Chapter 131: Only Zero Times Or Countless Times

Chapter 131: Only Zero and Countless Times

"Why thirty-eight? Huh? Why thirty-eight?"

Inside the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Zhao Changhe, who had just been oozing coolness outside, sat there and could only complain: "Does this damn book have a grudge against me? The eighty-eight it gave before, though it hid a hint of 'goodbye to you,' I could also take it as 'getting rich,' which wasn't bad, right? But now what is this, a friend of women? Too much!"

Yue Hongling sat beside him with a blank face, helping apply medicine to the wound at his Tanzhong acupoint. Seeing him ramble on endlessly, she couldn't help but punch him.

Zhao Changhe covered his head: "I'm injured, and you still hit me."

"What a coincidence, I'm injured too." Yue Hongling said expressionlessly: "Tell me, how did you come up with that trick of having a vital acupoint stabbed as if it were an ordinary spot? Is it the same trick as that Flower-Picking Celestial Maiden inexplicably undoing my acupoint-sealing?"

Zhao Changhe's eyes darted around, and he fell silent.

"So you were already hooking up with her long ago? Go die!" Yue Hongling tightened the bandage with more force, making Zhao Changhe let out a scream.

"I really have nothing to do with her! It's a misunderstanding..."

"Then who do you have something with? Tang Buqi's aunt? Calling her 'nephew' so affectionately!"

Zhao Changhe: "???"

Yue Hongling seemed to realize she had slipped up—why had she said that out loud?

She turned her head away indignantly: "What was that whispered thing you said? I was too far away to hear clearly. Say it to me now."

Zhao Changhe looked around and lowered his voice again: "He should be a member of the Four Symbols Sect, and a high-ranking one at that—the Zhenshui Yin of the Southern Seven Mansions of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. I don't know if his father is aware of this..."

Yue Hongling was stunned for a moment, then widened her eyes: "So you mean he's not from the Maitreya Sect, but a high-ranking member of the Four Symbols Sect? In the end, he's still a heretic planning rebellion? Then the Canal Guild..."

"Yes... The Four Symbols Sect's layout is far deeper than the Maitreya Sect's. The Maitreya Sect, even if they make a big splash first, feels like they're just paving the way for a king."

"Then why didn't you expose him?"

Zhao Changhe coughed twice and fell silent.

Yue Hongling understood, glancing at him sideways: "So Xia Chichi wants to rebel, and you support her, right? Are you going to ask for a mask to play with tomorrow?"

Zhao Changhe forced a smile: "That won't be necessary."

Letting Chichi wear a mask and play games with me is fine...

Yue Hongling sneered: "No wonder Wan Dongliu framed the barbarians. With so many targets to kill, he chose you, the hardest nut to crack... He thought you were a traitor within the sect, unclear with the saintess, so killing you would be a good thing, right?"

"Cough..."

"So you think it's a misunderstanding, and you can't bring yourself to kill him in revenge?"

"Well, it really was a misunderstanding, since I'm fine. And..." Zhao Changhe sighed: "If I really killed him, we wouldn't have been able to leave Yangzhou. Cutting him open and gutting him means he'll be laid up for at least a few months. That's enough to vent my anger."

Yue Hongling stared blankly for a while, piecing together the earlier details.

Wan Dongliu had clearly wanted to kill Zhao Changhe before, but during that stab at the Tanzhong acupoint, he held back. That was because Zhao Changhe deliberately lowered his voice when revealing his secret, not broadcasting it, making Wan Dongliu realize he might have misjudged Zhao Changhe's relationship with the Four Symbols Sect. So he held back, and later stopped others from ganging up on him, admitting he had chosen the wrong target for assassination and deserved the slashing.

Two seemingly rough-and-tumble martial artists, with minds sharper than many scholars. The two sides, who had just been cutting each other open, might now be more in sync internally than Wan Dongliu's closest subordinates—truly "one of their own."

She had thought staying in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion might be dangerous, but now she could be sure it was as safe as a mountain.

The world was truly in chaos, with heroes emerging one after another.

She stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

Wasn't that a good thing?

This was the vibrant martial world.

Yue Hongling no longer spoke with a sharp tongue, but said seriously: "Changhe, you've been stealing our sword intent and blade intent. I don't know how you learn so fast—it shouldn't be something you can just pick up by watching. Someone must have demonstrated it to you slowly and in detail, and you have to be naturally gifted to grasp it. I believe you're extremely talented, but who taught you?"

Zhao Changhe could tell Yue Hongling almost anything, but he instinctively felt he shouldn't casually reveal the matter of the Heavenly Book. So he just said: "Just think of me as a prodigy."

Yue Hongling didn't press further, only saying: "No matter how you learned it, I don't advise you to learn everything. Not only is it like biting off more than you can chew, dabbling in everything superficially, but it's better to focus on a few things. Also, some techniques may not suit you. At most, take their strengths and incorporate them into your own blade style—don't put the cart before the horse."

