Chapter 200: Letter from Beyond the Clouds

Seeing Pei Ye remembered the conversation at Zhuoyue Tower a few days ago, where the woman said, "It's truly unfortunate that both times my disheveled appearance was seen by Young Hero."

It was indeed so. The image that made him have a preconceived notion in those two chance encounters was perhaps a side that most people would never think of.

The elegance, exquisiteness, gentleness, and stability before his eyes were the main colors of the woman. In everyone's eyes, she was always bright and open, bookish and fragrant, and was the famous jade-like lady of Bowang.

Everyone believed that this figure would never make a rude move, and these lips would never spit out untrue words.

And at this moment, Seeing Pei Ye felt that he had torn open this curtain. Like the previous two times, the woman's heavy, disheveled, and sharp side was once again revealed before him.

Perhaps grief is easier to shed before someone who can empathize.

"... I didn't quite understand, Miss Qi," Seeing Pei Ye looked at her seriously.

"The Zhuoyue Lake matter is neither 'absolutely impossible' nor 'not much hope'," Qi Zhaohua said in a low voice. "In my place, it's actually ten out of ten."

"..."

"Young Hero Pei was right just now. I really can't make him do whatever I want, and he didn't agree to help me do this matter. I am indeed not as good as the Young Master," the woman smiled lightly. "But how could this matter be up to him? Young Hero Pei is also too naive. Luo Sect Master will not easily nod to one-sixth of Seven Serpents' income source."

"..." Seeing Pei Ye looked at the woman blankly.

Qi Zhaohua looked back at him.

"... So that's it." Seeing Pei Ye let out a long breath. "So... the Zhang Junyu and Gu Guang matter mentioned last time, Miss Qi has already investigated it?"

"The facts are clear, what's there to investigate?" Qi Zhaohua looked at Seeing Pei Ye, and then suddenly said indifferently, "Young Hero Pei, don't sow discord either."

Seeing Pei Ye smiled and sighed: "Apologies."

Qi Zhaohua also revealed a smile at him, but this smile was as short-lived as a stone that temporarily pushed away water. Once taken out, that kind of depression surged back immediately.

"Because I only have one saber," the woman lowered her head, her two slender hands already unconsciously twisted together. "I don't know whether to hand it over, or stab it out..."

"So..."

"So, I hope Young Hero Pei can tell me some things."

"Can this help you make a decision?"

"... No. No matter how much Young Hero Pei tells me, I can't make up my mind," Qi Zhaohua said. "I hope Young Hero Pei can tell me things that can directly decide for me—when people are confused, they can be pushed by the outside world." 【200

Seeing Pei Ye was silent for a moment: "What does Miss Qi want to know?"

"The Green Feather Sect's offensive situation against the Seven Serpents, in detail." Qi Zhaohua looked at him.

"... This is very important intelligence."

"If Young Hero Pei recognizes friends surnamed Qi."

"..." Seeing Pei Ye was silent for a while, then sighed with a smile, "Miss Qi's acting is truly too good. For a moment, I also felt it was hard to distinguish truth from illusion."

Qi Zhaohua revealed a smile like light rain, but she didn't speak, just looked at him quietly.

How could you doubt that this smile is fake?

She clearly tore open all the curtains in front of you, revealing the most authentic emotions.

Although there was no pleading, she did indeed reach out her hand to you with painful eyes.

Seeing Pei Ye suddenly realized that the faces the woman revealed at different times actually had no inside or outside, no truth or falsehood. At every moment, her appearance was so trustworthy. Fang Jidao, Qijiao Shang Huaitong, himself... everyone who dealt with her would never doubt that what they saw was the woman's true side.

"... I recognize it." Amidst such spreading thoughts, Seeing Pei Ye restrained his smile, "In the past two days, the Green Feather Sect has basically brought the three streets in the northeast of the prefecture city under control. And before sunset today, the Green Feather Sect will enter the South City. The biggest operation will proceed along with the martial arts competition. After that, the Seven Serpents' forces in the prefecture city will be basically cleared out within half a month."

"... I want to know about the Catching Moon Lake."

"The Catching Moon Lake will be more troublesome. The Wuhu Gang has been entrenched there for a long time, and even without the Seven Serpents' support, it's a bone that takes effort. The Green Feather Sect may have to spend a month or two to dismantle and take it over." Seeing Pei Ye said, "However, we will cut off the connection between the Seven Serpents and the Wuhu Gang within three days, so for the Seven Serpents, this industry on the lake will have nothing to do with them after three days."

"... Three days?"

"Three days."

Seeing Pei Ye said seriously: "And in this matter, the Green Feather Sect will go through official channels via Bai Sibing. The Seven Serpents won't expect it to be this fast. Of course, after losing the Seven Serpents' cave, the Wuhu Gang will be even more chaotic and stubborn, so Miss Qi's plan to divide the lake will definitely not work this year."

