Chapter 9.1
In fact, after meeting Yu Beizhou at the gate of the city, Zong Luo was already mentally prepared that he wouldn’t be able to hide from the other party at the beginning of his two-way fight.
As to be expected, they knew each other too well.
If Zong Luo really died in battle and would not appear again, it’s estimated that this lifelong confrontation would at the same time cease to exist.
But he not only appeared and came back, his momentum of seizing the Crown Prince position also intensified. When the people’s reverence for the Third Prince was thoroughly fermented, Qixing Longyuan just so happened to appear at the city gate.
There were so many coincidences in this that it was not enough to explain in just a single sentence.
Although Zong Luo was incompatible with Yu Beizhou, he was also well aware of his temperament. If the same thing happened to Yu Beizhou, Zong Luo would also be the first one to have doubts.
However, the most important thing was that when Yu Beizhou made his move, he was full of killing intent. If he doesn’t want to be killed on the spot, it’s impossible for Zong Luo not to answer. However, once he did, he would not be able to hide the fact that he did not have amnesia. Even logically, in front of Yu Beizhou, the excuse of being blind also became precarious.
The last time, it was at the city gate. Now, he saw Yu Beizhou again, and came uninvited in the side hall. Zong Luo, who always had a good temper, was a little more angry.
It was said that the enemy would be very resentful when they meet, and it would really be difficult to end without a fight.
As for the disguise of blindness, since he had all been seen through, what was the need for it? Covering the eyes will only serve as a hindrance.
Like in tacit understanding, they shot at the same time again.
In all fairness, both of them were the proud disciples of the Ghost Valley. Even if one used the sword and the other used a heavy dueling sword, their previous basic Kung Fu skills were still learned together. Even if one doesn’t use a sword in fighting against the other person, the difference wouldn’t still be that big.
As soon as they got closer, Zong Luo seized the time and waved the whip in his hand towards Yu Beizhou.
Seeing this, Yu Beizhou directly deceived him and abandoned his defense and changed to offense. He endured being whipped in exchange for a firm hold on the white-robed prince’s wrist with his backhand.
Tear
The whip tail barb made a tear like scratch on his dark red lapel embroidered with golden threads.
Yu Beizhou’s long and narrow phoenix eyes squinted but his brows did not wrinkle at the blow that took almost 70% of his strength. The end of his eyes was as red as the last time when Zong Luo pointed the tip of his sword against his heart, emitting a magnetic killing intent towards him. In his eyes, something floated within its bottomless pitch black, as he felt more and more pleasant inside.
“Senior brother, we haven’t seen each other for a year. It’s just reminiscing about the past. There’s no need to be so cruel, right?”
Zong Luo asked back indifferently. “The attack you made two days ago at the city gate was a killer move. What the master taught, you actually used it to mutilate your fellow sect member?”
“Senior brother, don’t wrongly accuse me.”
Yu Beizhou lowered his eyebrows and eyes. His crow’s eyelashes casted shadows against his cheeks.
“The life and death of the Third Prince of the Great Yuan are uncertain, and there has been no news for a year. When one suddenly appears, as a fellow sect disciple, naturally the person must be punished properly. How can we allow others to impersonate him?”
This was not the first time he had heard Yu Beizhou refer to a deer as a horse, reversing black and white, and it would surely not be the last time.
Zong Luo sneered, “You at least pretended to act when you were young, but now you don’t pretend anymore. Why? Have you let go of your nature now?”
Seeing Zong Luo’s straightforward recognition, Yu Beizhou’s face became more and more full of smiles, “Where, isn’t Senior brother the most clear about my nature?”
Indeed, if he was not clear about his nature, how could Zong Luo go to the Ghost Valley and leave without saying goodbye. This was also the point that had troubled Yu Beizhou the most over the years. Most importantly, Yu Beizhou couldn’t still figure out where he was exposed.
As he mentioned the old past in his mouth, his fingertips carefully rubbed the slender wrist at the bottom of his hand, following the lines of the other’s palm all the way down, and dodged away in time before Zong Luo drew the next whip.
However, even just a short moment was enough to find clues.
“Senior brother, you are injured.”
The long fingertips of the general in red were stained with scarlet, and the sticky color was particularly shocking against his pale knuckles.
He raised his hand condescendingly, placed his fingertips gently near his lips, licked the warm blood with the tip of his tongue ambiguously, and rolled it into his mouth, looking just like the ghost recorded in the books that feeds on fresh human blood. It seemed like he was trying to endure something, and his eyes were covered with a magnificent red glow.
This action gave Zong Luo an inexplicable illusion. It was obviously extremely cruel, but it made him blush for no reason.
Zong Luo asked stiffly, “What’s the matter with you?”
The white-clothed prince had his ink hair in a high ponytail, his face was as clear as jade, and his eyes stared at him coldly.
In order to stop the attack, he grabbed the barb of Zong Hongjiu’s horse whip with his bare hand, which seemed to be an understatement. In fact, he was accidentally stabbed by the barb from the whip and had no time to deal with it.
He covered it up very well along the way, but it was unexpectedly seen through by Yu Beizhou.
