Chapter 265: Who’s Afraid Of Whom?

Gu Xiqiao and Jiang Shuxuan reached home, with Hua Youlin and Luo Wenlin behind them.

The two boys had stayed with Mu Zong the previous day, and today Luo Wenlang was busy implementing the new processes in the company, so Gu Xiqiao was asked to take care of Luo Wenlin for the time being. The entire Nine Heavens was busy, and it was only Gu Xiqiao alone that was free. Luo Wenlang had shoved Luo Wenlin towards her the first chance he could.

In half a month’s time, Hua Youlin had gathered a lot of questions to ask Gu Xiqiao. Luo Wenlin sat on the other side of Gu Xiqiao, reading a book as he listened with one ear to Gu Xiqiao’s teachings. In the beginning, Hua Youlin’s results had been a far cry from Luo Wenlin’s, but now after a month, he was slowly starting to catch up.

Gu Xiqiao and Luo Wenlang’s way of teaching were different, but geniuses still taught along the same way, precise, accurate, and fast, using the shortest and fastest way to talk about the most cumbersome topics.

Hua Youlin’s weakness was in the subject of cumbersome physics diagrams, but Gu Xiqiao easily managed to break it down to make it easier for him to understand.

Luo Wenlin was working on his own homework at the same time, but his attention gradually shifted towards the words that Gu Xiqiao was saying.

In the end, after the bunch of questions that Hua Youlin had had been resolved by Gu Xiqiao, Luo Wenlin took the opportunity to also hold up his own homework to ask her for help.

“Brother Jiang.” Hua Youlin put aside his workbook, moving to sit beside Jiang Shuxuan as the older man settled into the sofa opposite them. “Do you know who we met today?”

Jiang Shuxuan glanced at Hua Youlin, then continued to pick up the ancient text in his hands, not saying anything.

Hua Youlin was not discouraged by the motion, already used to it. His voice lowered slightly as he continued, “It’s a big brother who is super good looking, and really nice. He even treated us to milk tea, and gave a card to Sister Gu.” Finally, he added a concluding remark, “Young girls nowadays like men who are more warm and gentle, guys who are way better than you!”

Jiang Shuxuan finally raised his head to look at Hua Youlin, a cold glint in his eyes.

“Youlin, then do you like that other big brother, and not your Brother Jiang anymore?” Mrs. Zhang asked as she brought out a plate of cut fruits.

Hua Youlin glanced at her, before looking back at Jiang Shuxuan. “Even though that big brother was nice, I still like Brother Jiang more!”

After saying that, he bounced away to Gu Xiqiao’s side once more, doing his work seriously.

Jiang Shuxuan’s eyes were still on him, although his face didn’t change, the cold glint in his eyes gradually vanished.

“How is the Hua family nowadays?” Slender fingers turned the pages of the book in his hands as the older man asked.

Hearing this, Hua Youlin looked at Jiang Shuxuan in disbelief. H-He was this kind of person?!

Gu Xiqiao didn’t stop in her writing, but she replied, “It’s almost time. I’ll accompany him back in a few more days.” Little Huazi should get the things that he needed before that.

Jiang Shuxuan merely continued to flip through the pages after he heard her reply.

He was clearly happier after hearing her answer.

“Sister Gu…” Hua Youlin looked at Gu Xiqiao, a pitiful face that was close to crying without tears.

By the time Gu Xiqiao and Luo Wenlin was done with his homework, Shu Chen and her butler had returned to the house, with a bunch of stuff in his arms.

“I thought that the white fox fur would look good with red. But I traveled through the ancient martial arts world and found that all the good stuff had been taken by the Baili family, especially those blood jade earrings. Nobody had bought it because it was expensive, but when I went there this afternoon, Baili’s family had already bought it!” Shu Chen muttered, obviously regretting that she wasn’t able to get her hands on it.

“White fox fur?” Jiang Shuxuan repeated.

Shu Chen smiled. “The fox fur from the seven-tailed spirit fox that was in our treasury. I made a coat for Qiao Qiao, but it wasn’t enough for it. I went to the ancient martial arts world this afternoon to look for more.”

“You’ve taken out the fox fur?” Jiang Shuxuan asked, surprised evident in his voice. No one had dared to touch the fox fur in all the years, and she’s taken it out to make… a coat? “Didn’t the elders say anything about it?”

