"Well said!"
A voice of praise rang out from the distance. Qian Gongyu and Shang Xin Lei turned to look and saw the uncle-and-niece pair, Jie Zilong and Jie Yuanshao.
Jie Zilong applauded as he walked up to them and said loudly, "The art of war says, 'Make the enemy come to you rather than go to him.' Why should we step into a battlefield someone else has carefully arranged? We can't afford to offend the Qun Family and the Chen Family, but does that mean the Jie Family and the Shang Family are easy to offend?"
"Uncle Zilong, Qun Yushu is relying on more than just the Qun Family and the Wu Family. There are also the twenty-three noble families gathered here." Shang Xin Lei refuted him without raising or lowering her voice. "Of course, Xiao Yu and I aren't afraid of the consequences of offending them, but Xiao Yu and Jiang Shi..."
Jie Zilong shook his head. "As long as our two families keep them outside, no matter how resentful they are, they'll only assume that our families formed a defensive alliance and monopolized the information on the Wandering Star Forest. They won't drag the two members of the Qian Family into it."
Qian Gongyu nodded repeatedly. Wonderful, wonderful. She truly didn't want to deal with major figures like Qun Yushu and Chen Lincuan. If there were no conflicting interests, she would have been happy to show her face before such people and leave a good impression. Unfortunately, she could figure out with her toes that they had come for Jiang Shi.
What if they made a demand she couldn't accept? Refusing would offend them, while accepting would be impossible for her to fulfill. Wouldn't that leave her trapped either way?
"Although I'd like to say this to show my goodwill toward you two, I don't think Guard Jiang Shi will appreciate it." Jie Zilong looked at Jiang Shi and smiled. "You aren't afraid of offending those people at all."
"She simply doesn't know how high the mountains are or how deep the waters run." Jie Yuanshao suddenly spoke. "Only ignorance can produce fearlessness, and fearlessness is ignorance."
"I'm not saying how powerful or frightening the Qun Family and Chen Family are. I'm saying that you, Jiang Shi, simply don't know what the scenery above the emissary rank is like, what the second revolution looks like, how imposing the third revolution is, or how the fourth revolution is practically ghostlike and godlike... Once you've seen how vast the world is, you'll naturally understand awe."
"Awe isn't weakness. It's meant to keep you from throwing your life away in meaningless places. Once your achievements reach the heights of creation, the hardships of the past, whether lasting a moment or half a moment, will ultimately be nothing more than a little wind and frost."
Although Jie Yuanshao's words were quite blunt, everyone could tell that she meant well. Qian Gongyu was praising her enthusiastically in her heart. Exactly, exactly. As the saying goes, a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him, and a person who understands the times is a great man. What problem can't be solved by enduring until you're strong enough to wipe out the other party's entire family?
"Yuanshao, we follow different paths, so we cannot work together. Your way of dealing with the world is right for most people, but it isn't suitable for everyone." Unexpectedly, Jie Zilong contradicted his niece. "There's a kind of person in this world who ends up as a handful of soil if they lose, but becomes unstoppable if they win. They live their entire lives on the edge of a blade, invincible before cold iron rolls and blunts."
"You may not approve of this way of living, but... not every fish has to live in the same ocean."
"Our family will hold a banquet here. The two of you from the Qian Family may come or not. I won't stop the other families from approaching you, but you're also welcome to come to the Jie Family if you run into trouble."
"Don't worry, I'll be watching from the side." Shang Xin Lei immediately spoke up. "I'm quite curious about what rewards come with a high personal score. Anyone who dares to act against you will be making an enemy of me."
Qian Gongyu looked left and right, and immediately felt reassured.
Jie Yuanshao and Shang Xin Lei were both their teammates in the Wandering Star Forest. Even if it was only to protect their own interests, their two families had to protect Jiang Shi properly. If they couldn't protect a teammate like Jiang Shi, what they would lose wouldn't just be their interests, but also their families' dignity—and to them, the latter might be even more important.
A thought suddenly occurred to her: Could Jiang Shi have realized this long ago, and deliberately said those things for that reason? This way, they wouldn't owe the Shang Family or the Jie Family any favors, yet could still gain the protection of both families...
