Chapter 108: To Understand or Not Requires Courage

“Junior Brother Qin, you have many good qualities, and you’ve even started to build your own network within the sect,” Pu Hanzhong said, his voice heavy.

“But as your senior brother, there is one thing I must point out. You are too stubborn, too unyielding. You must remember the saying: that which is too hard is easily broken. This duel with Yan Dong, for example. You should not have issued that challenge. He is a Twelfth-Leaf cultivator, far beyond what you can handle right now.”

He coughed for a long moment, then continued with a sigh, “While I’m still here, I can advise you. But one day I’ll be gone. When that day comes, you must remember my words and not act on impulse.”

Qin Haoxuan sensed the deep melancholy in his senior brother’s voice. “Senior Brother,” he asked, “are you not confident about your match with Yan Dong?”

Pu Hanzhong nodded honestly. “Not very. But with the items the others gave us, my chances have improved a great deal.”

“Then why do you speak so grimly?” Qin Haoxuan pressed, his own heart growing heavy. “You’re only fifty. For a cultivator, you’re in your prime. You’re always telling me to fight for my fate. Why have you lost your own confidence?”

“The world is an unpredictable place,” Pu said with a shake of his head. “Master’s time is short, and there is panic in the Nature Hall. Junior Brother, if the day comes when both Master and I are gone, you must support the hall. You must look after our junior brothers and protect them.”

“Senior Brother, you don’t look well. For the duel, why don’t you let me go first? I can use these talismans to wear him down, and then you can finish him off.”

“Nonsense,” Pu snapped, his face stern. “Do you think a Twelfth-Leaf expert is so easily dealt with? You haven’t even grown a leaf. What chance would you have? Besides, the sect has its rules. The duels are fought in the order they are challenged. We cannot change it.” Though his words were a rebuke, Qin Haoxuan knew it was just his way of showing his concern.

“There isn’t much time left. Cultivate well,” Pu said, patting his shoulder before taking his leave.

After he was gone, Qin Haoxuan consumed a packet of Qi-Circulating Powder and began to frantically absorb spiritual energy, strengthening his Immortal Sprout and its root system. Three hours later, he opened his eyes. Xu Yu was already waiting for him outside.

“Brother Haoxuan, I delivered the food to Jie Prison again today,” she said, her expression strange. “I said the lines, about her spirit beast lover abandoning her. But you’ll never guess what she said.”

Qin Haoxuan pictured the woman in the prison, her face pale but beautiful, her eyes always shining with hope. He recited her usual, unchanging reply: “‘He will come for me. He will definitely come for me. You don’t understand, do you?'”

But Xu Yu shook her head. “No, she didn’t say anything at all. She just looked at me. But her expression… it was strange. It was like she was joyful, but not. I can’t explain it.”

“Go and cultivate,” he said with a smile. “Or Senior Sister Luo will blame me for distracting you again. It’s my turn to deliver the food tomorrow. I’ll see what I can find out and we can gossip about it later.”

That night, he went to the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley. With the duel only nine days away, he was desperate to find a spirit herb or a treasure that could increase their chances, or even better, a life-extending herb for his master. But after a full night of searching, he came up empty again.

On his way back, as he passed a secluded corner of the Spirit Field Valley, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.

Under the bright moonlight, Little Gold was leading its two hundred Mighty Apes in a bizarre, seated meditation.

They were all facing the moon, absorbing its essence and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In his snake form, he could see that the apes had changed. They were more intelligent, their bodies covered in explosive muscle. More than that, they were exuding a faint but palpable aura, a presence that no ordinary beast possessed.

At the head of the group, Little Gold was surrounded by a visible mist of spiritual energy, inhaling and exhaling clouds of it. Its cultivation speed was now on par with his own when he used both his arts and the miraculous powder. Little Gold… you’re going to be full of surprises, he thought in awe.

The next morning, a follower of Liu Huan came to his door with a message. The Twentieth-Leaf disciple, having been humiliated, had decided it was better to befriend Qin Haoxuan than to make an enemy of him. The message was a warning: Yan Dong was preparing for the duel by buying up talismans and pills.

Later that day, it was Qin Haoxuan’s turn to deliver food to Jie Prison. He remembered Xu Yu’s words, and a wild thought crossed his mind: Could her spirit beast lover have really come for her?

He entered the prison and made his way to the Ethics Ward. The woman was still there, chained, her face as pale as ever, but the light of hope in her eyes burned brighter than he had ever seen it.

“Senior Sister,” he recited the official lines, “your spirit beast lover has abandoned you, leaving you to suffer here alone. Was it worth it?”

“You don’t understand,” she said, her voice soft, her eyes filled with a gentle love. “Does anyone in the Taichu Sect truly understand?” She then added, as if to herself, “Perhaps some do. But they only understand.”

In the dim light of the prison, with his keen senses, he caught a fleeting smile of pure happiness on her face. Just then, he felt an invisible force pushing him to leave. He took one last look at her and let the force guide him out.

When he returned to his room, Pu Hanzhong was waiting for him. “How was your cultivation today?” he asked.

“It went well,” Qin Haoxuan said with a wry smile. “I feel like I’m about to grow a leaf, but it’s still not happening. By the way, Senior Brother, do you know the full story of the senior sister in Jie Prison?”

(End of Chapter)