Title: Did We Agree To Be Arch-Rivals?
Original Title: 说好成为彼此的宿敌呢[穿书]
Author: 轻风白杨 (Qingfeng Baiyang)
Translated by: ~PurpleLy~
Strangely, after fighting with Gu Feidi and returning to the camp, Su Yang didn’t suffer from insomnia and soon fell asleep wrapped in a blanket.
When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning, and Mei Shisan was gently patting his shoulder.
Seeing Su Yang opening his eyes, Mei Shisan said respectfully, “Young Saint, it’s time to set off.”
The flower aide and his party had already completed the preparations, while two or three seniors who were familiar with the terrain of the Wasteland were immersed in the study and deciphering of the Rift Valley map. Seeing that everyone was not affected by the event changes that occurred yesterday, Su Yang brightened, went to the lake to wash up and prepared to set off.
On the other side of the lake, everyone from Tengyun Pavilion had also arisen. They were forming small teams and getting together to discuss something. It seemed like they wanted to search for traces of the Dubious Tomb of the Sword Sage in the area around the oasis.
These people were not aware of the storyline and assumed that the Tomb of the Sword Sage would be in the oasis, but this was normal.
Su Yang glanced quickly over to the guesthouse opposite and spied a slender woman with her back to him feeding a horse at the stables.
He thought to himself: Don’t tell me it’s trendy to take hormones in the Central Plains, right? Not only has Gu Feidi grown so fast, even Pu Lingyun, whom I haven’t seen for a few months, looks a lot taller?
At this time, Xu Yunzhan came out of the guesthouse, walked to the stables, and said a few words to the woman. He raised his hand to brush away some hair at her temples and laughed softly, his eyes full of mirth.
Su Yang: !!!
Wait a moment, Xu Yunzhan, what’s going on with your expression?
Pu Lingyun is your biao mei… No, it doesn’t matter if it’s ancient times… What’s important is that Pu Lingyun is your buddy’s intended wife!
Also, you yourself will later meet the love of your life, Yingniang!
What’s the matter with you now?
Xu Yunzhan chatted with the woman in the stable for a while, then he took her hand and went into the house.
Back on the opposite bank of the lake, Su Yang had become a confused mess this early in the morning.
He thought: It seems that in order to pass the censorship board, the script had gone through many omissions and amendments. It appears that Pu Lingyun and Xu Yunzhan’s cousin-love relationship had also been deleted?
No wonder the storyline had to arrange for Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun to be alone in the Tomb of the Sword Sage. It was done this way in order to create opportunities for the both of them!
Su Yang discerned that his responsibility was unprecedentedly significant.
—If he wasn’t able to force Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun down the cliff together, then Pu Lingyun may be hijacked by Xu Yunzhan and the heroine’s status would no longer be valid!
If the heroine was no longer valid, then the series of storylines where Gu Feidi plunged into the Forbidden Area of the Devil Sect would not be carried out… The plot would collapse completely!
Su Yang clenched his fists, struck the water’s surface, and promptly returned to the Devil Sect camp.
He called Mei Shisan over and instructed solemnly: “Choose two people to stay here and devise a plan. We must lead Gu Feidi and the others to the desert rift by whatever means necessary!”
Mei Shisan was puzzled: “However, according to Young Saint’s deductions, the Sword Sage’s Tomb is very likely to be in that direction; why would we lead Gu Feidi there to snatch it from us?”
Su Yang pondered for a while but couldn’t come up with any good excuses, so he feigned judiciousness: “Needless to say, I’ve a plan. In short… all you need to do is follow the order.”
Mei Shisan hesitated before replying, “Yes, Young Saint.”
The Devil Sect group quickly packed their belongings and left two flowers aides to wait for the opportunity to act. The others vacated the Willow Leaf Lake oasis and proceeded to the northern part of Eluo Ghost Tent’s territory.
—Earlier, a flower aide who was familiar with the Wasteland advised that the ‘rift valley with a river below’ mentioned by Su Yang should be somewhere within Eluo Ghost Tent’s boundaries.
Eluo Ghost Tent was located in the northwest and was even more remote than the Devil Sect by comparison. They weren’t truly considered a Jianghu influence, but rather nomads who opposed the imperial court. Their territory was almost nearing the Northern Icefield.
Rumour has it that the fighters of Eluo Ghost Tent behaved surreptitiously and were skilled at taming a species of palm-sized black and white ghost owls to deliver news—during the day, they would use the white ghost owls since they could hide in the snow fields and deserts with their colouring. During the night, they would use black ghost owls so that they blended into the surroundings and would not be easily noticed.
