章節 11: A Bad Reunion

This turn of events was quite shocking to Xu Meihua. From being viciously betrayed by her master and falling ten thousand meters from the sky, and now finally meeting her helper from back in the forest.

Just like Song Qiang, Xu Meihua's eyes also widened as the image of their encounter in the forest flooded her mind. She was the girl who got ambushed by a group of assassins and helped her find her way into the Flowing Sword Sect.

"You... Are you the girl who helped me escape from the beast wave? I have been waiting to meet you for a long time!" Xu Meihua replied cheerfully.

Xu Meihua has been wanting to thank Song Qiang since a long time ago, but due to her circumstances, she simply was unable to. She once asked her master about this girl, but Su Lan also didn't know much. Everyone within the Outer Circle of the sect is pretty obscure and unimportant, especially for Su Lan who has one of the highest seats, which is the grand elder.

Now that she was reunited with Song Qiang again, Xu Meihua's heart brimmed with happiness, and she promptly climbed through the hole to approach her, ready to exchange greetings. Yet, in an unforeseen twist...

BAM!

"AAGHH!!"

Song Qiang has disappeared from her original spot and dropkicked Xu Meihua straight in the face. Her expression was filled with shock, struggling to comprehend the sudden turn of events. What in the world just happened? Why did she kick me all of a sudden? Weren't people supposed to become friends after they went through life-and-death situations together? I thought it was just Master, but why does everyone I met want to beat me up?

Without any defense, Xu Meihua immediately got flung into the wall, adding yet another gaping hole in the already battered room.

Pow!

Bits of planks fell from the roof and landed on Xu Meihua's head as she continued to stare at Song Qiang in disbelief. Although it did no damage to her physically, it quickly woke her up from her daze as her brows knitted in anger.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Why did you kick me all of a sudden!?" she turned back toward Song Qiang with a glare.

"No, What is wrong with YOU! How did you get here!? What have you done to my room!?" she shouted with an angrier tone at Xu Meihua.

'Her room?? Oh...' Xu Meihua realized as she looked around the large room.

Due to her falling here, Song Qiang's room became a mess with no rooftop as dust clouds were spread everywhere. The furniture around got blown away as the wardrobe and chairs fell apart. There was even a chest that exploded to pieces since it was right on the spot where she landed. She really hopes there aren't any of Song Qiang's treasured items in there.

'...Oops.'

Her anger quickly subsided as she realized what she had just done.

Now she felt quite guilty all of a sudden as she imagined herself in Song Qiang's place, chilling around when all of a sudden a random girl came out and destroyed her room while greeting her cheerfully. She would also be pissed if that were to happen to her.

"Hey, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to do that-" Xu Meihua apologized as she clasped her hands together toward Song Qiang, who was pouting angrily.

"...Hmph."

Song Qiang scoffed briefly as she turned away from her. It was clear as day that she hated her now and Xu Meihua was starting to get uncomfortable with each passing second.

'Seriously, why isn't my high charm stat not working at moments like these?!' she thought in her mind.

"Uh, please calm down, okay? I'll pay for them later!"

"I am calm." Song Qiang immediately replied with a deadpan tone.

Though she said so, the menacing aura around her says otherwise. Her eyes felt like they were daggers that were gonna stab her at any moment right now. Xu Meihua is all too familiar with it since she has experienced it firsthand with Su Lan.

Ugh...!

How can she be so unlucky!? It was her first day at the main sect and yet she has already caused a huge problem! And this girl is being all stingy and annoying for it! Can't she just live her dream life in peace?

'Master, this is all your fault!!'

She sighed in exasperation. Forget it, complaining about the past will do her no good in this situation...

'Anyway, It doesn't seem like she likes me being around right now. Should I just leave her alone, and then come back next week with some money? No... she looks like someone who's short-tempered and holds grudges deeply. Her hate toward me would probably be set to permanent at that point! Let alone, I guess it's my fault in the first place! I should pay her with something at least...'

With that in mind, her expression did a 180° turn from being furious to cheerful.

"Wait a minute! As an apology, I'll give you something cool..." Xu Meihua exclaimed as she snuck one of her hands into her empty pocket.

'Inventory, retrieve Heaven and Earth Palm manual!'

