Chapter 3: The Villain Of Xinyu
"Miss Yiyi..."
"Miss Yiyi..."
Lin Jing found herself in front of a large wooden door, the top of which had a plate with the words: Xiong Yiyi's Room.
The door opened in slow motion, revealing a rather young female cultivator.
She was twenty, just like Chen. Xiong Yiyi, the villainess of the tale and Chen's close friend, often troubled hundreds of people.
They would spend time together and think about new ways – the best ways to make others' lives miserable.
Yiyi was secretly in love with Chen Jie and couldn't help but break connections with him when his fiancée was announced.
The maid, Lin Jing, was a spy planted by her.
"Oh dear Lin, what's the matter?" Yiyi asked with a sultry tone.
The dandelion fragrance from her room and body, along with her long hair, curvy body, and large chest, even ended up attracting the poor maid.
Her face was flustered momentarily. She failed to look into Yiyi's purple gem-like eyes.
"M-miss…" she stuttered.
Yiyi, finding it cute, walked closer and closer.
She then used her left hand to touch Lin Jing's chin, raising her head upward and directing her gaze towards her.
"What could be troubling my cute maid?" she whispered, bringing her face closer to Lin's.
"Y-young master Chen is awake," Lin Jing said, her stutter sounding funny.
But when Yiyi heard that, the sultry smile on her face vanished. "What!?" This time, a bright and cheerful smile appeared on her face, almost making the previous sultry smile look fake.
"Jie is awake?" she asked again, seeking confirmation.
"Y-yes," Lin Jing, noticing the change in Yiyi's behavior, truthfully repeated herself.
Yiyi, upon hearing this, almost instantly twirled, turned back, and walked straight toward her bed. She then passed her bed from the side and went towards the wardrobe, pulling it open.
There were tons of outfits inside – all adorned with various colors and jewels. Just one piece of her clothing could buy out an entire village!
But out of all of them, she pulled out a light-purple veil which had no jewels attached, covering her face with it almost instantly.
She then turned back and said, "Let's go."
She wanted to visit her love, who had been asleep for more than ten days straight!
.
.
.
Meanwhile, in a room filled with various vases and numerous pieces of calligraphy adorning the walls, along with various pieces of art, five elderly people sat, their hair ranging from grey to white.
Some had thin mustaches, while others had long beards. Only one of them had both combined.
Standing in front of them were two young cultivators.
One had silvery white hair and deep blue, jewel-like eyes: Zhi Ning.
The other was male, with fiery red hair like scorching flames and similar red eyes: Fang Ryou.
Both of them bowed before the elders, showing their respect.
While four of the elders merely smiled and asked them to stand at ease, one of them was rather angry.
"Would you look at them!"
"They are in love? What kind of nonsense is this?", asked one of the elders in a fit of rage.
He was the tallest and thinnest among them, though definitely not the oldest.
His face was adorned with numerous wrinkles. His name was Chen Hao, Chen Jie's grandfather and the former patriarch of the Chen family.
"Calm down, Hao. They are youngsters, so obviously they will make mistakes…", said another elderly man, Zhi Tian, Zhi Ning's grandfather.
"Mistake? You call this a mistake?"
"This is obviously something planned. You have already decided to humiliate my family in front of the world!", Chen Hao stood up in fury, pointing his index finger repeatedly at Zhi Tian.
"Come on, old man, it's not like that. I would never-", Zhi Tian's words were abruptly cut short by his own granddaughter.
"Grandpa Hao, Ryou and I love each other deeply."
"We cannot live apart…"
"If I were to become your grandson's bride tomorrow, then I wouldn't be able to love him unconditionally…"
"Not to mention, I would never be content with a… um, handicap cripple…"
The moment she mentioned that, Chen Hao's anger surged.
The aura he had been concealing all this time burst out, its heavy pressure almost suffocating Zhi Ning!
Cough!
She coughed once or twice before her knees touched the floor.
She grabbed her chest and throat, struggling against the pressure as she could barely breathe.
Zhi Ning, being in the realm of Body Refining, couldn't possibly withstand the pressure of one of the strongest cultivators in the entire murim—Chen Hao, who was ranked Seventh in the World Rankings. He was in the Nascent Soul Realm, a step away from Immortal Ascension!
Hao was infuriated, his beard dancing in the air. If left unchecked, he might have ended up killing Zhi Ning.
Of course, the other elders couldn't let that happen—especially Zhi Tian.
Zhi Tian: The former patriarch of the Zhi Family, was in the same realm as Chen Hao. However, in the world rankings, he was far behind, ranked 98th.
There was no way he would allow Hao to harm his beloved granddaughter.
Almost instantly, he activated his aura, countering that of Hao's and almost instantly pushing him back.
"Calm down, Hao. You can't possibly be thinking of killing my granddaughter in front of me…" Tian reminded Hao.
Hearing this, Hao's aura began to decrease and ultimately dissipated.
Huff, huff!
Ning panted heavily, barely regaining the rhythm of her breath.
"You are my old friend, Hao. There's no way I would betray you or plot against you…"
"The kids have made a mistake… We don't have the power to turn back time," Tian offered his explanation.
Hao, hearing that, slowly and steadily calmed down. He could merely stare at Ning once or twice before averting his gazes.
"Also, she had a valid point… your grandson… hasn't he fallen into Qi Deviation recently and crippled his cultivation?"
Upon hearing that, Hao's gaze fell, now only glancing at the ground.
"Think about it… if my granddaughter had been in such a state, would you still have pushed your son forward for marriage…?"
Hao couldn't deny the reasoning that Tian provided, for indeed, he wouldn't push his own grandson into something like that.
"But…"
"It was a promise…"
"A promise between us. Why would you-", Hao only had the promise to think about now, thinking that only that could somehow save the situation.
"Pardon me Hao but you aren't a cold hearted person who would stand and see someone's life get destroyed because of a promise.", Lou Shu, one of the elders, who had both beard and moustache, said.
"But he is a good child… a genius.", Hao's voice grew fainter by the minute.
Hao's heart had sank as none of the elders paid any attention to his words anymore. But as if adding a needle to prick it and increase the agony, in came Ryou's words.
"Genius?"
"More like a waste."
"What!?", Hao's eyes widened when he heard that.
"Ryou!", Ning stared at Ryou, attempting to stop him.
But he didn't stop and continued, "Forgive me for interrupting, but you should have taken care of your grandson much better."
"Don't you know, he is also called the Villain of Xinyu?
"…"