A Terrified Qi Yuan

"Senior Brother!" A crisp, melodious voice called out. Qi Yuan finished dressing and rubbed his bleary eyes. Yawning, he glanced at the blackfish in the water basin and stepped out of the courtyard. "What is it, so early in the morning?" Outside the courtyard stood two beauties side by side: Jiang Lingsu and Jiang Ran. One was innocent and adorable, the other pure and graceful. A wave of comfort washed over Qi Yuan. As expected, lovely things always put one in a pleasant mood. "Senior Brother Qi Yuan, I have wonderful news to share with you!" Jiang Ran's delicate face was radiant with a smile. "Last night, the disciples of the Black Mountain Sect stayed overnight in Rong City and were slaughtered down to the last man by a mysterious expert! Chu Tianxiong is dead, and Patriarch Baiji is dead too!" At this mention, delight danced across Jiang Ran's face. Qi Yuan slapped his thigh. "Who would have thought my divination skills were so formidable!" Yet, as if remembering something, he changed his tune. "I knew I was great at divination. One look at that brat and I saw a calamity of bloodshed hanging over him. See? He wouldn't listen to me, and now he's dead. Serves him right!" Seeing his reaction, Jiang Lingsu chuckled helplessly. "Who knows which senior did such a wonderfully satisfying deed!" "I heard that an Origin Core elder from the Black Mountain Sect who happened to be nearby rushed over today to inspect the scene," she continued. "And last night, an elder from our Divine Light Sect went to Rong City as well. Although the place was burned, quite a few clues have already turned up." Hearing that, Qi Yuan felt his heart tighten slightly. "What clues?" "The one who slaughtered the Black Mountain Sect disciples was a masked man. The elders say that mysterious masked man is likely a sword cultivator, but to avoid revealing traces of his Dao methods, he deliberately switched to a blade to slaughter them." Jiang Lingsu always paid close attention to news within the Divine Light Sect and was quite well-informed. "What kind of blade?" "I don't know." Jiang Lingsu shook her head. "It wouldn't happen to be a kitchen cleaver, would it?" Qi Yuan pulled out his knife and gave it a wave. Jiang Lingsu covered her mouth and giggled. "How could it be!" A smile also curved Jiang Ran's innocent face, naturally laced with a hint of charm. "If they really were hacked to death by a kitchen cleaver, that would be truly humiliating for them—and so gratifying!" Jiang Lingsu added, "Rumor has it that Patriarch Baiji was killed when a single slash shattered his protective core light and crushed his Golden Core. That blade must have been a formidable spiritual artifact. How could a kitchen cleaver ever compare?" Qi Yuan bristled at once. "All things are created equal! How dare you look down on my blade! My blade can just as easily lop off that bastard's dog head!" Jiang Ran smiled softly, remaining quiet. Jiang Lingsu, however, sparred right back at him. "If all things are equal, Senior Brother, why insult dogs?" Qi Yuan did not pursue that point. Clutching his cleaver, he said with deep worry, "I happen to have a kitchen cleaver, and the Black Mountain Sect disciples died beneath a blade. Do you think the Black Mountain Sect might suspect me of killing Chu Tianxiong?" Jiang Ran froze. She wanted to laugh, and though she had received no professional training in holding it back, she managed to stifle it. Jiang Lingsu smiled faintly. "Senior Brother, you're overthinking things. Why don't you focus on your Foundation Establishment, *ba*!" "Say *ji*, skip the *ba*—let's keep our language clean and proper!" "???" "???" Neither Jiang Ran nor Jiang Lingsu could keep up with the strange twists of Qi Yuan's mind at all. Qi Yuan's face remained fraught with anxiety. "Yesterday, I kindly warned Chu Tianxiong, but to outsiders, it might look like I had a dispute with him. Don't you think people might assume that because of our argument, I bore a grudge and snuck out in the night to kill them all?" Jiang Ran and Jiang Lingsu were left completely speechless. "Senior Brother, don't worry. No one will suspect you!" "Then if anyone asks, you two must testify for me. Say that I never left last night, that I was on Seven