After pointing out a few more obvious mistakes, with Gu Xiqiao nudging him and changing his stance, Su Wen started up his practice again, and he froze.
This set of techniques was taught to him by Tang Qinghong a few days ago, and since he knew that the things Young Master Tang taught were always useful things, he practiced hard even though he didn’t understand the essence of it. But just as Gu Xiqiao had said, the punches he threw were as soft as cotton, and were very flowery. If it wasn’t for his overly trusting nature toward Tang Qinghong, he would have felt that this entire thing was a lie.
However, when he stared up again this time, there was a burst of wind that appeared from his fist. Those sluggish and uncertain moves didn’t appear again, and he felt his arms and legs fill with seemingly endless energy.
"This set of techniques is a good thing, don’t just go through the motions, learn to understand the meaning behind them," Gu Xiqiao said, breaking a branch off. "When you have learnt it properly, everything your hand can reach can be used as a weapon."
She struck out suddenly, the branch in her palm winding smoothly like a snake. She exerted her full strength, tightly knitted motions that even the wind couldn’t get through, the wind rustling in his ears. Watching the scene in front of him, Su Wen felt like he understood what the martial arts saying of ’Gun like a swimming dragon, stick like a whirlwind’ meant!
Nobody would imagine the fierce technique she was displaying was the same soft one that he had been practicing a while ago. If he didn’t see it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it either!
[Beauty Qiao, you actually taught him yourself.] The system spirit gave her a glare. [You didn’t teach Xiao Yun and the others personally!]
Gu Xiqiao slowed down gradually, tossing the branch away casually, ’That’s because I couldn’t find the right opportunity.’ But in fact, it was because she had become fond of Su Wen.
It took a while before Su Wen came back to reality, and he looked at Gu Xiqiao in slight shock, his eyes burning. "Will I be able to do the same in the future?"
"It depends on your diligence and aptitude," Gu Xiqiao said, glancing at him, "If your aptitude is crap, then I can’t help you there."
"..." That comment pierced right through his heart.
At any rate, he felt slightly relieved, he had benefited quite a bit from this, and Su Wen returned to the creek area with an uplifted spirit. It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet, and most of the people weren’t up. There was only Jia Wei who was up and about at the creek, being that she had gotten up early and was busy preparing breakfast.
A girl around the age of twenty, young and beautiful, hard-working and virtuous, she should be the ideal partner in the eyes of many people.
The smile on Su Wen’s face slid off slowly as he looked at Jia Wei who was busy, and his eyes darkened. After thinking for a while, he walked toward his own tent, but when he reached it, he paused outside. He hadn’t slept in the tent yesterday night, and the tent should be undisturbed, but the flap of the tent was not closed, someone must have touched it.
"Brother Su, you’re back!" Jia Wei turned her head when she saw Su Wen, handing him a bottle of mineral water that she was holding, giving him a bright smile. "Have a drink first, the fish porridge is almost done. I’ll go and wake everyone up."
"You’re so lucky, Young Master Su," A boy who had just woken up and stumbled upon the scene said, as he yawned. "Beautiful, gentle, kind, why don’t I have the chance to have this too!"
"Don’t say anything like that in the future," The boy had been joking of course, but Su Wen replied with a stern and serious expression.
Generally, when a guy is in this situation and would not accept the girl, they wouldn’t embarrass her in front of others. Jia Wei hadn’t walked far yet, and when she heard Su Wen’s words, she couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face.
When she left the area, the boy looked at Su Wen with clear disapproval. "Is it really okay to treat a girl like that?"
"That attitude of yours of ignoring, not rejecting and not explaining yourself is called being a scum," Su Wen said, giving him a glance before taking a water bottle out from his own tent. "Don’t give false hope to others."
"Bah, it was just a joke, why are you so serious about it?" The boy stole a look at Jia Wei, who was washing her hands, "It’s just a fact when I said she’s beautiful, her temper is good too, and she’s got high standards but little ability to choose. There are so many other guys in the school but she ain’t interested in any of them, but she chose to be interested in you? Didn’t she ever think that you’re way out of her league?"
Su Wen let out another sigh. "And you wonder why I call you scum?"
"Alright, whatever you say then." The boy waved his hand dismissively, taking his towel to the stream.
Because he had gotten up early, Su Wen had already washed up, and now he felt even more refreshed, so he sat under the tree and had a look at the map, planning the day’s itinerary.
