Fleeing Blindly in Panic

The young man raised his head and stared blankly at the sky, letting the rain roll into his eyes.

He spoke one word at a time. "I think even our sect's old ancestor couldn't make something one hundredth as good as that handkerchief."

The tall woman froze and cried out in shock, "How could that be?!"

The young man said, dazed and despondent, "That presence was probably the legendary Great Dao."

The tall woman's head spun. It took her quite a while to recover. "Are you sure you weren't mistaken? The Great Dao!"

"Yes. That handkerchief contains the supreme will of the Great Dao."

The tall woman shook her head, and a ruthless gleam flashed in her eyes. As a cultivator from a prestigious sect, she knew all too well what the will of the Great Dao meant. It was what countless people pursued day and night. Even their sect's old ancestor had only managed to touch the Great Dao with half a hand, yet that handkerchief actually contained its will. As she saw it, they had to get it, no matter the cost.

"I'll go get that handkerchief." The tall woman turned to leave.

The young man stood up and hurriedly said, "What are you going to do?"

"Get that handkerchief, whatever the cost!"

"Have you gone mad? The Forest Guardians are watching! They could kill you with a flick of their hand!"

"They won't." She turned around, her eyes softening. "I promise you. But once I give you the handkerchief, you must leave here at once. I'll notify the old ancestor then."

"What are you going to do?! Come back!"

The woman sprang onto the high wall, then jumped down and disappeared from sight.

"Come back!" the white-haired young man roared behind her.

Then a mouthful of blood welled up from his throat. The injuries he had suffered a few days ago still had not healed.

His head spun and his vision swam. The succession of violent emotions he had just experienced had left his mind and spirit weakened to the extreme, and he was about to collapse.

Just as consciousness slipped away, he dimly saw a young woman in green running toward him with an umbrella.

Chapter 36: Fleeing Blindly in Panic

The young man dimly heard a conversation.

"Don't just bring people you've picked up back here next time. If anything goes wrong, our little study can't afford to take responsibility."

"But aren't charity and helping others for the joy of it what you're always talking about, teacher?"

"Even so, you have to consider who it is. This person obviously doesn't need our help."

"He had fainted and looked so weak, and the rain was pouring down..."

The young man frowned. A cough escaped his mouth, followed by an unstoppable fit of coughing. He opened his eyes with difficulty and saw a figure in green standing before him.

She had an utterly pure presence. He gave a faint sniff, drawing in a trace of it, and it refreshed his heart and mind. At once, he came to his senses.

The young woman, Qin Sanyue, smiled. "You're awake."

The young man's head ached so badly it felt ready to burst. He rubbed his temples hard, then instinctively reached out and gripped the edge of the bed, bracing himself against it as he sat up with his back against the headboard.

"Where am I?" His gaze wandered. The injuries he had suffered a few days ago could backlash at any moment, so he dared not strain his mind by thinking too much.

"I went out earlier and found you unconscious by the wall. The rain was heavy, so I brought you here. This is the Three Flavors Study," Qin Sanyue answered earnestly.

The young man shook his head and more or less understood his situation: someone had saved him after he fainted.

"Thank you," he said. His eyes gradually came back into focus, and he saw what Qin Sanyue looked like. He instinctively paused, taken aback. He had never encountered such a pure presence before. Compared with that, the scar around her eye was hardly worth mentioning.

He raised his eyes and looked around.

It was a plain room, with no elaborate decorations, just like an ordinary home. A short-haired young man sat in the doorway, working on a piece of wood with a small knife. The young man was dressed in a way he had never seen before.

He turned his head again and looked past the young man.

He saw a white figure standing beneath a pear tree with an oiled-paper umbrella, pear blossoms drifting down around her and white robes fluttering.

The young man's eyes widened. In an instant, the hairs on his body stood on end, and his heart thundered. He knew the person in white, as should every Tree Feller in Black Stone City.

Camel Bell Mountain's Human World Walker, Qu Hongxiao!

Rain fell steadily in the courtyard.

Qu Hongxiao gently opened her eyes and turned her head. Her eyes, placid as water, glanced at the young man whose hair and facial hair were white. Without a word or even the slightest change in expression, she turned back and closed her eyes again.

Yet in the instant of that single glance, the young man's breathing nearly stopped. He could not imagine what would happen if he faced Qu Hongxiao, one of the strongest Tree Fellers, in his current condition. He knew there was no need to imagine it: he certainly could not last a single move against her. Even with the Great Curtain sealing both their cultivation, the result would be the same.

Leave this place. That was the most direct choice he could think of. He knew perfectly well that, in his present state, he could not even beat the slender young woman in green before him. Staying in the same place as Qu Hongxiao made it impossible for him to breathe easy.

He stumbled out of bed and hurriedly put on his shoes, intending to leave. But after only three steps, a wave of dizziness swept through his head, and he suddenly fell to the floor.

"You should stay in bed in your condition!" Qin Sanyue caught him from behind.

Ye Fu knew that the young man was a cultivator of considerable aptitude, who even possessed the wondrous quality of "knowing from birth." But he also knew that the young man's purpose in Black Stone City was the same as Qu Hongxiao's. Whittling the wood in his hand, he said calmly, "If he wants to leave, let him."

"Teacher! How can he leave in this state?" Qin Sanyue was kindhearted, after all. Remembering how she had once had no one to help her, she wanted to lend the young man a hand.

Ye Fu put down the wood in his hand and said slowly, "Does he need your help? Ask him yourself whether he does."

Qin Sanyue froze and stared blankly at the white-haired young man, who was half kneeling on the floor.