Let's rewind to a little earlier. Right after Blood Demon Ancestor tailed Wenren Ying and left, the Handsome Young Master immediately felt like he was back on top of his game. There was only this measly Wu Guanyue left here — how hard could she possibly be to deal with?
So he sprung to his feet at once and darted straight for the backyard area where Wu Guanyue was.
Wu Guanyue was humming a cheerful little tune. After she finished tidying up the backyard, she stepped into the room Wenren Ying had been staying in lately.
Her eyes were sparkling, and the corners of her lips seemed to be lifted in a smile every second. Little Shopkeeper Wu had always been a lively, upbeat person who radiated joy… but lately, her mood was even more buoyant than usual.
And the reason behind that? It was so simple, obviously!
Brother Ying was her boyfriend now!
Mmm…
This feeling was truly magical. She felt like she was walking on feathers these past two days, so light that she could skip any second. And then Brother Ying would grab her hand helplessly, and she'd tickle his palm, tickle it again and again…
Every time that happened, Brother Ying would draw in a sharp breath… though at first, he was just caught off guard by the tickling. Later on, his reaction was entirely because he noticed how much fun Wu Guanyue was having.
He was just playing along with her!
Ahh~ Brother Ying~
Brother Ying is the most adorable, handsome boyfriend in the whole world! That's what Little Yue thought.
All in all, Wu Guanyue was currently figuring out how to deal with the Handsome Young Master, while fully indulging in the giddiness of her first love.
Then again… did she even need to put much thought into handling the Handsome Young Master? Last time, Brother Ying had slapped him so hard with one big palm strike that he looked like he was playing around. Even if he tried to pull something now that Brother Ying was gone, he was nothing to be scared of at all!
That was how unapologetically she was thinking about Wenren Ying.
Even so, Wu Guanyue had never even considered taking things further with Wenren Ying. After all, she was just a girl in the middle of her first love.
Just holding hands with Wenren Ying made her overflow with genuine happiness. Just one kiss from him made her feel like her whole body was on fire…
What if she slept in the same bed as Brother Ying at night…
Wu Guanyue: "!!!"
Three big ellipses suddenly popped up over Wu Guanyue's head. Her eyes went wide as saucers, like she'd just been hit by some huge shock.
Brother Ying… Brother Ying…
Right at that moment, the Handsome Young Master sauntered in through the door.
Wu Guanyue was still blushing furiously, but as soon as she heard the footsteps, she snapped her head around. Then…
"…Oh, it's just you. Couldn't hold back any longer, huh? Ready to make your move?"
The pensive look on Wu Guanyue's face instantly cleared up, and she spoke with obvious disappointment.
Wait — what are you disappointed about?!
The Handsome Young Master's expression froze completely for a second.
She'd said something that sounded like she was luring a snake out of its hole, but then she was disappointed? Anyone with half a brain could tell exactly what she was missing!
Ugh… those two disgusting lovebirds…
The Handsome Young Master started cursing them out furiously in his head.
Good thing Blood Demon Ancestor wasn't here right now, otherwise he'd start spouting off random dramatic exclamations without caring about the situation at all.
The Handsome Young Master's mouth twitched. A vicious, sinister smirk spread across his handsome face, and that smirk wrapped him in a thoroughly repulsive aura.
"What? Disappointed that it's not your man?"
Since the cat was already out of the bag, the Handsome Young Master didn't care when he'd been exposed. He dropped all pretense, and spoke with a mocking half-smirk.
Wu Guanyue narrowed her eyes, studying him thoughtfully.
Suddenly! Something came flying straight for the back of the Handsome Young Master's head!
It cut through the air with a sharp whoosh, moving so fast that it was about to smash right into the back of his skull the very next instant.
But there was no way the Handsome Young Master would fall for such a cheap trick.
Wu Guanyue was using the power of soul fire right now, but the Handsome Young Master was arguably the most knowledgeable person about soul fire in the entire world. A little move like that from Wu Guanyue was nothing to him.
