A delicate scolding accompanied a palm strike that cut through the air.
Lin Yan used… a palm technique unseen in the martial world. Her palm wind was like smoke and mist, scattering and enveloping, leaving no place to hide.
But, the attacks that ordinary people couldn't avoid, Feng Bujue could.
His way of dodging was also very simple… he just leaned backward and fell, a free fall… dropping outside the courtyard wall.
"Wow… so there was a point to climbing over the wall instead of using the gate?"
"I thought he was just being whimsical, purely trying to show off by making an entrance from a high place…"
"Actually… not necessarily. Maybe his original intention was just to show off, and this is just improvisation… conveniently using the terrain."
"Who knows… are you sure this wasn't part of his plan? He's Feng Bujue, after all…"
"Yeah… he's Feng Bujue…"
In the eyes of the viewers watching the livestream, Brother Jue had obviously become somewhat demonized; no one could guess what he was thinking, and no one could say for sure whether his every move was spontaneous or calculated… in a sense, a player like Feng Bujue was simply a nightmare for those professional analysis teams.
"Eunuch Cao, I don't understand this at all~" A few seconds later, Feng Bujue's voice rang out again from outside the courtyard wall; this time, he came directly through the gate, walking and saying, "Back then, you also helped deal with Lin Chang… could it be… you hid this from Miss Lin?"
"What do you think?" Cao Qin asked with a smile.
"Hmm… it seems you didn't need to do that…" Feng Bujue nonchalantly walked past the group of martial arts experts who were sitting in meditation to heal their injuries, continuing to talk to Cao Qin.
"That's right, there was no need…" Cao Qin continued, "The first day I met Lin Yan, I told her everything that happened in Cangling Town back then, including the cause and effect of the whole thing, and what her father had done. The rest… I left it to her to judge for herself."
"That's strange…" Feng Bujue then walked to the front of the group, standing next to his teammates and Yuan Qi, "Since you know everything…" He looked at Lin Yan and asked, "Why didn't you also seek revenge on Eunuch Cao?"
"Foster father was only fulfilling his duties, and… he didn't directly attack my father." Lin Yan replied, "The ones who did… were your Broken Sword Teahouse." As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Yuan Qi and the experts from various sects, "And the ones who drove my father, and my whole family, to a dead end… were this bunch of so-called 'righteous martial artists, heroic chivalrous men.'"
When she said those last eight words, Lin Yan's tone was obviously laced with sarcasm and resentment. Her "hatred" for Feng Bujue was incredibly pure, but her hatred for these people… also carried a strong sense of contempt.
"Ha! Hahahaha…" Hearing this, Feng Bujue was slightly silent for half a second, and then… he laughed loudly.
Friends who were familiar with Brother Jue knew that this kind of laughter was probably a signal that a logical violation was about to arrive…
"What a joke!" Feng Bujue put his hands on his hips and shouted loudly at Lin Yan, "According to you, I didn't directly attack your father either~" He spread his hands, "Your father was killed by one of my teahouse guests with a super long-range hidden weapon, what's it got to do with me?"
"You said it yourself, he was killed by your teahouse guest, how can it not be your business?" Lin Yan questioned.
"Nonsense! She's her, I'm me, whoever killed him, go find them~" Feng Bujue crossed his arms in front of his chest, replying very smugly, "This is obvious… it's like, the imperial court has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and one of those soldiers commits a crime, then of course you go and arrest him. Are you going to blame the Grand General because one soldier committed a crime?"
"You…" Lin Yan wanted to refute, but she couldn't find any loopholes in his words, so she could only shout, "...This is not the same thing at all!"
"Then tell me how it's different?" Feng Bujue asked.
"This…" Lin Yan's face turned red, the more anxious she got, the less she could explain it, so she could only continue, "Then you tell me… what about the person who killed my father back then?"
"Dead." Feng Bujue replied without thinking, as if he had been waiting for the other party to ask, "It's been more than forty years, the person has been dead for a long time."
