whispered this to him.
An Eight-armed Demonic Ape? What kind of thing was that? Could it be that Junior Sister Cai Shu, like Zi Xuangu, had cultivated for some time before coming to Shushan? Yet she seemed to know far more than Zi Xuangu, and that Zong Zhen as well.
"Junior Brother Luo Bei, have you gathered all the medicinal herbs?" Just as Luo Bei was thinking this, Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan emerged from the forest some distance away. They walked over and greeted him.
"We found them all." Luo Bei nodded. "What about you?"
"Junior Brother Luo Bei, you two are incredible." Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan both shook their heads somewhat dejectedly. "We're still short two kinds."
"You're still short two kinds?"
"Yes. Luo Bei, you and Cai Shu gathered everything. That's amazing." The few youths who had already arrived began chattering at once when they heard Luo Bei had found them all. "We're still short one Liudan Wood." "We're still short one Xishen Leaf..."
Luo Bei was somewhat stunned. Listening to them talk over one another, he learned that of the five groups that had returned, only his group with Cai Shu had found everything. All the others lacked one or two kinds of medicinal herbs.
"Luo Bei, Cai Shu, you really are amazing."
Hearing such words, Luo Bei felt a little embarrassed. "Actually, we were just luckier."
Cai Shu could not help covering her mouth and snickering. She knew what Luo Bei truly wanted to say was, Actually, we stole our Ci Tong Grass.
"So what if you gathered all the herbs? What's so great about that?" At that moment, a square-faced youth with cropped hair and narrow eyes, yet an alert and spirited appearance, glared fiercely at Luo Bei.
This youth was called Miao Mu. From the moment he had entered Shushan and seen Cai Shu, he had taken a great liking to the lovely young woman. Yet Cai Shu's temperament was impossible to grasp, and she had never given him so much as a pleasant look. But Miao Mu had seen her cover her mouth and laugh beside Luo Bei, and hostility toward Luo Bei had unconsciously surged within him.
Yet Luo Bei did not notice the hostile gaze in his eyes.
The sky had already begun to darken, and a thin mist was starting to shroud the mountain forest.
"Senior Brother Lin Hang!"
Suddenly, he cried out in delight. A familiar, thin and frail figure emerged from the forest before him.
"Luo... Luo Bei, Junior Brother..." Lin Hang, limping out of the forest, glanced at Luo Bei before immediately lowering his head again. Meanwhile, Xiao Sanqian beside him shot Lin Hang an angry look, his expression extremely unpleasant.
"What happened?" Luo Bei went up to him and asked Lin Hang, who seemed even more withdrawn and timid than before.
"I... I didn't notice that Junior Brother Xiao's cloth bag of medicinal herbs was lost."
What a useless waste! Hearing Lin Hang's words, Xiao Sanqian spat these words viciously in his heart.
Just as Luo Bei had guessed, Lin Hang, who had spent over two years in Shushan, was no stranger to these medicinal herbs. After letting Luo Bei choose his own group, Ming Hao had then allowed Lin Hang to choose his companions. In this regard, Ming Hao was fair and impartial. Yet sometimes, no matter what a person did, it truly depended on fate. Lin Hang had chosen Xiao Sanqian not because Xiao Sanqian was far stronger than the other martial brothers, but because Xiao Sanqian was fairly kind by nature. Among all the martial brothers, he was the one who looked down on and mocked Lin Hang the least. But despite being very familiar with those herbs, after wandering Tianzhu Peak all day, Lin Hang and Xiao Sanqian had only managed to gather three kinds. Then, an hour earlier, Xiao Sanqian discovered that the cloth bag holding his herbs had somehow been snagged and torn away. The two searched for over half an hour, yet still failed to find the bag Xiao Sanqian had lost.
A day's hard work had gone down the drain. Though Lin Hang had not been the one to lose the bag of medicinal herbs, Xiao Sanqian could not help thinking that if he had been grouped with someone else, perhaps they would have noticed the bag falling from him. Lin Hang, meanwhile, blamed himself deeply because of this. As he stood there with his head lowered in misery, Lin Hang kept thinking, I'm truly useless. I've dragged Junior Brother Xiao down.
But could he truly be blamed for it all?
"Senior Brother Lin Hang, don't be sad." Luo Bei patted Lin Hang's shoulder. "It isn't entirely your fault. If I had been in a group with Senior Brother Xiao, I might not have noticed his bag was missing in time either. There were no paths in that forest, and it was dark besides. Your attention must have been focused on the surrounding bushes, on searching for medicinal herbs."
Then Luo Bei turned to Xiao Sanqian and smiled. "Senior Brother Xiao, I know you must be upset about losing the herbs. But Senior Brother Lin Hang is so distressed that he must blame himself deeply as well. Could you forgive him?"
Xiao Sanqian paused. Thinking over Luo Bei's words, then looking at Lin Hang with his head lowered, more than half the anger in his heart suddenly faded. He nodded. "Senior Brother Lin Hang, I was careless too. Don't take it to heart."
"Junior... Junior Brother Xiao, I'm truly sorry." As Lin Hang hurriedly raised his head, he saw Luo Bei smiling at him and suddenly felt his nose sting. He hastily lowered his head again. Junior Brother Luo Bei, I will definitely... remember your kindness in my heart! The solitary youth, tears already brimming in his eyes, said this heavily to himself.
