Qin Fujun also wanted to ask him this question. She wanted to ask if they had known each other before. She wanted to ask if it had been him that night.
And it was precisely because of Yu Qing’s approach and question that Qin Fujun had another strong intuition. It was him. It was definitely him. The murderer that night was this person. The dead Kunling Mountain disciple had been a substitute, a diversion.
This intuition of hers came from a certain judgment, from her experience in law enforcement and handling cases.
Under the premise and prediction that this person was the murderer that night, the person before her and the murderer that night had extremely similar styles of conduct.
That night’s murderer had known they were pursuing him, yet dared to blend in among them and killed the Earth Spirit right under their noses.
As for the present one, she had deliberately let him know she might be watching him. Not only did he not avoid her, but he actively approached her instead.
These two seemingly unrelated matters both reflected the same style of conduct, a character daring to go against the tide.
But for her, this could not serve as evidence.
Facing the smiling inquiry of the person before her, she even felt a sense of shame. The handprint on her chest floated into her mind again. After all, she was a young woman who had not experienced relations between men and women. Having that part touched by a man, she could not easily forget it. The mere thought of it made her burn with shame.
She did not know whether mockery lurked within the other person’s smile. She could only grit her teeth secretly.
Moreover, she had to pretend to be nonchalant. Although her cheeks were somewhat burning, she still smiled faintly and said, “Of course I know you. We met yesterday, at the dining hall entrance.”
Yu Qing felt that was not what he meant. “I meant before that.”
Qin Fujun said, “Perhaps. Brother Zhang, do you think we have met before?” As she said this, she closely watched the expression in the other party’s eyes.
Yu Qing said, “I do not know either. I saw the young lady staring at me the whole time, so I thought, could this beautiful young lady have taken a fancy to me? Then I thought that was impossible. Perhaps we met before, so I came over to ask.”
Hearing these words, Nan Zhu, who had walked to the side, could not help but grin. He found that Old Fifteen’s style today was rather special. These words sounded like he was openly flirting with her.
Qin Fujun immediately felt both angry and ashamed. One could say she hated him so much her teeth itched. She directly concluded that the other party’s words and the handprint left on her chest shared the same intent, deliberately profaning her.
She almost wanted to turn hostile on the spot, but she could not afford to, because she dared not. Turning hostile without evidence or proof, affecting the Chaoyang Assembly’s competition, was something she could not bear.
She had to forcibly suppress the anger in her heart. Only a trace of displeasure appeared on her face. “Brother Zhang, I am afraid you are overthinking.”
Yu Qing seemed to only now react, and said in surprise, “You know who I am?”
In the past, when he was cultivating in the mountains, he would not speak like this. After leaving the mountain, he would occasionally say such perfunctory words.
Qin Fujun said, “After meeting at the dining hall yesterday, I heard Wu Tian mention that you were expelled from the Longguang Sect.” As she said this, she also glanced at Nan Zhu and the others who had followed.
Xiao Changdao and Wu Ronggui, who were slowly leaving the venue, noticed the situation here. They walked while frequently looking back in this direction.
Yu Qing let out an “oh” and asked, “May I ask who you are?”
Qin Fujun thought for a moment, then still told him, “I am Qin Fujun, a direct disciple under the Law Enforcement Elder of the Meteor Hall, currently serving as a deacon of the Meteor Hall.”
The senior and junior brothers might not understand the detailed situation of Kunling Mountain, but they more or less knew the status of a Law Enforcement Elder. They were immediately surprised by this person’s seniority.
Yu Qing also secretly broke into a slight sweat. Given her seniority at Kunling Mountain, his previous teasing words had indeed been somewhat excessive. He immediately cupped his hands and said, “So it was Deacon Qin. My apologies, my apologies.”
Qin Fujun cupped her hands in return. “Pleased to meet you.”
Yu Qing lowered his hands and asked again, “Deacon Qin, what brings you here?”
Qin Fujun said insinuatingly, “I came for you.”
The three senior and junior brothers, including Bai Lixin, were all startled.
“For me?” Yu Qing was suspicious, and his heart was also uncertain with alarm.
“You will know in time.” Qin Fujun dropped these words, gave a slight bow, then directly turned and left.
In short, her initial mood of deliberately coming over to provoke and pressure him with her gaze had been completely ruined.
Nan Zhu walked up to Yu Qing, watched her leave, and let out a soft “hey.” “Old Fifteen, what does she mean by that? Could she really have taken a fancy to you?”
Yu Qing gave him a sidelong glance. With outsiders present, he did not say much more, and also turned and left.
After returning to the small building where they stayed, he then called Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie into the room. He told them about the scene of encountering Qin Fujun during that night’s sudden upheaval, and also told them of his worry, suspecting whether the other party had already recognised him.