"Impossible!" Lin Yan replied, "Do you think I don't know that the Broken Sword Teahouse's martial arts have the effect of eternal youth?"
"Yes, they do." Feng Bujue nodded, "But I didn't say she died of old age, did I? Can't people have accidents?"
"Nonsense! Who would believe you!" Lin Yan said angrily.
"Believe it or not." Feng Bujue said, looking at Cao Qin again, "Eunuch Cao, you can testify, among the few teahouse guests I brought this time, is the Little Ling girl from back then here?"
"Hmm…" Cao Qin's attitude was still consistently calm and objective, "Indeed not."
"See, she's not here." Feng Bujue said, tilting his head.
"Just because she's not here doesn't mean she's dead!" Lin Yan said again.
"Alright~" Feng Bujue shrugged, "If you insist on saying she's still alive, then I have nothing to argue with you about… in this vast land, at the ends of the earth… you have the ability to find her yourself, by the way… do you want me to make you a portrait?"
"Outrageous!" Lin Yan was furious, "You shameless villain, you push the responsibility onto a dead person whenever something happens… what kind of hero are you?"
"We're talking about facts now, not my character." Feng Bujue said, "Besides, I never said I was a hero~" He said to Lin Yan with a smile, "No one has ever said I was a hero~ Didn't you yourself say I was a shameless villain?" He was like this, if someone said one thing, he could immediately say three things in return, and he could say them with reason and evidence, "But even if I am a shameless villain, you have to understand one thing… I didn't kill your father."
"Despicable!" Lin Yan let out another delicate cry, she really couldn't defeat Brother Jue in words, "Regardless of whether you killed him or not, I want you to die today!"
When a person's obsession runs deep enough… right and wrong, true and false… are no longer important to her.
More than forty years of hatred, more than forty years of persistence, that desire for revenge has accompanied Lin Yan throughout her life. Denying all of this now is the same as denying her entire life.
So, she was never able to be persuaded from the beginning…
Feng Bujue, of course, also knew this very well, he said these words… actually just to disturb Lin Yan's mind, to make this Boss that he was destined to face easier to deal with.
"Alliance Master Yuan!" As the battle was about to begin, Feng Bujue said loudly, "Be sure to help my teahouse guests! I'll deal with Yama!"
After saying that, Brother Jue ran away with lightning speed….
His actions were always so unexpected, in this situation, he didn't escape to the vast space outside the manor, but ran towards the interior of Zangxin Manor.
Feng Bujue ran so decisively, so freely… without even looking back.
And Lin Yan… really went to chase him. She was like a moth flying towards the flame, even knowing that the other party was luring her to chase, she was still fearless.
"Hmph… I won't let you succeed…" Two seconds later, Xu Huaishang was the first to react, she immediately turned around and leaped out, wanting to chase after the two of them.
However!
At that moment, a figure flashed out like lightning.
A cold, substantial killing intent bloomed instantly, blocking Xu Huaishang's path.
"Sorry." Ruo Yu said with a serious face, looking at Xu Huaishang a few meters away, "I can't let you pass."
Xu Huaishang's footsteps stopped there…
In just an instant, she knew… the person in front of her would not let her successfully bypass her.
"This is a matter between me and Feng Bujue." Xu Huaishang looked at Ruo Yu and said in a deep voice.
"Right now, I'm standing between you." Ruo Yu's answer was quite subtle.
"He owes me a victory." Xu Huaishang said again.
"I know…" Ruo Yu said, already putting her hand on the hilt of her sword, "...So I'll pay it back for him."
Their communication was very brief, even making others feel confused, but the two parties themselves seemed to have reached some kind of consensus…
In the next second, two earth-shattering auras bloomed in a whirling manner, forming a confrontational stance.
Sword intent: cold, stern,沉 (chen - deep, profound).
Saber intent: 凌 (ling - sharp), fierce, 烈 (lie - intense).
When people came back to their senses, the area of more than ten meters around the two people had been covered in an aura, as if even a fly or a fallen leaf could not enter this range.
