Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

Chapter 341 What to be afraid of

"It's pointless to say so much now. You will never know the details unless you experience it yourself." Qin Xiao said.

"What you said is not right. Haven't you heard of preparing for a rainy day? You can't just say you haven't seen a heavy rain and not make any preparations." Miao Kaijie spread his hands.

"Is there any news about the competition?" Qin Xiao looked at Yin Xihui.

Yin Xihui stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought. Upon hearing the question, he raised his eyebrows and glanced at him, "I heard...the first round will use memory fragments."

"What do you mean?"

"Memory fragments are a type of mustard seed fragment, but unlike the environment... they constantly recur within a certain period of time. Even though hundreds or even thousands of years have passed in reality, the place within the fragment remains unchanged." Mo Hanyu said, "Some people have speculated that the world within the mustard seed fragment actually existed, or that it still exists somewhere on the continent."

"But that hypothesis remains unproven," Yin Xihui continued. "I heard that the fragments used this time contained many powerful magical beasts or something else... something unprecedented, and I'm curious what it could be."

"...Could it be those from the mountains?" Miao Kaijie suddenly spoke, his mouth twitching, as if a little nervous. "Come to think of it...I haven't seen those things many times since I left."

"That's a possibility." Yin Xihui nodded and looked at Qin Xiao, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not at all." Qin Xiao remained calm. "Let's cover it with earth."

"...What's the difference between you saying this and not saying it?" Miao Kaijie couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Um...where is the mountain?"

Lan Huaiqiu listened to the conversation silently and was completely confused when he heard this.

Did Qin Xiao and the others go to the mountains together? Isn't the academy in the mountains? Is it related to the academy?

Faced with Lan Huaiqiu's question, several people looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.

"Part of the Beishan Mountain Range." Mo Hanyu answered her, "It is currently located northwest of Yuhua, northeast of Xingchen, and south of Lei Ting, at the junction of the three empires."

"...What are you doing there? When did you go?" For some reason, Lan Huaiqiu's heart was beating fast, as if he was about to know something terrible.

"...This is a secret." Mo Hanyu didn't say anything else, just smiled and nodded his lips, indicating that he would not say any more.

Lan Huaiqiu cast her gaze on Qin Xiao and Yin Xihui one by one. After getting the same answer, she looked at Miao Kaijie, but saw that his eyes were deep and his smile was cold as he looked at her quietly.

Lan Huaiqiu's heart was beating so fast that even his eyelids twitched.

"Do you want to take another look?" Yin Xihui asked when he saw that nothing was wrong here.

"No more." Qin Xiao stood up and patted his sleeves. "There's nothing interesting here."

Yin Xihui glanced at the others and said, "Let's go."

Mo Hanyu was just about to leave with them when he suddenly seemed to sense something. He looked in a certain direction but didn't see anything unusual. He couldn't help but frown slightly, but perhaps because he didn't feel any hostility just now, he didn't care and looked away.

"That was close...are you that sharp?"

The young man pulled Lan Huaiqing's clothes and wiped the sweat off his face.

Lan Huaiqing looked quietly at the direction where the few people left, her eyes moving slightly.

"That's your sister, right? She's grown a lot in the past few years." The young man waved his folding fan, a hint of teasing in his eyes, "She's truly stunningly beautiful."

Lan Huaiqing suddenly turned her head and gave him a warning look.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I didn't say anything wrong..." The boy still looked confused. Seeing how concerned he was, his eyes deepened slightly. "Don't you hate her?"

Lan Huaiqing paused.

"When you ran off to that lonely mountain, alone, with no one to turn to, and sleeping in the open, even though you lost your ring, you never gave up on returning home... and ended up having a younger sister." The young man's fan hid the lower half of his smiling face, revealing a cold, sharp look. "Don't you hate me?"

“…It has nothing to do with her.”

Lan Huaiqing looked in the direction Lan Huaiqiu left, and immediately said to the young man, "Xu Xi, don't meddle in other people's business."

The young man called Xu Xi chuckled and leisurely fanned himself.

"Don't worry, I don't have the time."

"You went to see him, did he?"

Chen Mo slammed the table, but started stuttering after saying a few words.

"Why are you stuttering?" Miao Kaijie asked curiously, "Also, who is he?"

"...You clearly know." Chen Mo frowned, "Why did you go to see him?"

"As our first-round opponent, it's not a bad thing to get familiar with him." Miao Kaijie said innocently.

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Qin Xiao put down his chopsticks and advised: "We've already been there, let's eat first."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo gave him a complicated look, then slowly picked up his chopsticks and swallowed two grains of rice.

It was purely an accident that Chen Mo met them. He wanted to say hello and leave, but Miao Kaijie forcibly dragged him over to have a meal together. There was nothing special about the meal, but he learned about this incident at the dinner table.

