Missing Thoughts Literature

Yu Sui saw Princess Shangyang being taken away, then lowered her head and continued eating.

The perception transmitted by the Strange Fire told her that three people were still in the room next door where the food was stored.

They were probably there to sneak food from the Dining Hall. Since they still hadn't alerted anyone, they were likely pretty capable.

Next door, Xue Mushi had been focused on eating. He had finished by now, without a single grain of rice left in his bowl, and left only after cleaning it out completely.

Wei Ren had stopped eating long ago. He sat across from Xue Mushi, watching him eat. When Xue Mushi finally put down his bowl and chopsticks, Wei Ren asked, "Your Xue Family is one of Taiyuan's great lineages. Surely they can afford to feed you. How could you ever go hungry?"

Xue Mushi shook his head, stood up, and said goodbye.

After eating her fill, Yu Sui went to pay and left with Li Jinshuang. They hadn't gone far from the Dining Hall when she caught sight of three people flying away from it with the Wind Riding Technique. She recognized Mei Chengyu carrying a food box and couldn't help smiling.

Mei Chengyu and the others went to eat dinner at the entrance to the Taoist Saint Hall.

When Zhongli Shan learned that the two of them had held him in place earlier because they were afraid he would hit Nangong Sui, he was even more confused. "Why would I hit her?"

"From what Princess Shangyang said, doesn't Nangong Sui have a bad relationship with your younger sister?" Xing Chun asked between bites.

"It's not quite like what Princess Shangyang said. My family and the Nangong Family really do have a bad relationship, but the two girls get along well in private. It's just that, because of the feud between our families, they don't act too close in public."

Zhongli Shan explained, "I also get along well with the Nangong Family's Second Young Master. He didn't come to Taiyi; he stayed at the Military School Chongtai in Qingyang. I even asked him to keep an eye on my younger sister for me."

Xing Chun understood. "So that's how it is. Then Princess Shangyang was wrong. Nangong Sui didn't abandon your younger sister as a friend."

Zhongli Shan shook his head and smiled wryly. "Back when we were still at the National Academy, my younger sister talked about Nangong Sui all the time, but she only ever told me. Later, our families' relationship got worse and worse, and everyone said Nangong Sui had stopped playing with her. I was afraid she'd be upset, but it turned out the two of them were still close in private."

Xing Chun shook his head and sighed. "You people even have to keep your friendships under wraps."

Zhongli Shan sighed too. "Yeah."

Mei Chengyu focused on his meal.

Yu Sui returned to the dormitory and flopped onto her bed, rolling around twice. Heat rose through her, and she couldn't sleep, so she picked up the Listening Wind Ruler and opened it.

Zhongli Que had sent her a message earlier, saying she had gone to the Royal Palace with her father and the others to attend a hunt that day. At the Hunting Ground, she had met someone.

"His name is Gu Jun. He's a squad leader in the Tiger Roar Camp. He came to the capital this time to receive his appointment and became a member of the Golden Armored Army."

"I watched them compete in riding and archery at the Hunting Ground. He seemed really good. He even beat Second Brother Su."

"When my cousin and the others went to play in the woods behind the grounds, I saw a few Snow Flying Mice. They were so cute, fluffy and round, and they could fly too."

"But Qiao Xiu and the others used the Snow Flying Mice for a competition, and they killed them all."

"When I was leaving, he gave me the Snow Flying Mouse he'd rescued."

It was rare for Zhongli Que to tell Yu Sui at such length about someone else—and that someone was a man.

After reading the messages, Yu Sui replied, "Does he know who you are?"

A little while later, Zhongli Que replied, "I don't think he knows who I am."

Yu Sui: "Why haven't you gone to bed yet?"

Zhongli Que: "I'm still playing with the Snow Flying Mouse. Sui Sui, it can fly!"

Yu Sui laughed.

Zhongli Que cupped the fluffy Snow Flying Mouse in both hands. Its fur was as white as snow, except for a single black mark on its forehead, making it easy to recognize. Its thin, black whiskers poked at her palm, tickling her.

The Snow Flying Mouse flew from her palm to a tree outside the window. Perched high among the branches, it looked back at Zhongli Que inside.

"Come back," Zhongli Que called softly. "Your injury hasn't healed yet. Why don't you stay until you're better?"

The Snow Flying Mouse seemed to understand. It turned around twice on the tree, then flew back and landed in Zhongli Que's outstretched hand.

"It's so cute. I really wish I could show you," Zhongli Que said happily. "How have things been at the academy these past few days?"