When he heard the flower aide speaking about this, the first thought in Su Yang’s mind was: take the white pill during the day and you won’t be drowsy; take the black pill at night and you will sleep soundly…
He thought: This is really a fictional existence. The martial arts world is so vast and there are all kinds of birds.
At the moment when Su Yang was complaining in his heart about this matter of the ‘black and white ghost owl’ that he couldn’t wrap his head around and couldn’t possibly exist in reality, this strange bird had already swiftly spread a piece of information across the Wasteland.
The Dubious Tomb of the Sword Sage was here, and all the forces of the Central Plains martial arts wanted a piece. And what they feared most was that the Tengyun Pavilion behind Gu Ruohai, the leader of the Martial Alliance, would join hands with his good friend, Qianfeng Villa. Once such a big force participates, it will use its status in the Jianghu to order the minor sects to share news and even handover the legacy of the Sword Sage. It would be very difficult for others to get a slice of the pie.
—On top of that, it wasn’t clear who was responsible for spreading the news, but it solved the urgent needs of all the minor factions.
“What? The Young Master of Tengyun Pavilion and the Devil Sect’s Young Saint had a private meeting at the banks of Willow Leaf Lake at night, and chatted happily together?”
“I heard that the both of them entered Lesser Jade House at the same time, so I guessed the outcome! It was similar for Leader Gu and the Devil Sect Leader, which gave rise to the troubles of those years…”
“Shh, don’t speak of that matter again, be careful…”
“So this old affair is repeating itself; Tengyun Pavilion is involved with the Devil Sect?”
“It seems that we can’t fully submit to Tengyun Pavilion’s Young Pavilion Master!”
“Yes! It’s hard to ascertain the thoughts of youngsters. What if they were bewitched by the Devil Sect? We would be in danger!”
“That’s why we should unite; maybe the two of them have combined their forces……”
This news met the needs of all minor sects; therefore, it spread extremely fast. Within a day, countless versions of it had been circulated throughout the Wasteland with some newly-included ‘suggestive’ titbits.
“I heard that when Lesser Jade House was selecting candidates two years ago, the Devil Sect demon spawn pestered the Young Master of Tengyun Pavilion and spoke flirtatiously to him!”
“I heard that two months ago, twelve youths from certain sects which had been abducted by the Devil Sect were unexpectedly released back. I believe that the Devil Sect demon spawn is trying to please Young Hero Gu by dismissing his harem!”
“I heard that Su Yang had encountered Young Hero Gu two days ago, and the two clashed, but Young Hero Gu almost didn’t return any blows. In the end, he blocked an arrow for Su Yang and let him go!”
Needless to say, no one dared to deliver these gossips to Gu Feidi and Su Yang, but they couldn’t suppress the news from reaching Tengyun Pavilion’s and Devil Sect’s own discreet communication channels. Therefore, both Su Yang and Gu Feidi acquired alternate versions of the gossip from different sources the next day.
Su Yang spat out the sip of water onto the face of the flower aide who had reported it to him.
“WHAT!” He choked a few times, glared, and gritted his teeth in anger, “How could the news spread like this? Who’s spreading the rumours?!”
The flower aide’s face was dripping water from the spray but he was calm and replied respectfully: “This subordinate has verified. The original source of the news was Wujiangmen, and only the night meeting between you and Young Hero Gu was divulged. As for the latter… it was probably the martial artists spreading falsehoods.”
Su Yang’s eyes narrowed: “Wujiangmen?”
Flower aide nodded: “Yes. Wujiangmen has always been known for being well-informed and expedient in spreading news. This time, they initially circulated the news throughout the Wasteland.”
Damn Wujiangmen!
Su Yang silently cursed in his heart.
He’d been navigating the storyline so carefully, yet this kind of convoluted statement was still able to be disseminated. It simply wouldn’t give him a way out!
What if Gu Feidi had also received the news and it caused the rift between him and Pu Lingyun to deepen? What if she actually fell for Xu Yunzhan? What then?
No, the search for the Wasteland rift must be expedited. He had to let Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun fall off the cliff as soon as possible to be together alone and to develop their feelings!
But on that note… he really couldn’t imagine what kind of expression that lil’ uptight Gu Feidi would have if he heard of these scandals.
Gu Feidi’s face bore a blank expression.
He glanced up the Tengyun Pavilion guard who’d come in to report and said stoically, “I see. You can go.”
The guard left on order.
