Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

Chapter 21: Conflict

It was noon on a cloudless day.

The sleepy young man in charge of the Cultivating Rooms had fallen asleep at his station. But perhaps he had heard Gu Suihans heavy and tired footsteps, so he opened his bleary eyes and mumbled, Oh, youre exactly on time. Return the jade token to me.

He took the jade token from Gu Suihan, then threw Gu Suihans disciple token back at him.

Young Master, youre back! Taohua brightened up and quickly ran over to help carry the little bag that Gu Suihan was holding, then followed behind him and said, You must be exhausted after cultivating for so long. I have prepared some warm water. Would you like to take a bath?

Yes, replied Gu Suihan instinctively. He had already calmed back down.

Taohua stood by the bathtub and said, Young Master, Li Xianlong came to the East Compound yesterday to officially challenge you to a duel. He wants you to go to the black fighting arena in the middle of the mountain in three days time.

The challenge invitation has arrived, huh. Gu Suihan shut his eyes and tapped his finger slowly against the side of the tub. What are the stakes?

Its a mid-grade magic weapon, I think its a spear. Hes also thrown in 100 Spiritual Stones and three bottles of Core Refining Pills, Lihua quickly replied as her eyes shone with envy. Spiritual Stones were worth at least a hundred pieces of gold after all.

Taohua, go to the West Compound tomorrow and tell Li Xianlong that besides Spiritual Stones, I wont accept anything else, said Gu Suihan with a scoff after thinking about it for a moment.

But Young Master, thats a mid-grade magic weapon. Apparently, that spear has six magic formations inside it, as well as two attack spells, protested Lihua as she blinked her large eyes.

Thats exactly what Li Xianlong is trying to do. Gu Suihan adjusted his position. Some other person might be tempted by the mid-grade magic weapon since it sounds pretty promising. I suppose most would want the spells, but they dont realize that spells require a lot of magic energy to execute. At this stage, disciples would always feel that they have insufficient magic energy. Theyd wish they could break one point of energy into half and make them two points instead.

He ate a grape that Taohua fed him and continued in a slightly garbled voice, And when the spells fail, Li Xianlong would increase his chances of winning by at least 20%. He knows that Im good at using anything with a blade, yet he wants to give me a spear. What a cautious man.

What are we going to do then? Taohua began to panic.

To maidservants like Taohua and Lihua, once they completed their training, the next thing they hoped for was to get a good employer. Gu Suihan had been a fairly good employer so far. He hardly enforced any rules on them, never shouted at them and while he teased them from time to time, he never went too far.

All of this made the two frightened, unsure maids feel that Gu Suihan was actually one of the nicest people in the world.

But at the same time, if anything untoward happened to Gu Suihan, then the best-case scenario would be that they would be allowed to return to their families. However, if an enemy decided to seize this chance to take revenge, the two girls wouldnt be able to defend themselves at all. They would be at the mercy of others.

Dont worry. Gu Suihan casually patted Taohuas delicate hand and said flatly, Ive even dared to offend the Way Seekers Alliance, so why should I be afraid of one Li Xianlong? Psh.

Young Master, youve offended the Way Seekers Alliance? Lihua paled instantly.

Yes. Gu Suihan nodded nonchalantly and said, You dont have to worry. If I didnt say so, you wouldnt have known either because nothing bad has happened, isnt it? Its fine.

I believe in you, Young Master. Taohua raised her fair little face and nodded vigorously as she looked admiringly at Gu Suihan.

At night, Gu Suihan quietly got out of bed. He glanced emotionlessly at the maids sleeping soundly in the next room and a disdainful smile spread across his lips.

He leaped out of the window and ran swiftly but silently to the West Compound.

Once he got there, he located the residence he was looking for and sniggered to himself as he stood in front of the door.

He didnt bother concealing himself in any way and pushed the wooden door open.

The creaking of the door was especially loud in the middle of the quiet night.

Who is it? hissed the person who was supposed to be asleep in the room. At the same time, a gleam shone brightly as it made its way towards Gu Suihans face.

Youre Li Xianlong? Gu Suihans voice was so clear and calm, he didnt sound like someone who was getting attacked.

Another gleam lit up the room as Gu Suihans blade met with Li Xianlongs, creating a clanging noise.

With the help of the moonlight, Li Xianlong finally realized who was in his room and exclaimed, Youyoure Gu Suihan?

Hoho. Gu Suihan kept his sword away and sat down slowly at the table in the room. Brother Li, relax. Why dont you take a seat? Lets have a chat.

Alright. Li Xianlongs expression was solemn and was rather surprised at how calm Gu Suihan was, but Li Xianlong didnt panic. Instead, he sat down confidently across from Gu Suihan, stared at his visitor for a while, then lit a candle and waited for Gu Suihan to state his business.

Both parties were silent for a long time.

It was as if they were using the flickering of the candlelight to observe each other and predict what the other was thinking about.

After some time, Gu Suihan leisurely poured himself a cup of tea that had already gone cold and said flatly, If my guess is correct, someone came to look for you before this.

People come in and out of the West Compound every day. Im not sure exactly which person youre referring to, said Li Xianlong in a low voice as he raised an eyebrow.

Im talking about Gu Suihan suddenly leaned forward and whispered, a person who wants me dead.

I have no idea who you are talking about. Li Xianlong remained tight-lipped.

What do you think of the duel were going to have in a few days? Gu Suihan switched the topic and didnt pursue the question further.

Li Xianlongs expression finally shifted slightly. He went into deep thought for a moment, then said, I was 80% confident, but now, Im only 70% confident. After the exchange earlier, he looked at Gu Suihan in a slightly different light. Gu Suihan had used a thin sword to block the attack from his heavy sword, yet Gu Suihan blocked it with such ease and the impact had pushed Li Xianlong back. Gu Suihan didnt even look like he had used any effort. As a result, Li Xianlong thought a little more highly of Gu Suihan now. Just a little.

