Chapter 154. Wang Huan
In the blink of an eye, more than a month quietly passed.
On January 3, at the Tongren Street garrison.
Dusk hung heavy in the sky as goose-feather snowflakes whirled chaotically between heaven and earth, drifting down onto the rooftops of blue tiles and upturned eaves, and onto the flowerbeds that had long since withered into silence.
In the courtyard, a lone figure stood amid the wind and snow.
Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, and it seemed as though a sharp gleam flashed through them.
Over the past month and more, aside from the official duties he could not avoid, he had devoted all his remaining time to cultivation. The progress of both his martial arts had been remarkably swift.
At that moment, the tip of his foot touched the snow, yet it was as though he were stepping upon the crest of boundless waves. His figure shifted and moved, turning and gliding as wind rose with every step. The powdery snow was swept up by his force and surged with the rise and fall of his footwork.
His arms suddenly spread wide, and his palm force tore through the air, intertwining with the wind and snow into a thunderous roar.
Layer upon layer of palm shadows surged forth like rushing rivers, each wave driving the last onward, every wave stronger than the one before. Within the fierceness was hidden a majestic weight, and within the ferocity a grand momentum that flowed on without end.
All the falling snow before him was shattered, turning into clumps of white mist.
“Hoo...”
Xu Yuan slowly drew back his stance and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
That breath lingered without dispersing, turning into a streak of white in the cold air before finally fading after a long while.
With a flicker of thought, he opened the panel.
[Skills: Jade Platform Stance Art (Completion 100%), Thunderclap Fist (Completion 100%), Golden Bell Shield (Minor Mastery 90%), Layered Wave Palm (Minor Mastery 1%)]
[Aptitude: 44 (One in Ten Thousand)]
[Martial Seed (0): Berserk, Paralysis, Rebound Shock]
“So after entering the basics of the Layered Wave Palm, my aptitude still didn’t increase...”
Xu Yuan frowned slightly, then soon relaxed again. “Looks like from now on, I can only look for even higher-level cultivation methods and martial arts.”
But the Shangyang Residence probably did not have any martial arts of a higher tier. And even if it did, outsiders would never be able to get their hands on them.
Just as he was sighing to himself, the courtyard gate was suddenly knocked.
“Battle Overseer Xu, Resident Retainer Gan asks that you come over for a moment.” The voice of a servant came through the wall.
Xu Yuan’s heart stirred.
Could it be that that person was returning?
He tidied himself up, put on an outer robe, and headed toward Gan Ze’s courtyard.
The snow was falling harder and harder, and the world was a vast expanse of white.
Xu Yuan walked through the snow, and before long arrived at that ancient little courtyard.
The arrangement within was still elegant and refined. The ornamental bamboo had bent under the weight of the snow, while the old plum tree had already blossomed with tiny crimson buds that stood out vividly against the white.
Xu Yuan crossed the bluestone path and came to the tea room. The door was left slightly ajar, and a dim yellow candlelight glowed from inside.
He pushed the door open and entered, only to see Gan Ze standing with his hands behind his back before the window, gazing absently at the snowy scene outside.
Sensing someone behind him, Gan Ze slowly turned around and spoke softly. “The Eldest Miss has returned to the Residence ahead of schedule.”
Xu Yuan lifted a brow, though he was not particularly surprised.
Given that Eldest Miss’s way of doing things, she did not seem like someone who would act according to ordinary expectations.
“Then I should prepare to go back?”
At that, Gan Ze finally turned to face him and smiled. “No need to be so impatient, lad.”
“There are plenty of people in the Residence who want to fight for this opportunity... If I hadn’t already passed my physical prime, I would have tried to snatch it from you myself, no matter what.”
Xu Yuan smiled as well, but said nothing more. He cupped his fists and bowed sincerely to Gan Ze. “Many thanks, Resident Retainer Gan, for your care during these past days.”
Gan Ze waved a hand, signaling that there was no need for such courtesy.
Xu Yuan then turned and left, his footsteps gradually fading into the wind and snow.
