Chapter 32: Azure Cloud (10)

Zhang Duixue jumped down with red eyes, almost stepping on He Tingtong’s face.

This tunnel was really too narrow. They couldn’t turn around at the bottom at all, so a string of teenagers crawled out and turned around.

Zhang Duixue, like pulling carrots, pulled out three in a row: He Tingtong, Fu Fengyan, and a shorter one he didn’t recognize.

“Is there anything to pack?” He Tingtong asked. Zhang Duixue shook his head, pulling his collar up in shame to cover himself. “Everything here belongs to the Young Palace Master. There’s nothing of mine.”

“Alright.” He Tingtong pushed him nonchalantly. “You go first, I’ll cover the rear and restore the array.”

Yue Qianxun drilled down first to clear the way, Zhang Duixue was second. After jumping down, he suddenly popped out again, raising his arm high, revealing a circle of small vermilion seal script characters on his left wrist, and whispered, “Wait! I almost forgot, I have a Tracking Talisman on me. Once I leave this courtyard, the Young Palace Master will find me no matter where I go.”

He Tingtong frowned, grabbed his arm, observed it left and right, rubbed it. Indeed, this thing was made very ingeniously, even more ingenious than the restriction outside the house.

He was really dead set on fearing that the person would run away.

“This is a good thing.” His eyebrows relaxed, smiling at Zhang Duixue. “I was just wondering how to take you to sign up. In case Xie Xuanxiao blocks you at the registration office, we’d more or less have to fight him. Now we don’t need to.”

He Tingtong directed Fu Fengyan to drag over a stool, let Fu Fengyan roll up his sleeves and put his arm on it. He rummaged in his own pocket, found a handful of yellow paper, and started folding paper.

The sun was gradually setting. The lake surface shimmered with waves, large patches of broken gold flashing finely. The window sill facing the lake was wide open, and the whole room was filled with a dizzying warmth. A layer of halo floated around He Tingtong. He lowered his eyes, his fingertips flipping nimbly. With a blow of air, the flat paper man inflated, turning into a little figure running around on the small stool with same-side limbs.

“Bear with it.” He Tingtong drew his sword and cut Zhang Duixue’s fingertip, wiping a trace of blood on the folded paper man. Bending his finger, he chanted, “Move!”

The little paper man stood up shakily, climbed up along Zhang Duixue’s wrist with same-side limbs to the Tracking Talisman, opened its arms and lay down. A moment later, that bright red circle of runes was imprinted on the little paper man.

He Tingtong peeled off the little figure, and the Tracking Talisman on the teenager’s fair wrist was completely gone.

Zhang Duixue’s eyes widened. “Curse Transfer Technique?”

He Tingtong threw the little paper man under the bed, blinking briskly. “A little deceiving trick.”

“Done yet? Why aren’t you going?” Yue Qianxun was already halfway through the tunnel. Finding no one behind him, he hurriedly backed up, butt first, half of his body still stuck in the soil, impatiently saying, “Are you going or not?”

“Go go go! Hurry up, Xiao Yue, crawl forward quickly, don’t block the way!” He Tingtong pushed Zhang Duixue, pushing him into the hole. “Let’s go.”

Then it was Fu Fengyan. He jumped down, crawled forward a bit, making space.

He Tingtong cleaned up all the sand and soil on the ground, sweeping it back into the pit, then drilled down, carefully covered the bricks and stones, and finally restored the array script.

With a flash of golden light, the circle that was drawn open before instantly matched seamlessly. Spiritual power flowed in the array technique without any stagnation, completely natural.

Fu Fengyan looked back. In the dim tunnel, two eyes were shining brightly as if emitting light. He whispered, “Swordsmanship, array techniques, witchcraft, you know so much.”

He Tingtong crawled in, pushing his butt. “Want to learn? I’ll teach you. But go quickly now, it’s getting late. Who knows when Xie Xuanxiao will return? It would be bad if we were blocked underground by him!”

The four crawled rapidly. He Tingtong set off exploding talismans all the way behind. Fortunately, the academy area was limited. Although Xie Xuanxiao’s residence was large, it wasn’t ridiculously large.

A quarter of an hour later, the four scrambled out of the soil. He Tingtong activated the talisman, and the tunnel they dug was destroyed and buried by the explosion again.

The sun was setting behind the western mountains, and only a line of gold could be seen on the horizon. A half-moon hung in the sky, a few stars twinkling. It was getting dark. The blowing wind carried the scent of peach blossoms, coolly hitting their hot faces. Zhang Duixue, with a head full of mud, looked at the three dusty people beside him, his heart beating like a drum, shaking his chest painfully.

The Langhuan Pavilion was still as quiet as ever. No one noticed that he had escaped. Zhang Duixue lifted his hem and ran wildly, every step landing solidly on the ground. The flat blue bricks were hard, the fine stones hurt his feet. Some places were planted with flowers and grass. Grass blades cut across his skin, drawing stinging red marks. They ran together along the shadow of the wall, escaping the boundary of the Langhuan Pavilion.

He left. The Young Palace Master would definitely be very angry.

But it didn’t matter.

When he participated in the final test tomorrow, when he entered the Sword Pavilion, when he learned swordsmanship fast and well, and could stand in front of the Young Palace Master to protect him, the Young Palace Master would definitely be happy for him.

It was just a brief separation, just one disobedience. Xie Xuanxiao liked him the most and would definitely forgive him!

