Plans of Their Own

Inside the embroidered pavilion of the inner courtyard.

Before the flowering branches.

The conversation between father and daughter continued.

"There's something more important. Back then—"

Father Jiang stopped. Something was wrong with his daughter's expression, and he immediately closed his mouth.

That made him reconsider the whole matter.

Hmm...

Apart from the matter of the two royal highnesses, there was no need to say anything else.

Especially not that more important matter—

The royal family's secrets had nothing to do with this incident anyway. Better not to mention them.

Saying nothing was safest!

Father Jiang watched his daughter for several breaths, then changed his tone.

"Forget it. That matter is even more dangerous. What you've heard is enough to understand my intentions."

"Now tell me, after hearing all this, what do you think?"

Jiang Xueyao had regained her composure. "Father, you shouldn't send me away to study. At a time like this, we need to prove more than ever that we have no ulterior motives."

"You think you should keep attending school?" the middle-aged man asked.

"Yes," Jiang Xueyao said.

Father Jiang considered it for several breaths. "...I wanted you to study away from home to make our position clear—to prove the Jiang family knew absolutely nothing and wanted no part in any of this."

"But you have a point."

"When you return, you must take the next Monthly Exam as usual. You absolutely cannot miss it."

Jiang Xueyao shuddered. "The next Monthly Exam! Could it still be the Border City Battle?"

"It hasn't been decided, but I'm afraid they may test you on it again."

Father Jiang sighed, then asked:

"If the next Monthly Exam is the Border City Battle again... what will you do?"

"I'll act as though I know nothing," Jiang Xueyao said at once. "I'll go with my original teammates and take the exam again."

"Exactly," Father Jiang said.

"Any unnecessary move would raise suspicions," Jiang Xueyao said. "Besides..."

"Besides what?" Father Jiang asked.

Jiang Xueyao spoke quickly:

"We're just four high school students in Early Qi Refining. We can't keep surviving the Border City Battle forever—"

"So many cultivators couldn't manage it."

"How could we?"

Father Jiang nodded. "That's right. I think you performed far beyond your usual ability this time. You couldn't possibly do it again—"

"Once you fail next time, everything will be fine."

"But we mustn't fail on purpose. We have to give the exam everything we truly have, then genuinely fail," Jiang Xueyao said.

"Precisely. If any of you hold back, that would bring a calamity vast enough to drown the heavens. Remember that!" Father Jiang's tone was exceptionally stern.

He almost never spoke to his daughter that way.

Jiang Xueyao understood the gravity of it.

But she still had questions.

"His Majesty has always been conciliatory, kind, and generous with people. Where could this calamity come from?"

Father Jiang raised a finger and tapped the air four times.

A. Heaven. Drowning. Calamity.

"Just remember what I've said. You don't need to know anything else. I pray you never do."

Those were his final words.

The classroom.

Xu Yuan returned to his seat and continued working through the questions.

He had a few major problems left. He needed to hurry.

—He had filled out Luofu's Special Admission Test notice and returned it to Lin Weiliang.

Lin Weiliang hadn't said much.

Now all he could do was wait for word.

He wondered when the next round of the Special Admission Test would begin.

It would be great if he could break through to Qi Refining Third Layer before then.

Xu Yuan shook his head and kept writing furiously.

Five-thirty in the afternoon.

The setting sun cast broad swathes of dusky yellow light across the classroom windows.

Xu Yuan finally finished the entire paper.

As the dismissal bell rang outside, he couldn't help stretching. He didn't want to stay seated another minute.

I'll check my answers during evening study.

Hopefully I haven't gotten too many wrong.

"Afei, coming?"

Xu Yuan called over to him.

"Go ahead if you've got things to do. I need a little longer." Zhao Afei stared miserably at the last two major problems on his paper.

Xu Yuan shrugged, left the classroom, went downstairs, picked up two takeaway meals from the cafeteria, and headed out of school.

Just outside the school gate, across the road, by a utility pole.

Several tall, burly boys surrounded him.

"You're Xu Yuan?" a tall boy asked.

"That's me. What do you want?" Xu Yuan asked.

"You'd better stay away from Jiang Xueyao from now on. Don't be a toad dreaming of swan meat, got it?" another burly boy barked.

