Chapter 1131 Determined to Show Good Will
Without giving Liu Xunyi a chance to react, Xunzhen had already walked away.

"This……"

Liu Xunyi was already surprised by Xunzhen's appearance late at night. Now she only left a few irrelevant words and left angrily without any explanation, which made Liu Xunyi at a loss and even more confused.

"Liu Xunyi, do you think Xunzhen has nothing better to do than to come here in the middle of the night to argue with you?" Abaolu couldn't bear to see Xunzhen being wronged, and couldn't help but scold her, "She learned that you had been to the other courtyard in the middle of the night, and guessed that you must have something important to do. So she ignored my dissuasion and insisted on coming out to find you late at night, fearing that she would delay something important, and even complained that I shouldn't have blocked your way just now."

"What?" Liu Xunyi was secretly surprised, and seemed to be skeptical. "You mean, Xunzhen came here late at night... because of me?"

"If it's not for you, then is it for me?" Abaolu answered unhappily, "I advised her to discuss it tomorrow, but she said that you, Liu Xunyi, are the deputy leader of the Xilu Wu Sect, and now is a time of trouble, so we must not let our guard down at any time..."

"Abaolu, what are you dawdling about?"

Before Abaolu finished speaking, Xunzhen's urging voice came from the darkness.

"I guess... you are judging others by your own meanness and really misunderstood her." Tang Afu approached Liu Xunyi and whispered meaningfully, "Xunzhen is extremely talented, and Xilu Wuzong is closely related to you. Now you have just escaped death and your foundation is not stable. You urgently need this woman to help you deal with the complicated situation in the martial arts world. I think... I think today is worse than tomorrow. You can take this opportunity to resolve the misunderstanding and eliminate the gap with her. She just said something very right. You are in the same boat now, and you can't keep harboring hostility. As you know, if the two of you are deadlocked, it will not be good for anyone."

Hearing this, a hint of hesitation flashed across Liu Xunyi's eyes.

"As a man, right is right and wrong is wrong. Why hesitate?" Tang Afu said seriously, "Regardless of Xunzhen's original intention, what she did helped you overcome countless difficulties. Even if you don't share the same aspirations as her, you should at least treat her with respect instead of targeting her everywhere."

"Brother Tang is right. Some things... I am just being pretentious."

After saying that, encouraged by Tang Afu's eyes, Liu Xunyi put aside the confusion in his heart, made up his mind, and walked quickly towards Xunzhen.

"Liu Xunyi, you..."

"Eh!"

Before Abaolu could catch up to find out what was going on, Tang Afu had already taken the lead and blocked his way.

"Some things should be solved by themselves, and others should not interfere." Tang Afu stared at the angry Abaolu without blinking, and said lightly, "Don't worry, Liu Xunyi will not hurt Xunzhen's hair. What's more, this is Danfeng Garden. If Liu Xunyi really wants to harm Xunzhen, even if there are ten of you... I'm afraid you can't protect her."

"No matter where this place is, Xunzhen cannot afford to lose anything!" Abaolu stared coldly at the calm Tang Afu and said bluntly, "A good dog doesn't block the road, and it's none of your business!"

"Liu Xunyi's business is my business." Facing the ferocious and imposing Abaolu, Tang Afu was not afraid at all, and did not even blink. "I know you have a fiery temper, but I am not your enemy, and you don't have to gnash your teeth at me. Xunzhen just said, 'We are all in the same boat', and I don't think you want to add to the chaos and cause trouble at this time."

"Mr. Tang, you..."

"Just now Xunzhen said that Liu Xunyi softened her heart twice in a row because of her sentimental relationship, but that's not true." Tang Afu waved his hand to signal Abaolu not to get excited, and said calmly, "To be precise, Liu Xunyi softened her heart three times in a row."

"What do you mean?" Abaolu seemed to be aroused by Tang Afu's mysteriousness and asked suspiciously, "Who was the other time for?"

