He Xiaolan: Side story

He Duobing spent most of his early childhood on Mount Yun Yin.

When he first met Li Xiangyi in this life, his birth mother had jokingly said that she had given him to Li Xiangyi. But although Li Xiangyi had encountered the unexpected trouble with his senior brother just as he was starting out in the jianghu, his determination to roam the jianghu and uphold justice remained unchanged.

Still young, he was itching to make a name for himself. How could he go and look after a three-year-old child?

And so He Duobing's distress and clinging had seemed like a joke instead.

Li Xiangyi came to see He Duobing and formally apologized and offered compensation to He Xiaohui on behalf of Mount Yun Yin, then left soon afterward.

As for He Xiaolan, aside from secretly visiting the imperial palace to take the mother parasite into the Chaos Pearl and using her profound internal force to erase the wall bearing the secret of the emperor's origins, she began living a secluded life at Heavenly Secret Manor.

She had roamed the jianghu too much in her previous lives, and it no longer held much interest for her. Now, she might as well take advantage of her position to study and improve her mechanisms.

Seeing that He Xiaolan's martial arts and skill with mechanisms could both be called unmatched under heaven, He Xiaohui dumped most of Heavenly Secret Manor's affairs on her and took her biological son and husband to live in the capital.

After all, anyone who wanted to advance in officialdom had to be in the capital, and Fang Zeshi was also looking forward to his son following in his footsteps and entering officialdom.

He Xiaohui had originally wanted to take He Xiaobao with her as well. She could see that He Xiaolan had little affection for He Duobing, while He Duobing had spent most of his time growing up by her side and was no different from her own son.

But after spending a long time at Heavenly Secret Manor, He Xiaolan had also noticed certain unusual things about He Duobing.

So she asked He Duobing very seriously what he planned to do.

Whatever his identity, however many lives he had lived over, and whatever he had experienced, He Duobing had always longed for the jianghu with all his heart. So when He Xiaolan asked, he told her of his ambition: he did not want to go to the capital; he wanted to make his way in the jianghu.

He Xiaolan had no patience for raising and teaching He Duobing, so she sent him to Mount Yun Yin, granting his wish in a way.

Of course, although Mount Yun Yin owed her, she was not one to take a yard when given an inch, so she gave Qi Mushan a copy of the martial arts manual she had once given Heavenly Secret Manor as tuition.

He Duobing was indeed quite gifted. Though the martial arts in the manual were difficult to begin learning, he quickly grasped the basics under Qi Mushan's instruction.

Moreover, Qin Po helped nurse his body, and He Xiaolan had been very healthy when she gave birth to him, so He Duobing built a very solid foundation in this life.

While He Duobing was receiving the devoted instruction of Qi Mushan and his wife on Mount Yun Yin, Li Xiangyi defeated the Blood Realm Heavenly Demon in the same year he came down from the mountain and became the best under heaven.

He Duobing was somewhat puzzled when he heard the news. Li Xiangyi, fresh out of the gate, could not possibly defeat He Xiaolan in martial arts, so how was it that she was unknown in the jianghu?

Judging by how arrogantly she had acted before, she was not someone who would swallow insults in silence.

If He Xiaolan had known what He Duobing was thinking, she could only have said that he was overthinking it. How could she care about being the best under heaven in a mere small world?

In this life, however, Li Xiangyi did not establish the Sigu Sect until he was twenty.

When He Duobing heard that Li Xiangyi had established the Sigu Sect, he clamored to go and stay there for a while every year, despite his young age. He intended to put the likes of Fo Bi Bai Shi in a bad light.

Li Xiangyi was good in every way, except that he was far too unguarded around those close to him.

Unfortunately, He Duobing had worried for nothing. After what happened with Shan Gudao, Li Xiangyi had become friends with He Xiaolan and sought her out every year to spar and get beaten up.

He Xiaolan's tongue was no less vicious than Li Xiangyi's, and she had the people of Heavenly Secret Manor gathering information for her. Before He Duobing could even decide how to deal with those hypocritical villains, He Xiaolan had already lambasted every last one of them.

Li Xiangyi truly believed what He Xiaolan said and looked into those people's conduct. There were indeed some things amiss, and he gradually distanced himself from them.

Xiao Zijin in particular had greatly overestimated himself. When he happened to hear that He Xiaolan had spoken ill of him, he even came to confront her, and she swiftly and decisively crippled his martial arts.

Her Heavenly Secret Manor's standing was now no lower than that of the Sigu Sect, and she had never shown deference to anyone.

He Duobing still chose to come down from the mountain and travel the jianghu at the same time he had met Li Lianhua in his previous life.

And at this time, Li Xiangyi was still the radiant best under heaven, master of the Sigu Sect. Watching Li Xiangyi drink and chat with his brothers in the Sigu Sect's great hall, introducing him along the way, He Duobing was already drunk before he had touched a drop.

This Li Xiangyi was truly wonderful.