Chapter 73: Azure Cloud (51)

Fu Qingrang gave a brief salute and decisively left without looking back, not taking a single cloud with him.

Carrying a pile of treasures in his robes and holding Fu Fengyan in his arms, He Tingtong smiled and waved, “Thank you, Senior! Take care, Senior! Come again next time!”

Fu Qingrang walked even faster. In the blink of an eye, he caught up to Xu Jingzhen’s spirit boat up ahead, hurriedly flew onto it, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Only then did Fu Fengyan breathe a sigh of relief, his tense figure relaxing considerably.

He Tingtong was half a head shorter than Fu Fengyan. Just now, in order to create the visual effect of a little bird depending on a person, he had deliberately stepped up one stair. At this moment, Fu Fengyan pressed his face against his neck. The breath from his panting brushed across the exposed skin, causing He Tingtong to shrink back sensitively.

Surrounding them were their classmates, all looking up at them. After a long silence, scattered voices of congratulations rang out from the crowd.

He Tingtong’s face was almost stiff from smiling. Turning his head, he saw Yue Qianxun and Zhang Duixue with their heads together, muttering quietly. They were probably lamenting that they had lost their bet completely.

Reaching out to pat Fu Fengyan’s waist, He Tingtong signaled for him to let go. However, Fu Fengyan acted as if he hadn’t realized the act was over. He still kept his hands glued to He Tingtong’s waist and his head pressed against his neck. The head resting against his collarbone felt burning hot.

He Tingtong: “?”

He lowered his head and glared at him, only to see Fu Fengyan look up. His eyes were misty, but one could vaguely see his eyes glowing a dark purple with excitement.

He Tingtong whispered, “Let go.”

“Mn,” Fu Fengyan replied obediently. Slowly and sluggishly, he moved his fingers away from He Tingtong’s waist, still rubbing it twice reluctantly before letting out an exclamation that could only be called frivolous: “So slim.”

He Tingtong: “…”

He took a deep breath, silently retreated a few steps, and quickly distanced himself from Fu Fengyan. As the scorching body heat faded away, the cold morning wind rushed against his body, providing a reassuring, sobering chill.

Yue Qianxun watched them go from being glued together to being clearly separated, feeling a bit baffled. He turned to look at Zhang Duixue, who threw his hands up and said, “Probably throwing a tantrum.”

Yue Qianxun: “?” Their expressions change too fast. The relationship of this little couple is simply like summer weather—sunny one moment and rainy the next. I don’t understand.

From outside the crowd, someone sneered coldly and suddenly spat out the word, “Disgusting.”

He Tingtong looked towards the sound. At the very top of the stairs, a flash of orange-red, belonging to the uniform of the Yuanchen Palace, unfolded. Wide robes and large sleeves, long hair half-tied, a hair ribbon fluttering in the wind. The person threw a sidelong glance from his high vantage point, sweeping over them with contempt. Then, his gaze landed squarely on Zhang Duixue. The originally disgusted look instantly darkened, filled with absolute sinister smugness, as the person headed straight for them.

Zhang Duixue cursed under his breath, “Doesn’t he usually fail to wake up in the morning?”

Ducking down to hide, he grabbed one person with each hand and tried to slip away with his friends. The surroundings were filled with the crowd dispersing after sending off Lord Jingming, mostly heading back into the courtyard. Only that flash of orange-red went against the flow, pointing at them and shouting angrily, “Zhang Duixue, I see you! Don’t you run!”

Yu Liu. Xie Xuanxiao’s number one lackey, subordinate, and retainer. He viewed Zhang Duixue as a bewitching concubine, a femme fatale, and his lifelong mortal enemy, wishing for nothing more than to get rid of him.

Nine times out of ten, the incidents Zhang Duixue encountered in the past at the Yuanchen Palace were related to him. The last time they met, Yu Liu had poisoned Zhang Duixue’s daily incense, leading to a great disaster. The Palace Master was furious and cast a Heart-Slaying Curse that almost cursed him to death. However, Yu Liu had a powerful and influential mother; Elder Yu was the head of the twelve managers of the Yuanchen Palace. Pleading to atone for his crimes with merits, she knelt and begged the Palace Master for three days to save his life.

However, while the death penalty could be avoided, living punishment could not be escaped. After being punished by Xie Xuanxiao, Yu Liu was demoted and exiled, nowhere to be seen. Now, two years had passed, but upon meeting again, he was still exactly the same as before—never learning his lesson.

Fighting between students was forbidden in Azure Cloud Academy. But Yu Liu wasn’t a student; he was an outsider. Logically speaking, it should be fine to give him a beating.

It was just that the academy had recently experienced an incident, and the Headmaster had just been taken to task by several major immortal sects. They didn’t want to cause any more trouble, so Zhang Duixue still felt it was best to avoid him if possible.

The four of them wove through the crowd like swimming fish. They wore the Sword Pavilion’s uniform, black and white. At this moment, the academy gate was also crowded mostly with Sword Pavilion students. Just as Yu Liu squeezed his way through and looked up, he was dazzled. Everywhere he looked, there were teenagers wearing the exact same clothes, noisily gathered together laughing and playing. In the blink of an eye, those few figures had disappeared.

