章節 100: Shu He's Conflict I - The Past Brought Forth.
Shu He gripped his bow tightly as he stepped towards the stage.
The past two rounds weren't hard for him at all, rather they ended quite quickly as his opponents were helpless against his ranged barrage, he had quickly realised that low level cultivators weren't usually prepared to react quickly against projectiles as fast and strong as his arrows.
He recalled something that his father told him, a long time ago for him at this point.
-
"But Father, why do you need such a powerful bow, you're a hunter right? A normal one would be fine… isn't this a bit overkill?"
"Ah… so you noticed."
"It's true, while it definitely holds more piercing power and greater range, for hunting it's too much… it's just… a holdover from the past, when I need this kind of thing, I can't get comfortable without one like this."
-
'I wonder, did Father deal with cultivators often? Or was it made just for insurance? He only ever told me about that time the group of 5 attacked his camp after all…'
He suddenly became sad, thinking of all the memories and stories both his father and mother could have told him of their past, now turned to dust in time.
He felt the grooves of the bow beneath his callused fingers, one of the only things that remained of his father, in some ways it gives him solace, like his father was still beside him whenever he wielded it.
It's unfortunate that there wasn't much left behind by his Mother, she worked as a seamstress in her free time so all that remained was some pieces of clothing and materials that were left… Shu He had brought those with him, still stored in a container currently in the corner of his room. He didn't know what to do with them, but he didn't want to get rid of them.
He stepped on to the stone stage, ignoring the person walking parallel to him as he cleared his mind, this wasn't the time to feel sentimental.
However he couldn't help it, as he 'felt' that sensation from Jin Bao he couldn't help but juxtapose his memories of his father that day, and the sensation of deadly crisis that was carried along with it.
To him, his Father was heroic, brave, and caring; Yet that one thing had doomed him, the feeling of his father's skin as it drained of warmth, as the life leaked from the depths of his eyes, as he muttered his last words, it was indescribable, like his heart, his soul was being torn in twain, physical pain couldn't compare to what he felt that day.
A scar may be healed one day, but a wound to the soul can last forever.
That's why…
That's why!
Shu He took his position standing firmly opposite the other side of the stage as he raised his eyes to match his opponents.
Dull grey eyes that were lit with an under flame of greed and anger.
What opposed them were pure gold eyes that refracted with glimmers as pure as heaven itself.
"You… you were with her, weren't you… good… good!" Jin Bao muttered under his breath, but Shu He easily heard it, he wouldn't even miss the drop of a pin at this very moment even under the ranting and raving of the crowd.
His 'Sight' was in full force, the entire stage was in the domain of his senses, he wanted to know, he NEEDED to know.
If what he felt was correct, if his instinct was right, if he was somehow connected to 'them'!
He didn't know who 'they' were, he would find out even if Chao Shi had told him not to!
Even if only in an attempt to calm the guilt and uselessness he felt that day and feels even now!
He can squash it, supress it, distract himself, ignore it, yet it's always there, in the back of his mind, gnawing away him.
If Jin Bao really was involved with them…
Then…
Then he would…!
"What's with that glare?!" Jin Bao shouted at him from across the stage, his expression filled with displeasure.
Shu He hadn't realised it, but apparently his expression has shifted into a deep glare as he thought.
But he didn't bother changing it, not instead he simply replied calmly as he held in the raging storm of his mind.
"Nothing much, I just thought that face of yours wasn't very pleasant to look at".
He could almost see a crack form in Jin Bao as his mouth twitched.
"BASTARD I'VE HAD ENOUGH WITH YOU PEOPLE, I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
Shu He was surprised to see him get so worked up, but that worked for him in the end.
"What a coincidence." He spoke eerily calmly.
"I was thinking the same thing". He drew his bow as he awaited the announcer to begin the fight.
…
"Say, don't you think Shu He look a little off?" Mei Ling asked, watching the two converse on stage.
"Wouldn't you be annoyed having to speak with someone like that?" Tai Hui laughed.
"That's not what I mean! Besides that guy has beef with me not Shu He, and he didn't seem to care about Jin Bao much when he met him last time…" She crossed her arms in thought.
"Maybe he's just not feeling too well?" Wei Yu laughed awkwardly, convincing no one.
"…Do you know something?" Mei Ling scrutinised Wei Yu who turned his eyes to Tai Hui and Gang Bo while sweating slightly.
"Nope, not at all" Tai Hui lied with such a straight face that it was completely believable.
Meanwhile Gang Bo watched the stage closely.
He could tell, he had seen similar eyes on Shu He once in the past, back when he had visited him after 'that' event, except this time those feelings were directed towards someone.
He was older than Shu He, old enough to be his father, albeit a young one, so he couldn't but help but feel a tinge of anxiety as he watched his young friend stand against something in their path.
But he was a cultivator now, he had begun to understand one thing.
"It's something he needs to face alone; we don't need to worry about it." He spoke, in reply to Mei Ling.
She flashed in a doubtful expression before pouting "Hmph, fine then… why did Bai Lian have to leave I'm here alone with these boys…" she sulked slightly.
…
"What's wrong Bai Shun? Upset your clan member lost?" Rong Jia watched on with her cheek resting on her hand while smirking and talking to Bai Shun.
"…? Sect Master, no, of course not!" Bai Shun, startled out of his thoughts by Rong Jia panicked a little, but he was starting to get used to the sect master calling on him, so he recovered quickly.
