67 Chapter 66: Cold Shoulder (2/2)
”Ah…yes!”
Tang Qi Hong gave me one final look of warning before she jumped back to the stage where Lian Rou awaited.
Lian Rou and Tang Qi Hong were roommates in both the Wu Ling Academy dormitory and in the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect's residence. I already knew about the former, but I only learned of the latter fact later. Not that it was of any importance, but given how close the two girls were, it was natural that they would share the same residence.
I couldn't help but let my eyes linger on them when Tang Qi Hong went up to rejoin Lian Rou. In contrast to Tang Qi Hong's extraordinary beauty, Lian Rou seemed relatively plain by comparison. That wasn't to say that she wasn't pretty – on her own merits, Lian Rou was indeed very pretty, with a kind, gentle and honest personality to match. Otherwise she was the cliché girl next door kind of character without any particular eye-catching qualities.
Unfortunately, despite her own merits, she appeared to serve as a foil to the much more beautiful Tang Qi Hong, to the point where some people felt sorry for her. To my knowledge, Lian Rou never resented Tang Qi Hong for that, and the two were as close as sisters.
”That was close.” Tang Qi Hong sighed. ”We can't let Senior Hu do whatever she wants, and let Fei Wu be dismissed.”
She seemed relieved that Elder Zhao was on her side.
Lian Rou giggled. ”I've to say, though, Senior Hu deserved what she got. Being mischievous and trying to distract people while they were forging their armaments…ha ha! I bet she never expected that she would encounter someone who would be able to resist her charms! As expected of Fei Wu, he's ruthless as ever!”
”He's not that ruthless,” Tang Qi Hong protested softly.
”I know, I know. But that was still quite the sight to see!” Lian Rou shook her head, thoroughly amused.
”Yeah, did you see her expression when all of her clothes burned off? Who asked her not to listen to Fei Wu's warning!” wow, but Tang Qi Hong was obviously harboring some sort of grudge against Hu Mei Er. ”We'll never let her live this down!”
I actually began to feel sorry for Hu Mei Er…
Without anything else to distract me, I returned to forging my armament. My ice rifle was almost completed, and I just needed to tidy up the Spirit Engraving. Truthfully, I could feel the glares from all the other candidates, particularly Liang Shao Yang.
Liang Shao Yang seemed to be infuriated by what transpired between me and Hu Mei Er. If he was jealous, he needn't had bothered. I had no interest in Hu Mei Er. The only person for me was Tang Qi Hong, or at least I hoped so…
What I didn't realize was that Liang Shao Yang wasn't interested in Hu Mei Er either. I was completely unaware of this at that time, but Liang Shao Yang's gaze often flickered in the direction of Tang Qi Hong.
If I wasn't antagonized by that bastard, I would have said that he had good taste, and we might actually be friends. But alas, it was not meant to be.
He wasn't the only one staring daggers at me. Unlike him, however, the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect disciples and the other examinees were truly infatuated with Hu Mei Er, and they dearly wanted nothing more to help her kill me. Or perhaps they had realized my close relationship with Tang Qi Hong and they were extremely jealous.
On the other hand, some of those gazes softened and they shook their heads in resignation. Apparently, a few of them remembered how I helped them during the second stage of the examination. My decision to forge ice pillars to replace the columns that Liang Shao Yang destroyed earlier had earned me quite a few friends, so they didn't quite resent me as they would otherwise have.
However, one stare stood out from the rest. This gaze was neither filled with rage, jealousy or resigned empathy. Instead, it was filled with curiosity.
Elder Zhao had moved his attention away from Liang Shao Yang to observe me. As he watched, his amazement grew, and he subconsciously approached my position.
”Using ice to forge a weapon? How intriguing. What's more…his movements, it seems like he has practiced ice-forging hundreds…no, thousands of times…what a rare and eccentric technique. It reminds me somewhat of the ice spirit armaments crafted by the disciples from the Snow Valley Sect, yet is very different.”
His eyes narrowed as he studied the Spirit Engraving on my weapon intently.
”Where have I seen that Spirit Engraving before? Why does it feel so familiar?”
It wasn't just the Spirit Engraving and my ice-forging techniques that moved him. He was also curious about the mechanisms and shape of the rifle. I didn't blame him. This was the first time that Elder Zhao saw a rifle. This timeline having deviated a little from my original timeline meant that there were no projectile weapons beyond bows and arrows manufactured in this world. So my gun was pretty much unprecedented.
”Qi Hong…”
Tearing his gaze away from me, he jumped back to where Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou awaited and performed their invigilation duties from afar.
”Where did you find this guy?”
”Eh? What do you mean?”
”How much do you know about him?”
Tang Qi Hong was taken aback by his questions, and she shook her head in puzzlement. Placing a delicate-looking finger on her ruby lips, she thought for a bit.
