It snowed lightly all night, but when the sky cleared, only the branches on the house were still covered with snow. The falling snow on the ground had long since melted and turned into damp stains on the stone road. There is still a residual white on the mountain, entangled with the morning fog. The snow on the eaves drips down the grooves between the tiles, and is hurriedly stepped away by a group of passing school students.
"Hurry up, it's time to draw lots. Senior brother, have you gone to get the wooden cards?"
"Lot No. 18, where are you, junior sister?"
"Number 22. I thought I would face off against my senior brother, haha."
The disciples who had already picked their opponents were having a heated discussion. Qiong Yi brought Lu Li and Yang Xiaosi to the front of the number-taking table. Su Ye saw a wooden sign in his hand and waved to her from afar, "Lu Xiyan, Let your junior brothers and sisters smoke it, I have smoked ours."
Qiong Yi waved his hand and said to the two people behind him, "Then I'll go first, and you guys have to fight for some energy, okay? Lu Li is protecting Dian Xiaosi."
Lu Li said he understood and urged her to go quickly.
"It's Lu Xiyan." Even though the people around her lowered their voices, Qiong Yi still heard clearly, "Her score in the preliminary round was very high. In front of her was Sheng Xuan Yue Huan, a well-known young talent from a wealthy family."
"If it's true or false, don't lie to me! I can't tell at all."
"Why did I lie to you! Don't look at her. She is so small and delicate, but she can be beaten very hard. She moves incredibly fast. She has won several competitions directly."
The man took a breath of cold air: "I do know that she is very close to people like Sheng Xuanyuan and Su Ye, as well as Yan Soishen, who has top-notch exam results."
"It's Yan Tingshen. These four people are all very strong. Do we still have a chance to win when we form a team?"
"That seems to be the case, but I'm not playing this game to win, so it would be nice if I could show off my loss. Do you want to guess who Miss Lu will be paired with?"
"Shengxuanyuan."
"Didn't Su Ye wave to her just now?"
"Haha, you don't know this. The marriage between the Sheng and Lu clans is becoming more and more obvious. A few days ago, we negotiated a big deal in Luzhou and signed many business contracts! If I am determined to succeed Sheng Xuanyuan Teaming up with Miss Lu can help you develop feelings over time..."
"I remember that the Lu family's daughter is not Lu Xiyan, but her name is Lu Lan..."
"Have you said enough?" An angry shout sounded from behind the two of them, "Shut up if you have said enough." Qiong Yi looked back and saw Lu Lanshan rushing between the two people with an angry look on his face. : "Two men gossiping behind other people's backs early in the morning? Get out of my way!"
The two people were silenced by her yelling. They didn't dare to say anything anymore and turned around and walked into the crowd.
Lu Lanshan looked at their leaving figures, snorted, raised her hand to brush her long hair behind her, and looked at Qiong Yi: "What's the matter? What are you looking at? I'm not talking for you."
Qiong Yi glanced away, and then listened to Lu Lanshan say: "You know what they are talking about, but you pretend not to hear and walk away because it has nothing to do with you. It's really you."
Qiong Yi originally planned to ignore this gossip, but when he heard her taunting her, his rebellious spirit suddenly rushed up and he said angrily: "They have such a mouth, and I can't control it."
"Just spread rumors like this and let others pinch you, right?"
"You!" Qiong Yi took a breath, and when he was about to reply, Lu Lanshan said, "I'm too lazy to care about you." Then he strode away, holding back the words that came to his lips.
Su Ye saw the farce from a distance, and saw Qiong Yiwo angry and laughing, but he immediately received his retribution - a heavy punch from her and a curse: "What's so funny! "Qiong Yi folded his arms and stood angrily on Sheng Xuanyuan's side, ignoring Su Ye who was still holding back his laughter.
Sheng Xuanyuan calmed her down: "There's no need to get angry with her."
Qiong Yi snorted, not feeling so angry after hearing what he said, but thinking that if he could comfort her with just six words, it was too unreasonable, so she still kept a straight face.
Sheng Xuanyuan thought she was still angry, so he stopped talking, and then went to hold her hand.
"Qiong Yi."
Qiong Yi was distracted, thinking he was going to say something nice to comfort her, but she didn't expect to be handed a wooden sign: "There's no time to be angry, let's go to the ring competition. Su Ye has drawn number 1 and it's about to start."