Zhao Changhe nodded: "True. For example, Chi Li's blade intent feels very unsuitable for me; no matter how I use it, it's awkward. The Spring Water Sword Intent, without the support of related techniques, is just scratching the surface, not very meaningful. I plan to gradually discard it, at most keeping its softness. What truly fits into my blade style is yours, and I've grasped it the most thoroughly. Back at the stronghold, you gave me a lot of guidance..."

Yue Hongling tilted her head slightly: "Now I can teach you completely."

"No."

"Why?"

"Even with yours, I only want to reference a bit of the sword intent. My path is ultimately the wildest blade. Learning too much would hinder my own way."

Yue Hongling stared at him fixedly, then smiled slightly: "I'll wait for your blade."

He had his own firm intent; no longer did he need to be taught like a novice just starting out.

Yue Hongling stretched and was about to leave: "Alright, rest well. I'm right next door; call me if anything comes up."

"Sister Yue." Zhao Changhe hesitated and called out to her.

Yue Hongling turned back, and saw Zhao Changhe stammering for a long time before finally mumbling: "Dual cultivation could speed up recovery, including that little injury on your shoulder. If you also know the dual cultivation technique and we work together, it won't take long to heal."

Yue Hongling's eyes widened: "Isn't that for internal energy circulation? Does it work for external injuries too?"

"It should. At least it's effective for the body's mechanisms like healing and blood production."

Yue Hongling hesitated a bit.

Based on her previous experience, that kind of dual cultivation was nothing much... But it was still dual cultivation, especially if she also participated, with energy flowing back and forth. Was that something normal friends could keep doing?

"I've noticed you've been stuck at the eighth level of the Mystic Gate for over half a year. Why the ninth level is so hard, I don't know, but from feeling your true energy before, 'solitary yin without growth' must be one obstacle. Maybe it's not the main one—after all, Tang Wanzhuang and others broke through, and some sects must maintain pure yin or pure yang, but they might have other secret methods. You're just an ordinary martial artist; I think it's a factor. Why not try to resolve it?"

Yue Hongling found it amusing: "Now you're giving me advice?"

"But does it make sense?"

"...Yes."

"Then it's settled." Zhao Changhe said seriously: "We're children of the martial world—why be bound by so many rules? You know that practice is perfectly normal. The bold and unrestrained Yue Hongling, are you really afraid of a name?"

Yue Hongling slapped the table: "Afraid of what? Tell me the formula!"

"..." Calling you sister, but sometimes you're more like a little sister.

After all, she was a girl younger than him.

...

In Wan Dongliu's room, Tang Buqi was "visiting."

Though it was called a visit, his face was as sour as if he had swallowed a dozen rotten duck eggs: "Brother Wan, don't say I'm heartless for questioning you at a time like this... Was what Zhao Changhe said earlier true or false?"

"It's true." Wan Dongliu lay there wrapped up like a mummy, his expression calm. As long as his identity as a member of the Four Symbols Sect wasn't exposed, what Zhao Changhe had revealed earlier wasn't a big deal.

Tang Buqi fumed: "So you really had us all in your calculations. It's not a bad thing to deal with the Maitreya Sect and the barbarians, but why couldn't you say it openly?"

"...Should I also tell you that I planned to assassinate the prefect and that the Canal Guild wants to dominate Yangzhou?" Wan Dongliu smiled: "Well, actually, it's not that I couldn't say it. Maybe I could have colluded a bit with Young Master Tang, but your aunt wouldn't like such things, and I doubt Young Master Tang would agree either. Why waste the effort? It would only leak my plans and accomplish nothing."

Tang Buqi said stiffly: "I really wouldn't agree... And now I know."

"Then so be it." Wan Dongliu still smiled calmly: "The situation is already set. Yangzhou can't afford more turmoil. If the Canal Guild makes a move, even this surface prosperity will vanish... Do you think that's why Zhao Changhe spared my life? And what reason does Young Master Tang have to deal with me? The real culprit behind the assassination of the prefect? I'm afraid if the common folk knew, they'd praise me as a righteous man, and Young Master Tang would become the villain. Why bother?"

Tang Buqi's face was very ugly. He felt he wasn't the villain on the stage, but a clown.

Wan Dongliu said leisurely: "In this whole affair, what surprised me most was Zhao Changhe's relationship with your Tang family and the Demon-Suppression Division. It seems quite close... Maybe Young Master Tang has no guard up, thinking he's a comrade and acting together. But why did Gong Chaoqun go along? Because Young Master Tang has great face? I don't think so."

Tang Buqi: "..."

Wan Dongliu found this young master quite endearing and couldn't help laughing: "I think Young Master Tang would be better off spending his energy questioning Zhao Changhe about this matter instead of interrogating me. That seems more important."