I Rely On My Archenemy To Defy Fate - Chapter 3

Benefactor?

Elder Changsun’s interest was immediately piqued.

Someone like Wen Qingyin had actually received a favor from another person before?

In her impression, Wen Qingyin had always been a sharp-edged genius sword cultivator.

Her sword path was far too powerful. When her cultivation level had still been low, she could be temporarily suppressed because of the gap in cultivation, but with her natural sword bones, she herself was a cultivation genius. It would not take long before she could counterattack.

A genius’s life had no predicaments.

When exactly had Wen Qingyin ever received someone’s kindness?

What kind of kindness had it been?

To the point that she would even lose her composure upon seeing the benefactor’s child.

Elder Changsun’s desire for gossip exploded.

But Wen Qingyin clearly had no desire to share. She gave the order to see her guest out.

Elder Changsun could only leave resentfully.

And so, only Wen Qingyin remained in the pavilion.

She watched Shang Que’s battle with her over and over again. She analyzed every move Shang Que made, and the more she watched, the more familiar it felt.

Shang Que was not only a formation cultivator.

She had trained her body.

Just like her mother.

Even some of her habits while fleeing in a sorry state carried traces of her mother.

Similar techniques, and an extremely similar appearance.

Perhaps she really was that person’s child.

Although Wen Qingyin did not state it absolutely, she was already extremely certain in her heart.

The last remnants of reason made her ask the Dao attendant for Shang Que’s experiences during her time as a wandering cultivator.

And so, Shang Que, who had only just finished cleaning her room, was the first to receive an investigation questionnaire.

It was said that all wandering cultivators entering the sect had to go through this, in order to prevent the sect from unknowingly forming enmity with other sects or important figures.

While filling out the questionnaire, Shang Que silently complained to herself. She really did not know what use this questionnaire had.

Because this thing could be filled out completely at random.

But Shang Que did not write everything blindly either.

After learning that this was a comic world, she knew the female lead would begin cultivating sooner or later.

Although she did not know whether this would be a leveling-up story or a max-level story, she definitely needed an identity that could be useful.

A weak wandering cultivator was one of her identities. To avoid being exposed, Shang Que had truly spent a period of time acting as a weak wandering cultivator.

Shang Que lifted the questionnaire she had written and looked at the large, ugly characters on it. She flicked the paper with her fingertip.

She really did not know what use taking these things had.

Perhaps it was the sect requesting a liability waiver?

In any case, this wandering cultivator had not done anything bad.

Shang Que smoothly handed in the questionnaire and decided to go out for a stroll.

And very soon, that questionnaire arrived in Wen Qingyin’s hands.

Name, place of origin, handwriting—Wen Qingyin could analyze many things from them.

Shang Que…

Perhaps her benefactor’s surname had been Shang?

And she did not even know her benefactor’s name.

She had only heard that person’s family teasing her. Her older sister called her “little bird,” “little sparrow,” and “little jiu.” In truth, Wen Qingyin did not know whether that jiu was the jiu for dove, wine, or nine.

But she guessed it was probably some kind of bird.

After all, they had only spent one day together.

She had been someone her benefactor saved in passing, an insignificant passerby.

She had thought that one day, she would become one of the most outstanding figures in the cultivation world and let that person see that she had not saved her in vain.

Only, before she could make a name for herself, she heard the news of her benefactor’s death.

Even her entire family had been slaughtered.

She did not know whether she had grown up…

After all, she belonged to a yao race with an extremely long growth period.

But since Shang Que existed, it actually proved that she had grown up, didn’t it?

She looked at Shang Que’s place of origin.

It was a mortal country. She had no parents and had depended on her grandmother since childhood. Later, after her grandmother died, she wandered for a few years, obtained a neither-big-nor-small opportunity, and then stepped into the cultivation world.

She had no parents…

Perhaps that opportunity had been something her mother left for her before she died?

Perhaps that “grandmother” had also been someone her mother left behind specifically to take care of her?

Wen Qingyin had countless thoughts, but she also knew that these were nothing more than her guesses, her own imagination.

Perhaps she should go investigate.

But after so many years, there probably would not be any traces left to find.

They were, after all… after all, such a powerful clan.

These sorts of backup arrangements should still have existed.

In truth, Wen Qingyin also had a way to verify Shang Que’s bloodline.

After all, they were yao.

But their identities were too sensitive.

And that race had already gone extinct.

Even if someone remained, Wen Qingyin did not want anyone to know.

Including herself.

There was no real need to dig into Shang Que’s identity.

Even if she was not her benefactor’s daughter, what loss would that be to Wen Qingyin?

Wen Qingyin’s long lashes trembled faintly like butterfly wings. She gently closed her eyes and said softly, “She has talent for the sword path.”

But how could Shang Que know any of this?

Although she had fought Wen Qingyin several times, Wen Qingyin had never seen her face.

Although she had broken Wen Qingyin’s sword formation, everyone could tell she had done it through opportunistic tricks. She felt that she would not attract the attention of any sword cultivator.

So she happily tossed Wen Qingyin to the back of her mind.

After all, with Wen Qingyin’s strength, she would definitely be a big boss who only appeared in the middle or later stages of the comic. This was still the early stage. There was no way Shang Que would have anything to do with her.

Shang Que decided to go look for the comic’s female lead. Since she had already entered Jiuxiao Sect, she had to see whether there was any chance for her to show her face in the comic.

But Shang Que was not sure whether she had the luck to run into the female lead.

Because the comic had only updated to the point where the female lead had just joined Jiuxiao Sect, while in real life, the female lead had already been living in Jiuxiao Sect for some time.

