Lian Li scratched his face and said to Yun Huizhou, “Is Senior Brother Zhao doing this on purpose?”
“Doing what on purpose?” Yun Huizhou didn’t understand his meaning. “Purposely arriving a bit late?”
Lian Li shook his head and said, “I mean Senior Brother Zhao’s appearance. He looks a bit too casual. Is he intentionally making himself look like this to discourage Female Warrior Xin? He wants her to be repulsed by him so she won’t want to be with him anymore, so he’s losing to her on purpose.”
“…” Yun Huizhou was speechless for a moment before saying, “While that is a good idea for rejecting a female warrior, I think even if Female Warrior Xin gives it her all, she likely won’t be able to defeat Brother Zhao.”
“That’s true.” Lian Li nodded and said, “Then Senior Brother Zhao must have encountered something to end up looking like this. We…”
Just as he uttered the word “we,” he suddenly reacted and swallowed the second half of the sentence: Should we ask him what happened and see if we can help?
Zhao Honglan was the Male Lead. If the Male Lead encountered trouble, wasn’t that clearly the plot unfolding?
“We what?” Yun Huizhou asked, hearing him stop halfway.
“Nothing,” Lian Li whispered. “I’m just thinking.”
He actually didn’t really want to follow the plot, but Zhao Honglan was truly a very good person.
If he really had run into some trouble, it felt a bit wrong for them to be right here with nothing urgent to do and yet remain indifferent.
“After they finish, we’ll go find Brother Zhao and ask,” Yun Huizhou said, looking at Zhao Honglan standing on another tree. “Miss Qu isn’t by Brother Zhao’s side, yet Brother Zhao accepted a duel like this from Female Warrior Xin. I’m a bit worried.”
Hearing him say this, Lian Li thought to himself: Alright then, no need to agonize over it. Given the friendship between Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan, since he had said so, they were definitely going to ask.
Thus, he could only echo in a low voice, “That’s true. What do you think it could be? we haven’t heard news of any major events.”
Yun Huizhou pondered for a while and said, “I think something might have happened on Miss Qu’s side. I hope my guess is wrong.”
Lian Li’s fingers twitched as he lowered his head. If it were some other major Jianghu event, he would have no psychological burden in dragging Yun Huizhou away.
Anyway, there were so many people in the Jianghu, and so many experts and seniors; if the sky fell, they would be the ones to prop it up.
But if it involved Qu Tingquan, he really couldn’t manage to ask nothing and do nothing.
Back at the Alliance Leader’s Manor in Xianglai City, Qu Tingquan had truly looked after him, being very thoughtful in every aspect. Fearing he would be bored, she often brought the fifteen or sixteen-year-old disciples of the Qinghong Sword Sect to visit him.
At that time, Yun Huizhou and Zhao Honglan had also looked after him, but compared to Qu Tingquan, they were a bit more rough and careless.
Lian Li didn’t speak further, instead looking up at the two people in the center of the duel.
On the field, neither Female Warrior Xin nor Zhao Honglan showed any intention of speaking.
This disappointed many who had come to watch the excitement, but at this time, no one was foolish enough to come out and jeer, insisting they say something.
After all, Zhao Honglan clearly looked to be in a bad mood, as if he had encountered something troubling.
Female Warrior Xin had initiated the duel and set those conditions; although she couldn’t prevent people from coming to watch the fun, she wouldn’t allow the spectators to be insolent.
Anyone who dared to stick their head out now would likely face a “mixed doubles” beating from both Zhao Honglan and Female Warrior Xin.
Lian Li felt that no one should jump out at this time.
Just as he took two steps back and leaped onto the top of a tree, preparing to get a good look at this martial arts contest…
If he watched the duel between these two powerhouses seriously, he would surely gain a lot.
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
“Since you two are using this duel to decide your life’s marriage, why don’t you say a few words now that you’ve met?”
Lian Li: …!!!???
Someone really wasn’t afraid of death? He instinctively wanted to find the speaker to see who was so thick-headed.
However, he discovered that this person was using internal energy to project their voice. This person’s internal energy was deeper than his own; he really couldn’t tell which direction the voice was coming from.
Many people present looked up and searched around, seemingly unable to tell which direction it came from either.
Lian Li frowned slightly. It seemed this person was quite formidable.
He looked up at the two on the field and found that Female Warrior Xin’s expression was somewhat unnatural. Lian Li could easily judge that her expression wasn’t one of anger, but rather something very complex.
If this really involved Qu Tingquan, then it must be a very important plot point. His childhood friend would have definitely mentioned it when telling him the story.
It was just that he hadn’t been listening closely.
Lian Li lowered his head and thought for a good while, finally gaining a bit of an impression.
It was a major “dog-blood” tragedy in the romantic storyline of the Male and Female Leads.
The Female Lead goes missing, and while the Male Lead is searching for her, he engages in a duel and is then heavily injured, which delays his search for her. He hadn’t paid attention to the specifics of what happened, but anyway, by the time the two met again, the Female Lead no longer remembered the Male Lead.
Not only did she not remember the Male Lead, she didn’t even remember the people of the Qinghong Sword Sect, believing herself to be a member of another sect.
But looking at Yun Huizhou’s previous assessment, Female Warrior Xin didn’t seem like someone who could heavily injure Zhao Honglan—unless Zhao Honglan was already injured to begin with.
Thinking of this, he prepared to warn Yun Huizhou to pay attention to Zhao Honglan’s condition.
Just as he turned his head to speak, he saw that Yun Huizhou had already taken off his douli.
“Stay here and don’t go out. Brother Zhao seems to have run into some trouble.” He handed his douli to Lian Li for him to hold. “Brother Zhao is thin-skinned; he’s too embarrassed to refuse some brazen and shameless demands.”
Seeing Lian Li’s confused gaze, Yun Huizhou said, “You were lost in thought just now and didn’t hear what they said. They’re planning to fight two against one.”
Hearing this, Lian Li immediately looked toward the field and discovered that there was now an additional monk in tattered clothes. He looked to be about forty years old, with a trace of a fake smile hanging on his face.
He stood on one side with Female Warrior Xin, looking at Zhao Honglan on the other side.
Seeing this situation, Lian Li finally understood how the Male Lead ended up heavily injured.
He hadn’t seen that monk in tattered clothes before, but he had heard the West Island Lord mention him. He was a former disciple of a Buddhist sect. Although he hadn’t committed any great evils, he was quite unscrupulous in achieving his goals.
Buddhist cultivation here emphasized one’s state of mind. While his behavior might not count for much in the Jianghu, it was not permitted within the Buddhist sect.
His master had disciplined him many times to no effect. After one instance of submitting to discipline, he was sent down the mountain to handle affairs, but he disappeared and never returned.
When he reappeared several years later, he no longer called himself a Buddhist disciple, but instead called himself the Sui Xin Monk.