Yu Liu clenched his fists and cursed, “Consider yourself lucky you ran fast!”

Behind the stone stele, He Tingtong and the other three lined up in a straight line, hiding in Yu Liu’s blind spot. Watching the man wander around on the long steps like a headless fly, Yue Qianxun looked up and asked, “Do you owe him money? Why is he chasing you so hard?”

“I don’t. But one look and you know he’s up to no good,” Zhang Duixue narrowed his eyes. “Just ignore him.”

To him, the Yuanchen Palace before he turned fourteen was a gorgeous but cold immortal palace. He was a small, insignificant ant inside, occasionally bullied. Life was hard, but bearable. That was until Xie Xuanxiao’s embrace, which lifted him up and pushed him into the teeth of the storm. He was given fine silk clothes, immortal nectar, and immense favor… yet he no longer felt like a human being.

Most people merely viewed him as a beautiful dream from the young Immortal Lord’s period of youthful romance. But dreams always have a time to wake up, and after all, Xie Xuanxiao was the person best at weighing pros and cons.

So in Xie Xuanxiao’s room, he was just a little plaything. When Xie Xuanxiao was around, everyone naturally indulged him and obeyed him. But when Xie Xuanxiao was gone, he was worse than the wild grass and stubborn rocks by the roadside.

Everyone’s attitude seemed very good on the surface. They just ignored him and neglected him, but did it flawlessly, wrapping all their disdain and contempt under heavy masks. Zhang Duixue couldn’t win in arguments against them, and everything he did was wrong. Under such circumstances, it was actually Yu Liu who acted the most like a living person. He was the only one who would jump out and accuse him of seducing Xie Xuanxiao, who would admonish Xie Xuanxiao not to indulge in carnal pleasures, to not have a penchant for the same sex, and earnestly beg Xie Xuanxiao to go get his “illness” cured.

Of course, he naturally couldn’t persuade Xie Xuanxiao, so he turned to target Zhang Duixue instead. He would block his way back to his room, point at him and curse. To show his loyalty, he tried to murder him multiple times. Every time he failed, he would try again with unyielding perseverance.

Zhang Duixue cursed at him, fought with him, and they tripped each other up. That was until an incense stick laced with Dragon Breath spice caused him to be consumed by a raging fire. His spiritual energy went astray, his meridians reversed, and through a series of mishaps, he ended up rolling into bed with Xie Xuanxiao, breaking the Young Palace Master’s primal yang.

After waking up, he never saw Yu Liu again.

Of course, he didn’t particularly want to see him now either. The others’ cold discrimination and failure to treat him as a human being was evil, and Yu Liu actually bullying him was also evil. He didn’t like any of it.

“What are you guys doing here?” A tall shadow fell over them. “Playing Eagle Catching Chicks?”

The four of them leaned back in unison, only to see “Qin Tan” with a gentle expression, hands on hips, staring at them. “Aren’t you going back? Still blowing in the wind here?”

Hearing this voice that was like a spring breeze brushing the face, Yue Qianxun immediately perked up like a sapling encountering rain after a long drought. Even when looking at Qin Tan’s usually intimidating face, he felt the contours seemed much softer. The tips of his ears turned red, his eyes shone, and he stuttered, “H-Hello, Mr. Qin. You look very different today.”

Su Tan touched his own face, looking at the system notification of a sudden increase in favorability, completely confused. “Where am I different?”

Then he felt somewhat smug. Sure enough, my aura is better; I look more handsome!

After chatting with Xu Jingzhen, Qin Tan felt bored and sank back down to focus on cultivation, letting Su Tan come out to play. Last time in the Yinyuan Mirror, Su Tan had been injured. Now that his condition had greatly improved, he happily came to find people to play with.

However, apart from Yue Qianxun, the others all looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

He Tingtong stared at Yue Qianxun with a bizarre expression. Zhang Duixue’s lips twitched, and he hurriedly tried to pull Su Tan in, but unfortunately, he was a step too late.

Yu Liu’s eyesight was truly excellent. After wandering around the area, he sharply spotted Su Tan talking to someone. Without a word, he flew straight towards them. “Where are you hiding! I see you!”

Zhang Duixue let out a long sigh and rolled up his sleeves. He was no longer the person he used to be. If Yu Liu was going to be relentlessly pursuing, then he shouldn’t be blamed for bringing up old scores and giving him a beating.

Two years ago, Yu Liu had mistakenly swapped the knockout incense for aphrodisiac incense, making a colossal mistake. For the past two years, he was thrown to a remote territory to brave the wind and dew, tempering his mind. Finally, he was transferred back to the sect this year. But as soon as he returned, he heard the bad news that the Young Palace Master was heavily injured and his cultivation had drastically fallen.

He subconsciously thought of Zhang Duixue—that lowly, stupid, crude, vulgar, and superficial male pet. If something happened to the Young Palace Master, he must have been dragged down by him!

