Chapter 4765: A Chat By the Riverside
“What are you in a daze for? Can’t you see that I’m injured? Hurry up and treat me! I’m going to lose all my cultivation at this rate; can you even take responsibility for that? Help me!
“You all… you all… Save me! Please, I’m begging you, alright?”
From his initial arrogant attitude, Xia Ran ended up pleading with the crowd, but everyone simply watched him coldly, not a single person willing to offer him a helping hand. In fact, no one could help him even if they wanted to. Xia Ran’s cultivation was already completely crippled.
Left with no choice, Xia Ran could only try pleading with Xia Yan, “Big sis, save me! I know my fault now. Please don’t cripple my cultivation. I can’t live without my cultivation! If I don’t even have my cultivation, I wouldn’t want to live anymore!”
Looking at the current state Xia Ran was in, Xia Yan also felt awful inside. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Everyone thought that Xia Yan couldn’t bear to see Xia Ran in this state. After all, she had doted on him so much over the years. They might not be true siblings, but their relationship had already far surpassed that of one. How could she possibly put aside her feelings so quickly?
But all of a sudden, Xia Yan opened her eyes, revealing a sharp, steely look.
“Xia Ran, don’t you know very well what you’ve done over the years? I’ve tolerated you for far too long. It’s already kindness out of my part that I chose to spare you today. If you don’t want to live anymore, you’re free to end your own life.”
Xia Yan tossed a dagger and a poisonous pill over, which landed right beside Xia Ran. These were tools for Xia Ran to end his own life.
“You…”
Xia Ran stared at the dagger and poisonous pill in disbelief. He still dared not believe that things would turn out like this.
The crowd was equally shocked as well. They couldn’t understand why Xia Yan would suddenly have a change of mind and treat her younger brother with such callousness.
Of course, the crowd didn’t think that Xia Ran was worthy of pity, but his state was indeed too miserable for them to continue watching without cringing.
After Xia Yan tossed the dagger and poisonous pill over, she decisively turned her attention away from Xia Ran. She turned to Chu Feng and said, “Chu Feng, where’s your residence? Aren’t you going to invite me over for a sit?”
“It’s right here. Come.”
Chu Feng pointed to his own residence.
“Let’s go then,” Xia Yan said with a joyful smile.
“Hey, let go of me. It’s hard for me to walk like that.”
The reason why Chu Feng was saying those words was because Xia Yan still hadn’t released Chu Feng from her hug yet.
“We’re good brothers, right? What’s wrong with a little hug? Don’t be so stingy and quickly lead the way. You’re so wishy-washy like an old hag,” Xia Yan chuckled softly.
She had a cold and lofty appearance, reminiscent of a mature ice queen, but her personality was bubbly and forthright, especially when she was standing before Chu Feng. The crowd had never expected to see such a side to her.
“Haa, you sure are troublesome.”
Chu Feng sighed deeply before dragging Xia Yan toward his residence.
Even after the doors closed behind the two of them, they could still hear Xia Yan’s muffled hearty laughter coming from inside. They turned to look at Xia Ran, who was lying on the ground, crying pitifully as he begged the elders to beg them, and they belatedly realized that the relationship between Chu Feng and Xia Yan had already surpassed that of ordinary friends.
Otherwise, why would Xia Yan cripple Xia Ran’s cultivation for Chu Feng’s sake? Not to mention, she even revealed such a happy smile despite this appalling turn of events.
The elders of the North Tortoise Hall turned to the chief elder and asked, “Chief elder, how should we deal with this matter here?”
“He’s a disciple of the South Vermilion Hall after all. Toss him back to the South Vermilion Hall and let the elders there deal with it. Relay Xia Yan’s exact words to them, and tell them to ask Xia Yan if they don’t believe it,” the chief elder said.
The elders of the North Tortoise Hall did as they were told.
At this point, no one was afraid of Xia Ran anymore. The latter had lost his backing and his cultivation, making him nothing of threat in the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect anymore. His life from this day onward was bound to be miserable.
“Song Xi.”
The chief elder suddenly beckoned Song Xi over with his hand. Song Xi quickly rushed over and bowed to the chief elder.
“What’s the background of your brother?” the chief elder asked softly.
Song Xi told the chief elder what he knew about Chu Feng. To be frank, he knew nothing much about Chu Feng’s background, but he admired Chu Feng’s personality and courage. While Chu Feng wasn’t particularly strong when they first met, Song Xi still viewed him as his idol.
“It looks like Chu Feng is quite a figure. It’s no wonder why he showed no panic offending Nangong Yuliu. It’s really great luck on the part of our North Tortoise Hall!”
The chief elder didn’t learn much about Chu Feng’s background from Song Xi, but the expectations he carried for Chu Feng grew even greater.
If Chu Feng and Li Muzhi were just acquaintances, Chu Feng and Xia Yan’s relationship had definitely exceeded that of ordinary friendship. This could be seen by Xia Yan’s attitude toward Xia Ran.
