Chapter 274: Ye Xiuwen Shows Up, Qin Lingyu’s Restraining Fear

Translator: Minotauruz

The first light of dawn burst through the rolling clouds in the sky and shone straight at the little pavilion on the hill, painting the aged pavilion with a beautiful golden sheen.

The fog and cool air from the night lingering on within the pavilion began to dissipate with the rising of the sun. At the same time, the thick fragrance of wine in the pavilion also gradually thinned out as well.

The glow of the new morn had cued in the cacophonous chorus of chirruping birds and buzzing insects which enveloped the pavilion with their tunes filled with bright vigor. As the stirring hum continued to echo on, a person leaning on the stone table finally moved, and he gradually began to open his eyes.

“Ugh...” Ye Xiuwen groaned. The discomfort from his hangover stood in his way between slumber and clarity of mind.

Last night, Jun Xiaomo had in her drunken stupor made a racket and tormented Ye Xiuwen for close to an hour, then clutched tightly to Ye Xiuwen’s clothes and wept for an equally long time before she finally managed to cry herself to sleep.

The only thing that Ye Xiuwen heard at that time was “I miss you, will you never be returning again?” Apart from that, all other murmurs from Jun Xiaomo had been completely unintelligible.

Truth be told, Ye Xiuwen had not thought to analyze what Jun Xiaomo had meant by those words. Rather, when those words echoed out from within his bosom, it acted like an awl that stabbed straight through his heart, causing his heart to wrench with agonizing pain.

Those words were stolen right out of his mouth – there was not a single moment that he had not thought to ask his little martial sister the same question, “Will you never be returning again?”.

However, if his little martial sister were indeed never returning again, to whom would he be able to direct that question of his? Who would answer this question of his?

As he fixated his mind on these thoughts that surfaced on his heart, Ye Xiuwen gradually began to overlook the existence that was in his bosom, clutching tightly onto his sleeves as she fell asleep like a heavy log.

He, on the other hand, gazed into the distant night sky as he began to pour out and drink cup after cup of spirit wine for himself, until inebriation got the better of him and washed over the roiling emotions in his heart, and he collapsed onto the stone table and fell asleep as well.

Just like that, he slept for the entire night and only awakened when the sun shone brightly in the sky.

Ye Xiuwen gently rubbed his throbbing forehead as he slowly regained his senses. Then, as soon as he attempted to stand up, his knees buckled, and he fell back down onto his seat.

It was only at this moment that he finally realized the existence of a heavy object on his legs. That object resting on his legs had weighed heavily on his legs for the entire night and caused his legs to become completely numb by now.

Ye Xiuwen lowered his head, and the first thing he saw was “Qin Shanshan” sound asleep on his lap – as it turned out, Jun Xiaomo had treated his laps as her pillow for the entire night, and she was still deep in her slumber right now.

Ye Xiuwen furrowed his brows, and he instinctively stretched out his arm, motioning to push the lady away from his lap.

He hated the owner of this disgusting face!

However, just as his hands touched Jun Xiaomo’s shoulder, he suddenly recalled the fact that “Qin Shanshan” was no longer Qin Shanshan. Furthermore, he also recalled how he had over the course of the last night buried his differences with “Qin Shanshan” over several cups of his spirit wine.

Thus, he retracted his hand and expelled some of the turbid air from his lungs as he rubbed his temples once more. Then, after thinking about it for a while, he retrieved a medicinal pill from his Interspatial Ring and consumed it.

This was not a valuable, high-grade medicinal pill. Rather, it was used solely for the purposes of cleansing the body of any residual effects of intoxication, and its effects were ordinary at best. That said, this was exactly what Ye Xiuwen needed right now. Within moments, the lingering alcohol within his body were completely purged and expelled into the surroundings.

Unfortunately, he only carried one single medicinal pill with such effects along with him. In fact, this medicinal pill was something that his master had forced him to accept some time ago, on the pretext that it might come in handy one day. It had to be mentioned that Ye Xiuwen had never been a person who drank excessively to begin with, and the extent of his intoxication last night was truly a rare occurrence.

If he possessed another one of these alcohol purging pills, he would have immediately fed it to the lady still resting on his legs right now. That way, she would not appear to be so completely wasted and dazed.