Thenwhat about now? Gu Suihans eyes suddenly gleamed as he scanned Li Xianlong.

Li Xianlong was instantly taken aback. He felt all his hair stand on end and felt as though Gu Suihan could see right through him. His first reaction was to place his heavy sword in front of him to protect himself.

Youve actually awakened your Qi absorption abilities. When Li Xianlong finally realized what just happened, he was even more flabbergasted.

You possess a high level of aptitude, but youve only been here for less than three months. Where did you get so many Spiritual Stones from? Li Xianlong slowly put his weapon down, sat up straight again, and accepted the cold tea that Gu Suihan offered him.

Gu Suihan just smiled and didnt say anything.

I came back a few days ago to find that my older brother had died. The Way Seekers Alliance said that you might have killed him. Li Xianlong decided to come clean.

Im very curious. You know that this is not possible. So why are you still doing this? asked Gu Suihan quietly.

After a moment of silence, Li Xianlong murmured, I need closure with this case so that I can be accountable to the family.

How much? Gu Suihan suddenly asked from nowhere.

200 Spiritual Li Xianlong blurted out a response halfway and suddenly realized what was happening and stopped himself quickly. He spat, You tricked me.

At the same time, he was really astonished at how sensitive Gu Suihan was. It only took such a short exchange for the latter to guess that the Way Seekers Alliance was involved in this. Gu Suihan was more intelligent than most, so he quickly realized that he wasnt as confident in winning over Gu Suihan as before.

But actually, Gu Suihan was also marveling at how quickly Li Xianlong had reacted. Gu Suihan had secretly used a spell on Li Xianlong just now. Any ordinary person affected by this spell would become terrified and spill the beans on anything he asked. But Li Xianlong was more aware of such things than Gu Suihan had expected, so his plan had failed. At the same time, Li Xianlong had let slip enough for him to confirm his guess about the Way Seekers Alliances involvement.

Brother Li, it seems like youre not very well versed in obscure magic techniques, said Gu Suihan with a smile.

And so what? said Li Xianlong sullenly.

SoI wonder which senior helped to search the memories of Li Xianmings soul for you.

Are you saying that Li Xianlong was about to fly into a rage when his eyes flickered and he slammed the table. Do you mean that the Way Seekers Alliance is behind this? How are you so sure? Are you trying to push the blame to someone else? His words were nasty and sounded like he was pushing Gu Suihan into a corner, but he was already beginning to believe Gu Suihans side of the story.

Ive only just joined the Seven Kill Sect, and thats the only enemy I have here. Gu Suihan looked down at his teacup.

But if my older brother managed to look me up, I would have taught you a lesson anyway. Why would they want to kill you?

Gu Suihan looked up at Li Xianlongs murderous stare and said flatly, If your older brother had told you to teach me a lesson, thats all you would have done. You wouldnt have tried to kill me either. I possess a high level of aptitude and I stand a chance of reaching the Origin Core Stage. Nobody would want to offend such a person for no good reason.

No, wait, theres another problem. Li Xianlong shook his head and said, If the Way Seekers Alliance wanted you dead, they could have bribed someone else from the West Compound. There are others who are stronger than I am. Why would they want me to do this?

Because youre the only one who would go all out to do it. Li Xianming is the son of the official wife. Youre the son of the concubine. Thats why.

Why are you here then? Are you here to beg me for mercy? Li Xianlong glared furiously at Gu Suihans mocking smile and yelled, Its too late!

Gu Suihan merely gave Li Xianlong a withering look and got up. Im just here to tell you that even if you do end up killing me, youre still going to die. Besides, do you even have any confidence that you can kill me? Hahaha!

His laughter was calm and controlled, but the sound of it still struck terror in Li Xianlongs heart.

He gripped his sword tightly and thought of brandishing it several times. But each time, he would realize how lacking he was and decide against it. He watched as Gu Suihan walked out of the room and didnt say anything.

As he watched Gu Suihans smile fade as he walked away, a voice suddenly seemed to say to him, And now, how confident are you?

Three days after Gu Suihan paid Li Xianlong a visit.

It was the day of the fight. Somehow or another, the entire mountain of external disciples had found out about the fight.

The story about how Gu Suihan had planned the murder of Li Xianming quickly went from rumor to truth. Before he knew it, Gu Suihan had already become known as a very scheming and vicious young man.

Of course, this was the Way Seekers Alliances way of taking revenge. As the rumors spread, it also resulted in making everyone ostracize Gu Suihan. Everyone either chose to stay far away from Gu Suihan or would remain on high alert if they had to be around him.

Unlike how Gu Suihan took his time with everything, Li Xianlong arrived at the Black Arena very early. He closed his eyes and held his sword up without moving at all, like a large spear that could pierce the skies.

Its already past 11 am. Why isnt Gu Suihan here yet? The crowd waiting to watch the duel started whispering among themselves.

Nasty opinions and doubtful voices arose from the crowd from time to time. Those were obviously people planted by the Way Seekers Alliance to stir up trouble.

I think that Gu Suihan has gotten scared. His Spiritual Root is considered a really good one, but he hasnt had that much time to cultivate, so he cant possibly be a match for Li Xianlong, said one of them loudly.

But he HAS to come, right? If he doesnt come, he will automatically be considered the loser and will be transferred down to the West Compound. I dont think hed be able to accept that, someone else disagreed.

What do you know? The first person scoffed and said, Even if he comes for the duel, will he be able to win? If he doesnt come, at least hed keep his life. If he comes, hes dead meat.