Xia Yan was no fool, so how could she possibly not know what kind of person Xia Ran was. It was just that she chose to side with Xia Ran instead of pursuing his faults.
Yet, she didn’t hesitate to turn against Xia Ran today despite treasuring him so much in the past, as if he no longer meant anything to her anymore.
Everyone knew the one who sparked such a change in Xia Yan was no other than Chu Feng.
…
Chu Feng led Xia Yan back into his residence, but the latter immediately showed a hint of disdain upon seeing the entrance.
“Your residence is too rundown. Just what kind of treatment are you getting here? Come, I’ll take you to somewhere better.”
She dragged Chu Feng into the sky with her after saying those words, Before leaving, she made sure to turn around and warn the crowd, “Don’t follow us. If anyone dares to come along, I’ll take his life.”
Who would dare to follow them after hearing Xia Yan’s threat? Putting aside the disciples, even the elders of the North Tortoise Hall dared not to do so.
Xia Yan brought Chu Feng all the way into a forest. This was still within the territory of the North Tortoise Hall, but it was land that belonged to no one. The two of them landed on top of a large tree in the depths of the forest.
“How is it? Isn’t it beautiful?”
Xia Yan finally released Chu Feng. She spread her arms wide and stretched her back lazily before placing her both hands on the tree trunk to stretch her legs too. While doing this set of movements, her eyes were directed into the distance.
She looked just like a mischievous little girl, a huge contrast from her mature appearance.
Chu Feng followed her line of sight and saw a clearing in the forest. Even though it was nighttime, the sky was covered by the calamity, so there were no stars or moon.
Nevertheless, Chu Feng could still spot a small little lake here.
“It’s just a lake. There’s nothing really beautiful about it,” Chu Feng replied.
“Is that so?” Xia Yan looked at him with a deep smile, keeping him in suspense.
Then, she suddenly raised her arm and tossed a rock she had conjured out of her spirit power into the lake.
Whoosh!
The water began to bubble furiously. Countless specks of blue light began surfacing in the lake, dancing in the water.
Chu Feng had long noticed that there were fishes in the river, but he didn’t expect them to shine so brilliantly. The corals were beautiful as well, bringing a marvellous scenery to the river.
Even the surrounding trees seemed to brighten up in the presence of the blue light.
“What about now?” Xia Yan asked Chu Feng gleefully.
“Not bad. How did someone from the South Vermilion Hall like you come to know this place?”
Chu Feng thought that this was a place where even the disciples of the North Tortoise Hall rarely frequented, but Xia Yan seemed oddly familiar with the vicinity. It looked like she had been here before.
“Do I look like a foolish person to you?” Xia Yan suddenly asked.
“You do,” Chu Feng replied with a nod of his head.
Xia Yan pouted her lips upon hearing Chu Feng’s response, clearly not expecting such an answer. She asked, “How do I look foolish?”
“Don’t they always say that big-breasted girls tend to have smaller brains? It’s only normal for you to have a bad head then,” Chu Feng replied.
“You… Are you asking for a beating? You should know that we can use martial power here.”
Xia Yan’s face reddened like a little apple as she raised her hand to hit him. Her strike didn’t land hard though; it was just a way for her to hide her embarrassment.
She knew that Chu Feng wasn’t just speaking empty words here as he did see it back then in the Graveyard Realm…
“Are you trying to silence me? Help! Murder!”
Chu Feng hugged his head as he tried to escape, but he couldn’t hide from Xia Yan’s ‘attack’ at all. After all, his cultivation was lower than hers, so he could only shout his grievances.
“You mustn’t speak of that matter to anyone else, or else you’ll have to take responsibility for me if my reputation were to be ruined!” Xia Yan exclaimed.
“Alright alright, I won’t tell anyone. I swear that I’ll be struck by lightning if I speak of it to another soul,” Chu Feng vowed.
“Wait a moment, why are you suddenly showing such conviction? You even went to the extent of making a vow! Are you trying to say that I’m not worthy of you?” Xia Yan asked with a pout.
“Ah well… Hey, look at the moon! What a round moon we have today!” Chu Feng pointed to the sky and said.
“Bullshit! Where can you find the moon in such a gloomy sky?”
Xia Yan shot Chu Feng a glare, but she wasn’t really angry.
“Alright, I’ll stop fooling with you. I still need to head back later on to settle the matter. Actually, I only brought you here to tell you why I treated Xia Ran so well. It’s not that I’m oblivious to his tyranny, but as long as he doesn’t go too far, I was willing to tolerate his misdeeds,” Xia Yan said.
“Tell me more.”
Chu Feng was a little curious as to why Xia Yan would blindly side with Xia Ran on this matter. Based on what he knew about her, Xia Yan wasn’t an unreasonable person who would condone Xia Ran’s folly.
And after hearing the explanation from Xia Yan, he could somewhat understand where she was coming from.