Chapter 28#

But in just an instant, the long sword flew up as if it had a life of its own, stabbing towards the back, but did not stab further. The young man maintained the posture of stabbing back for a while, but finally made a sword flourish, withdrew the long sword, and chuckled lightly: “What are you here for?”

The woman was still in a maid’s long dress, not having changed back into the luxurious and complicated skirt and jacket. At this moment, she just lowered her head and whispered: “The Fortress Master just met a guest.” The young man smiled: “What does it have to do with me?”

The woman looked up at him. The faster she aged, the easier it was for people to recall her gentle face when she was young. Tianxiang gradually smiled: “But that guest wants to see you.” The young man was stunned for a moment, then whispered: “He won’t let that person see me?”

Seeing the woman nod with a smile, Hua Jinian remained silent for a long time before saying: “Then I won’t see him.” Tianxiang paused, saw the young man turn to leave, and quickly said behind him: “It’s the Villa Master of Huanzhen Villa.”

Hua Jinian was stunned there, then whispered: “I don’t remember talking to him.” Indeed, his impression of Huanzhen Villa was just a flower garden where he had stayed, endless housework, and a young girl he had comforted for three years. He couldn’t figure out why he should see him. Tianxiang smiled word by word: “Maybe. But Little Young Master will definitely want to know why he came to find you.”

“I will definitely want to know?” Hearing the young man ask this, the woman nodded silently, seeming to choose her words carefully and whispering: “Futu Fortress does not keep outside guests. He has already left the fortress after being rejected. If Little Young Master wants to meet him, at sunset today, at the Liuyun Pavilion on the mountainside…”

Hua Jinian seemed to laugh with great joy: “You are really interesting. Whatever you want me to do, will I definitely go and do it?” Tianxiang shook her head, then nodded again, and said: “You won’t listen to me, but Little Young Master is conceited of his brilliant talent. Even if it’s a tiger’s den or a dragon’s pool, he has never been afraid.”

She was not wrong in saying this. Hua Jinian had been outstanding in appearance since childhood, dressed in brocade and fed on jade, and his martial arts were mastered with one hundred percent proficiency. He was well-versed in the four classics and had read a hundred histories. How could he not be proud? Even if this pride was mixed with a bit of weak self-abasement—it was such a smart and outstanding young man with superb martial arts. No matter how calm he was, he also had a bit of impulsive hot-bloodedness. After all, he was young and frivolous. Hua Jinian did not shy away from it, and chuckled lightly: “Tianxiang, what on earth are you up to?”

Tianxiang replied in a low voice: “How could I harm you? If this matter wasn’t truly beneficial to you, how could I have spent this effort to come and tell you secretly.” Hua Jinian shook his head and laughed nonchalantly: “Maybe you are right. I really don’t believe that in this world…” As he spoke, his face became stern, and he sneered with a face like ice: “Someone can scheme against me.”

This night, the night was as black as ink, and the huge moon had a few frightening pale red colors.

Among the dappled flower shadows, a thin figure hurried through the small woods from the side door, looking around nervously all the way. Just at this time, a voice suddenly sounded from behind her, “Where have you been?”

The figure paused abruptly, but quickly calmed down, reached out to untie her cloak, revealing a pale and haggard face, which still had a bit of beauty in such a dim night. She laughed low: “I didn’t know the Fortress Master was here, I failed to welcome you from afar.”

Hua Qianjue stood behind her with his hands behind his back, looking at her with a smile. After a long time, he asked: “Where is Jinian? Where did you take him?”

Tianxiang’s lips trembled slightly, her cheeks slowly turned to one side, looking at the miserable red moon in the sky, and said with a low laugh: “I didn’t know you had this kind of hobby, to come and peek at your own son from time to time. How is it? Seeing that he is not in the room, are you burning with anxiety?”

Hua Qianjue frowned slightly and sighed faintly: “I originally thought you understood when to advance and retreat, knew the big picture, what should not be done, what cannot be done, you would not do, would not dare to do. But I didn’t know I still overestimated you. You… vicious woman.” When he said this last sentence, he shot out his hand like lightning, firmly grasping Tianxiang’s neck, and threatened in a low voice: “I’ll ask you one more time, where did you take him?”

Tianxiang kept sneering, her cheeks flushed red, but refused to say anything. The man’s hand was like an iron clamp, tightening more and more. In the end, Tianxiang laughed hoarsely from the depths of her throat: “You… are you still not coming out?” Hua Qianjue smiled on his face and whispered: “It’s not that he refuses to come out, he refuses to save you. I should have figured it out long ago. Since it’s a scourge, it shouldn’t be kept… Recently, there have been as many worries and troubles as the morning stars. I don’t lack you, a person who finds fun for me…”

Just as the man said this, unexpectedly the person hiding behind the tree shadow moved. In the night, that solitary cold white clothes was as smooth as the leisurely moonlight. The young man hesitantly pulled the man’s hand and asked in a low voice: “Don’t kill her… okay?” The man was stunned, and the strength in his hand also loosened a bit. Tianxiang laughed even more happily, but stared at the young man with a bit of infatuated and doting gentle eyes, and the words that came out of her mouth were like needles, piercing people’s hearts. She smiled: “Jinian, do you remember more than ten years ago, right around here, in this small woods, he just like this, like he is to me at this moment, fiercely choked your throat. He was about to choke you to death. It was me, your Sister Tianxiang, who knelt in front of him and begged him to spare your life…”

The man raged: “You vicious person…” As he spoke, he exerted force in his hand, about to break Tianxiang’s neck, but the young man’s hand holding his also tightened a bit at the same time. “Don’t kill her.” Hua Jinian looked at the man and said, his face not very good, obviously remembering that dispute.

