Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

She was the only one sent away by her mother, escaping from her home.

"No...no..."

Qiu Bai took a soft breath: "I actually knew long ago, I've understood what it is all these years ago."

In faded memories, mottled colors return.

When my father returned home, his clothes were stained with a glaring crimson, but he was rarely injured, so the blood wasn't his.

Her uncles always had an unpleasant smell on them, which she later learned was the smell of blood.

The toys she received often showed obvious signs of use, and not all of them were bought by her father.

"Water bandits..."

Qiu Bai gave a bitter smile that was even more painful than crying.

"But he is my father..."

The shouts and screams of battle as Chongyue crossed the river to annihilate the river bandits still echoed in Qiu Bai's ears.

Filled with hatred, she relentlessly pursued the figure from the east of Yan Kingdom to the west, finally seeing the one who had caused her to lose her home again in Yumen.

But she knew that she couldn't defeat that figure with her own strength, yet she still stood before Chongyue.

But she couldn't understand why that figure was so gentle, with such sad eyes, and why, after guessing her background, he kept her by his side and taught her martial arts without reservation.

It was because the other party knew that no matter how much she cultivated, she, an ordinary woman, could not defeat him.

This is true, but Qiu Bai knows that the other party has never considered this point.

Why would Chongyue keep such a malicious person by his side?

A gentle, youthful voice interrupted Qiu Bai's thoughts.

Qiu Bai turned around and found a handsome white-haired boy standing behind him, holding a notebook as if he was about to write something down.

"Why are you here?" Qiu Bai put away his stance.

The young man smiled gently: "I originally intended to record Senior Sister's daily cultivation, as it is my duty as a military officer, but Senior Sister seems to have something on her mind today?"

Qiu Bai responded softly, not intending to discuss these matters further.

The boy didn't press the matter further, and instead said, "The teacher is back."

"Hmm...where is he?" Qiu Bai asked absentmindedly.

“He went to change his clothes, saying he wanted to change into his cultivation clothes before coming to find you.”

Before she could react, Chong Yue, dressed in training clothes, appeared in her sight and walked step by step from the gate of the martial arts arena.

The boy silently stepped aside, then put away his notebook, took a deep look at the master and disciple on the training ground, and turned to leave the scene.

On the training ground, the master and disciple were both somewhat silent.

Finally, Chongyue broke the silence and said softly:

"There seems to be something wrong with your sword."

"...It's my own fault." Qiu Bai shook his head.

"Can you still draw your sword?"

"It will be all right."

Chongyue's expression remained gentle, without the slightest hint of severity or coercion.

But Qiu Bai felt an inexplicable pressure.

It didn't come from Chongyue, but from herself.

The more upright and honest Chongyue appeared, the harder it became for her to overcome the obstacle in her heart.

The hatred of killing her father was like a fishbone stuck in her throat, but what if her father was a notorious bandit, a villain that she couldn't accept even after she grew up?

Qiu Bai learned swordsmanship for revenge.

But now she can't even draw her sword.

“Qiu Bai, I am not good with words,” Chong Yue said regretfully. “In this situation, I can’t come up with a solution to help you like Lao Li or Qi Yan. I can’t even solve the problem with absolute rationality like the Grand Tutor or Duke Wei.”

But I'm standing right here, at least I'm standing right now.

She looked down at the sword in her hand, her expression somewhat dazed, as memories resurfaced in her mind.

This time, the scene in her memory was of Chongyue concealing his identity from others, keeping her by his side, and teaching her swordsmanship.

Qiu Bai suddenly smiled and said, "Actually, when I think back, apart from teaching me the basics at the beginning, you didn't teach me much after that."

“But you’ve made rapid progress. You not only have talent, but also a tenacity that is hard for ordinary people to match.” Chongyue praised earnestly, “You’ve figured out more on your own than I have taught you.”

"You know who I am, and you also know why I came to see you."

"...I mean, you know I want to avenge my father, I want to kill you."

"……Know."

The master and apprentice fell silent once again.

The next second, the sound of a sword being slowly drawn from its sheath echoed through the training ground.

Qiu Bai moved slowly but firmly, drawing his sword, assuming a stance, and pointing the tip of the sword at the person in front of him.

Chongyue had one hand behind his back and the other hand slightly extended, indicating that Qiu Bai could draw his sword at any time.

A breeze blew from afar, and a small beast spread its wings and landed on the courtyard wall to preen its feathers in the sky above the training ground.

After pausing for a moment, the little beast flapped its wings and took to the sky again without hesitation.

A flash of sword light appeared, and the sharp sword, gleaming with a cold light, pierced towards Chongyue.

Before the sword arrived, its energy preceded it, causing the hair on Chongyue's forehead to flutter. Chongyue did not dodge, silently watching as the sword that was about to pierce his eyes suddenly changed direction, and he was flung high into the air, landing in the ditch outside the martial arts arena.

Qiu Bai was almost injured due to the inertia of forcibly withdrawing his strength. His breathing became disordered, and he was not as dashing as usual. He even looked somewhat disheveled.

But her expression was one of relief.

"This sword won't kill you."

"……Um."

Qiu Bai tilted her head slightly, looking at the person in front of her who was still upright and whose expression was no different from usual. She felt no joy in her heart... but she also felt no hatred.