Ye Xiuwen patted Jun Xiaomo’s face gently, calling out to her, hoping that she would wake up. In the end, all Jun Xiaomo did was to shift her sleeping posture slightly and smack her lips – there was not a single sign that she would be waking up anytime soon.

Thus, Ye Xiuwen rubbed his forehead again, deliberating over just how he was going to bring “Qin Shanshan” back to the inn. Remaining at this pavilion was most certainly not a viable solution. After all, if the Dawn Sect disciples discovered that “Qin Shanshan” was missing when they woke up, they might very well make a mountain out of a molehill.

Ye Xiuwen waited for approximately one more hour, and the sky gradually brightened even more. During this period of time, Ye Xiuwen attempted various means of waking Jun Xiaomo up, yet to no avail at all. Thus, he finally gave up.

Resigned to his fate, he bent down, hefted Jun Xiaomo onto his back, and began to make his way down the little hill towards the inn where they had been staying at.

When Ye Xiuwen picked up Jun Xiaomo, she instinctually wrapped her arms rightly around his neck. At that moment, her “obsequious” action almost caused Ye Xiuwen to reflexively toss her back onto the floor.

It couldn’t be helped – Ye Xiuwen had never seen someone able to wrap her arms around another person’s neck whilst deep in her slumber. Besides, he had never liked people getting too close to him to begin with, and it so happened that this young lady whom he barely knew seemed hell bent on encroaching into his personal space at every possible turn.

Ye Xiuwen furrowed his brows and looked behind him, only to discover that the lady was still deep in sleep, and her breath was still filled with the stench of alcohol. There was not a single trace that she had aroused from her state of intoxication yet.

Ye Xiuwen sighed in exasperation – he was resigned to his fate of bringing this completely knocked out lady back to her inn.

The sun shone brightly on their bodies, casting a long, long shadow behind them as he began to make the trek down the hill...

When Ye Xiuwen finally arrived at the inn, the innkeeper and his attendants were all huddled together and trembling in a corner of the dining hall as they gingerly observing the actions of an imposing fiend who sat in the middle of the dining hall.

The imposing fiend had been seated here since early last night, and he appeared to be the person in charge over all of the other cultivators around him. In front of this imposing fiend, the group of cultivators appeared extremely cautious and reticent in their actions, and they had been incredibly silent, ostensibly from fear.

These cultivators appeared to be looking for something important to them. However, despite searching high and low for the entire night, their efforts seemed to have been in vain, and their spirits were now at an all-time low.

At the same time, the innkeeper and the attendants did not dare to leave the imposing, fiendish-looking man here in the middle of the dining hall while they retired for the night. Thus, after hanging around for the entire night, each of them presented themselves with large, heavy eyebags around their eyes.

They sincerely hoped in their hearts that this man would be able to locate what he was looking for in the shortest possible time, and leave their inn far, far behind him. They did not wish to see this man ever again.

The “fiend” in the eyes of the innkeeper was naturally Qin Lingyu, who had spent the better part of the last night searching high and low for his sister, Qin Shanshan. Every time he thought about the Origin Locket in his Interspatial Ring which belonged to Qin Shanshan, creases would form between his eyes as he knitted his brows ever more tightly together.

These useless buffoons had better pray hard that Qin Shanshan is alright. Otherwise...

Just as Qin Lingyu’s patience was wearing thin, and a fiery intent seemed to seep out through the slit in his eyes, a Dawn Sect disciple who had gone out searching for Qin Shanshan finally stumbled back into the inn as he declared at the top of his voice, “They’re back! They’re back!”

Naturally, “they” referred to the missing “Qin Shanshan” and Jun Ziwen.

As soon as everyone heard this piece of good news, they immediately heaved a sigh of relief. Several disciples lifted their heads discreetly and examined Qin Lingyu’s expression – as expected, as soon as he learnt of Qin Shanshan’s return, the frigid intent emanating from Qin Lingyu’s expressions had diminished substantially.

Just as much as they rejoiced over the fact that Qin Shanshan had returned safe and sound, there were similarly a few Dawn Sect disciples who began to mutter begrudgingly in their hearts – What’s a girl like her doing gallivanting in the night with a man whom she barely knew? Doesn’t she have any sense of danger? How can she be so reckless?!

