The two of them walked to a sparsely populated area. Chu Xinghui took out his spirit sword, ready to ride it, but when he turned back, he saw Xie Liufeng standing still in place.

Chu Xinghui looked at him in confusion: “What’s wrong?”

Xie Liufeng cleared his throat lightly, hinting at him: “You seem to have forgotten, I’m just an ordinary person without spiritual power.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He really didn’t understand why Xie Liufeng could still remember this long-broken premise.

Xie Liufeng didn’t think he was wrong at all and righteously reached out his hand to him.

Chu Xinghui looked at him expressionlessly for a moment.

In the end, he had no choice but to grab Xie Liufeng’s hand and pull him onto his spirit sword.

Xie Liufeng couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud.

He wasn’t done yet, continuing to point and gesture: “Slow down, slow down, for ordinary people of our age, riding a spirit sword too fast will make us dizzy.”

Chu Xinghui didn’t say anything and silently increased the speed.

Xie Liufeng stumbled slightly without noticing and lightly placed his hand on Chu Xinghui’s waist, smiling to reassure him: “Alright, alright, I’m not teasing you anymore.”

He got too close, and Chu Xinghui suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.

But he couldn’t understand the origin of this strange feeling yet, so he just shifted his attention back to Xie Liufeng’s words.

He was reluctantly satisfied with Xie Liufeng’s apologetic attitude and returned to the normal spirit sword speed.

*

As soon as the two returned home, Chu Xinghui immediately made Xie Liufeng get off his spirit sword.

Xie Liufeng ignored his cold face, persistently grabbed his head and rubbed it, only then was he satisfied and entered the courtyard.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He didn’t want to care about Xie Liufeng anymore, and also followed inside.

Passing by the birdcage, Chu Xinghui subconsciously wanted to shake it, but saw the door wide open, the cage empty except for a few black feathers.

He looked back at Xie Liufeng with confusion.

Xie Liufeng, from somewhere, brought a delicate vase and was placing the branch of osmanthus flower that he had given him inside.

He looked up at Chu Xinghui, reading his confusion: “You should know, it was depressed before you left, always pondering the meaning of bird life.”

He arranged the flowers in the vase and continued: “So not long after you left, it left the cage on its own to search for the meaning of bird life.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment and summarized: “Or to put it simply, it ran away from home.”

Chu Xinghui couldn’t understand and felt worried about the mental state of their bird neighbor.

Xie Liufeng had already tidied up the vase and called him: “Come take a look, isn’t it pretty?”

Chu Xinghui immediately threw the runaway bird out of his mind and came over to look at the flowers in the vase.

This branch of flowers had been specially treated by Xie Liufeng to maintain the appearance as if freshly picked, and even the fragrance hadn’t faded.

Chu Xinghui looked at it for a while, then injected a little spiritual power into it.

The flower visibly grew a bit.

Chu Xinghui inexplicably got some enjoyment from this and wanted to continue injecting spiritual power.

Xie Liufeng had to reach out and stop him, half laughing and half crying: “Alright, alright, if you keep injecting spiritual power, it might just take root and grow directly in the vase.”

*

After the secret realm expedition, Xie Liufeng gradually got busy.

Although he neither showed off how busy he was nor told Chu Xinghui about the messy things, Chu Xinghui could clearly tell from how long Xie Liufeng stayed at home that he recently indeed had some real matters to attend to.

Chu Xinghui didn’t ask and silently increased his daily training volume.

One evening, after finishing his usual sword practice and heading back, Chu Xinghui suddenly saw a strange shadow in the nearby bushes.

He calmly looked away, tightening his grip on his sword hilt.

He walked forward a bit more, and the shadow didn’t disappear, it stayed at a not too far, not too near distance behind him.

Clearly, the visitor was hostile.

Chu Xinghui deliberately walked to a secluded spot. Before the other could act, he took the initiative and threw his spirit sword.

The spirit sword flew obliquely, directly stabbing towards the attacker’s hiding place.

The person hiding in the dark couldn’t stay hidden any longer and jumped out from the bushes, dodging the attack.

The spirit sword circled in midair and returned to Chu Xinghui’s hand.

He gripped the spirit sword tightly and looked up at the newcomer.

The newcomer was a strong-built adult man, dressed in all black with a black veil covering his face. His cultivation was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. He wielded a pair of uniquely shaped curved knives and immediately attacked him.

Chu Xinghui quickly raised his spirit sword to block the strike.

The clash of sword and blade made a clear “clang” sound.

Chu Xinghui probed: “Who sent you?”

The other naturally didn’t answer. Seeing his attack failed, he changed his technique and launched another attack.

Chu Xinghui only defended without attacking, guiding him to make a few more moves.

