Confused thoughts
Mo Zuili hesitated for a moment before speaking, wanting to decline.
Yi Qingran spoke first, her voice sincere: "Please accept this, Miss Mo. You are my savior. My life cannot be worth less than a talisman."
Mo Zuili's gaze lingered briefly on the disguise talisman before sweeping over Yi Qingran.
You're really no match for that; a disguise talisman is far more valuable than you.
Even the best talismans are useless if you are born with the right fate to use them.
Mo Zuili ultimately decided to be cautious and pushed the disguise talisman back, saying, "Brother Yi, you are too kind. Saving my life was nothing more than a small favor."
Yi Qingran was stunned, and wanted to persuade her again.
Mo Yongning stepped forward and forcefully pressed down on Yi Qingran's hand, laughing, "Young Master was merely helping someone out of the ordinary, Brother Qingran, you're too kind."
Mo Zuili looked at the two of them strangely and asked, "Do you know each other?"
Mo Yongning turned and put his arm around Yi Qingran's shoulder, putting on a good brotherly look, and said, "Yes, we met before when we went down to the secret realm for training."
Mo Zuili nodded and didn't ask any further questions, instead pondering how to kill Mo Zizhen.
In front of Mo Zuili, Yi Qingran forced a smile despite the pain.
As soon as Mo Zuili turned around, she immediately bared her teeth and pushed Mo Yongning away, saying angrily, "You deliberately pinched my wound, didn't you? The disguise talisman wasn't for you! Why are you refusing on her behalf?"
Mo Yongning's face immediately fell, and he said in a gloomy voice, "No one can make decisions for the young master. The young master has already clearly rejected you!"
"And besides, that's the young master of my Mo family! Don't embarrass yourself with those tricks you use to fool young girls."
Seeing the two arguing, Yihe wanted to step forward to advise them, but was frightened back by their gazes.
Mo Yongning glared at Yi Qingran and warned, "If you're not dead, get out of here. Trying to pull any tricks in front of the young master, believe me, I'll cripple you!"
After Mo Zuili rescued Yi Qingran, Mo Yongning saw the look in Yi Qingran's eyes and knew that this person had a wicked heart and had taken a liking to Mo Zuili again.
As a notorious playboy in the Yi family, Yi Qingran's romantic exploits were known to most of the scions of various prominent families.
Yi Qingran put away her whip, ignoring Mo Yongning's warning.
"Why are you so excited? Do you like your young master? What if Miss Mo likes my type?"
Mo Yongning, seemingly enraged, blushed and rebuked, "Nonsense!"
Yi Qingran smiled smugly, about to say something more.
"—Enough!"
The two looked over, and Huang Yu stood her ground, her eyes filled with boundless rage: "You dare to plot against the princess?"
Huang Yu gripped her longsword, her voice laced with coldness, enunciating each word clearly: "Believe it or not, I will make sure none of you leave the Phoenix Ruins alive!"
The three people formed a triangle.
When Yihe came to her senses, she despairingly discovered that she was in the center of a triangle.
Seeing the three of them arguing more and more fiercely, Yihe mustered his courage and shouted in a low voice, "Stop arguing!"
Nobody cared.
Just as Yihe realized the three were about to make their move.
After administering the drug to Mo Zizhen and checking the ropes to make sure he wouldn't wake up for the time being, Mo Zuili finally returned.
Seeing the group huddled together, Mo Zuili asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
Yi Qingran instantly retracted her long whip, her body swaying as if she couldn't stand steadily, and she lightly supported herself with one hand on the stone pillar beside her.
Thick eyelashes drooped limply, obscuring the defiant glint that had just flickered in his eyes; his thin lips were pressed tightly together, as if he were enduring the excruciating pain from his wound.
A fine layer of cold sweat seeped from her forehead, and when she looked up at Mo Zuili, Yi Qingran's eyes still held a hint of innocent grievance.
It was as if the person who had just been arguing wittily with Mo Yongning was not him at all.
"Miss Mo, you're finally back."
Yi Qingran paused deliberately for a moment, her tone carrying just the right amount of hurt and confusion.
“I told Brother Yongning that I wanted to send something else to Miss Mo to express my gratitude. He actually refused on your behalf and said that I was ungrateful.”
With a quick glance, Yi Qingran's gaze drifted to Huang Yu, whose face was cold and hard.
Her voice was filled with disbelief and grievance: "And Miss Huangyu? I only wanted to travel with you so I could help Miss Mo later. Why do you say I'm not worthy to make a move on the princess?"
Mo Zuili: "..."
Is it just my imagination? Why is Yi Qingran suddenly starting to use such cryptic language?
Mo Yongning and Huang Yu, who had just been arguing, now showed shock on their faces.
Mo Yongning hurriedly turned to Mo Zuili to explain, "No, young master, I didn't..."
Mo Zuili reached out to interrupt, and said to Yi Qingran with a smile, "Brother Yi, I still need to go to the center of the ruins, so I can't travel with you from here on out."
You're injured, and it's not good for you to travel alone. Luckily, Yichuan and Yihe are here too; the three of you can travel together.
Yi Qingran paused in her act of clutching her heart, before she could even speak.
Mo Zuili then said, "Since Brother Yi has no objections, let's leave it at that."
After saying that, Mo Zuili waved to Mo Yongning and Huang Yu.
Mo Yongning glanced back at Yi Qingran, a hint of smugness in his eyes that he himself was unaware of.
"Wait!" Seeing that Mo Zuili wasn't buying it at all, and that her attempt to gain sympathy by feigning weakness had failed, Yi Qingran panicked instantly.
