Chapter 28: The Hand That Let Go
The last of the Star Luo men vanished into the trees with his wounded companions.
Renyu did not move to follow.
The scythe in his hand still hummed softly as it rested across his shoulder, the dark-green edge angled toward the sky beneath the deepening forest light. One of Igalima's shoulder units gave a final low whine before settling. The song in his throat thinned, then quieted, though the pressure of it remained for a breath longer.
Only when the sight of the men disappeared completely did he lower the weapon.
Across from him, the girl still had not moved.
That alone told him enough.
A normal noble girl would already have collapsed, demanded answers, or mistaken rescue for safety.
This one had only shifted her footing slightly, as if she had merely traded one danger for another.
'Good instinct,' Renyu thought.
Then he looked at her properly.
Dark hair. Sharp eyes. A frame built for speed rather than force. A wary stillness that felt less like fear and more like a knife kept hidden under cloth.
Familiar.
Not from the academy. Not from Heaven Dou court.
His brows drew together slightly.
Then the memory clicked into place.
Zhu Zhuqing.
The youngest daughter of the Zhu family. Star Luo. Dai Mubai fiancee. The girl who would later become one of the hypocrite Tang San companions.
Renyu grip on the scythe eased by a fraction.
So that was where the familiarity came from.
He had expected many things from this year.
Not this.
Zhu Zhuqing watched him watching her.
Her voice was cold and calm enough to hide the exhaustion under it.
"It's rude to stare at a girl like that."
Renyu blinked once, then let the scythe shorten as Igalima's blade folded in on itself.
"Sorry, it just that you look familiar."
"That's a poor pick up line."
That almost drew a laugh out of him.
Instead, he let the weapon rest at his side and studied the ground where the pursuers had stood. One deeper set of tracks. One heavier retreat drag. Blood on bark to the left.
If they had truly wanted her dead, they should have finished it before he arrived. Even if she was fast, even if she knew how to use terrain, even if they wanted her exhausted before capture, the difference in strength should still have told long before now.
Yet they had pressed, cornered, and wounded her without closing the final line.
Then they saw him.
And left.
Not in panic—not entirely. Not after one desperate suicidal exchange. Just enough violence to make the scene look real, then withdrawal.
Renyu eyes narrowed.
They knew who I was.
And he knew whose people they likely were.
Zhu Zhuyun.
The thought settled quickly.
Stage the pursuit. Push Zhu Zhuqing far enough that she could no longer safely return to Star Luo. Then escort her in the act of pursuing her away from the Star Luo until Heaven Dou.
Cruel.
But effective as she do not want her sister to return. If she return, she knows what fate will meet her little sister but if she outside, she might survive.
The pursuers had recognized him immediately. That mattered.
His martial spirit, his fighting style, the way he sang in battle—none of that was truly hidden anymore. Not after the academy. Not after Xue Qinghe public sponsorship. Not after Heaven Dou citizens had begun whispering his name in the streets as she raise the rank and fight in the ring.
The young genius of Heaven Dou.
An irritating title, but a useful one.
He knew perfectly well he was not a "genius."
He simply knew cheats no one else in this world understood yet.
Zhu Zhuqing had followed his gaze into the trees.
"If you're going to chase them, decide quickly."
"I'm not."
That made her look at him again.
"Why?"
"They were already leaving."
"That doesn't answer the question."
Renyu finally turned back to her.
"It does. I don't waste effort on people who've already chosen retreat especially as there no death grudge between us."
Her expression did not soften.
He had not expected it to.
Up close, the damage was more obvious. A line of blood down her arm. Torn cloth near the shoulder. Breath controlled. She was holding herself together by discipline and sheer will.
'Very Star Luo,' he thought again. 'The country that survive from conflict and fighting. Their spirit master will to survive can be said to be higher than the other country spirit master.'
Then again, how else would a Zhu survive long enough to get this far?
"Can you still move?" he asked.
Zhu Zhuqing eyes cooled.
"Why?"
"If the answer is no, I need to know before my team gets here."
That shifted something in her face.
Only slightly.
"Your team?"
"Did you think I came out here alone?"
"I thought," she said, "that you appeared at the worst possible moment for them."
That one actually made him smile, brief and dry.
Before he could answer, voices came through the trees.
"Renyu!"
Yu Tianheng voice echoing from distance first.
Of course.
The captain pushed through the brush. Blue lightning flickered faintly along one arm before he suppressed it. Dugu Yan came behind him, eyes already trying to take in the blood, angles, and the possible threat lines. Ye Lingling arrived last of the three, not because she was slower, but because she moved without wasting effort.
The rest of the original Heaven Dou first-team members that Shi Mo, Shi Mo,Yu Feng and Osler had already returned home before the next school term began. Not all of them originate from the capital of heaven dou.
The moment Dugu Yan saw the wounded girl, her gaze sharpened.
"Trouble?" she asked immediately.
"Probably," Renyu answered.
"That's not answer."
"Depend on what trouble do you meant. If it the same I the one I think, it no longer a problem."
Yu Tianheng eyes swept across the surrounding, lingering briefly on the blood trails leading into the forest.
"You fought?"
"Briefly."
Dugu Yan looked at the stain left behind and snorted softly.
"That's your definition of 'briefly?'"
Renyu considered it. He control sharpness of the blade of Igalima so most of them only got hurt and might be bleeding. For death, that will be the farthest from it.
Spirit body body can be said to be strong. They can heal in time.
"Yes."
"That explains a lot about your personality."
Zhu Zhuqing said nothing.
But her gaze had already shifted between the three newcomers with careful attention. Looking at their release martial spirit.
A captain carrying dragon pressure.
A poison user from snake behind her.