He didn't even move an inch. He just slipped his folding fan out of his sleeve with one hand behind his back, tapped the flying "hidden weapon" lightly with the fan, and caught it. The thing spun a few times on the handle of his fan before slowly coming to a stop.
What surprised the Handsome Young Master was that the hidden weapon Wu Guanyue had used was a plate.
The Handsome Young Master scoffed, holding the plate up slowly with his fan, and said lazily, "You really are such a virtuous —"
His words died in his throat the second he saw what his fan was holding.
Raw large intestine sashimi.
The Handsome Young Master: "…………"
Wu Guanyue stared at him with a completely serious face.
Then she pulled the same trick again —
[Activate mastered skill — Lightning Fast Food Delivery!]
The raw large intestine sashimi on the folding fan slammed right into the Handsome Young Master's face faster than the blink of an eye.
"SPLAT —!"
Wu Guanyue: (*^▽^*)
A sweet, lovely grin spread across Little Shopkeeper Wu's face.
"CRASH!"
That was the sound of the plate hitting the floor and shattering into pieces.
"………………"
That was the sound of the long, long ellipsis popping up over the Handsome Young Master's head.
"SWISH SWISH!"
That was the sound of the Handsome Young Master, eyes squeezed shut and face completely blank, yanking a dust-cleaning talisman out of his sleeve and using it as fast as he possibly could.
"You little — I'm gonna kill you!"
The Handsome Young Master roared. His eyes flew open, blazing with unbridled fury, his face twisted into a ferocious snarl that was terrifying to behold.
How dare she — how dare she —!
She Wenjie had already been completely broken and desperate to kill Wu Guanyue just because she'd stuffed a handful of fertilizer into his hands. But the Handsome Young Master had just had fresh raw large intestine sashimi smashed directly into his face. His rage was now burning at its absolute peak. He was about to — he was going to — grab her in one move and refine her into nothing right away!
Pale icy blue flames erupted all around him.
Soul fire!
This was an ice-cold flame, a ghostly shade of blue that gave off no heat at all, but it was a flame that could bite. Every wisp of this soul fire was forged from the souls of people who had died unjustly, brimming with lingering resentment. That was why when Wenren Ying had touched the soul fire before, he'd felt a bone-deep, searing pain.
It was the resentment eating away at him.
Actually, the Handsome Young Master found it rather odd how unexpected Wu Guanyue's command of soul fire was. For example, that flying raw large intestine sashimi trick a moment ago was powered by her manipulating soul fire. Another example was — her cooking. When she was cooking, her whole body was surrounded by the power of soul fire. That was exactly why her movements were so unbelievably smooth and fluid.
What was even more shocking was that the soul fire Wu Guanyue wielded didn't seem to carry any resentment at all.
Tch… what a total waste.
If only that soul fire was his!
But it didn't matter. He could take it from her right now, no problem!
The Handsome Young Master let out a weird shriek, and launched himself at Wu Guanyue in a lightning-fast pounce.
Every single object in the whole room sprang to life. Wu Guanyue moved her mind, controlling every item in the entire inn to shift around as she pleased. Slippery, glistening cooking oil splattered all over the floor, and extra-spicy, tongue-numbing fire noodle sauce came flying straight for the Handsome Young Master too.
As the saying goes, a trick doesn't need to be fancy to work — Wu Guanyue had used this very same move earlier to fend off the Blood Demon Ancestor when he suddenly attacked her.
But this time, the situation was completely different!
The soul flames burning all over Miaolangjun's body seemed capable of devouring every single external thing.
He didn't even glance around, and without a care in the world, he stepped right onto the oil-slicked floor. The suspicious red sauce flying toward him did not make him flinch at all, and he let it drench him head on. With a sharp sizzle sound, every foreign object that touched his soul flames was burned to ash, not affecting his movements in the slightest.