“They dare?” Shu Chen frowned. “Our family items can be used however we want to, and I wanted to make a coat for my daughter-in-law, what’s wrong with that?”

Butler Jiang, who was standing beside Shu Chen, glanced at her. “…” Madam, you were never like this before.

“Why make a coat out of it for her suddenly?” Jiang Shuxuan asked, glancing at Gu Xiqiao who was studying something with Jiji.

Gu Xiqiao also raised her head at the same moment, and saw Shu Chen. “Aunt Jiang, you’re here.”

Shu Chen happily responded to her greeting, and only after instructing Butler Jiang to hand over the stuff to Gu Xiqiao, she turned back to reply to Jiang Shuxuan. “Old Tang’s birthday is coming up soon, and she will be beautiful and astonishing when she wears the coat. The entire ancient martial arts world will know that she is my daughter-in-law.”

When she said that, she looked at Jiang Shuxuan in the eyes. “When will she come and live in the Jiang family ancestral house?”

Jiang Shuxuan: With that attitude that you’re displaying now, I rather that she never goes!

Mrs. Zhang prepared the dinner that night, and Gu Xiqiao went upstairs after eating. Shu Chen had originally wanted to follow her up and play games with her, but then she suddenly remembered something and turned to Jiang Shuxuan instead. “That thing that I asked you this evening, have you checked on it?”

“You’re talking about the text that you sent me?” Jiang Shuxuan asked, frowning.

“Yes, you’ve been hiding it so rigorously, how did Jiang Tong find out about Qiao Qiao’s information?” Shu Chen’s face was solemn as she asked.

Jiang Shuxuan pondered for a while, and replied slowly, “Those who know of her existence are many, and she’s also a semi-public figure. It’s not surprising that those people would also know of her.”

Hearing his explanation, Shu Chen also recalled Gu Xiqiao’s identity, and the stone in her heart was dropped.

Seeing that she didn’t have any more questions, Jiang Shuxuan turned around to head upstairs.

Shu Chen remained downstairs, not in a hurry to head up. She had caught sight of Jiji who was walking around the room, pencil in hand, and it would sometimes stop to draw or write something.

“What is it doing?” Shu Chen asked curiously. A robot was a robot, but it was a robot that could read a layout map. Even if it’s intelligent, it can’t be THAT intelligent, right?

Mrs. Zhang poured a cup of tea for her, laughing lightly at her words. “It just discussed with Miss Gu about modifying the layout of the house.”

“It can communicate with Miss Gu?” Butler Jiang was the one to express his shock at it, before Shu Chen could ask the same.

Mrs. Zhang smiled, not answering. Inside, she was thinking, ‘This is nothing, you’d be even more horrified when you find out about a bird and plant that can talk to humans too!’

***

Once Shu Chen was done with her wandering downstairs, she went up with a laptop in hand to look for Gu Xiqiao. She knocked on the girl’s door first, but no one answered. She knocked again, and there was still no response.

She couldn’t help but let out a trail of mental power through the door, but was surprised to find that it couldn’t penetrate the door at all.

Even her spiritual powers couldn’t go through the door? A look of shock appeared on her face.

She prodded around carefully with her mental power, feeling as though there was a formation in play. It wasn’t only this room, the entire house was enveloped in this formation. No one could use their mental powers in this room.

From the perspective of the person who set up the formation, they were practically invincible in this space.

Who on earth was able to figure out and implement such a formation?

Shu Chen thought for a long time, and suddenly remembered the Baili family. The Baili family were a line of formation masters, and Baili Bin was the most powerful heir in the past hundred years. It shouldn’t be surprising to find out that he had reached this level.

As expected, the Baili family was indeed on a rise. It seems that Baili Bin’s formation skills had even surpassed the patriarch of the Baili family.

“Aunt Shu.” Hua Youlin was climbing up the stairs with Luo Wenlin, intending to head to Jiang Shuxuan’s study to read some books. Seeing Shu Chen outside Gu Xiqiao’s door, he stopped and smiled at her. “If no one is in the room, then Sister Gu probably went out to play with Brother Jiang.”

They went out to play?

And they didn’t even bring her along?

