Chapter 152 - 147: Sound of the Qin

Chapter 152: Chapter 147: Sound of the Qin

Meteor University, Xisha Area.

"The new student, Li Heng, is living at the end of the south alley. Teacher Wen asked me to keep an eye on him. He came to see me today and said he needs to go into secluded cultivation. So for the next three days, please tell the other students not to bother him. After his cultivation is over, I’ll fill him in on the rules here in Xisha. I hope you all understand."

Gu Qingwu wore a veil. Two male students stood before her; one had spiky hair, while the other, though also sporting short hair, had a rather worrisome hairline.

Both young men fell silent after Gu Qingwu spoke. After about half a minute, the one with the worrisome hairline was the first to break the silence.

"The fourth-years won’t be a problem. We’re about to graduate anyway and we’re already swamped with our final projects. No need to give the new kid a hard time."

"Senior Sister Gu! I... There’s something I want to say, but I’m not sure if I should..." the spiky-haired student chimed in, his tone hesitant.

Gu Qingwu gave a small, downward wave with her fair hand, gesturing for him to speak.

"I understand that Li Heng has had an insight into his Cultivation and wants to enter secluded cultivation. After all, opportunities like that are rare and fleeting. But Senior Sister Gu... you know how things are with the second-years. I really can’t guarantee that those two will listen to me. Doesn’t Xisha have a certain tradition...?"

Before Gu Qingwu could respond, the student with the worrisome hairline looked up and cut in. "Oh! I almost forgot. We do have another tradition here in the Xisha Area. I remember last year it was two freshmen, wasn’t it? Brutal. They’ve been on laundry duty for a whole year!"

At this, Gu Qingwu fell silent for a moment, her brow furrowed slightly. "That should be a minor issue," she said after a short pause. "We can deal with it after Li Heng finishes his secluded cultivation. In any case, it would be best if no one bothers him for the next three days. Otherwise, I’ll be very... troubled."

"Not a problem! In that case, Gu Tongxue, I need to get back to my graduation project. I’ll take my leave."

"Senior Sister Gu, I’ll make sure everyone gets the message loud and clear!"

When the second-year and fourth-year student representatives for the Xisha Area heard Gu Qingwu say she would be "troubled," they dropped any other concerns. They quickly agreed, excused themselves, and left immediately.

After all, both of them remembered the last time Gu Qingwu had said she was "troubled." It was last year, when she had broken the leg of the freshman representative in front of the entire incoming class and beaten his Soul Energy Pet half to death.

The entire thing took just a single lift of her hand, without so much as a word of warning.

The freshman, refusing to accept the outcome, appealed to the university. In response, the Meteor University administration declared the incident to be extremely egregious and worthy of condemnation, ultimately issuing a campus-wide notice.

The contents of the notice: We hope that Gu Qingwu will refrain from using such a heavy hand next time and avoid putting pressure on new students—unless, of course, she absolutely cannot restrain herself.

She didn’t even get a verbal reprimand!

At the time, Gu Qingwu was a second-year and already a Soul Warrior, but she hadn’t applied to be on the Sky-High Ranking, nor had she made any indication of her power.

Moreover, it was rumored that after the freshman got his leg reattached, he voluntarily wrote and submitted a ten-thousand-word self-criticism essay.

This was why the two of them left so quickly. After returning to their respective areas, the fourth-year simply went back to what he was doing, showing no intention of passing the message on to anyone.

The second-year student with the spiky hair, however, returned to his section and immediately found his classmates to relay the news.

The first few students he told had no issue with it. But when he got to the last two, a pair of young men currently doing laundry, their faces darkened upon hearing the news.

"Are you kidding me?! Do you have any idea how we’ve lived this past year? We’ve waited all this time for a freshman to show up, and now you’re telling us we have to wait even longer?"

"Besides attending classes, every other moment is spent WASHING! CLOTHES! I don’t even have time to talk to girls, you know that?! I haven’t talked to a girl in almost a year! An entire year!"

The spiky-haired student who had come to relay Gu Qingwu’s wishes watched his two agitated classmates, momentarily at a loss for how to console them.

"But... this Li Heng guy is having a breakthrough in his Cultivation. We can’t just go and disturb someone during something like that! Let’s just wait the three days until he comes out!"

"Three days? I can’t take it for another second! I have classes morning, noon, and night. The second they’re over, I have to come back and do laundry. I seriously can’t stand another moment of this. I’m going today..."

"Exactly! I really can’t take it anymore! In a whole year, my Soul Energy Skills haven’t improved one bit, but my laundry technique has become impeccable! When I go home, how am I supposed to explain this to my parents?"

Despite his attempt to placate them, the two students doing laundry remained agitated. But the spiky-haired messenger simply spoke again, as if he hadn’t heard them at all.

"Oh, right. Senior Sister Gu did say... that she would be very troubled..."

"Oh! Three days, you said? No problem! We’ve managed this long, what’s a few more days!"

"Right, right! Whatever Senior Sister Gu says goes!"

Gu Qingwu had no idea how thoroughly the second- and fourth-year students would relay her instructions. After a moment of silent contemplation, she walked over to Li Heng’s residence.

Cultivating. Do Not Disturb.

As she reached the end of the south alley, Gu Qingwu, whose eyes had been downcast, suddenly looked up. The veil over her face fluttered, and her breath seemed to catch in her throat.

’Sword Intent?’

A possibility bloomed in her mind, and Gu Qingwu quickened her pace slightly, only to stop about five meters from the courtyard gate.

Gu Qingwu stared at the four words, remaining silent and motionless for a long time.

Only after five minutes did Gu Qingwu’s veil flutter again. She turned and walked away. As she departed, however, her hands, which had been hanging loosely at her sides, clenched into tight fists. Every step she took was forceful and deliberate.

Upon returning from Li Heng’s residence to her own private wooden cabin, Gu Qingwu’s gaze immediately fell upon the "rusty sword" hanging over her bed.

Gu Qingwu gently raised her right hand, and the rusty sword flew into her grasp. Holding the sword in her right hand, her left fingers traced the character for "Good" engraved on the hilt.

"Are all swordsmen... like this?"

Her slender, fair fingers brushed over a notch in the rusty blade. After whispering to herself, Gu Qingwu returned the sword to its place above the bed and rested her hands on the strings of an ancient zither.

An ancient, melodic tune from the zither began to spread out in all directions, with Gu Qingwu’s private cabin at its epicenter.

As the waves of this ancient melody began to drift outward, the students in the cabins closest to Gu Qingwu all paused, stopping whatever they were doing to look out their windows.

"Senior Sister Gu... Does this mean she’s in a bad mood?"

"It’s been a long time since I’ve heard Gu Tongxue play the zither. It’s as beautiful as ever!"

Throughout the part of the Xisha Area where Gu Qingwu lived, the students listened to the long-absent ancient melody, and for a long time, it did not fade...