Chapter 94 Recognizing the Wrong Benefactor

Chapter 94 Recognizing the Wrong Benefactor

Lou Yuqing and Si Nidie followed Qi Qingxiong's group at a distance, and finally, after flying for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, they landed in a recessed valley.

Qi Qingxiong surveyed the valley and nodded in satisfaction: "This place is good. It won't be easy for the Baiyan Sect to find us. Qingji, what do you think?"

As he spoke, Qi Qingxiong looked at the leading disciple in the Star Pavilion. This man had a handsome face, a warm smile, and exuded the fragrance of herbs and trees, which made people feel good about him.

Of course, this is not the reason why Lou Yuqing is staring at him.

She noticed that this person's eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Qi Qingxiong's, and when she heard that both of their names contained the character "Qing," she began to wonder if they were brothers.

"Brother Qingxiong made the right choice. You don't know, when we were at home, Father always told me to learn more from you." Qi Qingji chuckled, suddenly looking a bit silly and easy to fool.

However, Qi Qingxiong was not fooled by his cousin's appearance and said calmly, "I am unworthy of your praise, Uncle. I will not hold back in this Seven Sects Alliance Competition. Once we find the Snow Lotus, you can be eliminated."

His words, though understated, were brimming with arrogance.

Qi Qingji pouted unconvinced and muttered, "Brother Qingxiong's swordsmanship is indeed superb, but I'm not to be underestimated either. It's not certain who will win or lose."

As the two locked eyes, countless sparks flew.

Lou Yuqing stroked his chin. So they were cousins. No wonder they could unite the power of two sects to form such a large force. If they didn't find a way to break up their alliance, they would definitely pose a threat to his group.

Meanwhile, outside the small world, the disciples of the Star Pavilion couldn't help but murmur as they listened to the disciples of the Cloud Soaring Sect boasting that Qi Qingxiong, leading the power of both sects, would surely win first place.

"Qi Qingxiong alone could not have achieved this. It's all thanks to our senior brother Qi Qingji, who is his cousin and willing to give up his dominant position for the sake of brotherhood. Otherwise, how could Qi Qingxiong have achieved such glory!"

Upon hearing this, the Yunxiao Sect disciple immediately retorted, "Our Senior Brother Qi's swordsmanship is unparalleled, invincible among his peers. When he rose to fame, Qi Qingji was still nowhere to be found. Now he's actually trying to extort Senior Brother Qi by taking advantage of our kinship. How shameless!"

As they talked, the disciples from the two sects started arguing.

Sect Leader Qingxuzi shifted his focus from Song Li's light screen and smiled at Chengfeng Sword Master of Yunxiao Sect and Fengyun True Person of Xingchen Pavilion, saying, "Your disciples are truly energetic."

"Hmm." When Sword Master Chengfeng was wandering in the void, he heard someone speaking to him and responded faintly. He wanted to try to speak less or even not speak at all so that he wouldn't make any mistakes.

Master Fengyun frowned and waved a burst of spiritual energy downwards: "Silence! The Seven Sects Trial Grounds are not to be trifled with!"

Wherever the spiritual energy reached, all the disciples of the Star Pavilion were blown down by the wind, their minds instantly clearing. They stood up and bowed, saying, "We will respectfully follow the elder's teachings."

The Yunxiao Sect disciples were not affected, but because the one who made the move was a Nascent Soul cultivator, they immediately quieted down and dared not cause any more trouble.

However, the disciples of the two sects did not give up completely. They went from verbally arguing to exchanging deadly glances. If anyone was in their line of fire, they would probably be torn to shreds.

Sect Leader Qingxu: That's right.

Small-scale noise is fine, but it becomes unsightly if it escalates.

On the other side, the tense atmosphere between the Qi brothers suddenly dissipated, after all, they were still in a cooperative relationship.

"Brother Qingxiong, I believe in your abilities. Whatever you want me to do next, I'll do it." Qi Qingji's willingness to let the other party take charge naturally stemmed from his strategic thinking.

Qi Qingxiong nodded and began to explain his plan.

Lou Yuqing was listening intently when her senior sister tugged at her sleeve. She heard her senior sister transmit her voice and say, "Junior sister, I've observed that among those seven people, three are disciples of the Cloud Soaring Sect, three are disciples of the Star Pavilion, and the remaining disciple is actually from the Su Yin Sect."

Upon hearing this, Lou Yuqing took a closer look and, as her senior sister had said, she discovered that apart from the disciples of the Suyin Sect who were all female, the disciples of the other two sects were all male, creating an impression of yin deficiency and yang excess.

"I suspect this female disciple has a special relationship with them; otherwise, given the disparity in numbers, she would have been eliminated long ago," Si Nidie continued telepathically.

Lou Yuqing nodded: "Indeed."

Listening to the conversation between Qi Qingxiong and Qi Qingji, they became even more convinced of this.

Not long ago, the sect leader of Baiyan Sect ordered the sealing off of the mines and the investigation of the mine slaves. Many disciples who had not completed the first stage of the trial were found and eliminated.

At that time, Qi Qingxiong had not yet arrived at the mine. The disciples of the two sects originally planned to join forces, but because the Yunxiao Sect had one less disciple than the Xingchen Pavilion, they were afraid of being eliminated after cooperating, so they were unable to reach an agreement.

This female disciple of the Suyin Sect then joined the Yunxiao Sect, eliminating the numerical disadvantage, and together with the Xingchen Pavilion, fought against the cultivators sent down by the Baiyan Sect. They held out until Qi Qingxiong arrived and successfully turned the tables on the enemy.

Of course, the disciples of both sects could discard them afterward, but since the female disciple knew the Qi brothers, they would never do such a despicable thing.