Before he could finish his planning, he felt a shadow cast over him. Su Wen raised his head and found himself looking at Tang Qinghong, who had appeared in front of him. He stood up in a hurry, packing the map away as he greeted him, "Young Master Tang."
Tang Qinghong responded half-heartedly, he pursed his lips, looking at nothing in particular for a while before asking, "When are you guys planning to leave?"
"I’m not sure, according to the original schedule, we were going to be here for half a month." Su Wen recalled yesterday night’s matter, and knew what Tang Qinghong was worried about. "Anyway, you and Miss Gu are here, so I’m not afraid."
"It’s not a question of whether you’re afraid or not," Tang Qinghong said, frowning, "Try to leave earlier if possible."
"Understood, Young Master Tang." Su Wen said, nodding his head, he wouldn’t disregard the safety of other people.
As the two were talking on that side of the creek, the others in the tents had woken up and were washing and playing in the stream. Jia Wei noticed the two of them, and asked the girl beside her in a low voice, "Who is that person, he has such a strong presence, and it looks like Brother Su really respects that person?"
The girl squinted slightly, looking at Jia Wei for a little while before smiling suddenly, pointing her finger toward the sky. "I only know it’s someone from the Imperial Capital, Brother Su had warned us in the beginning to not provoke that person, and I’m not sure who he is. Do you see the watch that he’s wearing? It’s from a brand called Patek Philippe, and it’s a custom made model. The manufacturer only makes one each year, and it also depends on their mood. Even if the king of England wanted one, he would need to wait. I suppose you can imagine what kind of person he is from that."
Jia Wei’s eyes sparkled brightly as she turned her head, her eyes trained on the man who was standing with Su Wen. His person was elegant and graceful in his actions, and every part of him was flawless. In terms of appearance, Su Wen couldn’t compare to him at all. She had seen all kinds of beauty in the Imperial Capital, but none of them could measure up to this stunning person.
The girl saw the thoughts clearly displayed on Jia Wei’s face, and her lips curled up into a cold sneer. After washing her face, she purposely took out her expensive cosmetics in front of her and applied it on her face. "Don’t look anymore, that’s not someone you can reach no matter how much you dream of him."
"You!" Jia Wei snapped her head back to look at the girl, trembling with anger, but not saying anything. She then just watched the girl leave with cold eyes.
"Do you feel dissatisfied about what she said? Unwilling to accept it? Jealous? She’s not as good looking as you, and not as smart either, but she’s from a wealthy family and with just that, she has got the better of you."
Jia Wei looked up, and Bao Xinyi was standing in front of her. She was taken aback for a moment. "Xinyi, why would you say that?"
"Jia Wei, you can deceive others, but you can’t lie to me. What did you do last night, sneaking around?" Bao Xinyi’s tone was taunting, tossing a small bottle at her. "We’re going to the butterfly valley today, this is your last chance."
Jia Wei looked at the bottle in her hands for a while, before turning around to look at Su Wen, gnawing on her lips as she clutched the bottle closer to her chest.
***
When Shi Tou went to look for Gu Xiqiao, she was sitting on the stone bench, drinking a bottle of milk. Her laptop was still on the stone table, and his eyes lit up at the sight of it. "Sister Gu!"
"Go ahead and play," Gu Xiqiao said, pointing to another bottle of milk that was on the table, gesturing for him to drink it. "I’ll be drying herbs."
The games on the computer were ones that Shi Tou had not played before, so he had a lot of questions, and was even more chatty than usual. He asked questions after questions, and Gu Xiqiao was patient with him, answering each and every one of them.
When Shi Tou encountered something he didn’t understand, she would calmly teach him. She stood beside Shi Tou, leaning over to look at the screen, her face glowing with content, eyes filled with warmth, and a gentle smile on her face.
Tang Qinghong stood at the door, watching the scene in a stupor for a long while before regaining his senses. He had known her for just a few days, but when he faced her, she always had an indifferent look on her face, and he had never seen this expression on her face before.
Not long after he had arrived, Gu Xiqiao noticed his presence. She glanced at him, and then turned away, an indifferent expression sliding back onto her face.
Sigh, he was once again being disliked! Tang Qinghong sighed lightly.
Gu Xiqiao had planned to rest properly today, and to isolate herself at night in the void space, not intending to leave it if she didn’t get a breakthrough in her ancient martial arts. So after she had given Aunt Li her acupuncture treatment, she decided to accompany Shi Tou to play games. Then she took a nap in the afternoon, until evening when the system spirit woke her up with an alert.
[Random Mission activated: Rescue Su Wen!]