"Senior Sister Yanran, Senior Brother Nan Feng..."
With the appearance of the round-faced young woman, the Senior Sister whom Cai Shu considered lovestruck, and Nan Feng, who was in her group, everyone else had arrived except Gongyang Bojin and Zou Shen, who had encountered the Gnawing Tiger, as well as Xuan Wuqi and Goshu Ban.
"Why haven't those two returned? Could they have encountered some accident?"
By now, around an hour had passed since Ming Hao released the Flying Flame Talisman. The sky was completely dark, and the forest before them was pitch-black. Even Ming Hao's face had unconsciously filled with worry.
Bang! Suddenly, a streak of red light shot into the sky, transforming into dozens of bright rosy rays in the black night.
A Flying Flame Talisman!
The youths waiting anxiously beside the iron-chain bridge could not help crying out in alarm.
Yet a suddenly flashing sword-light was even faster than their cries. It seemed to flash only once before the faintly blue sword-light that had risen near the mountaintop plunged into the forest where the Flying Flame Talisman had been launched.
"It's martial uncle Duan Tianya!"
Moments later, that sword-light flashed again and almost instantly poured down from the sky like a raging torrent. As the sword-light vanished, Duan Tianya, dressed in black with a face as still as deep water, landed before them, Goshu Ban's deathly pale form tucked beneath his right arm.
After setting Goshu Ban down, Duan Tianya said nothing. His eyes merely stared at the pitch-black Tianzhu Peak. "What happened?" Ming Hao asked Goshu Ban tensely. "Where is Xuan Wuqi?"
"Martial Uncle Ming Hao." Goshu Ban calmed the spirit and hurriedly explained, "Senior Brother Xuan Wuqi and I were still short one Water Chestnut Fruit. He insisted on finding it before returning. I tried to persuade him, but he would not listen. When I pressed him too hard, he forced himself onward alone. It became too dark for me to see the path clearly, so I could only release the Flying Flame Talisman."
"What? Utter nonsense!" Ming Hao could not help roaring in fury. After taking two deep breaths, he turned to Duan Tianya. "Junior brother Duan, should we notify Master and search the mountain with the other fellow disciples?"
"Wait a little longer."
Duan Tianya spoke only those simple words, yet Ming Hao, who had nearly been unable to restrain himself, forcibly endured it. His face slightly livid, he stared at the dark Tianzhu Peak before him.
Luo Bei and the others did not dare say a word. After more than half an hour, they heard the sound of someone stepping on dead branches. Xuan Wuqi's figure finally appeared in their sight.
"Xuan Wuqi!"
The anger Ming Hao had suppressed throughout that long wait erupted at once. Ming Hao, who had always seemed gentle and amiable, revealed his formidable side. With his furious roar, dead branches and leaves within a span of several yards around him instantly exploded into powder. The surging blast of air forced Luo Bei and the others behind him to retreat several steps.
The force of that outburst was like a powder keg exploding.
"Did you not hear me say that when you saw my Flying Flame Talisman, you were to return and gather?"
"This disciple knew."
"Then you still abandoned your companion and stubbornly went your own way!"
"This disciple knows his mistake and is willing to accept punishment."
"At dawn tomorrow, go to Tianlu Peak yourself and receive your punishment." Ming Hao sharply swept his sleeve and turned around. Ignoring Xuan Wuqi, who stood with his head lowered, he led the other disciples away.
Tianlu Peak!
Whenever Shushan disciples committed grave mistakes, they had to go to Tianlu Peak to receive punishment.
Xuan Wuqi knew Ming Hao was truly enraged this time. Once he went to Tianlu Peak, the punishment would certainly be severe. Yet Xuan Wuqi did not feel the slightest regret, because he had already anticipated this outcome.
"Luo Bei, I won't be inferior to you. I found all five kinds of medicinal herbs!" He merely clenched his fists, his burning gaze fixed tightly on Luo Bei's retreating back.
"You still do not know your error?"
At that moment, a cold voice sounded beside his ear. Duan Tianya had not left. He remained standing where he was, looking at him coldly.
The proud and arrogant Xuan Wuqi froze. Duan Tianya lowered his eyes. "Striving to surpass others is not a bad thing. I can also sense your determination not to be left behind. Only such a determination that casts everything aside can lead to great achievements."
"But abandoning fellow disciples in danger is a grave injustice! Rules were set. You exceeded the time limit, so even if you gathered all five herbs, you still lost!"
"If you wish to defeat an opponent, you can only examine the reasons for your defeat. Only then can you defeat them next time!"
"You violated righteousness and broke the rules. Accepting punishment will also delay your cultivation. If you remain stubborn and unrepentant, then no matter how bravely and diligently you advance, you may not necessarily surpass others!"
Duan Tianya's expression could not be seen clearly in the night, but every word was stern and forceful, like great hammers striking Xuan Wuqi's heart. By the time he finished speaking, sweat was already rolling down Xuan Wuqi's back. "Martial uncle Duan Tianya, this disciple has received your instruction!" With that, Xuan Wuqi sincerely bowed to Duan Tianya.
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