Chi——
After a few breaths, a suddenly falling withered leaf floated into this array of blades and swords, and the sound of it being torn apart by the invisible aura also kicked off the prelude to this duel of blades and swords…
…………
On the other hand, deep inside Zangxin Manor.
Feng Bujue was running quite fast, perhaps many people have forgotten (I haven't, really), one of the effects of [Treading the Void] is "maximum running speed increased by two times."
So, in less than three minutes, he ran several kilometers, winding and turning, to the depths of the manor.
The area occupied by Zangxin Manor is quite large, not counting Yama herself… each of her maids also has her own house, and there are also many functional buildings or areas, such as kitchens, study rooms, alchemy rooms, weaving workshops, and even hot springs… all of these are built within the manor.
In addition, there are many courtyards and gardens with different scenery in this manor (but no farmland or pastures, because the farming and animal husbandry work in Zangxin Valley are done by those who live in the village, and they will regularly send crops and slaughtered fresh animal meat into the manor), and the design of each courtyard can be called a masterpiece, with ingenious craftsmanship.
At the moment, where Feng Bujue arrived was a cherry blossom garden.
"Hmm… I've run so far, it should be about right." Finally, under the pink and white cherry blossoms, Feng Bujue stopped running.
Lin Yan also chased to the vicinity in a few seconds, and leaped in front of Brother Jue, confronting him.
"What? You lured me here… what's the intention?" Lin Yan had also heard about Feng Bujue's cunning, so she asked directly.
"Heh…" Feng Bujue smiled, "Don't worry, I don't have any conspiracies. The reason I lured you here is because… although your martial arts are high, you obviously don't know how to measure things like Eunuch Cao. If I fought you directly there, it would inevitably affect the people around me."
"Liao Head Feng… is really kind." Lin Yan had calmed down a lot of the anger she had before, and now she coldly satirized, "But is it a little late for you to pretend to be benevolent and righteous now?"
"Ha! There are only you and me here, what's the point of pretending." Feng Bujue spread his hands and said, "Pretending for you alone? What am I trying to get?"
"Maybe I'll spare your life because of your 'benevolence'?" Lin Yan replied.
"Heh… do you believe that yourself?" Feng Bujue asked with a smile.
"Heh…" Lin Yan also smiled, a cold smile, "Okay… I don't believe it."
"Since I couldn't convince you with 'facts', it's even more of a joke to move you with 'benevolence'." Feng Bujue suddenly looked solemn again, and continued, "I can imagine… after your father died, your family would have encountered quite tragic changes. I also know very well… despair and sadness will lead to the darkness in people's hearts, and ironically… that darkness that dwells in the heart can often make people stronger."
Brother Jue was extremely infectious when he said this kind of seemingly true but not true chuunibyou lines, he could even make those who didn't fit his description have a feeling of "Eh? I seem to be like this."
"I don't know how you came to regard 'kill Feng Bujue, avenge my father' as a life goal." After pausing for two seconds, Feng Bujue continued, "But I think… after you recognized this point, you lived a much easier life. This idea became your way to vent, your motivation to live, and the root of your strength." He looked at Lin Yan calmly, looking at each other, "To this day, you are strong enough, your mind is mature enough, and you also have peerless martial arts… a natural you, there are other yearning too." He raised one arm and made a "please" gesture, "It's time to erase the words 'revenge' from your heart… only by killing me can you start the next stage of your life."
At this point, Lin Yan's expression had changed several times.
After a moment of silence, she spoke again: "If you said these things to make me waver… you succeeded."
"Heh…" Feng Bujue smiled without saying a word.
"But…" Lin Yan said, her eyes narrowed, "Even if you are right, I have no choice!"
After saying that, her figure moved, rushing straight towards Feng Bujue with a speed that broke the sound barrier!
Lin Yan received Cao Qin's true inheritance since she was a child, and was blessed with countless divine skills. In addition, her talent was also one in a hundred years, and her martial arts cultivation was so high that probably only Cao Qin could surpass her.
This time, she attacked with all her strength, and her speed… was actually three points faster than Brother Jue!
Chapter 1 The Beginning