Chapter 40: The Intent to Kill Has Arrived! Zhao Wuji Launches a Rainy Night Ambush on Li Zhexian
After the battle ended.
Li Zhixian met first with Xue Qinghe, and then with the grandfather and granddaughter of the Dugu family, who had just returned from hunting soul rings.
Xue Qinghe invited him to meet at Lotus Lake the following morning.
Dugu Yan had gathered some delicious mountain delicacies in the Star Dou Forest and asked him to come taste them that afternoon.
As for the Ye family...
He had no favorable impression of Ye Yan, whose desire for control was far too strong.
But Ye Lingling had invited him to return to the noodle shop they had visited before the following evening.
When the girl’s tranquil blue eyes turned toward him, the refusal that had reached Li Zhixian’s lips ultimately remained unspoken.
The next day.
The sky was somewhat overcast, and there was a chill in the air.
Li Zhixian arrived at Lotus Lake as promised and stayed with Xue Qinghe until noon.
After they parted, he found himself holding an exquisite silk parasol.
At the same time.
Within the imperial city, in a certain courtyard.
“Get out!”
“All of you, get the hell out!”
“Useless trash!”
Zhao Wuji unleashed a torrent of abuse at the physicians.
After driving away the sixth batch of doctors who had been powerless to help, he clenched his teeth and looked toward the bed with trembling eyes.
Ma Hongjun lay there unconscious, his body maimed.
“It’s ruined...”
“It’s ruined...”
“Ma Hongjun’s entire life is ruined...”
Beside him, Qin Ming’s expression was bleak as he said quietly, “Teacher Zhao...”
“I’ve already sent people to Soto City.”
“The dean and the others... will be here soon.”
Zhao Wuji closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.
When he opened them again, terrifying veins of blood filled their depths, yet his voice was unnaturally calm.
“Qin Ming, who is Sword Wine?”
Qin Ming’s expression stiffened.
“Teacher...”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know!”
Zhao Wuji cut him off sharply.
“You’re the youngest Heaven Dou-ranked teacher in Imperial Fighter Academy!”
“With your connections, don’t tell me you can’t uncover the identity of a man called Sword Wine!”
“Qin Ming...”
Zhao Wuji spoke each word distinctly.
“If you still remember the bond between teacher and disciple...”
“If you still remember that you graduated from Shrek Academy...”
“Then tell me.”
A look of struggle flashed across Qin Ming’s face.
In the end, it became a powerless sigh.
“I... do know.”
“It looks like rain is coming.”
Dark clouds obscured the sun on the horizon. Wind and rain were gathering.
Ye Lingling stood quietly atop an arched bridge, two umbrellas tucked beneath her arm, gazing over the mist-shrouded surface of the lake.
From far away, she spotted that figure in white.
Her lovely face remained as cool and composed as ever.
Yet a faint glimmer seemed to flicker in her blue eyes.
“Let’s go.”
“Are we still eating at that noodle shop?”
“Mm. I want to hear how that storyteller has chosen to make me out.”
Ye Lingling stole a glance at Li Zhixian.
He claimed that the man had been making things up, yet the curve of his lips stubbornly refused to flatten.
“Ah, miss, you’re here again? This is your third bowl of noodles today.”
The moment he heard that, Li Zhixian raised his eyes toward Ye Lingling.
The girl appeared cold and aloof on the surface, but the slender hand hidden within her sleeve had clenched tightly.
The reason she had come twice that morning was because her performance with Li Zhixian the last time had not gone well.
So today, she had deliberately come early to rehearse twice.
“One bowl of hot soup noodles, one bowl of side dishes, and two cloves of garlic.”
“He and I...”
“Wait.”
Li Zhixian withdrew his gaze from the storyteller and turned it toward Ye Lingling’s lovely face.
“Ye Lingling, you don’t need to humor me.”
Ye Lingling blinked her blue eyes.
Li Zhixian reached out and moved the oil and vinegar bottles that had been blocking the space between them. He said earnestly, “I don’t know exactly what your mother said to you.”
“But you truly don’t have to work so hard to accommodate me.”
“You are...”
At that point, Li Zhixian faltered.
He frowned and racked his brains, but could not find a single suitable piece of advice with which to console someone.
“You have me grasping sword comprehension and brewing wine with ease.”
“But persuading people... that’s so difficult.”
Ye Lingling rested her cheek against her snowy palm and looked at Li Zhixian’s troubled expression. A faint smile spread across her delicate face.
