Chapter 4.4
As soon as he leaves the spirit-land, the tile denoting one as a disciple of the Heavenly Cosmos sect tucked away in his sleeve begins to vibrate violently and heat up. This indicates a fellow sect disciple is met with danger and is requesting help from their peers.
Well aware that the victim this time is the female lead, Sui Yuan immediately abandons his efforts to decipher his spirit beast's meows. Extending his senses outwards, he pinpoints the direction where a spike of spiritual energy is coming from, then dashes away.
His current location is quite a distance from Shen Jiayi, hence, even if there is nothing to delay him on the way there, someone has already come to the female lead's aid by the time he reaches. Seeing that everything is developing accordingly with no alterations, Sui Yuan's heart relaxes. Quickly striding over, he calls out. "Junior Sister Shen!"
"Senior Brother Liu…" Shen Jiayi raises her head, gaze falling on the harried-looking Sui Yuan. A touch of gratefulness enters her eyes and she hurriedly greets him with a bow. "Many thanks for Senior Brother Liu's timely a.s.sistance."
"It's a shame that I appear to have arrived too late, and didn't manage to lend a hand," Sui Yuan says somewhat regretfully, then his tone turns concerned. "Junior Sister Shen, are you injured?"
"Only a few sc.r.a.pes, nothing for Senior Brother Liu to trouble yourself over." Shen Jiayi smiles, then turns to the youth standing by her side. "Senior Brother Shao was the one who rescued me."
Sui Yuan s.h.i.+fts his gaze to the other supporting male lead, offering him a faint smile and cups his hand before him[1] in thanks. "I thank Peiyuan for your a.s.sistance."
"You're too kind." The youth named Shao Peiyuan waves a hand dismissively, bearing confidence and at ease as he walks up to Sui Yuan, dropping a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Our Heavenly Cosmos and Heavenly Element sects are brothers. Seeing a Heavenly Cosmos disciple in a difficult situation, we are obliged to help. However, I didn't expect to meet Minghui. Indeed, it is karma!"
Even though the polite smile is plastered on his face, Sui Yuan subconsciously stiffens, unease surging through his being - because this Shao Peiyuan is one of the important supporting male leads, and he fulfils all three criteria for the male lead: white clothes, bland smile, and high cultivation!
Shao Peiyuan is the Heavenly Element sect's Head Disciple, meaning he shares the same status as Liu Minghui. These two are equally gifted, willing to help others, and receives the respect and adoration from the other disciples. Besides the fact that one is a genuine gentleman and the other is a hypocrite, both youths are not much different from each other.
Shao Peiyuan stood out from amongst his peers at an earlier date then Liu Minghui. One can say that the latter used the former as a template to create a false front. He carefully studied Shao Peiyuan's naturally warm character and gracious att.i.tude carefully, then gradually refines himself to be one step more kind, gentle and gallant. As time pa.s.ses, his popularity amongst the disciples of both sects overtakes Shao Peiyuan, making him the number one most desirable talent in this region.
Only, Liu Minghui is well aware of his true personality. Perhaps it is due to discomfort at knowing he is only pretending, he fears the consequence of being discovered whenever he is in the presence of the genuinely nice Head Disciple. Therefore, he has always regarded Shao Peiyuan as a threat to his safety, and a thorn in his side. On the surface, Liu Minghui and Shao Peiyuan are a couple of close, like-minded friends. But in reality, Liu Minghui is constantly thinking of ways to pull the other down from his horse. As long as the genuine product is destroyed, then this fake will be unique and unmatched. However, the big-hearted Shao Peiyuan treats Liu Minghui sincerely, completely unaware that this close friend is like a tiger stalking its prey, waiting for an opportunity to pounce.
Sui Yuan's muscles become taut not simply because of Liu Minghui's reservations towards Shao Peiyuan, but also due to his misgivings regarding him possibly being Zhao Xihe. Originally accustomed to receiving friendly or even intimate gestures, Sui Yuan is now feeling all kinds of unease. Instinctively, he knows that he cannot continue ignoring these sorts of behaviours as long as he is in this world.
Smoothly avoiding Shao Peiyuan's arm, Sui Yuan strides over to Shen Jiayi's side, inspecting her for visible injuries. The other youth, who completely doesn't detect Sui Yuan's evasive manoeuvre, cheerfully allows his hand to drop back to his side as he suggests tagging along with Sui Yuan from here on.
Although Sui Yuan's heart thumps in worry, the storyline doesn't allow him to refuse…
"That spirit beast just now was definitely guarding something." The delegation of people arrives at the place Shen Jiayi was attacked a moment ago, and begins to examine this place attentively for anything unusual. Being at peak Core Formation stage like Sui Yuan, Shao Peiyuan has been to this Eternal Bliss Heavenly Ground a few times too, hence, he is rather familiar with the circ.u.mstances one might face here. "Perhaps here is where the hidden reward is located?"
Sui Yuan nods to express his agreement. Unlike the other disciples, he refrains from wandering aimlessly around. Remaining in his spot, his slightly narrowed eyes scan their surroundings thoughtfully.
"Minghui, did you notice something?" Shao Peiyuan stops beside Sui Yuan and questions in a low voice.
Sui Yuan glances at him, then begins to recite from the script. "Don't you feel there's something peculiar about this valley's terrain? As if it…looks familiar?"
Shao Peiyuan knows very well that Sui Yuan specialises in charms, with a lesser specialisation in arrays. Faced with this question, he can only chuckle helplessly. "Minghui, don't be so reluctant to share. You know I don't have the slightest proficiency in arrays."
Shooting him another glance, Sui Yuan directly answers his own question. "This is a mirage array."
Saying thus, he walks over to the tree on the south-eastern side and sticks a fire charm on it while instructing Shao Peiyuan to stand at the east. Seeing that Sui Yuan is working to break the array, the other disciples spontaneously gather, automatically following his directions and staying within the safe zone. Blindly trusting him and paying close attention to his every movement, they watch with admiring gazes, oblivious to the fact that Sui Yuan is merely doing as the text instructs.