"... Although there were indeed some signs these past two days, I didn't expect the Green Feather Sect to be so successful." Like Seeing Pei Ye just now, Qi Zhaohua was stunned for a long time.

"Can you tell me why?" She raised her head to look at Seeing Pei Ye, "In my view, Li Li Zhangmen Luo is still the number one figure in the Bowang Jianghu, and Qijiao Shang Huaitong is still the number one person of the younger generation. Even if the Seven Serpents suffered some damage in some places, their roots are still densely spread throughout Bowang City. I truly don't know what Li Piaoqing relies on to seem capable of destroying the Seven Serpents within a month."

"It won't take a month. Within ten days, the Seven Serpents' industries in Bowang City will be completely severed." Seeing Pei Ye said, "This is the fact I'm telling you, Miss Qi."

"I hope it can clear away some of the fog for you." He added.

"... I guess the word 'fog' is something Young Hero learned in the last ten days."

"... Yes." Seeing Pei Ye smiled helplessly.

Qi Zhaohua smiled broadly, and the gloom on her body completely disappeared, leaving only a light and sharp edge: "Young Hero has completely cleared it for me. This intelligence is truly very important to me."

After speaking, the woman bowed and turned to head toward the scholars.

——————————

Seeing Pei Ye walked back. Li Piaoqing was still sitting where she was, aimlessly flipping through the "General Theory."

When Seeing Pei Ye sat down, the young girl closed the book and pushed it back in front of him: "What did you talk about?"

"She was probing me for intelligence on the Green Feather Sect."

Li Piaoqing smiled: "Does she think you're the same as Young Master Fang?"

Then she sighed again: "Qijiao Shang Huaitong doesn't know how to deceive, yet even a person as bright and clear as the Qi Qi Jushi is willing to be his vanguard."

"Yeah, she looked quite pitiful, so I told her."

"?"

"Hahaha."

Li Piaoqing glared at him, only thinking the young man was joking. She pointed toward the literary field. Seeing Pei Ye looked along her finger and saw Qi Zhaohua walk up to Qijiao Shang Huaitong. The man asked two questions with a smile, pinched the woman's arm, seemed to feel her clothes were too thin, and draped the cloak in his hand over the woman.

"You see, he is deliberately showing his intimacy with the Qi Qi Jushi in front of everyone." The young girl said, "Because the Qi Qi Jushi's reputation is too good, by binding himself to her, the name Qijiao Shang Huaitong also becomes lofty and pure."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded slowly.

"This is the difficult part today." The young girl sighed, "The Luzhou Poetry Society is, after all, Qi Qi Jushi Qi's home field. With her wholehearted support, it's very difficult for anyone's reputation to surpass Qijiao Shang Huaitong's today."

"No matter, it's just 'fame'." Seeing Pei Ye comforted her and picked up the book again.

But this time, it was pressed down by the girl's hand: "Don't read yet, go play with everyone for a while."

"Ah?" Seeing Pei Ye looked up in a daze, only to see the Green Feather Sect members already sitting tightly in a circle, more than a dozen heads huddled together, chatting and shouting happily.

Looking through the gaps, two hands were pressed together, and the sound of continuous collisions kept coming out. It turned out the disciples were truly unable to resist the itch to try, and someone had suggested starting to play finger-sword.

And there were indeed several hopeful gazes looking over constantly—who wouldn't want to see a sword path genius who could kill a seventh-life practitioner with a third-life cultivation reveal his skills?

Don't you want to? Don't you want to? Or don't you want to?

Anyway, I do.

If it weren't for the facts being right here, and if it weren't for the Junior Sister's golden words, who would believe such a ghostly thing?

Unfortunately, everyone had been expectant and curious for two days, and now that the person was finally in front of them, he was too focused and hardworking, and seemed to have some airs, just leaning quietly under the tree without releasing the book. Except for the Young Li Li Zhangmen, everyone was a bit afraid to talk to him.

But the more he didn't make a move, the more everyone's heart itched.

"Hmm." Seeing Pei Ye also realized his lack of sociability. He looked hesitantly at the book in his hand and turned his head. The young girl was looking at him with a pleading expression.

Seeing Pei Ye then smiled apologetically and closed the book: "Sorry, did I make you lose face a bit?"

The young girl burst into laughter: "There's no such thing. They just think a genius should be different, they just really want to see your high-level moves."

"I truly completely forgot about this matter." Seeing Pei Ye sighed and patted the book in his hand, "I should have read it carefully at all times within a month, but now I have to finish it within seven days."

Li Piaoqing tilted her head and smiled: "I've never seen you look so studious before. Being two days late is just being two days late."

Seeing Pei Ye sighed, stood up, and patted his bottom: "This can't be late."

The two came to the circle tightly surrounded by the Green Feather Sect disciples. As more than a dozen heads raised up, a burst of exclamations immediately sounded. More than a dozen people moved their bottoms one after another to make room for the young man, which was almost chaotic for a moment.