Although they seem to be standing casually now, in fact, both sides were in a very delicate state. As long as the other party moved slightly and showed even a trace of murderous intent, each can only defend against the other with the best posture.
In the end, it was Yu Beizhou who broke the silence first.
“Alas, I clearly care about Senior brother, but senior brother is so indifferent, it really makes this Junior brother feel cold,”
“But since the Senior brother is injured, let’s just leave it for today. Anyways, future days are still very long.”
The general in red turned over to the windowsill, and his expression became dull again, like a child who didn’t get a candy.
“When I heard the news of what happened at Hangu Pass, I tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep every night, it’s really a pity.” Yu Beizhou’s voice was like a sigh as though he felt a little regret. “It’s fortunate that Senior brother is not dead, otherwise, I would really hate that kind of trouble.”
He stared at the face that he thinks about every day, and thought to himself, this was really a big surprise.
Zong Luo only looked at him calmly, and retorted, “From Junior brother’s words, I will only live longer than you.”
Hearing this, Yu Beizhou’s throat was full of laughter. His jet black eyes looked down at him, and suddenly he fell back. A clean and fierce back somersault as he jumped out of the hall. Immediately, his figure disappeared.
Zong Luo frowned slightly in doubt and confirmed that Yu Beizhou had really already left. Then he picked up the white silk on the ground again, lowered his eyes and pondered in silence.
In the beginning, the misunderstanding between them stemmed from Zong Luo’s unannounced farewell when he was seven years old.
It’s just that Yu Beizhou, although he took it step by step, it was still smooth sailing in the end, just like what was written in ‘Would You Like to Have a Drink’’. This ‘proud son of heaven’ was on the rise. No matter what he wanted to do, it’s like he had God’s help, that made it possible for him to do whatever he wanted.
This made Zong Luo, who had been fighting against him from the very beginning, an eyesore.
Fierce-hearted and vicious. High-minded and arrogant.
Even their master in the Ghost Valley did not know Yu Beizhou as well as Zong Luo. This alone was enough for Yu Beizhou to kill him. Perhaps coupled with the accumulation of old grudges, the secret competition with each other, the many stumbling blocks, which was mixed with some unclear hatred.
However, the glance that Yu Beizhou threw at him just now was not without these things, but rather, it was obscure and complicated. From floating on the surface to sinking to the bottom of the deep pool, and even the killing intent changed from cold to unpredictable.
Zong Luo felt like he had missed something.
Two years into his life, one year of supposed death after being reborn, perhaps because of the time, he no longer remembered how Yu Beizhou’s eyes looked at him in his previous life. He could only assure that it was not as strange as it was now.
“Could it be because of the dream when nine stars linked like beads in the sky… ???”
While guessing, he sank his hand into the basin and let the cold water dipped on the wound then hastily wrapped the broken white silk on it and took a spare piece and wrapped it around his face.
The day of Zong Luo’s rebirth happened to be the night when the Great Witch calculated the nine stars phenomenon. It was clearly night, but the sky was as bright as day.
The sun, moon and stars all existed in the same sky. All the people felt inexplicably sleepy, unable to lift their spirits all day long, and just wanted to fall asleep.
That day also existed before his rebirth, but it was not like this life. The world fell into a dream. At the same time as the world dreamed, Zong Luo also ushered in his own restart.
Everyone thought that in that dream, the Third Prince led troops to support Hangu Pass, and died when he was besieged on all sides. In fact, only Zong Luo himself knew that what they dreamed was actually the scene of him committing suicide using Zhanlu in despair when he received an imperial edict from Emperor Yuan ordering him to commit suicide when he returned to the Great Yuan alone and helpless.
Perhaps it was in this dream that Yu Beizhou saw something. After all, the appearances of Qixing Longyuan and Zhanlu were very different. As long as one had seen these two swords with their own eyes, they would never admit they’re mistaken.
Zong Luo looked at the calm water and felt that a storm was coming.
When Zong Luo returned to the Baijia Banquet again, he found that there were three or four layers of scholars around Gu Ziyuan. Looking at it from a distance, he seemed to be arguing with another student.
No wonder he didn’t notice that Zong Luo had been gone for such a long time, it turned out that something happened.
A literati normally contended in the most elegant way. Even if they argue until they’re face was flushed red, they could still sit on their knees in front of you with a posture that was not necessarily crooked. It was rare to see them directly stand up and argue.
When Zong Luo saw that there were several princes standing there, he immediately stopped to watch the excitement. He immediately wiped the hem of his robe, sat quietly on the futon, grabbed a tea ball made of tea buds, put in some oranges, green onions and ginger, and slowly ground them with a stone grinder. An attendant drew water from the winding river of the water pavilion, knelt down in front of the charcoal stove with a palm fan, and when he saw that the water was boiling, he immediately brought it over and poured the boiling water in.
The popular tea drinking procedure in Great Yuan was to take a bamboo tube or roasting pot, put the tea leaves in it, and put it over the fire and stir continuously. After frying until the edges of the tea leaves turn slightly yellow and emit a burnt aroma, add boiling water for drinking, and done. The method of cooking tea porridge was now popular in other countries.