She suddenly straightened up, and the swaying, frail appearance she had just displayed vanished without a trace.
Mo Zuili didn't stop at all; in fact, she quickened her pace.
“Miss Mo, you misunderstand! I don’t mean to stay here with you. It’s just that if Yi Chuan and Yi He stay here with me while I recuperate, it will take a lot of time. If we encounter danger again, wouldn’t that be letting down Miss Mo who saved my life?”
Moreover, many opportunities within the Phoenix Ruins are guarded by spirit beasts. As a beast tamer, I can lure them away, saving you a lot of trouble when you retrieve the treasures.
Yi Qingran's voice was clear and strong, completely different from her previous weak tone.
Seeing Mo Zuili stop, Yi Qingran's eyes lit up.
The moment Mo Zuili turned around, he withdrew his gritted teeth and put on a smile, hesitatingly saying, "Indeed, if Brother Yi is willing, you should come with us."
Looking at Mo Zuili's smile, Yi Qingran felt even more that the young master of the Mo family was truly extraordinary.
Strong people often prefer the gentle type.
But now it seems that Mo Zuili is a proponent of strength and prefers people who are useful and capable.
Yi Qingran pulled Yi He and quickly followed Mo Zuili, deciding to unleash her full strength from then on.
He was determined to win Mo Zuili's heart.
When Mo Yongning heard Mo Zuili tell Yi Qingran to come along, he opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent.
Huang Yu, standing to the side, was completely different from Mo Yongning. As soon as Mo Zuili finished speaking, she immediately objected, "Princess, this person has impure thoughts about you. You can't let him go with you. Besides, you have royal blood, and all the demons submit to you. You don't need that human at all."
Mo Zuili patted Huang Yu's shoulder, signaling her to calm down: "I know, I have my own rhythm."
Others only saw the surface and thought that Yi Qingran was a playboy who wanted to pursue them.
Mo Zuili believed this was just a cover-up, and that Yi Qingran, as a member of the Yi family, must have the same goal as Yi Chuan and Yi He.
He obeyed orders from a certain faction and, at a crucial moment, planned to deliver a fatal blow to himself.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that Yi Qingran just happened to meet Mo Zizhen, and that Mo Zizhen even took a liking to the treasure in her hand and wanted to kill her to steal it?
And of all things, I happened to run into him.
Mo Zuili sighed; she had seen through his clumsy performance completely.
The only variable is that if I don't bring Yi Qingran with me and leave her here, I won't be able to return later and secretly finish off Mo Zizhen and the other two.
As they left, only Mo Yongning, who was also a member of the Mo family, noticed that Mo Zizhen and the other two were still bound and unconscious.
"Young Master, what should we do with them?"
Mo Zuili smiled and explained, "Let's leave them here for now and teach them a lesson. They'll wake up soon, and they'll have plenty of ways to save themselves."
Mo Yongning frowned as he looked at Mo Zizhen; the punishment was too lenient.
As a member of the Mohist school, to disrespect the young master and even dare to lay a hand on him is utterly deserving of death.
Mo Zuili noticed that Mo Yongning's eyes were fixed on Mo Zizhen, and she knew something was wrong.
She planned to sneak back and kill him later, but she was afraid that Mo Yongning, who was also a member of the Mo family, would stop her.
Mo Zuili grabbed Mo Yongning's shoulder with one hand, turned him around without saying a word, and pushed him forward.
He urged, "Hurry up and go. I need to get to the central world quickly. They'll be fine. Even if others find out they're from the Mo family, they won't kill them; at most, they'll take their treasures."
Feeling Mo Zuili's hand on his shoulder, Mo Yongning stiffened, his fingers curling unnaturally.
Noticing the boy's unusual stiffness, Mo Zuili released her grip and took a half-step back, asking with concern, "What's wrong? Did you hurt your shoulder just now?"
"N-nothing!" Mo Yongning hurriedly shook his head, his eyes fixed on the soil on the ground.
"I just think the young master is right, we need to speed things up."
Outside the ruins.
The water mirror reflected a scene of Yi Qingran at the back of the group, holding onto Yi He, her eyes occasionally glancing at Mo Zuili ahead, as if asking something.
Although the water mirror cannot transmit sound, Yi Qingran's eyes clearly showed amazement the moment she was rescued by Mo Zuili.
He never concealed his various little actions.
Given Yi Qingran's reputation for being a womanizer and playboy, everyone who came could see that Yi Qingran had taken a liking to Mo Zuili.
Everyone secretly glanced at Old Tan with various expressions.
When Old Tan saw Yi Qingran feigning weakness, he snorted coldly.
When Mo Zuili finally brought Yi Qingran along, he was expressionless.
No one could discern Elder Tan's emotions, and their gazes shifted to the law enforcement officer leading the Yi family's delegation.
Among the current generation of the Yi family patriarch, it seems that Yi Qingran is the one he favors the most.
Mo Zuili is the undisputed next head of the Mo family, and the two of them really hit it off.
Then only Yi Qingran is fit to join the Mo family.
The Grand Elder of the Yuling Sect, standing next to the Yi family's law magistrate, coughed and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Young people's loves and hates come and go quickly; let them explore that for themselves. We old folks will just laugh it off."
Looking at Mo Zuili's figure in the water mirror, Old Tan's gaze was deep. He suddenly spoke up: "Young Master has been able to distinguish between what is important and what is not since he was a child."
"Haha, yes, after all, he is the young master of the Mo family."
"Of course, of course."
Everyone laughed awkwardly.
This was almost a blatant statement: Yi Qingran is the kind of person who can't distinguish right from wrong and what's important, to do something as foolish as having a romantic relationship in dangerous ruins.
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