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Thus, with a begrudging attitude in their heart, everyone looked towards the entrance of the inn. Qin Lingyu also squinted his eyes as he gazed at the front door of the inn.

The Dawn Sect disciples had earlier suggested that Qin Shanshan might have left the inn in the middle of the night with a man whom she barely knew. Furthermore, it was evident to these Dawn Sect disciples that Qin Shanshan was fond of that man.

Thus, Qin Lingyu wanted to see for himself just what kind of man he was to be able to steal the heart of his younger sister, whom he knew had always possessed high expectations of any potential suitors.

As soon as Ye Xiuwen drew closer to the inn, he immediately sensed a very different atmosphere within from when last arrived at this place. Generally speaking, there would usually be people coming and going from the inn by this time of the day. However, he could tell that there was not a single person entering or leaving the inn right now.

Faced with a peculiar silence and still atmosphere like this, Ye Xiuwen couldn’t help but increase his vigilance as he approached the inn. Then, as he drew closer to the main entrance of the inn, he began to release his divine sense.

As a result, he noticed Qin Lingyu’s presence before anyone else noticed him.

Qin Lingyu? It’s actually Qin Lingyu?! The First-Seat Disciple of the man who had hurt master and the Heavenly Peak?!

An intense hatred immediately burgeoned and raged in Ye Xiuwen’s heart, and the aura around Ye Xiuwen’s body flourished for an instant.

As the oppressive aura gushed out from Ye Xiuwen’s body, Qin Lingyu was immediately taken aback, and his eyes immediately darkened and grew frigid and icy –

This man’s abilities are no less than my own! What’s his motive for drawing close to Qin Shanshan?!

Qin Lingyu’s wariness was not unexpected. He had always been a man who could resort to any means possible just to achieve his own lofty goals and ambitions. By extension, he had always seen others through the lens of his own world view, and he couldn’t help but wonder whether this man whom Qin Shanshan was fond of had any ulterior motives.

Besides, he knew his sister’s character full well – she was not an easily likeable person. Thus, he sincerely believed that any person who allegedly fell in love with his sister could very possibly possess ulterior motives for drawing close to Qin Shanshan.

However, Qin Lingyu failed to bring his mind to one tiny detail – the Dawn Sect disciples had earlier mentioned that Qin Shanshan was fond of Jun Ziwen; but they had never mentioned that Jun Ziwen was similarly fond of Qin Shanshan.

Thus, Qin Lingyu’s concern was practically unfounded and needless. That said, Qin Lingyu could be considered to have stumbled upon the truth in the dark. This was because Ye Xiuwen did possess ulterior motives for following and travelling with the entourage of Dawn Sect disciples. It was just that he had never revealed any of his ulterior intentions before.

Ye Xiuwen paused at the entrance of the inn for a little while before properly entering the inn. As soon as he entered the main gate of the inn, he would already have collected his roiling emotions and recomposed himself.

Ye Xiuwen knew that he could not let Qin Lingyu notice anything amiss at this point in time. This was not because he was afraid of Qin Lingyu. After all, given his strength right now, defeating Qin Lingyu was an extremely easy task for him. However, his main goal right now was to rescue the martial brother who had been trapped in the forbidden grounds within Dawn Sect, and he could not afford to be indiscreet with his actions and alert the leaders of the Dawn Sect.

Having collected and suppressed his imposing, oppressive aura, Ye Xiuwen presented himself as an existence that was harmless and hardly a threat to anyone. Yet even then, the oppressive aura that leaked out from Ye Xiuwen’s body earlier had already cast a net of restraining fear over Qin Lingyu.

Then, as soon as Ye Xiuwen entered the inn and finally made his appearance, the restraining fear weighing on Qin Lingyu’s heart burgeoned and escalated to unprecedented heights!

Even though Ye Xiuwen’s good looks and charming appearances were foreign to him, his cool, dignified disposition was simply all too familiar to Qin Lingyu. The image of a person immediately surfaced in Qin Lingyu’s mind.

The image that appeared his mind was of a person who should have died twelve years ago in the Mystic Woods; it was Jun Linxuan’s First-Seat Disciple, Ye Xiuwen!