Chu Xisheng practiced a few blade forms to get a feel for the effects of Virtual Training, only then realizing he had gotten up late today.
He had been too absorbed in Virtual Training and failed to control when he woke up.
Chu Xisheng hurriedly wiped his face with a towel, then brushed his teeth with a willow twig as he rushed toward the Storage Yard's gate.
When he pulled the gate open with a creak and strode out, he spotted a beautiful girl in green leaning at an angle beside the entrance.
Her arms were folded across her chest as she leaned against the right-hand doorframe, her toes tapping the threshold with a hint of impatience. She seemed to be waiting for someone.
Chu Xisheng glanced at her and offered a kindly reminder. "Junior Sister, morning practice is about to start. You-hiss-"
He recognized her. Wasn't she the Lily Maiden from yesterday?
She had merely changed her attire. Her black hair was gathered into a Wuman bun, with a rose-shaped hairpin tucked into it at an angle. The floral ornament between her brows had also been replaced with a rose gemstone, and even the patterns on her lapels were a mixture of lotuses and roses.
Though her features were unchanged, she gave Chu Xisheng an entirely different impression.
Well, now she's the Rose Maiden.
"Junior Sister Lu?" Chu Xisheng was pleasantly surprised. He had finally found the person responsible.
Instinctively, Chu Xisheng reached for her wrist. "Junior Sister, I've had such a hard time looking for you. Come on, I'll take you to Instructor Ye-"
The blame he had taken yesterday was no easy burden. It could cost him his head.
Every grievance had its source, and every debt its debtor. It would be better to let this girl shoulder the trouble with the Bloodwind Bandits herself.
No sooner had Chu Xisheng extended his hand than he realized it was inappropriate.
This was an ancient society, where men and women were not supposed to touch. How could he casually grab a girl's hand?
Chu Xisheng was about to pull back when the girl reached over and covered his mouth with her small hand, soft as warm jade and fragrant.
"Shh!"
The Rose Maiden held her index finger before her lips, signaling for Chu Xisheng to be quiet, then forcibly pushed him back through the gate.
She glanced left and right, and only after finding no one around did she step inside and slam the gate shut.
"Don't talk nonsense." The Rose Maiden glared fiercely at Chu Xisheng with her clear black-and-white eyes. "You were the one who killed that Spellcaster yesterday. What did it have to do with me? No more spreading rumors, understood?"
Chu Xisheng had initially folded his arms across his chest, worried about his chastity.
After all, since transmigrating, his looks truly rivaled those of the ancient beauty Pan An.
A boy out in the world could never be too careful.
Once the Rose Maiden finished speaking, Chu Xisheng could not help knitting his brows. "What do you mean, Junior Sister?"
The Rose Maiden's pretty face flushed slightly. Seemingly guilty, she avoided his eyes and stammered, "That business with the Spellcaster yesterday-you're not allowed to mention it to anyone else. It had nothing to do with me. I was never at the scene, and I never went to the Library Tower."
Chu Xisheng's expression darkened slightly as he cast her a less-than-friendly sidelong look. "Do you know that the Bloodwind Bandits kept saying they would take my life yesterday?"
"What are you afraid of? The Bloodwind Bandits' second-in-command saw me kill that Spellcaster with his own eyes. They'll only come after me. If they dare come looking for you, I'll help you."
At this point, the Rose Maiden suddenly felt something was wrong.
I'm the seventh-grade expert here. Why am I acting so guilty in front of a boy whose cultivation hasn't even reached ninth grade?
She folded her arms and assumed the bearing of an expert. "Anyway, it's settled. Whether you like it or not, you're taking credit for the Spellcaster. Don't drag me into it. I killed him, and you get fame and rewards. Aren't we both getting what we need?"
But Chu Xisheng's expression shifted slightly. "You don't want to expose your identity? You want to keep hiding in the academy? Are you also looking for Qin Muge's God-Defying Banner?"
The Rose Maiden froze for a moment, then poked Chu Xisheng in the chest with her tender, slender finger. "Why are you asking so many questions? Just do as you're told, or else-"
She tried hard to look fierce, widening her eyes like a little tiger while drawing her thumb across her throat. "I'll kill you!"
Chu Xisheng felt that the Rose Maiden's words were not threatening in the slightest.
Still, he knew which way the wind blew and sensibly kept his mouth shut, meeting her gaze with clear, innocent eyes.
The Rose Maiden gave him another warning glare before turning to open the gate and leave.
Chu Xisheng waited a while before stepping outside. With roughly twenty zhang between them, he followed the girl toward the Grand Training Ground.
When they arrived, they discovered that fewer than half the usual number of people were there.
Only a third of the disciples newly promoted to the inner sect had come, and few martial instructors were present either, leaving the entire morning practice in chaos.
Chu Xisheng was already late when he arrived, but none of the instructors said anything.
A group of inner disciples even made a point of bowing to him in gratitude.
They believed that if Chu Xisheng had not killed the Spellcaster yesterday, the vast majority of those inside the tower would not have survived.
Chu Xisheng looked sheepish.
The one who had actually killed the Spellcaster was not him, but the Rose Maiden.
With the person responsible standing right beside him, Chu Xisheng felt quite awkward, yet he could not explain.