[ Heaven and Earth Palm manual has been retrieved! ]

When she pulled her hand out of her pocket, the Heaven and Earth Palm manual came along with it which surprises Song Qiang. How could that massive book fit inside her small pocket?

"Here!!"

Xu Meihua then gave it to Song Qiang in a desperate attempt to make up with her. She already memorized that book a couple of days ago, so it doesn't really feel like a loss. But still... losing items really gets on her nerves.

"I cultivate the Sword law." she replied plainly.

"Come on, stop being all stingy! You can still sell it, right?"

"What? Of course not. Selling martial techniques goes against the sect rules due to a large number of reasons." Song Qiang sighs.

"Ah..."

"Listen, I don't hate you that much, but you have to abide by the rules of the sect. I'm not really someone who cares about money, but please pay for all of this mess. You not only obliterated my room, but you also broke my space ring..." Song Qiang said strictly as she pointed toward a steel ring on the floor beside Xu Meihua.

Space rings are an item commonly used by cultivators to store a large amount of items inside of it. It was supposed to look catchy, with its vibrant steel color and many glowing runes carved onto it.

But the one on the floor was cracked in half and its shape was almost unrecognizable. The glowing runes on it flickered a little before dimming away, leaving behind a trail of smoke. It was completely destroyed beyond repair.

When Xu Meihua saw this, her face turned pale and she was sweating profusely.

'I-I'm so screwed!! This ring must've been right under me when I landed the fall! What should I do...? It must've contained all of this girl's belongings and stuff... Will I have to repay all of that back?! I don't think Master will try to help me...' she thought anxiously in her head.

As if rubbing salt into the wound, Song Qiang continued...

"I'm not really the smartest among the outer disciples, but I'm sure it would cost around six hundred spirit stones, which would be around four months of working nonstop." Song Qiang said plainly.

'Six hundred spirit stones!? What kind of bullshit is that!?'

Seeing Xu Meihua at a loss, Song Qiang felt a sense of peacefulness that felt out of this world. A pleasure that she had not felt since a long time ago.

'Something about bullying this girl feels great for some reason. Although I'm just messing with her about the price currently, I should probably do this more often in the future...' she thought in her mind.

Xu Meihua immediately fell to her knees. Her expression looks very dark as she slowly mutters quietly to Song Qiang.

"I-I don't have any spirit stones at the moment..."

"What?" Song Qiang replied, completely taken aback.

Song Qiang was confused. She remembered how the sect elder from back then was shocked in amazement after seeing this girl having a Holy Physique. Shouldn't she have become an elder's disciple at this point? Didn't elders have a lot of spirit stones?

"I just entered the main sect a moment ago. You know, when I fell here... My master didn't even give me anything..." Xu Meihua continued as she start to fidget her fingers nervously.

"That's why I wanted to give you something nice since this is all I have..." she continued as her eyes started to tear up. Xu Meihua then took the Heaven and Earth Palm manual and slowly placed it on Song Qiang's hand and gave her the puppy eyes.

With Xu Meihua's flawless acting, appearance, and high stats on Charm, her performance was very effective as Song Qiang started to fidget with mixed emotions and a feeling of guilt weighed on her.

"Please take it! It's all I have..." Xu Meihua continued to persuade Song Qiang until eventually, she gave in.

"Uh... Well..." Song Qiang stammered not knowing what to say.

Her legs are starting to get restless and her eyes darted around as she was not very comfortable in this situation that she got herself in. Seeing this, Xu Meihua continued to push it further!

"Please..."

"Agh... fine! Fine! You can pay them later and I'll even reduce it to a hundred spirit stones! Geez..." Song Qiang finally replied impatiently.

"Thank you!"

Xu Meihua immediately dropped her act as her previous sad face immediately contorted back into a cheerful smile. She then got up and shook Song Qiang's arms repeatedly.

Song Qiang no longer has the energy to retort back and simply sigh.

'This girl is such a mess, I can't believe I was saved by her when I got ambushed by assassins two months ago...' Song Qiang sighs in her mind.

"Alright, since you are sent here by your master, I'm guessing he or she is putting you on some kind of test for some reason. There's no way they would leave a precious disciple on the Outer Circle, which is a place for ordinary people like merchants and outer disciple."

"Since that is the case, I shall guide you around and show you all kinds of places around here." Song Qiang exclaimed with a smile.

"Thanks!"

