Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Jealous Rivalry
“Xia Hou Shang, why are you here?”

Gu Qing Yuan asked even though he already knew the answer. He landed directly on Yuan Xiao Peak, stopped at Xia Hou Shang’s side, and glanced at the jade box. A flicker of anger rose in him.

He wasn’t sure whether he was angry at Xia Hou Shang or at Song Wan Ning.

Xia Hou Shang’s eyes darkened. He tightened his grip on the jade box. “I’m just here to check on Wan Ning.”

The moment he said “Wan Ning,” both Song Wan Ning and Gu Qing Yuan froze.

Since when were they close enough for him to call her “Wan Ning”?

Song Wan Ning remembered that Xia Hou Shang had never called her “Junior Sister Song.” He always called her Song Wan Ning, one “Song Wan Ning” after another.

It had always annoyed her.

Suspicion surfaced in her eyes. Had Xia Hou Shang taken the wrong medicine today?

Gu Qing Yuan, on the other hand, darkened at once, his face so grim it could drip water.

Xia Hou Shang wasn’t joking?

When had he started liking Song Wan Ning? How had he never noticed?

“And why are you here?” Xia Hou Shang snapped back, not sparing Gu Qing Yuan either. “Aren’t you with your little disciple?”

His eyes turned sharp, clearly displeased by his friend’s behavior.

He already had someone he loved, and he had even broken off his engagement with Song Wan Ning. Why was he still meddling?

Did he want to hoard every good thing for himself?

Old friends, yet now a faint crack had formed between them. A strange smell of gunpowder began to spread.

“I came to ask Song Wan Ning for the antidote!”

Gu Qing Yuan stated the excuse he had prepared long ago, then looked at Song Wan Ning with a cold face.

“Heh…”

Song Wan Ning laughed in anger.

After saying all that, he still had the nerve to come to her for an antidote?

She really had underestimated how fiercely Gu Qing Yuan loved Ye Chu Xue.

Looks like being too easygoing was not an option.

“Get out. All of you!” Song Wan Ning’s eyes flashed. “An antidote for her? Not unless I’m dead!”

She flashed, and in the next instant she appeared at the entrance of the main hall.

Bang!

The doors slammed shut.

Gu Qing Yuan and Xia Hou Shang were both left outside.

“You did that on purpose!”

Xia Hou Shang knew Gu Qing Yuan too well. He saw through his intentions at a glance.

The hand gripping the jade box tightened again and again. He looked toward the hall several times, but in the end he could only put it away.

Song Wan Ning was in the middle of a temper. No matter what he said now, it would be wrong.

Gu Qing Yuan only kept his usual cool expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He glanced at the tightly shut doors, then turned and left.

Xia Hou Shang was furious. He chased after him and stopped him at the foot of the mountain.

“Gu Qing Yuan, you’re disgusting! Just because your pathetic possessiveness is acting up, you’re trying to stop me from getting close to Song Wan Ning?”

He had seen through Gu Qing Yuan’s little thoughts a long time ago.

Gu Qing Yuan’s expression shifted slightly, his secret struck.

Song Wan Ning’s love for him had run through almost his entire life.

He did not have to love Song Wan Ning, but Song Wan Ning could not stop loving him.

And she absolutely could not be with anyone else!

Gu Qing Yuan said nothing, but Xia Hou Shang suddenly punched him.

“Gu Qing Yuan, I had no idea you were this kind of lowlife!”

Gu Qing Yuan did not hit back. He only lifted his gaze and looked at Xia Hou Shang coldly.

“She won’t like you. Don’t waste your effort!”

Xia Hou Shang threw another punch.

A confident light flashed in Gu Qing Yuan’s eyes.

Song Wan Ning would never fall in love with anyone else!

—

To cure Ye Chu Xue’s poison, the group decided to go to the Medicine King Sect Ruins to search for the Medicine King Sect’s legacy.