Colors Peak the entire time, drinking and playing drinking games with you two!" "Fine, fine, fine!" Jiang Lingsu pressed a hand to her forehead. A smile played at the corner of Jiang Ran's lips. Clearly, Chu Tianxiong's death had lifted her spirits considerably, temporarily sweeping away the gloom from her face. Qi Yuan hung his head, muttering under his breath, "What if the Black Mountain Sect refuses to believe your testimony and tries to drag me away by force? Will the Divine Light Sect protect me?" Jiang Lingsu was entirely at a loss. "Senior Brother, I don't think you should be worrying about yourself right now. You should be like us, worrying about that masked man. After all, he's up against the Black Mountain Sect—and up against Old Demon Black Chicken!" After chatting a bit longer, Jiang Lingsu and Jiang Ran took their leave. A helpless look lingered on Jiang Lingsu's face. "My senior brother... he's a good person, but his personality—well, you saw it. Being from the Obsession lineage, he's just eccentric through and through." Jiang Ran gave a sweet smile. "Actually, Senior Brother Qi Yuan is quite fun like this." "Sigh, he is indeed quite fun. He doesn't have so many worries, completely carefree." Remembering her own burdens, Jiang Lingsu could not help sighing; there was a boulder weighing down her heart that she could never let go of. "Senior Brother Qi Yuan... carefree?" *** Alone in his room, Qi Yuan paced back and forth without stopping. His face was clouded with deep worry. "I was too careless last night!" "Just wearing a mask wasn't foolproof. I should have cross-dressed as a woman! That way my gender wouldn't have been exposed!" "Aiya, they know the killer used a blade. What if they connect it to me?" "The Black Mountain Sect won't come looking for trouble with me, will they?" The more Qi Yuan thought about it, the more terrified and exasperated he became. Even though what he had done was practically seamless, what if the Black Mountain Sect harbored an innate sage who divined that it was him? He was already imagining the elders of the Black Mountain Sect descending upon the Divine Light Sect, amassing their forces at the foot of his peak. And there he would be, all alone—weak, pitiful, and helpless. The more he thought, the angrier he grew, his face flushing and his neck swelling with fury. "'Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, fragrant grass meets the sky...' "The Black Mountain Sect truly has no shame! "Didn't I just punish a few evil scoundrels in the name of the moon? "And now they're ganging up to bully a two-hundred-and-twenty-nine-month-old child? "Is there no law left in this world? Is there no heavenly justice? "This is pushing people too far! "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never bully the young and poor! "No, I have to take revenge!" Qi Yuan sharpened his cleaver with fierce determination. Finding a hat in the room, he pulled it over his head to keep anyone from seeing his face. After a moment's thought, he scooped up a handful of pot soot and smeared it across his cheeks. Looking at himself in the mirror, Qi Yuan felt a slight sense of security. Tucking the cleaver into his waistband, he stealthily slipped away from Seven Colors Peak. Not long after, Jiang Lingsu returned to the outside of Qi Yuan's courtyard. "Senior Brother, are you there?" She called out, but received no reply. "Strange. Wasn't Senior Brother in his courtyard the whole time? When did he leave? How did I miss it?" One had to remember that she had achieved Foundation Establishment last night, officially becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Her senses had sharpened dramatically. If her senior brother had left, she should have been able to sense it. "How peculiar." Puzzled, her gaze fell upon a glass water tank. Watching the blackfish swimming inside, she murmured, "Is this a fish Senior Brother caught last night? It doesn't look like a wild fish." Pondering briefly, she decided not to dwell on it and left his courtyard. Meanwhile, within the Divine Light Sect's Library Pavilion. Qi Yuan had reached the third floor. Tucked away in a secluded corner, he was secretly browsing through information regarding the strength of the Black Mountain Sect.