"Xuan'er! I have something to say to you!"
Just as Ye Xuan'er was immersed in her future fantasies, a voice that deeply annoyed her drifted in from outside the door!
She turned her head coldly and saw a ragged, black-clothed youth walking towards her excitedly.
Behind him, several Beichuan house guards wore helpless expressions.
She, of course, understood.
No matter what, Ye Chen was Prince Beichuan's only legitimate son. If he insisted on barging in, probably no one in the entire Beichuan army would dare to stop him.
It's time to bring things to an end!
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, the Princely Heir..."
"Enough. You may leave. I need to speak with the Princely Heir privately."
Ye Xuan'er waved her hand dismissively.
"Yes!"
The Beichuan house guards looked ecstatic and quickly retreated. Before they left, they even made sure to shut the main door behind them!
In their view, the Princely Heir and the Queen were siblings, bound by blood; reconciliation between them should be the easiest thing in the world!
Within seconds, only the two orphans of the Beichuan Royal Mansion remained in the empty hall, facing each other.
"Xuan'er."
Seeing his sister's cold indifference, Ye Chen's eyes welled up once more. "Do you know? I initially intended to leave quietly, but I just can't bear to let go of our sibling bond of so many years!"
"When I close my eyes, all I can picture is us as kids, carefree as we frolicked and played together in the back garden of the Royal Mansion!"
"Running under the setting sun... those were the days of our lost youth!"
"How can I forget? How could I possibly forget it all? I am your elder brother, Xuan'er's elder brother. This is a fact that nobody can change, right?"
As he finished, tears streamed down the youth's face, and he was on the verge of hysteria.
He knew very well.
The Blood Demon had given him two options.
If he couldn't successfully kill Lin Xiao, he had to deceive this Queen, his sister, into joining the Demon Sect's camp!
But as it stood, she harbored deep misunderstandings towards him due to the incident with Jiang Yuan in their youth!
All he could do... was try to awaken the familial affection deep within her!
However, what plunged him further into despair was that...
His childhood sweetheart, his sister, remained indifferent, as if she were facing a complete stranger!
"No! Xuan'er! You've changed!"
"You must have been bewitched by that petty Lin Xiao! The way you look at him isn't right!"
"You... you should be looking at me, your elder brother, with those adoring and admiring eyes!"
Ye Chen broke down again, howling in anguish.
"Enough, Ye Chen."
Ye Xuan'er spoke indifferently, "If you had said these things before today, perhaps I would have been moved. But not anymore."
As she spoke, her expression darkened, and her icy-blue eyes reflected extreme disgust. "Your disgusting behavior in that dilapidated temple was utterly nauseating! I will never forgive you as long as I live!"
"This..."
Hearing her mention this, Ye Chen's composure crumbled even further. He cried out, "Yes! You saw me doing some... strange things! But do you know why?"
"I... my consciousness was invaded by that petty Lin Xiao using some unknown method! As a result, I mistook that giant lizard for..."
As he said this, the anger on the youth's face gradually subsided, replaced by a flicker of shame.
"So, you mistook that giant lizard for me, is that right?"
Ye Xuan'er's expression grew even more repulsed. "Ye Chen, oh, Ye Chen! So in your heart, I, your sister, am just a woman you can defile at will! You're simply... worse than a beast!"
"Xuan'er, I was wrong about that incident!"
Ye Chen steeled himself, and with a THUD, he actually knelt. Gritting his teeth, he said,
"But Xuan'er, try to see it from my perspective!"
"I... I'm your elder brother, the one who watched you grow up. Why shouldn't I be able to touch you? Why should I hand someone as perfect as you over to an outsider! To let that Lin Xiao defile you! I—"
SMACK!
Before he could finish, a powerful, unseen palm force, like a collapsing Mount Tai, whistled towards him!
Caught off guard, the youth was sent flying by this blow, vomiting blood as he slid a good ten meters away!
"Xuan'er, you... you hit me again?"
"This is the second time!!!"
"Do you know how much a big slap like that hurts a brother emotionally! WAA~"
At last, the Son of Destiny couldn't care less about his image. He buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Ye Chen, for that slap just now, I can apologize to you."
Ye Xuan'er also frowned slightly. "However, I do so as your sister from the past."
