185.2 – Unswerving Momentum
“I may be a little tired.” Xia Xue kneaded her eyebrows, “I’m hearing things.”
“Wait! What do you mean! Is it that strange for me to want to learn martial arts?”
“Oh, are you saying that it’s not? You’re notorious for goofing around! You’re a perfect embodiment of the saying spare the rod, spoil the child! Yet now you’re saying that you want to learn martial arts from me?” Xia Xue rolled her eyes and said, “There must be some mistake.”
After listening to Xia Xue’s words, Xue Qilin coughed a few times.
“Even if it’s true, it still hurts when you say it out loud like that, okay?”
“Oh? Even you have some self-awareness?”
How infuriating! Xue Qilin stomped her feet, pointed at Xia Xue, and started scolding her.
“Screw you, Xia Xue! You scoundrel, you fool, you idiot! Do you have to taunt me this much before you’re satisfied?! In any case, I’m of the senior generation, you have to give me some face! Really–”
The scolding stopped abruptly.
Xue Qilin’s expression froze suddenly.
“Um, what’s the matter?”
Xia Xue noticed the strange change in Xue Qilin and immediately showed a confused expression. Evidently, she realized that something’s up from Xue Qilin’s expression freezing abruptly.
“What’s going–”
Xue Qilin suddenly raised her hand and stopped the other party from speaking.
An expressionless look on her face, she slowly turned her head and gazed southward.
A mysterious ray appeared in the bright yellow eyes. Yet unexpectedly, there is nothing reflected in the eyes.
Just now, nearly 100 breaths suddenly broke into her range of perception. They are approaching the Merak Temple in a quite orderly fashion.
What’s going on?
It feels like the sound of horseshoes falling on the ground is coming from afar.
Surrounded by silence, Xue Qilin suddenly had a bad premonition.
When the silence was finally broken, her premonition came true–
“Young Ancestor!”
A voice came from far away.
After looking in the direction the voice came from, Xue Qilin narrowed her eyes, and a rapidly-approaching blue-white figure reflected in her eyes.
The figure is the inner disciple Qian Duoduo.
“Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong — is going on!”
Xue Qilin frowned, while Xia Xue, who restrained her usual bearing, showed an expression that matches her status and solemnly asked Qian Duoduo, who has finally reached them.
“What’s wrong?”
“Greetings, Young Ancestor, Elder–”
Seeing that Qian Duoduo wants to greet them, Xia Xue interrupted him with an impatient wave of her hand.
“Don’t talk nonsense, just say what happened.”
Qian Duoduo, who seems to have realized that now is not the time to uphold etiquette, hurriedly gave an affirmative reply, and then gazed at Xue Qilin urgently. In his eyes, there is faint unease and anxiety, while in the abyss of his eyes, there is even — panic.
“Young Ancestor, the Temple Master wants you to go to the main gate posthaste!”
“What for?” Xue Qilin uttered softly, “Calm down, tell me what happened.”
Qian Duoduo issued a quiet sound, as if to reprimand himself for his blunder.
After taking a deep breath, he uttered a word.
“Army!”
The lass’s eyes widened slightly.
Army — this word violently stabbed into Xue Qilin’s heart like a needle.
“An army is here! They have gone up the mountain and should have arrived at the main gate by now! The Temple Master wants you to go there and keep watch, Young Ancestor.”
While Qian Duoduo’s voice still lingered in the air, Xue Qilin has already disappeared.
As if an eagle flapping its wings and soaring–
The lass, with her sleeves fluttering behind her, rushed into the distance like a blue-white bolt of lightning.
*
Xue Qilin gently landed on the archway of Merak Temple’s main gate.
An intense sound of horseshoes came from a distance.
Judging by how uniform the sound of horseshoes falling on the ground is, the cavalrymen must have received considerable training. However, Xue Qilin can only hear the sound, but not see them yet.
A crowd has already gathered at the base of the archway. Xue Qilin can see many familiar faces, including Ye Zhen, Yang Yuening, Shui Yun’er, and the Nangong siblings.
As for the red figure standing at the head of the crowd, it is naturally Qi Qiqi.
Before Xue Qilin could make her arrival known, as if he sensed her, Ye Zhen turned to look at her and nodded. Xue Qilin grinned in response.
Let’s go down.
Just as Xue Qilin was thinking about jumping down–
“Hmm?”
Ye Zhen made a gesture, seemingly telling the less to stay on the archway.
“… want me to stay here?”
Xue Qilin tilted her head, not quite sure what Ye Zhen is thinking.
However, judging by how grim the atmosphere is, she can hardly ask out loud.
Helpless, she made an action of sitting down and cast an inquiring glace at Ye Zhen. Consequently, Ye Zhen nodded expressionlessly.
“Really, I have to sit here like some mascot?”
Xue Qilin propped up her head with her hands, pouted, and murmured.
At the same time, she noticed the warning gaze Qi Qiqi cast her way. Don’t act rashly — Xue Qilin interpreted Qiqi’s gaze thusly.
Always feels inexplicably angry!
“Yes yes yes, I got it! I’ll just stay here and eat dango…”
As Xue Qilin complained in a low voice, she opened the box containing the sanshoku dango. There are three skewers of sanshoku dango in the box. She took out a skewer and took a bite indignantly.
Probably because she’s feeling a bit down, the originally delicious dango taste a bit insipid at the moment.
“Ah, how infuriating!”
At this moment, a snicker sounded beside her ear. Xue Qilin glanced to the side unhappily and saw a water-colored figure riding a wave.
Shortly after, the wave rose to the height of the archway. As if she’s walking on flat ground, Shui Yun’er trod atop the level summit of the wave and arrived beside Xue Qilin.
“What’s so funny?”
“Young Teacher, you misunderstood Big Sister Qi’s intention. It wasn’t because she is afraid that you’ll mess things yup that she let you stay here.”
“Ah?”
It wasn’t? The surprised expression on Xue Qilin’s face conveyed this question.
“Big Sister Qi wants you to stay in a conspicuous place for deterrent purposes.”
“Ah? Is this place conspicuous?”
–people only pay attention to the things ahead of them.
By all rights, people seldom pay attention to places far above their eye level. As such, Xue Qilin cannot understand how such a high place can be regarded as conspicuous.
“It is. Moreover, by standing in a high place, you can take advantage of the power of the sky to put more pressure on others.”
Shui Yun’er looked up at the vast and boundless sky.
Even though the sky seems to be close due to them being atop the Merak Mountain, but it is still far away and out of reach.
“Young Teacher, think about it, things are high in the sky always feel particularly striking.”
–there is indeed such an misconception. Xue Qilin nodded gently.
When faced with things that tower high above them, people have the misconception that they are tiny. It’s much like people issue a rueful sigh when they look up at the sky occasionally.
