But the long-fostered peace was one day broken by Zhao Weiwei.

One afternoon, she hunted her uncle down and said loud enough for everyone in their surroundings to hear, "When are you going to grow some b.a.l.l.s?"

Hei Xiang burst out into laughter, unable to control herself as she dropped to the floor.

Li Zheng did a little better at holding together his composure but his shoulders were shaking and he couldn't stop smiling even as he scolded, "Zhao Weiwei, where did you learn those words? What will your mother think?"

Zhao Weiwei was a cheeky little girl and shrugged, "What if Mother was the one who taught me?"

Hei Xiang climbed back up to her feet and was trying to find her breath again. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she looked between Zhao Fanyu and his little niece, Xiao Weiwei, "Wei'er, shouldn't you take your poor uncle's feelings into consideration? Look at him now, he's frozen!"

Zhao Fanyu was indeed standing a little stiffly but eventually, he spoke up, "No. My niece is right."

The three surrounding him all paused and watched him expectantly, "I do need to be bolder," and with such a declaration, he turned around to face Hei Xiang and took her hands into his.

"What-" she blinked dumbly at him, her body tensing.

"Hei Xiang, I really like you!" He confessed and got a squeak and a punch in the face as a response.

Li Zheng could no longer help himself and pressed his face against the nearest wall to hide his laughter while Zhao Weiwei stood there clapping, though it was uncertain who she was rooting for.

No one knew then that Zhao Fanyu would be as persistent in love as he was in alchemy and continued to shower Hei-guniang with endless gifts and love letters.

And each time she would turn him down and run away with a secret smile hidden behind her hand, blush in her cheeks.

It was a time when Zhao Fanyu was just a distant relative of the mighty late sect leader and had no grander goal or ambitions than winning the heart of the girl he liked.

It was a time when Hei Xiang counted among the plethora of Wayward Wind Disciples, fanning gossip when she wasn't busy running away from Zhao Fanyu.

It was a time when Zhao Weiwei was more interested in her uncle's unsuccessful love life than all the scriptures and ma.n.u.scripts she needed to study. Instead, she spent her time with Hei-jiejie and found out about the correct usage of the terms s.h.i.+p, gong, and shou.

And Li Zheng would shake his head unknowing to the fact he was part of one of these s.h.i.+ps, with Elder Mu of all people no less. And it was only because Hei Xiang was trying to get back at him for the time he told her in private that he knew she liked all of Zhao Fanyu's attention.

It was a time when they all believed that Hei Xiang was just Hei-guniang, a young female disciple like any other.

How wrong had they been.

…

Zhao Fanyu's arm collided with Hui Moxiang's staff. His limbs were coated with a golden light and he did not flinch or tremble under Hui Moxiang's terrifying strike. She shuddered at the dead eyes that stared at her, unwavering and unmoving. Without love.

He took a step closer to counterattack but Hui Moxiang was a slight bit faster and twirled her staff up into a block.

Zhao Fanyu did not back down and struck her with a series of relentless attacks until the two were locked in a stalemate.

"I never wanted things to end this way," Hui Moxiang confessed. "Zhao-gege…"

But this Zhao-gege did not respond and was only focused on exchanging blows. Hui Moxiang wished their reunion wasn't like this. What choice did she have? All his suffering began at her hands.

Li Zheng clenched his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to charge in and help his s.h.i.+xiong but he could hardly keep up with their movements. He cursed and yelled at the two cultivators that stood behind him, "Can't you do something about this?"

Yuan Xuelan clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah, don't rush me!" He had neither love nor hatred for either this demon nor Zhao Fanyu and didn't particularly feel the need to jump in unnecessarily. That didn't mean he was planning to let these suspicious people off easily either.

The younger cultivator reached into his robes and pulled out more of his precious stock of talismans. He didn't want to be wasting all his best spells on this trash but there was no other choice right now. There was no way for him to safely engage between those two fighting at the speed that they were. Yuan Xuelan didn't like to admit it but he wouldn't be able to maintain any finesse in order to keep up.

The talismans released from his fingertips danced in the air before honing in on Hui Moxiang. She backed away from her dance with Zhao Fanyu and twirled her staff against the glowing talisman. A few of them stuck to her staff instantly made it feel heavier than it was. "What the heck!" She squealed before channeling her spiritual energy through her weapon and burning the talismans off with a burst of power.

