Qingxiao Sect's Demonic Fiends

Seeing the woman in yellow act so impulsively, Yang Jueding instinctively rushed forward to stop her, only for a hand to press down on his shoulder.

Bang!

The woman in yellow slammed into a pillar, blood spraying everywhere. Her body went limp, and she collapsed to the floor.

Yang Jueding turned back furiously, only to find Li Qingqiu holding him down. His anger instantly ebbed, and he asked in confusion, "She was forced into this, too. She brought Jiang Zhaoxia back, which proves she isn't evil at heart. Her crime doesn't warrant death."

The others also looked toward Li Qingqiu, unable to understand why he had stopped Yang Jueding.

Li Sifeng turned to look at the woman in yellow's corpse and actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Meeting Yang Jueding's gaze, Li Qingqiu asked in return, "Was I the one who killed her?"

Yang Jueding was stumped and didn't know how to answer. He held it in for a moment, then couldn't help saying, "Even so, you can't just stand by and let someone die."

"What happens after you save her?"

Li Qingqiu pressed him. Yang Jueding had never considered that question. He followed the thought through and realized that saving her would indeed bring endless trouble. He had faced such things before, which was why he was now willing to remain in the Qingxiao Sect.

Li Qingqiu turned and surveyed all the disciples. "After we save her, she might be a spy for the Heavenly Saber Sect and continue harming the Qingxiao Sect. Or she might be telling the truth, but her hatred for the Heavenly Saber Sect is irreconcilable, and she could even push us into conflict with them. And the fact remains that she poisoned Jiang Zhaoxia. Does having no choice give her free rein to do whatever she wants?"

"Besides, she wanted to die in the first place. She couldn't save her younger brother. Can't we respect her wish to die?"

"In this martial world, grudges are unavoidable. How many people who practice martial arts are dragged into fights because of where they stand? If they were forced into it, does that mean the people they kill deserve to die? Everyone who does wrong finds a reason they had no choice!"

"I believe in only one thing: every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor. A blood feud must be repaid. The Qingxiao Sect isn't a righteous sect in the worldly sense. We can champion justice, but when it comes to anyone who has harmed us, we must never show mercy. The Qingxiao Sect has only one bottom line: we don't provoke others."

"Many years from now, if our enemies threaten others into turning against us, I hope those people will still weigh the price of offending us, even if they're being coerced."

After speaking, Li Qingqiu walked over to Li Dongyue, lifted Jiang Zhaoxia into his arms, and carried him toward his room.

The disciples exchanged glances. The sect leader's words, paired with the corpse of the woman in yellow, had shaken them deeply.

Yang Jueding's face shifted between red and green. He wasn't angry; Li Qingqiu's words had struck a chord.

What did it mean to be a hero? What did it mean to be righteous?

He called himself a hero, a man of justice, but how many people had he killed?

Perhaps there was a purer kind of heroism in rescuing only those suffering souls who wanted to live—and it would bring far less trouble, too.

"The sect leader is right. We don't have the time or the reason to verify whether this woman was telling the truth. We only need to know that she really did poison Jiang Zhaoxia. We can't decide she did nothing wrong just because Jiang Zhaoxia survived. Think about it carefully, everyone: if she'd been an ugly man, would you have listened to all her nonsense?"

Cheng Canghai suddenly spoke. The latter half of his words drew plenty of eye-rolls from the disciples.

A rather plain-looking male disciple asked, disgruntled, "Senior Cheng, what's wrong with a man being ugly?"

For a moment, everyone's attention shifted. They began loudly challenging Cheng Canghai, while those who weren't ugly felt he had looked down on them.

Meanwhile.

Li Qingqiu returned to his room and once again treated Jiang Zhaoxia with the Spring Return Ghost Immortal Needle.

He could have used the Spring Return Ghost Immortal Needle to keep the woman in yellow alive a little longer, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.

Zhang Yuchun, Li Dongyue, and Li Sifeng followed him inside. They stood by the bed, watching Jiang Zhaoxia with concern.

