Chapter 237 - A Swollen Face
Chapter 237 A Swollen Face
Hua Qiyue glanced calmly at Tianci. She had long been accustomed to such embarrassing questions from him.
“Nothing. I went to the restroom,” Hua Qiyue said quietly.
The gazes of the company became instantly quite peculiar and complex.
Yun Shimo would not say why his face was swollen, but everyone could guess. If it were not Hua Qiyue, who else could touch Yun Shimo?
Other than Yun Xuan, there was also the mysterious Xuanji. Other than them, no one else could be a match for Yun Shimo!
But Xuanji and Hua Qiyue’s relationship was not that special. He did not seem to adore Hua Qiyue and would not act for her. After counting them out, it must have been Hua Qiyue herself.
“Come, come, let’s have breakfast. Porridge will not taste good when gets cold!” Madame Yun aptly interrupted this awkward moment.
Everyone recovered from their musings. Yun Shimo took over a bowl of porridge and went over to a nearby stone bench.
The day before, Xuanji and the other two men had brought back many large, smooth stones from the Stone Forest to be used as stone benches.
Yun Shimo took a sip of the porridge and frowned. His tongue bitten by Hua Qiyue was feeling painful.
So his appetite was not too good. After taking a small bowl, he put it down.
With Hua Qiyue by his side, Yun Shimo could not say whether it was a matter of joy or worry. But the days would go by in a bizarre manner, in its peaceful way…
…
The northernmost part of Yuewu Kingdom was made up of never-ending chains of mountains. Ancient trees soared everywhere into the sky as evil beasts roared. A narrow and winding path meandered into the interior of these mountains.
There were piles of fallen trees there. One could tell that this path had long been left untrodden.
In the depths of the mountains was a small village. A large clan lived there— the renowned Xuanyuan Family from the continent!
They were all living deep in the mountains because there was abundant anima energy there, very suitable for cultivation.
This secluded mountain seemed to be in the depths of the mountain chain and was remote from the outside world. Yet actually, the buildings within this mountain was extremely magnificent and lavish, with scarlet walls and glazed tiles. There were green trees and platforms overlooking the rivers.
Adult members of the Xuanyuan Family would know the Wind Greeting Steps. This village was 500 kilometers away from Xuanyuan City, but they could reach the city in four hours.
But the members of the clan rarely came out.
Since they were fervid about cultivation. All of them were cultivation zealots.
In the ancestral home of the Xuanyuan Family, in their great hall, an elder with snowy-white hair and beard sat, sampling tea with a cold expression.
Behind him followed a young man with a severed left arm. His body was shivering incessantly, his face color turning green.
“Patriarch… that woman’s really very powerful. She managed to destroy my arm with her Celestial-slaying Finger. If it weren’t for my sufficiently strong anima energy being able to protect myself… I would have died!”
Two rows of people stood by his sides. They were all elders of the Xuanyuan Family. When they heard the young man’s description, they began to furrow their brows.
The Xuanyuan Family had gained the upper hand in the great battle against the Yun Family 10 years ago. They had caused Yun Xuan’s body to die.
Now, they were left with only Yun Shimo, Madame Yun, and another woman. It seemed that now, they had an additional foe.
“Celestial-slaying Finger… It sounds like the lethal skill lost 10,000 years ago.” The old Patriarch said quietly. He was the Heavenly Saint Xuanyuan.
“Patriarch, it’s true. What shall we do? Was that woman Hua Qiyue?” Some among the crowd started to ask.
“Father, I don’t think that Hua Qiyue is a person that simple.” At this time, an old man nearly 60 began to remark quietly.
“She’s indeed not simple. She managed to defeat a young talent of our clan in only two moves.” The old Patriarch quietly sipped a mouthful of tea. “So… we must get rid of her early!”
“But they are all within the array interior!”
“We can’t help it. The array interior is protected by the laws of the formation. We can’t break into it. That Yun Shimo’s quite smart. He ran there and set up nodes in that terrain, making us worry on one hand, and allowing him to monitor us on the other.”
The old Patriarch gave a quiet sigh. “If only we could find someone who could break the formation.”
“Grandpa, that great array can be easily ruined by someone from the inside. But to locate the nodes of the array, we must watch them and buy off an unimportant person there. I heard that Hua Qiyue took quite a few people with her. I’m sure there will be someone there who doesn’t like Yun Shimo.” One young man stood out and offered this suggestion.
The old Patriarch’s eyes lit up. It was the only option available to them now.
“Yes, Yan’er’s right. We can try this way… Hua Qiyue? Haha, she’s just an upstart. She hurt our clan’s man. We shall behead her!” The old Patriarch said coldly.
That man kneeling there heaved a sigh of relief.
“Zisong, you go back too and have a good rest. You’re injured because of our clan. We shall reward you well,” The old Patriarch said. The kneeling man rejoiced wildly, giving the old Patriarch a few more kowtows.
An elder stood up and helped the man up, his face full of fury. “Don’t worry, Zisong. Grandpa will surely avenge you!”
The crowd dispersed silently. The Patriarch sat on the high seat, with an old man and a young remaining behind. One was his son Xuanyuan Quan, the other his grandson Xuanyuan Chuyang. Both of them stood there reverently.
“Grandpa, shall I go and kill Hua Qiyue?” Xuanyuan Chuyang asked in a low voice. “She’s now at the great completeness of Round Sun. If this drags on and she reaches the Holy God Realm, she’ll be even harder to deal with.”
