Vol.2-Chapter 96 – Lonely Worries

When Zhao Jiuge landed, he was terrified by Bai Qingqing’s roar. Zhao Jiuge had no way of dealing with this beautiful and alluring woman.

In the blink of an eye, Bai Qingqing landed beside Zhao Jiuge, her face filled with anger. “One does not fear a god-like opponent, but one should fear a pig-like teammate. I asked if you needed to recover your spirit force, but you said no. Yet we haven’t even left the sect and you already can’t keep up. We haven’t even faced Han Songcheng yet.” When Bai Qingqing spoke, she deliberately emphasized the word “unable.”

Zhao Jiuge knew that he was in the wrong and embarrassingly smiled. “How about you go first and wait for me outside the sect? I’ll recover a bit of spirit force and then follow.”

Originally, the two of them intended to blade soar until they ran out of spirit force, then they would stop to recover. However, now they hadn’t even left the sect and Zhao Jiuge had already run out of spirit force—how could Bai Qingqing not be angry? She ignored him and sat down with her eyes closed.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t talk, he just quickly recovered his spirit force. After all, he had to be on guard once he left, as the outside world was not as safe as the sect.

After Zhao Jiuge sat down and cultivated for two hours, his spirit force had recovered to its peak. Once he had his spirit force back, he felt more confident.

He timidly looked at Bai Qingqing and softly said, “‘Let’s go.”

Bai Qingqing opened her eyes. After two hours of cultivation, both of them had recovered to their peak. Bai Qingqing was still acting a bit cold. She silently took out her sword and flew away. Zhao Jiuge helplessly smiled and quickly followed.

Along the way, the two of them were both silent; even Zhao Jiuge had a serious expression. He was thinking about the mission. From the information given to them by the Duty Hall, he was calculating the possible scenarios. With his and Bai Qingqing’s cultivation levels, they had the advantage in terms of strength against Han Songcheng, not to mention that both of them had tempered themselves in the spirit vein. He was just afraid of some sudden change in the situation. After all, life or death would be decided in an instant.

After they flew past dozens of peaks, the pavilion at the entrance appeared before them again. The two of them descended and steadily landed on the ground. The moment they landed, the Enforcement Hall disciples quickly gathered and coldly looked at Bai Qingqing and Zhao Jiuge.

Even when the powerful Enforcement Hall disciples gathered around them, Bai Qingqing’s expression remained the same. Zhao Jiuge revealed a friendly smile and quickly took out his wooden token. “We are new disciples and are going out for our mission.”

The youth in the lead carefully looked at the wooden token in Zhao Jiuge’s hand and then nodded. He then said in a plain voice, “Let’s go.” After he spoke, he quickly disappeared, but he looked back at Bai Qingqing and Zhao Jiuge. Being able to blade soar meant that these two were probably the top among this batch of disciples.

After obtaining permission, Zhao Jiuge and Bai Qingqing walked through the sect protection formation. The air outside seemed to become a little different, and the spiritual energy in the air was a lot thinner.

Because they were going to hunt someone for this mission, they weren’t wearing their sect uniforms for safety reasons. They stood outside the formation but didn’t immediately rush toward their destination.

“Yellow Flower Ridge is more than 350 kilometers southwest of the sect. We will alternate between blade soaring and walking to recover spirit force. At our current cultivation levels, even our walking speed is not slow. When we are 50 kilometers from Yellow Flower Ridge, we will stop and wait until we recover our peaks before heading into Yellow Flower Ridge to find Han Songcheng’s whereabouts. The area within 500 kilometers belongs to the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, so there shouldn’t be anything too dangerous, but we should still be careful. After all, we are not that strong.” Zhao Jiuge said quietly to Bai Qingqing with a serious expression. These were all things he had considered after leaving the Duty Hall. This was the first time they were going on a mission to hunt someone down, so Zhao Jiuge was still a bit nervous. Hunting spirit beasts and humans were very different tasks—the latter had wisdom that spirit beasts couldn’t compare to.

Bai Qingqing pondered a bit and thought that what Zhao Jiuge had said was reasonable, so she gently nodded. Compared to Zhao Jiuge, Bai Qingqing had seen much more, so she didn’t feel nervous about having to kill someone.

The two of them walked to recover spirit force. Even when they weren’t deliberately cultivating, since they were at the Foundation Realm, the vortexes inside their bodies constantly absorbed spiritual energy from the surroundings and converted it into spirit force.

They had consumed a lot of spirit force just now. This made Zhao Jiuge feel helpless—they had only flown for such a short distance and his spirit force already couldn’t withstand the consumption.

Bai Qingqing seemed to have something on her mind but was silent the whole way. Zhao Jiuge saw that the surroundings were just endless greenery and mountains. There was only Bai Qingqing and him, and the quiet atmosphere made Zhao Jiuge very bored. He looked at the sky and finally couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing much.” Bai Qingqing’s voice was a bit cold.

