Song Zhizhi sat below in her Inner Sect Disciple uniform, standing out like a crane among chickens. Yet Teaching Peak required all disciples attending class to wear sect disciple robes, so even if Song Zhizhi wanted to change into her own clothes and keep a low profile, she could not.
With no other choice, Song Zhizhi could only pretend those gazes did not exist and attend class with an unchanged expression.
Song Zhizhi had attended lessons at Teaching Peak for three days. In today's class, she had also run into Liu Changfei. However, because Liu Changfei's chosen courses differed somewhat from hers, they were not able to see each other often.
After class, Song Zhizhi and Liu Changfei walked out together.
"I heard Feng Yulong has already come out of Reflection Cliff. With his petty nature, he'll definitely come looking for trouble with you, so be careful. Your body isn't well right now; don't clash with him head-on."
"I took your pulse for you just now. Your condition is a little worse than before. Did you not take my advice to heart? Song Zhizhi, this isn't some minor issue. You need to take it seriously!"
Song Zhizhi touched her stomach. How could she not know? But how was she supposed to bring it up to Xie Xiuji?
Song Zhizhi sighed. "I know. I won't risk my own body."
Talking with Liu Changfei along the way delayed them somewhat. By the time Song Zhizhi reached the outside, most of the others had already left. At a glance, she spotted Xie Xiuji standing at the foot of the mountain with his hands behind his back.
At first, Song Zhizhi had worried that Xie Xiuji picking her up and taking her to class every day might stir up gossip. Later, she discovered that disciples passing by Xie Xiuji would unconsciously overlook him. Only then did she feel at ease letting him wait outside.
Liu Changfei, who had been walking alongside Song Zhizhi, had not noticed Xie Xiuji at first either. It was only when Xie Xiuji walked up to them that she noticed a handsome man with an icy temperament had suddenly appeared beside them.
Sensing the sharp aura around the man, Liu Changfei frowned and looked toward Song Zhizhi. Somewhat frightened, she asked, "Zhizhi, this is...?"
She had never met Xie Xiuji and did not know that the man before her was Sword Sect's renowned Sword Venerable Mingxiao. Song Zhizhi considered her words before saying, "Feifei, this is my senior brother. I can't use Sword Flight, so he came to pick me up. I'll be going back first."
The icy aura around Sword Venerable Mingxiao melted away, and he nodded to Liu Changfei.
Liu Changfei suddenly had the illusion of being watched by an elder in her Household. She quietly took two steps back and said stiffly, "Zhizhi, hurry back. See you tomorrow!"
Tomorrow was a basic swordsmanship class, and both Song Zhizhi and Liu Changfei had chosen it.
Song Zhizhi stepped onto Xie Xiuji's flying sword and waved at Liu Changfei. "See you tomorrow."
Liu Changfei watched the two of them fly away, then slowly walked back to the outer sect. Teaching Peak was not far from the outer sect; it only took a quarter of an hour on foot.
Halfway there, she suddenly stopped. Wasn't Song Zhizhi's senior brother in seclusion, attempting to break through to Nascent Soul? Which senior brother was this?
Liu Changfei ran through all of Sword Lord Qingyu's connections. Then she suddenly paused. Someone Song Zhizhi could call senior brother, not too old, with an icy temperament, and fond of white robes... Could he be that one from Red Cloud Peak?
But why would that one from Red Cloud Peak personally come to pick Song Zhizhi up after class?
Liu Changfei: Help, she seemed to have learned something incredible!
The next day, when Song Zhizhi saw Liu Changfei in swordsmanship class, she found the other girl's eyes red, faint dark circles hanging beneath them, looking as though she had not slept well at all.
"What did you do last night?" Cultivators could replace sleep with cultivation; logically speaking, they should not have dark circles.
Liu Changfei cast her a resentful look. However, with so many eyes and ears nearby, she did not ask about her suspicions. Tiredly waving a hand, she said, "I was thinking about things. There were too many distracting thoughts, so I couldn't cultivate, and I couldn't sleep either."
"Tch! Trash is trash. You can't even focus and enter meditation to cultivate," a malicious voice suddenly came from behind them. The two turned around to see Feng Yulong seated behind them, his eyes full of mockery. "Hanging around trash all day long—no wonder you're still not at Foundation Establishment at such an age. You're simply disgracing our inner sect."
Author's note:
The assist had arrived!
Class Sparring
Liu Changfei inwardly cursed her bad luck. Raising a hand before her nose, she waved it with a look of utter disgust. "Whose mad dog has run out and started barking? Hurry and lock it up. What if it bites someone?"
She pulled Song Zhizhi farther away. "Zhizhi, let's move away. It'll be troublesome if we catch mad dog disease."
Feng Yulong stared at the two with a dark expression, his gaze like that of someone looking at enemies with whom he would never rest until death.
Song Zhizhi frowned uncomfortably. It seemed that Feng Yulong's seven days at Reflection Cliff had not made him reflect on his mistakes at all. Instead, he had blamed her for the reason he was imprisoned at Reflection Cliff.
The original novel had not described it wrongly—Feng Yulong's mind truly was smaller than the tip of a needle.
The elder arrived, and Song Zhizhi shifted her gaze away from Feng Yulong. Disciples from the Enforcement Hall patrolled around Teaching Peak, and elders watched from above. She thought Feng Yulong could not be foolish enough to cause trouble here.
She simply did not know whether Feng Yulong appearing here was a coincidence or whether he had another purpose.
Forget it. Whether he had another purpose or not, she could not be bothered to pay him any attention. With elders watching and the Enforcement Hall guarding the place, what could Feng Yulong do?
Being stared at would not make two pieces of flesh disappear.
The basic swordsmanship course began. This elder's teaching was all extremely fundamental and detailed, perfectly suited for someone like Song Zhizhi, who had only just entered the path of the sword. Song Zhizhi withdrew her attention from Feng Yulong and listened attentively.
"Every sword move has a way to counter it. What I will teach you today is how to quickly see through your opponent's moves during battle and respond accordingly. Let us use the most basic Heavenly Profound Sword Art as an example..."
Song Zhizhi's brows drew together slightly. She felt that today's elder's lecture seemed a little too profound. She understood only bits and pieces, and initially thought it was because her foundation was too weak. But when she saw the surrounding fellow disciples wearing the same bewildered expressions of "Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?", she knew the problem was not hers.
Song Zhizhi could only lower her head and write furiously, noting down the parts she did not understand so she could ask Xie Xiuji after class.