Chapter 11: Soul Searching, Peach Blossoms, and Mistaken Love

                                   

A sword?

Why ask if she knew how to wield one?

Hua Xiangwan was startled by the question and instinctively shook her head. "No."

Xie Changji tightened his grip on the sword, then quickly controlled his emotions.

A moment later, he turned and walked towards the surviving cultivator nearby, as if he hadn't asked the question at all. Xie Changji took a step, and Jiang Yiran finally grasped what had happened. He and Lingbei led the others to Hua Xiangwan and Shen Xiuwen, and began examining them.

Hua Xiangwan's injuries were not serious, and Lingbei bandaged her wound while she observed "Xie Wushuang" across the clearing.

"Xie Wushuang" approached the cultivator, who—unable to move or speak—stared at Xie Changji with fearful eyes filled with desperate pleading.

Hua Xiangwan wanted to hear what he had to say, but to her surprise, "Xie Wushuang" didn't even grant him a chance to speak. He half-crouched and raised his hand to touch the cultivator's eyebrows.

This move startled Hua Xiangwan.

He... wasn't going to interrogate him, but was going to search his mind directly?

Searching the souls of cultivators was an extremely cruel method, with many preferring self-destruction over such violation. Therefore, reputable and righteous sects generally avoided this interrogation method.

As for the more diabolical sects of the Western Territory, such as the Yin-Yang Sect, the Five Poison Sect, and the Puppet Sect, they would first use magic to control the cultivators before conducting a thorough search.

But Xie Wushuang, as a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect—even without considering his compassion—wasn't he worried about the cultivator's self-destruction?

Hua Xiangwan watched in amazement as "Xie Wushuang" closed his eyes, then the cultivator struggled frantically. A moment later, the cultivator's eyes snapped wide open, and with a deafening boom, the cultivator exploded.

However, Xie Changji had already erected a barrier, and everyone saw only a bloody mist filling the translucent shield. Then the barrier fell, and "Xie Wushuang" rose—covered in blood—and with a fluid flick of his hand, sheathed his sword.

His actions stunned the entire audience, and the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples were particularly shaken, staring at "Xie Wushuang" in stunned disbelief.

Xie Changji didn't care about their looks. He said nothing and turned to leave.

Hua Xiangwan saw him pick up his pace and finally reacted. She quickly called out, "Xie Daojun!"

Xie Changji turned around. Hua Xiangwan got straight to the point. "I wonder what Xie Daojun discovered from the interrogation just now?"

"It has nothing to do with you." Xie Changji's tone was flat, dismissive.

Hua Xiangwan frowned. "They're clearly from the Western Territory, coming for me. How could they be unrelated to me?" Hua Xiangwan spoke sternly. "If it's unrelated to me, then it must be related to the Heavenly Sword Sect. Now that we're traveling alongside your sect, I'm afraid it's extremely dangerous. If your sect can't be honest with us, it's better for us to part ways here, lest our disciples be implicated in whatever trouble follows."

Xie Changji ignored Hua Xiangwan's words. He looked at her directly and said, "You can't leave."

"Do you think I'm afraid of them?"

"No," Xie Changji raised his eyes, his tone flat. "I won't let you go."

Hua Xiangwan frowned deeply. Xie Changji calmly instructed the surrounding disciples, "Deal with the bodies. Set up camp by the river ahead."

With that, he walked forward into the valley, disappearing from everyone's sight.

As Xie Changji left, a sharp cough suddenly erupted from behind Hua Xiangwan. Everyone turned back to see Shen Xiuwen vomiting black blood. Black energy surged around him, and it looked as though insects were constantly crawling beneath his skin. He looked extremely terrifying.

Lingbei quickly stepped forward, raised his hand, and poured his spiritual energy into Shen Xiuwen's body. Turning to look at Hua Xiangwan, his tone grave, he said, "It's the Five Poison Sect's Gu magic combined with the Yin-Yang Sect's curse."

Upon hearing this, Hua Xiangwan took a deep breath, not even bothering to continue arguing with "Xie Wushuang."

Shen Xiuwen had been injured protecting her, and saving him was the most important thing. She instructed Lingbei to suppress the Gu poison and curse on Shen Xiuwen, then had him carried to a carriage and began treating him immediately.

The area was unsafe, and no one dared to linger, so they followed Xie Changji forward. Hua Xiangwan, using Lingbei's spiritual power, quickly extracted the Gu from Shen Xiuwen and then applied a layer of healing magic to the curse on his wound.

With the curse in place, Shen Xiuwen's wound would be difficult to heal. Hua Xiangwan had Lingbei bandage Shen Xiuwen's wound, cleaned it thoroughly, and then moved him to her bed to rest.

