Chapter 345: Let Me See Your Sword, and This Matter Will Be Over

"Are you looking for me?"

Xu Xiaoshou pointed to his own nose and looked at the three sword wielders who had already approached him.

Gu Qingyi furrowed his brows.

This kid...

Wasn't he the reckless guy I spotted at the entrance of Duojin Merchant Guild that day?

This fellow had already been confirmed; he couldn't possibly possess Jian Nian, and he even had some vague connections to Gui Shou.

From a rational standpoint, Gu Qingyi didn't want to interact with him much.

But his intuition still drove him to stand right in front of Xu Xiaoshou.

"Has anyone been here before?" Gu Qingyi hesitated for a moment before asking.

"People?"

Xu Xiaoshou knew what they were after; it had to be the Jian Nian that his Guan Jian Dian had attracted.

Yet, these guys had immediately ruled him out as a potential saboteur.

That was truly unusual!

"Plenty of people have come by my place—who exactly are you looking for?" Xu Xiaoshou said with a warm smile.

His gaze fixed on the leader, while his "perception" locked onto the sword cradled in his arms.

A Ming Jian!

Back then, the situation was critical, and he had to deal with Jiao Tangtang, so he hadn't had time for a thorough look.

Now, examining it closely, he was once again awestruck by this one of the continent's mere twenty-one Ming Jian.

It was an ancient sword, entirely gray-white, with an icy temperament. Even just "perceiving" it this way, Xu Xiaoshou could feel its chill.

Beyond the plain gray scabbard, the true Ming Jian hidden within the blade gave him a sharp sense of eerie malice just by looking at it.

Yes, nothing else—just "evil"!

What a peculiar feeling.

Honestly, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't quite put it into words.

As he watched, the word "evil" involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

A gray-white, icy ancient sword—an evil blade that could stir unease from the depths of one's heart just by glimpsing its scabbard!

Xu Xiaoshou pulled his gaze away; if he kept looking, he might get sucked into the Ming Jian's vortex again.

"Seen enough?"

Gu Qingyi stared into Xu Xiaoshou's eyes until he snapped out of it, then spoke.

Xu Xiaoshou was surprised.

This guy was no ordinary person!

He had never been caught when using "perception" to peek at things before.

This young man had such sharp spiritual awareness—he could detect the probing?

"Heh." Xu Xiaoshou wasn't fazed.

After all, as a sword cultivator himself, spotting a Ming Jian was like a man encountering a beauty; he naturally wanted to linger on the sight.

"Here we go again?" Gu Qing'er, standing at the back, sighed and stepped forward. "No need to play coy—draw your sword!"

"Draw my sword?" Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback. "Draw what sword?"

"Hah, hypocrite. You've been staring like that, and you claim you don't want to snatch the sword?" Gu Qingsan sneered.

"Snatch the sword?"

Xu Xiaoshou found it amusing. He wasn't some masked bandit or a creep like Cao who preyed on women—how could he do something so ridiculous?

"Are you delusional? When did I say I wanted to snatch your sword?"

Gu Qingsan was stunned, pausing in silence for a long while, unable to make sense of it.

"Second senior brother, what syndrome is he talking about? What does it mean?"

The second senior brother also lowered his head, furrowing his brows in thought—he had been pondering the same thing.

After a while, Gu Qing'er sighed.

"Senior brother, what does he mean? Your junior brother is too dim-witted to grasp it!"

"Yes, indeed, junior brother is dim-witted—please explain, senior brother!" Gu Qingsan said eagerly.

He just loved seeing his senior brother handle everything with effortless skill.

Gu Qingyi was dumbfounded for a moment, then lowered his head in thought. Eventually, black lines crept across his face.

"You two!"

He started to scold but remembered the outsider and bit back the profanity.

How did this veer off track again!

Was the point of what this person said that syndrome?

You two are the ones with issues!

