Chapter 79 I'll Take Her Away
Mu Jianjian was stunned by Chi Wenqing's smile. She steadied herself and watched as her senior brother picked up three flowers from the porcelain vase on the stone table in the lakeside pavilion and walked towards her.
Only then did they discover that the three jade flowers were intertwined at the bottom, forming the shape of a hairpin from thick to thin.
What a beautiful hairpin!
Mu Jianjian's eyes sparkled, and she exclaimed in amazement.
"This is the Morning and Evening Hairpin, crafted from a Heart-Entangling Stone. Once your divine sense is inscribed on it, it becomes an excellent self-defense weapon." Chi Wenqing's hands, with their distinct bones, gently inserted the Morning and Evening Hairpin into the girl's black hair, explaining softly, "The handle is slender and easy to grip, making it perfect for you."
Upon hearing this, Mu Jianjian imprinted her divine sense into the artifact and felt its surging, chilling aura. She then realized that this magical artifact was no ordinary item. She exclaimed, "How lucky I am to have found such a beautiful magical artifact."
Chi Wenqing's smile deepened, as if he had received some praise.
After he stopped, he looked at the three-flower hairpin that complemented the girl's delicate face and asked slowly, "Jianjian, would you like to come to Yingzhou with me?"
He originally planned to tie Jianjian up after dealing with the Yingzhou matter, but his junior sister was too careless about safety. Even with his divine sense imprint, he was still not at ease.
Moreover, the Xuan Shuang Sect has been quite turbulent lately.
Although Mu Jianjian didn't know why her senior brother had suddenly changed his mind, she knew that he did it for her own good.
She met Chi Wenqing's gentle, watery eyes and, to her surprise, saw a tender, doting gaze within them. "Senior brother, after I return to the Xuanshuang Sect, I'll go to Yingzhou to find you, okay?"
"She must have seen wrong," Mu Jianjian told herself, patting her cheeks with both hands.
But my senior brother has a really handsome smile.
——
After parting ways with her senior brother who was still staying in the secret realm, and seeing the cultivators who had awakened after having their souls extracted acting as if they knew nothing, Mu Jianjian also stepped onto the last staircase leading to the fifth floor of the Vermilion Pavilion.
She gazed down at the sixth floor of the vermilion pavilion.
In the original book, Yueyue did indeed stay in the Vermilion Pavilion for several months and received a powerful inheritance, but not in the sixth level of the Spirit Realm. It is unknown whether she is in any danger now.
Now that there's nothing Mu Jianjian can do, all she can do is believe.
As she stepped out of the secret realm, a cool breeze blew against her face, the warm sun shone on her body, and the lively sounds of people around her made her feel as if she had returned to another world.
It turns out she had been in the book for a long time, but had only scratched the surface of the truth.
"Yuanyuan!"
A light, cheerful female voice reached her ears.
A girl riding a white wolf walked past the crowd that had parted on its own, waving with a beaming smile.
It is Rongyuqi.
Mu Jianjian touched her face; she remembered that her human skin mask had fallen off.
Seemingly noticing her confusion, Rong Yuqi got off the white wolf and walked up to her to explain.
“Young Master said Chengfeng…Chengfeng is it,” Rong Yuqi rubbed the white wolf’s head. “It will bring me to you. Last time you were captured, I couldn’t do anything and was worried and upset for a long time. I didn’t believe you when you said you were alright, but now that I’ve finally seen you, I can finally rest assured.”
Rong Yuqi was dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, her wispy hair was braided up to reveal her bright face, and her back was straight. She was no longer as timid and shrinking as she had been when they first met. Instead, she looked sunny and confident, and her eyes were filled with amazement as she looked at the beautiful young girl.
Yuan Yuan looks so beautiful!
In other words, she was recognized when she met Zhong Chuan on the lower level of Zhu Ge.
Mu Jianjian looked up and around. No wonder Zhong Chuan thanked her as if he already knew.
Where are the others?
“Young Master has left first,” Rong Yuqi’s downcast expression vanished in an instant, as if she had thought of something and regained her spirits. “I want to thank you properly.”
"Why?"
“I have decided not to go back with you, young master, but to go home and visit my parents.”
Looking at Rong Yuqi's relieved smile, Mu Jianjian felt dazed.
This means that Zhong Chuan rescued her from the lower level of Zhu Ge without telling her.
To verify her suspicions, she asked softly, "Were you seriously injured in the inner layers of the secret realm?"
“Yuanyuan guessed right, that’s one of the reasons I went back,” Rong Yuqi said with a bitter smile, her tone gradually turning somber. “I was seriously injured and almost died, but he never came to see me, not even once after we left the secret realm.”