”Um…Fei Wu is a classmate from Wu Ling Academy. We've been classmates since middle school, so about four years now? We hang out with each other a lot.”
”They're pretty much an unofficial couple,” Lian Rou added. Tang Qi Hong blushed.
”Says who?!”
”More importantly…” Elder Zhao had no interest in a teenage romance comedy and steered the conversation back to the topic at hand. ”Do you know which clan he is from? His family?”
”Eh?” Tang Qi Hong blinked, confused. ”His family is pretty normal, I think? I don't think I've met them much…maybe I've seen his parents once or twice, but I didn't talk to them. They seem pretty ordinary, though. His father was a martial artist.”
”So he's not from one of the major ice clans…”
”No, I don't think so?”
Tang Qi Hong mistook Elder Zhao's rhetorical question for an actual one, and he merely shook his head.
”Anyway, I assume that you intend to take him as your assistant?”
”Of course!” Tang Qi Hong brightened up. ”That shouldn't be a problem, right?”
”No,” Elder Zhao assured her. ”From what I see, he'll have no issues passing the third stage of the exam and becoming an outer sect disciple.”
”Yay!”
”Don't celebrate too early yet, though,” Elder Zhao cautioned her. Then he turned to Lian Rou. ”What about you?”
”Eh? Me? Well…”
Lian Rou's gaze flickered somewhere to the front. As if he sensed something, Tong Xue glanced up and grinned at her.
”Hey, Lian Rou! I'm almost done!”
”Uh…good job.” Lian Rou waved back, looking a little uncertain. For some reason, everyone's gazes were drawn to her this time. Previously, they were staring in Lian Rou's direction because they were trying to steal glimpses of the beautiful Tang Qi Hong, but Tong Xue's outburst had piqued their curiosity somehow.
”You two know each other?” Elder Zhao asked curiously.
”We're classmates as well,” Tang Qi Hong replied with a smile. ”Me, Lian Rou, Tong Xue and Fei Wu have been in the same class for the past four years!”
”Well, yeah…” Lian Rou quickly clamped onto her best friend's statement and nodded.
”Lian Rou, please choose me as your assistant!” Tong Xue called out from the front. ”I'll do any task for you!”
And then, right in front of over a hundred people, Tong Xue's brilliant smile widened. After he bowed politely, he then did the boldest thing ever.
”I love you, Lian Rou!”
”UWAAAAAH!”
Blushing furiously and unable to handle all the attention that was now directed toward her, Lian Rou hastily fled the cavern with a cry. The poor girl had been used to being in the background, serving as a foil to her more beautiful best friend, so she wasn't able to endure the enormous volume of attention thrown her way when Tong Xue confessed his love for her right in front of everybody.
Elder Zhao burst out laughing at the scene and shook his head in amusement. Clasping his hands behind his back, he chuckled.
”The candidates in this batch are really an interesting bunch of people!”
This fella is amazing.
As for me, I gaped at Tong Xue, totally not expecting him to pull a bold stunt like that. To confess his love for Lian Rou in front of so many people, the guy must have a screw loose in his head or something. On the other hand, I couldn't help but admire his courage. It took a lot of guts to pull something like that off!
Good for him, I guess.
I knew Lian Rou was also attracted to Tong Xue, and in fact, the two of them were officially a couple. Back in Wu Ling Academy, our class knew that Tong Xue and Lian Rou were going out with each other, so this was nothing new. It also meant that Lian Rou would most likely choose Tong Xue as her assistant anyway, despite her embarrassment.
Of course, that meant we had to finish forging our spirit armaments and pass the third stage of the entrance exam first…
”Fei Wu, good luck! Let's pass the entrance exam together and become the assistants of Lian Rou and Tang Qi Hong!”
I was caught off guard when Tong Xue called out to me. Damn it, and here I thought I was finally able to shrug away all the attention previously directed to me, but the bastard caused me to stand in the limelight once more!
”Those two…are they in this together?”
”That guy from the Smart Shadow Sect…he didn't seem like anyone special at first, but he actually has such an insane side to him? What kind of place does he think the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect is? Did he come here to find a wife?”
”And now he's scheming with the other guy who froze Senior Hu? What's their relationship? Are they bastards in league with each other?”
”Yeah, not only did that bastard freeze Senior Hu, he seems to have a close relationship with Senior Tang! Just who the hell is he?!”
”That Smart Shadow Sect smart aleck too! Why does he have such a close relationship with Senior Lian Rou?”
”We had better keep an eye on those two! If they make it into the sect, we'll have to find a way to force them out…or kill them!”
Fuck this bullshit…
Groaning inwardly, I ignored the cries of outrage all around us and buried my face in my palm briefly before forcing myself to focus on polishing up the last few details of the Spirit Engraving I had inscribed on my gun.