Volume 1, Chapter 213 – A Misfit

Shi Lan stood out rather noticeably on the drill ground, and Shi Tianlu spotted her at a glance.

But he did not come over. He only nodded from afar, then turned and strode toward another camp, evidently occupied with military business.

Shi Lan did not remain on the drill ground for long. She returned to a separate tent in the camp and immersed herself in cultivation.

Less than two hours later, Wang Ning came to Shi Lan’s tent.

“Thousand-Man Commander, a true disciple of the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect is outside the drill ground requesting an audience. It’s Shi Feng, the one who stopped Commander Xia last time.”

After speaking, Wang Ning asked somewhat doubtfully, “You know him?”

“Let him in.”

After a moment’s thought, Shi Lan nodded.

Wang Ning acknowledged the order and left.

After the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, a gust of wind lifted the tent flap. By the time it fell again, there was an extra figure inside the tent.

He was a little over twenty, dressed in a black brocade robe trimmed with gold, with delicate, handsome features.

Looking at the both familiar and unfamiliar face not far away, Shi Feng felt a storm of emotions rise in his heart. It was as though countless words were jammed in his throat, desperate to pour out, yet he could not force out a single one.

They had not seen each other for nearly two years, and Shi Lan now had many things about her that he could no longer understand. The feeling left a deep bitterness in his heart.

For an ordinary martial artist, less than two years passed like a white colt flashing through a crack, gone in the span of a finger snap. But to him, it had already felt unbearably long.

Shi Lan silently studied Shi Feng, watching the shifting expressions on his face—ecstatic joy, hesitation, bitterness—but conspicuously absent was the surprise that ought to have been there.

As expected, Shi Feng had known all along that she was a woman.

Reαԁ οո КαtReαdіոgСαfe

Shi Lan shook her head slightly. Back then, in the eyes of Shi Tianlu and Shi Feng, what she had done had probably seemed no more than childish play, immature to the point of absurdity.

And Shi Feng’s feelings for her had been far less simple than she had imagined at the time.

Shi Lan’s state of mind now was utterly different from what it had been back in Tenglong City, and so naturally the angle from which she viewed things had changed as well.

Looking back now, she could still pick out subtle clues in Shi Feng’s words and actions.

At the time, she had only just arrived in Lingyang and had still been wrapped in the disguise of a male identity. She had never once imagined that Shi Feng might develop feelings for her, and so she had not seen things even remotely as clearly as she did now.

“In the Demon-Suppressing Army… have you been getting by all right?”

Only after a long silence did Shi Feng finally ask, somewhat stiffly.

“Not bad. And how have things been for you in the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect?” Shi Lan replied evenly.

At Shi Lan’s words, countless thoughts rose in Shi Feng’s mind, and he wanted to tell her everything that had happened over these past two years.

But when he saw the cool detachment between her brows, his heart turned slightly cold. All the words filling his chest fell silent once more, and in the end he merely replied, “I’ve managed fairly well.”

Shi Lan’s somewhat distant attitude was meant to snuff out whatever feelings Shi Feng had—feelings that had perhaps only just begun—before they could grow.

Some things were better not begun at all if they could not be brought to a good ending.

“How are Tang Yan and her two children?”

After another long silence, Shi Lan finally asked.

Jiang Li had been one of the very few friends she had had, and he had long since passed away. Both morally and emotionally, she ought to ask after his widow and children.

“I’ve settled Tang Yan in Xianwu City. She’s safe and sound. Jiang Qi and Jiang Ya have already entered the outer sect of the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect, so there’s no need to worry,” Shi Feng replied softly.

Reαⅾ οո КαtRеadіոgCafе

“And Du Baisheng as well—I settled him in Xianwu City too. As for Du Yue’er, she is now an inner sect disciple of the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect.”

Shi Lan blanked for a moment before remembering the grandfather and granddaughter from the clinic in Twin Moon City. If Shi Feng had not brought them up, she might have almost overlooked them. She nodded.