The Rose Maiden was unconcerned. She stood behind Chu Xisheng and went through the motions of joining morning practice.
Just then, Chu Xisheng spotted Ye Zhiqiu.
She was late too, entering the training ground with drooping eyelids and a listless expression.
Chu Xisheng gave nothing away. Only when Ye Zhiqiu drew near did he suddenly raise his hand. "Instructor Ye-"
Before he could finish, a gale poured into his mouth, forcing his voice back down. His raised right hand also lowered against his will.
Was this a spell?
Chu Xisheng's eyes shifted, but he did not panic at all.
With so many instructors here, someone would notice something wrong with him sooner or later.
The Rose Maiden leaned her head close, her voice flustered and furious. "You dare report me? You must have a death wish."
The corners of Chu Xisheng's lips lifted slightly as he answered with a cold smile.
"What do you want?" The Rose Maiden noticed that some martial instructors nearby were already looking over suspiciously, and a note of alarm entered her voice.
Then she realized Chu Xisheng could not speak. Suppressing her anger, she said, "I'm only looking for clues to Qin Muge's treasure. I won't do anything to harm the Zhengyang Martial Academy. Why do you have to meddle?"
Treasure?
Chu Xisheng's eyes flickered. Where had this treasure come from now?
"Don't push me too far. If the fish dies and the net tears, it won't do you any good!" At this point, the Rose Maiden suddenly noticed Chu Xisheng crooking the fingers of his left hand.
She froze, then gaped as understanding dawned. "You want something in return?"
The Rose Maiden choked with anger. "Didn't you offend the Long Household in the inner city? I can help you. Their household head is merely lower sixth grade. He can't do anything to me. And as for the Bloodwind Bandits, I guarantee you won't get dragged into it."
Seeing that Chu Xisheng was still crooking his fingers, she could not help gritting her teeth. "I'll give you three hundred copper coins for every day I stay at the academy, all right? Five hundred! That's the most I'll pay. My money doesn't blow in on the wind either."
Chu Xisheng considered briefly, then finally nodded.
The girl hesitated, worried that Chu Xisheng would go back on his word.
But by then, Ye Zhiqiu's gaze was already sweeping toward them.
Left with no choice, the girl released the spell.
Once Chu Xisheng felt his right hand return to normal, he moved his arm about and asked curiously, "Junior Sister, what's your name? Instructor Ye and the others checked the entire disciple roster last night, but they couldn't find you."
"Lu Luanli!" Lu Luanli spoke as she practiced the Wind-Chasing Blade. "I'm a Leafless Disciple who advanced to the inner sect three months ago. Naturally, they wouldn't think of me."
"Luanli?" Chu Xisheng was briefly taken aback. "What a fine name."
He could not find anything to praise about it. What parent would give their child a name meaning turmoil and separation?
"If you want to laugh, go ahead."
Lu Luanli shot him a displeased sidelong glance. "A fortune-teller once said I had the fate of a 'lone star after dawn,' destined for my family to be scattered, for loneliness with no one to rely on, and for a life of wandering and hardship. My father burst out laughing when he heard that and named me Lu Luanli."
Chu Xisheng knew that the common term for this "lone star after dawn" was a heavenly baleful lone star, used specifically to describe an orphaned girl.
He was about to say something when he saw Ye Zhiqiu approaching with a yawn.
Lu Luanli tensed, and her blade movements abruptly grew considerably sharper.
Ye Zhiqiu did not notice anything unusual about Lu Luanli. She asked Chu Xisheng, "Were you calling me just now? What is it? Did you need something?"
Under Lu Luanli's threatening gaze, Chu Xisheng smiled faintly. "Nothing. You just look a little haggard, Instructor Ye, so I was worried."
"I've been busy. I haven't slept all night."
Ye Zhiqiu touched her face, then sighed. "You students can dust off your backsides and leave, but we have a mountain of loose ends to deal with. More than twenty martial instructors died inside the tower alone yesterday. The academy has to notify their families and help arrange their funerals.
"And all the books and texts inside the tower need to be reorganized. More than fifty rooms in the academy were burned down too, and so many walls were damaged. The floor tiles need repairing as well. It's an absolute headache."
At this point, Ye Zhiqiu gritted her teeth. "That Cao Xuan-I think he did it on purpose. Claiming he only tracked down the Bloodwind Bandits moments before it happened-who does he think he's fooling?"
Chu Xisheng also suspected that the Bloodwind Bandits' attack on the Zhengyang Martial Academy's Library Tower was the result of Cao Xuan deliberately giving them free rein.
But right now, something else concerned him more.
"Instructor, when will the Library Tower reopen?"
He was waiting to study that Yazi Diagram.
"It certainly won't reopen anytime soon. You newly promoted inner disciples will have to wait."
Ye Zhiqiu shook her head with a bitter smile. "They're still taking inventory of the books and texts inside. More importantly, they burned four of the External Ten Arts. Those True Intention diagrams will all have to be brought over from the Formless Divine Sect's Main Mountain. We'll also have to assign new instructors to duty inside the tower."
Just as Chu Xisheng was feeling disappointed, Ye Zhiqiu changed tack. "But until it reopens, the Library Tower is temporarily under my management."
She winked at Chu Xisheng. "For now, what I say goes in there."