“My sword knows me better than I know myself,” Qiu Bai said in a low voice. “It knows why I should draw my sword.”

Chongyue asked, "Do you know that yourself?"

"It's not clear yet, but I do know something else."

Qiu Bai calmed his disordered breathing, turned around to pick up his sword, and said without turning his head:

“Hatred is not worth drawing my sword.”

When Qiu Bai picked up her sword from the ditch, she looked back and found Chong Yue still standing there, with a relaxed expression in his eyes that she couldn't understand.

"You seem to have something else to say," Qiu Bai said, taking the initiative to speak.

"I haven't really taught you much over the years; you've gotten this far mostly thanks to your own understanding and insight."

Chongyue's smile held a hint of melancholy: "Actually, in terms of comprehension, I am inferior to you, and even to many others. You are currently experiencing a bottleneck. I can accompany you, but I cannot help you."

Do you want to truly understand why you should draw your sword?

"What do you want to say?"

"Go find Qi Yan; he always manages to give unexpected yet effective answers."

Chapter 932 What do Kal'tsit and Qi Xiaobai have in common?

Qiu Bai approached Qi Yan with doubts in his mind.

But after seeing Qi Yan, she became even more puzzled.

It was the next day when she showed her identity and arrived at Longmen from Yumen to find Qi Yan.

In a corner of Longmen's bustling commercial street, Qi Yan sat blankly on a chair in an open-air cold drink shop, holding a drink that had long since cooled to room temperature, staring straight at the bank across the street.

Qiu Bai called out several times before Qi Yan turned his head blankly.

Qiu Bai was somewhat astonished: "What happened? You seem to have suffered a huge blow. What could have made you like this?"

"Money can make money, but what about debt?"

Qi Yan spoke incoherently.

Seeing that Qiu Bai did not reply, Qi Yan continued on his own:

"Is it an illusion? When exactly did I fall for it... or rather, when did I start to have the delusion that I wasn't under the spell of the illusory dream?"

"Hey! Don't scare me!" Qiu Bai felt a chill run down his spine.

Qi Yan didn't say anything more and got up to walk towards the bank.

Qiu Bai hesitated for a moment, then took a step and followed closely behind Qi Yan.

After the two entered the bank, Qiu Bai could clearly feel the bank staff focusing their attention on him, which showed that they were already very familiar with Qi Yan.

But this familiarity wasn't due to the prestige Qi Yan had gained from fighting off the giant beast in the city these past few days. On the contrary, for some reason, the staff members' gazes were filled with a hint of sympathy.

"Mr. Qi Yan, this way please."

A staff member familiarly led Qi Yan to a VIP window, where the person inside didn't even need Qi Yan to speak; they simply pulled out a pre-prepared bill.

After handing the bill to Qi Yan, the staff member said softly:

"After you paid off your debt yesterday, a new debt was added. Of course, there is a data delay involved. This debt should have been created before you paid it off, so it was updated after the payment was made."

The current Rhodes Island bill shows that Mr. Qi Yan, you currently owe a total of 648 Lungmen Dollars.

Qi Yan: "..."

Qiu Bai: "..."

She looked at the staff member inside the window in disbelief and asked, "Confirmation?"

"Are you sure it's not a system error? Could it be Rhodes Island paying salaries instead of owing money?"

"Actually, after discovering this problem last night, we specifically contacted Rhodes Island to confirm it. It is certain that Mr. Qi Yan is constantly in debt."

The staff member said regretfully, "The exact words of the finance staff at Rhodes Island were that this is the consequence of Mr. Qi Yan not spending enough time with Dr. Kal'tsit. If he continues to run around outside and doesn't come home, Dr. Kal'tsit will have to rely on Mr. Qi Yan to successfully balance Rhodes Island's losses from the past few years."

Qi Yan: "…………"

Qiu Bai: "…………"

Qi Yan's previously dull gaze finally regained some of its liveliness.

He muttered to himself, "Could it be that Kal'tsit is using my money to max out her potential?"

"Hey! What are you saying that no one can understand? Wake up!" Qiu Bai shook Qi Yan's shoulders forcefully. "Who works while in debt? How did you offend that doctor named Kal'tsit to be bullied like this?"

Qi Yan took out the Grand Tutor's credit card and handed it to the staff member, indicating that the staff member should pay off the debt.

Then he looked at Qiu Bai, seemingly having completely adjusted his mindset, and said easily:

"Anyway, the accounts were settled using the Grand Tutor's savings. Speaking of which, the Grand Tutor is quite remarkable; he managed to support Rhodes Island all by himself. Just how much has he embezzled over the years?"

Before Qiu Bai could reply, the staff member inside the window let out a soft exclamation of surprise.

The credit card was then handed back through the window, and the staff member reminded the customer:

"This card has been blacklisted."

"Who did it?" he asked immediately.

The staff member looked embarrassed and shook his head, saying:

"I can't expose the other party's privacy, after all, they used Lungmen's official channels and legal means to freeze the credit card."

"Damn Wei Yanwu!" Qi Yan slammed his fist on the windowsill.

There's no one else but Wei Yanwu who could block Taifu's credit card through official Longmen channels.

However, Qi Yan immediately thought of something else and anxiously pressed for an answer:

"I hope there's no problem with the account I opened last night?"