Mo Hanyu and Yin Xihui were not affected by the dead silence at all, and their appetites were greatly increased. Mo Hanyu even removed the bones from the fish in Qin Xiao's bowl.

Only Lan Huaiqiu looked at Chen Mo and Miao Kaijie in a conflicted manner, his brows furrowed, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

"Let's eat." Mo Hanyu noticed that she was feeling uneasy and suggested.

"But..." Lan Huaiqiu hesitated.

"Don't worry about them. Don't you think about how many years they've been friends?" Yin Xihui also said, "It's okay if they quarrel."

Lan Huaiqiu: ...

Lan Huaiqiu didn't know what to say when he saw their unusually relaxed attitude.

In fact, Yin Xihui and the others were not at ease either, they just wanted to watch the fun and not mind making trouble.

"And we didn't do anything, we just took a look from a distance. Why did you react so strongly?" Miao Kaijie asked puzzledly.

Chen Mo avoided his gaze, his lips trembling a few times, and he did not answer.

Seeing Chen Mo like this, Qin Xiao and Yin Xihui looked at each other. Knowing that he didn't want to say it, they had no intention of asking.

Only Miao Kaijie's eyes lit up, he put his arms around Chen Mo's neck and started talking.

"has a problem!"

Miao Kaijie couldn't hide his excitement. He raised his hand and pinched his face, smiling obscenely: "Tell me... why——?"

Miao Kaijie even stretched out his voice on purpose, like a bully molesting girls on the street, his appearance was so vulgar that it was unbearable to look at.

Chen Mo's breathing stagnated, and he looked at Qin Xiao almost for help.

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao turned his head silently and held his forehead with one hand.

Mo Hanyu rolled his eyes.

Lan Huaiqiu's eyes twitched, and the look in his eyes became increasingly suspicious.

Yin Xihui took a sip of tea and pretended not to see anything.

Chen Mo: ...

"Give up, Chen Mo. No one will care even if you scream your lungs out." Miao Kaijie chuckled and rubbed his cheek.

Chen Mo clenched his fists, finally unable to bear it anymore, and punched him hard in the waist. Miao Kaijie let out a wail, clutching his waist and abdomen, looking like his end was near.

"You...actually treated me so cruelly - cough cough!" Miao Kaijie choked, and red actually overflowed from the corners of his mouth. His eyes were devastated, with the disbelief and despair of being betrayed.

Chen Mo: ...

Qin Xiao couldn't help but choke on a mouthful of water. He hurriedly lowered his head to pull out a tissue and kept coughing.

Mo Hanyu twitched his lips and helped Qin Xiao smooth his back. He was angry and amused, and couldn't help but give Miao Kaijie a cold look.

Lan Huaiqiu had an expressionless face as he looked at Miao Kaijie, who was groaning on the table. He closed his eyes, rubbed his temples in pain, and lowered his head, wishing he could poke his eyes out.

Yin Xihui couldn't help laughing, but after holding it in for a while, he finally gave up and laughed softly.

"...Stop playing tricks." Chen Mo's cheeks twitched and veins popped out on his forehead. It seemed that he had reached his limit.

Miao Kaijie quickly suppressed his smile, coughed twice, and then returned to normal: "It was painful to begin with."

"It's because you're messing around here..." Chen Mo said unhappily.

"Hey! I'm telling you to be careful with your words." Miao Kaijie's face changed drastically, and he covered his chest with his hands, looking like a loyal and righteous "husband". "Don't say that carelessly!"

Chen Mo originally just wanted to swallow the curse words that came out of his mouth and didn't think about it in this direction at all. After hearing what Miao Kaijie said, it seemed that he really meant it. He couldn't help but take a deep breath and felt suffocated for the first time in a long time.

"you--"

God knows how much effort Chen Mo put in to swallow the rest of his words. He just stared at him angrily, his chest heaving violently.

"Alright, alright, no more trouble." Miao Kaijie smiled and waved his hands, patting his shoulders twice. "Tell us why you are so afraid of us coming into contact with Chen Yao."

As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell silent.

Lan Huaiqiu was stunned.

Chen Mo paused, then suddenly looked at him with a sharp, alert look in his eyes, like a cat whose tail was stepped on: "Who would say that to you—what gives you the right to say that?!"

Qin Xiao's eyes moved slightly, and his gaze moved between the two of them.

"Your performance is very obvious." Miao Kaijie gently dodged Chen Mo's hand and smiled, "Your pupils have been trembling. It only happens when you are emotionally intense."

"Although you act very angry, you're not really furious, right? It's more of a fear." Miao Kaijie gently circled the edge of the teacup with his fingers and said slowly, "Why do you react like this?"

Miao Kaijie narrowed his eyes and smiled faintly, but it inexplicably gave people an indescribable sense of oppression.

"What are you afraid of?"