But when she saw Jiang Shi training with her blade, her face expressionless, Qian Gongyu felt that she was overthinking things.
She was clearly being watched by so many families and coveted by so many people. Why could she still practice her blade so calmly? Let alone fear, not even worry, hesitation, or the slightest emotional fluctuation appeared on Jiang Shi's face. It was as if all worldly affairs had nothing to do with her, and her life contained only training, rest, and battle.
A person who lives on the edge of a blade... Qian Gongyu's eyes held a trace of confusion, along with a little envy.
"Young Miss, come for the sixth spar once you've rested."
"Huh?"
As the servants lit the bonfires and brought out the food, the guests began arriving one after another. Every child of a noble family who arrived was dressed elegantly and carried an aristocratic air, but at this banquet, they were as inconspicuous as the surrounding servants. Everyone's attention was focused on the few people at the center of the banquet.
The so-called flowers were nothing more than insignificant decorations beneath the bright moon and stars.
Because of Shang Xin Lei, Qian Gongyu had assumed that Qun Yushu would be the sort of ambitious, outwardly tolerant but inwardly vicious man with a hawk's gaze and a wolf's bearing. Thus, when she saw a young man with his robes open, dancing a kicking dance and spinning to the beat, she couldn't react for a moment. She thought he was a dancer invited by the Jie Family to liven up the atmosphere, until that dancer came over and invited her.
"Miss of the Qian Family, would you honor me with a dance?" He bent down and extended his right hand. Inside his open robes were massive pectoral and abdominal muscles like those of a statue. His long hair was tied up carelessly, and nine earrings hung from each ear. His style of dress looked nothing like that of a Nanliang man, and more like that of a northern barbarian—one who lived on the frontier, at that.
Yet the Purple Ribbon Identity Wristband on his wrist instantly gave away his identity.
"Qun Yushu." Shang Xin Lei stepped in front of Qian Gongyu and sneered, "Why aren't you continuing to act as your brother's shadow? What brought you to the Wandering Star Forest to join the fun?"
"Looks like I'll have to lock my windows tight tonight, or I'll be targeted by a female thief again," Qun Yushu replied lazily.
"Qun Yushu, I won't stop you from approaching people from the Qian Family, but you must speak with them in public." Jie Yuanshao also came over and said, "As a child of a noble family, you should set an example. You can't use your position to bully others, and you certainly can't make unreasonable demands."
"What if Miss Qian Gongyu wishes to spend the night with me and makes an indecent demand?"
"I won't!"
"You're not allowed."
"Stop dreaming."
Qun Yushu seemed to have been struck hard. He lowered his head dejectedly and said, "Your rebuttals are far too united and decisive... Is there really no possibility? We could start as friends. I think Miss Qian Gongyu has the air of my mother..."
"You can be friends with my niece," Jie Zilong walked over and said with a smile.
"No, no. Young Miss Jie has too much of my father's air." Qun Yushu shook his head repeatedly. "I can accept having another mother, but if I get another father, I'd rather die early and be reborn sooner."
"You really aren't afraid of those words making their way back to your family..."
"I've already run away. Could my father really put down his official duties and come out here to beat me?" Qun Yushu rested a hand on the shoulder of a scar-faced, middle-aged man beside him and invited him, "By the way, Senior Zilong, Uncle Lincuan and I agreed to enter the Wandering Star Forest together tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?"
"To be honest, my last experience entering the Wandering Star Forest wasn't very pleasant..." Jie Zilong hesitated.
"That's why we should go in together. With two seniors like you there, I'll feel much safer." Qun Yushu smiled. "I still remember that I teamed up with three young ladies that time. They were so frightened that they clung tightly to me, but I was terrified too! Yet I still had to comfort and encourage them. Otherwise, if I disgraced the Qun Family, I'd have to go home and get chewed out by my uncles... Being a man of the Qun Family really isn't easy."
"Since you're all so sincere, I'll join in as well. It would indeed be hard to justify coming all this way and not entering the secret realm."
"Are you done with the idle chatter?"
