Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

accusatory and judgmental stares could make Gu Suihan’s expression flinch.
He continued to stand out prominently like a white lotus flower among the large green leaves in the pond.
His expression remained one of righteous anger.

Even You Hantian opened his eyes slightly and raised an eyebrow at Gu Suihan when he heard those words.
He didn’t know what to say either.

Now that Gu Suihan had made Zhou Wenxiang an evil that had to be rooted out, You Hantian couldn’t interfere anymore.
As Gu Suihan put it, Zhou Wenxiang had done something wicked behind the sect’s back, and Gu Suihan was now killing him on behalf of the sect.
If You Hantian stepped in now, then that would make it seem like he did know about these evil deeds and deliberately let it go.

“You’re really asking for it now!” Zhou Wenxiang’s eyes were practically spewing fire now.
His bangle rang noisily, and the nine blades flew from different directions back toward Gu Suihan as if they had heard a command to do so.
Zhou Wenxiang’s other hand suddenly became turned entirely black and gleamed like it was a black piece of metal as he stretched it toward Questioning Heaven.

“Oho, so you think you’re Lu Xiaofeng? I can’t believe you’re using the Lingxi Finger[^note1],” snorted Gu Suihan, saying things that his opponent couldn’t understand at all.
His sword suddenly switched directions and moved parallel to Zhou Wenxiang’s chest.

“Nine Children Wind, Transform Into Shapeless Shadows!” shouted Zhou Wenxiang loudly as he flicked his fingers against Gu Suihan’s sword, turned to dodge the blade, and made another hand seal.

The flying blades that had turned into shapeless shadows suddenly stopped to switch directions, howling as they hurtled toward Gu Suihan’s vital body parts.

“Glow of the Sword, Protection from the Sword’s Spirit!” After Gu Suihan let out that shout, a blinding golden glow surrounded his body as if he were a deity descending upon the Earth.
The glow of his sword swirled around him and protected him from external attacks, making him seem like a hedgehog.

“Sword Qi Fills the Air!” His sword Qi left his body and deflected all the blades coming his way.
It then turned into a wave of sword Qi that surged toward Zhou Wenxiang instead.

“How dare you!” Zhou Wenxiang felt all his hair stand on end as a shiver went down his spine.
His eyes bulged as he saw the wave of sword Qi before him.
He wanted to dodge the attack, but he could feel Gu Suihan’s sword encircling him like a venomous snake.

If he dodged the sword Qi, he would become severely injured.
If he didn’t, he’d die.

Zhou Wenxiang chose the former and got ready to at least stay alive even after getting stabbed by Gu Suihan’s sword.

At that exact moment, there was a flicker in You Hantian’s eyes as he disappeared in an instant.
At the same time, Gu Suihan’s attack was completely neutralized.

You Hantian had decided to interfere in the end.
He didn’t care if Zhou Wenxiang died at the hands of a disciple belonging to a different sect, but he didn’t want his own sect’s disciples to kill each other before the inter-sect competition even started.

“That’s quite enough.” You Hantian glanced at the two younger men.
His expression remained calm, but the authoritativeness in his eyes did not allow for dissent.

Gu Suihan raised an eyebrow but stopped his attacks.
His sword returned to its sheath, and he retracted his murderous aura.

Zhou Wenxiang felt assured after the sect leader had intervened and glared fiercely at Gu Suihan, his threatening gaze as sharp as his blades.

He turned to leave when Gu Suihan snorted and said, “You going to leave just like that?”

“What more do you want?” Zhou Wenxiang could feel Gu Suihan’s unfeeling eyes staring at his back, and it sent shivers down his spine, so he couldn’t help but turn around.

“These things cost me quite a number of Spiritual Stones, you know?” Gu Suihan looked at him with disdain and pointed at the food that was all over the floor.

“Tsk! Those are food cooked by ordinary folks, so even one Spiritual Stone would be more than enough to pay for it all.
If you want that, you can have one!” Zhou Wenxiang was furious as he threw a Spiritual Stone at Gu Suihan.

“This is the meat of a ferocious beast from ancient times, and the wine is the legendary Spirit Cleansing Soul Nourishing Wine, while the bowl and chopsticks are made from 10,000-year-old ice jade, so everything costs at least 100,000 Spiritual Stones.
You think I’m just going to let you walk away?” Gu Suihan didn’t even look at the one Spiritual Stone that had landed on the floor and took a step forward to block Zhou Wenxiang’s way.
Questioning Heaven moved half an inch out of its sheath, and tensions between the two men ran high again.

“That’s…you’re spouting nonsense!” Zhou Wenxiang’s face was red from anger, and his eyes bulged as he glared furiously at Gu Suihan.

It’s utter nonsense, alright, thought Gu Suihan.
But he merely curled his lips into a disdainful smile and glanced casually at You Hantian.

You Hantian knew what Gu Suihan meant by that and started seething inside.
If he didn’t need Gu Suihan for the upcoming competition, he would have crushed the boy by now.
But in the end, You Hantian gave Zhou Wenxiang a knowing glance, which made Zhou Wenxiang give in.

“This is all I have,” said Zhou Wenxiang almost inaudibly with his head bowed.
He was burning with fury, and his lips nearly bled from how hard he was biting them.
He then threw an entire magic storage bag at Gu Suihan.

“3,000 Spiritual Stones? That’s too little,” said Gu Suihan as he scanned the bag with his spiritual sense but accepted it and didn’t bother Zhou Wenxiang any further.
He gathered all the food and wine on the floor and threw them off the back of the zheng.

Zhou Wenxiang clenched his fists tightly, and one could even hear the sound of his veins popping on the back of his hand.
A few seconds later, he looked up to glare venomously at Gu Suihan, then walked back into the crowd without even turning back.

**The Clacker’s Uncle Snack Drawer**

_Today’s snack recommendation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyoniku_soseji This is a strange little snack that has a somewhat acquired taste.
I honestly don’t know why the manufacturers never improve the packaging (it’s really not the best, the perforation doesn’t always work out and the fish sticks to the wrapper or cuts the meat it’s always so weird), but I like it anyway.
Umami: —**_

[^note1]: Lu Xiaofeng/Lingxi Finger

A fictional character in the wuxia series by Gu Long about a martial artist who usually uses his bare hands to fight, and one of his well-known skills is the Lingxi Finger, which allows him to catch anything, including swords, between his two fingers.