"What is it then? Seeing you so glum in the corner of my eyes is a bit distracting".
"I'm sorry! I'll try not to distract you." He went to hide off in the corner.
"Are you joking? Your sect master asked you what was wrong, Bai Shun". One of the elders stood in front of him to block his way, implying that he was being rude.
"I…!" He looked between the elder and sect master, conflicted.
"Calm yourself, stop scaring him you old geezer this isn't an interrogation."
"G-geezer…?!" The elder stepped aside looking a bit hurt.
"Bai Shun, I'm just a bit curious you know, if it's something you can't say then that's fine." She said, her tone as light as flowers.
"Unless it's something that can threaten the sect" The lightness was wiped away with words that dropped on to their ears like heavy steel weights, Bai Shun felt a chill run up his spine just from them entering his ears.
"It's nothing like that!" He shouted with all his might, dampened by the anti-vibration formation covering the elders seats.
He looked towards the field, seeing his Junior Brother calmly reply to his opponent he felt conflicted.
"It's about Shu He, you spoke about the suspicion around Jin Bao earlier right?" Bai Shun eventually began to speak.
"Right, Shu He was involved in that incident, it's to do with that?"
"Yes, you understand it was his father that was the one to consume the elixir too, right?"
"Of course, stop beating around the bush" Rong Jia said getting a little annoyed, of course she knew this stuff, she was the one that conveyed the report to the capital!
Bai Shun glanced at Shu He in the distance "I've seen those eyes of his before, scarred, lonely, vengeful, looking for someone to blame."
"What does that have to do with Jin Bao…" Rong Jia's brows furrowed "Are you implying that he somehow knows about Jin Bao's activities? Even more than us?" She looked at the expression of Shu He who was on stage, that wasn't the look of someone still unsure.
Bai Shun shook his head "No, I doubt that".
"Then what?" Rong Jia felt annoyed now, clearly there was something that she didn't know.
"Ehm, I don't know how to put this, but Shu He is oddly perceptive, I've been caught off guard multiple times in the past by him." Bai Shun struggled to explain what he wanted as words left his mouth.
Rong Jia crossed her arms "So he felt something from Jin Bao".
"I think so". He nodded, still slightly unsure.
Rong Jia sighed "And? Even if he felt something, what is he going to do? He's on a stage where death is a rare occurrence with all these people watching, it's not like he can do much, he's still only a fresh meridian awakening disciple" she explained.
In reply, Bai Shun couldn't help but pull a doubtful expression as he felt something was off with this conversation.
"Sect Master, did Chao Shi not tell you about Shu He?" He asked, curiously.
"…No, why?" She asked, feeling an ominous premonition.
Bai Shun placed his hand over his face as he exhaled over his senior brothers inability to communicate the most important things.
"Can I speak to the sect master alone?" He asked, the elder's impressions turning incredulous.
"Brat! Don't get so cocky because you're a core disciple now! One of them yelled.
"SHUT IT!" Rong Jia yelled, her voice freezing the elders in place.
She then clicked her fingers as a transparent barrier surrounded the two.
"Go ahead and speak, no one else will hear".
"The one who dealt the final blow to the fiend Tai Min was not Chao Shi, but Shu He".
"What did you say?!" She sat up in her seat as her eyes opened wide.
That wasn't what she had heard in his report!
"Did Chao Shi lie? To cover it up?" She asked, her expression serious.
Bai Shun sighed, he knew Chao Shi was probably going to continue to keep quiet about it, but he felt the sect master should know.
"Not technically, Chao Shi was the one that dealt the last blow in the fight" Bai Shun began explaining "Tai Min was a lifeblood cultivator, his spirit heart was the core of his life, even though he was fighting at the level of a 6th stage cultivator at that point with a spirit dousing formation active, Shu He managed to pin point hit him from behind, pierce his body and spirit heart and damage it past the point of recovery with a mortal bow"
"So he was already at deaths door when Chao Shi finished him… That bastard, twisting it like that…" A vein throbbed on his forehead as she began to plan how to punish her distant nephew when he felt closed door cultivation.
She then sighed.
"So you heard all this from Chao Shi, right? Did he say anything else?" She asked, just in case.
"He told me that when training him to be careful, that he can do far more than he should be capable of."
"…Right"
Of course, she thought.
The Shu He at that time was only at Qi Ignition, combined with a mortal bow, even a heavy one, there was no way he'd be able to pierce the body of a 6th stage cultivator.
You'd have to pierce their Qi defence, their reinforced body and then damage the spirit heart enough so it can't regenerate, those are feats far above someone of his level, even now it would be impossible.
*Tap Tap Tap*
She sighed once more, before snapping her fingers as the transparent dome dissipated.
The elders looked towards them, curious about what was said.
"Change of plans" Rong Jia spoke, laying back in her chair.
"Don't interfere unless disciple Shu He's life is in danger."
The expressions of the elders changed, some shocked, some suspicious but none of them refused.
"What about Jin Bao?" One of them asked.
Rong Jia's gaze shifted over to the emancipated figure as the wind began to whip around his body.
"If what I've heard is true then… we have no need for traitors."
創作者的想法 
ShiroN3K0
ShiroN3K0 Here we are, the 100th chapter. May not seem like much but for me it's a massive achievement, never thought i'd get this far writing one thing. And i intend to keep going.
Thanks for all that are supporting me and reading, and for the future.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票