As the words fell, the air in the underground chamber turned dead quiet. Xie Qingli’s expression remained untouched by the accusation, but Yun Nian’s breathing softened, her chest tightening as the atmosphere warped into an oppressive standoff.
Yun Nian glanced at Xie Qingli. He sat in the corner as he always did, wearing that same gentle, faint smile even in the face of his senior brother’s harsh interrogation.
There are only these thoughts in her mind . Why was Jiang Zhao asking these questions? What had he suspected?
Jiang Zhao ignoring all her probing glances took a step closer, his eyes sharp. “Xie Qingli, why did you fall behind and encounter those man-eating ants in the first place?”
Xie Qingli’s voice came soft and calm. “I was chased by spirit beasts and temporarily separated from everyone.”
“Then why did you jump down into the pit?”
“I was afraid of dragging Senior Sister down with me.”
Jiang Zhao didn’t answer. Silence stretched between them, heavy enough to bruise.
After a long while, Jiang Zhao let out a chilly, mocking laugh. “That’s quite a coincidence. First you’re scattered by the current, then you just happen to run into man-eating ants. When my Junior Sister rushed over, you stood frozen—scared out of your wits, were you? But when she tried to drag you away, suddenly you grew brave enough to jump. Not only are you not dead, but you managed to land us right here.”
Jiang Zhao swept a cold, calculating look across the glowing pearl-lit walls. “So, Xie Qingli… who on earth are you really?”
Both Yun Nian and Jiang Zhao’s gazes locked onto the boy in the corner. Xie Qingli kept his eyelashes lowered, appearing lost in thought. The soft pearl light washed over his sharp features, making his pale skin look almost translucent.
Beneath his lowered gaze, his eyes narrowed. With a silent, deadly impulse rippled through his soul.
Since he suspects me… I might as well kill him right here.
“Junior Brother.”
Yun Nian’s voice at this moment broke through the dark edge in his mind.
Xie Qingli’s gaze slid right past the towering figure of Jiang Zhao, fixing onto Yun Nian standing behind him. She wore no harsh suspicion, no guarded hostility. She simply looked at him quietly—as if she would believe whatever answer came out of his mouth.
Meeting her pure eyes, the violent killing intent surging in his chest shattered instantly, slowly dissolving into nothingness.
Xie Qingli propped himself up against the stone wall and stood, calmly brushing the dust from his robes. He stood tall, matching Jiang Zhao’s height step for step.
Looking directly into Jiang Zhao’s eyes, Xie Qingli calmly constructed another lie, his expression solemn and utterly unruffled.
“No matter what Senior Brother thinks, that is merely your own speculation. I am nothing more than an ordinary disciple. Master Futan personally verified my cultivation level. As a mere Golden Core cultivator, how could I possibly dare to play tricks in a place like Cuizhu Ferry?”
Yet, the events from the very beginning had undeniably been strange.
First, they had been inexplicably separated from the other participants and transported into Cuizhu Ferry [Emerald Bamboo Ferry]. Then they had been hunted by spirit beasts, separated from one another, and eventually driven toward the ancient guardian vines.
After that, they had fallen straight into a pit filled with man-eating ants, only to emerge safely inside an ancient underground vault, their bodies bruised but otherwise free of any life-threatening injuries.
Everything had fallen into place far too perfectly.
It was almost as though someone had known the terrain of Cuizhu Ferry in advance.
Someone had deliberately stayed behind near the vines.
Someone had known that the terrifying swarm of man-eating ants was merely an illusion.
Someone had known that an ancient chamber was hidden beneath the earth.
It was as though they had known exactly what would happen before it ever did.
Yun Nian reached out, tugging lightly at Jiang Zhao’s sleeve as she shook her head. “Senior Brother, now is not the time for infighting. Let’s find a way out first. Don’t point your sword at our own people.”
Jiang Zhao’s jaw twitched as he met her protective gaze.
In the suffocating quiet, he suddenly drew his sword. The blade hissed as it cut through the air, charging straight at Xie Qingli.
“Whether you’re innocent or not, we’ll find out soon enough!”
The steel aimed straight for Xie Qingli’s chest. The boy sidestepped to block, but Jiang Zhao deftly flicked his wrist, altering the trajectory to strike at his vitals. Till this point Xie Qingli also drew his own blade to parry, but Jiang Zhao nimbly deflected the weak guard.
The oppressive might of a Nascent Soul cultivator erupted without warning, filling the underground vault with overwhelming force. A violent wave of spiritual energy crashed into Xie Qingli, sending him hurtling backward until his body slammed hard against the indigo stone wall.
The boy let out a muffled groan and crumpled onto one knee, sliding down the wall. One hand clutched tightly at his chest as he coughed weakly, his breathing uneven and strained. Before he could steady himself, the glowing tip of Jiang Zhao’s sword had already stopped less than an inch from his throat.
In the blink of an eye—
“Xie Qingli!”
Yun Nian rushed forward and planted herself directly between them, shielding the boy completely with her own body.
“Senior Brother! What are you doing?!”
Jiang Zhao’s gaze passed over her shoulder and settled on the boy behind her.
Xie Qingli’s face was deathly pale. Blood trickled from a fresh scrape across his palm, and he coughed softly into his sleeve, his frail appearance making him look even more vulnerable beneath the cold pearl light.
Under Yun Nian’s furious glare, Jiang Zhao slowly sheathed his sword. His heart was in turmoil, his expression deeply conflicted.
He really is only at the Golden Core stage. After barely two exchanges, the boy’s swordplay had been hesitant and clumsy—clearly the work of someone who had only recently picked up a blade. Was he truly overthinking things?
