Chapter 712: I can’t bear to see you suffer
Long Feiye and Han Yunxi had hardly landed at the beginning of the bridge when Cang Xiaoying and a bunch of female disciples came flying towards them. Seeing this, the disciple called Xin’er immediately guessed what was going on. She wanted to used the rules of the bamboo bridge to make trouble for Han Yunxi too, but had been too afraid of Long Feiye.
Most of the female disciples of Celestial Mountain both admired and feared Long Feiye, but Cang Xiaoying was different from the rest. She was the only daughter of the head elder and the eldest young Miss of Lockheart Courtyard. Besides Duanmu Yao, no one went against her in the younger generation. With Lockhart Courtyard as her support, Cang Xiaoying didn’t dread Long Feiye like the others.
Good news stayed put, while bad news spread far and while. Soon enough, many other disciples came flying over to watch the show before Cang Xiaoying’s group had ever landed. Moreover…all of them were females!
It was obvious they’d come expecting a spectacle. Han Yunxi’s face darkened three shades at the sight of so many pretty, fairy-like, peach-blossom faced beauties. Long Feiye only kept silent and observed her face. He never looked anywhere else, but his lips were pursed, indicating his unhappy state. When Han Yunxi suddenly glanced at him, he immediately averted his gaze.
“Xu Donglin, you said there were plenty of peach blossoms up ahead. Looks like there’s quite a few here now!” Han Yunxi muttered quietly to herself, but Long Feiye heard her all the same.
No matter how slow Xu Donglin could be, he could still sense the jealousy in her words. After making a mistake already, he didn’t dare to speak up again.
“Xu Donglin, wouldn’t you say so?” Han Yunxi asked again.
Xu Donglin hung his head and wished he could burrow himself in the ground. Both him and the other shadow guards had always envied Chu Xifeng for his position by His Highness Duke of Qin and Qin Wangfei’s side. They assumed it’d be an easy job, but personal experience taught him just how bitter the task could be!
Either you’d win favor with one or offend the other. Being stuck between both sides was truly a tragic fate.
“Xu Donglin, I’m asking you a question,” Han Yunxi actually raised her voice, scaring the guard to death. Meanwhile, Long Feiye glanced back as if Han Yunxi was calling him instead. Xu Donglin took the chance to steal a peek at His Highness Duke of Qin, only to catch the nervous embarrassment flickering in his eyes.
Finally, Xu Donglin realized what was the matter. Esteemed wangfei wasn’t asking him at all, but using him to question His Highness Duke of Qin. His safest choice would be to stay quiet. Indeed, Han Yunxi was pinning Long Feiye with an interrogative stare.
Long Feiye immediately looked away as he took her hand and coaxed softly, “I’ll take you across this bridge.”
“Long Feiye, you have a guilty conscience!” Han Yunxi muttered.
“No,” Long Feiye hadn’t done anything worth feeling guilty over, after all.
“Then why won’t you look at me?” Han Yunxi asked.
Long Feiye stared straight at her.
“Are you nervous?” Han Yunxi asked.
“No,” Long Feiye denied.
“You obviously are!” Even Han Yunxi could tell.
Long Feiye stroked her hair and brushed aside the bangs blocking her eyes. “Are you taking offense?”
“Yes!” Han Yunxi admitted openly. As Long Feiye’s hand stiffened, she smiled.
Long Feiye only looked at her at a loss. He had no idea whether she was truly unhappy, or just pretending; whether she truly minded, or was just joking around. When it came to certain matters, her feelings and thoughts were forever in the dark to him.
Am I not intelligent enough? Or do all women change moods so quickly?
He knitted his brows as he stared at Han Yunxi’s sly eyes before breaking into a smile of his own. It was filled with helplessness and doting.
“Long Feiye, if I can pass through this bridge smoothly, award me, won’t you?” This was probably the first time Han Yunxi had demanded a prize.
“You definitely will,” Long Feiye was convinced. “Tell me what you want.”
“I’ll tell you once we cross this bridge.” Han Yunxi’s face was full of mystery.
By now, Cang Xiaoying’s group had finally arrived to land on the cliff overseeing the bridge.
“Qin Wangfei has the guts to walk over this bridge. Sisters, we’ll have to give her plenty of encouragement today!” Cang Xiaoying proclaimed loudly.
Hisses rose from all sides at her words. They seemed to be disdaining Cang Xiaoying’s words, but everyone was actually mocking Han Yunxi. Extremely pleased, Cang Xiaoying added, “Aiya, although nobody’s ever done this before, if Qin Wangfei has the self-confidence, everyone should cheer her on, right? Maybe she’ll really break a record today!”
Louder hissing greeted her words. It was obvious nobody believed that. To Han Yunxi, such jeers were boring and didn’t affect her at all. Long Feiye simply treated everyone else as air. Ignoring the crowd, the couple held hands and approached the bridge. Long Feiye stepped on first, then turned around to offer Han Yunxi his hand. He was going to walk the entire length of it backwards.
At this, the crowd fell silent. Cang Xiaoying grew nervous and hastily reminded him, “Senior Brother Ye, if you circulate your qi, it’ll also count as against the rules!”
