"I wonder which sect this fellow cultivator belongs to, and where you come from? Did you accidentally stumble into this place?" The leading cultivator asked cautiously.
Everyone held their magical artifacts, maintaining a distance of three to four zhang from Song Qianji.
Having just been scorched by the Inexhaustible Fire, Song Qianji's palms were swollen and stinging painfully. He couldn't be bothered to explain much: "Is your Courtyard Overseer here? Take me to see him."
The Green Cliff scholars looked at each other in confusion at this unknown person who appeared out of nowhere asking to see the Courtyard Overseer.
Seeing their reaction, Song Qianji shouted: "Ziye Wenshu, are you there—"
The ice cave was filled with icicles like layers of white curtains. His voice bounced around repeatedly, echoes lingering for a long time as ice chips fell rustling down.
"What do you want?! Stop right there!" the leading scholar exclaimed in alarm and anger.
Song Qianji continued walking forward as if he didn't see the magical artifacts ready to strike before them. His posture relaxed, he spread his empty hands to show friendliness: "I'm a friend of your Courtyard Overseer. He called me here to help. You're in trouble, right? When I see him, he'll explain everything to you."
The scholars leaned against the ice walls as they retreated, faces full of suspicion, communicating through voice transmission to discuss.
Given the Courtyard Overseer's personality, it really didn't seem like he would send for help.
Even if he wanted to send for help, who could he contact? No one had ever heard of him having peers who were friends.
But the person before them appeared thin and weak, with ordinary features, as if he had just crawled out of a fire—the hem of his clothes and sleeves were burned with several charred holes.
"Golden Core realm and injured, no threat. If he has malicious intentions, we can handle him without the Courtyard Overseer's help. Let's take him."
Song Qianji followed easily.
He knew these scholars responded better to soft approaches than hard ones. In his previous life, they had disliked him for being an uncouth rogue, while he found them burdensome and troublesome—both sides had looked down on each other. Sharing the same ice cave, conflicts had been frequent.
Besides the Green Cliff group of scholars, the cave had also contained over a dozen female cultivators from Flower Stream Sect, three teams of rogue cultivators from Western Sky Continent, and disciples from noble families of Yanshui County and Fuyang County, among others.
People from all walks of life, both righteous and wicked paths, a mixed bunch of good and bad.
The cave's passages were intricate like silk threads, crisscrossing in all directions. The widest areas could accommodate over a hundred people gathering, while the narrowest spots only allowed one person to pass through hunched over.
Every direction showed only one color, becoming irritating after prolonged viewing.
Outside the cave, hundreds of thousand-year sprites lingered, watching covetously. Inside, the human cultivators were mostly injured, wary of each other, scheming and plotting.
Some thought it unwise to explore deeper into the ice cave: "There must be something more powerful inside that they don't dare enter."
Others wanted to try their luck inside: "Stuck between advancing and retreating, should we just wait here to die?"
"When Green Cliff's Ziye Wenshu recovers from his injuries and fights a path out, he'll naturally lead us to safety. We should stick close to Green Cliff's team."
"But that Song Qianji definitely won't want to bring us along. What if he uses us as bait halfway to feed the sprites? Should we eliminate Song Qianji first?"
"No! The sprites attack every night—we still need him and Ziye Wenshu for night watch!"
"He and Ziye Wenshu only met by chance on the road, they're not of one mind. We should find a way to force him out first to distract the sprites."
During that time, Song Qianji encountered various tests and temptations.
Annoyed beyond endurance, while meditating he would place his sword beside him. Anyone who approached would be injured by his sword energy. From then on, his reputation worsened.
And Ziye Wenshu was like a statue, bearing the expectations of everyone in the cave, silently guarding the entrance every night.I wonder how things are in this lifetime. Song Qianji asked the scholar leading the way: "Fellow cultivator from Green Cliff, how many people are currently in the cave?"
His tone was polite, so the leading cultivator thought for a moment: "Different sects are in separate areas, but we occasionally exchange messages. Combined, there are about one hundred and forty people."
Song Qianji thought, good heavens, forty more than last time.
...