Xu Xiaoshou watched these three fools and fell silent for a moment.

He actually... had met his match!

Their train of thought was as convoluted as a mountain road with eighteen bends!

Even he hadn't reacted in time and almost started explaining what that syndrome was.

But if he did explain, wouldn't there be four fools here?

I, the dignified Xu Xiaoshou, couldn't sink to that level.

With that in mind, Xu Xiaoshou took a deep breath, turned, and headed into the house, slamming the door shut with a bang.

The door, now without its barrier protection, was instantly pushed open.

Xu Xiaoshou turned in surprise and saw Gu Qingsan's hands, still outstretched, holding the door panel.

The atmosphere froze solid.

Xu Xiaoshou's face dropped instantly.

He had finally managed to keep that door panel intact, and now someone had torn it off!

Who could tolerate that?

His expression hardened, brows knitting, and he snorted through his nose.

"Hmm?"

What was that supposed to mean—pushing my door open?

Were we that familiar?

Even if the door's barrier was broken, barging into someone's door in this unfamiliar inn was still incredibly rude!

Gu Qingsan clearly picked up on the message in that "Hmm," and his face flushed red.

"That... I didn't mean to. I just didn't expect the door panel to lack barrier protection..."

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled. "If you didn't mean to, then you meant to?"

"Yes, I did mean to... Uh? Meant to?" Gu Qingsan faltered and hurriedly explained, "No, no, not meant to—I just..."

"Unintentional?"

"Yes! Unintentional!"

"Unintentional, but you still laid hands on it? Are we close? You just tear down the door like that?"

Xu Xiaoshou raged, "Just because I didn't answer your questions? Because you have two Ming Jian? Because you think you're in the majority, and once the door's down, I'm at your mercy?"

"Uh..."

Gu Qingsan's face stiffened; he was speechless, his face turning beet red as he stammered, his ears practically steaming.

After struggling for a bit, he gave up and turned to his second senior brother.

Gu Qing'er took a breath, about to speak, but Xu Xiaoshou stepped forward with a heavy stomp.

"What's there to explain?"

"Did you tear down the door? No, right!"

"If it wasn't you, then why are you talking? What, your friend can't respond, so you're stepping in?"

"Tag-teaming? One mouth after another, trying to wear me down with words?"

Gu Qing'er's face turned pale green.

This guy—just over a door panel? Was that necessary?

He was so furious that he choked and started coughing.

The sword holder let out a deep sigh. "Apologies, brother—we were out of line..."

"Out of line?" Xu Xiaoshou's voice rose as he pointed to the door panel in Gu Qingsan's hands. "Is that what you call out of line?"

"If you're sleeping at night, could I just burst into your room for a moment and then say, sorry, I was out of line?"

Gu Qingyi: "..."

"Passive value from curse: 1."

"Brother, you make a solid point, but..."

"But?" Xu Xiaoshou laughed in exasperation. "What but?"

"It's a solid point, of course it is—tearing down someone's door out of nowhere and thinking a sorry fixes it?"

Gu Qingyi suddenly realized something and said with relief, "Brother, whatever compensation you want, just name it. We'll pay up and leave right away, guaranteeing we won't show our faces in front of you again!"

Gu Qing'er and Gu Qingsan were shocked.

They had never seen their senior brother abandon his usual unshakable composure and speak in such an unprecedented tone.

This was...

How much he must despise this person!

Xu Xiaoshou paused at that, took the door panel from Gu Qingsan's hands, tossed it on the ground, and patted his shoulder.

"Actually, I'm not that petty—it's just a door panel, after all!"

He smiled warmly and continued, "As the saying goes, not family, don't enter the same door."

"Since you've all come into my home, you're naturally my brothers."

"Compensation and all that is too formal."

"As the elder brother, I won't ask for anything—how about this!"

He looked at Gu Qingyi and smiled elegantly. "Let me take a look at your sword, and we'll consider it settled."