After being reborn, all I want to do is run away.

Chapter 135 Redemption of Qingyun

On the other side, Shen Xu was on his way to find Qing Yun. He couldn't help but wonder about Zuo Chen's criteria for choosing people. There seemed to be no pattern to it, but it was definitely not chosen randomly. What help could these people be to the Four Sword Saints?

But he was only a little curious. The real method should be hidden in Zuo Chen's mind. However, after spending the past few days together, he could tell that Zuo Chen was a person with real ability. If Zuo Chen could really save Xingchuan Region, what would it matter if he listened to Zuo Chen's command for a few years?

At this moment, Qingyun was lying in her small hotel room. She hadn't left the house for several days, but no one had come to look for her. It was as if she didn't exist.

Listening to the laughter and chatter of her former companions outside, each laugh seemed to pull her heart even heavier.

"Why can't it be you? What if I could help you pass the sword selection..."

The white-robed youth's voice echoed in her mind like a demon. Sometimes Qingyun would think how wonderful it would be if it weren't her hallucination, and her answer would certainly not be a refusal.

"Master, I'm afraid Qingyun will have to disappoint you." The girl curled up in the corner and sobbed softly.

Suddenly, Qingyun heard a soft knock on the door. She looked up at her door with her bloodshot eyes, unable to believe that anyone would still remember her.

After waiting a while, the knocking didn't return. Qingyun couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly, "Did I knock on the wrong door?"

Then a huge sense of sorrow instantly swept over her whole body, and tears welled up in her eyes and flowed uncontrollably, the crystal drops rolling down her delicate face and onto the white sheets.

Suddenly she heard a loud crash as her room door slammed heavily onto the floor, kicking up a thin layer of dust. Sunlight streamed through the dust into the dark room, falling on Qingyun's tear-streaked face.

Qingyun immediately stopped crying and stared blankly at the scene before her. As the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, a figure bathed in sunlight clearly appeared in her eyes.

She saw a figure in the sunlight extend a hand to her, then whisper, "Would you like to join our team?"

Qingyun stared blankly at the somewhat familiar figure before her, finding it hard to believe that everything happening before her eyes was real.

"Now our team has a top pick!" the young man said to her with a smile. Qingyun felt that the young man's smile was especially warm in the sunlight.

Wiping away her tears, Qingyun nodded vigorously.

Seeing that the girl was alright, Shen Xu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He had heard crying from inside the room as soon as he arrived and thought something had happened to Qingyun! It turned out to be just a false alarm.

At this moment, everyone in the hotel was also attracted by Shen Xu's banging on the door. Since he was someone who disliked trouble, he could only say to Qingyun, "Qingyun, pack your things, I'm going to take you somewhere else."

"But this room..."

"No buts, just listen to me!" Shen Xu turned around and blocked the door so that no one could see Qing Yun inside the room.

When the innkeeper came to check on the situation, Shen Xu immediately silenced him with a Nourishing Essence Pill.

"Who are you, and why are you looking for Qingyun?" At this moment, a middle-aged woman came up to Shen Xu and questioned him.

"Who are you?" Shen Xu asked, somewhat puzzled.

“I am the team leader of Qingyun. Qingyun’s master entrusted me to take care of her, so I cannot let you take her away.”

"Ridiculous. The person I asked said Qingyun hasn't left the house for several days. Have you even bothered to check on her?"

Is ignoring Qingyun and letting everyone isolate her your way of taking care of her? Is letting her cry alone in her room the result of your care?

"How can you face Qingyun and her master?" Shen Xu stared sharply at the woman in front of him.

“I may have made mistakes, but it’s better than letting a stranger like you take her away. We are people she knows, and this is the home she’s familiar with,” the middle-aged woman said with great dissatisfaction.

Shen Xu said earnestly, "Qingyun is already my teammate. I am no stranger to her now. Since you call yourselves her family, why not give Qingyun a chance to choose for herself?"

“Qingyun is still young, she can’t distinguish right from wrong yet, so at this time she needs me, her parent, to help her make choices!” the woman said, frowning.