"It's the one you always said you couldn't afford to let go... Xunzhen. Moreover, Liu Xunyi has been soft-hearted towards her more than once. Imagine if Liu Xunyi had a heart of stone, with his current status and position, he would have long ago drawn a clear line with Xilu Wuzong to avoid giving others a handle and being implicated by you. If Liu Xunyi didn't care about feelings, you wouldn't have stopped her with a few words in the first half of the night. No matter how tired or injured Xunzhen was, you would not have stopped until you achieved your goal."

"But……"

"Even when he went after Xunzhen, it wasn't entirely because of my instigation. He just wanted to do so, and he just used me to find a way out for himself." Tang Afu said in a secretive manner, "You should be able to see that there is a knot between Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen. If this knot is not resolved, the suspicion will only get deeper and deeper."

Abaolu smiled contemptuously: "No matter how powerful Liu Xunyi is, he is just a gangster. He can only survive with the help of his father. How can he be compared with Xunzhen? In the final analysis, the two of them are not from the same sect. What does it matter if they understand each other or not?"

"Although we are on different paths, we are on the same path now, at least we are traveling together." Tang Afu shrugged slightly, not caring about Abaolu's arrogance, "Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about the young king of Qin. Otherwise, how could Xunzhen, who has suffered so much injustice, endure it again and again, and even say 'don't take it lightly'? Even she can't neglect Liu Xunyi, how dare you despise her?"

"Ouch!" As if convinced by Tang Afu's reason, or shocked by the title of "Young Qin King", Abaolu stopped being stubborn and took a step back. He looked up and down at Tang Afu, who was as straight as a gun, with malicious eyes and teased, "You are a ruthless swordsman with a great reputation in the martial arts world. You have always been arrogant and looked down on others. When did you become Liu Xunyi's close bodyguard? Did the Lord of the Heartless Valley order you to change from her 'disciple' to her son's 'retainer'?"

"Please be careful with your words!" Tang Afu's eyes turned cold, and murderous intent flashed across his face. "You can let Liu Xunyi and I make wild guesses. But the Lord of Jueqing Valley will not allow anyone to make random assumptions."

Abaolu snorted coldly, and instead of getting angry, he laughed: "Do you think I would be afraid of the Lord of the Heartless Valley?"

"I won't be afraid of Young King Qin, and I don't care if Liu Xunyi and Young King Qin fall out." "You..."

Tang Afu's words hit home, and even though Abaolu was angry, he dared not say another word. If he really angered Tang Afu, the two would fight, and life and death would be a small matter. If he destroyed the relationship between Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen, and thus disrupted the plan of the young king of Qin, even if Abaolu died a thousand times, he would not be able to forgive his sin.

After all, Xiao Zhirou was not only Tang Afu's master, but also Liu Xunyi's biological mother. Even the apprentice respected the master, so how could the son not protect his mother? No matter how reckless Abaolu was, he would never dare to touch Xiao Zhirou's bottom line. What's more, he just wanted to show off his tongue, not to find fault.

Tang Afu and Abaolu didn't get along, so to avoid escalating the conflict, no one said anything. The two grown men stood silently by the Ningcui Lake, one looking at the lake and the other looking at the sky. The seemingly calm atmosphere was filled with a strange awkwardness.

At the same time, Liu Xunyi chased along the lake and stopped Xunzhen, who was about to go home, a hundred meters away.

"What are you doing?" Xunzhen frowned slightly, pretending to be ignorant as she looked at Liu Xunyi who was lying in front of her. "Don't you want to hear me talk? Don't you think I have evil intentions? If that's the case, why are you stopping me?"

"Just now... I was too sensitive and offended you by mistake." Liu Xunyi said ashamedly, "Abaolu has already told me that you came here specifically for my matter. I really shouldn't have said nonsense without knowing the truth."

"What if Abaolu didn't tell you the truth?" Xunzhen raised his eyebrows and asked meaningfully, "Liu Xunyi, your skills in pretending are really poor. If you didn't need anything from me, why would you come here to apologize so humbly?"

"I have absolutely no such intention!"

"You can fool me, but you can't fool your own heart." Xunzhen said bluntly and mercilessly, "As expected of Luo Tianjin's son, you seem to be able to bend and stretch, but you are actually... selfish in your bones."