Nan and Mu then realised that Qin Fujun’s arrival might be to settle accounts, and their hearts immediately jumped with fear.
Especially Nan Zhu, who immediately lost all joking mood, instead said anxiously, “Then what should we do? If we continue staying here, are we not just seeking death?”
Yu Qing thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I was deliberately testing her just now. I reckon that even if she came for me, she has not confirmed it. If she really had evidence, she would have directly arrested us already. She would not need to speak in circles.
Besides, it is not easy to leave now. If we leave, Long Xingyun will not let us go. That fellow acts too arbitrarily and does not follow rules. He is even harder to deal with than Kunling Mountain.”
Seeing that his two senior brothers still looked worried, he immediately comforted them, “Rest assured. Although Long Xingyun is not a good person, as long as he is here, Kunling Mountain cannot do anything to us without evidence. If Kunling Mountain dares to act recklessly, we will throw dirty water on Long Xingyun’s head. We will say that Long Xingyun himself is incompetent, afraid of losing the competition, and secretly used means to instigate Kunling Mountain to play tricks. Given that Young Master Long’s temperament, he will definitely not sit idly by.”
Hearing him say this, Nan and Mu thought it over and agreed. They felt much more relieved. Looking at Yu Qing again, their gazes also revealed something different. They found that Old Fifteen had indeed grown up quite a bit, and his conduct was becoming more and more methodical.
The second round of competition in the Dingyin District had twenty-two matches in total, divided over two days, with eleven matches per day.
The next day’s competition proceeded as usual. Yu Qing looked around the spectator stands and found that Qin Fujun had not come today.
After only a few rounds, it was Mu Aotie’s turn to enter the arena.
For this round of competition, neither Yu Qing nor Nan Zhu was very worried, because Mu Aotie had good luck. The opponent he drew was Ke Ran.
Judging from Ke Ran’s normally modest character, it should not become a fight to the death. Moreover, before the competition, Ke Ran had actively come to visit and agreed with Mu Aotie to stop at the first blow.
Agreements were agreements, but Ke Ran had obviously not skimped on preparation before the competition. He had obviously done a certain amount of study on Mu Aotie.
At the very beginning of the confrontation, as soon as the dense drumbeats stopped, Ke Ran launched an attack on Mu Aotie in a special manner.
A non-attacking attacking method, or rather, a probe.
Knowing that Mu Aotie’s defensive ability was strong, he did not take the initiative to attack either. He pressed close to Mu Aotie with all his might, ultimately forcing Mu Aotie to have no choice, forcing Mu Aotie to actively attack in defence.
With just this little manoeuvre, Mu Aotie revealed quite a few flaws. After a few exchanges, he was thrown into disarray.
From this, Ke Ran discovered Mu Aotie’s weakness. His defensive ability was indeed strong, but his attacking ability could not match it.
Yu Qing on the spectator stands immediately furrowed his brow. Nan Zhu also curled the corner of his mouth.
Xiao Changdao and Wu Ronggui, sitting side by side, looked at each other in dismay. Especially Xiao Changdao, who secretly gritted his teeth in hatred and said, “So he was just a pretty shell.”
From Mu Aotie he could extrapolate to Nan Zhu. The hatred in his heart. If he had known earlier, he would not have exposed his killing move so early, nor would he have created so much contemptible controversy.
Wu Ronggui turned his head to look at Yu Qing on the spectator stands, the corner of his mouth revealing a trace of ridicule.
Not only him, but quite a few participants also directed their gazes toward Yu Qing, looking much more relieved.
Even Yong Zexue, who was watching the battle, nodded slightly and said, “So that is how it is.”
However, what surprised everyone was that after a brief scuffle, Ke Ran suddenly dodged back, cupped his hands toward Mu Aotie, then flew away directly, actually exiting the ring directly and flying back to his own seat.
“What is going on?”
“Admitting defeat?”
“Could it be that my eyes are poor? Did this Ke Ran show any signs of defeat?”
The scene erupted in an uproar. Mu Aotie, sword in hand, was also stunned on the spot.
Yu Qing and the others on the spectator stands were dumbfounded.
Chan Shaoting and the others were the same. In their view, Ke Ran was a person of considerable background. His strength should not be weak. How could he admit defeat like this?
But the fact was already so. Wu Tian on the host platform could only follow the rules and announced Mu Aotie’s advancement and victory.
The competition ended around mid-afternoon, which also meant that the second round of competition had completely ended. All four people from Chan Shaoting’s small building had won. Adding Yu Qing, the three families on the mountaintop had five people advancing from the second round of competition.