Gan Ze remained where he was, watching that figure disappear into the curtain of snow. Then he lifted his head to look at the countless snowflakes filling the sky and murmured to himself, “The snowy mountains have been cold through the ages...”
...
After leaving the courtyard, Xu Yuan went to Qin Chuan’s place to inform him, then found that Battle Overseer Zhang and exchanged a few simple pleasantries with him as well.
Early the next morning, the carriage left the Level Four zone and headed toward the Shangyang Residence.
Creak.
The wheels slowly crushed through the accumulated snow as the carriage made its way along the official road.
Leaning against the wall of the carriage, Xu Yuan lifted the curtain and gazed out at the snowy landscape in silence.
More than a month had passed, and the Eldest Miss was finally about to return.
According to what Resident Retainer Gan had said, if he could win her favor, he would have a chance to come into contact with even more profound cultivation methods and step into the Organ-Nourishing Grandmaster realm.
But there were surely no few within the Residence who wanted a share of that prize.
Even among the Resident Retainers of the Extraordinary Meridians realm, as long as they were still young enough, most of them probably wanted to glimpse the scenery beyond the Meridian Opening Realm.
Just as Xu Yuan was musing over this, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.
A faint sound of quarreling drifted from up ahead.
His brows knit slightly. He lifted the curtain to look, and at once his expression turned strange.
On the snowy ground by the roadside, two figures were standing face to face.
One wore a black training outfit and had a slender figure. It was Zhou Yu. The other wore a gray cotton robe, his eyes red-rimmed. Astonishingly, it was Wang Huan.
“Why do you have to leave?”
Wang Huan’s voice was somewhat hoarse, tinged with urgency. “We’ve been thriving here in the Level Three zone, so why go looking for trouble?”
Zhou Yu glanced at him and replied flatly, “Naturally, I’m going so I can fight on the battlefield, stimulate my qi and blood, and improve my strength.”
Stimulate her qi and blood again?
Wang Huan’s expression visibly stiffened.
“That’s enough. Let’s leave it at that.”
Seeing that he had nothing to say, Zhou Yu spoke no further and turned to walk toward a carriage by the roadside.
Wang Huan stood there, his lips trembling, yet not a single word came out.
Someone he had stayed beside for nearly a year was now thinking of leaving just because another man had said a few words to her.
But there was nothing he could do. He certainly could not go pick a fight with Xu Yuan, could he?
Wouldn’t that just be hanging himself when he was already at death’s door?
Wang Huan kept glancing toward the other carriage, his eyes full of tangled emotion.
Should he chase after her or not?
Even if he did, it would be useless.
And yet he could not hold himself back.
He did not dare ask her to stay, but surely there was nothing wrong with taking one last look, was there?
“Zhou Yu—!”
He suddenly bared his teeth in a grimace. In the end, he still could not let go, and he ran after her shouting.
“Zhou Yu, when we meet again, you have to be happy!”
His voice echoed across the snowy ground, carrying a note of heartbreaking anguish.
The expression on Wang Huan’s face was definitely not a pretty one. With his mouth twisted in that way, he looked as humble as a stray dog.
At that moment, it was as though some pitiful melodramatic spirit had completely possessed him.
“Zhou Yu, what am I supposed to do after you leave?”
His steps were disorderly, as though he meant to catch up to the carriage that had never belonged to him.
But that carriage traveled farther and farther away, until it gradually disappeared into the wind and snow.
Wang Huan collapsed into the snow, staring in that direction for a long time without getting up, muttering, “Zhou Yu, we actually could have gone to the Level Four zone together...”
“Is it really that serious? She’s just a woman.” Even the driver at the side could not bear to watch anymore and kept shaking his head.
As a four-meridian Street Guard, what woman could he not find?
He simply could not understand it.
Xu Yuan was stunned too. He lowered the curtain and said rather speechlessly, “This fellow really has reached an entirely new height in simping.”
He sighed softly and told the driver, “Let’s go.”
The carriage started moving again, slowly passing by Wang Huan before gradually disappearing into the distance.
The wind and snow grew heavier and heavier, swallowing that figure into the boundless whiteness.