Xu Yuan scratched his head, feeling a little awkward.

How to put it?

They didn't look especially bright.

Was there anything he could get these boys to handle for him?

"Sure, sure."

He took them up on it and asked earnestly:

"Jiang Xueyao arranged ten fights with me, and I can't turn her down. Could you fight her in my place?"

Every word was true, and so was the situation—

Jiang Xueyao had accepted his invitation to join the team for the Monthly Exam precisely because he had agreed to fight her ten times.

She hadn't even said anything about it yet, and here these boys were.

They didn't want him to go.

Then they could go themselves. They could fight her once and see how that ended.

It would let him off the hook.

At his words, the boys all sucked in a sharp breath.

The last boy who had fought Jiang Xueyao in a life-or-death match was still lying in the hospital. He had been out of school for half a year.

And as a warm-up before the Monthly Exam, she had sent two more boys flying with a single sweep of her sword!

One of them was still in the infirmary.

—Now another boy with a death wish had appeared!

Jiang Xueyao looked delicate, but she struck viciously and never showed mercy.

If he really fought her ten times, she would probably beat him into a wreck.

At that thought.

A trace of pity entered the boys' eyes as they looked at Xu Yuan.

"Well? Which of you will take my place?"

Xu Yuan asked, his face full of hope.

The boys avoided his gaze. Some even stepped back.

"Never mind. You can go."

They opened a path for him.

Xu Yuan paused, then slowly caught on.

So you only dare bully me. The moment it has anything to do with Jiang Xueyao herself, you're as silent as cicadas in winter?

What a bunch of sheep in wolves' clothing!

Xu Yuan sighed. He couldn't be bothered with these cowards and slipped past them.

Watching him from behind, they saw a lone figure whose back seemed desolate and tragic.

"There goes a man giving his life for love," one boy said quietly.

"Worthy of respect," another replied.

The others nodded in silence.

Xu Yuan had no idea what they were thinking. He simply kept walking.

About three to five minutes later.

At the next intersection.

Another group of senior-year students surrounded him.

"You're Xu Yuan?" a short boy asked.

"That's me. What do you want?" Xu Yuan asked.

"You'd better stay away from Yang Xiaobing from now on. Don't be a toad dreaming of swan meat, got it?" another burly boy barked.

Xu Yuan scratched his head, feeling a little awkward.

Couldn't they at least come up with a new line?

"We grew up together. I can't exactly change that."

The boy said, "That doesn't matter. Yang Xiaobing's such a great girl, and then there's you—"

He never finished.

Xu Yuan suddenly moved.

Holding the takeaway boxes in one hand, he slapped his sword sheath with the other.

The Qiong Jia Sword flew free, flashed through an arc in midair, and returned to its sheath with a clang.

"Thanks for the match."

Xu Yuan spoke.

Silence fell all around.

The boy slowly lowered his head and looked at his waist.

—The sword he had worn at his waist lay on the ground.

Before he could even react, Xu Yuan had disarmed him with one stroke.

Had that stroke shifted just a little.

He would be dead.

...How could this be?

How could he—

How could he possibly—

Suddenly.

"It's—a—Flying sword!"

Someone shrieked, their voice piercing the clouds.

Elsewhere.

The hospital.

The roof of the inpatient building.

From the depths of the dusky sky, a glowing thread descended. A man with six arms hung upside down from it.

He landed lightly on the rooftop.

Nine cultivators were already waiting there. As he arrived, they called out in unison:

"My lord!"

"Mm." The Six-Armed Man looked over his capable subordinates. "When will Xu Chengan's son arrive?"

"Around six every day. He comes to the hospital to bring Zhao Shulan dinner," one subordinate said.

"Then it's nearly time... Which of you will take his life for me?" the Six-Armed Man asked.

"We would be honored to ease your burden, my lord!" the nine cultivators answered together.

The Six-Armed Man's mouth twitched with disdain.

"You're my most capable subordinates. Killing some brat doesn't require all of you. Draw lots."

"That settles it. I'm going to see the Spirit Communicator."

"Bring the head to East District Pier afterward. Once I've seen it, I'll send it to Xu Chengan."

"To be honest, I'd love to see his face."

"Yes!" the nine subordinates replied in unison.