Chapter 15: Seeing Them Off

Waves of people rushed over from all directions.

In addition, every one of them held a sword in their hands.

Without exposing his inner thoughts, Yin BiYue observed the companions by his side. However, those two acted like they didn’t see this scene at all, and their paces were as steady as it had been before. Duan ChongXuan even looked a bit excited.

By the time they were about a zhang1away from the self-study hall, the Cang Ya disciples here had already formed a dense sea of people.

Yin BiYue’s heart sunk.

As the three of them approached, these disciples spontaneously retreated to the sides of the road, clearing the main road for only them to pass through.

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The gazes everyone used to look at them were focused and passionate, but nobody spoke up. The scene was quiet enough that one could hear the sound of everyone breathing.

Yin BiYue already adjusted his pace to one that would be the most suitable for unsheathing his sword. In fact, in his heart, he had already calculated more than three ways of breaking through someone’s line of defense should they be surrounded.

However, he didn’t think he would have more than fifty-percent of success, because there was truly too much people. He didn’t even know if there were experts in this crowd that were just concealing their aura.

At this moment, someone in the crowd raised their sword. In a loud voice, he yelled, “Martial Uncle Yin! Victory at the Flower Picking Festival is certain!”

Suddenly startled, Yin BiYue followed the sound of the voice. This……wasn’t this one of the little disciples that had escorted him to his public trial?

……He had been the one influenced by the Halo too.

There wasn’t time for him to ponder about this more, because very quickly, other shouts began continuously echoing into the air. They were like a tide as they bubbled forward in quick succession.

“Martial Uncle Luo! Seize victory at Zhong Ming Mountain! ——”

“Senior-apprentice brother Yin, be ever-victorious! ——”

“Senior-apprentice brother Luo is invincible! ——”

“Senior-apprentice brother Yin’s swordplay is number one! ——”

Although the seniority of the disciples within the crowd on both sides of the road were different and thus they addressed them differently as well, all of them raised the sword in their hands and did their best to wave them. From far away, it appeared to be a flowing sea of swords.

Duan ChongXuan sighed with feeling, “This is the first time I’ve enjoyed the ‘Farewell with Swords’ treatment.”

Yin BiYue kept feeling as if something he wasn’t aware of had occurred.

His intuition was correct.

“Martial Uncle Yin is a good person! If you had really met him before, then you wouldn’t be misled by the rumours!”

If Cheng Xi had been the only one saying this, then it naturally wouldn’t create and ripples or waves.

However, that day, there had been four disciples who escorted Yin BiYue.

In Cang Ya’s gossip circles, three people could create a tiger2, while four people were enough to melt gold3.

They had always believed that there was something unusual between Luo MingChuan and Yin BiYue, but they definitely weren’t enemies. And contrary to expectations, the one with a guilty conscience was Luo MingChuan.

The cultivation of Cang Ya Mountain’s disciples were first class, but their ability to pass on information was first class as well.

Things like ‘Senior Martial Uncle Liu’s daughter and Junior Martial Uncle Zhang’s son are in love with each other and are already together as a couple’ turned into ‘Senior Martial Uncle Liu and Junior Martial Uncle Zhang are already together and they’re gonna be married by the end of the month. The person in charge of the wedding is the Sect Leader’ by the end of their gossiping. Their ability to distort truths wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

The rest of the disciples that had entered the secret realm and had been in danger got together. After carefully recalling and verifying the details, they discovered that at the time, even if the killing array had been activated, they wouldn’t have been injured. This was because the entire attack would have only been concentrated on Luo MingChuan.

However, Luo MingChuan chose to be punished instead of Yin BiYue. That fact was truly too strange.

Combining that with Luo MingChuan’s reaction at the Qing He Palace Hall, and with what Cheng Xi and the other three had personally saw, everyone had already conjectured at least ten versions of ‘the secret affairs between Cang Ya’s succeeding disciple and Xi Hua Peak’s genius that cannot be said’. However, only the minority said things like a love-hate entangled relationship or hate birthed from love.

In the end, He YanYu had ultimately guided the topic to ‘when we talk about love, what exactly are we talking about?’4.

The interest of a lot of people surged. They began asking her what happened after the doors to the Palace Hall had been closed. However, she refused to tell them.

Thus, today’s scene appeared.

‘Farewell with Swords, to encourage them for their journey’ was one of Cang Ya’s traditions.

The disciples were the ones who spontaneously arranged and organized them. They would send them off and accompany them from the self-study hall all the way until they were outside the Sect. Many years ago, martial cultivators waved all sorts of swords, while spiritual cultivators held all sorts of spiritual artefacts. The scene was truly too beautiful to even look at. Thus, this tradition gradually developed into one where they only waved swords in the air, and nothing else.

Many of the disciples that had came today had actually temporarily borrowed a sword for this event.

However, that didn’t affect their enthusiasm as they yelled, so much that the clamour they made was enough to shake the whole Cang Ya.

By the time Yin BiYue and his group had walked a hundred or so meters, the tide of people was still following them. Unorganized and chaotic shouts started becoming more uniform. The two sides seemed to have reached a consensus. After a group of people yelled the phrase, “Martial Uncle Luo! Seize victory at Zhong Ming Mountain!”, the other side would yell, “Martial Uncle Yin! Victory at the Flower Picking Festival is certain!”

Suddenly, a breeze appeared in between the gaps of the woods. The wind brought along a delightful fragrance.

