Could It Be That You Are Jealous?

It was said in the Jianghu that the House of Jade was a special-unorthodox flower where all the graduates would not reveal its secrets outside of its walls.

Rumour was that the owner of the House of Jade was a brave female martial artist by the name ‘Immortal Qing Bo’. Her name and age were both unknown, and her martial arts was even more unfathomable.

However, her achievements in the Jianghu were extremely rare. It seemed that she did nothing other than establishing the House of Jade. 

According to the rules of the House of Jade, once new candidates were selected, all of them would pay respects to Immortal Qing Bo as their master. But in fact, there were only a handful of people who had seen the immortal master in person. 

But the students practicing in the House would often see a little emerald green bird with a letter in its beak, conveying information between master and disciples.

Until now, the House of Jade had been established for hundreds of years, and countless talents had already turned to dust, but this bird was still flying around in the building, carrying letters with the handwriting unchanged.

This made everyone who was fortunate enough to set foot in the House of Jade question whether the Immortal Qing Bo could really be an immortal. Otherwise, how could there be so many rare mental skills, ancient martial art records, and unusual technique manuals?

Of course, the reason the ones who graduated from the school were not willing to reveal the truth was not because of the mystery surrounding the immortal, but because...if they mentioned the truth, many young contenders might be disillusioned.

Just like now—

The eight young students, including Su Yang, were standing in front of the hanging painting, with devastation filling their faces.

The enchanting woman didn’t hold back her laugh and chirped, “I know you must have doubts whether this is a scam. But the House of Jade is in fact a place with hardly any rules. Shizun is busy, and she will only occasionally tell you what to practice next. It’s your Shixiong and Shijie who will really be guiding your training.”

“Since ancient times, there have been many chivalrous heroes who were trained in the House of Jade. It is inconvenient for us to go by generations of seniority. Therefore, no matter when you join the school, or at what age, as long as you are in this school, use our martial title or courtesy name. My courtesy name is Liu Li, but you can call me Li Shijie.”

As she was explaining, she introduced several other people around her, “The courtesy name of the man in black is Mo Yun, he likes to be called Mo Shixiong. The one in white, her name is Di Ling, which was given by our master. You can call her Ling Shijie. The one on the threshold…”

“Just call me Chi Tong!” The one dressed in red immediately interrupted Li Shijie’s words and said to them, “Anyway, we are around the same age, so just use my courtesy name. This will make us seem closer to each other!”

Li Shijie said smiling. “Both Chi Tong and Di Ling are excellent fighters who joined in the previous assessment. They are not much older than everyone else. If you want to address using courtesy names as well, that’s fine.”

Su Yang blinked slowly, and his sight fell on Chi Tong, whose gender he still could not distinguish. He mumbled internally, So, is this person a man or a woman? Don’t use shixiong or shijie? Are they deliberately covering up their gender?

It’s a pity that the script removed such an interesting supporting role. 

As if sensing his stare, Chi Tong looked toward Su Yang. They raised their eyebrows and gave him a wink.

Su Yang: “...”

Never mind, it is better to delete this supporting role, otherwise, the script might not have passed review. 

After introducing the seniors from the House of Jade, they let the younger candidates introduce themselves. Li Shijie then said leisurely, “So, we will start determining which of us will instruct who.”

The other instructors also nodded their heads.

Li Shijie added, “Pu Lingyun practices Layers of Feathers and prefers lightweight and portable weapons like the twin blades. I will be your best advisor. Fan Xi of the Qinglian Sect has the same light-elegant style, he will come with me as well.”

After she finished, Mo Shixiong stepped in. “I specialise in broadsword, long spear, as well as external mental skill. Xu Yunzhan, you come to study under me.”

After that, he picked two other candidates who used heavy type weapons and strength mental skills.

After he finished selecting his trainees, Di Ling emotionlessly intoned, “Gu Feidi’s Path to Home emphasises internal energy. Therefore, supple and strong internal energy is best suited for swift sword combat. Let me be your advisor.”

With that, her attention slightly deviated to the direction of Su Yang, but she closed her mouth without saying a word.

Chi Tong excitedly said, “Ah, I knew that Ling Shijie is directing me. Little cutieTeo: I would sometimes replace ‘Xiao-Didi’ with 'little cutie' so as not to repeat the words., Su Yang, you can follow me from now on...”

Suddenly, an emerald bird flew in from the window of the main hall and interrupted Chi Tong.

It carried a large letter in its beak, and it hovered before Di Ling, waiting for her to take the letter. Once the letter was delivered, it turned and flew out of the window.

Di Ling silently opened the letter, and Chi Tong and Li Shijie huddled next to her at the same time as they read the message:

“Xiao Ling-erLittle Darling Ling., you should take care of Su Su yourself. Don’t give him to the unreliable Xiao HongLittle Red.. I have found the perfect advanced mental skill for Su Su and will send it over to you tomorrow. By the way, Su Su needs a place with lots of flowers for training, and a place with birds is needed for Fei Fei. Together you will move to the Lively Spring Garden. Although there are few rooms over there, it has flowers and birds. The best-suited environment.”

Gu Feidi: “...”

Su Yang: “...”