After hesitating again and again, Bai Yang still decided to inform Song Wan Ning.

But when he reached the hall, he saw a notice on the door: “In seclusion. Do not disturb.”

Master had gone into seclusion?

Bai Yang froze.

These past few days, he did not even know if he was angry at himself or sulking with Master. He had stubbornly held back and never came to see her.

Now that he finally came, he found that Master had already entered seclusion.

A wave of disappointment rose in him.

He turned to leave, but then he saw Li Ruo walking out with a small basket.

“Eldest Senior Brother!”

Seeing Bai Yang, Li Ruo ran over happily.

“Eldest Senior Brother, you came at the perfect time! I just collected some flower nectar. Master said eating this helps with cultivation!”

She lifted the small basket proudly.

“This is what I prepared to give the three senior brothers.”

The little girl’s face was bright with a smile, her eyes full of expectation.

But Bai Yang remembered how, when he had been badly injured, Master’s eyes had held only this little junior sister.

As if possessed, he lifted his hand and slapped the basket away.

Several small jars rolled across the ground.

Li Ruo froze.

Bai Yang froze too, staring blankly at his own hand.

He actually…

When had he become the kind of person he despised?

Bai Yang’s heart was in turmoil. He threw out a quick “Sorry” and fled.

Li Ruo pressed her lips together, hiding the disappointment in her heart as she picked up the jars.

If they did not want them, then she would eat them all herself.

And she would save even more for Master.

Thinking that way, Li Ruo quickly cheered up.

Only… looking at the tightly shut doors of the main hall, she pouted.

She did not know how long Master would stay in seclusion. She missed Master so much.

—

“Martial Uncle Gu, let’s go!”

An Ze urged anxiously. They had already packed their luggage and were ready to leave for the Medicine King Sect Ruins.

Gu Qing Yuan glanced toward the gates of the Heaven-Questioning Sect. To his surprise, he found himself worrying that during his absence, Xia Hou Shang would go to see Song Wan Ning.

His lips pressed into a tight line, but he said nothing.

At the side, the weak Ye Chu Xue was wrapped in a thick cloak. Only her palm-sized face showed, making her look even more fragile.

The pain in her body tormented her, but what she cared about more was Gu Qing Yuan’s and Bai Yang’s attitude.

These past few days, she often noticed her master drifting off, looking absent-minded.

But no matter how she asked, her master only said he was fine…

At that moment, Lu Nan Feng also asked uneasily, “Eldest Senior Brother, are we really not going to tell Master? She’ll definitely be angry!”

Bai Yang’s eyes were cold as he replied in a low voice, “Master is already in seclusion. By the time we come back, she might not even be out yet.”

So it didn’t matter whether they told her or not.

“Alright then!”

Lu Nan Feng looked a little dejected. This time Master went into seclusion without even leaving them any instructions.

“She’s in seclusion?”

Gu Qing Yuan latched onto those words at once.

When Bai Yang nodded, Gu Qing Yuan’s heart loosened.

“Let’s go. We leave now!”

He immediately took out a spirit boat, brought them aboard, and hurried toward the Medicine King Sect Ruins without a moment’s delay.

On the spirit boat, Ye Chu Xue was wrapped in a thick cloak. Only her palm-sized face showed, making her look even more fragile.

The pain in her body tormented her, but what she cared about more was Gu Qing Yuan’s and Bai Yang’s attitude.

These past few days, Bai Yang and Gu Qing Yuan’s attitude toward Song Wan Ning had clearly changed. In the past, they had hated her presence and did not even want to mention her.

Now, they were unusually sensitive to the name Song Wan Ning.

She hid the disgust in her eyes and bit her lip.

Once the poison was cured, she would find a chance to pay all of this back!

A villain like Song Wan Ning deserved to be carved into a thousand pieces and struck by heavenly lightning!

But as soon as the spirit boat left, a black figure flashed at the gate and vanished again.