“What’s wrong? What’s with that expression?” Gong Qing’s beautiful eyes fixed on Chu Feng.
“Nothing’s wrong. My expression is perfectly natural.” Chu Feng quickly adjusted his face, perfectly demonstrating what it meant to force a smile.
Gong Qing gave him a look as if he were an idiot, rolling her eyes before asking, “What about you? What’s your name?”
“Miss, could I… not say it?” Chu Feng replied.
“What, is your name so awful you’re embarrassed to tell people?”
“A name is given by your parents—surely you’re not afraid of being laughed at?” Gong Qing looked at Chu Feng with disdain.
Chu Feng didn’t want to reveal his name because of Gong Qing’s sister, Gong Mingyue.
He had no desire to get entangled with Gong Mingyue or anything related to her, which was why he wanted to keep his identity hidden.
But hearing Gong Qing’s words, he found some truth in them.
The name “Chu Feng” was given by his parents—though he didn’t know whether it was his father or mother who chose it. There was nothing shameful about it.
On the contrary, he took pride in it.
As the saying goes, “I won’t change my name in action, nor my surname in repose”—that was exactly it.
No matter how many reasons he had, there was no need to hide his name.
Besides, it was just a playful betrothal. Chu Feng simply wanted to avoid complications, not because he feared anything.
Even if it had been a serious engagement, if Chu Feng wanted to break it off, no one could stop him.
With this realization, the initially hesitant Chu Feng gained confidence. He straightened up, puffed out his chest, and boldly declared two words:
“Chu Feng.”
“Chu Feng?” As expected, upon hearing his name, Gong Qing’s expression stiffened. She fell into thought, muttering after a while, “Why does that name sound so familiar?”
But clearly, it was just a vague sense of familiarity. Her impression of the name wasn’t deep enough to recall who he was.
Chu Feng merely smiled. He wasn’t bored enough to remind her, let alone say something like, “I’m your future brother-in-law.”
The formation Chu Feng had taught Gong Qing was complex, but with the knack grasped, it was relatively simple to set up.
When he’d sketched the method, he’d included the key points, so Gong Qing didn’t need to focus too intensely as she arranged it.
As Chu Feng and Gong Qing chatted, he learned more about the hedgehog.
No one knew exactly what species it was. Gong Qing had stumbled upon it by chance in an ancient mountain range that had existed since time immemorial.
She’d been a mere child when she found it, so in a way, the hedgehog had grown up with her. To Gong Qing, it was incredibly important.
Following Chu Feng’s healing method, the gravely ill hedgehog soon began to recover.
Seeing this, Gong Qing devoted herself fully to treating it.
Eventually, the once listless hedgehog woke up.
“Chu Feng, you’re amazing! My little hedgehog really…”
Overjoyed, Gong Qing turned to thank Chu Feng, only to find he was gone.
“That guy—why’d he leave?”
Confirming Chu Feng had departed, a trace of regret flickered in Gong Qing’s beautiful eyes.
—
As for Chu Feng, once he saw the hedgehog improving and knew it would fully recover, he left without a word.
He was in a hurry because he had things to do. He needed to return to Ice Summit Peak—not just to explain the events of that day to Master Liangqiu and Master Longxuan.
More pressingly, his mental power was now sealed, and he could feel his cultivation starting to be sealed too.
This backlash was more terrifying than he’d imagined. If it continued, his cultivation would eventually be completely sealed, leaving him powerless.
Chu Feng didn’t know what was happening and wanted to consult Master Liangqiu and the others.
He flew through the air, but hadn’t gone far when a scene below caught his attention.
A group of people was ganging up on a single individual—a member of the Chu Clan Heavenly Clan.
The attackers were from another heavenly clan—the Xu Clan Heavenly Clan.
This was the same clan Chu Feng had clashed with at Ice Summit Peak.
The Chu Clan member being attacked looked like a middle-aged man, though his age was likely over a thousand years.
But his cultivation was pitifully low for his age—just a First Rank Heavenly Immortal. Any of the Xu Clan members surrounding him outmatched him.
Besides the Xu Clan attackers and the Chu Clan man, a crowd had gathered—people from various factions, watching the spectacle with the glee of onlookers unbothered by the trouble.
If the conflict below involved any other clan, Chu Feng wouldn’t have cared. But since it was a Chu Clan member, he couldn’t ignore it.
So he paused in the air, looking down to see what was going on.
“You all—we have no grudges. Why are you attacking me?”
By now, the Chu Clan man had sustained minor injuries. They weren’t severe, but facing this situation, he was visibly panicked and clearly terrified.
Seeing him like this, the Xu Clan members smirked with mockery.
“No reason other than you being a Chu Clan member. Crossing paths with us means you’re just unlucky.”
At these words, not only the middle-aged man but also the onlookers were taken aback.
They’d never heard of any feud between the Xu Clan and Chu Clan before, but now it seemed a conflict had arisen.
Since they were rival forces meeting here, then…
This man was surely doomed.