Yin BiYue lifted his head and saw ten or so women wearing white robes come in a trippingly manner. The two girls heading them lifted their heels and bounced lightly off their toes as each leapt onto a treetop, one in the Northern direction and the other to the South. With a swept of their hands, they each shook out a banner with graceful, elegant script in big characters——

The one on the south side said ‘Gorgeous, Luminous Pearl’, while the one on the north side said, ‘Impeccable Moral Integrity’.

Upon seeing this, Duan ChongXuan took out his fan before he fanned himself. His smile became increasingly more elegant and casual. “I’m in favour of my senior and junior-apprentice sisters’ unique and artistic heart.”

The corner of Yin BiYue’s mouth twitched.

Dear youngster, you have too much confidence in yourself. In the very least, that He YanYun little sister who’s heading them is absolutely here in order to support her family’s senior-apprentice brother Luo.

Duan ChongXuan sighed emotionally, “They are praising my appearance by comparing it to a gorgeous pearl, and admiring my moral quality as impeccable, ah!”

Yin BiYue discovered that he was actually left speechless.

If he was capable of mastering the knowledge from entertainment circle novels, he would instantly be able to understand today’s situation.

The long main street separated two sides.

The side on the south was comprised of Luo MingChuan’s fans, while the side on the north was Yin BiYue’s fanclub. The swords they held were equivalent to modern day posters and glow sticks.

What Luo MingChuan’s fans won in was that there were so many of them.

Majestically forming a dense sea, the frequency of their waving swords was also very orderly.

And what Yin BiYue’s fanclub won in was their superior quality.

Apart from the ones that had taken the lead; the four disciples that had escorted him and the disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall, there were still the devoted fans of the ‘Sword Saint’ and Jun Yu. This was the first time Xi Hua Peak attended the Flower Picking Festival, so naturally they were representing the Sword Saint’s prestige.

Although the number of people couldn’t be compared to the south side, the cultivation of all the disciples on the north side weren’t low. When they yelled, the sound came from their dantians5 with abundant true essence.

The momentum from both sides were equally matched.

However, it was unfortunate that Yin BiYue’s scenes in entertainment circle novels only amounted to two and a half lines, so he naturally didn’t know this.

Or else, he could have issued a rousing call——the friends in the back, please raise your swords! Allow me to see both your hands!

Standing on the treetop, He YanYun striked her banner. She glanced at her sisters6 who were mingling on both sides, and who had started distributing handkerchiefs sewn with the words ‘Gorgeous, Luminous Pearl, Impeccable Moral Integrity’ to everybody. He YanYun smiled slightly.

The Ruan XiaoLian across from her raised an eyebrow.

——Can this succeed?

He YanYun nodded.

——No problem, ah.

These embroidered handkerchiefs were the ones He YanYun and her sisters made as they pulled countless all-nighters. The materials used must be exquisite, the workmanship needed to be refined, and the stitches were detailed and meticulous. These needed to be handkerchiefs that nobody could refuse to take after they held it once in their hands. In addition, in Cang Ya Mountain, possessing a handkerchief from a girl was truly something worth flaunting and being proud of.

It didn’t take long for the girls to finish handing out the handkerchiefs. He YanYun smiled in satisfaction, before she stared at Ruan XiaoLian in gratitude.

——Thank you, everyone.

Ruan XiaoLian gave her a glare.

——There’s no need for words of politeness.

Thus, He YanYun didn’t speak any more. No, from start to finish, she had never ‘said’ any polite words. The two of them grew up together. They could understand each other with only a meaningful glance or a single expression.

In He YanYun’s words, this was called a friendship where they lived and died together. The kind of friendship where they would sneak off the mountain to stroll the city and eat roasted chicken, before they got dragged back together to get punished with slaps on their palms.

Everytime the Cang Ya Mountain sisters team got captured, it was always He YanYun who took the initiative to stand out and be their scapegoat. In regards to this aspect, she was extremely loyal to her friends. Now that everybody was gradually growing up, they slowly changed their behaviours that used to be just fond of playing and eating and they began diligently cultivating. It had been a long time since everyone had gotten together again.

Thus, when He YanYun suggested this project, it was like they were shot by chicken blood7. It could be said that there was a hundred responses to her single call.

These things, Yin BiYue knew none of it.

He held the handkerchief that had been stuffed into his hands, stared at the words ‘Gorgeous, Luminous Pearl, Impeccable Moral Integrity’, and only felt that there was something strange about all of this.

After they finally reached the bottom of the mountain, the tide of people halted under the high and broad mountain gates as the group calmed down.

The three people turned around to give all the people sending them off a salute. Luo MingChuan said in a clear and bright voice, “Thank you for your trouble of seeing us off.”

The crowd of people once again exploded into a peal of cheers.

With their sleeves blocking the wind, the group of teenagers began walking southward.

Behind them was the rising morning sun, majestic green hills, and a sea of swords and cheers.

In front of them, was the unknown thistles and thorns, and a muddy road.

Unit of measure, around 3.3 meters. 三人市虎 means, when three people consecutively insist the same thing, it will sway the listener into believing what the three people say is indeed true, even if it is all lies. TL;DR: repetitive rumours will become true even if they are initially false. 四人就能称的上是众口烁金了 = literal translation: public opinion is powerful enough to melt metal. (meaning: Incessant slander are heavy as rocks or metal, and can cause a person’s existence to be a burden, resulting in their ruin. When public opinion is united and turned on a single person, when right and wrong is inverted, it can cause death.) What this means here is, what kind of love/feelings are we talking about? 丹田 (dāntián) – point two inches below the navel where one’s qi resides. She doesn’t mean her blood-related sisters, but the other girls she came with. A saying that means has suddenly became extremely excited over a specific object or matter, believing it to be their heart’s desire.