Chapter 186.1

186.1 – Blooming Red Lotus

Dust quietly lingered in the air.

The cavalry hidden by the curtain of dust has become blurred.

The originally heavy atmosphere became oppressive due to the silence lingering in the air. Seemingly bound by it, no one moved momentarily.

Xue Qilin frowned.

She cast a questioning gaze at Qi Qiqi.

Upon noticing Xue Qilin’s gaze, Qi Qiqi turned slightly sideways and shook her head.

“… is Little Seven telling me not to act rashly?”

Xue Qilin doesn’t quite understand Qi Qiqi’s intention.

“I think Big Sister Qi wants to wait and see how things go.” Shui Yun’er voiced her opinion, “Young Teacher, Big Sister Qi just now asked you to give a warning, to convey ‘we won’t be bullied’.”

Oh, I see. Xue Qilin nodded somewhat understandingly.

“Although we didn’t manage the scare the other side into retreat, but they should have understood our intention and thus stopped at once.”

“That so, I see!”

Xue Qilin gazed at Shui Yun’er with praise and gave her a thumbs up.

“Hey, hey, hey, it seems that our Little Yun is not inferior to Little Qing! This wit, you must have inherited it from me!”

Seeing Xue Qilin’s complacent expression, Shui Yun’er covered her mouth and snickered twice.

“Unfortunately, I have no blood ties with you, Young Teacher.”

“Hey, when did you learn to pull the rug from under your teacher’s feet? Do you want me to spank your behind?”

Xue Qilin barred her teeth and pulled up her sleeve, as if ready to teach Shui Yun’er a lesson.

However, her attempt to reaffirm her status as the teacher was only met with laughter. Shui Yun’er does not believe that Xue Qilin would really hit it.

All of a sudden, Xue Qilin felt a warm and soft feeling from her back and a satiny sensation from her exposed shoulders. Something is stuck to her back.

“Can’t you two be a bit nervous? The other party will be disappointed.”

A teasing voice came from above.

Xue Qilin rolled her eyes, propped herself up, crooked her head backwards, and saw a sweet face with a sarcastic smile.

“Little Xue, you must be a ghost. To appear out of nowhere, do you want to scare us to death?”

Xia Xue, who has just arrived, is standing behind Xue Qilin and looking down at her.

The thing sticking to Xue Qilin’s back should be Xia Xue’s legs.

“Big Sister Xia, you’re here.”

Shui Yun’er greeted Xia Xue in a soft voice. Xia Xue simply nodded back and replied “Little Sister Shui”.

“Do I have to shout ‘the lovely Xia Xue is going to take the stage’ before I show up?”

“Wow, what’s the deal with the lovely Xia Xue…”

Xue Qilin curled up her mouth like a child while scratching her nose.

“Ah, how embarrassing.”

Before Xia Xue could reply, Xue Qilin felt a stinging gaze focus on herself.

The lass, who knows where the gaze came from, froze unnaturally. That gaze belongs to Qi Qiqi. She’s probably warning Xue Qilin to watch her manners.

“Oh, Little Sister Temple Master is watching you.”

Xue Qilin pouted, murmured “what’s the big deal”, and looked to the front again.

It’s probably a coincidence, but at this moment, a change happened there.

The dust dissipated with the wind, and the 100 of cavalrymen finally came into view again. Since they are already pretty close, the people of the Merak Temple finally saw the faces of the cavalrymen.

Those should be the faces of people who have stepped onto the battlefield several times — unwavering faces.

In their eyes, the deep trench dug out by lightning that lies in front of them doesn’t exist.

When the dust settled completely, it’s as if some kind of signal sounded.

The leading cavalryman prompted his mount to move forward slowly and, under the protection of two cavalrymen, crossed the boundary carved into the ground by lightning.

Xue Qilin focused her gaze on them and found that their pace and breathing are surprisingly uniform.

Evidently, they are no ordinary soldiers. Even Xue Qilin can tell at a glance that these 3 cavalrymen — no, these 100 cavalrymen have been trained well.

Do I stop them? Xue Qilin hesitated, not knowing what to do.

Upon noticing Xue Qilin’s hesitation, Shui Yun’er gently pressed the hand Xue Qilin just lifted.

“Young Teacher, let’s watch first… the other party has already given in.”

–different.

The water-colored hair is flowing in the air like clean water. Xue Qilin stared at Shui Yun’er’s profile.

Unlike her usual mild and gentle bearing, Shui Yun’er looks majestic right now. The gleam flickering and pulsating in her eyes is a kind of noble spirit carved in her bones, it is sacred and inviolable.

Seems a bit strange.

Little Yun can actually assume such an expression? Xue Qilin finally realized that not only does she know nothing about Gong Tianqing, but she doesn’t seem to be familiar with Shui Yun’er either. Even when it come to Qi Qiqi, she only has a little knowledge of her past.

She once told  Shui Yun’er that she won’t investigate the past of others.

But investigation and understanding are two different things, after all. The lass may have unconsciously confused the two.

It’s not clinging to the past, but accepting it. If you don’t know of it, you cannot talk about acceptance. If you know of the other party’s past, only then can you truly understand them, only then is it possible to empathize with them.

–fear, after all.

If you know too much, you will unconsciously invest more feelings. In this way, when faced with a loss, the heart will hollowed out all the more.

Is it because she is afraid of the monster known as “loss” that she subconsciously avoids knowing more about others and uses “the past is the past, the present is the present; the ones I know are not the people of the past, but the people of the present” as an excuse?

It turns out that she still isn’t really living in this world, but is living in a dream world she has constructed herself. She doesn’t really understand anyone.

If that’s not the case, then why would she find Shui Yun’er a bit strange right now?

While Xue Qilin’s thoughts drifted, the sound of horseshoes stopped.

The three cavalrymen stopped in front of Qi Qiqi. When the horseshoes landed on the ground, as if it lifted a substantial shock wave, Qi Qiqi’s beautiful hair shook slightly.

“–the Merak Temple’s Temple Master Qi Qiqi?”

A downcast voice sounded.