Qiong Yi took the wooden sign in a daze, with confusion and disgust almost written on his face. Su Ye on the side also darkened his eyes when he heard this, and said to himself: As expected of Sheng Xuanyuan.
"What kind of luck..."
Hearing her muttering, Su Ye curled his lips and fixed the sword on his waist, "Young Master, what a blessing! It's almost time, let's go!"
There were already several layers of people surrounding the arena not far away. Under the summons of the presiding disciple, Qiong Yi and Su Ye took the stage. The two opponents were standing not far away. One was a son of the Yue family, and the other Qiong Yi looked familiar to him. When he got closer, the man looked at Qiong Yi with a smile and said hello: "Xiao Xiyan, long time no see."
Another person's face appeared in Qiong Yi's mind, and she said in surprise: "You are from Zhouzhou..."
"Xu Yichen! I am Xu Yichen! Why do you remember her but not my name?" The young man who called himself Xu Yichen held his forehead and said, "I have been here to study for several months. I have been paying attention to you for so long. Is it possible that you have never seen me once? ?”
Qiong also raised the corner of her mouth: "I'm sorry."
Su Ye raised his eyebrows: "Do you know each other? Are you not allowed to introduce me?"
"He is a friend I met last year when our clan hosted a study tour." Qiong Yi said briefly. Su Ye has some impressions of this person. The Xu family is a small sect attached to the Beishan martial arts. They are good at soft swords. When combined with the Yue family's heavy sword, they can both attack and defend, and their reputation is not small.
Xu Yichen's soft sword is indeed extremely superb, which can be seen in the preliminary competition, ranking sixth.
After the four people exchanged a few words, the referee struck the gong to signal the start of the fight.
Su Ye and Qiong exchanged glances. Qiong also retreated to the edge of the ring, leaving him alone in the center. Xu Yichen said calmly: "Brother Yue Li, pay attention to that little girl, she moves very fast. Don't let her catch you. ." Yue Li, a member of the Yue family, responded, clenched the heavy sword in his hand, and rushed towards Su Ye: "I'll take care of you, take her down first."
Su Ye did not expect that Xu Yichen would let Yue Li face him. Logically speaking, it would be difficult for his foil sword to block all attacks, which was not good. The long sword stabbed at him. After Yue Li's big sword blocked it, Su Ye turned his hand back. The sword slid through a stream of light and continued to press forward. Seeing this, Yue Li immediately held the sword with both hands and slammed the big sword into the ground. The blade was embedded in the ground. There was a loud noise in the bluestone slab. He used his sword as a shield to catch Su Ye's sword, then jumped up, drew out his big sword and slashed forward.
Su Ye had already retreated when he smashed the big sword to the ground. He lowered his head and saw the cracked stone slabs of the arena, and his eyes suddenly darkened: Can't you damage the venue at will if the bulletin board is not posted? ! You have to pay ten taels of silver for destroying the venue. Is it possible that the compensation is less?
Yue Li slashed down with his sword again. Su Ye turned sideways to avoid it. The sword struck from the side. The sound of collision extended from the middle of the sword to the end of the sword. It was sharp and harsh. Yue Li exerted force under his feet, and the sword light filled with true energy poured out. When he came, he shouted: "Broken!"
Su Ye flicked the sword, his steps changed, and he gradually moved towards the back of the ring. He smiled softly: "Seven broken spins." The sword light came out, and the spin was broken in seven places. Yue Li quickly took it in a defensive posture, and the sword When I looked again after the light passed, Su Ye had disappeared.
On the other side, Xu Yichen took advantage of Su Ye's retreat to rush up to confront Qiong Yi, trying to restrict her movements. Naturally, Qiong Yi would not retreat to another place so that he and Yue Li could form a trap, and faced him directly with his sword. Xu Yichen's soft sword was as smooth and entangled as a snake, as if it would suddenly stab him in the next second.
After hearing Su Ye's "Seven Breaking Spins", Qiong Yi's figure flashed. Xu Yichen felt that the person in front of him seemed to be blown away by the wind, and a sudden chill came from his back. He quickly turned around to block Su Ye's stabbing sword. , Su Ye smiled: "The bird flies so fast, you didn't manage to catch it."
Qiong Yi jumped in front of Yue Li, singing and dancing with her sword. After being blocked by the big sword, she jumped forward. Seeing her disappear, Xu Yichen hurriedly shouted to Yue Li: "Not behind me!"