In a xianxia world, the unexpected is always the norm. Every possible move you can think of will one day run into its natural counter that can completely negate it.
Wu Guanyue's eyes went wide as saucers.
All of a sudden, a powerful gut feeling washed over her — she absolutely could not let him catch her. If those hands of his got a hold of her, even two lives would not be nearly enough to keep her safe.
Her body darted backward at lightning speed, nimbly dodging the grabbing hand Miaolangjun reached for her.
Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg!
Dark Cloud Gallops!
It was Wuyun — Wu Guanyue had summoned her dearest mount Wuyun!
Wuyun's four paws blurred into streaks as they scrabbled across the ground, carrying Wu Guanyue forward at breakneck speed. But who could have guessed that the moment Miaolangjun caught sight of that dark, shaggy, waterweed-like creature darting about, he flew into an even greater rage.
Dammit! That lumpy waterweed with the fish hanging off it was the exact thing that made him get zapped until his eyes rolled back into his head!
Miaolangjun bared his teeth in a ferocious sneer. "You should have taken the chance to electrocute me to death back then!"
He let out a wild shriek and launched himself through the air, his speed even faster than before. Even Wuyun, young as she was — a young mirage beast, after all — would probably not be able to outrun him.
At this critical, do-or-die moment, Wu Guanyue called out sharply, "Wuyun! Rush around that corner!"
Wuyun: "MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW!!!"
Wuyun bounded into the front hall and skidded around the corner.
Miaolangjun snarled, "It's useless! You can't escape!"
Wu Guanyue bit down firmly on the garlicky crispy bun in her mouth.
[Activating one-time skill card — *Love at the Corner*!]
This was one of the three skill cards she had gotten from the very beginning, inside the Romance Gift Pack. Last time, she had used *Prankster's Kiss* to successfully fend off the Blood Demon Ancestor who was possessing She Wenjie. This time, she was using *Love at the Corner* for one clear purpose — to summon Wenren Ying.
*Love at the Corner* was a causality-defying weapon. As long as the player was dashing down the road with a bun in their mouth, the moment they turned a corner, they would crash straight into the person they most wanted to meet, without fail.
Miaolangjun charged around the corner too, reaching out to grab the figure waiting on the other side.
A blade's light flashed.
It was a razor-sharp blade strike, condensed to its most concentrated, capable of slicing through anything in its path. Miaolangjun had never expected such a turn of events. He let out a yelp of surprise, twisting his body mid-air to barely dodge the slash.
Wenren Ying!
The person standing in front of him was Wenren Ying!
Miaolangjun landed unsteadily, his heart still pounding with shock. When he saw the tall figure blocking in front of Wu Guanyue, he could have screamed in frustration.
What the hell? What are those people from the Red Dust Valley and the Joyous Union Sect even good for? How could they have let him slip away?
Miaolangjun's peach blossom eyes were wide with terror and resentment, fixed unblinkingly on Wenren Ying. Sweat dripped down his forehead and the tip of his nose.
Wenren Ying... this man's grasp of timing was terrifyingly precise. And soul flames... of course soul flames had a fatal weak point. If Wenren Ying found that weak point, not only would he not be able to refine Wu Guanyue in an instant today, he himself would be the one facing certain death.
Dammit... the muscles on Miaolangjun's face began to twitch.
But just then, Wenren Ying's body suddenly swayed. He jammed his blade into the ground, using it to prop himself up so he wouldn't collapse. His breathing came in ragged, trembling gasps, and the scent of blood, mixed with the heady, heated aroma of a forcibly stirred-up desire, drifted off of him.
Oh... now I get it.
Miaolangjun suddenly realized what was going on. He smirked smugly and drawled, "I was wondering what was going on. Turns out the two of you lovebirds came here to die together... fine then. Today, Miaolangjun will be happy to grant your wish..."
I'm back! Finally got home and to my computer...
