"He turns out to be a member of Yunqi Palace too."
"Yunqi Palace has committed all kinds of evils. Everyone in it is extremely vicious."
"Right! We can't have any connection with him." A stir arose among the crowd. Many disciples began to whisper to each other. Although Yun Han couldn't hear clearly what they were saying, he knew they must be condemning him. His expression froze for a moment, and he couldn't help taking two steps back.
Ning Shuihan looked at Yun Han worriedly, thinking about what she could do for him.
"Have you all forgotten that Rong Hua made great contributions to eradicating Yunqi Palace back then?" Ning Shuihan frowned tightly and shouted loudly at the crowd. Her voice lingered in the air for a long time.
But the voices in the crowd grew louder.
"Such a person doesn't deserve to be a master."
"We are willing to sacrifice ourselves for the common people in the world. We must never have any connection with this person."
"Right!"
"Right!" Everyone agreed.
"Back then, Rong Hua was seriously injured while eradicating Yunqi Palace. He was so noble - minded. If we still guard against him now, won't it be really disheartening?" Ning Shuihan looked a bit excited. She loudly questioned everyone word by word. After hearing this, all the disciples fell silent, looking down at the ground. Rong Hua also looked at Ning Shuihan, his eyes full of excitement, surprise, and regret.
"You all claim that you are willing to sacrifice yourselves for the common people in the world. So is he. Why can't you just tolerate him?" Ning Shuihan continued. Everyone thought she made sense.
"Miss Ning, stop talking." Rong Hua felt really uncomfortable after hearing these words. He couldn't help recalling the past days, when there was no turmoil and the world was at peace. He used to practice spells or play the zither and chess all day long. But now... he could never go back. As time passed, everything had changed. It turned out to be such a bitter taste!
"Since you are speaking up for him so much, don't tell me you're also from Yunqi Palace?" Seeing that the disciples were persuaded by Ning Shuihan, Xiao Yi retorted.
"Whether I'm from Yunqi Palace or not has nothing to do with you. But as for you, what's your intention to push us to the brink of death?" Ning Shuihan stared directly at Xiao Yi without any fear. Anger faintly appeared on her face, and a glint of sharpness flashed in her eyes.
"What, are you..." Seeing that she was so articulate, Xiao Yi was extremely annoyed. Just as he was about to scold her, his words were interrupted by a voice.
"That's enough. We really don't need so many people for this operation. Rong Hua doesn't need to go." Yue Qiu said seriously, with a calm look on her face.
"But doing this..." Ning Shuihan looked at Yue Qiu, still wanting to say something.
"No personal motives." Yue Qiu didn't wait for her to finish. She just lifted her feet and left. When passing by Ning Shuihan, she whispered four words. Ning Shuihan had no choice but to hold back the rest of her words and gave Xiao Yi a resentful look.
"Did you hear that clearly?" Xiao Yi looked extremely proud. He sneered at Rong Hua and then followed Yue Qiu.
"Humph!" Rong Hua was furious. He snorted disdainfully at Xiao Yi, his eyes cold. Then he flicked his sleeves and left.
"Rong Hua, where are you going?" Ning Shuihan shouted behind him.
"Thank you, Miss Shuihan. I have something to attend to, so I'll leave first." Rong Hua stopped, suppressing his anger. He nodded slightly at Ning Shuihan and then left.
Ning Shuihan watched him leave, feeling a bit discouraged. She waved her hand in the air towards his back.
Bai Youmu let out a sigh of relief. He originally thought there would be a fight, so this result was already a blessing.
"Let him be alone for a while to calm down. We'll go find him later." Bai Youmu walked up to Ning Shuihan and whispered to her privately.
"Okay." Ning Shuihan nodded. There was nothing else she could do for the moment.
People gradually dispersed from the square. The setting sun was slowly going down. Through the gaps in the leaves, one could see that the sky was ablaze with rosy clouds. At dusk, Kunlun Mountain was shrouded in mist. The mountains were wrapped in a layer of white veil, and the orange - red glow was a bright color in this veil.
Rong Hua was sitting in a pavilion in a corner of Kunlun Mountain. Looking at this beautiful scenery, he felt much better. But then he thought of Ji Yunxi's current situation and felt a sense of loss. He let out a long sigh.
"Hey, what are you daydreaming about?" A brisk voice suddenly sounded behind Rong Hua.
Rong Hua turned his head and saw Ning Shuihan jump into the pavilion in one stride. She sat on the railing, gently crossing her legs, propping her arms on her legs, looking relaxed.
"Be careful." Bai Youmu followed behind her. Seeing her actions, he couldn't help reminding her.
"Got it. I'm fine." Ning Shuihan waved her hand carelessly. Bai Youmu shook his head helplessly.
"You've made it so hard for us to find you. You actually hid here." Bai Youmu joked with Rong Hua.
"I didn't hide. The scenery here is beautiful, and it's so quiet. I just stopped to enjoy it for a while." Rong Hua looked at the distant scenery, looking calm and speaking briskly.
"Are you still thinking about what was said today?" Ning Shuihan asked casually. The air instantly seemed to freeze.
Rong Hua didn't say a word, and neither did Bai Youmu. He just gave her a helpless look.
Ning Shuihan received Bai Youmu's look and realized she had said the wrong thing. She quickly tried to make up for it: "I mean... don't take what they said to heart. They don't know the situation back then."
Ning Shuihan's blushing face and flustered gestures made Rong Hua laugh.
"Yeah, I didn't take it to heart. You came to find me to ask about Ji Yunxi, right?" Although it was a question, Rong Hua's tone was full of certainty.
"Yeah. Are you really going to bring Yunxi back? Although Yunxi did something wrong this time, her crime doesn't deserve death." Ning Shuihan nodded straightforwardly.
"Indeed. As you said, her crime doesn't deserve death. So why not bring her back?" Rong Hua glanced at her and said slowly.
"But if you bring her back, she will surely die. Those people won't let Yunxi go. Knowing this, are you still going to bring her back?" Ning Shuihan's voice was full of nervousness. She stared at Rong Hua without blinking.
Rong Hua felt uncomfortable under Ning Shuihan's intense gaze. He quietly shifted his eyes. He thought for a while in his mind. The strength of Ji Yunxi and Feng Xingzhi should not be underestimated. It was almost impossible for just a few of them to bring them back.
"I'm not sure if I can bring Ji Yunxi back. We can only take it one step at a time." In order not to expose their real strength, Rong Hua had to pretend not to know: "I'll have to trouble you to take care of things and cause some disruptions then."
"Don't worry. We'll do our best." Bai Youmu sighed helplessly.
"Thank you so much." Rong Hua stood up and bowed to him to show his gratitude.
"You're welcome." Bai Youmu quickly waved his hand.
"Then we'll leave first. We won't bother you enjoying the beautiful scenery." Having gotten the answer she wanted, Ning Shuihan jumped off the railing and pulled Bai Youmu away.
"Take care. I won't see you off." Rong Hua sat on the stone bench, watching the two of them leave without moving. He let out a long sigh.