This was not her usual style. After entering the Duty Hall, Bai Qingqing had been like a different person.

“Was it Luo Xie and Leng Rufeng that angered you?” Zhao Jiuge voiced the doubt in his heart. They were happily talking and laughing when they were heading toward the Duty Hall. Then they encountered Luo Feng and Leng Rufeng. After she waited on the side for a bit, she became like this.

Bai Qingqing gently shook her head. She then turned to look into the distance. She seemed to be thinking about something.

Zhao Jiuge refused to let it go until he got a clear answer. His brows furrowed. “Are you angry because they didn’t greet you? They aren’t bad people, but they have had bad experiences with disciples from influential families. You were there when I ended up being confined. Next time, I’ll introduce you to them and you guys can have a good chat.”

After he spoke, Bai Qingqing’s calm expression unexpectedly changed and then she said with disdain, “Do I need to talk to them? When have I, Bai Qingqing, talked like this to anyone but you? What does them not greeting me have to do with me? I didn’t want to force you into an awkward position. When have I cared about how others looked at me?” Bai Qingqing had her own pride. From a young age, she was the proud daughter of heaven at her home. Everyone pleased her, when did she have to worry about what others thought. She had only come to the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect because she was interested in the sword and because some change in the family had forced her.

After Bai Qingqing arrived at the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, she had shown how unfathomable her background was, along with her remarkable talent. This made Leng Rufeng and Luo Xie feel wary around her. Mu Zijun’s group also felt helpless against Bai Qingqing because she always acted alone like she was high above everyone. Today, when she encountered Leng Rufeng and company, what upsetted her weren’t their actions. Her mood had changed because she had remembered some of her own matters. When had she ever let someone else affect her state of mind?

Facing Bai Qingqing’s proud rebuke, Zhao Jiuge had a complicated expression. He opened his mouth but didn’t speak. He just hoped that their friendship would not change due to external factors. The matter with Wang Baiwan was still weighing on his heart. Zhao Jiuge had no friends growing up, so he really cherished his friendships.

Perhaps Bai Qingqing felt like her words were a bit too much. When she saw Zhao Jiuge’s dejected expression, her heart softened. She hesitated a bit and softly comforted him, “There is no hidden meaning, but I don’t like interacting with other people much. Ever since I came here, my only friend has been you, but that is enough. I don’t care what others think of me, and they aren’t qualified to be my friends.”

Zhao Jiuge absent-mindedly nodded. He more or less understood Bai Qingqing’s thoughts. After all, everyone had their own thoughts. Although he understood, Zhao Jiuge still felt a bit emotional, and thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind. The two of them silently stood there, and the atmosphere became quiet once more. One had pride, the other had self-esteem, and neither was willing to break the silence first.

Once everything returned to silence, Bai Qingqing’s delicate brows furrowed. She was thinking about some lonely matters of the heart. There were some things that she had to hide—she had her own difficulties.

Perhaps because the silent atmosphere was a bit depressing, it was Bai Qingqing who couldn’t bear it. While walking, she turned toward Zhao Jiuge and said, “Jiuge, can I ask you something?”

Zhao Jiuge paused for a moment and then said, “What is it?”

Bai Qingqing slowly said, “In your heart, do you consider me a friend?”

Zhao Jiuge was somewhat doubtful toward why she had asked this, but he still responded honestly. “Yes, you are my best friend, and I even feel a little gratitude toward you. Although I don’t say it, I know how good you have been to me. If you ever need something, I’ll do my best to help.”

After he said this, Bai Qingqing smiled like a flower. It was as if all the ice and snow had melted. She had an alluring smile on her face. “I believe you, but I really have nothing I need your help with. I just want to tell you that if I’m gone someday, no matter what separates us, I hope you will still think of me as a friend.”

After she spoke those words, Zhao Jiuge was stunned and couldn’t understand her. He knew that something was bugging Bai Qingqing, but he still subconsciously nodded. It was just that Zhao Jiuge didn’t know that when he met Bai Qingqing again many years later, everything would change.

After Bai Qingqing saw Zhao Jiuge nod, she had a happy smile on her face and the thing plaguing her heart instantly disappeared. She buried the bitterness deep within her heart and no longer thought about it. Then Bai Qingqing began chatting with Zhao Jiuge about some interesting matters.

Seeing Bai Qingqing return to normal, Zhao Jiuge suppressed his doubts about what she said before and began chatting with her.

The two of them were both at the Foundation Realm, so even when walking, they weren’t moving that much slower than flying. After walking for a while, their spirit force had recovered, so the two of them prepared to blade soar once more. They were still more than 300 kilometers away from Yellow Flower Ridge.