The leading cultivator stopped at a fork in the path closest to the cave entrance and bowed toward the interior:
"Senior Courtyard Overseer, this person suddenly appeared in the cave, saying he wants to see you, and that he's your..." He couldn't bring himself to say the word "friend," changing it to, "someone you know..."
"You can leave me here, I'll go in by myself!" Before the words finished, Song Qianji strode confidently into the cave.
"Wait!" The others reached out to stop him, but he moved too fast, like a shadow.
"I know." Ziye Wenshu's voice echoed from within the cave.
The entrance was narrow. After turning two corners, Song Qianji's view suddenly opened up.
This natural ice chamber was about ten zhang long and wide, without ice waterfalls or icicles, its walls smooth.
Ziye Wenshu, dressed in black with black hair, sat meditating on the ice. His eyebrows and eyelashes were dusted with a thin layer of snow and ice crystals, like a dark stone statue frozen in ice.
His lips were purplish, and the wound on his left shoulder showed a bluish-purple hue, the foul blood oozing from it carrying a scorched smell.
Seeing him in this state, Song Qianji couldn't help but sneer: "Got yourself into this state again. Impressive, staying true to yourself across two lifetimes, huh?"
Ziye Wenshu looked up, his gaze icy, and reached for his Snow Blade.
Song Qianji mentally repeated, "I'm not here to argue, not in this lifetime. Arguing solves nothing."
"You've been poisoned by the fire toad's venom. The antidote pills you brought are useless. All things are born of heaven and earth, each countered by another. Poisons unique to this secret realm must be cured with things from the realm itself. Deep in the cave grows the Iceleaf Herb, which can neutralize this poison."
Ziye Wenshu asked: "Who are you?"
He gripped his blade, preventing the other from coming closer.
Clearly, he didn't believe a single word Song Qianji said.
In this situation, it would indeed be hard to bluff through.
Song Qianji sighed, placing a shielding talisman at the cave entrance to block outside Divine Sense probing.
He removed his bracelet: "It's me."
Song Xun's figure stretched, his features, aura, and cultivation level shifting until he revealed Song Qianji's true appearance.
Ziye Wenshu's eyebrows twitched slightly in surprise, but he remained unmoved: "Prove it."
Song Qianji understood his meaning: this only proved his original face was fake, not that he was Song Qianji.
Song Qianji pulled out a small box: "The Painted Spring Mountain painting inside the Calligrapher Sage's box, genuine as can be. Come take a look."
Ziye Wenshu didn't accept it.
Song Qianji thought he must be wary of hidden weapons inside: "Last time at Huawel Sect's Cosmos Palace, I was drunk and borrowed your jade phoenix flute, saying I'd teach you how to play it when I had time. You remember, right?"
"Many know of this. Not enough to be credible," Ziye Wenshu said.
"Six months ago, I sent local specialties to Green Cliff, all new varieties cultivated in Thousand Canals. There was a type of bamboo shoot, crisp and tender. You wrote back saying they tasted better pickled."
Ziye Wenshu fell silent, as if considering whether anyone else knew about this matter.Song Qianji turned and walked away: "If you don't believe me, forget it. I'll go out right now and shout that the Green Cliff Courtyard Overseer not only writes diaries but also draws two little figures fighting on the back of his letters. Once I leave Blood River Valley, I'll make sure all of Thousand Canals—no, the entire Cultivation World—knows about this!"
Ziye Wenshu: "...Enough!" He paused, his tense aura relaxing considerably: "Those are breakdowns of saber technique moves."
Not "little figures fighting."
Aside from Thousand Canals' King Song Qianji, who else could be this shameless.
"Good that you believe me. I came here to kill someone—he's hiding nearby. When I make my move, could you take the others and stay far away?" Song Qianji asked.
Given Ziye Wenshu's nature, when trapped with others, he would consider it his responsibility to protect them from harm because he was the strongest among them.
If Song Qianji said nothing, the other would surely interfere when he acted. That would inevitably lead to a fight between them.
If he told Ziye Wenshu—who was taciturn and disliked meddling—the man would never reveal his identity to others.
Ziye Wenshu lowered his gaze to Song Qianji's swollen, red arm: "What happened to you?"
"It's a long story, never mind." Song Qianji shook his head, "I'll go find the antidote for you first."
OpenNovel