His realm had improved extremely quickly over these two years, and he was already a Sixth Realm cultivator. He had planned to mock him thoroughly upon their first meeting, but he never expected that only the Young Palace Master returned to the sect this time.

Zhang Duixue had actually separated from the Young Palace Master.

Everyone else was secretive about the relationship between the two and didn’t talk much about it. But Yu Liu was ecstatic. He naturally assumed that his Young Palace Master must have overcome his romantic tribulation, finally seeing through Zhang Duixue’s superficial and ignorant soul beneath his beautiful exterior, and thus sent him packing.

As his mortal enemy, he naturally had to mock him thoroughly from all angles, so as not to waste the beatings he took and the hardships he suffered over the past few years.

However, when he came face-to-face with Zhang Duixue, looking at the youth who had somehow sprouted up to be a whole head taller than him, looking at the sword hanging from his waist, and the group of tall and sturdy helpers behind him, he suddenly felt that the situation seemed just a tiny bit off.

Zhang Duixue looked down at him. “Little Yu, coming from so far away, what business do you have?”

Yu Liu sneered coldly, taking out a jade tablet from his robes and tossing it over. Forcing himself to mock, he said, “Your good days are over. The Palace Master has ordered: from this day forward, your marriage arrangement with the Young Palace Master is void. You are expelled from the sect, and you shall never set foot within the territory of the Yuanchen Palace for all eternity.”

Even though he had to crane his neck up, Yu Liu’s gaze was incredibly smug, possessing the exhilarating feeling of an injustice being cleared and finally seeing the moonlight after the clouds part. “In other words, you’ve been abandoned, you damn cut-sleeve!”

Zhang Duixue froze. He grasped the jade tablet that was tossed into his chest, his gaze dazed. Having grown up in the Yuanchen Palace since childhood, although his days were average, he didn’t have to worry about food or clothing, which was much better than ordinary people. This was, after all, the place he had stayed for seventeen years. He once felt that… that place was considered his home.

But he also understood the Palace Master’s intentions. Since they were making a clean break, then it must be cut thoroughly, not giving Xie Xuanxiao a chance, and not affecting his cultivation and future life anymore.

A bit saddened, but quickly letting it go, Zhang Duixue smiled. “If so, many thanks to the Palace Master for fulfilling my wishes.”

“The message has been delivered, and I am fully aware of the Palace Master’s meaning. Now it’s your turn.” Zhang Duixue tucked the jade tablet safely into his robes, then rolled up his sleeves, revealing firm forearms. “Heh, so what if I’m a cut-sleeve? Did my being a cut-sleeve eat your family’s rice? I’m not a cut-sleeve with you, so what the hell does it have to do with you?”

Grabbing Yu Liu by the collar, in the other party’s widened pupils, Zhang Duixue saw his own fierce and menacing face. “Two years ago, you and I still had some unsettled grudges. Better to hit the sun than choose a day (there’s no time like the present). Wanna fight?”

Yu Liu: “…”

However, he had never known how to spell the word “weakness,” and his anger was also ignited. He immediately agreed, “Bring it on! Who’s afraid of who!”

Yu Liu entered Azure Cloud Academy standing up, and was ultimately carried out horizontally.

Laying on the stretcher with blank eyes, he was carried by two subordinates, one in front and one in back. Even a slight movement sent a pain like his body was falling apart all over.

What was going on? When did that little hedgehog he used to easily mold and flatten become such a good fighter? He had studied formations beside the Young Palace Master for so many years, how did he suddenly switch to sword cultivation?

Huh?

Zhang Duixue, slightly injured and with a mildly dirtied hem, waved casually. “Little Yu, walk slowly, won’t see you off.”

Yu Liu raised one finger. “Just you wait. A year from now, I will definitely make you suffer!”

Zhang Duixue: “I’ll wait for you! Next time, I’ll definitely beat your teeth all over the floor!”

Yu Liu: “…You… You! Just you wait!”

Even after they had walked far away, they could still hear the sound of Yu Liu pounding his stretcher. He was indeed very angry.

Zhang Duixue turned around, putting his hands on his hips very dashingly. “Flawless victory! Let’s go, we’re going to eat and drink!”

Behind him, his teachers and friends were all present. He Tingtong crossed his arms over his chest. “Then I’m going to order something expensive.”

Fu Fengyan raised his hand. “Let’s go to Juewei Pavilion!”

Yue Qianxun protested, “No spicy dishes allowed!”

Su Tan’s soft voice drifted over, “Children are not allowed to drink.”

…

The fragrances of April were exhausted, and it was already late spring. The weather was excellent, the sun was shining brightly, and the surrounding fields were a lush green. He Tingtong raised a hand to shade his eyes, strolling leisurely at the back of the group.

Fu Fengyan rested a hand on his shoulder, constantly turning his head to observe his expression. After a long while, he said, “You are very happy. Is it because you like the weather, like them, or like this kind of scene?”

He Tingtong looked back at the person beside him. His demeanor was relaxed, the corners of his lips curved up slightly, and his face displayed undisguised warmth. “What I seek in my entire life is nothing more than this.”