“Don’t kill him?” Hearing the young man ask this, Hua Qianjue couldn’t help but repeat it. He tilted his head to think for a moment, then asked with a low laugh: “Jinian, are you begging me, or ordering me?”

Hua Jinian’s face stiffened, he simply let go of his hand and said coldly: “As you wish. Anyway, you won’t listen to my orders, and you won’t agree if I beg you.” Seeing the young man slightly angry, the man hesitated for a moment, and actually let go. He was silent for a while before saying: “If you had spoken to me nicely… I might not have disagreed.” After finishing, he glanced at the woman lying on the ground panting incessantly. Tianxiang looked at the man and laughed to herself a few times. The laughter gradually became hoarse and unrecognizable, then she struggled to stand up and stumbled away.

Seeing the woman’s voice disappear at the end of his sight, Hua Qianjue took a few steps forward, grabbed Hua Jinian’s shoulder hard, and asked word by word: “You better tell me honestly, who did you go to see today? What did you talk about?”

The young man shook his head, seeming unwilling to reveal everything. The man looked at him and guessed one by one: “Let me think, who else could you go to see? That little ghost in green clothes? That little girl from Huanzhen Villa? Neither… Who else have you seen, who else would come to find you…” Speaking of this, Hua Qianjue’s face suddenly froze, and he shouted coldly: “Is it Shen Pinzhen?”

Although he was asking a question, his tone seemed to already know the answer. Hua Jinian finally nodded, hesitated for a while before saying: “Correct, he persuaded me. This is an opportunity. I am preparing to go out with him…”

The man seemed somewhat surprised, and the hand grabbing the young man’s shoulder became even more forceful. He shouted in a low voice: “You are crazy, you can’t go anywhere, stay by my side…”

Hua Jinian gasped, struggled, and shouted: “It hurts, let go…” Hua Qianjue let go in surprise, watching the young man’s face coldly retreat a few steps. He had to take a deep breath and suppress himself, saying: “You don’t understand, that person is not necessarily simple. Moreover, it was that woman who acted as a bridge. It must be…”

Hua Jinian shook his head, was silent for a while, suddenly laughed low, and whispered: “I heard him say that Futu Fortress has been poorly managed recently.”

As soon as he said this, what followed was a deathly silence.

The moon was so huge, but it made the tree shade around him even more desolate and gloomy, outlining the man’s half-face hidden in the shadows, like a work of ghosts and gods that one dared not look at directly. At this moment, the young man could almost hear his own heartbeat, mixed with the rustling night wind, and a chill rose from his spine.

Hua Qianjue suddenly sneered and whispered: “Continue.” His sharp eyes were black with a trace of dark red light, examining and pondering like a beast in the night. Hua Jinian tried hard to stand nonchalantly in such a gaze, but it took a long time to find his own voice, and replied in a low voice: “He said that Futu Fortress has been in decline recently, many branches have been withdrawn, personnel are not used properly, management is poor, and in addition, the business on both land and water has been interfered with by various martial arts sects many times. They have sunk more than ten ships, and the Hall Master of Qingluo Hall also died inexplicably in his own home at the beginning of this month…”

Hua Qianjue tilted his head to look at him, his face seemed to have softened a little, but the corners of his mouth still had that half-smiling expression, which looked even more dangerous in this midnight. He laughed low: “Correct, so what?”

The young man finally lowered his head and continued in a low voice: “So I have to leave the fortress. You can manage poorly, but I can’t watch Futu Fortress fall and not recover. You don’t know Shen Pinzhen, he… he thought that the escort silver was robbed by those famous and upright sects last time. This time he proposed to join hands with me. Such a great opportunity is rare. How can you and I miss it?”

The man laughed loudly, and after laughing, he said with a slight mockery: “So you want to leave the fortress? Do you think you can turn the tide and save the building from collapsing with your own strength? Why don’t you think about it, your leaving the fortress might be adding fuel to the fire?”

A bit of anger immediately appeared on the young man’s face. He said loudly: “You say I’m making things worse? What right do you, the culprit, have to say…”

“Shh…” Hua Qianjue smiled faintly, placed his index finger on the young man’s lips, and laughed low with a bit of coaxing a child’s bewitchment: “Be quiet. Such a beautiful moonlit night, don’t disturb others’ sleep.” As Hua Qianjue said this, he put his hands behind his back, looked at the young man’s eyes that were almost burning, and paced back a few steps until his face was completely hidden in the night, leaving only a pair of soul-stirring eyes. Only then did he continue: “It’s not that I can’t agree with you. If you can guarantee that you will take good care of yourself at all times and not cause more trouble to distract me… Also, you have to tell me, this time you leave the fortress, are you worried about Futu Fortress, or are you yearning for the bustling world and tired of these boring days in the fortress?”

Hua Jinian froze, even his lips trembled a little. Hua Qianjue was still tilting his head and looking down at him, placing a hand on the young man’s head, stroking it gently, and patiently persuading him: “Are you worried about Futu Fortress?”

“No…” Hua Jinian had just finished stuttering when he felt that big hand withdraw. The man continued to ask him: “Then you are tired of it? That’s right, the days of not interacting with the outside world are indeed very boring.”

As soon as he let go of his hand, the young man trembled even more severely. When the man was about to turn and leave, he said lightly and quickly: “No…” Hua Qianjue suddenly said loudly with some impatience: “No! No! Then what do you have? Do you think it’s not chaotic enough here! You are… " Speaking of this, he suddenly paused. He saw the young man’s flushed face, remembered this child’s almost morbid self-control, self-esteem, and self-pride… so he suddenly closed his eyes, suppressed his full anger, and turned around.