"Alright then, let me get my sword real quick..." Song Qiang muttered. But when she took a step to find her sword, she suddenly froze as if she realized something fatal. Sweat started to drop from the top of her head as anxiety could be seen on her face.

"Wait a minute."

With a dark expression, she quickly searched through the mess around her room. She went to check under the wardrobe, but it was not there. She went to check underneath the pile of wood from the roof, yet it was not there. She continued to search...

No matter how much she searched, she still couldn't seem to find her sword anywhere!

'I-I might've put my sword in my chest... No, there's no way. I should continue to search.'

She then continued to search around every corner of her room except one place, which is the hole Xu Meihua created when she fell here at an extreme, destructive speed. After a while, she has no choice but to look there...

"I have a bad feeling about this... Don't tell me..." Song Qiang muttered as she slowly approached the hole and took a look inside.

Then she saw it, her sword was inside the hole, shattered into multiple pieces from the impact of Xu Meihua's fall. Its condition was somehow worse than her space ring. The once brilliant shine of the sword that she remembered was reduced to fragments covered in dirt and dust.

'No... no no no no no...'

She quickly hopped inside the massive hole and fell to her knees. Her expression continued to darken as she stared at the sword that was broken to pieces.

"My limited edition light-steel sword made by the Great Blacksmith, Jiang Ya... Only limited to ten copies in the whole Eastern Continent... The sword that I've put my life savings onto..." Song Qiang muttered incoherently under her breath as she scooped the sword fragments and held them against her chest.

Xu Meihua who was watching from the sidelines was extremely confused, more confused than she was when reading hundreds of technique manuals.

'What the heck is she doing?' Xu Meihua thought curiously as she followed Song Qiang and look inside the hole, seeing Song Qiang on the ground holding what looks to be pieces of her sword.

'Oh, did I also break her sword? Oh well, it's just some ordinary steel sword. If she would forgive me for breaking her expensive space ring, I'm sure she won't mind if an extra steel sword was also broken, right?'

"Hey, what are you doing~?" Xu Meihua shouted from atop the hole,

"Come on, weren't we going to travel around the outer sect? Never mind that ordinary sword, let's just get a new one sometime later, haha!"

Song Qiang heard this and her fists clenched, before turning around, looking at Xu Meihua dead in the eye. Her stare was like a dagger and her eyes were quite bloodshot from anger toward Xu Meihua.

"U-Uh, hey... You alright...?" asked Xu Meihua as she slowly backed away from her.

"This..."

"What?"

"What have you done!?" shouted Song Qiang suddenly.

She then disappeared from her original spot and appeared in front of Xu Meihua with a powerful strike!

'WTF!?' Xu Meihua's mind was immediately alerted.

Unlike before, she immediately leaned backward and barely dodged the sudden strike to her face. Confusion riddled her mind as her face visibly frowned.

'What the hell just happened!? Why did this crazy girl attack me all of a sudden? Did she got possessed by a ghost or something??' Questions after questions kept appearing in her mind.

She then immediately got into a battle stance and eye Song Qiang with wariness.

"Hey, why are you being so aggressive!? I thought you forgave me!"

Song Qiang did not answer. Instead, she rushed again with stronger and faster strikes, constantly hitting Xu Meihua without giving her any time to rest. But despite that, Xu Meihua kept on dodging and dodging them easily.

"Hey, stop! I don't want to fight!!" shouts Xu Meihua to no avail as Song Qiang continued to assault her. it was as if she became completely deaf without any rational thoughts.

'I can't let this continue! Although I want to beat her up so badly, beating her up will make her into an enemy and she might cause massive problems for me in the future. I have to calm her down...'

She continued to ponder as she continuously dodged all of Song Qiang's attacks easily. At that point, she recalled Song Qiang hugging pieces of a broken sword at the large hole.

'That girl must've gotten a little upset when her sword got destroyed. Still, it's just a fricking sword! No one would attempt to beat their friend up because of some random sword! That is unless...'

At this moment, Xu Meihua's eyes light up as a realization appeared in her mind.

'Yes, that's right! This girl is a sword fanatic!'

She suddenly recalled memories with her master back at the floating island.

She remembered her master once told her about all sorts of people that she could come across in this infinitely wide cultivation world. Not everyone in this world has the same classic and rational approach when cultivating just like her. There are billions of different people who also cultivate and so, each of them would have different reasons and approaches to it!

