To make absolutely certain that Long Xingyun had really left, Yu Qing waited until nightfall before seeking out Xu Yi again, saying he wished to see Long Xingyun.
Sure enough, being the current number one arena champion still carried considerable weight. Even though he had already met Long Xingyun yesterday, and despite the rule against wandering around every day, Xu Yi did not hesitate and immediately went to report the request.
The reply he brought back was somewhat disappointing. Xu Yi informed him that Long Xingyun had already withdrawn from the competition, taken his leave, and was no longer at Kunling Mountain.
Hearing this, the last trace of worry in Yu Qing’s heart disappeared. After thanking Xu Yi and waiting for him to leave, he immediately headed for Kui Kui’s residence.
Kui Kui had left his door open. He was sitting on the doorstep with his trouser leg rolled up, using his fingers to comb through the hair on his leg. No one knew what he was doing. He simply seemed bored, though his leg hair was certainly thick enough.
When he saw Yu Qing arrive, he did not stand up. Instead, he lifted one foot onto his thigh and began picking between his toes, waiting for Yu Qing to explain why he had come.
Yu Qing had grown up in the countryside, so he was not bothered by Kui Kui’s lack of manners. He simply turned around and sat on the doorstep as well.
From time to time, the two glanced at each other while a single lantern hanging beneath the eaves cast its light over them.
Seeing Yu Qing remain silent, Kui Kui could not be bothered with him. He continued rubbing his foot with narrowed eyes and an expression of complete satisfaction.
Yu Qing’s nostrils twitched as he caught a faint unpleasant smell, so he finally spoke first.
“Tomorrow is the third day of the challenge matches. Are you planning to compete?”
Kui Kui grunted.
“Probably.”
Yu Qing asked,
“Do you want to win first place?”
Kui Kui hooked a finger around one of his toes and turned to look at him.
“What are you getting at? Are you challenging me?”
“Don’t misunderstand.”
Yu Qing glanced around before lowering his voice.
“You can challenge me. I can let you have first place.”
Kui Kui’s toe slipped free from his finger. He stared blankly at Yu Qing before slowly saying,
“So Cheng Long was right after all. I thought he was trying to trick us.”
Cheng Long?
Yu Qing paused before realising he meant Long Xingyun.
“What did he say?”
Kui Kui replied with another question.
“Aren’t your injuries very serious?”
Yu Qing looked puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
Kui Kui said,
“You know your injuries are too severe for you to keep fighting, so you’re trying to do me a favour.”
Yu Qing stared in astonishment.
“Aren’t you overthinking this? It was only a minor injury. I recovered ages ago. Where did this idea of serious injuries come from?”
Kui Kui replied,
“Cheng Long said you were badly hurt and wouldn’t recover for at least one or two months.”
Yu Qing fell silent for a moment. He immediately understood why Long Xingyun had spread that story. Feeling rather speechless, he could not be bothered explaining further. Instead, he simply held out his hand.
Kui Kui understood and reached out to shake it, although Yu Qing still felt rather uncomfortable when the man’s rather fragrant hand grabbed his own.
A moment later, Kui Kui released him and began cursing.
“I knew that pretty boy wasn’t any good. Looks like I judged him correctly.”
Then he looked at Yu Qing strangely.
“Something’s not right. You’re perfectly healthy, so why are you giving first place to me? Think you’re not as good as I am?”
Yu Qing glanced around again.
“If I deliberately lose first place to you, you give me the five hundred million reward.”
The reason he had come to Kui Kui first was naturally because he believed Kui Kui had one of the greatest chances of winning among the remaining contestants.
Kui Kui looked even more surprised.
“Why? Wouldn’t having both fame and fortune be better?”
Yu Qing lowered his voice.
“You’ve probably heard that I was expelled from Longguang Sect. If I manage to return to the sect, I’d definitely have to hand over that five hundred million reward.”
“Oh.”
Kui Kui suddenly understood.
So he wanted to keep the money for himself.
However, he immediately blurted out,
“You look down on me?”
Yu Qing looked surprised.
“Brother Kui, why would you say that?”
Kui Kui snorted.
“I’ll earn whatever ranking I deserve with my own ability. Why would I need you to let me win? If I accepted that, I’d never have peace of mind for the rest of my life. Besides, you’d be holding something over me forever.”
“How could that be something to hold over you? If I secretly kept the five hundred million instead of giving it to my sect, I wouldn’t dare let anyone else know either.”
“Is Longguang Sect some marketplace where people come and go whenever they please? Who knows whether they’ll even let you return.”
Yu Qing thought about it and realised he was right.
Not every sect was like Linglong Temple, where disciples could leave whenever they wanted, then return after finding nowhere else to go. Seventh Brother and Ninth Brother were perfect examples.
“Enough.”
Kui Kui waved him off.
“I admire your abilities, but don’t look down on the Kui people. If you say something like that again, you’re insulting me.”
Since they clearly could not see eye to eye, there was no point staying any longer. After exchanging a few casual remarks, Yu Qing stood up and took his leave.