"Senior Brother, that was well done. I wanted to drive her off, too, but I only had so much strength. Carrying Third Senior Brother back was already difficult enough. If I hadn't been busy gnawing on a pig's trotter and hadn't had a drink, I'd have been poisoned, too. Good thing Third Senior Brother warned us in time. And anyone else wouldn't even need the Heavenly Saber Sect to make a move—the poison could've killed them. That woman was vicious. Who would've thought the innkeeper was so vile, setting a trap in advance?" Li Sifeng clapped his hands and cheered.

Zhang Yuchun nodded. "Saving her would've caused trouble afterward. If she blamed Third Junior Brother in her heart and thought his feud with the Heavenly Saber Sect had gotten her younger brother killed, the consequences would've been endless."

He had always felt that something was missing from the Qingxiao Sect. Today, he finally understood what it was.

A proper ethos and guiding principles.

What kind of sect was the Qingxiao Sect? What rules should govern its disciples as they practiced martial arts? None of that had yet been established.

Li Qingqiu looked at Jiang Zhaoxia on the bed and said softly, "Actually, I'm more worried she'll become entangled with Third Junior Brother. She's alone and helpless, and the Heavenly Saber Sect is the enemy they share. If they were to follow each other through life and death, Third Junior Brother might find it hard to refuse a beauty's affection. I don't want him stabbed by someone he loves someday."

Li Dongyue and Zhang Yuchun both looked at him in surprise. They were at the age when young feelings were beginning to stir.

Li Sifeng scratched his head and asked in surprise, "Senior Brother only said one thing to her, and that was before she passed out. How could he possibly fall in love with her?"

Li Qingqiu glanced at him and snorted. "You're too young to understand love."

"Then Eldest Senior Brother understands it?"

"Of course!"

"Who has Eldest Senior Brother loved?"

"I've had a few love affairs in my dreams. They were unforgettable, heart-wrenching. When I woke up, I swore I'd never love again."

Li Qingqiu made it up on the spot. Li Sifeng believed him and immediately edged closer, asking how he could have dreams like that.

Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue exchanged glances and smiled helplessly. Eldest Senior Brother was always like this, slipping in something unserious just when they were having a serious conversation.

A while later.

Li Qingqiu withdrew the needles. Zhang Yuchun seized the chance to ask, "Eldest Senior Brother, what should we do about the Heavenly Saber Sect?"

At that, Li Qingqiu's eyes turned cold. "What should we do? What do you think? If they want to kill, then we'll draw blood, too."

"Exactly! We have to draw blood. If we don't avenge this, there's no point in practicing martial arts!" Li Sifeng shouted. Just thinking of the Heavenly Saber Sect made his teeth grind with hatred.

Zhang Yuchun said worriedly, "The Heavenly Saber Sect is spread far and wide and stops at nothing. Their scheme against Third Junior Brother makes that clear. As the saying goes, spears in the open are easy to dodge, but arrows in the dark are hard to guard against."

Li Qingqiu was about to speak when a hand suddenly grabbed his arm. He turned to see Jiang Zhaoxia opening his eyes.

Jiang Zhaoxia's face was pale as he stared intently at Li Qingqiu. In a weak voice, he said, "Eldest Senior Brother... let this matter rest for now. I want to avenge myself. I have to avenge myself..."

Zhang Yuchun and the others looked at Jiang Zhaoxia with delight. Li Sifeng in particular nearly burst into tears. Their journey through the martial world might sound simple, but only they knew how hard it had been. During the time Jiang Zhaoxia was unconscious, Li Sifeng had been terrified and slept poorly every night.

Li Qingqiu met Jiang Zhaoxia's gaze and sighed. He gently patted the back of his hand. "Third Junior Brother, we'll do as you say."

Only then did Jiang Zhaoxia let go and close his eyes again.

Li Qingqiu stood up. "Let's go. Let him rest."

Zhang Yuchun and the others nodded and followed him out of the room.

Li Qingqiu headed toward the back mountain to continue his training. Li Dongyue followed and asked softly, "Senior Brother, don't worry. Third Junior Brother is still alive and well."