Chen Lincuan's voice was like his appearance: weathered, hard, and covered in scars. He got straight to the point. "At your request, we've come. Where's Jiang Shi?"
The clinking conversation among the guests quickly faded away. The lively banquet seemed to have been pressed on pause, becoming so quiet that even a needle hitting the floor could be heard.
In theory, as long as the four members of the team didn't leak any information, it should have been impossible for the outside world to know what had happened in the Wandering Star Forest. Even if they found out, they couldn't determine who was actually in charge. Unfortunately, the Personal Score Rankings had exposed everything about them, leaving them no way to hide it.
Jie Yuanshao: 230 points.
Qian Gongyu: 325 points.
Shang Xin Lei: 389 points.
Jiang Shi... 660 points!
Although Jiang Shi was the weakest and lowest-status member of the four, her score had left the others far behind. There was only one possible explanation: Jiang Shi was the source of the score anomaly. She had grasped the secret of the Wandering Star Forest, while the others had merely hitched a ride and won by lying down!
Although Jiang Shi was only Qian Gongyu's guard, half a day had been enough for them to investigate. Jiang Shi had been casually picked up from the street by Qian Gongyu and wasn't an heirloom guard originally belonging to the Qian Family.
"Jiang Shi is practicing her blade." Jie Zilong spoke calmly. "She has no interest in the banquet."
"How rude! How arrogant!" someone immediately jumped out and said. "Young Master Qun and Elder Chen have both come. How can a mere black belt not come out to meet them? She's deliberately disgracing the Great Noble Families!"
"Hey, watch your words. Don't drag the family into this." Qun Yushu immediately cut him off. "There are plenty of people in this world who don't give me face. My father doesn't give me face, and neither do Young Miss Jie or Fourth Miss Shang. Does that mean they hate the Qun Family? They just hate me. Hating me is normal. I'm not Lingyu, so how could everyone possibly like me? Besides, my father never attends banquets either. Does that mean every family in Jiangnan City that sent my father an invitation has been disgraced by him?"
The young man who had stirred things up opened and closed his mouth, unable to speak. Qun Yushu had even brought up his father. If he dared to say anything more, it would amount to attacking the all-powerful head of the Qun Family.
"Then invite her out for a chat," Chen Lincuan said.
"We already did." Jie Zilong remained smiling and composed. "She refused."
Many of the guests' expressions changed. It was obvious that they all wanted to speak, but Qun Yushu turned his head and swept his gaze across them, and everyone swallowed their words.
"After all, we're the ones who want to meet her. Since she doesn't want to come over, we can just go to her." Qun Yushu spoke casually. "Can you lead the way?"
It was such a reasonable request that there was truly no grounds for refusing. As Qun Yushu and Chen Lincuan set off, the guests attending the banquet naturally followed close behind. Qian Gongyu walked at the very front. Seeing the large group following behind her, a strange thought suddenly arose in her heart—who would have thought that the person so many children of noble families had taken the initiative to visit would be nothing more than a nameless, familyless, low-level black-belt guard?
She had already realized that she had been caught in a gigantic whirlpool. One careless move, and she and the Qian Family could be torn to pieces. All of this had happened because she had picked Jiang Shi up along the way.
But Qian Gongyu felt no regret whatsoever. Instead, she began looking forward to Jiang Shi's performance. Some people were simply like this. Even knowing that the other person was beautiful and dangerous, they still fell under their charm, casting every consequence to the back of their minds.
Jiang Shi continued practicing her blade beside the carriage. Even when a large group approached her, she remained completely unaffected. Kasaya Slash, an upward thrust, a downward slash—there was no technique or pattern to it. She simply kept training the basic moves back and forth. Yet her appearance was so striking that every movement was filled with the beauty of a dance. Even wearing nothing but a black training outfit couldn't conceal her graceful figure. Sweat flowed from her forehead down her cheek to the tip of her nose, sparkling like some rare delicacy and making people want to taste it.
Qun Yushu was stunned for a moment before suddenly stepping forward and dropping to one knee.
"Miss Jiang Shi, will you marry me!?"
Before you continue