"Xunzhen, please stop being so unreasonable!" Liu Xunyi was irritated by Xunzhen's stubborn attitude, "I sincerely apologize to you..."

"I don't accept your apology." Xunzhen's face became serious, and every word was firm. "We have known each other for a long time. How could I not know what kind of person you are?"

"What kind of person am I?" Liu Xunyi didn't understand why Xunzhen was so stubborn, and was anxious and angry for a moment. "Could it be that in your heart, I, Liu Xunyi, am a selfish and shameless villain? I was just angry and said something wrong just now. Now that I have apologized, why are you so persistent and aggressive? In the past, we often had arguments when talking about the Song Dynasty court, and you have never been so... petty. What happened today? Could it be that you knew that I needed your help and you didn't dare to turn against you?"

"Whether we turn hostile or not is just a matter of a word from you, Liu Xunyi?" Xunzhen said self-deprecatingly, "It's because we had too many arguments in the past, and I always gave in to you, which made you become even more aggressive and care less about my feelings."

"What's going on now?" Liu Xunyi felt ashamed and aggrieved. "Could it be...could it be...you are taking this opportunity to teach me a lesson?"

"With your pride, how dare I teach you? I'm so lucky that you don't teach me." Xunzhen looked back at Liu Xunyi and said angrily, "It's because you are used to opposing me, threatening me with harsh words, and treating me as an enemy who is plotting against you, that you don't know how to respect me. You were able to let Yuan Xiao and his son, who turned against you, go along with it and let them off. Why do you insist on being selfish and hurting me without knowing right from wrong?"

"I……"

"That's right! Young King Qin thinks highly of you and has ordered me to accommodate you in everything and not to be at odds with you and go my own way." Xunzhen took a deep breath, a hint of bitterness in his helpless tone, "Tonight, if I hadn't come here for your sake despite the cold moonlit night, I'm afraid... I wouldn't have been so disrespectful."

"I understand! You are nice to someone, but that person not only doesn't appreciate it, but also blames you for no reason... No matter who it is, they will feel uncomfortable." Gradually understanding Xunzhen's feelings, Liu Xunyi's anger disappeared, and he began to feel guilty. He nodded lightly and moved his left foot half a step back.

"What are you doing?" Xunzhen was stunned when he saw Liu Xunyi's strange behavior. "Are you planning to kneel down and apologize?"

"Although a man's knees are made of gold, a mistake is a mistake, so what's the harm in kneeling?"

“I…” Liu Xunyi’s serious look made Xunzhen’s face change slightly. She didn’t care about being angry for a moment and waved her hands incoherently, “No, no, no! What I mean is… It’s not that I can’t bear your kneeling, but I just don’t want to leave a bad reputation for being mean and ungrateful. And I don’t want you to apologize in this way… Ah!”

Before he finished speaking, Liu Xunyi suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Xunzhen by the waist with lightning speed, causing her to subconsciously scream out in surprise as she was completely unprepared.

Almost at the same time, Liu Xunyi tapped his feet lightly, flew up, stepped on the water, and followed like a shadow. The two of them rose and fell on Ningcui Lake like dragonflies skimming the water, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the pavilion in the middle of the lake surrounded by water.

"Liu Xunyi, are you...are you crazy?" Being gently embraced by Liu Xunyi, Xunzhen, who was still in shock, couldn't help but tightly strangle Liu Xunyi's neck with both hands. Her beautiful eyes glared angrily at the smug Liu Xunyi, her panic mixed with a hint of anger and a touch of shyness.

"Ningcui Lake is a thousand feet deep, with no bridges or boats." Although they had entered the pavilion, Liu Xunyi still held Xunzhen around the waist and did not let go. Instead, he moved closer with interest, staring deeply at Xunzhen's delicate and translucent, tender red face with a pair of eyes that flickered, and said leisurely, "If the young lady is determined and will not let go of me, then you and I will be trapped to death in the pavilion in the middle of the lake together, how about it?"

……

(End of this chapter)