“Yes, father. We can’t leave this woman alone. She’s a match even for Yun Shimo.”
Xuanyuan Quan also said quietly.
Heavenly Saint Xuanyuan glanced at them. “I know what the two of you are afraid of. You’re afraid that she will prove a danger to our Xuanyuan Family. But the problem is… that boy is only Yun Shimo’s adopted son. And it seems that Yun Shimo has taken the boy away. Hua Qiyue spent 3,000,000 taels at the Mercenary Agency searching for him and the boy…”
“In other words, they are opponents. After the woman leaves, we shall kill Yun Shimo. Wouldn’t that be great?”
“Grandpa, you don’t understand women. Some women keep saying they will kill a certain guy. But I’m sure that their hearts are usually unwilling.”
Xuanyuan Chuyang said. Heavenly Saint Xuanyuan stared at his extremely handsome grandson and started to chuckle lightly. “You’re right. Haha, so it’s Chuyang who has thought the deepest.”
Xuanyuan Chuyang had earned the praise of the Patriarch. He was naturally excited and as happy as a lark.
“We have to kill Hua Qiyue, but you won’t do it. You’re the sole offshoot of our Xuanyuan Family. Let the other elders wait and waylay Hua Qiyue in Xuanyuan City,” Heavely Saint Xuanyuan said.
Xuanyuan Chuyang felt a little disappointed. He had been cultivating all this time in the village and had no actual combat experience. The Xuanyuan Family had always treated him like a potted plant in a greenhouse.
Xuanyuan Chuyang actually would really like to act himself to gain some experience.
“Why not this: Tomorrow, let an elder accompany you into the mountains to hunt for some evil beasts, to help you gain some combat experience.”
Heavenly Saint Xuanyuan thought for a while and realized it was not right to coddle Xuanyuan Chuyang. He finally said this.
“Thank you, grandpa!”
Xuanyuan Chuyang started to laugh. He seemed to envisage the scene where he slaughtered the clan’s greatest enemies.
…
“Mom, take this. This is a hare roasted by dad!” Tianci said very enthusiastically. His crisp, melodious voice sounded delightful to the ears.
Hua Qiyue shook her head. “No. Mom would like something light. You have it, Tianci.”
She did not want to eat what that man had roasted.
“Haha, Qiyue, then try this pheasant. This pheasant is thin and not too oily.”
Ji Feng handed her the pheasant he had roasted. A whiff of aroma wafted in, causing one’s mouth to water.
Hua Qiyue took it smilingly. The face color of Yun Shimo opposite her turned slightly grim.
“My lord. my Demon Snake has been roasted. Come and try it!” Princess Qianyang opposite also smiled at Yun Shimo, passing him the Demon Snake roasted by her.
The Demon Snake was tender and succulent, and tasted wonderful.
But Yun Shimo merely shook his head. “No need. You eat it yourself!”
Princess Qianyang’s eyes could not help but look a little downcast, although it was not too conspicuous. After a while, she seemed to have forgotten the whole incident. She seemed to forget the fact that Hua Qiyue was Yun Shimo’s former lover too, and started enjoying the tasty meal.
Yun Shimo expressed his affection to Hua Qiyue twice and had been rejected. He naturally would not try again. Hua Qiyue was tired of eating roast meat but she really enjoyed Madame Yun’s soup. So she had two bowls, making her stomach bloat.
After lunch, Hua Qiyue was looking for a shady place to cultivate when Tianci ran over, pulling both her hands coquettishly.
“Mom, accompany me to look for some wild fruits.”
“Oh, there are wild fruits here? What kind of wild fruits?”
“I don’t know. I only know many kinds of red berries are edible. Mom, shall we go take a look?”
Tianci pulled Hua Qiyue and they left for the back mountain.
The back mountain was an unending stretch of woods. And there were also hillocks there.
These woods were the back gardens which Tianci often played in. After all, Yun Shimo and the others did not have time to accompany him to play. So Tianci could only spend time here playing with the Man-Hunting Insect. Now and then, he would look for some fruits to eat.
“Look, there’re wild fruits over there!” Tianci pointed at a nearby wood with fiery-red trees. On those trees were colorful red fruits. They looked quite tasty.
Hua Qiyue had to sigh. In this remote place, one small plot of such land would seem like paradise.
“So there are many wild fruits here. Tianci, did you use to pluck wild fruits here to eat?” Hua Qiyue asked with a smile. But when her gaze fell upon someone standing under the fruit trees, her smile froze.
Yun Shimo was standing under a fruit tree. His black robe flowed elegantly, his dark eyes profound.
He saw Hua Qiyue and also was startled. The reason why he was here was because Tianci had asked him to wait.
Tianci said that he wanted Yun Shimo to pick some wild fruits personally for Hua Qiyue. At this moment, Yun Shimo finally understood Tianci’s little scheme.
When he saw Hua Qiyue. Yun Shimo gave a bitter smile. The little fellow was smart enough to find them an opportunity to be together alone.
“Dad, climb up the fruit trees and pick us some wild fruits!” Tianci ran over, grabbing his robe and chuckling.
The eyes of the little fellow was full of cunning laughter.
Hua Qiyue walked over, not glancing at Yun Shimo. She merely lifted her small face, watching the red fruits gleaming in the sunlight.
Not far away, another pair of eyes was watching them silently too.