His eyes lit up, his steps getting faster and faster. When he ran to the boundary of the Sword Pavilion after half an hour, he couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his mouth. He pounced over and hugged the few people who were panting heavily, his voice trembling, “Thank you, thank you for coming to find me.”

He Tingtong’s forehead was covered in sweat. He patted Zhang Duixue’s shoulder. “Just a small matter. Do what you want to do, no one can stop you.”

“Go take a bath first.” He fanned himself. “Then have a good sleep, and go directly to participate in the final test tomorrow.”

He reached out and bumped fists. “Tomorrow’s final test, win the first battle!”

The other two fists also came over to bump. “Invincible!”

Xie Xuanxiao never liked drinking.

But when encountering necessary social engagements, he had to drink.

Behind heavy curtains, the long hair of the Fu clan’s young master was like frost and snow, untied and unbound, hanging freely behind him. He propped up his head, nodding slightly. “Sigh, there are so many things in the clan. For some reason, the elders are going crazy every day, busy inside and out looking for something. Annoying to death. It’s still better in the academy, quiet.”

The main branch of the Fu clan basically had white hair and purple eyes, cold white like frost and snow, as if they would melt if held in hand. However, this young master of the Fu clan was lazy, looking languid without much temper or airs. The cold aura brought by his appearance was also much lighter.

He enjoyed pleasure. This time he bought three buildings, spent several days connecting them, carefully decorating the inside to make a huge and luxurious pavilion, watching others play Qu Shui Liu Shang (floating wine cups along a winding stream) inside.

Basically, all the new students of Azure Cloud Academy came, and quite a few senior brothers were there too. After all, taking advantage for free was always good.

Musicians hired at high prices were playing tunes. Decadent music stirred emotions. Dancing girls’ hemlines flew, fingertips twirled, playing the pipa behind their backs, like flying apsaras on murals.

“Young Master Xiangli, how does this scene compare to the Divine Firmament Crimson Palace?” The Fu clan’s young master turned his head, looking at the teenager sitting properly on the other side. With picturesque eyebrows and eyes, wide hemlines spread out, he sat upright. His long hair was half down and half tied, held by a jasper hairpin. The whole person was like misty spring rain, revealing a mild and fresh herbal scent.

“Young Master Fu has ingenious thoughts. The Divine Firmament Crimson Palace cannot compare to the elegance here.” He nodded, his voice also clear and moist. What was on the table was not wine, but tea.

“Eh? Where is your younger brother?” The Fu clan’s young master leaned his body, tilting his head to look at him. “I heard you were hit by a qin by that rascal? Do you want me to help teach him a lesson?”

The young master of the Xiangli clan lowered his eyelashes halfway. His face was still smiling, every inch of the smile just right, as if wearing an exquisite mask. “My younger brother is naughty, just joking with me.”

Fu clan’s young master: “I heard some gossip a few days ago, saying that your younger brother had been wandering outside for many years and was only brought back when he was thirteen. He grew up in brothels when he was young…”

Young Master Xiangli’s expression still didn’t change at all. He raised his eyes and laughed. “Where did these rumors come from? My younger brother is just a bit jumpy and naughty, how can he deserve such slander?”

“I don’t know where Brother Fu heard the news, but I must investigate it properly.”

“Sigh, just heard it when I was idle, don’t know who said it anymore.” The Fu clan’s young master waved his hand, shrank back, and tilted his head towards Xie Xuanxiao again. He raised his cup to toast. “Young Palace Master Xie, I heard you are engaged. Why didn’t you bring the beauty over to join the fun today?”

Xie Xuanxiao raised his hand and clinked glasses. “He likes quietness and doesn’t like noise. He has been too tired these days. Tomorrow is the final test, let him rest more and recover his spirit.”

The Fu clan’s young master sighed. “The Young Palace Master is truly deeply in love. To be fascinated like this, don’t know what kind of beauty it is. Take me to see next time?”

His behavior was frivolous. Xie Xuanxiao disliked it, only nodded coldly and said, “If there is a chance.”

It was getting late. It was pitch black outside, completely night. It was quiet at night, and there were restrictions in the house. Zhang Duixue couldn’t get out, must be lonely.

He got up, about to find a chance to bid farewell, when he suddenly heard silence below, followed by someone’s drunken cursing, “Awful! Awful!”

Someone snatched the musician’s qin and suddenly started playing messily, sounding awful like plucking cotton. Probably using too much force, the strings snapped, and then it was heavily smashed on the ground with a loud bang. Then a teenager’s slurred voice sounded, “Xiangli Xuan, where the hell did you go? Come out for me!”

Xie Xuanxiao’s movement of getting up paused, and he sat back down. His gaze and the Fu clan young master’s gaze fell on the teenager sitting properly beside them.

Xiangli Xuan’s face was still as calm as ever, only saying: “My younger brother is naughty and disturbed the two’s elegant mood. Sorry.”

He got up, just about to go downstairs, when he heard heavy thumping footsteps coming from below. Then a red figure broke upstairs, lifted the mist-like gauze curtain, and walked towards them unsteadily, without any rules, stepping on Xiangli Xuan’s table. Carrying a wine pot, smelling of alcohol all over, with eyebrows raised, he had an indescribable rouged charm. “Yo, hiding here? Little fake?”

A wet finger patted his face. Then the red-clothed teenager lifted the wine jar and poured half a jar of fine wine all over Xiangli Xuan’s head.