A healer probably by the shape of the flower behind her and her temperament.
They look like a strong team. If Dai Mubai can form strong team at this place called Suotou City then both of them might be able to survive.
Looking at their vibe and interaction, she can say that their team has strong relationship.
That alone told her enough.
Ye Lingling stepped closer first.
"You're injured."
Zhu Zhuqing answered immediately.
"A little."
"Do not afraid, I will heal you."
Then Ye Lingling spirit appeared in her hands before further argument could begin. Pale flowers bloomed softly in the darkening forest, and healing light drifted outward in quiet strands.
Zhu Zhuqing tensed instantly.
Renyu spoke before the misunderstanding could sharpen.
"Don't worry, just relax. The process will be fast. Ye Lingling healing is the strongest. She is the holder of Nine-Heart Begonia martial spirit."
Hearing that, Zhu Zhuqing felt surprised. Even she already hear about this martial spirit. The strongest healing type martial spirit.
Dugu Yan looked between them once and sighed.
"Oh, this is going to become annoying quickly."
Yu Tianheng folded his arms. "You say that about everyone."
"Not true."
"You said it about Renyu before."
"Hmph, that just before."
Ye Lingling ignored all of them.
The healing light settled over Zhu Zhuqing wounds. The bleeding slowed first. Then the shallow tears along her arm and shoulder began to close.
Zhu Zhuqing posture eased by a fraction.
But Renyu noticed it anyway.
"It really felt warm," Zhu Zhuqing said at last.
Hearing this Ye Lingling answer, "No worry, that's my job."
Renyu looked away before Dugu Yan could drag him into the argument on the side.
His thoughts had already returned to the pursuers.
The way of Zhu Zhuyun really a little forcefully, just hope that this little sister will not repeat the one happen in the story.
Zhu Zhuqing must have noticed his silence while looking at her.
"What?"
Renyu looked at her.
"You really think they wanted to kill you?"
The question changed the air immediately.
Yu Tianheng eyes narrowed slightly.
Dugu Yan stopped talking.
Even Ye Lingling paused for half a heartbeat.
Zhu Zhuqing's face hardened.
"What else would they want?"
Renyu glanced once toward the trees.
"If they truly intended it, they had enough chances."
"Some of them almost as strong as me."
"Yes."
"And there were four of them."
"Yes."
"So what your point. It did not makes sense."
"No." Renyu's voice stayed level. "It makes too much sense."
Silence.
Zhu Zhuqing stared at him for several long seconds.
Then looked away first. She realized what he wants to say as she also can thought about it now.
That was answer enough.
Dugu Yan frowned. "Wait. Are you saying this whole thing was staged?"
"Not entirely," Renyu said. "The injuries are real. The pressure was real. The pursuit was real." He paused. "But the ending might have already been chosen by the one that staging this."
Yu Tianheng exhaled slowly.
"That's very different from the Star Luo that I know. Look like there still someone that that value their family."
No one disagreed.
Because everyone here understood what Star Luo succession customs looked like. This succession can also be said from the king until the noble below almost use the same system.
Zhu Zhuqing voice became colder.
"You don't know anything."
"No," Renyu agreed quietly. "Probably not."
That honesty stopped the argument before it fully formed.
For a moment, only the forest spoke around them.
Then Ye Lingling withdrew her spirit.
"You can move safely now."
Zhu Zhuqing flexed her arm once.
The wound no longer felt pulled and no longer will hinder her.
"…Thank you."
Dugu Yan blinked.
"She actually said it."
"I heard."
Yu Tianheng looked toward Renyu. "So what now?"
Renyu answered without hesitation.
"We continue toward Soutou City."
Dugu Yan raised a brow. "With her?"
Zhu Zhuqing eyes sharpened immediately.
"I didn't agree to anything."
"You're heading toward Heaven Dou, Soutou City if I am not mistaken to begin with," Renyu said.
She said nothing.
Which confirmed enough.
Yu Tianheng nodded once. "Then traveling together makes more sense than leaving someone injured alone in the forest, although now heal. It will be more safe if we move together."
Dugu Yan looked deeply offended by the captain suddenly becoming closer to another girl.
"This team is getting stranger."
"You joined willingly," Yu Tianheng reminded her.
"That was clearly a mistake."
Renyu ignored them and looked at Zhu Zhuqing directly.
"You don't need to trust us," he said. "But staying alone after this would be stupid."
Zhu Zhuqing held his gaze.
Long enough that most people would have looked away first.
Renyu didn't.
At last, she gave a single sharp nod.
"Only until Soutou City territory."
"That's fine."
Dugu Yan looked between them and sighed again.
"Great. Another difficult person."
Renyu glanced sideways at her.
"You say that like the team didn't already have you."
Yu Tianheng coughed suddenly into one hand to hide the laugh.
Dugu Yan pointed at Renyu in outrage.
"See? This is why I dislike him."
"No," Ye Lingling said quietly. "You dislike him because he keeps winning arguments."
Dugu Yan looked genuinely betrayed.
"You too?"
The tension finally cracked after that.
Not fully.
But enough for the surrounding to stop feeling like a battlefield.
As the group began moving through the forest once more, Renyu walked near the front beside Yu Tianheng while Zhu Zhuqing remained slightly behind, silent and watchful.
He could still feel her attention sometimes.
Measuring him.
Trying to understand what kind of person sang while fighting with a scythe and then casually decided not to chase enemies.
Honestly, Renyu wasn't entirely sure himself.
Behind them, the forest slowly swallowed the traces of blood and retreat.
And somewhere far away, in a different empire beneath a different sky, a woman named Zhu Zhuyun had likely already felt relief that her little sister escape had succeeded.