The sudden turn of events prompted a lightning-fast reaction from Lian Li. He immediately began to retreat, wanting to return to Yun Huizhou’s side.
He could handle Zhou Yu, and he could even manage to maneuver around a few other Maple Leaf Valley disciples, but he was no match for Zhang Ning.
Zhou Yu’s reaction was slower than Lian Li’s, likely because the person who had suddenly appeared was his own Senior Sister.
However, just as he was about to ask Zhang Ning what was happening, she grabbed his arm and threw him back into the midst of the other Maple Leaf Valley disciples. Simultaneously, she turned her gaze toward Lian Li.
She failed to catch sight of him, for Yun Huizhou had already appeared before her, shielding Lian Li in a safe spot behind his back.
Lian Li, naturally, scrambled backward as fast as he could.
Please, two high-level masters—masters among masters—were about to trade blows. If a little shrimp like him got too close, they could crush him to death just by accident.
Uh… actually, it wouldn’t be that easy. He wasn’t exactly a little shrimp anymore; he was at least a big lobster.
When Yun Huizhou moved against Zhang Ning, it wasn’t like when Zhou Yu had attacked Lian Li earlier. He didn’t just use heavy hands; every move was a killing blow. The sheer killing intent radiating from him was chilling.
Zhang Ning was completely unable to hold her own, looking utterly disheveled as she struggled to respond.
Seeing this, the other Maple Leaf Valley disciples drew their swords, intending to rush forward to help Zhang Ning. Zhou Yu and another disciple even showed signs of heading toward Lian Li, seemingly wanting to subdue him to threaten Yun Huizhou.
Yun Huizhou naturally sensed this. His lips curled into a bloodthirsty arc.
In the next second, his technique shifted as he lunged toward the other Maple Leaf Valley disciples.
Zhang Ning also realized the situation—both the intent of her fellow disciples to help and their plan to seize Lian Li.
She immediately let out a sharp roar: “None of you are allowed to move!”
Then, she threw herself forward to block Yun Huizhou’s attack.
Because of this sudden shift, she took a direct hit to the chest. The wound wasn’t long, but it was deep. While not fatal, it was enough to prove that if Yun Huizhou truly wanted to kill, she could not protect her junior brothers and sisters.
Yet Yun Huizhou did not stop. He bypassed her and charged straight for Zhou Yu, who was cowering behind her. Zhang Ning had no choice but to block him again.
This time, she was sent flying over ten meters by the force of Yun Huizhou’s strike. She crashed heavily onto the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood, and lay there too weak to stand.
The junior brothers and sisters she had brought with her rushed to her side, frantically feeding her healing medicine while using their internal energy to treat her injuries.
Zhou Yu was paralyzed with fear. He truly hadn’t expected Yun Huizhou to actually try to kill him; he stood frozen in place, forgetting even to run.
It was a Senior Sister nearby who noticed, quickly pulling him behind the crowd and shielding him thoroughly, not daring to let him appear in Yun Huizhou’s line of sight again.
Yun Huizhou landed and made no further moves. His gaze merely lingered for a moment on Zhou Yu and the disciple who had intended to help him target Lian Li.
In that instant, Zhou Yu and that disciple felt as if the blood in their veins had frozen solid.
Zhang Ning’s face was pale, her expression filled with a touch of confusion. “We only wanted to find a well-matched opponent to practice and exchange martial arts with regularly. This would be beneficial for both sides, wouldn’t it?”
Yun Huizhou looked at her, truly unable to tell if this woman was genuinely stupid or just playing dumb.
In the past, he had found her annoying, but he had never quite parsed the deep-seated reason for his irritation. He had simply been annoyed and had never fully expressed his thoughts.
Back then, when he was pestered for so long, he blamed himself for having a mouth but being unable to speak clearly, choosing instead to just be annoyed and ignore people.
But hadn’t Lian Li’s words just now been clear enough? And yet she was still asking.
Yun Huizhou grew even more irritated; just looking at the people from Maple Leaf Valley made him feel sick.
He retreated to Lian Li’s side, partially shielding him, and his tone instantly became much gentler. “You tell her. I don’t know how to say it, but I think we feel the same way.”
Lian Li poked his head out from behind him, glanced at the group from Maple Leaf Valley, and organized his thoughts before speaking.
“Zhang Ning, I also don’t understand why you’re asking that. You think finding a well-matched opponent for regular sparring is a great thing. But that is only your opinion.”
“This sort of thing obviously requires both parties to be willing. Just because you think it’s good doesn’t mean we have to cooperate. We have no interest in playing this game with you.”
“We have our own things to do and our own lives to live. We have no obligation and no interest in being bound to you as one-on-one opponents.”
“When you just assume and pester us like this, we only find it annoying. I think you should have realized by now just how annoyed we are.”
“Furthermore, you made so many preparations before the duel. It was obvious you wanted to use me as a stepping stone to build Zhou Yu’s reputation. We didn’t make a fuss before only because we won in the end and weren’t sabotaged by you, so we didn’t care to dwell on it.”
“But that doesn’t mean we aren’t repulsed by it. So, what makes you think that after being disgusted by your actions, we would still want to be involved with you or be some ‘suitable opponents’? When we see you, we only think of those things and feel annoyed.”
“Even without those factors, you should know there’s another possibility: that for no reason at all, we simply don’t want anything to do with you. We have the right to refuse.”
Lian Li felt miserable too.
There is a specific kind of frustration that comes when you are clearly upset but cannot accurately express the stifling feeling of it.
Especially when facing someone who clearly thinks “the whole world is her mother and must cater to her,” it felt difficult to make her understand his meaning.
Finally, he just gave up. “Anyway, what we mean is: just mind your own business. What we do is none of your concern, understand?”
“As for improving our martial arts, we have so many Seniors and Elders in our sect—which one of them isn’t powerful? Among opponents of the same level, Yun Huizhou has Senior Brother Zhao Honglan and Senior Sister Qu Tingquan. Do you really think you can compare to them?”
“As for me, the Green Rainbow Sword Sect has many disciples. Those at my level who are stronger than Zhou Yu are everywhere. Why on earth do you think we would abandon them to choose you as opponents?”
“Besides, our martial arts are our own business. We have plenty of teachers to worry about us; we don’t need you saying anything about what’s ‘for our own good.'”
Seeing Lian Li grow more and more frantic as he spoke, Yun Huizhou understood his feelings perfectly. Sometimes he felt as if Zhang Ning simply couldn’t understand human speech; as Lian Li said, she was immersed in a world of her own making.
No matter what others did or said, she automatically interpreted it to mean whatever she wanted it to mean.
It was… utterly exhausting.
