Chapter 240: Lan Zi Yu’s Favorability Reaches the Threshold
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Ding! Lan Zi Yu’s current favorability is at 88… 65… 85… 42…
Ding! Target character’s favorability fluctuates too much; the value is temporarily incalculable.
Ye Cong Xin’s heartbeat rose and fell with the numbers, her mouth twitching as she stared blankly, speechless.
Lan Zi Yu was truly something.
He spoke of taking responsibility for her, yet deep down, he found her utterly intolerable.
She hadn’t even minded his volatile temper and unpredictable moods.
What right did Lan Zi Yu have to look down on her?
Thinking back to the previous night when Lan Zi Yu, drunk, kept calling out Yu Zhao’s name, her heart filled with bitterness.
However, her priority was to stabilize Lan Zi Yu’s favorability.
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she whispered, “Second Senior Brother, what lies between us is purely sibling affection. What happened last night was an accident. I will forget it completely, and you need not feel guilty on my behalf.”
This clever retreat left Lan Zi Yu deeply moved, instantly dissolving the small grudge he harbored in his heart.
“Little Junior Sister, do you truly mean that?”
Despite his efforts to suppress his emotions, the joy in his voice was all too evident.
Ye Cong Xin gritted her teeth in frustration, keeping her head down to avoid him noticing. Her voice remained soft and vulnerable: “I mean it, Second Senior Brother. Your heart already has its place, and I would never force my way in.”
“Little Junior Sister!” Lan Zi Yu’s voice thundered, his anger barely contained. “When have I ever had someone in my heart? How could I not know this myself?”
Ye Cong Xin abruptly raised her head, her clear, watery eyes glinting sharply. “Second Senior Brother, do you not remember that last night, while drunk, you kept calling out Senior Sister Yu Zhao’s name?”
Lan Zi Yu’s body stiffened.
Yu Zhao?
No. Impossible!
He couldn’t possibly like Yu Zhao!
He had always treated Yu Zhao as a junior sister—no, just as an ordinary peer in their sect!
It had to be a misunderstanding.
Yes, his Little Junior Sister must have heard wrong!
“Little Junior Sister, you’re mistaken. I severed all ties with Yu Zhao long ago and could never harbor feelings for her. Don’t bring this up again.”
Ye Cong Xin asked directly, “If Second Senior Brother doesn’t love anyone, would you be willing to form a Daoist partnership with me?”
Lan Zi Yu opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Ye Cong Xin had yet to press further, but he was already flustered.
He could admit that he cared for his Little Junior Sister.
But that affection was purely platonic, born from camaraderie as siblings and sectmates, untainted by romantic interest.
He couldn’t imagine her as his Daoist partner.
It simply felt wrong.
Why? He couldn’t explain.
“Second Senior Brother, there’s no need to say anything. I understand.”
Lan Zi Yu’s silence was the best answer.
Ye Cong Xin rose slowly and walked towards the door.
Lan Zi Yu watched her, his gaze heavy with emotion, as she stepped away, her back appearing both sorrowful and determined.
He remained frozen in place.
At the door, Ye Cong Xin stopped.
“Once I step out, I will forget everything about last night. Second Senior Brother, you will always be my senior brother.”
She pushed open the door.
A single tear slipped from her eye.
Under the sunlight, it sparkled brilliantly.
Plop!
The sound of the tear hitting the ground coincided with the cold, mechanical voice of the system.
Ding! Lan Zi Yu’s favorability is now 90!
Ding! Favorability reached. Fortune plundering channel is open. Lan Zi Yu’s current fortune value: 9,000 points.
Ye Cong Xin, with her back to Lan Zi Yu, allowed a faint smile to curve her lips.
“Convert his fortune into spiritual energy for me. I’m going to break into the Golden Core stage!”
Ding! Understood, Host. Fortune plundering in progress…
…
“Shui Qing Yue, the Palace Master of Water Cloud Palace, disappeared twenty years ago while protecting her disciples…”
A few lines of text were scrutinized repeatedly by Master Qing Yan.
His family name was Yu.
He had no relatives with the surname Shui.
Why then did the foreign soul in his body insist that Shui Qing Yue was his sister?
If there was no connection, his intense reaction upon hearing her name could not be faked.
Master Qing Yan wanted to summon the soul for questioning but hesitated, recalling its erratic and frenzied behavior.
Suppressing the soul had only been possible with the sect’s treasure. He wouldn’t risk releasing it unless absolutely necessary, as it might try to wrest control of his body.
Shui Qing Yue’s reputation in the cultivation world was obscure, and the information gathered was scant. To uncover their connection, he needed another avenue.
After a moment’s contemplation, he thought of his eldest disciple, Fang Cheng Lang, whom he had neglected for some time.
Fang Cheng Lang had coincidentally acquired memories of a past life. Perhaps he knew something others did not.
With a thought, Master Qing Yan teleported to Fang Cheng Lang’s abode, exuding a commanding presence.
Soon, the long-closed door opened, and Fang Cheng Lang knelt to welcome him.
“Unworthy disciple Fang Cheng Lang greets Master.”
Since their parting at the Endless Sea, Master Qing Yan hadn’t seen Fang Cheng Lang. Seeing him now, he was taken aback, momentarily forgetting his purpose.
“You…”
Fang Cheng Lang, once lauded as the “Sword Gentleman,” had always been upright and elegant.
But the figure before him, though bearing the same features, had lost that aura. His face was haggard, his spirit depleted, as though he had aged a hundred years overnight.
Even Master Qing Yan, who held grievances against him, couldn’t help but be moved.
Fang Cheng Lang knelt silently, offering no explanation.
“Are you blaming me for punishing you that day?”
“Disciple would not dare.”
“Your body is a gift from your parents. Destroying it this way is merely a form of protest! Fang Cheng Lang, have you also become like Yu Zhao, rebellious and defiant?”
Master Qing Yan’s anger flared.
Fang Cheng Lang’s self-destructive state felt like a deliberate challenge.
Yet Fang Cheng Lang’s response remained the same: “Disciple would not dare.”
Master Qing Yan laughed bitterly, enraged. “Fine, fine. If you intend to follow Yu Zhao’s path, why not leave the sect as she did? Go, find your freedom under the heavens!”
Before Fang Cheng Lang could respond, he added sharply, “And don’t say, ‘Disciple would not dare.’”
Fang Cheng Lang swallowed his words, ultimately lowering his gaze. “This disciple has received Master’s teachings and would never consider leaving the sect.”
Yu Zhao had the right to leave because she had repaid all the kindness Master Qing Yan had shown her.
But he, the first disciple, bore the sect’s reputation on his shoulders. Leaving was not an option.
His listlessness wasn’t due to dissatisfaction with Master Qing Yan but from despair.
He knew the truth of past events, yet no one believed him. Just like Yu Zhao in their past life, his attempts to expose the truth would only lead to isolation.
Perhaps, this was karma for their blindness in that past life.
Since resistance was futile, he thought, he might as well let fate play out.
As long as Ye Cong Xin didn’t harm their Little Junior Sister, anyone from Lone Moon Peak could serve as her sacrifice.
Even Master Qing Yan.
“What did you see on the Floating Island?” Master Qing Yan demanded.