At that, Li Qingqiu turned to look at her and smiled. "I'm not worried. Don't overthink it."

Li Dongyue hesitated, then gathered her courage. "Eldest Senior Brother, you've become so bloodthirsty. Is it because you've been under too much pressure since Master left?"

Li Qingqiu stopped and asked, "Are you afraid of me like this?"

"How could I ever be afraid of Eldest Senior Brother? I'm just worried about you. You don't have to carry so much pressure. Whatever difficulties come, we can face them together. Even if we have to die together, you don't need to bear it all on your shoulders."

Li Dongyue spoke earnestly, her eyes full of resolve and utterly without fear.

Li Qingqiu couldn't help laughing. He raised a hand and ruffled her hair, then said with mock reproach, "What's all this about dying? I don't want to die. All right, go take care of your own business. Don't disturb my training."

He continued walking. Li Dongyue remained where she was, watching until he disappeared among the trees.

Inside an old-fashioned hall, the Heavenly Saber Sect's leader, Lu Fuhu, sat bare-chested in a chair. Beside him, a seductive woman in purple was changing his bandages.

Lu Fuhu was powerfully built, with unbound hair and a disheveled long beard. His leopard-like eyes gleamed with menace, and the crisscrossing scars across his chest made him look even more terrifying.

"That brat Jiang Zhaoxia's Sword Qi is vicious. It's been over a month, and the wound still hasn't healed."

Lu Fuhu spoke in a low voice. Just mentioning Jiang Zhaoxia made him grit his teeth.

The woman in purple asked curiously, "Is Jiang Zhaoxia of the Qingxiao Sect really only sixteen?"

News of the Guzhou Martial Arts Conference had spread. Jiang Zhaoxia had made a name for himself in a single battle, shaking the martial world. Lu Fuhu had refused to tell her how he'd been injured until she heard the rumors, and then she finally understood.

Lu Fuhu snorted. "That's right. The Qingxiao Sect is full of freaks. Qingxiao True Person once swept through the martial world of three provinces, undefeated. His disciple Lin Xunfeng roamed the martial world from a young age. Back then, he was a year or two younger than Jiang Zhaoxia. I just didn't expect the Qingxiao Sect to produce even more monstrous talents with every generation. Jiang Zhaoxia is even more formidable than Lin Xunfeng."

The woman in purple said worriedly, "Husband, the Qingxiao Sect is so powerful. How dare you send someone to scheme against them? Aren't you afraid of bringing disaster upon yourself?"

"Don't worry. Lin Xunfeng has retired from the martial world. The Qingxiao Sect is left with a bunch of kids, and the strongest among them is Jiang Zhaoxia. That brat's martial arts may be astonishing, but he has little experience in the martial world. With Xiniang escorting them all the way, those kids will surely believe her. She might even be able to bring about the Qingxiao Sect's destruction all by herself."

Lu Fuhu spoke contemptuously. The thought pleased him, and he smiled—only to pull at his injury and grimace in pain.

The woman in purple said helplessly, "You're the dignified leader of the Heavenly Saber Sect. Aren't you afraid of what people will say if word gets out that you acted like this?"

A flicker of disgust crossed her eyes, vanishing in an instant.

"Hmph. Only once he's dead will the rumors that I lost to him blow away. The Heavenly Saber Sect is one of Guzhou's seven great sects. We can't let anyone stand over us. If I led everyone in an attack on the Qingxiao Sect, people in the martial world would laugh at the Heavenly Saber Sect. This was my only choice!" Lu Fuhu said in a low voice, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"And besides, I want to know what makes Jiang Zhaoxia so powerful. Could Qingxiao True Person have left behind some peerless martial art?"

The woman in purple was about to speak when a man suddenly rushed into the hall. He hurried over to them and dropped to one knee.

"Report! Sect Leader, two people have arrived outside the estate. One of them claims to be Li Yang, the Martial Champion, and says he wants to challenge our sect to a martial arts match!"