Those without martial arts were required to cover the distance on foot. Thus, anyone who helped Han Yunxi couldn’t use their martial arts, either. Of course Long Feiye knew these rules. Otherwise, he could circulate his qi and use it to still the entire bridge so it wasn’t affected by a puff of wind. Han Yunxi would have a smooth trip then. The biggest challenge of the bamboo suspension bridge was the fact that it had nothing steady to lean again. One had to rely on one’s own sense of balance to find equilibrium on its plats. Only then could one progress forward. Every single step demanded the same amount of balance.
The two ropes holding up the bridge were loose and droopy. The guardrail ropes that made up its sides were limp as well. It would be a hurdle to maintain one’s balance on this bridge!
Thus, it took Long Feiye monumental effort to maintain stability on the bridge without using his skills. He stood with his weight firmly pressed down on the bamboo plats, thus stretching the ropes taut. He didn’t use the guardrail ropes for balance, but held his arms out instead.
“Hold onto my hand instead of the rope,” he murmured.
Han Yunxi could see Long Feiye’s method for maintaining stability, but it was pure brute force. He hadn’t used an ounce of internal energy. She reached out to grasp his hand and set a foot on the bridge. The other remained standing on the cliff with most of her weight. Already, she could feel the sweat soaking his palm. This man, he’s only taken one step and already using so much effort to hold things still.
If she put both feet on the bridge, he’d have to shoulder both their weights and maintain balance at the same time. How long would it take them to finish traveling its lengths? Looking at his knitted brows and beads of perspiration, Han Yunxi kept her other foot on the cliff.
She couldn’t bear it! To have him work so hard.
“Get on, don’t be afraid,” Long Feiye comforted her without urging her on.
Han Yunxi scrunched her brows and didn’t budge.
“It can’t be that you’re scared of something like this? Han Yunxi, how are you supposed to walk across this way?” Cang Xiaoying thought that she’d overestimated the woman. She assumed that Han Yunxi would start crying as soon as she got on the bridge, not be stuck on land.
“If you’re afraid, then don’t do it. You’re wasting everyone’s time.”
“Afraid to get on even with Senior Brother Ye protecting you? Heheh…”
“No wonder she doesn’t know martial arts. Scaredy cats can’t learn it, haha!”
Despite the rising taunts, Long Feiye was as calm as ever. “It’s alright, trust me. If you can’t get your balance, I’ll just carry you and fly over there. If it breaks the rules, so be it.”
Han Yunxi seemed to not understand him. She stared at Long Feiye’s feet and became absent minded. Around them, the mocking laughs grew louder. Long Feiye had nothing but patience for Han Yunxi, but he didn’t want to force her into it. Anyone would be afraid of the bottomless chasm awaiting their fall below.
He tightened his grip on Han Yunxi’s hand and prepared to channel internal energy to her when she suddenly pulled him forcibly back onto the cliff. This was the first time he’d realized that she could be so strong!
What does that woman want to do? “Is she regretting it? Giving up?” Cang Xiaoying chuckled. She knew Han Yunxi wouldn’t have the courage.
But no matter what she said, Han Yunxi simply ignored her. This time was no exception as well. She tugged at Long Feiye before whispering something into his ear. The sight made Cang Xiaoying feel awkward and her fellow disciples eyes turn red. A flash of hatred flitted past her eyes before she asked, “Senior Brother Ye, have you decided not to walk the bridge?”
But Long Feiye was too busy listening to Han Yunxi’s words. His lips quirked up into something resembling a smile.
Heavens!
Senior Brother Ye knows how to smile? He’s so good-looking when he does!
What did Han Yunxi tell him?
Instead of anger, now everyone was curious. Just what kind of words could make Senior Brother Ye smile? Meanwhile, Cang Xiaoying’s loathing intensified. She finally realized why Duanmu Yao abhorred Han Yunxi. There were too many exceptions when it came to this woman! Still, what use was that? Han Yunxi couldn’t be an exception for Celestial Mountain. Those who couldn’t cross the bridge couldn’t ascend the peak, much less meet its sect master.
She’d long heard about Duanmu Yao from her father. No matter what Long Feiye came to do this time, he’d definitely take Han Yunxi to see the sect master, who hadn’t descended his mountain in years. He wouldn’t come down just to see Han Yunxi either, so she’d like to see just how Long Feiye could bring the woman up. In any case, she wasn’t planning on going anywhere else today.
As soon as Han Yunxi and Long Feiye finished whispering, the latter sent a signal flare into the sky.
Now what?
Soon enough, a team of black robed disciples came flying in from all directions. This time they were all male, and their numbers far outpaced the female disciples. Now everyone was even more curious. Did Han Yunxi tell Long Feiye to summon them here? For what purpose?
All of these black-robed disciples were outstanding talents of Celestial Mountain. Despite their youth, their martial arts skills were superb. The crucial detail was that they all had impressive, dignified faces that were extraordinarily handsome and pleasing to the eye. In short, all of Celestial Mountain’s finest numbered amongst them.
As soon as they arrived, they headed for the entrance to the bridge. Cang Xiaoying and the females were quickly squeezed to one side, while Han Yunxi was left as the most noble princess amongst a crowd of outstanding, protective princes. The glares she got from the girls were enough to kill, but she shouldered them all to smile at Long Feiye.
“Let’s cross the bridge,” she said.
What were their plans for so many people?