---

Shen Xiuwen awoke drowsily, vaguely aware of himself lying in bed.

He seemed disoriented for a moment, and the instant he saw Hua Xiangwan beside him, he suddenly realized where he was and attempted to stand up in a hurry.

Hua Xiangwan held him down, knowing what he was thinking, and quickly said, "You are seriously injured. Rest here with me first—don't show off."

"Young Master Hua..." Shen Xiuwen's face was full of anxiety. "No..."

"It's okay if I say it's okay."

Hua Xiangwan held him firmly, her voice calm. "There is no man or woman distinction in front of a doctor. Daojun Shen is injured because of me, so don't mind it. Since Daojun has woken up, I will give you acupuncture. Daojun will circulate your spiritual power yourself, and your injuries will heal faster. After the acupuncture is finished, I will go down to keep watch—Daojun needn't worry."

"But..."

"If Daojun delays the trip because of this little thing," Hua Xiangwan looked up at him, "it will cause trouble for everyone."

After these words, Shen Xiuwen finally stopped protesting.

Hua Xiangwan sat beside him, holding a silver needle, her expression calm. "Lie down. I'll give you acupuncture."

Shen Xiuwen was embarrassed, but he still listened to Hua Xiangwan's words and lay down on the couch. Hua Xiangwan pulled down his clothes for him, and Shen Xiuwen buried his reddening face in his elbows.

Hua Xiangwan knew that he was embarrassed. When she gave acupuncture to Xie Changji for the first time, Xie Changji had been like this too. He'd been even more shy.

At that time, she had still been ignorant. While giving acupuncture, she had also commented on Xie Changji's figure. In the end, Xie Changji had started to struggle.

Fortunately, she had possessed a high level of cultivation at that time, and she'd held him down firmly, not letting him move at all.

Fortunately, she was now a mature female cultivator who knew how to care for others. Knowing that Shen Xiuwen was embarrassed, she deliberately started a conversation to make him relax.

"Thank you, Shen Daojun, for saving me today, and for sending me the food today. Thank you for your trouble."

Her voice was calm, which made Shen Xiuwen relax considerably. He blushed and whispered, "It's my duty, and the food..."

Shen Xiuwen started to speak, but suddenly remembered something, paused, and said nothing more.

Hua Xiangwan looked up at him with mild curiosity. "Shen Daojun?"

"Oh, nothing." Shen Xiuwen came back to his senses and whispered, "The food didn't take much time."

"That's still trouble for you on my behalf. You take care of me like this, but I still implicate you. I feel truly sorry."

Hearing this, Shen Xiuwen didn't respond immediately. After a moment, he seemed apologetic and whispered, "It's not really an implication."

Hua Xiangwan said nothing. She dropped the needle on Shen Xiuwen's back.

Not an implication. This was just a matter concerning the Heavenly Sword Sect. Something had happened that had drawn both the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Western Territory to this area.

Perhaps Qin Yunshang had come because of this.

Shen Xiuwen was much easier to extract information from than Xie Wushuang, but she didn't want to press this earnest young man too hard for answers.

She lowered her eyes and changed the subject. "I always thought that Monk Yunlai was kind and benevolent. Why does your Senior Brother Xie take the sin of killing so seriously?"

"I thought..." Shen Xiuwen hesitated, "Young Master would ask more."

Hua Xiangwan smiled when she heard this. She looked up at him. "You can't always stare at a sheep and pluck its wool. How could I be as bad as you think?"

Shen Xiuwen couldn't help laughing when he heard this. Hua Xiangwan whispered, "Just talk about something insignificant. Xie Wushuang doesn't look like a good person."

"Young Master, you don't know," Shen Xiuwen shook his head, "the lineage of the Sword of Questioning the Heart has guarded the realm of life and death for generations. In the past, the Sword of Questioning the Heart masters always thought about strengthening the seal to prevent evil spirits from entering. But this generation's Lord Qingheng went against this tradition. He entered the realm alone and almost slaughtered the entire realm by himself."

Hearing this, Hua Xiangwan's hand trembled. Shen Xiuwen hissed in pain. Hua Xiangwan quickly pressed the bleeding spot and pretended to be calm. "Lord Qingheng slaughtered the entire realm. What does this have to do with Xie Wushuang?"

"Lord Qingheng's training style has more or less influenced his disciples. Perhaps for this reason, the Wenxin Sword lineage now uses entering dangerous areas as a training method. With so many life-and-death experiences, perhaps the karmic sins of killing are heavy. But rest assured, young master," Shen Xiuwen turned around and smiled, as if to comfort her, "the Tianjian Sect does not kill innocent people. Senior Brother Xie is not good at speaking, but he doesn't have any ill intentions."

