"Evidence?" Lin Qinxue showed a faint smile upon hearing Fang Xing’s words. "You said the pellet was poisonous before, yet now that I’ve swallowed it to prove it’s not, you instead say I’m destroying the evidence. This is hilarious. There might be personal grudges between us, and I do wish for your death every day, but I am well aware of the current situation. If I were to kill you now, it’d be the same as harming s.h.i.+jie Linyun; why would I do that?" She then gave a brief pause before sweeping her gaze across and continuing with indifference, "Besides, even if I did make this pellet poisonous, how would you know?" Those who heard her words could not help but feel that what she said was very reasonable.
"I’ve seen through your plans and the poison pellet, what are you trying to do by making up all these excuses?" Fang Xing grew even more furious from what she’d said, and his murderous intentions began to clearly rise as he held the [Saber of Azure Dragon] tight in his hand.
"You want to kill me? Humph, or maybe you’re just turning your own shame into rage as a cover? I say that you’re intentionally using the pellet as an excuse because you’re unwilling to help s.h.i.+jie Linyun. I wasn’t the only one who saw how you’re afraid of death!" Lin Qinxue spoke with disdain, her eyes still cold.
This time, suspicion began to take root in the other disciples. Their impression of Fang Xing hadn’t been good to begin with, and now that Lin Qinxue had reasoned things out, they couldn’t help but to question Fang Xing’s intentions. Was the boy truly making things up on purpose because he was afraid of the fight?
"Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang, I don’t believe you have studied alchemy, so how did you immediately know that the pellet was poisonous with just one look?" It was Pi Junzi who came forward once more, looking at Fang Xing with suspicions while blocking him from the front.
As for everyone else, the same expression of doubt s.h.i.+fted from Lin Qinxue to Fang Xing instead. Unless someone had studied alchemy quite extensively, it would be extremely difficult to identify a pellet with just a single glance. Even alchemists like Lin Qinxue herself would require some time to test and confirm a pellet was poisonous. Adding in how Fang Xing had only required a single glance before he was certain it was a poison pellet, everyone else grew doubtful.
The secret of his [Book of Revelation] obviously couldn’t be revealed to these people, and Fang Xing didn’t bother trying to explain himself, either. He saw that everyone was looking at him suspiciously with some even showing a hint of hostility, and it was quite obvious that if he were to fight Lin Qinxue head on right now, these people would no doubt stop him.
As Fang Xing quickly tried to think of something, he let out a cold laugh. "You all think this is because I’m afraid of death?"
A little startled, Pi Junzi calmly replied, "It’s only normal to be afraid of death. If you let us know you do not wish to help s.h.i.+jie Linyun, no one will force you. But for you to use these kinds of methods might have been a little too much!"
Put simply, he clearly believed Lin Qinxue’s words.
"Not only is he afraid of death, he dared to use such tricks to place blame on our s.h.i.+jie Qinxue! He should not be forgiven!"
"When we were all fighting the beasts, I saw that he was the only one to return to the center of the formation! He has no sense of responsibility at all!"
Since the beasts on the ground had either died or run away, the pressure on the Qing-Yun disciples had been lifted and quite a few grew interested at what was currently happening. Those who arrived late had only heard half of the story before they began questioning Fang Xing and his motives, and it took only moments before people began to berate Fang Xing.
"Before we know the truth, you all shouldn’t be casting such criticism. The old grudge between Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang and Lin Qinxue is true without a doubt!" The person who spoke had a dainty figure with a flat chest and flat bottom—Qin Xing’er.
The dark-faced man beside her—Liu Heihu—also nodded in agreement. "Indeed. No matter what you say about Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang, to say he is afraid of the fight is something I cannot agree with. It was just then that Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang lent his aid four times. The first time was to kill the seven Barbarian Buffaloes that were das.h.i.+ng at our formation using a single strike, and the latter three were to kill three sixth-tier beasts that had managed to hide themselves within the fourth-tier beast packs. He has resolved four very dangerous situations." He then finally looked at everyone else and patted his left shoulder. "To be completely frank, if it wasn’t for him slaying a crafty ape beast, this arm would not still be attached!" There was a bloodied gash right on his left shoulder. If it had been any deeper, the entire arm would have been gone; it had clearly been very close.
"Humph. What did he bribe you with to have you two speak such words for him?" someone from the group questioned without good intentions.
Liu Heihu angrily yelled back, "Who said that? I dare you to show yourself!"
Qin Xing’er was also angry. "So it’s impossible to be on Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang’s side without bribery, huh?"
The crowd became quiet again. No one replied to their questions.