"From now on, let's draw a clear line. Out of respect for Father, I won't deliberately cause you trouble. But I also ask you to conduct yourself with dignity. Don't get any presumptuous ideas and intrude into my presence, dredging up boring old memories. I'm worried..."
She let out a sigh, her icy-blue eyes staring despondently into the void. "I'm worried Brother Xiao might misunderstand."
Upon hearing these words, the young man, who had collapsed to the ground, was completely stunned!
His jet-black eyes widened, as if he had just witnessed the most hopeless scene in the world!
He, of course, knew what his sister's words meant!
She was going to... sever their sibling relationship and part ways for good!
"No~!"
That night, a heart-wrenching scream echoed through the skies above Beacon City.
「 」
Meanwhile, about thirty li into Evil Wind Ridge, to avoid attracting the attention of Demonic Cultivators, the master and her two disciples donned prepared masks. They decided to first disguise themselves as ordinary Demonic Cultivators and proceed by carriage.
"DING!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have indirectly suppressed the Son of Destiny, Ye Chen, causing his Luck Value to decrease by 600 points! (Current luck color remains light blue for now.)"
"You have received the villain reward: Free-Will Retractable Staff x1 (One of the ten great guardian Magic Treasures of the Hehuan Sect, Heaven Rank, top-grade. A life-assistance type Magic Treasure. Effect: Enables a cultivation partner of the opposite sex to independently reach the Blissful Profound Realm. All skill experience +1,000. There is a certain chance of awakening an astonishing second nature.)"
"What the hell is this!?"
"Sitting in the carriage, and rewards fall from the sky?"
"And it's another damn treasure from the Hehuan Sect? Martial Uncle Su, the Hehuan Sect's chief Saintess, would cry her eyes out over this!"
Inside the carriage, Lin Xiao, who was meticulously planning his next move, was suddenly interrupted by the system's prompt, feeling utterly speechless.
He instinctively checked his storage space for the rewarded item.
His eyebrows shot up.
What met his eyes was a thick, black, strange object with a tip resembling a turtle's head. Even more alarmingly, the staff's body was carved with various uneven spiral patterns, and between these spirals were inlaid with peculiar inscriptions.
He had seen these inscriptions before in the sect's Book Pavilion while studying the Hehuan Sect's texts!
It seemed to be... some kind of 'Y...inscriptions' that could make women act strangely?
Damn it!
He'd be better off without such a vile thing!
Lin Xiao felt a wave of contempt.
Just as he was about to take it out of his storage space and throw it away, he suddenly felt an inexplicable soft sensation in his embrace.
"Yingying!?"
"Weren't you asleep?"
Lin Xiao stared in astonishment at the young girl in his arms, a sense of foreboding instantly gripping him.
"Hehe, Yingying was just tricking you~~"
Lu Yingying stuck out her tongue, her small, flushed face pressed against Lin Xiao's chest. "Eldest Senior Brother, Yingying wants it again..."
"You!!!"
Seeing the young girl deliberately pull her skirt right up, Lin Xiao gulped and quickly turned his head away.
Then, gritting his teeth, he took the newly rewarded Magic Treasure from his storage space and handed it to her. "Here! Use this for now!"
Without waiting for Lu Yingying's reaction, he lifted the carriage curtain, transformed into an Escape Light, and fled!
What a joke!
Hell, Master is still driving the carriage up front!
He wouldn't dare court death with this girl!
"Xiao'er!? What are you doing out here?"
Xiao Hongling, disguised as the coachman and driving the Spirit Steed, blushed involuntarily when she saw her disciple appear behind her.
"You, you, you, you... Get down, I tell you! Master and disciple must observe propriety and maintain distance!"
Xiao Hongling said, biting her lip.
Although her voice was stern, with her disciple now pressed close against her back, sharing the same Spirit Steed, she found she had no resistance at all!
On the contrary, she felt a... strange sense of excitement!
At this moment, the full moon shone brightly, the carriage galloped through the deserted mountain forest, and a refreshing night breeze caressed their faces.
In such a romantic atmosphere, Lin Xiao threw caution to the wind. He wrapped his arms around his Master's slender waist and, gritting his teeth, decided to court death:
"Master, your disciple is sick," he whispered close to his beautiful Master's ear.
"Wh-what illness?" Xiao Hongling's phoenix eyes widened as she asked anxiously.
"The kind of illness where I can't walk unless I get a kiss," Lin Xiao said, word by word.
Xiao Hongling was dumbfounded.