Thinking about this, Shu Chen would be lecturing Jiang Shuxuan when he came back. How could he not bring her along if there was something interesting to play with?

Since Gu Xiqiao wasn’t around, Shu Chen brought her laptop back to the room. When she turned around, she saw Mrs. Zhang was heading up the stairs too. She suddenly recalled the words that Jiang Tong had said early, and asked, “Sister Zhang, do you know about Qiao Qiao’s past?”

Hearing her question, Mrs. Zhang was taken aback for a moment. “Qiao Qiao… She’s a child that was quite distressing…”

The two sat down on the sofa downstairs, and talked for a long time.

***

At the same time, in the Jing Capital high school, Yi Bing and a few others stood beside an abandoned building, staring intently at the front.

“What is Big Boss doing?” Yi Tiao asked suddenly.

Yi Bing shook his head. “I don’t know. But the three of them said that they can manage such a large range of evil spirits, they should be fine.”

“But it’s a radius of ten miles.” Although Yi Tiao was extremely confident in Jiang Shuxuan and Gu Xiqiao’s abilities, there was still some doubt in this kind of situation. “Young Master Baili said that the entire thing is due to a formation, and just using brute force isn’t enough to destroy it, even with Miss Gu and Big Boss’ strength.”

Yi Tong, who was standing at the side with a recording device in his hand, looked at Yi Tiao and Yi Bing, his gaze like he was looking at a weakling.

“I’ll punch you if you look at me like that again!” Yi Tiao said, flexing his wrist.

Yi Bing looked at Yi Tong thoughtfully, and asked suddenly, “Do you know something?”

Yi Tong grinned. “Miss Gu is a formation master, and in my estimation, she’s not only comparable to Young Master Baili, it’s likely that she has far surpassed him already!”

“What?!” Yi Tiao glared at him. “She’s obviously an ancient martial artist.”

Yi Tong didn’t answer, tilting his chin instead. “Look.”

Yi Tiao and Yi Bing turned, and were met with a stunning sight.

Baili Bin and Gu Xiqiao stood in mid-air, black mist surrounding them. Jiang Shuxuan was standing between the two, holding his own Seven-Frosted Blade in hand.

The purple thunder and lightning roared loudly through the skies, appearing out of nowhere, and then the black mist seemed to swirl around Gu Xiqiao and Baili Bin’s sides.

The two of them had seals in their hands, and the strands of the black mist were being absorbed by Jiang Shuxuan’s sword at a fast speed.

In midair, a spiritual vortex had formed.

This movement had attracted the attention of the people in the ancient martial arts world.

The great elder of the Jiang family had just returned to the ancient martial arts world after a fight with the Peach Squad, and was met with this scene. He bumped into the clan leader of the Tang family, who had also stopped to stare at the phenomenon that was happening. “Patriarch Tang, is this a movement of an ancient power?”

“I don’t know.” Tang Wenbo looked at the direction of where he thought the source of it came from. “This… doesn’t look good!”

Before he could finish his words, the sky burst open. Tang Wenbo and the elder exclaimed at the same time, “The consciousness of heaven’s will!”

There were identical looks of horror on both their faces. The consciousness of heaven’s will which had not been seen for a hundred years was now in front of their eyes, but before they could even comprehend the horror running through them, that terrifying cloud seemed to be hit by something and… scattered?

Tang Wenbo and the elder glanced at each other, disbelief on their face now.

The big tremor in the Jing Capital made the senior members of the ancient martial arts world slightly worried, who in the world had caused the movement?

When they sent some people to investigate, there wasn’t a single trace of it found.

***

The shock that coursed through the people in the ancient martial arts world couldn’t compare to those who were on the scene itself.

When the formation of Gu Xiqiao and Baili Bin came to an end, a hole suddenly opened above Gu Xiqiao’s head.

Purple thunder roared and crashed down, a terrifying pressure mixed with it.

Yi Bing and the others resisted the pressure with much difficulty, their body pressed down towards the ground by this irresistible force.

“What the h*ll is this, Yi Bing?!” Yi Tong and Yi Tiao couldn’t hold up any longer, dropping to the ground with a ‘thump’.

“The consciousness of heaven’s will.” Yi Bing looked at the purple thunder with red streaks in it, disbelief on his face. “When a trace of its consciousness appears, no one can stop it.”