Hua Xiangwan said nothing.

Shen Xiuwen was young and inexperienced, but she knew that using life and death as training was common in the Western Territory, but killing to this extent was rare.

Xie Wushuang was like this, so what about Xie Changji, who had slaughtered an entire world...

When this name appeared in her thoughts, she stopped immediately, not considering it deeply. Lowering her head to perform the acupuncture, she only asked softly, "It's strange that Lord Qingheng is also curious. The Sword of Questioning the Heart has been sealed for so many years. How could he think of going to another world? Isn't he risking his life to go to another world alone?"

"This... I don't know."

Shen Xiuwen thought for a while and hesitated. "But there is a rumor in the Tianjian Sect that Lord Qingheng actually had a wife who fell into the other world that year, so he went to find his wife."

"How could there be such a rumor? Can the Sword of Questioning the Heart be so affectionate?"

Hua Xiangwan found it almost amusing. Shen Xiuwen was embarrassed. "I don't believe it either. After all, if Lord Qingheng was really so affectionate, the Sword of Questioning the Heart would not be able to overcome the tribulation. However, this rumor is spread among my disciples because Lord Qingheng did something before he entered the other world."

"Huh?"

"Before Lord Qingheng entered the world, he personally ordered that the green pines on the mountains of Tianjian Sect be replaced with peach blossoms."

Hua Xiangwan paused, and Shen Xiuwen didn't notice anything unusual, continuing, "Young Master, you have come at the right time. When you arrive at Tianjian Sect, you will see peach blossoms blooming all over the mountains."

"That's perfect," Hua Xiangwan smiled. "I quite like looking at peach blossoms."

She raised her hand to remove the silver needle and instructed Shen Xiuwen, "Rest well. In a couple of days, the curse will be absorbed by my healing spell, and you'll be all right. Don't move for a few days—just stay in the carriage to prevent your wound from reopening."

"Thank you, young master."

"I'll go down to keep watch. Go to sleep."

Hua Xiangwan bid him farewell and rolled up the curtain to exit the carriage.

As she stepped out, she saw someone standing beside it. Hua Xiangwan was startled, then saw it was "Xie Wushuang."

He had changed into his usual blue shirt. Hua Xiangwan glanced at him and saw that he was under a more serious curse than Shen Xiuwen, which would affect the healing of his wounds. His blue shirt was merely a cover for the blood in the night.

Hua Xiangwan subconsciously wanted to ask about his injuries, but remembering their earlier conflict, she stopped herself and nodded. "Thank you, Lord Dao."

Xie Changji responded without saying anything more. Hua Xiangwan walked away. Xie Changji watched her back as she walked to the side and reminded her, "I've set up a barrier by the fire. You'll be safe there."

Hua Xiangwan paused slightly, then nodded in thanks. "Thank you."

Seeing that she didn't want to say anything else, Xie Changji forced himself to look away, turned around and got on the carriage, lifted the curtain and went in to visit Shen Xiuwen.

Shen Xiuwen was in a daze, thinking about something. When he heard Xie Changji enter, he hurriedly attempted to stand. "Lord Dao!"

"Lie down."

Xie Changji ordered. Shen Xiuwen knew that Xie Changji was a man of his word, so he lay down again.

Xie Changji glanced at the wound Shen Xiuwen had treated and inquired about what happened that night. After getting a general understanding of the situation, he nodded. "I understand. You should rest well."

With that, Xie Changji stood up. Seeing that Xie Changji was about to leave, Shen Xiuwen couldn't help but call out, "Lord...Lord!"

Xie Changji turned around and saw Shen Xiuwen's expression flickering. He spoke hesitantly, "Well...if...if Hehuan Palace is sure that it has nothing to do with the matter of Qi Ling, do the elders...do the elders agree with her marriage into the Tianjian Sect?"

"What do you mean?"

Xie Changji spoke, his voice suddenly cold.

Shen Xiuwen gained a little more courage as he spoke. He clutched the quilt tightly and spoke with nervous determination, "Disciple...disciple thinks that Young Master Hua is a good person. If the sect has no objection, disciple...disciple would like to give it a try."

As soon as these words left his mouth, Xie Changji suddenly clenched his sword.

Shen Xiuwen sensed something was amiss. "Lord?"

"You..."

Kunxuzi's warning flashed through his mind. He spoke in a dry voice, "When we get back, ask your master."

Understanding that the sect wasn't completely denying it, Shen Xiuwen felt relieved. He smiled. "Lord is right. I'll report this to my master when I get back."

"As long as our master agrees," Shen Xiuwen lowered his eyes, a hint of gentleness in them, "I'm willing to go to the Western Territory with Young Master Hua."

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