He briefly considered visiting Xiang Zhen instead, but then remembered Xiang Zhen’s injuries. Letting him win would be far too obvious. If he did that, the Chaoyang Tournament would look as though he had come solely to ruin it. Besides, Xiang Zhen’s frail, injured body would never withstand further challenges.
Finding someone to whom he could deliberately lose was proving far more difficult than expected. Doing such a thing with someone unfamiliar simply was not appropriate.
After thinking it over repeatedly, all he could do was sigh and shake his head.
When he returned to the entrance of his small building, he froze.
There were two people standing beneath the eaves.
One was Zhan Yunqi.
The other was wrapped entirely in a black cloak.
Seeing him return, the pair stepped down from the stairs. The cloaked figure raised her head slightly, revealing half of her face.
Yu Qing immediately stopped in surprise.
It was Sun Ping.
Unable to help himself, he looked towards Zhan Yunqi.
Sun Ping glanced back at the building before brushing past Yu Qing and quietly saying,
“Miss is waiting for you inside.”
With that, she left together with Zhan Yunqi. The pair walked over to wait beneath a nearby tree.
Yu Qing could sense the astonishment in Zhan Yunqi’s gaze, but he had no time to think about that now. Filled with uncertainty, he slowly approached his own building.
The ground floor was empty.
Yet there seemed to be a faint lingering fragrance belonging to a woman.
He climbed the stairs one step at a time until he reached the second floor.
Inside, beside the small round table, sat another figure dressed in a black cloak. Judging by the fair, delicate hands resting upon her knees, it was clearly a woman.
The doors and windows were shut.
A solitary lamp flickered, filling the dim room with a subtle fragrance.
The woman raised both hands and removed her hood.
A breathtakingly beautiful face appeared beneath it. Her bright eyes sparkled in the lamplight.
It was Tie Miaoqing.
Yu Qing sighed inwardly twice.
The first sigh was because his identity had indeed been exposed when his face covering fell off during the competition.
The second was because this woman truly possessed extraordinary beauty. No matter where she appeared, her stunning looks could never be concealed. Even now, he still had to admit that he had never met a woman more beautiful than her.
Tie Miaoqing smiled.
“If you keep standing there, I’ll feel embarrassed sitting.”
Yu Qing forced a smile and sat opposite her, looking somewhat awkward.
“You came here so late at night. Aren’t you afraid the Prince might misunderstand?”
Tie Miaoqing replied,
“His generosity is greater than either of us imagined. He won’t misunderstand, but he does worry about what others might think. That’s why I came quietly tonight. Don’t worry. I told him before coming. He arranged this meeting himself.”
Yu Qing first felt relieved, then immediately became alarmed.
“He already knows my identity?”
Tie Miaoqing nodded.
“There’s nothing to worry about. Just continue competing in the Chaoyang Tournament. He’s merely a spectator for the most part and won’t interfere without reason.
“As for you, I still vaguely remember the first time we met in the Ancient Tomb Wasteland. Back then your abilities really weren’t worth mentioning. You abandoned literature for martial cultivation only a few years ago, yet you’ve already reached this level. You’re now competing for first place in the Chaoyang Tournament. The talent of the greatest scholar under heaven truly is beyond ordinary people.
“This clearly wasn’t achieved overnight. It seems that during all the time we spent together at Youjiao Port, I never truly understood you at all.”
As she spoke, a strange light flashed through her eyes.
She knew the man before her truly excelled in both literature and martial arts, and in that regard, he had not disappointed her at all.
Yu Qing laughed helplessly.
“Let’s stop talking about that greatest scholar nonsense.”
Tie Miaoqing smiled.
“So you’ve really abandoned literature completely. Very well, we won’t mention it again. Most likely there’ll never be another opportunity.”
Those words left both of them silent.
After a while, Yu Qing cautiously asked,
“How did you end up marrying the Prince?”
A trace of nostalgia appeared in Tie Miaoqing’s expression.
“Fate, perhaps.”
Seeing that he genuinely wished to know, and feeling that this visit should provide him with an explanation, she continued,
“After leaving Youjiao Port, Sun Ping and I had only just entered Yin Kingdom when we were attacked by assassins. Fortunately, we happened to encounter the Prince’s entourage along the way. Thanks to his intervention, we escaped.
“At first I had no idea who was behind the attack. Only after the Prince’s men interrogated the assassins did we learn that Long Xingyun had secretly arranged for people to monitor us all along. Sun Ping and I left too hastily and weren’t cautious enough, which led to the attack.”
Yu Qing gritted his teeth.
So it had been that bastard Long Xingyun again.
“After learning about my conflict with Long Xingyun, the Prince personally took me to Scarlet Orchid Pavilion, where I met both the Pavilion Master and Long Xingyun. He resolved the grudge between us.”
Yu Qing had already heard that part from Long Xingyun, so he nodded.
“And then you married him?”
Tie Miaoqing neither confirmed nor denied it, only shaking her head slightly.
“The Prince couldn’t possibly protect me forever for no reason, especially when my enemy was Scarlet Orchid Pavilion. Long Xingyun’s people were watching constantly. Once I left the Prince, I had no chance of surviving.