No one can stop it? Yi Tiao and Yi Tong fell silent after hearing that remark. They naturally knew that the consciousness of heaven’s will was.

Yi Bing was right, there was no one who could stop it.

Just as the words fell, Gu Xiqiao faced the direction that the thunder had come from, not avoiding it and not affected by it in the least. Her eyes were calm, her plain clothes fluttering lightly with the wind. Her jade white face glowed, reflecting warm colors from the purple light that was flashing in the skies. Purple lightning could be seen hovering above her own hands.

There was no fear in Jiang Shuxuan’s eyes, and then the last of the malicious aura was taken in by his blade.

“Be careful,” Baili Bin said softly.

Jiang Shuxuan drew his blade, nodding slightly. The Seven-Frosted Blade in his hand shone with a white light, which mingled and mixed with Gu Xiqiao’s purple lightning, forming an energy storm.

Rumble rumble!

The storm collided with the purple thundercloud, and the entire sky lit up in an almost blinding light.

The torn hole in the sky closed slowly, and finally disappeared.

These two, they actually managed to break up the consciousness of heaven’s will with their combined power?

Dead silence spread across the field.

It was a long while before Yi Tong finally got up from the ground. “Just to check, the consciousness of heaven’s will did appear just now… right?”

“That’s right.” Yi Tiao also picked himself up, dusting himself and covering his face with his hand. There was an oddly blanked look on his face.

“These two, seriously…” Yi Bing, who had been calm all the while, found that his entire hand was shaking, all the way up to his fingertips. It was like watching a nightmare come to life.

“I guessed that it would be the two of you who caused this whole thing.” A voice came from behind suddenly.

Wanqi Jue walked towards them slowly, his hand holding a child that looked to be seven or eight years old.

“Wanqi.” Baili Bin snapped out of his daze, nodding his head at the man. “Why are you here?” He was sure he had set up the isolation formation to keep people out.

“His mental power is strong.” Gu Xiqiao answered instead, walking over to them at a leisurely pace.

Wanqi Jue glanced at her, then swept across the field. “It’s fine that you’ve come back without telling me, but you didn’t even call me to play with such a fun thing tonight!” Such an interesting and fun thing it was, going against heaven’s will!

Yi Tong and the others were already lost for words, stunned speechless. Going against the heavens, was that something fun?!

What the flying f*ck was wrong with this bunch of people?!

Wanqi Jue was not like this previously!

“There is an extremely talented descendant from the Baili family.” Baili Bin stood beside Gu Xiqiao as he watched as Jiang Shuxuan kept away his Seven-Frosted Blade and walked towards them after. “He’s already understood twenty percent of the ancient text that you gave him.”

“Talented indeed.” Gu Xiqiao rubbed his chin thoughtfully. She glanced at Baili Bin. “You can focus on your own training now.”

Baili Bin nodded his head. “Grandfather has already said that observation is one of the most important aspects.”

“Pretty sister!” Yi Aoxue came out from behind Wanqi Jue, grabbing the corner of Gu Xiqiao’s clothes as she peered up at her with big, beautiful eyes. “Can I go and play at your house?”

“Of course.” Gu Xiqiao said, smiling.

Jiang Shuxuan reached them just as she said that, and he exuded a chilling aura, his complexion looking slightly off.

Gu Xiqiao’s face changed at the sight. “Brother Jiang?” She reached out to touch his pulse. He had been infected by the malicious aura? How did that happen?

“Xue’er, you’ll have to come over next time, I have something that I need to do and will leave first.” Gu Xiqiao pulled Jiang Shuxuan’s arm, disappearing on the spot.

Jiang Shuxuan, who had internal injuries and was leaning on her, glanced at Wanqi Jue indifferently before they vanished.

Baili Bin was slightly speechless. “…”

The phone in his pocket rang shortly after, and pulling it out, he found that it was Shu Chen who was calling. He picked up immediately, and her panicked voice came through, “Ah Bin, I just felt the consciousness of heaven’s will, and I can’t get through to Qiao Qiao or Shuxuan. Do you think something happened to them?”

“Aunt Shu, don’t worry. They’ll be fine.” Baili Bin said, chuckling lightly.

The consciousness of heaven’s will? It should be more afraid of Qiao Qiao than the other way around, right?