Yu Sui told her that she had sealed the Breathsoil and could now study the Nine Schools Techniques. Zhongli Que was even happier. "That's wonderful! You can finally use the Nine Schools Techniques to advance your cultivation. Does Second Brother Su know?"

"I haven't told him yet." Yu Sui also told her about the trial at the Yin-Yang and Five Elements Field, but left out her suspicions about the Strange Fire.

After reading the message, Zhongli Que clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, focusing her mind. Deep in her dark consciousness, golden lines flashed by. They appeared in broken segments, each vanishing in an instant, yet with every flicker, they formed more of a circle around her.

When the ends of the golden line finally joined, Zhongli Que told Yu Sui what she had seen:

"The person holding the scorpion handed over the spider."

The scene didn't seem to include Yu Sui, but Zhongli Que's divination concerned a premonition related to Yu Sui. So anything she saw had to be connected to her.

For years, Zhongli Que had been trying to control the mysterious power of premonition on her own.

Divination was something all the Nine Schools knew a little about, since it was the foundation of the Nine Schools Techniques.

But only the School of Techniques specialized in divination.

In private, Yu Sui had used all kinds of channels to obtain information about the School of Techniques' divination methods for Zhongli Que. But both girls were complete novices when it came to the Nine Schools Techniques, and they knew very little. Some books were so cryptic that they might as well have been written in the Book of Heaven.

That was, until Yu Sui's second brother, Su Feng, joined them.

Su Feng had been close to Zhongli Shan since childhood. Zhongli Shan often brought his younger sister along when they played, so Su Feng and Zhongli Que saw each other often and gradually grew familiar.

Everyone among the capital's noble youths knew that Zhongli Shan doted on his younger sister.

Once, Zhongli Shan's friends had visited his home. During a contest at the Archery Range, Zhongli Que helped pick up the arrows. Only the children from the Archery Range were there at the time; the others were trusted subordinates of the Zhongli Family.

But somehow, one of those friends deliberately spread word of Zhongli Que picking up the arrows to the palace.

After Zhongli Shan found out who it was, he beat the man soundly. They were both disciples of the Military School, but afterward, the man went out of his way to avoid the Zhongli Family. He left the capital less than two years later.

After that incident, Zhongli Shan grew wary of his friends and no longer trusted the people around him.

That friend had taught him a lesson.

The only friend Zhongli Shan could trust was Su Feng.

It was Su Feng who helped find out who had spread the tale, and Su Feng who went to corner the culprit and beat him up first.

After Zhongli Shan went to Taiyi Academy, it was also Su Feng who stayed in the capital to look after Zhongli Que.

Once he learned that Yu Sui and Zhongli Que were close, Su Feng started buying two of everything for his younger sister and giving one to Zhongli Que.

By then, Big Brother Han Bing and Third Brother Sheng Zui were both away from the capital. Only Su Feng would take Yu Sui and Zhongli Que out to have fun after he finished his work at the Military School Chongtai.

When Yu Sui was sixteen, Nangong Ming said to Su Feng, "You're close with the Zhongli Family's daughter. Zhongli Ci is sending his son to Taiyi to find a way to break my Shura Eye."

Su Feng had already shed the innocence of childhood. Nangong Ming had been the person he admired most when he was little, but as the years passed, he grew up, met more people, saw more of the world, and went through more experiences. His perspective gradually changed.

A lively child had grown steadier with age.

Su Feng stood straight in Nangong Ming's room. Candlelight softened his refined features, but his dark eyes were utterly calm.

"Since you're so close to Zhongli Ci's daughter, and you often take her and Sui Sui out together, I suppose Zhongli Ci's daughter sees you as her older brother too." Nangong Ming spoke unhurriedly, but his gaze stayed fixed on Su Feng.

Even Yu Sui, standing outside the door, could feel the pressure emanating from Nangong Ming inside.

"Getting Zhongli Ci's daughter into a little trouble shouldn't be difficult, should it, Su Feng?"

Nangong Ming had called him by his full name. It was clear he was expressing his displeasure.

Su Feng lowered his eyes and said gravely, "I can't do it."

"Oh?" Nangong Ming chuckled softly. "Is that difficult for you?"

Su Feng said, "The Ming and Bing Families can fight using any number of open methods. There's no need to resort to such despicable, underhanded tactics."

Nangong Ming sat down in his chair and lightly rubbed his chin. "Did you just call me despicable and underhanded? If you think the Ming and Bing Families can win their battles only through open methods, you're far too naïve. And do you think the Military School has never used underhanded tactics?"

"Have you forgotten how you were targeted at the Military School Chongtai, and how many times you nearly got yourself killed?"

"Were those the open methods you're talking about?"

Su Feng said, "If we're counting like that, then I'm part of the Military School too."