“Brother Qi’s plan is highly feasible. The cultivators sent by the White Rock Sect Master have all been killed by me, and he must be furious. If we blow up this mine, he will definitely come to capture us personally and fall into the trap we have set.” Female disciple Kong Qianyun smiled gently, her gaze always fixed on Qi Qingxiong. She was the first to respond after he finished speaking about the plan.

Qi Qingxiong instinctively avoided her gaze and asked the others, "What do you guys think?"

“If Qianyun has already agreed, then it must be good!” Qi Qingji looked at Kong Qianyun, his eyes visibly brightening, and an air of arrogance emanated from him. “With us brothers here, there’s nothing else for anyone else to do in this trial.”

When Kong Qianyun saw Qi Qingxiong's evasive action, a trace of sadness flashed across her eyes. Even with Qi Qingji's support, she still couldn't cheer up.

When Qi Qingji heard her perfunctory "uh-huh" sounds, he was not disappointed at all, but even happier: Qianyun was talking to him, and every word she said had a response. This must be the beginning of love.

If Qianyun would call him Brother Qi, he would have no complaints even if he were eliminated right now. Thinking of this, he gave his cousin a resentful look.

If his cousin hadn't met Qianyun before him, the title of "Brother Qi" would have been his.

Qi Qingxiong's lips twitched, hesitating to speak, but after thinking for a moment, he shut his mouth. Qingji didn't know that Kong Qianyun had feelings for him, and if he revealed it now, wouldn't it be very awkward?

He had been waiting for Qingji to figure it out on his own. Kong Qianyun's behavior was not exactly subtle, but Qi Qingji just couldn't see it.

Everyone says that sword cultivators are clueless about relationships and have the hardest time finding a partner. He felt that this statement suited Qi Qingji perfectly.

Oh wow, it smells like melon?

Lou Yuqing's lips unconsciously curled up.

The scene before her triggered her gossip-loving instincts. She didn't even care about ruining their plans, and quickly brought up the gossip panel, buying gossip from all three people.

Qi Qingxiong pursed his lips helplessly, putting his cousin and Kong Qianyun's matter out of his mind, and asked again, "Do you have any different opinions?"

The disciples of the Cloud Soaring Sect and the Star Pavilion all shook their heads.

Qi Qingxiong nodded: "Okay, then next..."

[What a tragic love story of "You love me, I don't love you, but I love him"! One is oblivious, the other is blind to reality, and the other is mute—it's a vicious cycle.]

Lou Yuqing commented on the three of them with great interest.

A sudden, mysterious female voice interrupted Qi Qingxiong's words. He looked around abruptly, opening his mouth to question who was playing tricks, but the words wouldn't come out.

What's going on?!

For the first time, a look of panic appeared on Qi Qingxiong's face. He quickly looked at the others and found that they had also heard the mysterious female voice, but they couldn't say a word.

The "coarse-minded" comment must refer to Qi Qingji, the "mouthless" comment refers to someone else—could it be himself? And who is the one pointing blindly? Could it be Kong Qianyun?

Qi Qingxiong tried to calm himself down, a series of questions flashing through his mind.

Kong Qianyun frowned slightly, her face showing displeasure. She keenly sensed that one of the three words should describe herself, but none of them were flattering.

Qi Qingji's eyes were filled with shock and vigilance. He extended his divine sense to scan the surroundings. When he swept over the area where Lou Yuqing and Si Nidie were, he found nothing and moved on to another place.

Si Nidie proudly raised her head: You wouldn't believe it, would you? They have a magical artifact that can shield divine sense.

Thinking of her junior sister's thoughts, she quickly identified the person the thick-skinned girl was referring to—it was definitely Qi Qingji. Even she could see that Kong Qianyun had feelings for Qi Qingxiong, but Qi Qingji was still foolishly thinking that the two of them were just siblings.

"Brother Qingxiong, have we offended something evil?" Qi Qingji pulled out a bunch of talismans. "I have some exorcism talismans here, share them. Qianyun, take a few more."

Si Nidie: "..."

She now understood. No wonder this guy received such a high evaluation; he still didn't realize that her junior sister was referring to him as "thick-skinned."

Qi Qingxiong was speechless for a moment. This cousin of his had never failed when it came to doing serious work, but the problem was that what he called "dirty stuff" was obviously not what it seemed.

Before Qi Qingxiong could tell him to put away the exorcism talisman, the mysterious female voice rang out again.

[Dirty stuff? What is it babbling about... Never mind, let's eat our melon seeds]

[Being thick-skinned and having no mouth is one thing, but being blind is fatal. Yes, I'm talking about you, Miss Kong Qianyun. Do you know you've come to the wrong person?]

Although the swordsman who saved you is from the Yunxiao Sect, he is not Qi Qingxiong. You can't go to him to repay a debt of gratitude just because Qi Qingxiong is a swordsman.

Kong Qianyun frowned even more deeply. How could she have mistaken her savior? She clearly remembered that just before she was about to faint, that person descended from the sky with a Qingfeng sword and severed the monster's head with a single strike.

The Qingfeng Sword is Brother Qi's natal sword.

Thinking of this, Kong Qianyun hardened her expression. That mysterious female voice must be talking nonsense; she wouldn't believe it. Brother Qi was her benefactor.

More importantly, after so many years of getting to know each other, she found that Brother Qi was an upright and capable person, someone she could rely on, and she began to think about entrusting her life to him.

Although Brother Qi distanced himself from her because of Qi Qingji, she believed that it was easy for a woman to win over a man, and that one day Brother Qi would be moved by her.

The next moment, she heard Qi Qingxiong ask in confusion, "Did I save you?"

Kong Qianyun's heart skipped a beat.