Xu Yunzhan eyed Gu Feidi with a complex look, “You’re not angry?”
Gu Feidi said, “The nosy people of the martial arts world love putting a spin on things and spicing stories up. A lot of the news would be twisted in the end. Haven’t I witnessed enough of this?”
Xu Yunzhan smiled: “I’m asking you, aren’t you angry about Wujiangmen secretly spying on your movements?”
Gu Feidi was silent for a moment, his countenance giving no clue as to what he was thinking.
He said, “I originally didn’t agree with the involvement of Tengyun Pavilion and Qianfeng Villa in the Sword Sage’s Tomb matter. But everyone in the Pavilion hoped that I could inherit the legacy of the Sword Sage. My father also hoped that I could establish myself in the martial arts circles without delay, so I really didn’t have a choice.”
After speaking, he paused and continued: “Those little sects are worried that we will rob them, and will do everything possible to find reasons to oppose us temporarily. From your point of view, it should be expected.”
At this time, Xu Yunzhan smiled: “I anticipated that they wouldn’t want to work together with us, but I didn’t expect… You’d meet with him privately by the lake late at night.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Feidi raised his eyebrows: “When you say it like that, you make him sound some sort of femme fatale.”
Xu Yunzhan smiled and shook his head. “A joke.”
After a pause, Gu Feidi said, “That day the Devil Sect killed all the Wujiangmen people by the lake; it’s possible that there is some other hidden reason to it.”
Xu Yunzhan asked, “Did you talk to him about this last night?”
Gu Feidi didn’t respond, and Xu Yunzhan took it for granted that he’d acquiesced.
“He may not be bad in nature, but his identity is, after all.” Xu Yunzhan said, “You and I both have our responsibilities. I believe that you won’t be swayed by your emotions and garner big losses due to small matters.”
Gu Feidi still didn’t answer.
He lowered his gaze towards the hand that was holding the horse’s rein.
The tough leather wristband covered half the back of his hand. His skin was a healthy colour, revealing the most vigorous spirit.
After traveling for four hours, they turned round a jagged rock and immediately noticed a cloud of smoke and dust before them. It seemed that several teams were fighting.
The skillful and spry red figure in the crowd was extremely eye-catching. He was fighting one against three enemies, but he wasn’t embarrassed to be in such a position. His every move and strike appeared as if he was toying with the three people. Although he was more than capable of breaking through in an instant, he never did for some reason. He didn’t seem like he was trapped—more like he was waiting for something or someone.
Gu Feidi frowned slightly and was about to spur his horse forward.
Xu Yunzhan blocked him and asked, “Who are you going to help?”
Gu Feidi was silent.
Xu Yunzhan said: “Wujiangmen, Tongyun Temple, and Xuanji Temple have excellent reputations in the martial arts circles. If you want to help Su Yang, you must face them. It’s better to just observe.”
Gu Feidi closed his eyes and said in a low tone, “Of course I want to help the Central Plains martial arts circles.”
At this time, Su Yang was dealing with the three men who besieged him, trying to drag out this ‘fake match’ for a longer period of time without hurting anyone.
This was not the first wave of enemies he’d encountered along the way.
The minor sects that they’d happened upon earlier were not large in scale and those who dared to provoke their Devil Sect’s team mostly took advantage of their combined numbers. Su Yang had planned to delay some on the way, but his ultimate goal was to wait for Gu Feidi and the Tengyun Pavilion group to catch up, so that they could reach the rift valley together.
However, this time they’d come across a group of opponents who were not very good at evading.
According to Mei Shisan’s report, at present they were jointly besieged by the ‘second-only-to-Tengyun-Pavilion-and-Qianfeng-Villa’ Xuanji Temple and Tongyun Temple from the Central Plains. They’d also been joined by the ‘good-at-delivering-news’ Wujiangmen. Fortunately, none of them had senior sect members in their ranks at the moment. The teams were made up of hall masters, incense masters and chief guards. It wasn’t that hard pretending to deal with them.
He didn’t want to kill anyone. It was just that there was very little room for him to exhibit his skills.
In the midst of the fight, everyone in the field keenly caught the sound of an approaching horse.
Gu Feidi, who was dressed in white, rushed in, drew his sword, and lunged towards Su Yang. As soon as he entered the battle, he pressured the three people who’d been besieging Su Yang to one side.
Su Yang barely blocked Gu Feidi’s blow, but he didn’t seem dispirited at all. In fact, his eyes lit up.
—You’ve finally arrived! This Young Saint has been waiting for you for ages!