"I'm still here, don't be distracted." Su Ye held the two sword flowers and said with a smile.
Qiong Yi put her sword against Yue Li's neck, "On the left this time." She winked and smiled.
Yue Li broke out in a cold sweat. He had seen Qiong Yi's footwork in the audience, but when he saw it again, he realized what kind of outrageous speed it was when he faced it. He thought to himself: It seemed like it happened suddenly in an instant. Same, really scary.
The referee struck the gong and announced that Qiong Yi and Su Ye had won the match. When they walked off the field, the match officials handed over the wooden sign for scoring.
"Lu Xiyan, your movement skills are so fast again." Xu Yichen's voice came from behind. Qiong Yi turned around with a smile: "Your swordsmanship has also improved a lot. Next time, ask Zhou Zhou to come to Taipa to play with me!"
Zhou Zhou is Xu Yichen's Taoist companion, and he has a good conversation with Qiong Yi and has a good relationship.
"Okay." Xu Yichen smiled.
After saying goodbye and walking away, when the two returned to Sheng Xuanyuan, he said calmly: "Who is that person?"
Su Ye chuckled and immediately looked at the stadium not far away as if nothing had happened. Suddenly he thought: Yue Li still hasn't paid for the floor tiles he smashed! You have to remember it first and calculate it on the Yue family's account.
"It's a friend I met before." Qiong Yi thought for a while: "I'm not familiar with him."
"Oh." Sheng Xuan said resentfully, but the expression on his face did not change at all.
Su Ye looked around: "Yan Tingshen didn't come? It's his turn and he probably went to read again? That's all, I'll go find him." After that, he walked away quickly.
"Let's go too." Qiong Yi pulled Sheng Xuanyuan's sleeve and said.
Leaving the vicinity of the stadium and bypassing the school, the rivers that intertwined were clean and clear. There were few pedestrians on the paths away from the busy city. There was a cold smell in the air, which made my throat dry.
"In today's competition, I felt that my speed was much faster than in the preliminary competition." Qiong Yi looked at the remaining snow on the bamboo raft by the river and a few gray finches jumping around there, and couldn't help but laugh softly.
Sheng Xuanyuan nodded, "It's indeed a lot faster."
He pondered for a long time before speaking: "Qiong Yi, the school will be on vacation before the Great Cold. I heard that there will be a lantern festival in the town at the end of the month. Do you want to go and see it together?"
"Okay!" Qiong Yixin agreed happily: "There should be a lot of interesting things in the Lantern Festival! It just so happens that the martial arts competition is over at that time."
She giggled as she spoke, and when she raised her eyes to see him, she sighed, "Sheng Kyung, it would be nice if you smiled more."
"Huh?" Sheng Xuanyuan was startled and grinned, "Is that so?"
Qiong Yi chuckled and said, "I won't force you." She looked at the river bank beside her and somehow remembered her experience that night. She shook her head to drive those thoughts out of her mind. In fact, she still remembered some of that incident, remembering his slightly warm lips and the whisper that was pressed into her throat.
Qiong Yi pursed her lips and her palms became a little sweaty.
"Is your birthday coming soon?" he asked.
"How did you know?" Qiong Yi blinked and asked casually with some doubts.
Sheng Xuanyuan quickly betrayed Lu Li: "Your junior brother told me."
Okay, this is what Lu Li said he wanted to help me.
Qiong also stopped and answered truthfully: "Actually, it has already passed."
Seeing his slightly disappointed expression, she said: "It doesn't matter, I don't care about this."
"Just a few days ago, right?"
"Yeah." Qiong Yi smiled and scratched his face: "To be honest, I was so busy that I forgot about it."
Sheng Xuanyuan stretched out his hand to her: "I will accompany you next year."
Qiong Yi's heart trembled, and she said: "There are too many promises, and those who can't do it are big bastards. They will never see the full moon in their lives." Before she could finish her words, she handed over her hand.
He smiled and said, "It won't be impossible."
When he was smiling in front of his eyes, it seemed as if the world was floating around. When he came to his senses, he was already in the busy alleys, with people coming and going. He indulged in all kinds of emotions in his heart and did not dare to talk to you.
"The author has something to say: Sheng Xuanyuan: Confession Plan Preparation..."