“Thank you.”

“It was only my duty.”

“Then… other than that, is there anything else?” Shi Lan asked.

Shi Feng subconsciously shook his head.

“In that case, military affairs are pressing, so I won’t keep you any longer.” Shi Lan lifted her eyes toward the tent flap and called, “Wang Ning, see him out.”

Staring at the empty desk in front of Shi Lan, Shi Feng fell silent. He looked at her twice, and only then did he suddenly realize that he could not see through her cultivation at all.

The black Demon-Suppressing Token at Shi Lan’s waist could not be faked. That could only mean her cultivation had already surpassed his.

The terrifying gap left Shi Feng dazed for a moment.

“This way.”

Wang Ning lifted the flap and gestured to Shi Feng with one hand.

“Take good care of yourself.”

Shi Feng closed his eyes, let out a soft breath, and turned to leave.

Shi Lan slowly closed her eyes, her heart as still as an ancient well.

Reaԁ oո КаtRеαdinɡCαfе

…

At dusk, Shi Tianlu came to Shi Lan’s tent.

Father and daughter looked at each other for a long while in silence. In the end, it was Shi Lan who broke it.

“Father, was Shi Feng someone you deliberately arranged to stay by my side back then?”

“That’s right.”

Shi Tianlu froze for a moment, then nodded. “Starting from when you were fifteen, I had him secretly protect you the whole time.”

Shi Lan’s pupils contracted slightly. If that were the case, then Shi Feng might have been completely different from what she had imagined.

The one he had liked was not truly her.

“Lan, do you still remember that you have a fiancée?” Shi Tianlu asked, looking somewhat awkward.

A bright-eyed, white-toothed young woman appeared in Shi Lan’s mind.

She immediately nodded. “Of course I remember.”

Lu Yueqing had left a rather deep impression on Shi Lan. She did not suffer from amnesia, so naturally she would not forget so easily.

“Yueqing is currently moving together with the women’s camp of the Demon-Suppressing Army after being conscripted along with her father, Lu Changfeng. I saw her two months ago, and she even asked about you…”

“Don’t worry, Father. I know what to do,” Shi Lan said with a nod.

The next time they met, she would simply lay everything out plainly. She could not very well delay that young woman’s best years.

And if the Lu family was dissatisfied because of this and demanded compensation, Shi Lan would agree so long as it was not excessive. She now had more than enough confidence and strength to deal with the aftermath of this betrothal.

Rеаԁ οո КаtRеadіnɡСαfe

Thinking of this, a trace of bitterness suddenly welled up in Shi Lan’s heart. Being caught between male and female made her feel as though she were some kind of misfit.

“It’s good that you know your own mind.” Shi Tianlu nodded and said, “Starting tomorrow, most of the Demon-Suppressing Army will leave the city in succession to campaign against demon beasts and drill the troops along the way. You’ve been in the Demon-Suppressing Army long enough by now that I don’t need to tell you how to keep yourself alive. Still, be careful.”

Shi Lan nodded in acknowledgment and saw Shi Tianlu out of the tent.

Outside, the moon was bright and the stars sparse. The quiet camp seemed somewhat bleak.

Wang Ning stood at the entrance to the tent like a statue, the two remaining fingers on his left hand rather conspicuous.

“Wang Ning, you’re from the Central Heaven Domain as well?” Shi Lan asked lightly, gazing up at the night sky.

“Yes.”

“Why come all the way out to the border?”

“To make something of myself. So that no one would ever dare bully me again.”

After a long silence, Wang Ning replied in a low voice.

“To make something of oneself…”

Shi Lan murmured softly. She cultivated without pause now, climbing upward step by step, for one simple reason only: she wanted to stay alive.

That desire to live had been pushing her forward all this time, yet almost everything she was doing now amounted to gambling with her life, fighting for that sliver of hope.

She truly did feel tired.