"Whether the pellet is poisonous or not, all we had to do was test it out. That s.h.i.+mei… s.h.i.+mei Lin, why did she have to swallow it?" A different voice rose up this time as the speaker stood behind Fang Xing—Duanzhen Valley’s Wu Xiangtong. He was usually very sincere, but this time his expression was stern and his voice was firm. "Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang is the lead disciple for our Duanzhen Valley and he has just ensured the safety of all of our disciples. You will have to ask for my permission before pointing your fingers at him!" As he spoke, the remaining Duanzhen Valley disciples all stepped forward to stand behind Fang Xing, leaving even Fang Xing surprised.
What Fang Xing didn’t know was that it was easiest for people to unify under dangerous situations.
Before leaving the Qing-Yun Sect, nevermind standing on Fang Xing’s side, they would have perhaps been the first ones to step on him and give him a good kick if they were able. By the time they had arrived at Mount Desolation, however, even though the things Fang Xing had done might not be standard, he had honestly protected the rights and ensured the safety of each of these Duanzhen disciples.
It was Fang Xing who had been the first to signal a warning right in the beginning, and he protected all of them from the strange insects. When the beast packs arrived, he furthermore made sure all of the high-tiered beasts hidden within the packs were killed, saving quite a few of them. His image within the hearts of these Duanzhen disciples changed just from these two deeds alone, and although they might not have accepted him completely, at least everyone had started to approve of him and his actions.
Furthermore, since Wu Xiangtong was the first of them to rise to Fang Xing’s defense, the others—even those who still distrusted Fang Xing—would only follow suit. No matter what was happening, they were all from the same branch; if they didn’t band together now, how would they survive the journey back to the valley later?
Finally, Fang Xing did not seem like someone who was generous and forgiving. If they didn’t stand up for him now, what if he came looking for trouble with them later on?
Seeing the Duanzhen disciples’ reactions, the other three valleys could not say any more in fear of creating a new round of trouble. For a moment, there was a strange atmosphere as everyone once again became silent.
Someone finally broke the silence and spoke with a cold laugh, "Well, if we continue arguing, when is it going to come to an end? It seems beasts are converging from the forests again, and who knows when they’ll come and attack? It’s best that we prepare our defense once more. If someone is afraid of death and is unwilling to lend s.h.i.+jie Linyun a helping hand, I’m happy to help s.h.i.+xiong Pi and s.h.i.+jie Feng. Even if those snakes kill me, I’d still be better than someone who’s afraid of death…." It was the same person who had scolded Fang Xing on behalf of the Danxia Valley’s female disciples, and the looks of his robe showed that he belonged to Shuwen Valley. He was around thirty years old, and there was a dark and untrustworthy air about him.
"Who’s this b.a.s.t.a.r.d?" Fang Xing asked Wu Xiangtong as he pointed to the man.
Wu Xiangtong took a glance. "His name is Shen Lo[1], a Shuwen Valley disciple."
Fang Xing nodded in agreement. "He is indeed very low. I should have sliced him in half back on the spirit vessel!"
"You… you’re pus.h.i.+ng it!" Shen Lo was angry and his words were filled with hatred, but he did not dare to go straight after Fang Xing. It wasn’t Fang Xing alone that he feared, but also all of the Duanzhen disciples who looked at him with dislike. It caused him to keep still, and he did not dare to immediately act.
"Duanzhen disciples, summon your Flying Swords and lend me a helping hand!" Fang Xing suddenly commanded. He no longer paid any attention to Shen Lo and forcefully slammed his feet against the ground to leap thirty feet up into the air.
After a brief moment of surprise, Wu Xiangtong quickly understood what Fang Xing had meant and quickly summoned his Flying Sword to serve as a stepping stone for Fang Xing’s second jump. Seeing this, the others also began to understand Fang Xing’s intent and summoned their own Flying Swords to help him. In mere moments, silver lights all flashed about in the air, these Flying Swords moving as though to form a stairway to the heavens.
Fang Xing swiftly leapt from one sword to another towards where Xu Linyun and the snakes were. "s.h.i.+jie Linyun, let me lend you my helping hand!" Fang Xing stimulated his Qi to his peak before unleas.h.i.+ng it completely, and everywhere he pa.s.sed was left with faint marks of flame. He arrived to where Xu Linyun and the three snakes were in a matter of seconds before he gripped his saber and began to spin like a giant pinwheel, landing a strike shaped like a full moon.
Hsssssh….
Poisonous flames shot straight at him. A single touch was enough to send a person to their grave, yet Fang Xing ignored it and simply activated [Closed Aegis] to protect himself within a small area. The swing of his saber showed no signs of stopping and continued straight down.
Woooosh….
The swing moved without pause, completing a full rotation as it cleaved straight through a Fiery-Scaled Serpent’s neck.
—
[1] Shen Lo: The original name of the character was "Shen Jian" (申剑, shen1 jian4). The original name of the character "Jian" (剑, jian4) means "sword" and is a completely innocent word that can be used in a name, but is p.r.o.nounced exactly the same as "jian" (贱, jian4) which means "low-life". Between maintaining the pun and the original name, the author declared that the pun was more important.