Seeing Pei Ye clasped his fists repeatedly to accept this enthusiasm. However, after sitting down in the cleared space, he saw the two people who had just been sparring also stop, and face after face, seemingly shining with light, looked over at him in unison.

Seeing Pei Ye truly felt a bit like sitting on pins and needles, and raised his head to look at the young girl for help.

"Genius Pei is relatively shy. Everyone just continue playing in order. He came late, so it doesn't matter if he's ranked last." Li Piaoqing also sat cross-legged on the grass with a smile, "If everyone is too enthusiastic, Genius Pei will be scared away again."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, yes. I'm a country bumpkin from Fenghuai, I haven't seen much finger-sword, so I just came to join in the fun. Senior brothers and sisters don't need to mind me, I'm not any genius, and my sword technique attainments are quite shallow."

With this, the disciples dispelled the misunderstanding about him having "airs." They looked at each other, and instead, once again saw the same exclamation in each other's eyes—this is the humility of a genius.

In any case, this posture of sitting cross-legged and smiling along truly made the disciples feel much more intimate, and the two who had been fighting halfway through continued.

It was nothing more than moves picked from the two chapters of "Green Light" and "Jade Shadow." Since the moves had no superiority or inferiority, the outcome depended entirely on the quality of the swordsman. Seeing Pei Ye also watched with great interest. Many small techniques and skills specifically for finger-sword he had never seen before. The only pity was that the sword path levels of the two sparring parties were indeed not high, and many sword moves were not actually fully understood. What they performed was not "discarding the form to keep the intent," but "seeming to be, yet not."

If strictly following the standards mentioned by the young girl that day, they were actually not qualified to play finger-sword, or rather, this was just playing for fun, and it didn't count as true sword-sparring.

But anyway, everyone was fighting energetically and watching energetically, so it was quite happy.

"We were purely sparring before, but if we play according to victory or defeat like this, there are some rules." The young girl beside him tilted her head and said, "Simply put, knocking down the opponent's sword is a win. Hitting the center of the palm or the pulse on the wrist is also a one-hit win. Other parts accumulate three hits to win. Also, hitting the finger doesn't count as a win point, but that finger cannot be used again."

"Hmm." Seeing Pei Ye nodded slowly, then suddenly remembered something, his eyes rolled and he said, "Then is this also 'one inch longer, one inch stronger'?"

The young girl saw through his thoughts at a glance and laughed angrily: "No one will play with you like that!"

"Secretly adding half an inch, I don't think anyone will mind." Seeing Pei Ye refused to give up his little cleverness.

Li Piaoqing didn't speak.

"Don't you think? Everyone playing this, we can't all have to compare lengths precisely first, that would be too childish." Seeing Pei Ye poked her and whispered.

"I don't want to talk to you." The young girl looked straight ahead with a blank expression, "And I feel you truly make me lose face a bit."

"..."

It wasn't until the older ones like Shen Yao and Chu Nian came up that this game truly entered the level of sword-sparring, and the scene immediately became much more exquisite and good-looking, with exclamations and cheers rising from time to time.

In the end, Shen Yao defeated three senior brothers in succession and won the first place in this round with two hits to the heart.

Then this older woman looked at Seeing Pei Ye and Li Piaoqing with a smile. Li Piaoqing spread her hands: "I sat down the latest, so I'm ranked behind Seeing Pei Ye."

Seeing Pei Ye chuckled: "Then I'll go."

However, when he reached into the small bag he was carrying, he was stunned, and pulled his hand back somewhat embarrassedly: "I forgot to bring my finger-sword."

That was the one Li Piaoqing gave him that day, embedded with iron in wood. The young man didn't have the habit of wearing this fresh gadget as an ornament—in fact, he didn't have the habit of wearing any ornaments at all, so he just kept it properly in his parcel and didn't put it in this small bag he carried with him.

"Use mine, use mine..." The disciples offered their various small swords one after another. Seeing Pei Ye glanced over, but none of them were honestly using the one issued by the sect. Because although this thing was good, everyone had one, so everyone didn't like to use it much.

Seeing Pei Ye was just feeling a bit dazzled when suddenly a stream of light flashed and stopped in his field of vision.

The chaotic field immediately went quiet.

Everyone blinked, because it appeared too suddenly.

A flowing, moist little white jade sword, as if grown from light and rain, was now quietly floating in front of Seeing Pei Ye.

On its lower belly, a neat little roll of paper was wrapped and tied. It seemed to have been set with a reminder program. After Seeing Pei Ye was stunned for a while and didn't immediately reach out to take it, it flew around Seeing Pei Ye quickly a few times, poked his forehead, and then began to emit a clear whistling sound—

Seeing Pei Ye grabbed it in his hand, terminating its whistling.

It was truly unexpected that it would be so fast. It was only sent out last night, and there was already a reply today.

(End of chapter)