Chapter 137: So Fragran

On the way back to Chang’an from the training field, Fang Jie, Zhang Kuang, Mo Xidao, and Xie Fuyao rode on their horses side-by-side.

Since the tests today were exhausting, Principal Zhou was kind and allowed the participants to ride horses back to Chang’an. Of course, they had to return the horses to the Martial Arts Academy.

Fang Jie was the only exception; many people were jealous of his red horse.

Xie Fuyao was curious about how Fang Jie, Zhang Kuang, and Mo Xidao talked with each other; they talked, laughed, and cursed, and he listened carefully.

When the three laughed at something funny, Xie Fuyao would smile.

Fang Jie turned his head and looked at Xie Fuyao before asking with a smile, “Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at by others now that you are close to us?”

Xie Fuyao thought for a bit and replied earnestly, “You said that you will treat me to liquor.”

Fang Jie laughed; it seemed like he appreciated this answer. “I always thought that you wouldn’t be willing to travel with us. You know that border soldiers like us don’t have much knowledge, and we talk about women most of the time. Of course, we probably met fewer women compared to the number of women you have slept with.”

Xie Fuyao shook his head awkwardly; he was clearly not used to this way of talking.

“I… that…”

“What?”

“You guys can keep on talking about the things that happened in your border cities. I like those tales.” Xie Fuyao didn’t want to stay on the topic of women with Fang Jie.

“Those aren’t tales!” Mo Xidao snorted. He was straightforward and disliked members of big families like Xie Fuyao. Even though they were traveling together, Mo Xidao didn’t think that Xie Fuyao was with them.

This conflict was hard to resolve. Even though there was no real animosity between them, there was a huge chasm between soldiers and members of big families.

Xie Fuyao was stunned for a second, and he cupped his hands and said to Mo Xidao after a moment of silence, “Sorry, my apologies.”

It was sincere, and even Mo Xidao could tell that it wasn’t fake politeness.

Most members of big families were hypocrites; they befriended many people from poor backgrounds, but they rarely stopped looking down at them in secret.

Therefore, the sincerity in Xie Fuyao’s tone was precious, yet Mo Xidao still didn’t like Xie Fuyao.

“Everything that we talked about is real. Perhaps you can only hear our laughter but can’t understand the powerlessness and hardship we feel. People like you would never understand the lives of border soldiers and the bond between border soldiers,” Mo Xidao said.

Xie Fuyao nodded and said, “Perhaps. I will try to experience your lives when I go to the border in the future.”

“Gongzi Xie, why do you want to go to the border? Even after you graduate from the Martial Arts Academy in three years, you can enter the 16 Guards if your grades are good,” Zhang Kuang asked.

Xie Fuyao sped up his horse to catch up with Fang Jie and others. While looking at the majestic city wall of Chang’an in the moonlight, he said, “Since I decided to join the military after coming here, it would be best if I can go to the border. Perhaps you may think that I’m naïve; I don’t want to enter the 16 Guards. Soldiers should all be on the border.”

His words changed Mo Xidao’s impression of him, and Mo Xidao’s tone calmed down as he said, “The border isn’t what you imagine it to be. You shouldn’t go there if you can’t handle the pressure of you and your peers leaving the world at any time. Perhaps entering the Martial Arts Academy is a shortcut for people like you to increase influence and become high-level officials; you don’t need to treat yourself as a soldier.”

Xie Fuyao shook his head and said, “I’m different from others. In your eyes, I may seem no different from other members of big families. However, I’m different from them. In fact, I feel like I’m closer to you guys.”

“Why?” Zhang Kuang asked.

Xie Fuyao opened his mouth but didn’t end up explaining it. “Nothing.”

Mo Xidao didn’t like others being all hesitant, so he stopped looking at Xie Fuyao and said to Fang Jie with a smile, “I watched you guys compete all day! Fang Jie, you truly brought honor to us border soldiers! Before today, I already talked with our brothers, and we will gather money and treat you to liquor in a great restaurant! The brothers who left earlier are already planning it. Let’s not go back tonight without being drunk!”

“Tonight… I can’t do it.”

“Why?” Mo Xidao asked.

“Brother Mo, you also heard me earlier. I already agreed to treat Gongzi Xie to liquor. We border soldiers honor integrity the most; I can’t go back on my words.”

Mo Xidao grew angry, and he said, “What? After getting to know a few gongzi, you think drinking with us will bring shame to you?”

The atmosphere instantly became still, and Fang Jie shook his head and said with a bitter smile, “Brother Mo, you know that I…”

“Brother Mo!” Zhang Kuang said on the side, “You can’t say that. Is Fang Jie someone like that?”

Mo Xidao’s expression looked gloomy, and he didn’t speak. After traveling for a while in silence, he shook his head and sighed, “Fang Jie, my bad. For some reason, I’m getting more anxious day by day after I returned from Eastern Chu.”

Before he could finish speaking, a few figures dashed out of the forest on the side of the road.

The person who appeared first wore a wide robe and pulled someone in his hand. Six figures were chasing after him like bolts of lightning.

While Fang Jie and others froze, and the person in the front already got to them.

That person pulled Fang Jie off his horse and dashed to the side.

Fang Jie’s vision blurred, and he felt like someone dragged him off his horse.

The wind blew past him, and he couldn’t even open his eyes in the strong wind.

Before he could say anything after hearing Zhang Kuang and others’ shouts, he felt a pain in his abdomen; he felt like a hand was sucking onto his abdomen like a suction cup.

When the wind disappeared, Fang Jie opened his eyes and saw that an old monk captured him.