This person’s cultivation method was messy, and he didn’t seem to have been systemically trained.

Unable to judge his origin from cultivation alone, Chu Xinghui stopped holding back and advanced with his sword.

After several exchanges, the man quickly felt pressured.

He seemed to realize his target today was not easy to deal with and decisively threw a smoke bomb, intending to escape.

But he didn’t get the chance… the next moment, Chu Xinghui had already placed his spirit sword on the man’s neck.

The man glanced at the sword’s edge close by, sweat beading on his forehead.

The spirit sword was sharp, a slight cut downwards could sever his throat.

He had reached Foundation Establishment peak and never lost a mission, never imagined he’d fall to a mere Foundation Establishment beginner like this.

“Once more, I ask you,” Chu Xinghui stared at him, pressing the sword down a bit more: “who sent you?”

The man opened his mouth, about to say something, but suddenly showed an extremely painful expression and collapsed straight to the ground.

After a few breaths, the man lost all signs of life and became a corpse.

Chu Xinghui squatted down and carefully examined the corpse.

There was no identification on the body, and the storage pouch only contained some murder tools and common pills, clearly a desperate fugitive.

Chu Xinghui finished dealing with the corpse and fell into deep thought.

He was mostly kind to others, occasionally ruthless to extremely evil people, and found it hard to imagine who could hate him enough to hire assassins to kill him.

He ran through recent events in his mind and suddenly thought of Qin Yuwen.

This person was very strange since the first time he appeared. Although he always acted friendly, Chu Xinghui always felt that there was some inexplicable malice towards him.

So this incident… could it be related to him?

*

Inside the Wanbao Merchant Company.

Shang Ling handed a stack of papers to Xie Liufeng: “Here, this is the information you wanted on that young guy called Qin Yuwen.”

He took a sip of water and commented: “Pretty ordinary, just luckier than others. But he has a good reputation among the younger generation. Almost everyone who interacted with him thinks he’s a decent and promising person, few have complaints. Being this good is already impressive.”

Xie Liufeng carefully went through the materials, speaking without much emotion: “The resume does look impressive.”

He put the materials away and told Shang Ling: “Keep an eye on him for me.”

Shang Ling was curious: “Why are you checking him out? Because last time he spread rumors about inheriting your past legacy?”

Xie Liufeng shook his head: “That’s not the main point.”

Shang Ling puzzled: “Huh?”

Xie Liufeng explained: “He also harassed our little Xinghui in the secret realm. Xinghui feels something’s off about him.”

Shang Ling: “…”

He was already resigned to this guy who only cared about his disciple.

Xie Liufeng pondered for a moment, then became serious: “Oh, and one more thing.”

Seeing him get serious, Shang Ling asked: “What is it?”

Xie Liufeng said: “In a few days, I’m going on a long trip. I’m worried about leaving my disciple alone. If he runs into any trouble, I’ll trouble you to watch out for him.”

Shang Ling happened to plan to stay here for a while longer so he just nodded: “No problem.”

But he couldn’t help but wonder: “But if you treasure your Xinghui so much, why don’t you take him along when you go out?”

Xie Liufeng was self-aware: “What you said makes sense, but it’s too dangerous around me.”

Shang Ling: …

*

When Chu Xinghui finished dealing with the corpse and returned home, he happened to see Xie Liufeng packing.

Xie Liufeng saw him and greeted with a smile: “You’re back.”

Chu Xinghui was momentarily stunned and asked: “You’re going out?”

Xie Liufeng nodded: “Going to retrieve some things.”

Chu Xinghui asked: “How long till you be back?”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment and said: “At least a few months to a year, maybe two or three years if it takes longer. I left some things for you. If I don’t make it back, remember to go to the Beiyue Sword Sect to apprentice.”

For cultivators, the higher the level, the less attached they are to time. Sometimes just one retreat can last for decades.

But two or three years… actually wasn’t very long.

Chu Xinghui nodded and quietly stood aside watching him pack.

When Xie Liufeng was almost done, Chu Xinghui suddenly spoke: “You left something behind.”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment, but couldn’t think what it was: “What?”

“I now have the ability to protect myself and won’t be a burden to you.” Chu Xinghui looked up at him and asked: “So, will you take me with you?”

Xie Liufeng was stunned for a moment.

He stroked Chu Xinghui’s hair and explained: “You will never be burden, but… the place I’m going this time might be very dangerous.”

Chu Xinghui thought for a moment and told him about today’s encounter: “I was almost killed today. It’s not safe here for me either.”

“But that’s not the most important reason.” Before Xie Liufeng could change his expression, Chu Xinghui continued: “The most important reason is, I want to be with you.”

No matter if it’s two or three years… or even longer, he just wanted to be with him.

 

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