The more Shen Xu looked at the old woman in front of him, the more he found her repulsive. However, she was indeed the person entrusted by Qingyun's master to take care of Qingyun. Without her consent, he really couldn't force Qingyun to leave.

Qingyun also heard the argument outside the door. She felt very conflicted and in pain. She really wanted to go with the young man in front of her. She could feel his protection and kindness towards her.

But her master's instructions echoed in her ears: she should listen to Aunt Wang, speak less, and do more...

Leaving was her own decision, while staying was her master's instruction. For a moment, she didn't know how to make a choice.

"I should stay with Aunt Wang! Even if I go with him, someone as weak as me can't help them at all. In the end, I'll still be abandoned, and then I won't even be able to come back from here," Qingyun thought blankly.

"Qingyun! Do you still remember our promise to you?" Suddenly, a sharp shout rang in her ears.

"What if I could help you pass the sword selection?" The white-robed youth's words echoed in her mind once again.

"Your master will be waiting for your good news in this City of a Hundred Flowers..."

"I want to pass the sword selection! To make my master proud of me! Instead of rotting here!" The girl's eyes regained their light.

Qingyun slowly walked past Shen Xu and came to the woman's side. She looked up at the woman with red eyes and said, "Aunt Wang, I know you want me to join that loose people alliance with you. You don't like me when I'm disobedient."

But I am not a commodity in your hands; I have the right to choose which team I want to join.

As for my master, I will explain the situation to her when I get back. Everything was my own choice, and Aunt Wang, you don't need to take any responsibility for my choice." After Qingyun finished speaking, she bowed deeply to the woman.

Seeing the girl's choice, Shen Xu couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

"Qingyun, you have disappointed me and your master. Your master certainly won't approve of your choice, so I can't let you go!" The woman looked at Qingyun with disgust in her eyes.

Qingyun stood up in disbelief and looked at the woman in front of her, her heart sinking. She knew that if Aunt Wang didn't want her to leave, she absolutely couldn't, because her participation jade token was in the woman's hands.

"What if I insist on taking her away!" Shen Xu stepped forward and shielded Qing Yun behind him, and then a vast and powerful invisible aura instantly spread out from him.

In an instant, the onlookers felt a strong pang of fear, and their expressions changed drastically. But the feeling lasted only a moment, and everyone quickly returned to normal.

"Sword aura, he's a chosen one!" Those who understood what had just happened looked at the young man in front of them with shock in their eyes.

The middle-aged woman's expression also became extremely solemn as she looked at the young man in front of her.

Seeing this, Shen Xu sneered and said, "Qingyun, let's go!"

“But my selection token is in Aunt Wang’s hands.” Qingyun’s voice was tinged with anxiety.

"Oh? Please return Qingyun's participation jade token to her. My patience is running out," Shen Xu said to the woman with some impatience.

Qingyun immediately tugged at Shen Xu's sleeve anxiously. She couldn't understand how the young man dared to speak to a Qi Sea Realm cultivator like that; it was too arrogant.

"Qingyun, you are truly blessed. No wonder you didn't want to join the Fenghua Alliance," the woman said with some emotion.

"This is her competition jade token! Please take good care of Qingyun." The woman took out a white jade token from the ring on her hand and handed it to Shen Xu.

However, Shen Xu did not take the jade pendant, but instead looked coldly at the woman.

Seeing Shen Xu's gaze, the woman realized something, turned around and handed the jade token to Qingyun, then said to Qingyun, "Qingyun, Aunt Wang may have made some mistakes, but she has absolutely no ill intentions towards you. I hope you won't blame Aunt Wang."

After accepting the jade token, Qingyun respectfully said, "Without Aunt Wang, I wouldn't have been able to participate in the sword selection. I will always remember Aunt Wang's kindness, so how could I blame her?"

"Good child!" the woman sighed softly.

"Qingyun, can you see clearly that this is your jade pendant?" Shen Xu reminded her coldly.

“It’s my jade pendant, and my name is on it.”

"Let's go then! The others are probably waiting for us."

"Okay!" Qingyun returned to her room, hugged her package, and followed Shen Xu out of the hotel.