Chapter 142: The West Island Lord Returns

With this retreat, Yun Huizhou backed up directly in front of Lian Li, leaving a distance of less than a meter between them.

Staring at Yun Huizhou’s back, Lian Li thought to himself: I hope I don’t end up getting flattened by Yun Huizhou instead of being hit by some flying debris.

In front of him, Yun Huizhou also felt that prickly, needle-like gaze directed at his back. However, he had no mental capacity to spare for such thoughts at the moment; the East Island Matriarch was closing in again.

Lian Li wore a look of utter resignation. He was already prepared for the East Island Matriarch to send Yun Huizhou flying with a single punch, and for the airborne Yun Huizhou to then collide with and flatten him in turn.

To his surprise, Yun Huizhou suddenly vanished from his sight, and the East Island Matriarch’s fist stopped a mere centimeter from his nose.

The fist was so close that Lian Li almost went cross-eyed trying to look at it. He blinked, then looked for Yun Huizhou, only to find that the man had already circled around to the East Island Matriarch’s rear.

Yun Huizhou looked somewhat disheveled now, his clothes on the left side covered in dust from scraping against the ground.

Gripping his saber, he aimed it at the East Island Matriarch, whose back was turned to him. He showed absolutely no mercy in his strike.

Lian Li noticed that the objects and walls around him had been carved with deep gashes by the Saber Qi. Even several slits had appeared in his own clothes. Fortunately, only his clothes were torn; the Saber Qi had not actually harmed his body.

The East Island Matriarch remained standing in front of Lian Li, her back still turned to Yun Huizhou, appearing as though she hadn’t noticed the lethal move approaching from behind.

However, when Lian Li saw that not even a single strand of the Matriarch’s hair was affected by Yun Huizhou’s Saber Qi, he knew that whether she chose to dodge or take the hit head-on, she would undoubtedly remain unscathed.

Sure enough, in the next instant, the East Island Matriarch shifted her body slightly, exposing Lian Li behind her.

Lian Li: !!!

I’m a goner!

The blade stopped ten centimeters from his chest. The clothes on his body had already been shredded into tatters by the Saber Qi.

The East Island Matriarch’s index and middle fingers were poised in a pinching gesture, just a centimeter away from the blade’s edge.

If Yun Huizhou had been unable to stop, she would have been able to catch the blade in time, ensuring Lian Li wouldn’t be cut down by his own Senior Brother.

But if the East Island Matriarch truly had to step in to stop the blade, then Yun Huizhou would likely be in serious trouble.

“No,” the East Island Matriarch said, lowering her hand and addressing Yun Huizhou. “You have grown slack over these past two years.”

Yun Huizhou lowered his voice. “I understand, Senior Aunt.”

The East Island Matriarch raised her hand to unseal Lian Li’s acupoints, then gave a wave of her sleeve. “The two of you will stay in my courtyard for the next few days. Lian Li, you will spar with me for one hour every day.”

As she spoke, she glanced Yun Huizhou up and down. “You, go over there now to meditate and heal your injuries. I will come back in two hours to check your progress. After that, you will spar with me for two hours every day.”

She hadn’t realized it before they traded blows, but once they did, she discovered that this boy had likely not used his internal energy to heal himself at all since waking up yesterday.

If his performance today hadn’t been decent, she really would have had to pin the boy to the ground and give him a thorough thrashing.

Having finished her instructions, the East Island Matriarch didn’t bother looking at them further and headed straight back to her room.

Lian Li looked down at his tattered clothing. His skin was visible in many places; at this point, he was barely better off than if he were wearing nothing at all.

He pulled his clothes together with his hands and said, “They’re all shredded. I’m going to change.”

Yun Huizhou felt a bit awkward. He hadn’t expected his Senior Aunt to pull such a move. Just as he was about to reply, he saw Lian Li clutching his clothes and running off without looking back.

Amidst the ruined fabric, Lian Li’s skin was dazzlingly white.

Yun Huizhou stared at his retreating back for a good while before realizing what he was looking at. He hurriedly withdrew his gaze, his eyes flickering with a hint of uncertainty and confusion.

For three consecutive days, Yun Huizhou spent his mornings under the East Island Matriarch’s watchful eye, meditating to heal his injuries, and his afternoons being pummeled by her in the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Lian Li was hauled out every morning to practice the most basic forms for an hour. His foundation had been laid by Yun Huizhou, and compared to the personal disciples of many great sects, he wasn’t lacking in the slightest.

Yun Huizhou had actually been quite strict when teaching him, but everything is relative.

His version of strictness was nothing compared to the East Island Matriarch’s.

In the Matriarch’s eyes, Lian Li’s foundation was still insufficient and required more work. This was an incredibly painful process.

Furthermore, the East Island Matriarch seemed to have a sort of obsessive-compulsive streak. If even the slightest movement was non-standard, she would strike Lian Li’s acupoints directly—specifically targeting spots that were either extremely painful or intensely uncomfortable.

However, the pain and discomfort only lasted for a moment; after a while, the sensation would vanish completely.

Lian Li finally experienced the true meaning of “training them to death as long as they don’t actually die.”

He would never again complain in his heart about Yun Huizhou’s “hellish training.” Compared to the East Island Matriarch, Yun Huizhou was practically an angel.

After finishing his basic drills, he had to spar with the Matriarch for an hour, which essentially meant being subjected to a one-sided beating.

By the afternoon, he was tossed into a corner to circulate his Internal Cultivation Method to deepen his internal energy, while simultaneously serving as a “human prop.”

His presence forced Yun Huizhou to exert his full strength while ensuring he did not disturb Lian Li, who was meditating nearby.

The West Island Lord was away for three whole days. When he finally returned and Lian Li saw his figure, the younger man’s eyes immediately welled up with tears.

This sight gave the West Island Lord quite a fright.

He remembered that whenever this boy missed him this much, it was inevitably because he was eyeing one of his treasures.

He looked around and noticed that Yun Huizhou was not nearby. Recalling the book that had fallen out of Yun Huizhou’s bundle, and seeing Lian Li’s pitiful state, he couldn’t help but wonder: Did that boy Yun Huizhou do something to Lian Li while taking advantage of his injuries and Lian Li’s pity?

“Junior Uncle!” Lian Li shouted from a distance.

The West Island Lord walked up to him and studied him closely for a moment. Unable to read anything specific from his expression, he decided to act as if he knew nothing. “Where is your Senior Brother?”

“He went to find Senior Brother Zhao and the others,” Lian Li replied, following the West Island Lord to the stone table to sit down.

Seeing that Lian Li’s expression remained normal when mentioning Yun Huizhou, the West Island Lord knew he had overthought things.

He figured Yun Huizhou wouldn’t be so stupid as to act recklessly without being certain of Lian Li’s attitude.

Just as the two sat down, the East Island Matriarch also emerged. The three of them sat around the stone table.

Lian Li saw that both elders were present, making it the perfect time to discuss the suspicions he and Yun Huizhou had regarding that night.

When Yun Huizhou returned from Zhao Honglan’s side and entered the courtyard, he found that the West Island Lord had returned and was currently sitting at the stone table with Lian Li and the East Island Matriarch.

Lian Li was gesticulating wildly while talking to the two of them. The East Island Matriarch listened with her face propped in her hand, looking bored, while the West Island Lord looked impatient but didn’t leave.

Yun Huizhou walked over and took the last seat at the stone table, which happened to be right next to Lian Li.