“The Prince was interested in me, and I wanted to stay alive. Besides, I needed his help. Sun Ping wanted to learn what had happened to her husband through Long Xingyun, something we could never have accomplished on our own. At that time I was like a stray dog with nowhere to go, so I accepted the Prince.”
She smiled bitterly.
“The Top Scholar must find that rather amusing.”
Yu Qing could imagine how desperate she had been back then.
“When I forced you to leave, I truly had no choice.”
Tie Miaoqing shook her head.
“You don’t need to explain. I understand. No one would keep a spy by their side. The fact that you spared Sun Ping’s life back then was already an act of mercy.”
Yu Qing did not wish to dwell on that subject.
“Any news about Zhu Shangbiao?”
Tie Miaoqing replied,
“He really was in Long Xingyun’s hands at first, but later someone rescued him. Even Long Xingyun doesn’t know who took him away. The Prince has investigated ever since without finding the slightest clue. I’m afraid his chances of survival are very slim.”
Yu Qing nodded.
“No matter what, you’ve found a good home. That puts my mind at ease. Perhaps forcing you to leave back then was actually the right thing.”
Tie Miaoqing suddenly looked at him before lowering her eyes with a gentle smile.
“Perhaps. Otherwise I would never have met the Prince.”
She let the matter rest there before changing the subject.
“By the way, how did you end up together with Long Xingyun? The two of you actually seemed to get along rather well.”
Yu Qing laughed mockingly.
“As if. He simply refused to stop pestering me.”
Tie Miaoqing asked,
“Would you like me to ask the Prince to help?”
“As long as that fellow keeps his word, our grudge should finally be over. The only reason I entered this tournament was because he forced me into it. Otherwise I’d never have shown myself here.”
“What happened?”
Yu Qing waved his hand.
“It’s too complicated. Better not to talk about it.”
Some matters simply could not be explained.
Tie Miaoqing did not press further.
“Is there anything you need my help with now?”
Yu Qing grinned.
“From the sound of that, have I suddenly gained a powerful backer?”
Tie Miaoqing lowered her head for a moment.
“There have been rumours about the relationship between you and me. Although the Prince is broad minded, I can’t behave without considering his position. If there’s anything I can help you with right now, just tell me.”
Yu Qing immediately understood what she meant.
They should not see each other again after this.
He smiled and spread his hands.
“Long Xingyun is no longer a problem. I appreciate your kindness, but I’m doing quite well. I don’t need any help.”
He did want help.
Unfortunately, the help he truly needed could not be spoken aloud. Saying it would not be asking for assistance, it would be jumping into a trap. Besides, outsiders might not be able to help anyway, even if one of them happened to be the most powerful Prince in the Yin Kingdom.
As for anything else, he refused to ask.
Although the image of banknotes briefly flashed through his mind, he still said nothing, smiling with quiet dignity. A young man’s pride remained intact.
Tie Miaoqing nodded.
“I know. I’ve seen it myself. No matter what difficulties you face, sooner or later you’ll overcome them.”
“You think too highly of me.”
“It’s getting late. Let’s talk about something important.”
She continued,
“The Prince asked me to pass on a message. Princess Chaoyang truly likes you. If you’re willing, he can personally take you before the Emperor and request an imperial marriage decree. He says he can guarantee this marriage.”
The moment she mentioned it, Yu Qing remembered someone’s warning back at Xiaoyunjian.
Some matters could simply be ignored.
Others would get you killed.
The line had already been drawn clearly for him.
How could he possibly agree?
Shaking his head, he answered with quiet resolve.
“I appreciate the kindness, but if I’d wanted to climb the ranks of the powerful, I would never have resigned from office back then. Life and death are decided by fate, wealth and honour by Heaven. I’d rather walk my own path.”
Tie Miaoqing nodded with a complicated expression.
“That’s exactly the answer I expected. You’re not like me.”
She lowered her head, perhaps out of embarrassment, then withdrew a rolled scroll from her sleeve. Opening it briefly before him, the words “The World Is Beautiful” could just be seen.
Yu Qing instantly recognised the handwriting as his own.
It was the piece he had written for her all those years ago.
He had never imagined she had carried it with her all this time.
The room suddenly grew brighter.
Tie Miaoqing set the scroll alight.
It burned into drifting sparks and ash that scattered across the floor.
After the final burning fragment had died away, she took a thick bundle of banknotes from her sleeve and placed it upon the table.
“A small token of gratitude, for the kindness you once showed us. Consider it an apology as well for what happened with Sun Ping. Please don’t refuse. If you truly don’t want it, simply burn it.”
Yu Qing had already reached out to decline.
His hand froze halfway.
Tie Miaoqing pulled her hood back over her head.
She gave him a slight bow.
“Take care.”
Then she quickly turned and left, her footsteps echoing as she descended the stairs.
A solitary lamp.
Two people beside it.
From beginning to end, their conversation had remained calm and gentle.
And just like that, it quietly came to an end.
Yu Qing remained standing where he was, filled with a sense of loss.
He did not go after her.
Instead, he picked up the banknotes and counted them.
There were exactly ten million.
He casually tucked them inside his clothes.