Some people like to take steady steps and cultivate in peace, while some prefer to fight stronger opponents and dominate everything throughout their cultivation journey. Some would be so talented that they keep on progressing quickly despite being lazy, while some with poor talent were tryhard enough to keep on pressing regardless of the hardships they faced.

Among them, these kinds of people appeared. Eccentric and strange, even the most talented genius would find it hard to understand them. They are these damn maniacs!

She remembered hearing about nasty things about them,

Once, a sword maniac continuously stabbed himself in order to gain insights into the way of the sword. One cultivator consumed dozens of pills in a night to the point of killing himself, in order to find a way to make the perfect elixir. They were all notorious for many kinds of ridiculous stunts to strive for improvements in their cultivation. Her master thoroughly reminded her to stay away from these kinds of people.

But to think she would meet one right here!

'Ugh, she must've been so obsessed with swords that she preferred to have it rather than her whole wealth. That's why she's not that pissed with me before! But now-'

Her train of thought was disrupted as Song Qiang came back with another powerful barrage of attacks. The crumbling house has now been completely reduced to ruins as they moved around throughout the fight.

'D-Damnit! If one of those struck me, I would have gotten a concussion immediately. This is not good... I have to get away from her!'

With that thought, Xu Meihua immediately turned around and made a run for it. She knows leaving things like this without paying is probably just straight-up a crime. It's fine to break a few rules, but she must get away from this crazy sword freak!

Song Qiang's brows furrowed as she noticed Xu Meihua's intentions. She immediately raised her speed in order to chase and continue striking her,

"You!! Come back here!"

WHOOOSH!

But despite Song Qiang's hardest attempt, she still could not even touch a single hair on Xu Meihua.

'This... How is she dodging my attacks!? Is she actually stronger than me, a genius who has been here for two years!?' Song Qiang screamed in her mind.

This has been the first time in her life that she was humiliated this badly, other than the ambush two months ago. Throughout her life, she has been revered as a genius and people have only looked at her with awe and respect!

Alright then! She will stop holding back and start to give it her all!

Song Qiang then relaxed her fist before she straighten her hand. A sharp aura suddenly appeared, coating her hand with its blade-like elegance. It shone with a dim light that would hypnotize an ordinary person had they seen it.

Xu Meihua saw this and her eyes squinted, this is sword Qi!

'This crazy...! Does she want to kill me or something?! How could she try to kill her savior over a broken sword!?' she screamed in her mind.

Sword Qi is something that a cultivator could use when they managed to attain mastery over something. In this case with Song Qiang, it is a sword. Still, using sword Qi without permission inside the sect is strictly forbidden since it could kill someone!

"TAKE THIS!"

SWIIIING!

Song Qiang then dashed forward while performing a quick slash with her right hand. It made a sharp sound as it passed through the wind like it was a real sword instead of just a hand.

Xu Meihua's eyes went wide as she barely dodged the attack as it passed through and hit a giant tree, cleanly cutting through it. Her eyes went wide with shock when she saw this and shivers drip through her spine.

But at this moment, she felt something.

Drip...

She felt a slight pain on her left cheek, as she slowly put her hand over it. When she pulled it out, she saw it for herself, bright red blood. Blood was trickling down her cheek before staining her light blue robe.

At this time, all sorts of panic disappeared from Xu Meihua's face, replaced with a serious expression.

"Hey. This is a little too far, isn't it?"

You know what? F it all! This is no longer a game...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Author's Note:

This novel is currently on-hold, and won't be updated any time soon. Meanwhile, check out my other novels!

1. Murim's Genius Assassin

-> The adventure of the Divine Thief, who died and was reborn as the young lady of the Tang Clan. Using her former knowledge and experience, she proceeds to uncover mysterious secrets and went on a journey to build herself as a new legend. (Another yuri cultivation novel, but no system! How terrific!)

2. The Sword Of A True Master

-> The tale of the Martial God, Ryu Jin-Ho, an underground drug lord from the future who are stranded in ancient times after being schemed by a time traveler. In that moment, he discovers martial arts and strive to build a time machine to go back to his era. (A very serious cultivation novel with an apathetic MC. No romance, cheats, or plot armor. Only serious business. Very interesting!)

Anyway, thanks for reading :)