Yu Qing and the others did not care about this. When it ended and the crowd dispersed, they caught up with Ke Ran, stopped him, and asked why he had voluntarily admitted defeat.
Chan Shaoting and the others also ran over, pursuing the same question.
Ke Ran laughed heartily, looking very carefree. The reason was also very simple. He said he had just come to have fun and actually did not care about winning or losing. At the same time, he also complimented Mu Aotie, saying that Mu Aotie indeed had strength and so on.
Since he insisted on saying so, others had no way either. After all, it was already done.
Mu Aotie kept silent.
After the senior and junior brothers returned to the small building, Bai Lixin suddenly blocked Yu Qing, who was about to go upstairs to rest.
Seeing her blocking the stairway, Yu Qing was puzzled. “What are you doing?”
Bai Lixin reminded him, “Tomorrow, the third round of drawing lots will begin.”
Nan Zhu said suspiciously, “Everyone knows that. What is wrong?”
Bai Lixin stared at Yu Qing and said, “In the third round, you will not draw an empty number plate again, will you?”
Yu Qing was speechless for a moment, then smiled bitterly. “What are you thinking? How could there be such good luck?”
Bai Lixin nodded. “Do not forget under what identity you entered Kunling Mountain. I hope you do not have such good luck. If you really get it three times in a row and cause a big commotion, the Longguang Sect probably will not know how to clean up the mess.”
Yu Qing sighed. It was still that sentence. “How could there be such good luck?”
Bai Lixin had said all she needed to say. She stepped aside from the stairs, then left and returned to her room.
This action made Yu Qing somewhat uneasy. He did not know whether this woman had really seen through something or what was going on. Logically speaking, it should not be so.
Upstairs, Mu Aotie’s mood seemed somewhat low. He returned to his room in silence and firmly closed the door.
Nan Zhu then slipped into Yu Qing’s room, approached and reminded him in a low voice, “Bai Lixin is right. We cannot cheat in the third round anymore. If we force the Longguang Sect into a corner, they can only publicly expose our identities.”
Yu Qing replied in a low voice, “Rest assured. In the third round, I will not draw an empty lot. I will find a way to draw Old Ninth.”
“Draw Old Ninth?” Nan Zhu was astonished. “What do you mean?”
Yu Qing said, “Did you not see it? Old Ninth has already revealed a huge flaw. Moreover, he thinks too highly of himself and refuses to withdraw from the competition. None of us can persuade him. Once he enters the arena, he will not easily admit defeat. Do you really want to see him fall at someone else’s hands?”
In the third round, he had originally wanted to settle accounts with Xiao Changdao. Unfortunately, plans could not keep up with changes. Mu Aotie had revealed a huge flaw. He definitely had to ensure Mu Aotie’s safety first, to force Mu Aotie to withdraw first. Xiao Changdao’s life or death was instead secondary.
Nan Zhu understood immediately upon hearing this. He could not help but sigh. “Very well. It can only be this way.”
In the main hall of the Kunling Mountain sect, the lists of those who advanced from the second round in each district had come out and had been delivered one after another. A group of people led by Sect Leader Zhao Dengzi was currently reviewing them.
At this moment, a graceful and slender figure flashed outside the hall, entering uninvited. No one at the entrance dared to block her.
Zhao Dengzi and the others all welcomed her respectfully. The visitor was none other than Xiang Lanxuan.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xiang Lanxuan did not beat around the bush and directly ordered, “Tomorrow is the drawing of lots for the third round of competition. Nothing must go wrong.”
The Kunling Mountain higher-ups were puzzled. Zhao Dengzi asked, “What could go wrong with the drawing of lots?”
Xiang Lanxuan said, “That Zhang Zhichen has already advanced twice without taking the exam. If it happens a third time, do you know what the consequences will be?”
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Zhao Dengzi sighed and said, “It will easily be mistaken for cheating. I fear chaos will erupt.”
Xiang Lanxuan gave him a sidelong glance. What she herself worried about was not merely this, but rather that causing too big a commotion would arouse that Empress’s suspicion.
Previously, she had felt that the possibility of getting it three times in a row should not be great. However, with the matter upon them, thinking that the drawing of lots was tomorrow, she still worried that an accident would occur. She dared not take that risk, and still could not help but run over to intervene.
She naturally would not speak of her worry. She asked, “Is there a solution?”
Zhao Dengzi said, “We have already sent Elder Wan to personally oversee matters. He will eliminate all possibility of cheating.”
Xiang Lanxuan said, “I know Elder Wan has gone, but that is far from enough. What if that fellow really is just lucky? The safest method is to directly intervene and prevent him from participating in the third round drawing of lots.”