[Mission completion rewards: 50 points!]
She was startled at the mission description. "Su Wen?"
The system spirit rolled its eyes. [He fell into a trap and got drugged, he’s in the butterfly valley about two kilometers away. Do you want to buy a teleport item, Beauty Qiao?]
"Buy it, I’m afraid I’ll reach there too late if I don’t." Now that she knew the situation, she was also slightly speechless, but it was still important to save people now.
Gu Xiqiao informed Shi Tou that she was heading out, before finding a secluded area. She snapped her fingers, and was gone the next second.
***
At the same time, Su Wen was lying in a cave somewhere in the butterfly valley, his face was flushed red as he groaned from time to time, and the person who was beside him was Jia Wei!
Jia Wei was looking at Su Wen, her fingers trembling as she unbuttoned her shirt determinedly. But in the next second, she blinked and realized that there was an extra presence in front of her, and she lifted her head in a hurry. She was met with a cold pair of eyes, and her heart almost jumped up to her throat.
"Gu Xiqiao, how are you here!" She hissed, gritting her teeth as she buttoned up her shirt.
Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes. "I’m here to save you from making a miserable mistake while being lost on the road of life."
Jia Wei stood up, facing Gu Xiqiao with a defensive expression. "Get lost, I don’t need you to care!"
"Don’t need me to care?" Gu Xiqiao snorted angrily, "Are you even aware of what you’re doing? Are you sure he won’t kill you after he wakes up?"
"I know what I’m doing," Jia Wei said, adjusting her clothes after she had put it on properly, leveling a glare at her. "Gu Xiqiao, now that you’re rich, are you looking down on me? What, you can do it, but I can’t? I won’t lose to you!"
"Jia Wei, you’re insane!" Gu Xiqiao had never seen Jia Wei behave this way, in all her twenty years of both her lives, "No matter how it is, you require mutual consent to do anything. If you do this, you won’t benefit anything from it!"
"You’re being so righteous about it, but if you were me, would you let this opportunity go?! I..." Jia Wei trailed off, her eyes closing suddenly as she fell in a faint.
Gu Xiqiao sighed, dusting her hands off. "As expected, a bit of violence is required when dealing with a mad person."
Having taken care of Jia Wei, she turned to Su Wen. There was sweat breaking out on his forehead, the flush on his face unusually red as he groaned. She let out another sigh, lifting him up easily and disappearing with a wave of her hand.
When she reappeared, it was by a river. She casually flicked her hands, and Su Wen was thrown into the river without much thought.
[Beauty Qiao, can you be more a bit more gentle and feminine?] Carrying someone just like that was really an epitome of a barbarian.
Gu Xiqiao smiled warmly. "I’m afraid that if I do that, you would puke."
System: Just remain the way you are, that’s better.
Seeing Su Wen struggling in the river, the system spirit silently lit a candle in remembrance for him. Gu Xiqiao clearly had the antidote in her hands, but she didn’t use it, instead throwing him into the river. It felt its heart fill with sympathy for him, and it wasn’t a really pleasant feeling now, was it?
"Find the source," Gu Xiqiao said, snapping her fingers again, and she disappeared.
***
Bao Xinyi was standing not far from the cave during this time, holding her phone as she approached the cave slowly. As she took another step forward, she was met with a branch, and a cold voice by her ear. She spun around, and saw Gu Xiqiao, her eyes widening in horror, "Why are you here?!"
"That day in the hospital, I held myself back a lot before deciding to let you off. I didn’t know you’d be so reckless, rushing headfirst into meeting your death!" Gu Xiqiao said, giving her a sharp smile. Her gorgeously delicate face was stiff, and you could practically feel the chill radiating from her, even Bao Xinyi had a bad feeling when she looked at her.
"What are you talking about?" She said, looking at Gu Xiqiao’s direction, but not daring to meet her eyes.
With a wave, Bao Xinyi fell to the ground. Gu Xiqiao walked to her side, looking down at her. "Did you really think I don’t know what you have on you? I don’t care if you scheme against others, but don’t touch any of us, you got unlucky today!"
She gathered chi into her eyes, and she saw that Jia Wei, who was lying on the ground, was covered in a layer of condensed black mist. This was the first time she had seen such a situation, a person being possessed by a malicious aura.
"You!" Bao Xinyi hauled herself up, a fierce glare in her eyes.
"What are you glaring at!" Gu Xiqiao shot back, throwing a leaf from the branch, and Bao Xinyi staggered from the hit, falling to the ground again.
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience