Chapter 173 - Hold Your Ground
Chapter 173 – Hold Your Ground
The Gatekeeper stared at me, disbelief written all over his face. He had probably never been rejected by anyone at Mount Hua before, let alone a disciple. "Do you understand what you are doing?" he asked, his face darkening into a dangerous shade.
Of course I did, and I was fully aware of the consequences of it. I knew what the Gatekeeper's rage was like, and I had no interest in unleashing it if I didn't have to, but this time was different. I couldn't back down, because Bai Ye's life and our future depended on it.
"I understand, Gatekeeper," I replied, "and that is precisely why I have to do it. My master has already suffered slight injuries from his earlier sessions. The recovery he is currently going through is crucial to him. I am grateful for your concern, and I'm certain that my master appreciates it as well, but he has made it very clear to me that he doesn't want to be interrupted during this time."
A hesitant look appeared on a few faces in the crowd. I held my breath, hoping that the Gatekeeper might listen to reason. Half-truth as it might be, my excuse should've made sense, and I had made it clear that I was only following orders.
But the Gatekeeper persisted. "We will not disrupt his meditation. Only to take a look." He lifted his foot in a motion to step forward. "Move aside," he commanded.
I did not move. Instead, I persisted as well with another bow. "Please reconsider, Gatekeeper. With the meditation seal broken, nothing is shielding my master from outside disturbances anymore. Any sound or motion could distract him easily, and we all know how much danger that could bring him."
"Gatekeeper." A master in the back of the crowd spoke. "This disciple isn't speaking without reason. Maybe we could wait a day and see—"
"And what if she's lying?" the Gatekeeper snarled. "What will you do, Bai Ye's disciple, if I insist on coming inside today?"
Raising my head and meeting his eyes again, I resisted the urge to move my hand to my sword hilt. Raising a blade against the Gatekeeper was a terrible idea, and I wouldn't resort to it if there were other options. I might still be able to convince the other masters to help me persuade him, for example. But if all rest failed, then I had to make my last resort count. My head was already spinning fast: Twin Stars were lying on the floor not too far behind me. I could reach them easily if I retreated a few steps. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to summon their full strength again so soon, but I should be able to at least deter the crowd with it. Then …
In the meantime, I kept my expression calm and said, "I do not wish to be disrespectful to you, Gatekeeper. But like Master Su Nian just said, I cannot be ungrateful to my master and risk something that might cause him harm. I cannot let anyone inside this room today no matter what."
"Yun Qing-er!" Su Nian exclaimed, hearing her arguments used to my advantage. "We are not the ones that are trying to cause him harm! All we ask is to see Bai Ye in person and make sure he is well, yet here you are, making excuses after excuses to stop us. What are you trying to hide? If Bai Ye is truly unharmed—"
"That's enough, Su Nian." Suddenly, Bai Ye's voice rang from the room behind me. "I appreciate your concern, but as my disciple has said, my meditation would be going much smoother without all this fuss happening outside."
I stiffened upon his first word. I still remembered clearly how weak and raspy his voice was just a moment ago, but now, he sounded as full of strength and energy as usual, if not more. I knew that was a result of using his spiritual power to enhance his speech, but for how spent he already was … how much effort did he need to put in to do this?
The thought of it made my eyes misty. I could've handled this … He could've had some more faith in me and just given me some more time to deal with it, but he wouldn't. Being the fool he was, he couldn't watch me being put on the spot, and he had to help me in every way he could.
I lowered my head, telling myself that I couldn't let anyone see my tears. Fortunately, all attention was on Bai Ye at the moment. Su Nian gasped, and the Gatekeeper said, "We only want to see to your safety, Bai Ye. Has anything undesirable really occurred during your retreat?"
"A small obstacle," Bai Ye replied, "which I am trying to recover from in peace. No need for such worries, Gatekeeper, unless you are suggesting that my disciple has either the audacity or ability to threaten me."
Unable to bear hearing Bai Ye speak any further, I ignored the Gatekeeper's obvious intent to continue the conversation and interjected, "Please forgive my master's attitude, Gatekeeper. Since he wasn't expecting any company today, he might not be feeling the most … conversational."
The truth was, Bai Ye had never been conversational or polite when it came to the Gatekeeper. But I pretended I didn't know any of that.
The Gatekeeper didn't speak at first. Then, grunting a sigh after a while, he gave in. "If you insist, Bai Ye. We will leave you be."
The weight on my mind finally lifted. Although I felt guilty for still getting Bai Ye involved in this, at least the impact on him shouldn't be too significant, and I let out a small sigh of relief. Then the Gatekeeper turned back to me. "Since you acted out of goodwill to help your master," he said, "you are excused this time for breaking into his retreat. But that does not free you from being responsible for what you did with Twin Stars. For the power to reach all the way to the main peak, those swords have surpassed what we expected them to be capable of. A power like this cannot be left unchecked."
Oh well … he didn't forget the original purpose of his visit, after all.