A long silence fell upon them as they don't know what to think, much less say when they heard what Ho Ting said. Then, after a while, someone spoke.
"So, he actually saved you, and even sent you here." Yu Wen looked at Ho Ting. "Then why are you still angry at him?" he asked.
The others started. That's right. Even if Qi Lan's father killed Ho Ting's parents, but Qi Lan saved Ho Ting's life, and it wasn't even Qi Lan who killed Ho Ting's parents. The son can't be blamed for his father's sins. Since Qi Lan has never done anything to wrong Ho Ting, Ho Ting shouldn't hold a grudge against Qi Lan. In fact, he should be grateful at the least to Qi Lan since Qi Lan has saved his life, and he even sent him on this new land where his uncle, Ho Yue, had gone to.
Suddenly, they saw Ho Ting's face darkened. "That is because…" his jaw clenched in anger. "He took all the food away with him!" he said.
"… huh?" they looked at him with a blank expression on his face.
A vein popped in Ho Ting's forehead. The more that he recalls it, the angrier he feels. "We sailed for a very long time and the food naturally decreased with each passing day." He said as he pursed his lips. "Fortunately, we successfully arrived in this land. But!" he clenched his fists. "We were very hungry! We had consumed the food in the ship, so we both looked for food. However, he – !" he took a deep breath to calm himself. " – he took away the food! After I returned to wash as well as drink water from the stream, the food was gone, and he was nowhere to be found!" he looked at them. "He is really treacherous, just like his father!" he told them.
Everyone fell silent, feeling sympathy in their hearts.
"Also – " Ho Ting continued as his voice lowered. " – it was actually because I was too hungry that the enemy got me and I fell into their trap." He told them.
Everyone. "…" he really is very unlucky. They thought and sighed.
"It has been hard on you." Ho Yue said as he patted Ho Ting's shoulder. "I am sorry." He told him.
Ho Ting's eyes reddened. "It is not your fault, uncle." He said. "I know that you left because you wanted to find some hope for ourselves in this land. You saw hope on his father." He looked at Jing Kang who was silent.
The others understood. Ho Yue just wanted to find a way for him and his nephew, who is remaining family member, to survive. He saw it on Jing Fu, so he didn't hesitate to follow after Jing Fu, and to also see how his friend has been doing. What he didn't expect was for Ho Ting to be captured by their enemies, but also for Ho Ting to also arrive in this land, following him.
In the end, it was fortunate that the two of them were reunited. What isn't fortunate is that their enemies followed here, too.
"Then, you should know that Qi Lan was also here. Yet…" Qian Tian spoke as he looked at Ho Ting. "You only recognized him due to his scar that was exposed…" he said. "What about his voice? The culprit even identified his voice?" he asked.
Ho Ting frowned. "Why should I bother myself to recall that bastard's voice?" he asked and scoffed in displeasure towards Qi Lan.
"Ah… ahahaha…" Ho Yue forced a laugh when he saw everyone's expressions. "What Ting-er meant is that his mind was muddled before due to him being possessed…" he said. "He also thought Qi Lan as an ally, so he didn't suspect him!" he added.
Everyone's expressions eased when they heard what he said. Indeed, Qi Lan would be a formidable ally of theirs. And if Ho Ting, who has a deep-seated grudge against Qi Lan, actually felt Qi Lan was an ally before he discovered Qi Lan's identity, then this proves that Qi Lan is really trustworthy,.
"My… my son ah…!" He Run cried in a low voice and coughed.
Everyone. "…" ah. We forgot about He Shun's matter… they thought and looked at each other, before they comforted He Run.
They then looked at Qi Lan, who is the son of the leader of the enemies, looking at He Shun, who is the son of the leader of a sect. Their gazes looked complicated as they looked at them two. It could be said that one is from the good side and the other is from the bad side. This could be seen as a tragic story.
But, they are hoping that they can turn tragedy to a happy ending.
…
The culprit for He Run's heart attack stood frozen on the side and fortunately managed to react instantly to hide earlier so he didn't disturb the sudden confession of Qi Lan to He Shun, which made him shocked, as well as He Shun, who has now about to turn into a stone statue after he head Qi Lan's confession which he never expected.
This person who has his Cleansing Stone activated, making everyone witness Qi Lan's confession to He Shun, is Li Yan, who suddenly recalled that he left his qiankun pouch containing his fishing rod. Who could have told him that Qi Lan would confess to He Shun, thus exposing these two's affair to everyone who is watching them, including He Shun's father, sect leader He, He Run!
Li Yan felt guilty, even if it was unintentional on his part. He still feels guilty, since as he looks at these two people, he knows that they don't know yet that they were already exposed to the public! He also feels ashamed, and now troubled, since how can he explain this to He Shun and Qi Lan? If it was Qi Lan, it might be okay since the guy is indifferent. But, how about He Shun? He knows that although He Shun isn't that timid anymore like how he was before, He Shun is thin-skinned! So, He Shun definitely would not be able to handle this if he knows this.
Even if it was just an accident… Li Yan sighed, feeling distressed. Even though he somewhat looked down on He Shun before and despised that he was weak, later, his opinion about him changed seeing that he is hard-working and sincere, instead of being lazy and flatter them to get close to them. So, Li Yan really wanted to take care of He Shun, this child.
But, now, he really brought him a big trouble. He doesn't want to add more trouble for him, as well as Qi Lan. "Ai. So my Cleansing Stone was just here!" he exclaimed in a low voice, his tone is complaining. He is acting like he has dropped his Cleansing Stone somewhere. Then, without another word, he covered the Cleansing Stone with his hand, then took the spiritual energy from it, deactivating it.
…
The audience who saw that the screen turned black and not even a sound can be heard. "…" what the fck!!! We still haven't even heard what He Shun is going to say! Don't be such a spoilsport! They thought, black lines covering their faces. They know that the person who 'dropped' his Cleansing Stone, giving them an 'unexpected' surprise, deactivated the Cleansing Stone.
The sect leader and elders, as well as the Righteous Alliance elders. "… was that Li Yan?" they asked as they looked at each other.
Li Nanzi coldly sweated, since he also recognize his disciple's voice. "That…" he muttered. He guiltily looked at He Run's direction.
Fan Wen, an experienced mediator due to Xie Lan always pulling hatred from the other sect leaders, spoke. "I think Li Yan didn't mean to… 'eavesdrop'. You heard that he said that he just found his Cleansing Stone, right?" he asked with a smile.
No one answered, since they all are very suspicious.
"And, who would think this… would happen." Fan Wen continued. "They are going to fish." He reminded them.
Hearing him say this, the doubts were finally dispelled in their hearts. After all, only some participants would leave their Cleansing Stone open and most of them would close it off since they don't want the audience to see them suck in fishing.
One of the Intersect Competition's objective is to show-off. Display the skills of the participants. If many people would see that the participants don't even know how to fish, a basic rule in survival, they would definitely look down upon them, especially the common people who are good in fishing.
"Yes. Elder Fan is right!" the other sect leaders said as they nodded their heads like they are pounding garlic. "Li Yan even closed off his Cleansing Stone after.. That means that he was really looking for it to close it off since he will go fishing with the other disciples…" they explained, helping Li Nanzi out as they looked at He Run's expression.