My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion

Chapter 1232: Chapter 669: Heaven-Sent Opportunity (Double-Length)

The blade of the Wind Cloud Sword was clear and bright, faintly tinged with blood-like red, barring the space between the two of them; its icy Sword Qi silently sliced through the congealed air.

The sword tip was less than an inch from the handsome bridge of the Prince of Annan Qin Qingluo’s nose.

The astonishment on Qin Qingluo’s face only lingered for an instant.

She did not retreat, did not even turn her head; only those deep, snake-like pupils slowly lifted, following the snow-bright blade inch by inch toward the wielder.

There was no fear in her gaze, only a sharp chill of having been offended. Her back was straight, her dark robe patterned with gold; under the light of the Warm Pavilion, it emanated an authority that brooked no profanation, like a perilous peak suddenly rising from the ground, its weight pressing down upon Min Ning.

Min Ning stood with sword in hand, red clothes like Fire, her figure as straight as a pine.

There was not the slightest hint of retreat on her valiant face. Those phoenix eyes met the snake pupils without avoidance or backing down; her wrist was steady as bedrock, the sword tip did not tremble in the least.

A needle’s point.

A wheat awn.

The air grew heavy, as if solidified; in the Warm Pavilion only the faint drifting trail of incense remained, and the silent clash of two gazes in midair. The maidservant to the side even held her breath, wishing she could shrink into the cracks of the wall.

Chen Yi only felt his scalp go numb.

If the two women kept confronting each other like this, even the fall of a needle might trigger a life-and-death struggle.

Time trickled by slowly in the dead silence, every breath unbearably long.

At last, the tight line of the tall woman’s lips loosened ever so slightly.

A barely detectable ripple spread in the depths of her eyes. After weighing things, she gave Min Ning another deep look; her gaze slid past the sword edge, and only then did it hold a hint of scrutinizing an old acquaintance reunited after long years.

The corner of Qin Qingluo’s lips very slowly lifted into a tiny curve,

She spoke, her voice still clear and bright, but carrying a few more shades of steady detachment,

"Min Ning?

It has been many years..."

She paused, her eyes resting for a moment on Min Ning’s face—still as heroic as ever yet marked with more wind and frost,

"Have you been keeping well these years?"

She did not use the phrase "I trust you have been well", and so her words carried far less of an air of calling someone to account; her tone was very calm, as if the earlier drawn-sword confrontation had never happened.

Min Ning lowered her gaze slightly, and the snow-bright blade slowly slid back into its sheath.

As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face, much less when back in the Capital, when she herself was still a nobody, being able to make the acquaintance of such a great figure was already a tremendous stroke of fortune. Even if Qin Qingluo had never bestowed some secret manual or Magic Treasure upon her, to be regarded as a confidant had been encouragement enough.

For her to be so tense now, blades nearly drawn, made her seem rather lacking in human feeling.

Yet there was no help for it. Ever since learning it was Qin Qingluo who intended to send a betrothal gift, she had had no choice but to hurry and have Chen Yi introduce her. She had thought that after wandering the Jianghu for so many years, she could remain unshaken even if Taishan collapsed before her—but she had not expected that upon hearing of this matter, she still could not suppress the anxiety in her heart.

"Prince, I am well in all things." Min Ning stepped forward and cupped her hands in salute.

Qin Qingluo’s gaze roved over Min Ning, up and down, as if taking in the entirety of her experiences over the years. The corner of her lips quirked into a smile as she said:

"I received word from the Opportunity Room quite early that you were coming to the Southern Border, and was wondering what day you would come to pay a visit. You have indeed been well in my absence; this time you come as an uninvited guest and live up to the title. You truly have surprised me. Was it... he who brought you in?"

The tall woman’s snake eyes swept once toward Chen Yi.

"Indeed. I heard that, of late, in the Prince Mansion he is..."

Min Ning also swept him a glance, and said slowly:

"Greatly favored?"

A thin layer of sweat broke out on Chen Yi’s forehead; at this moment, nodding would not do, shaking his head would not do. This was clearly the very situation he most wished to avoid, yet it had happened all the same.

How was he to resolve this?

Many people, when faced with such a circumstance, would mostly cover their faces in shame, or feel guilt rise in their hearts, unable to face two women who were sincere toward them, wavering and hesitating on the brink of a choice. Fortunately, Chen Yi was not such a man.

Under the gaze of the two women, Chen Yi thought swiftly, then actually smiled a little and said:

"If I were not favored, how would I dare openly and aboveboard bring you, Min Ning, to be introduced to the Prince?"

When the words fell, the expressions of both women shifted slightly; first their brows knit, but as their thoughts turned, they gradually eased.

Min Ning fixated on that phrase "openly and aboveboard". She was straightforward by nature; thinking back, though Chen Yi had hesitated on the road, he had not stopped her, and had indeed brought her to be introduced. To act so openly and aboveboard—he must have a clear conscience.

Qin Qingluo, on the other hand, focused on that rhetorical "If I were not favored". This time, in front of Min Ning, Chen Yi had indeed admitted that he was favored, which could be considered as defining the relationship between the two of them. Remembering moreover that it was she herself who had told Chen Yi to bring Min Ning over, in this matter, she had indeed put him in a somewhat difficult position.

From the same sentence, the two women each drew a different answer.

A moment later, Qin Qingluo clapped her hands and laughed. "Min Yuechi has come from afar; it is I who have neglected you. Come, allow me to first treat you to a drink."

She lifted her hand in indication, in the direction of that building within the Prince Mansion from which one could overlook Dragon Tail City—the Hanhai Building.

The Hanhai Building was precisely the Scripture Pavilion of the Prince Mansion.

Chen Yi’s heart stirred slightly. This was also the place where Qin Qingluo had brought him many times before.

At the time, the excuse for keeping him there alone had still been to consult him on Martial Intent; now, she had hardly consulted him on Martial Intent a few times, but the progress bar of—well, the progress bar had advanced quite a bit...

Chen Yi kept his face expressionless, though he felt a bit subtle inside.

Unaware of the inside story, Min Ning did not refuse and followed Qin Qingluo up to the Hanhai Building.

The building was high and the wind strong; the view opened wide in all directions. The markets of distant Dragon Tail City, the winding river, and the layered mountains beyond all came into view, as the cool wind rushed against their faces.