“Doesn’t the Buddhist Sect promote being generous and kind? Don’t you feel shameless using a young man as your shield?”

Fang Jie was stunned when he heard this. He looked toward the direction of the voice and saw that he knew several of the people who chased after this old monk!

Zhuo Buyi of the Royal Guard, Professor Qiu Yu and Professor Yan Ji of the Martial Arts Academy, and a middle-aged red-robed daoist.

Fang Jie had seen this daoist before. Fang Jie and Chen Qingshan sat on a tree outside Chang’an, and they saw this daoist create a pit in the ground with the pointing of a finger, immobilizing an ox.

On the other side of the red-robed daoist, there was a senior in a sapphire robe with a broken sword in his hand; Fang Jie had never seen this person before.

When Fang Jie saw the last person, he couldn’t help but gasp in his mind! “Du Hongxian?”

Although Fang Jie was surprised, he didn’t make any noises. He didn’t know the situation yet, so he didn’t want the old monk to know that he was an acquaintance of Zhou Buyi and others.

It wasn’t a good thing to be captured as a hostage, and it would be worse if this old monk realized that he was related to others.

Clearly, Du Hongxian was surprised when she saw Fang Jie as well, but she quickly recovered from the shock and pretended that she didn’t know Fang Jie.

Zhuo Buyi and others did the same; none of them shouted out Fang Jie’s name.

Xie Fuyao, Mo Xidao, and Zhang Kuang arrived later than Zhuo Buyi and others, and they all surrounded the old monk.

“You guys need to back off; you can’t deal with this situation.” Yan Ji looked at Xie Fuyao and ordered.

Xie Fuyao was surprised. Although he didn’t recognize most of the people around the old monk, he recognized that two of them were professors of the Martial Arts Academy while another was a red-robed daoist.

It was easy to imagine how powerful these people were, but they were trying to attack this old monk together; it just proved how terrifying this old monk was.

Just a red-robed daoist would be a top-tier master in the martial arts circle of Great Sui, and others’ cultivation strength wouldn’t be that much inferior. How terrifying must the opponent be if these people had to work together?

However, Xie Fuyao didn’t back off after thinking about this.

“He is our friend,” Xie Fuyao replied calmly and didn’t show that he knew Yan Ji and others.

“Shameless!” The senior in the sapphire robe was Li Nan, and he pointed at the nose of the old monk with his broken sword and said angrily, “The Buddhist Sect sure is shameless! Using an innocent person as a hostage! Is this the value that you guys promote daily?”

The old monk shook his head and said, “He isn’t innocent.”

He didn’t look at Fang Jie and only raised Fang Jie with one arm while saying, “You people of Sui are all demons and devils. Great Wheel Wisdom King is kind and generous, but he is only kind and generous to people; why would he be kind to demons and devils?”

When he raised Fang Jie into the air, his expression suddenly changed. For some reason, he subconsciously looked at Chenya, and he seemed to have found the answer when he saw the surprise in Chenya’s eyes.

This old monk completely ignored the curses coming from people like Li Nan, and he slowly put Fang Jie on the ground before looking at Fang Jie and murmuring, “Is this fortune?”

“Master… kill him…”

Chenya who was covered in blood looked at Fang Jie with intense hatred, but Fang Jie couldn’t even recall seeing this person.

He didn’t know why this stranger would hate him so much, but he suddenly realized something when he saw the old monk’s bald head.

“What a coincidence,” the old monk sighed.

Fang Jie nodded and said, “Indeed coincidental yet extremely delicious.”

“Huh?” The old monk was surprised; he didn’t know what Fang Jie said.

Of course, no one in this world could understand the advertising slogan from Earth that Fang Jie just said.

While the old monk froze at this split-second, Fang Jie suddenly moved. Left-handed One Saber Strike was used at an unimaginable angle.

After the tests, Fang Jie got back the saber that the crippled old man gave him, and it was beside his waist which was easy to reach.

This strike was the fastest and the most powerful attack that Fang Jie had ever used.

He didn’t attack the old monk but Chenya, and he didn’t make this decision under impulse.

He knew that since so many cultivation masters were attacking the old monk at the same time, the latter must be shockingly powerful, and his left-handed One Saber Strike might not injure this old monk at all.

However, he was confident about his strike against this young man who was covered in blood. After all, it seemed like this young man couldn’t even stand.

The sudden attack made the old monk knock Fang Jie away subconsciously while pulling Chenya to the side with the other hand.

However, he was too late. Fang Jie’s blade left a tiny injury on Chenya’s body. Although it wasn’t severe, it was shocking that Fang Jie’s sudden attack worked when the old monk was this powerful.

“I actually forgot that it is meaningless to seal your sea of qi.”

The old monk shook his head while sighing.

At the same time, four figures jumped up.

The two professors of the Martial Arts Academy and Mr. Zhuo all wanted to catch Fang Jie who got knocked into the air, but the fastest was the beautiful woman who was in the plain blue floral dress.

After she caught Fang Jie, she cursed in a low voice, “You are seeking death!”

Du Hongxian caught Fang Jie under her arm, and Fang Jie felt her chest, sniffed, and commented before fainting, “So fragrant.”

At this moment, the other five cultivation masters attacked the old monk with their most powerful strikes.

The old monk turned serious, and he placed Chenya behind him before he put his palms together. Then, a brilliant white lotus suddenly appeared as if it bloomed in his body. This five-petaled lotus looked extremely pure and beautiful.

Boom! The attacks from the five cultivation masters smashed onto the five-petaled lotus.

The white lotus shook before cracking under pressure. When the petals shattered and dispersed like smoke, that old monk was nowhere to be seen.