Even Master Futan had personally inspected Xie Qingli’s foundation. How could a teenager’s cultivation surpass Master Futan’s? Even Pei Ling, the legendary number-one swordsman of the past, had only reached the early Great Ascension realm at that age. Could this boy really be bold enough to play schemes in a place as dangerous as Cuizhu Ferry?
Jiang Zhao glanced at the boy’s disheveled robes and the dark blood staining his fingers.
Yun Nian rubbed her temples, feeling a throbbing headache coming on.
“Senior Brother, can’t we talk like reasonable people after we get out of here?” she pleaded, her voice strained with exasperation. “What are you even trying to prove by beating him up right now? We haven’t even found the exit yet. Are we seriously going to start tearing each other apart before we can even figure out how to leave?”
Jiang Zhao lowered his eyes, his expression darkening.
“You watch him. I’m going to heal my injuries.”
His voice was cold enough to leave no room for argument.
He was still furious with Yun Nian for throwing herself into that pit without a second thought. No matter how many times he replayed the scene in his mind, he could not understand why she had been willing to risk her life for Xie Qingli.
And the more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.
If she couldn’t see reason right now, there was no point arguing with her.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Jiang Zhao turned his back on them and walked toward a secluded corner of the underground vault. Sitting down, he closed his eyes and began meditating to recover from his injuries.
Yun Nian watched him go.
She hesitated for a moment before slowly taking a step after him.
“Senior Brother, I—”
Jiang Zhao’s eyes snapped open.
The icy glare he shot over his shoulder was so sharp that the rest of her apology immediately died in her throat.
Yun Nian stopped mid-step.
“…”
She quietly pulled her foot back.
Fine.
He was still angry.
Very angry.
Yun Nian stood there awkwardly for a moment before rubbing the back of her neck.
She decided it was probably better to let him cool down first.
Jiang Zhao sat cross-legged, lifting his robe to regulate his breathing. His spiritual energy was severely drained, and he needed to recover quickly if he was going to protect Yun Nian and find an exit. Besides, he needed to get back as soon as possible—he didn’t even know if Su Ying had finished eating the lotus seeds.
Meanwhile, Yun Nian knelt beside Xie Qingli to re-bandage his palm. Neither spoke, the silence heavy with the unspoken tension of their earlier confrontation. Once the wound was bound, she sat against the cold stone beside him, staring mournfully at the distant iron gate.
The original novel had briefly mentioned Xie Qingli’s journey to retrieve the Shattered Thorn Sword, explicitly stating that he had nearly lost his life in the process. What on earth lay ahead that could injure him so severely?
System: [Sigh.]
Yun Nian: “Sigh.”
Xie Qingli glanced sideways at her. Her fair, snow-white neck sat exposed beside him, her disheveled hair loosely veiling the thin scrape on her skin. He noticed the two fluffy flower clips she usually wore were gone, likely lost during the fall. Pursing his lips, he lowered his long eyelashes to hide the subtle shift in his eyes.
Suddenly, he reached out, taking the medicine bottle from her hand and replacing it with a small pill resting in his pale palm.
Yun Nian looked up, her expression blank. “?”
Xie Qingli lowered his brows, looking harmless. “Senior Sister Yun, you’re injured.”
Only then did she touch her collarbone, realizing the shallow scrape had already scabbed over without any pain. “I’m fine.” She offered a soft smile, took the pill from his palm, and swallowed it.
With her minor injury settled, Yun Nian rested until her energy returned. Standing up, she gestured toward the colossal barrier in the distance. “Junior Brother Xie, let’s go take a look over there.”
“Okay.”
Surveying the subterranean palace, Yun Nian noted the flawless quality of the indigo bricks and the priceless pearls lining the walls. This was far beyond the wealth of any ordinary cultivator.
System: [It’s the Sword Pavilion.]
Green Bamboo Crossing was notoriously deadly, yet cultivators risked their lives to enter for one legendary reward: the Sword Pavilion.
Three thousand years ago, Pei Ling—the founder of the Xiuning City Pei family—was the world’s undisputed premier sword cultivator. A true fanatic, he had collected a hundred famous blades and forged two himself, housing them all within this pavilion before his ascension. Although he had long since left this realm, his legend still loomed over the entire cultivation world. He had formed his core at ten, reached the Great Ascension stage at seventeen, and ascended before turning one hundred. Since his departure, not a single soul had managed to undergo tribulation, leaving most to perish at the end of their lifespans.
Yun Nian’s eyes darkened as she looked back at Xie Qingli standing behind her, his tall frame casting a long shadow. She sighed quietly. Whatever dangerous trial awaited behind that iron gate to claim half his life, at least having her and Jiang Zhao by his side was better than him facing it alone.
Turning back, her fingertips lightly traced the rough, hand-chiseled stone frame around the gate. Every sealed door had a mechanism.
Xie Qingli watched her every move with a complex gaze. She was searching blindly, but he already knew exactly what lay behind that door.
“I found it!” Yun Nian’s voice suddenly brightened. Her fingers were pressed against a slight protrusion seamlessly blended into the rough stone. “Junior Brother Xie, step back a little. I don’t know what will happen when I press it.”
When she heard no movement behind her, she turned her head. “Junior Brother Xie, you—”
Before she could finish, a firm grip pulled her backward. Xie Qingli stepped directly in front of her, his tall, upright figure completely enveloping her in his shadow.
Before she could react, he reached out and pressed the mechanism himself.
“No, you can’t—”
Click—
The sound of ancient gears turning echoed through the cavern. Yun Nian squeezed her eyes shut, her breath catching tightly in her throat.
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