Inside of Su Yang’s head: What’s up with the colloquial language that Shizun is using?

And what’s up with giving them strange nicknames?! Su Su, Fei Fei? Without looking at the word and listening only to the name, people would think the letter was addressing some flower girl from a brothel!

Di Ling, who appeared to be familiar with the master’s tone, folded the letter into her sleeves without shifting her expression and declared, “Then I will take Su Yang with me as well.”

But Chi Tong was not content with the decision. “...Ah?! What gave Shizun the right to say I’m unreliable? How am I unreliable?! What should I do now? Every candidate has been delegated!”

Li Shijie pulled Chi Tong and pointed to the remaining one in the hall. “Isn’t there another one? I remember that he is a self-trained martial artist who has no family or sect. If he can pass the selection, he certainly has extraordinary talent and won’t ruin your reputation.”

The last remaining candidate’s name was Luo Yin. Fortunately, he was only a few days away from the age limit and was not weeded out by the array resting in Mount Meizhu’s forest.

He had an average appearance, not ugly, but nothing made him memorable. Having a weak presence, his face was easy to forget. He did not speak a single word from the start of the assessment to present. What he practiced was also according to the standard, making his performance unnoticeable, like the meaning of his nameThe Yin in Luo Yin’s name (羅隱) means secret, hidden, invisible., he was invisible from the public.

Chi Tong glanced at Luo Yin, who was expressionless and standing motionless. They raised their hand and pressed it on the bridge of their brow and resigned, said, “Alright, fine, your situation makes you special enough. Let me research…study under me alright?”

After distributing the final contender of the selection, the seniors left the main hall with their new charges. 

By that time, it had turned completely dark as the moon had yet to rise to the heart of the sky, turning the winding mountain road pitch-black.

Su Yang and Gu Feidi walked side by side along the narrow mountain road behind Di Ling.

There were no lanterns with the three of them. The mountain path was thickly forested on one side and a high cliff dropped away on the other. Thankfully, Di Ling was dressed in white, so they could faintly see her figure in the dark, it was the reason they hadn’t lost track of her on this moonless night. 

As they walked down a series of mountain steps, Su Yang’s foothold suddenly became empty and he looked down to see the ground below the cliff. Before he had the time to perform Cherish Flower Step, Gu Feidi grabbed his sleeve and dragged him back without a second thought.

Su Yang took the opportunity to hold Gu Feidi’s arm and murmured in a trembling voice, “That scared the fuck out of me!”

The next moment, Gu Feidi’s whole body shook as he suddenly pulled his arm out from Su Yang’s grasp. Unexpectedly, Su Yang didn’t get the chance to relinquish his hold, he slipped, and almost fell into Gu Feidi’s arms.

Too close, Su Yang extended his hand over Gu Feidi’s shoulder in time and supported himself on a short tree on the other side of the mountain road.

A faint but noticeable flowery scent emitting from Gu Feidi filled Su Yang’s olfactory senses completely. The scent was pleasant. He unconsciously inhaled a deep breath and sniffed it twice.

Gu Feidi gritted his teeth and hissed, “Don’t push your luck!”

Su Yang finally reacted to his current situation, immediately retracted his hand, and stood up straight.

“It was my fault.” From a distance, a cold crystal-clear feminine voice echoed. “Light or no light makes no difference for me, but it’s not the same for the two of you. Wait here, I will get a lantern.”

As she finished, she turned and went down the mountain as if she was gliding. 

On the dark path, the two young men stood side by side, close enough to hear each other’s breathing.

In this silence, Su Yang suddenly wanted to explain to Gu Feidi the reason he fed him the Rejuvenation Pill of Fragrant Sorrow, not to place a tracking mark on him, but with the single thought of saving a life. 

However, after a moment of reflection, he found it unnecessary for him to give this explanation. 

On the one hand, the real Young Master would never allow himself to apologise to others. On the other hand, he and Gu Feidi must be each other’s arch-rivals in the future, and the plot must develop to the point where Gu Feidi would lead the righteous way of the Wulin toward the Evil Sect’s demise, to the final peak of their battle, standing face to face.

Therefore, instead of explaining his original intention for feeding him the pill, he should take advantage of this misunderstanding and push toward the path where Gu Feidi would think more negatively of him.

Thinking to this level, he sighed and gazed up toward the bright starry sky, which was usually covered by the city lights.

“Su Yang.”

Gu Feidi was the first to speak.

He stopped and said in a low voice, “It is rumoured that when you were young, you came out of the Evil Sect’s wall three times, and each time you took several beautiful youths from the Central Plains…”

Su Yang heard his words loud and clear as he pursed his lips, stopping his desire to refute.

Gu Feidi continued, “In fact, those people are not…not set aside for your pleasure, right?”

This stunned Su Yang for a moment. He didn’t quite understand Gu Feidi’s question and why he made the inquiry. However, as his petal retainer informed him from before, to complete the Six Night Flower Burial, he shouldn’t have ‘pleasure’ with anyone.

But with the characteristic of the Young Master, he would not willingly admit this.

Therefore, Su Yang followed the ‘Young Master’s persona’ and replied in a matching low tone, “The reason for this question, don’t tell me…Could it be that you are jealous?”