Liu Sumeng would not stay idle either. He had taken his time to allow his right arm to heal and strengthen again at least enough to grip his sword hilt with appropriate power. And while he felt like there was still something off about this Hui Moxiang character, Liu Sumeng decided that action first and words later would be the better tactic for this situation.

With Mingshui raised he charged into the fray, catching Hui Moxiang's staff to give a clearer opening to Zhao Fanyu.

Hui Moxiang actually wanted to cry.

Three against one! How was any of this fair?! And she only showed herself in the first place because she had caught sight of Zhao Fanyu on the upper level of the temple… clearly it'd been a mistake!

Barely able to defend herself against a hefty barrage of attacks, Hui Moxiang was driven into a corner.

But Liu Sumeng felt a chill down his spine and it wasn't from the demon he was facing. When his sword cut too closely to any critical arteries, the Ivory Sword Saint felt as those Sect Leader Zhao's eyes were on him instead.

He wasn't wrong, in fact, he might have baited a thrust of his sword in conjunction with one of Xuelan's talismans. The Ivory Sword Saint was only slightly faster than Zhao Fanyu who deviously aimed an attack toward his pressure point.

Liu Sumeng backed off, giving the Wayward Wind Sect Leader the opportunity to step in close, one hand grabbing Hui Moxiang's wrist to gain control. She was not ready to give in so easily and wrestled against his strength, using her feet to try to kick him off balance.

But Zhao Fanyu had more savagery in him than anyone could have imagined and with his free hand, he grappled at her robes!

Hui Moxiang was shocked into a startled cry, her movements suddenly panicked and caused her to lose balance. The two of them tumbled to the ground and rolled around like fighting cats.

"What are you-- Get off me! Get off! Zhao-gege!!" It was difficult to watch and difficult to tell just who was the villain and the victim in the situation.

Hui Moxiang's clothes were torn and in a panicked shock her body enveloped in light and she turned into that large gray raven once more. Uncaring for the damages she might further sustain, the demon rammed into the nearest window and broke free of the confines of the temple.

But who could blame her!? Her clothes were in shambles left torn on the temple floor, beneath Zhao Fanyu's hands. He only sighed a little when picking himself off the ground.

"What the heck," Yuan Xuelan's face twisted in distaste, "that was a little excessive."

Zhao Fanyu ignored the criticism and rose to his feet and Liu Sumeng quietly wondered if this young sect leader was going insane. But he noticed that the Wayward Wind sect leader was holding a small bloodied pouch in his hand.

Was he after the key?

Though it seemed weird that the sect leader wouldn't have his own key.

"Ge!" Li Zheng snapped out of his stupor and rushed over to Zhao Fanyu.

Who would have guessed that the Wayward Wind sect leader was already way out of his mind and punched his s.h.i.+di in the gut when he approached. Li Zheng coughed and crumbled to the floor.

Liu Sumeng and Yuan Xuelan reacted immediately.

The Ivory Sword Saint pointed his sword at Zhao Fanyu before rus.h.i.+ng in between the sect leader and younger fallen man, protecting Li Zheng.

Yuan Xuelan's approach was more aggressive and shot a series of talismans at Zhao Fanyu before drawing Silei from its sheath, "What the heck, you crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

But Zhao Fanyu was not dumb enough to run into Silei's destructive power and flexed his fingers. Sunlight that spilled through the windows caught on long thin strands that curled around Yuan Xuelan.

He clicked his teeth and all it took was one blazing swing to burn away the strings.

A similar attack distracted Liu Sumeng and he simply wound the offending strings around his sword before cutting them all in half with ease.

Still, it was enough to buy Zhao Fanyu enough time to use his strings to activate a switch hidden in one of the pillars. The room was filled with an odd smell and they were instantly hit with a wave of dizziness.

"d.a.m.n you!" Yuan Xuelan cursed and swung Silei even as his world blurred and swayed. But his attack struck wide and didn't singe a single fiber or hair on Zhao Fanyu's body.

Liu Sumeng was faster to react and took a cleansing pill before the smell could take on full effect. But the pill as well, needed a little time to fully digest so he wasn't able to catch up when Zhao Fanyu made a run for the next staircase.

And just when he was about to chase, Li Zheng called out through grit teeth, "Wait! The poison isn't that dangerous. Don't move and it will wear off quickly…"

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