Chapter 644 - 358: Revealing One’s Edge
Chapter 644: Chapter 358: Revealing One’s Edge
In the gloomy, rainy weather, the alley leading to the red-light district in South City was dim and lightless. The rain beat against the roof tiles, PATTER PATTER. The cold wind howled past, rattling the doors and windows of the nearby houses.
Yet, the voice reached his ears clearly: "How about we spar?"
Chen Yi looked at the tiled roof in the distance, naturally recognizing his identity—the disciple of Immortal Bai, Gongye Bai; Shui Hetong, who was known for the "Punch that Suppresses a Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains."
"Spar?" Chen Yi pulled down the bamboo hat on his head and said plainly, "Forgive me, Brother Shui, but I still have things to do."
Shui Hetong was a bit surprised. "Since you know me, you should be clear about my relationship with your... with her.
"Even if you don’t give me face, you should at least consider her face and not be such a stranger with me, right?"
"You are you, and she is she." Chen Yi made up his mind to ignore Shui Hetong.
The sudden and inexplicable arrival of Monarch Xue Jian, Lone Immortal Ye, had already given him quite a headache. And now here came Shui Hetong. There was no guarantee this wasn’t a trap set for him by Immortal Bai. Troublesome. But the more Chen Yi wanted to avoid getting involved with Gongye Bai and the rest, the more Shui Hetong stuck to him like a leech.
His body turned into a rainbow light, arriving by Chen Yi’s side in the blink of an eye.
"Brother Liu Wu, why must you push me a thousand miles away? You should know that I came here this time at her request to protect the Xiao Family."
Chen Yi turned his head to look at him, pointing north. "The Xiao Family is on Chuansi Street. You’re going the wrong way."
Shui Hetong observed him for a moment and smiled, shaking his head. "Brother Liu Wu... or Brother Chen, you truly are very different from what she described.
"The you she spoke of was modest, polite, gentle, and full of a scholarly aura. Everything you learned was the way of scholars, excelling in Poetry and Calligraphy Dao.
"But the current you..."
Shui Hetong’s gaze fell on Chen Yi’s cuffs, faintly catching a gleam of cold light. He smiled and said four words: "Showing your sharp edge."
Hearing this, Chen Yi felt rather helpless as he continued walking toward the Imprisonment Department. As he walked, he said to Shui Hetong, who was following him, "Brother Shui, both you and Senior Bai know my identity, yet you chose not to tell her. You must be clear that I bear no ill will toward her or the Xiao Family."
"Of course.
"If my master and I didn’t know that your intentions were not bad, we would have already laid everything bare to my junior sister."
Shui Hetong paused, generally understanding his thoughts, and smiled, waving his hand. "As the saying goes, ’See through it but don’t point it out.’ Brother Liu Wu can rest assured about this."
Chen Yi shot him a sideways glance. "Rest assured? If Brother Shui and Senior Bai truly practice ’seeing through it but not pointing it out,’ then why did Elder Ye come knocking on my door?"
Immortal Bai obviously wanted to watch a good show—how could Chen Yi not know?
The smile on Shui Hetong’s face became slightly unnatural. "Well, Elder Ye has always been a lone wolf. When he came pleading to my master, the old man couldn’t very well refuse him."
Chen Yi naturally didn’t believe this excuse. "Are there no people in the Wind and Rain Tower? As far as I know, the Wind and Rain Tower has quite a resounding reputation in the Jianghu.
"Could it be that other than you, Brother Shui, there isn’t a second capable person to present?
"At worst, there’s Madam. She isn’t part of your Wind and Rain Tower and has enough strength. Fighting a match on behalf of Elder Ye against the person designated by Senior Bai should be fine too."
He simply didn’t believe the person Gongye Bai picked would hurt Xiao Jinghong. Hadn’t everyone heard of the relationship between the Sword Master, Li Wudang, and Gongye Bai?
After hearing his words, Shui Hetong’s expression turned odd, his face flushing slightly as if he were choking on an egg. He knew well what his master, Immortal Bai, was scheming. If Xiao Jinghong agreed to hold the line for Immortal Bai, then the ones fighting the match would be the married couple—Xiao Jinghong and Chen Yi.
Thinking about it carefully, Shui Hetong was actually quite looking forward to it.
However, aside from his anticipation, he also felt a bit of regret. He didn’t lack prestige; on the contrary, due to his connection with the Wind and Rain Tower, his reputation in the Jianghu was extremely resounding. What he lacked was solely the opportunity to spar with someone of the same Realm to seek a breakthrough. That was why, when he met Song Jinjian earlier, he proposed a sparring session. Unfortunately, constrained by his current status, Song Jinjian was unwilling to spar with him. Hence, when he saw Chen Yi, Shui Hetong felt the joy of a hunter spotting his prey, completely throwing his master Immortal Bai’s instructions to the back of his mind.
Thinking of this, Shui Hetong explained with a faint smile, "Brother Liu Wu should know.
"According to the traditions of the Jianghu, whenever the older generation spars, they will always find an up-and-coming talent to hold the line.
"Firstly, it allows the younger generation to make a name for themselves in the Jianghu. Secondly, there is an intention to test and guide them.
"For example, when Junior Master Li sparred with Senior Sword Ghost in the past, my junior sister held the line for Junior Master Li."
Seeing that Chen Yi remained unmoved, Shui Hetong continued, "The sparring match between my master and Elder Ye this time is a rare event in the Jianghu, unseen for decades.
"If you help Elder Ye hold the line and spar with someone, not only will your name spread across the Nine State and Three Prefectures, but you can also receive guidance from Elder Ye. Why wouldn’t you do it?"
Chen Yi naturally didn’t know what Shui Hetong was thinking, but having heard similar words from Lone Immortal Ye earlier, he remained expressionless at this moment. For one, he truly didn’t want to get stained with trouble. For another, a martial arts sparring match brought him no benefit. After all, the guidance of experts like Immortal Bai and Lone Immortal Ye was not as thorough as the Profound Mysteries of Martial Arts in his own mind.
Seeing that Shui Hetong wanted to say more, Chen Yi raised his hand and said, "I have already agreed to Elder Ye’s request, but not without conditions.
"Only because Elder Ye promised to do one thing for me did I reluctantly agree to help him hold the line and fight a match."
At this point, a thought stirred in Chen Yi’s mind. Lone Immortal Ye was an elusive expert, after all. Who knew to what extent he could fulfill the promise he made? Since Chen Yi couldn’t defeat Lone Immortal Ye, he couldn’t set a trap to manipulate him the way he did with Liu Lang.
But Shui Hetong was different.