But Yun Huizhou was actually quite happy. Was this what they called “blindly taking someone’s side”?
“Mm-hmm, you’re absolutely right,” Yun Huizhou echoed. “So, do you want to hear what happened back then that made me act this way?”
Lian Li answered decisively, “Yes.”
He had to figure out exactly what had transpired between Yun Huizhou and Zhang Ning.
After all, Zhang Ning was the only woman who elicited a specific emotion from Yun Huizhou. Even if that emotion was mere annoyance, Lian Li was still prepared to pay close attention.
To know one’s enemy as one knows oneself is the only way to emerge victorious from a hundred battles.
Yun Huizhou began, “Didn’t I mention before that my Grandmaster used to take me around to hunt down wanted criminals? It was during one of those pursuits of a villain that I ran into Zhang Ning.”
“So you teamed up to hunt the villain?” Lian Li faced forward, but his eyes peeked stealthily at Yun Huizhou beside him.
Yun Huizhou didn’t notice his subtle expression and answered directly, “Not exactly. When I tracked him down, Zhang Ning was already fighting him. I saw that her martial arts were decent and her techniques were orthodox, so I figured she should be able to take him down. I didn’t plan to interfere, lest I be seen as snatching someone else’s job.”
“Who knew that that night, I would discover the villain wasn’t dead? He was only heavily injured and was preparing to force his way into the farmhouse where my Grandmaster and I were staying.”
“That man was originally a bandit who relied on his martial arts to prey on commoners. It wasn’t just about the money; he would kill everyone in the households he targeted.”
“So, I acted immediately and killed the villain.”
He stopped there and turned to look at Lian Li, waiting for him to chime in.
Lian Li did not disappoint him. The moment the words left Yun Huizhou’s mouth, he picked up the thread: “So that’s how the two of you locked horns? She thought you stole her job? But if you hadn’t acted, wouldn’t that farm family have suffered?”
“It was her own fault for failing to deal with the villain in time, letting him escape to harm innocent people. It was perfectly reasonable for you to step in and save them. Surely she didn’t think you should have stood by and watched the villain slaughter the farmers just because you were worried about it being ‘her job’?”
“Uh… no, not quite,” Yun Huizhou said. “If that were the case, I probably wouldn’t just be annoyed with her; I would have killed her right then and there. And my Grandmaster would have charged straight into Maple Leaf Valley to have a ‘friendly chat’ with their Valley Lord, asking how they teach their disciples.”
“Oh,” Lian Li said. “Then what happened?”
Yun Huizhou continued, “After I killed the villain and was handling the aftermath, she and the Sect Uncle who brought her out rushed over. To be honest, that villain was already heavily wounded; I didn’t expend much effort killing him, so I had no intention of claiming the credit. But she insisted that although she had wounded him, she failed to take his life and nearly allowed him to commit another atrocity. She said it was thanks to my intervention that a tragedy was averted, so she refused to take the credit for herself.”
Hearing this, Lian Li was confused. This… Zhang Ning sounded like a decent person, quite righteous even. Why did Yun Huizhou dislike her so much?
Lian Li didn’t hide his expression, and Yun Huizhou naturally understood it. He let out another long sigh and said, “I thought the same as you back then. Who knew… if I could do it over, I would have dragged my Grandmaster away without a moment’s hesitation, running as far as possible.”
“Uh… okay, go on.” Lian Li sat up straight, ready to continue listening to Yun Huizhou’s story.
“At the time, I felt there was no need for all that. It was just a small favor, and it wouldn’t feel right to shamelessly take half the bounty reward. But then Zhang Ning said this: ‘We are of similar age and similar skill, making us excellent rivals. Let us have a duel to decide this.'”
“I refused immediately. I didn’t really want to compete with her because I felt that if I had encountered that man first, I could have killed him on the spot. Since she let him escape, I figured she definitely couldn’t beat me, and dueling her would be taking an unfair advantage.”
“However, she wouldn’t take no for an answer and insisted on the duel. Her Sect Uncle was also trying to persuade me, so I figured a duel was just a duel.”
Yun Huizhou paused again. This time, it wasn’t to wait for Lian Li to speak, but because he wore an expression that was difficult to describe.
“What happened? Hurry up and tell me.” Lian Li was listening with great interest, completely forgetting his initial intention of “knowing the enemy to win the battle.”
“Dueled, won, got stuck with her.” Yun Huizhou spat out those words dryly.
As Lian Li looked on with a bewildered face, Yun Huizhou held up two fingers and said, “Two years. I was pestered for two whole years.”
Lian Li’s eyes slowly widened, his face full of disbelief. In an instant, he imagined a multitude of melodramatic plotlines.
For example: When you loved me, I didn’t love you; now that you don’t love me, I’ve fallen for you.
He didn’t know which stage the plot had reached or where Yun Huizhou’s “male supporting character” love line stood. If the time truly came, would Yun Huizhou suddenly act as if his mind were being controlled?
Thinking of this, Lian Li’s expression turned a bit sour, and his whole demeanor wilted.
Seeing this, Yun Huizhou quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lian Li waved him off. “Nothing, keep going.”
After observing his expression carefully, Yun Huizhou suddenly realized how ambiguous his previous sentence had been. He quickly clarified, “I mean, she kept pestering me, saying things like I was a ‘suitable opponent’ and that if we sparred frequently, our martial arts would surely improve greatly together.”
“And then?” Lian Li asked. “How did you respond?”
Yun Huizhou: “To be honest, I didn’t really want to. I felt she wasn’t as good as Zhao Honglan or Lady Qu. She claimed our skills were equal, but I felt no pressure when fighting her. Rather than being ‘suitable rivals’ growing together, I felt more like I was the most convenient grindstone for her current level.”
“Fighting me was very useful for her, but for me, it was like being her personal sparring partner. So, I used the excuse that I had many more bounties to pursue and refused her.”
“Then… she said she would come with me to catch those wanted villains so we could spar frequently…”
“Her Sect Uncle also kept saying how rare it is for a martial artist to find a suitable opponent, and that frequent sparring is the best way to refine one’s skills.”
Lian Li: “…Even if Zhang Ning couldn’t tell back then that sparring was useless for you, surely her Sect Uncle could… If he saw it and still said that, wasn’t he just treating you like a sucker?”