Nangong Ming replied flatly, "Nonsense. You're my son, Nangong Ming's son. You're not part of the Military School."

Su Feng remained calm. "That was a conflict between practitioners of the Nine Schools Techniques."

"Are you pretending to be naïve, or are you just unwilling to hurt that little girl from the Zhongli Family?" Nangong Ming smiled faintly, his gaze fixed on the person before him. He seemed calm, but his presence had turned fierce.

Su Feng slowly lifted his eyes and met Nangong Ming's gaze. The young man's clear eyes were unwavering. "I won't hurt her."

Nangong Ming raised his hand and slapped him. The blow landed hard. Outside, Yu Sui heard it and touched her own cheek.

Su Feng's head turned with the slap. Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, but he kept his back straight and refused to yield.

"You useless thing." Nangong Ming knew his son's temper well. Once Su Feng refused, Nangong Ming could crush his hands and feet right there, and he still wouldn't bow his head.

"Get out." Nangong Ming's expression was cold, his voice icy.

Su Feng lowered his head slightly, as if apologizing to his father. When he opened the door and stepped out, he saw Yu Sui waiting outside. He raised an eyebrow, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and smiled.

It was the smile of someone who had won a fight, full of triumphant spirit.

Su Feng left, and Yu Sui was called in for a lecture.

Nangong Ming spent a long time telling her about Su Feng's rebelliousness, and made sure she saw what had happened to him. In the end, he ordered her to cut ties with Zhongli Que and stop associating with the Zhongli Family.

Yu Sui agreed.

Nangong Ming didn't ask Yu Sui to frame Zhongli Que or find a weakness to exploit. He knew that since Su Feng had rejected the idea, he wouldn't let anything happen to Zhongli Que.

Su Feng would do everything in his power to stop it.

In the end, it would only make things more troublesome—and might even end up handing someone else a weapon.

Nangong Ming asked, "You wouldn't happen to like that girl from the Zhongli Family too, like your second brother, would you?"

Yu Sui replied, "I don't like her that much."

Nangong Ming narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. "You have to choose your friends wisely. Other than Zhongli Que, don't you have any other friends?"

"I do. Not many, though," Yu Sui said honestly.

Nangong Ming raised a hand to rub his Eyebrow Bone and sighed softly. "The wrong friends will only hurt you. Never mind. You'll have plenty of new friends soon."

Yu Sui left Nangong Ming's room and returned to her courtyard. The Mute Woman told her that Su Feng was waiting outside her room.

Su Feng had only visited her courtyard a handful of times.

Yu Sui sent the Mute Woman and the others away, leaving only the siblings in the little courtyard.

The gardenias in the courtyard were in full bloom, their heavy fragrance spreading through the night.

Su Feng stood beside the flowers and looked at her. "It was Father's order. I know this puts you in a difficult position. Even if you fall out with Zhongli Que tomorrow, I won't say anything. Just take care of yourself first."

Yu Sui looked back at her older brother. "Second Brother, if I truly care about a friend, she doesn't have to be on my lips. She'll live in my heart."

It was from that day on that Su Feng slowly began to see his younger sister's true nature.

And Yu Sui learned Su Feng's secret.

Many people knew Su Feng liked Zhongli Que, because they thought he treated her as a younger sister.

Few people knew Su Feng liked Zhongli Que, because only Yu Sui knew what he was willing to do for her.

But Su Feng never said it aloud, so Yu Sui pretended not to know.

Sometimes, not getting what you wanted was best. As long as you never had it, you would keep it in your heart, where it could breed unspoken desire and longing.

With Su Feng's help, Zhongli Que received information about the School of Techniques' divination methods and finally managed to control that mysterious power on her own. But the information she obtained actively was very different from what she learned passively.

When she learned things passively, she could see scenes the person involved would experience firsthand in the future.

But when she tried to look ahead on her own, she could only see fragments connected to that person. The scenes flashed by quickly, and she had to focus completely to observe them.

So far, most of the scenes Zhongli Que had seen passively had been related to Yu Sui.

Whenever Yu Sui wanted to sneak out and do something, she would ask Zhongli Que to help her check whether she could avoid the Royal Palace's hidden guards and whether everything would go smoothly.

At that moment, Yu Sui read the premonition message Zhongli Que had sent. Her fingertip brushed the edge of the Listening Wind Ruler as the words "scorpion" and "spider" reflected in her eyes.

Wei Ren, huh?

She remembered what Wei Ren had said earlier:

"I've been hearing your name since I was little."

An Agricultural School Disciple.

He definitely knew the Agricultural School's treasured Breathsoil was with her.