Her hands, which were hanging by her clothes, clenched tightly and then slowly relaxed.
Actually, it's understandable that the young master thinks she's a burden, since he secretly followed her there. Despite only reaching the Qi Condensation stage, she has blind confidence.
Just as the young master said, someone as stupid as her can't even protect herself, how could she protect him?
Rong Yuqi once thought she would never turn back even if she hit a brick wall, but now that her life was close to death, she finally felt a trace of regret.
It wasn't that she regretted falling in love with the young master, but rather that she hadn't gone home to see her parents, and hadn't seen many sights besides the Hehuan Palace.
She couldn't help but recall their first meeting, and told herself that she had to let go.
In the noisy courtyard behind the Red Mansion, a couple dressed in tattered clothes tremblingly handed the thin little girl between them to the madam opposite them.
"This girl is so thin, how do we know if she can recover or if she'll look good?" The madam kept wiping the little girl's face with colorful silk, seemingly trying to remove the black stains on her face.
"We can make it cheaper," the man in the couple pleaded, his words trembling with an accent. "Our village has suffered from famine for years. We just need to scrape together enough for the travel expenses."
"A low-grade spirit stone." The madam only stopped when the little girl's face was already red from being rubbed so vigorously.
"Okay, okay." The couple breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly.
The little girl lowered her head and didn't speak. Tears slid down her cheeks, which were flushed an unnatural red, but the madam scraped them off with her long, hard fingernails.
She knew she was going to be abandoned by her new parents, just like before.
"Don't cry!" The shrill female voice made the girl's tears fall even faster. Seeing that her voice was useless, the madam slapped her across the face.
The couple next to them took the spirit stones handed to them by the servant, without even glancing in their direction, and immediately linked arms to leave.
The little girl was stunned by the beating. After her parents left without looking back, a boy in black entered through the gate, followed by a man in black with a knife.
"Young master, this is not a place for guests." The madam shook her aching hands, glanced at the expensive clothes the young man was wearing, and instantly smiled.
The boy didn't look at the madam; his dark pupils were fixed on the girl's swollen left cheek. The next second, a "slap" sound echoed through the courtyard.
The madam trembled as she covered her cheek. Due to the inertia, her head fell to one side, and as blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, a tooth fell to the ground. Anger welled up inside her.
Before she could even order the two men to be captured, the black-clad man with a knife behind the boy stepped forward and threw a red token in front of her.
Hehuan Hall.
The madam's anger instantly turned into fear.
“I’ll take her away.”
The boy walked up to the madam, who was covering her face, and took the little girl's hand, speaking clearly and distinctly.
This was Rong Yuqi's initial impression of Zhong Chuan.
Mu Jianjian looked at Rong Yuqi with a conflicted feeling.
Zhong Chuan's deliberate concealment, coupled with his absence, is a way of telling himself that he must keep it a secret.
They clearly have feelings, but they pretend to be indifferent.
Is it to set Rong Yuqi free...?
Mu Jianjian recalled Rong Yuqi's ending in the original book, and this was undoubtedly a very good development.
Yet a sense of resentment still arose in my heart.
She doesn't know the whole story and can't offer unsolicited advice, but she can still offer a roundabout suggestion.
"Where is Aqi's home? Be careful on your journey," Mu Jianjian asked casually.
“My home is east of Wushang Palace, near Duyunfang.”
"Ah," Mu Jianjian said, pretending to be surprised, since she already knew this from the original book. "That's very far from here, so it will be difficult to contact you and send messages in the future."
The Mysterious Heaven Realm is located in the Southern Ridge, which is the territory of the Hehuan Palace, and is quite far from the territory of the Supreme Palace.
She used to think that the plot of Rong Yuqi's parents coming to the Hehuan Palace was to highlight Rong Yuqi's feelings for Zhong Chuan, but upon closer reflection, even if an ordinary family was very wealthy, it would be difficult for them to spread the news of looking for their daughter to a cultivation sect.
But if Zhong Chuan harbors feelings for Rong Yuqi, then everything makes sense—
It was Zhong Chuan who investigated Rong Yuqi's background.
Mu Jianjian noticed Rong Yuqi's eyes flickering and knew that the other party had taken notice.
As long as you plant a seed of curiosity in her, and take it slow, the seed will eventually sprout.
As an informed bystander, she could only play a supporting role; the rest was up to the two of them to work on.
"It's okay, where is Yuanyuan?" Rong Yuqi held Mu Jianjian's hand.
The girl leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Xuan Shuang Sect, Mu Jianjian."
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