The trio saw Nalan Su’s mother once again when they left the room. She was standing by the door, and quickly greeted them with a smile when she saw them coming out.
Chi Nanwei gave a slight bow and said, "Greetings, madam."
The woman waved her hands, looking flustered and uneasy. "Let me apologize on behalf of my son. Su’er has a bad temper. Please don’t take it to heart, please."
Fang Dingwu snorted coldly and said nothing. Ye Beizhi glanced at the woman’s face, his expression thoughtful. Only Chi Nanwei responded.
"Madam, you worry too much," she reassured, "Mr. Nalan... may have some misunderstandings."
"It’s my fault, all my fault..." Regret clouded the woman’s face. "I should never have let him learn the guqin, and I should never have let him take that guqin..." Her words trailed off abruptly, and she fell silent.
Chi Nanwei narrowed her eyes slightly. "Madam, is there something you’re not saying?"
The woman quickly waved her hands, her expression growing wary. "No, it’s nothing. Are you not from here?"
Chi Nanwei shook her head. "No, we’re just passing through."
The woman glanced back toward the room and lowered her voice. "Since you’re not locals, I won’t keep you any longer. The road ahead is long. Better hurry along and avoid staying overnight here. Shaozhou isn’t very safe..."
Chi Nanwei’s delicate brows furrowed at the implied meaning behind the woman’s words. "Madam, what do you mean by that?"
"Just leave quickly," the woman said, shaking her head before walking away.
Fang Dingwu grumbled and cursed the entire way back.
"Damn it, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have gone to that wretched restaurant. What bad luck." Fang Dingwu spat onto the street.
"That’s enough, Big Brother Dingwu. You’ve been cursing the whole way," Chi Nanwei shot him a glare before turning to Ye Beizhi, who had been walking with his head down. "Dummy, what are you thinking about?"
Ye Beizhi looked up blankly, glanced at Chi Nanwei, and finally replied, "I... was thinking about an old friend."
"An old friend?" Chi Nanwei asked with a peculiar expression. "Who? Are they a man or a woman?"
Ye Beizhi looked toward the horizon. In the light gauze-like veil of the clouds, a crescent moon peeked out timidly, like a shy beauty from a secluded chamber.
In the quiet of the night came a soft sigh. It was uncertain who it came from.
"She was a woman," Ye Beizhi quietly said.
And so, until bedtime, Chi Nanwei didn’t show Ye Beizhi a single friendly expression. With a loud bang, she closed her door, shutting him out of her room.
Back in his own room, Fang Dingwu took off his outerwear and climbed into bed. Before lying down, he adopted the tone of a seasoned veteran and said to Ye Beizhi, "Brother, you were wrong back there. You should never admit it’s a woman! You’re just asking for trouble!"
Ye Beizhi rubbed his forehead and sat down by the window.
"Not sleeping yet?" Fang Dingwu turned to look at him. "We have to hit the road early tomorrow."
Ye Beizhi nodded. "In a bit."
"I’m going to sleep," Fang Dingwu muttered, turning over and quickly falling asleep.
It was just past midnight and the moon had risen to its zenith.
Fang Dingwu suddenly felt someone shaking him. Half awake, he heard Ye Beizhi’s voice by his ear.
Then came the sound of clothes rustling. Fang Dingwu startled awake, now fully alert. He quickly turned his head and saw that the room’s window was wide open. The night wind howled past.
Ignoring his lack of clothing, Fang Dingwu grabbed his twin blades from under the pillow and rushed to the window, looking down onto the street below.
On the street outside, a figure sat cross-legged in the middle of the road, with a long, wooden object resting across their knees. It was unmistakably a guqin. On the other end of the street, another figure stood with a hand resting on his blade, blending seamlessly with the night.
Without a doubt, it was Ye Beizhi.
Recognizing the guqin, Fang Dingwu’s expression instantly turned ferocious, his whole body exuding murderous intent. "You bastard! You dare come knocking again!" He prepared to jump down from the window but suddenly remembered Ye Beizhi’s earlier instructions. He quickly turned and ran toward Chi Nanwei’s room instead.
Outside, the street was eerily empty.
After a long silence, Ye Beizhi was the first to speak.
"Are you here to return the guqin?"
"Return?" Nalan Su sneered coldly. "Who should I return it to? The guqin has always been mine."
Ye Beizhi fell silent again before finally saying, "Hand over the guqin... I don’t want to kill tonight."
Nalan Su’s expression shifted repeatedly, his voice growing sharp and shrill. "Yearning Rhapsody. Who are they?"
"So, you really don't know anything." Ye Beizhi shook his head and stepped forward. "Hand over the guqin."
The sound of the guqin rang out like clashing steel. An arc of energy rippled from Nalan Su’s fingers, heading straight for Ye Beizhi.
Ye Beizhi pulled his Tang blade half an inch from its scabbard, intercepting the attack. The ripple dissipated into nothingness.
"Far too weak." Ye Beizhi sighed. "You’re leagues behind her."
Nalan Su’s face twisted with malice. "Hand over the woman from earlier today and I’ll spare your life."
Ye Beizhi frowned in confusion. "Why?"
"She understands my guqin." Nalan Su narrowed his eyes to slits. "I’m just one step away from entering the realm of martial grandmaster, yet I’ve been stuck here for years. Today, her single comment gave me insight, she’s what I need for my breakthrough."
Ye Beizhi suddenly understood and then shook his head. "You lack talent."
"Arrogant fool! What do you know?!" Nalan Su howled.
As if his sore spot had been struck, Nalan Su began strumming the guqin furiously. The resounding notes surged with murderous intent, combining to crash upon Ye Beizhi like a wave.
Nalan Su didn’t stop. As his momentum grew, he shouted aloud, "Waves crash against the reef, winds roll through the clouds! Watch as my music stirs the storm!"
Zheng, zheng, zheng, zheng, zheng!
As the guqin’s melody intensified, the air around them seemed to tremble. The rippling surges of energy transformed into towering, tangible tidal waves, crashing down on Ye Beizhi.
Just as the massive wave was about to engulf Ye Beizhi, a faint smile crept across Nalan Su’s lips.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the chaos.
Blade light flashed and the first wave disintegrated into nothingness!
The afterimage from the second slash gleamed like a silver disc, as if a full moon had appeared out of nowhere on the street.
The second wave scattered into countless droplets, vanishing into thin air.
The entire sky filled with omnipresent bladelight, piercing all directions.
Nalan Su, pale with terror, instinctively closed his eyes amidst the onslaught of light. A chill swept over his body, and blood sprayed in all directions.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw the tip of a blade resting against his forehead. From this angle, the blade’s point was an inexorable meteor on the verge of piercing his head.
Nalan Su’s teeth chattered as he forced himself to speak through jaws tightly clenched. "Who the hell... is Yearning Rhapsody?"
Ye Beizhi paused before he answered, "Yearning Rhapsody is Stormqueller."
"Then who is Stormqueller?!"