How amusing.
Yesterday, with a duel looming, Li Zhixian had still been able to speak at length about the sweetness of plums.
Yet today, merely trying to console her had left him so distressed.
Just then.
Outside the stall’s oilcloth canopy, a light drizzle began to fall.
Two birds huddled together atop the signpost hanging at the entrance to attract customers.
One bird held a leaf in its beak, struggling to shield the other from the rain.
Watching them, Ye Lingling suddenly asked in a soft voice, “Li Zhixian, are you worried about me?”
“Hmm?”
Li Zhixian, who was still wrestling with his attempt at consolation, looked confused.
Ye Lingling pointed a slender finger toward the signpost.
“Just like them.”
“Forget it. That was truly awful.”
His noodles arrived.
Li Zhixian blew on them and said indistinctly, “Those are mandarin ducks.”
“As for you and me... well, I suppose we’re friends.”
“I’m not good at saying those persuasive things.”
“I only want you to know that you don’t need to accommodate anyone, including your mother.”
Li Zhixian swallowed the noodles in his mouth and looked at Ye Lingling.
“For example...”
“You’re not allowed to order the same thing as me today.”
“Eat whatever you like.”
“Whatever you want.”
“Oh.”
Ye Lingling lowered her head, twisting the corner of her clothes without saying a word.
Li Zhixian paid her no attention.
He simply continued eating his noodles while listening to the storyteller across the street waxing eloquent through the fine curtain of rain.
From time to time, he even called out an appreciative cheer.
Ye Lingling glanced at him several times, wanting to speak but hesitating each time.
“Still haven’t decided what to eat?”
Li Zhixian looked helplessly at his nearly empty bowl.
“I’m almost finished.”
Ye Lingling’s voice was soft and faint, with a trace of grievance.
“But... but I only want hot soup noodles.”
“You won’t let me eat them.”
While accompanying Ye Lingling for noodles, the storyteller began recounting an amusing episode.
“Honored listeners, would you care to know what happened?”
“This old man believes that Lord Sword Wine must know me!”
The crowd below immediately burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! Who do you think you are?”
“Even the Ye family, Poison Douluo, and His Highness the Crown Prince have gone to cheer for Sword Wine. You old fool, have you lost your mind from telling stories?”
The storyteller slammed his wooden clapper against the table.
“Not so!”
“Last night, the dueling arena was packed with people. I, this old man, moved my brush like the wind and wrote with all my might!”
“Suddenly, a gold coin came flying through the air. It split the brush in my hand and shot straight into my chest!”
“This old man hurriedly looked up—”
“Care to guess what I saw?”
The spectators grew curious. They craned their necks and strained their ears.
“What did you see?”
The storyteller lowered his voice.
“I saw only the back of a man in white vanishing into the depths of the passageway. If it wasn’t Lord Sword Wine, who had just defeated that mangy fire turkey, then who else could it have been?”
The tale was so absurd that the spectators dispersed amid laughter and curses.
“Damn your mother!”
“I’ve already loosened my trousers, and you come out with that?”
“Finished eating?”
Li Zhixian and Ye Lingling rose and left.
When they reached the entrance, Li Zhixian suddenly remembered something.
He flicked a finger.
Another gold coin spun through the air and landed on the storyteller’s table.
The rain grew heavier.
The storyteller had wanted to return home early that day.
His grandson wanted the flaky pastries sold on the next street over, and he could not forget them.
Muttering to himself, the storyteller suddenly caught sight of the bright golden coin on the table.
His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
After parting with Ye Lingling, Li Zhixian held up his umbrella and walked home.
The rain fell harder and harder.
The world became a vast white curtain of water, raindrops streaming in strings from the edge of the umbrella.
When he returned to his small courtyard, he pushed open the door.
Just as he was about to close it, Li Zhixian’s gaze passed through the narrowing gap and fell upon the sky beyond: leaden clouds hung low, and the gloom was as deep as night.
“Wind and rain are on the way...”
At midnight.
Rain poured down as though it meant to overturn the heavens and earth.
Outside the gate of Li Zhixian’s courtyard, a hulking figure clad in a straw rain cape arrived without warning.
Bearing killing intent sharper than the cold rain, he stood motionless in the torrential downpour.
These two chapters fit well together, so they were posted a little late.
There will be another chapter tonight~
Thank you, dear readers~