Shang Que did not believe the female lead could peacefully live out some academy daily-life routine. Protagonists were always easily swept into all kinds of storms.

And so, after Shang Que finished visiting the classroom, dining hall, pill room, artifact-refining room, and a whole series of other places suitable for newly admitted disciples, she still failed to find Su Tanghua.

Shang Que was furious.

She returned to her room, dug three copper coins from her waist, found the correct direction, and began casting a divination.

She refused to believe it.

Before, she had not known who exactly the female lead was or her specific identity, so she had been unable to locate her accurately.

But now she even knew what the female lead looked like. How could she possibly fail to find the female lead’s exact location?

She shook the copper coins six times. Shang Que spent half a day interpreting the hexagram and finally determined a suspected direction.

Shang Que’s confidence surged. Looking at the copper coins in her hand, she felt that her divine skill had finally reached great completion.

Her hands itched unbearably, so she decided to divine something for herself too.

Let’s just ask… what would happen in the near future.

She shook the copper coins six times. Shang Que looked at the hexagram, fell silent, scratched her ears and cheeks, and tried with all her might to connect it to her current situation.

After holding it in for about ten minutes, she finally squeezed out a conclusion.

“An old acquaintance… Mm… Right, it should be an old acquaintance.”

“She’s also my benefactor, able to give me a lot of help and send me lots and lots of resources?”

That did not sound right. She was currently a wandering cultivator. Where would she have any old acquaintance who would send her resources? Having no enemies who would rob her of resources was already good enough.

As for Shang Que’s original identity, that was even more impossible.

The only one who could be somewhat related to giving resources was the female lead.

Perhaps she could tag along and sponge off some of the female lead’s resources.

But could the female lead be her old acquaintance?

Shang Que vaguely felt that something was off, yet also felt that the hexagram she had worked so hard to interpret could not possibly be wrong.

So she immediately set off to verify her first divination.

Then she walked all the way to the outermost edge of Jiuxiao Sect, to the dark, dense forest beyond the mountains.

Based on her many years of experience traveling north and south, there were probably quite a few yao beasts inside. Of course, most of them were likely artificially kept, and the forest was also used for sect disciples to train.

But wasn’t it a little too early for Su Tanghua, someone who had only just started cultivating, to come here?

But with just a bit of thought, it was clear that this was most likely the female lead’s opportunity.

And so Shang Que stuck a concealment talisman onto herself to hide her aura, then began searching all over the mountains and plains for the female lead. Unfortunately, after searching for a full three shichen, she still did not see a single figure.

Shang Que was furious.

Shang Que once again took out the three copper coins from her waist.

She refused to believe there was anything in this world she could not learn.

She began divining Su Tanghua’s location.

It was Water-Thunder Zhun changing to Earth-Water Shi.

A river in the forest, and something buried in the earth as well. The buried thing belonged to metal.

Gold, silver, jewels, or divine weapons?

Shang Que’s level could only allow her to see that much.

It still was not very clear, but at least she knew she had to follow the river.

Only, the farther she walked, the deeper she went into the heart of the forest. Shang Que paused, keenly sensing that something was wrong.

The forest was dense, blocking out the sunlight. The fallen leaves were thick and rich, but there was not a single insect cry.

Shang Que subconsciously wrinkled her nose and sniffed the surrounding scents. She did not smell the traces left by any yao beasts.

Not even a single thread.

There were a few yao plants, but they had not even developed spiritual intelligence. They were so weak that they could not possibly have eaten all the insects in the area.

Shang Que could not make sense of it no matter how she thought.

It was said that when something was abnormal, there had to be a yao behind it. But Shang Que truly could not imagine what yao could escape her senses.

It could not be an illusion either. She had studied formations for so many years. It was impossible for her to fail to recognize an illusion.

Could it be the commotion caused by the female lead’s golden finger?

Shang Que hesitated, but still continued walking forward. She had not gone far when she saw that faint trace of blood winding down through the center of the stream, so pale it was nearly impossible to detect.

It was human blood.

Shang Que’s eyes sharpened. She followed the current upstream and saw Su Tanghua in the middle of the river, blood continuously seeping out from her body.

Blood and black hair drifted together with the flowing water.

The wound on her arm had already been washed pale by the water. If she was not rescued in time, the comic might have to suddenly change protagonists.

Shang Que quickly walked to Su Tanghua’s side and fished her out of the water.

She turned Su Tanghua over and checked whether there was any silt in her mouth. Finding that Su Tanghua was perfectly fine and showed no signs of drowning, only that she had drifted downstream, the flowing water washing over her wound until she had lost too much blood, Shang Que finally let out a breath of relief.

She fed her a blood-staunching pill, took out some medicinal ointment, and was just about to treat her wound when she realized Su Tanghua was clutching something in each hand.

The item in her left hand was still blocked by her clothes, and only a moist, lustrous whiteness could be seen. But the thing in her right hand was far too conspicuous.

It was a broken sword.

An exceptionally gorgeous sword, broken in an exceptionally tragic way.

It was also a sword Shang Que was familiar with.

So familiar that Shang Que could name every raw material used to forge it.

So familiar that Shang Que knew where every pattern on the sword came from.

So familiar that Shang Que knew why this sword had broken.

This was her older sister’s bonded sword.

The bonded sword she had accompanied her sister in forging.

The bonded sword that had appeared in an auction house together with her sister’s bones.

The sword Wen Qingyin had wanted to fight her over.

The sword she had personally cut in half.

Jingchuan.

The sword’s name was Jingchuan.

Author’s Note:

I don’t know Eastern metaphysics, so everyone can just use the six-line divination in the story as reference only. [glasses]