Chapter 396 - Willingly Entering The Thorny Path

Li Guanqi sensed the shift in Song Zhi’ang’s emotions, but he didn’t dare react. It wasn’t as if he had any desires of that sort. More than that, there was already a little figure lodged deep in his heart. The girl who always scolded him the moment she saw him, yet still worried he hadn’t eaten enough.

Between the seven emotions and six desires[1], the emotions were harder to grasp.

Li Guanqi remained silent, taking Song Zhi’ang around the sect. He flew slowly, as if giving her time to take everything in. Eventually, they arrived at Jade Teapot Peak.

She stepped onto the summit, turned her face toward the sun, and threw her arms wide with her eyes shut. Li Guanqi let her be.

After a while, he set up a table and a tea set. “Have a seat. Let’s chat.”

Song Zhi’ang sat down and offered, “I’ll help you serve the tea.”

Before he could answer, she was already at the table, moving with practiced grace. Compared to the way he simply tossed leaves into boiling water, her movements looked like art.

She took a sip of spirit tea, eyes narrowing with pleasure. “This tea is wonderful...”

Li Guanqi smiled. “If you like it, you can take some back home. I can’t tell good tea from bad tea anyway.”

She smiled and nodded, then looked at him. “Is there something you want to ask me?”

Li Guanqi thought for a moment. “There is. What do you think of Cang Lu as a person?”

She stiffened. “Cang Lu... has come to see me many times.”

Her expression made him grin. “He likes you?”

She lowered her gaze. After some hesitation, she nodded. “He knows a lot about music, and he’s great at playing the guqin. When I was in Nanze City, he visited me many times. Every time, he would just sit and listen to me play.”

Li Guanqi finally understood why Cang Lu had straightened up when Song Zhi’ang walked into the inn. He had clearly visited the place many times, and all because of her.

In that case... I wonder if Cang Lu agreed to join the Daxia Sword Sect because of her.

Li Guanqi looked down to pour more tea. “And what do you think of him?”

Her eyes dimmed for a moment, thinking that Li Guanqi was Cang Lu’s wingman.

Song Zhi’ang shook her head. “I don’t know... I just feel like he’s calculating. Whenever he visits me... whenever he spends time with me... How do I say this...? I don’t see love in his eyes. It’s more like... he’s using me to hide something.”

Li Guanqi frowned. Her description made him recall Li Sheng’an’s warning. Yet he had examined Cang Lu himself and found nothing.

What the hell is going on?

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

They chatted at Jade Teapot Peak for a while. Then she suddenly asked, “Would you like to hear me play?”

Li Guanqi nodded. “Wait here. I’ll get you a guqin.”

The wind carried the beautiful melodies of the guqin far away.

Meanwhile, Li Sheng’an and Zhong Lin were sparring on a peak a hundred zhang away. When they heard the melody, both men stopped and glanced toward Jade Teapot Peak, trading looks.

Li Sheng’an scoffed. “

Tsk

. That tune’s carrying a message, and it’s not simple.”

Zhong Lin shrugged. “Isn’t it normal for people to like Brother Li?”

Li Sheng’an sheathed his sword and straightened up, chuckling. “Not if it’s coming from Jade Teapot Peak. And listen to the emotion in the piece... halfway through it’s full of panic, and by the end, it settles into resignation. Looks like Brother Li turned her down.”

Zhong Lin shrugged and wiped his sweat. “Let’s go. Brother Li is going to give a lecture at the outer sect. Let’s grab a spot.”

Li Sheng’an laughed. “Yeah. We’d be fools not to. Even the peak masters want to sit in. Nothing embarrassing about inner sect disciples doing the same.”

The music alternated between slow and urgent, as if telling the world about the admiration and resignation in Song Zhi’ang’s heart.

Li Guanqi could only pretend he didn’t understand the meaning tucked between the notes.

When the music stopped, she stared at the guqin for a long time. Then she smiled, stood, and said, “That’s all. Please take me back.”

Li Guanqi rose silently. After seeing her home, he headed straight to the outer sect plaza.

Standing on the mountainside, Song Zhi’ang gazed down at Li Guanqi. Her eyes shone, bright as stars.

Suddenly, she turned to the man beside her. “Father, I want to cultivate.”

Song Kangning saw the resolve on her face and replied, “Alright. I’ll support you no matter what you want. But have you really decided? Cultivation is a thorny path. You’ll have to kill, and others will try to kill you. Is it worth enduring all of that just to chase after him?”

Song Zhi’ang turned to look at him slowly. “Better to walk a thorny path than spend my life carrying regret. One day, I want to be able to stand before him and tell him I like him.”

Song Kangning’s eyes reddened. He looked up. “Then I’ll support you!”

Li Guanqi knew none of this. He had already decided to stay in the sect only briefly before heading out to temper himself again. The Azure Cloud Continent felt too small; he wanted to see more.

After finishing his lecture, he returned to Heavenly Lightning Peak to chat with Li Nanting. He also gave Yu Sui’an some pointers. Her metal power was the strongest he had ever encountered, far stronger than Ye Feng’s. The icy-blue light he’d seen when she flew had come from her magical boots.

Li Nanting sat at his doorway, smoking. Watching the sunset, he asked, “Preparing to leave?”

Li Guanqi nodded. “The world is too big. I want to explore further.”

“That’s good. Staying here will only slow you down. It’s too comfortable.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

That night, Li Guanqi lounged in his courtyard, toying with a jade pendant in his hand. After a long silence, he fed a wisp of vital force into his heavenly intelligence jade pendant.

“Where are Ye Feng and Cao Yan now?”

Ye Feng’s location costs three hundred mid-grade spirit stones. Cao Yan’s location is unclear.

When Li Guanqi read the string of text, he straightened up with a solemn expression.

Cao Yan seems to be in trouble...

“How much would it cost to contact Cao Yan?”

The pendant soon flashed.

A thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Li Guanqi almost smashed the pendant, scolding it under his breath. “You might as well rob me!”

He tossed three hundred spirit stones out and muttered, “At least Brother Ye is cheaper.”

The pendant flashed again, and a line of red text materialized.

After Ye Feng’s departure, he had a series of encounters that led him into an ancient ruin. No news since then. The ruin lies in the Taiqing Territory, on the Liyang Continent

Li Guanqi frowned slightly, murmuring, “The Taiqing Territory...”

1. A Confucian concept from The Book of Rites: the seven emotions are joy, anger, sadness, fear, love, hate, and desire. The six desires are the fundamental cravings of life (to live and avoid death) and the senses (what the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose seek). ☜