Chapter 249: Hearing the Fragrance of Lotus Roots in the Dark

Banxia found it very strange; why would Liu Xia leave all by himself without even saying a word? If she hadn't come out to fetch water and seen him carrying his pack, she wouldn't even have known he was gone or where he had gone.

It wasn't that Banxia cared about Liu Xia, but she was afraid that if Elder Chengxin asked about the whereabouts of his disciple later, she wouldn't know how to answer.

But strange as it was, Banxia had no intention of chasing after him—who could blame her when Liu Xia had been acting so weird lately?

Besides, how could a poor farm girl like her understand the fickle whims of a young master from a wealthy family? Let him be!

But the trouble was that the Eight Trigrams Plate at her waist began to spin for no reason, whistling as it turned, making Banxia feel restless and irritable.

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Banxia helplessly picked up the Eight Trigrams Plate, waited for it to stop, and saw that it had revealed an ominous hexagram.

This put Banxia in a difficult position; she furrowed her brows, her expression shifting uncertainly.

According to the hexagram, Liu Xia was likely in danger, but Banxia truly did not want to get involved in Liu Xia's affairs.

Just as Banxia decided not to meddle and prepared to return to her room after fetching water, the Eight Trigrams Plate flashed with a spiritual light, as if urging her on.

Banxia hesitated in the corner for a long time, her knuckles turning white from gripping the basin, until she finally compromised.

Fine, fine, we are fellow disciples after all; I will save you once, and consider it a fulfillment of our bond!

However, what Banxia did not expect was that Liu Xia's pace was so fast; she had only hesitated for a moment, and by the time she chased after him, he was nowhere to be seen.

This place was close to Cangzhou City; could he have gone home to visit his family?

Thinking this, Banxia felt it made sense, so she followed her memory and headed toward Cangzhou City.

Banxia rarely went out, and with the Eight Trigrams Plate showing no reaction, she took many wrong turns along the way and had to ask for directions for a long time before finally finding the Inspector's Mansion.

But to her surprise, the gate of the Inspector's Mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, as if there were some happy occasion.

Could it be that Liu Xia was in such a rush because he was coming back to get married? But he had previously made such a scene at home, determined to cultivate the Dao; why would he want to get married now?

Could it be that he regretted his decision?

If that were the case, then there was no need to worry about him anymore; she figured the ominous sign shown by the Eight Trigrams Plate earlier must have referred to this.

Forget it, forget it; it is better to tear down a temple than to destroy a marriage.

If he insisted on getting married, could she stop him? Let him be!

Banxia made up her mind to ignore it and turned to leave, but as she turned, she saw Lingxiang and Xiaobai looking at her with smiles on their faces.

This gave Banxia a fright; she clutched her chest and muttered, "Did these two float over? Why didn't they make a sound?"

Wait! How did the two of them get here?

Lingxiang did not offer much explanation, only smiling and waving at Banxia.

Banxia did not know what Lingxiang wanted to do, but she figured there must be a reason, so she leaned in to listen, but what she heard shocked her greatly.

"Such and such, this and that..."

A palm wind struck, whistling through the air, heading straight for Liu Xia's face. Liu Xia hurriedly engaged his waist, leaned backward, and narrowly dodged it.

After flipping a few times and standing steady, he didn't expect the person to press the attack again with another palm strike, this time aimed at Liu Xia's chest.

Liu Xia dodged calmly while feeling shocked and suspicious.

His eldest sister, Liu Lanyin, was a woman, so his mother had not agreed to let his father teach her martial arts; therefore, the person before him was definitely not his eldest sister. Since this person had martial arts skills, there was no need to be polite; he would capture her first and then ask about his eldest sister's whereabouts.

Thinking this, Liu Xia dodged another move from the attacker, then turned and threw a punch straight at the person's lower abdomen; the speed of the punch was so fast that the sound of shifting joints could be heard.

He had assumed this person was just a practitioner with some mundane martial arts, but he didn't expect the person to see through the weight of his punch; before his fist could even get close, the person had already retreated.

Liu Xia frowned, sensing that this person was not simple.

He had thought his opponent was just a mundane martial artist, but in order to win in one move, he had infused that punch with a trace of Spirit Power, which was why the speed was so fast; he hadn't expected the person to see through it at a glance.

It seemed this person was definitely no ordinary character.

It was just that he didn't have the Huasheng Sword with him, nor any other weapons, so he could only compete with his bare hands.

Fortunately, Chengxin Zhenren had the foresight; when Liu Xia was training with him, Chengxin Zhenren required Liu Xia not to rely too much on weapons and to strengthen his body-tempering and Body Movement, so during that time, Liu Xia's unarmed combat skills had also improved.

After all, Body Movement and Martial Dao were the foundation of an artifact cultivator.

Since that person was also an Inner Cultivation practitioner, there was no need to be polite.

Liu Xia held his breath and focused, secretly circulating Spirit Qi throughout his body, gathering it into his fist, waiting for the opponent to strike while remaining still. But for some reason, there was no movement from the person for a long time.

It was strange to say; although the person was also waiting motionlessly, for some reason, they bumped into something, and with a clatter, porcelain fell all over the floor.

Seeing this, Liu Xia curled his lips and threw a punch in the direction of the sound.

In a confrontation, the one who strikes first is often the most likely to reveal a flaw, but since the opponent had already been exposed, he would strike first to gain the advantage.

The fist was wrapped in Spirit Qi, making the strike look extremely fierce, and it flew straight into the darkness amidst the rushing wind.

However, unexpectedly, the punch felt like it had hit cotton; not only was it soft, but he didn't feel like he had hit anything at all.

And just as Liu Xia wanted to retract his punch, he found that his fist seemed to be caught by something and could not move at all. At this moment, a hand wrapped around her arm like a snake.

"Soft Inch Silk-Entangling Hand!" Liu Xia couldn't help but exclaim.

No wonder the punch felt like it had hit cotton; it was the Soft Inch technique. But this Soft Inch Silk-Entangling Hand was clearly the technique of Uncle-Master Donghui; why would the person in front of him know this move?

Could it be?

As if to confirm Liu Xia's thoughts, after hearing him speak, the person also opened their mouth in surprise:

"Liu Xia?"

It was actually Banxia! But how could she be in his eldest sister's room?

Liu Xia was full of confusion, but at this moment, a knock came from outside the door.

"Miss? Has something happened? Why is there such a loud noise in the room?" It was the maid of the eldest daughter of the Liu family.

"No... nothing..." Banxia hurriedly covered Liu Xia's mouth and replied, "I just woke up and was thirsty, so I got up to pour some water."

But this reply did not send the maid outside away; she asked again, "The servant heard something break; did you drop a Tea Cup, Miss? Don't hurt yourself, I'm coming in to clean it up."

The maid said she was going to push the door open, only to find it wouldn't open at all.

Liu Xia couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief—it was a good thing he had bolted the door when he came in. He hurriedly wanted to tell Banxia, but found that her hand was still covering his mouth, and that hand...

It actually smells quite fragrant...

It is just like a summer pond, the fragrance deep within the lotus flowers.

"It doesn't matter, the door is bolted, I have already laid down, cleaning tomorrow is the same, hurry back and rest!" Ban Xia said hurriedly.

Hearing these words, the maid outside the door acknowledged, then left.

Ban Xia waited for a long time, and after confirming there was no one else outside the door, realized she was still covering Liu Xia's mouth, and hurriedly let go.

Fortunately, the two had not activated Spirit Vision, otherwise Liu Xia would certainly have seen the unnatural expression on Ban Xia's face.

But Liu Xia's next words made Ban Xia even more flustered.

"You... smell so good..."