Chapter 139
Chapter 139: Senior Brother Has Returned
Over the next few days, Rong Shu kept obediently to her quarters.
The sect’s grand competition was slowly drawing to a close.
Rong Shu learned some news from Cheng Bu Fan: for example, Yu Ruan Ruan ultimately halted at the top thirty.
She also heard this: Qin Yuan ran into a fellow beast tamer from Giant Spirit Sect, lost after a bout, and ended his run at the top eighteen.
And this as well: the sect had captured several Demonic Cultivators and was putting them to harsh interrogation, trying to force out the details of the current conspiracy.
Secret attacks by Demonic Cultivators against sect disciples were growing more and more frequent. Combined with the quiet “reminders” Rong Shu had previously sent to the various sects, the righteous side had finally caught on and responded.
Rong Shu did not know how the high-level talks within the sect were progressing. She continued as always to meditate, cultivate, and refine pills. In her spare moments, she would stroke Little Hamster.
One day, just after finishing her meditation and as she was about to practice her blade work, the Nine Palace Mirror she carried with her stirred. She picked it up for a look, and delight rose to her face as she murmured: “Senior brother has come to Cloud Link City?”
She put the just-drawn Twin Blades back into her Storage Pouch, scooped up the drowsy Little Hamster from the wooden table, and headed straight out.
Outside Dragon Ridge Palace, Rong Shu stepped out and glanced around, then spotted Lin Dao beneath a tree. She hurried over, calling brightly: “Senior brother!”
Lin Dao took in Rong Shu’s bouncing, lively approach and relaxed his brows a fraction as he asked: “Have you been practicing properly these days?”
Rong Shu nodded at once as she reported with a little pride: “Of course I have. I even swung by the Alchemist Subguild and got a first-grade Alchemist certification.”
Lin Dao answered with calm approval: “Not bad.” He had long known her pill-refining ability had reached the threshold of a first-grade Alchemist, so he was not surprised.
His gaze paused on the Little Hamster in Rong Shu’s hands, and he asked, slightly taken aback: “And this is…?”
Seeing that he had noticed, Rong Shu lifted Little Hamster up as she explained with a smile: “I picked him up by chance. He’s pretty cute, so I brought him back to raise.”
Little Hamster had been dozing, but when he suddenly met Lin Dao’s probing gaze he snapped fully awake. Rong Shu nudged him helpfully as she prompted: “Yan Yan, this is senior brother. Greet senior brother.”
At that, Little Hamster’s slightly bristling fur smoothed down. He parted his tiny mouth and, in a soft coo, said: “Gu gu, greetings, senior brother.”
Lin Dao, who had never heard a hamster make such a sound, was momentarily surprised.
He glanced back at Rong Shu and tested gently: “You do not find anything about this odd?”
Rong Shu looked at him with eyes curved in a smile as she replied: “All perfectly normal.”
Seeing this, Lin Dao did not press the matter. Instead, he asked evenly: “What is the situation in the city right now?”
Rong Shu stroked Little Hamster as her expression tightened and she answered: “A storm is brewing. I just cannot tell whether the righteous sects or the Demonic Cultivators will make the first move.”
Lin Dao changed the subject as he asked: “Have you obtained your second-grade Alchemist certification?”
Rong Shu shook her head a little as she explained: “Not yet. The city has been too chaotic, so I have not dared to run around.”
Lin Dao concluded succinctly: “Then I will take you to the Alchemist Subguild now. Buy whatever herbs you need, and pick up your second-grade Alchemist certification while you are there.”
Rong Shu’s eyes lit up as she answered crisply: “Mm!”
She had been refining pills these last few days and had already worked through nearly all the herbs she could refine. Lin Dao’s arrival in Cloud Link City happened to be well timed, as today was the month-end assessment.
When the two reached the Alchemist Subguild and Rong Shu was about to go in for her assessment, she entrusted Little Hamster to Lin Dao for the moment.
After she entered, Lin Dao, holding the slightly dopey Little Hamster, strolled just outside the Subguild doors and did not go far. He tapped Little Hamster’s head lightly with a fingertip and said with quiet interest: “Call again.”
Little Hamster glanced at him in confusion. Remembering what Rong Shu had said, he dutifully cooed twice: “Gu gu, gu gu.”
Lin Dao’s eyes immediately grew thoughtful. He had never kept a hamster, but he knew none would ever call like that. His little junior sister was clever; she must have realized this as well, yet she had chosen not to expose it and to keep this Little Hamster by her side.
As Lin Dao pondered, his gaze swept idly to one side. The moment he caught sight of a figure, he turned on his heel and left at once, thinking with cool distaste: [Unlucky. Of all people, how did I run into that brainless Yu Ruan Ruan.]
His departure did not alert Yu Ruan Ruan, who stood not far away. At that moment, Yu Ruan Ruan was grumbling to the System: “Didn’t you say a new bearer of fortune has appeared? Where is he?”
As she walked, her foot suddenly twisted. Just as she was about to topple, a hand appeared and steadied her. She looked up to see Yun Wu Ya’s rather handsome face, and her heart trembled slightly. Yun Wu Ya offered a faint, gentlemanly smile as he reminded her: “Young lady, be careful.”
Yu Ruan Ruan answered in a daze as he helped her upright: “O… okay.” Even after Yun Wu Ya left, she still stared foolishly after his retreating figure.
She pressed the question urgently in her heart: “System, is he the heaven-favored one?”
The System replied with a trace of regret: [His fortune is very strong, but he is not the heaven-favored one.] [Even so, you will not lose by getting close to him.]
Hearing this, Yu Ruan Ruan felt a little disappointed at not having found the heaven-favored one, yet a shade of delight rose in her all the same. Only… when she thought of her ranking in the grand competition, a wave of unwillingness surged up inside.
She brooded as she thought: if only I had met this man earlier, I might have plundered some of his fortune and achieved a better result in the sect competition. The fortune on Yan Zi Mo’s body was limited in the end and could only carry Yu Ruan Ruan into the top thirty. For Yu Ruan Ruan, this was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face. In her previous life, Rong Shu had taken second place, while she had managed only the top thirty.
Ashamed and angry, she could only comfort herself inwardly: in this life Rong Shu does not even have the qualification to participate in the grand competition. I have already defeated her by a long way.
After she had walked some distance, Yu Ruan Ruan suddenly remembered something and showed a vexed expression as she muttered: “I forgot to ask that man’s identity and background. I wonder if I will have the chance to meet him again.”
The System soothed her: [Do not worry. He will be drawn to you.]
“That is true,” she answered, reassured by the System’s guarantee.
Elsewhere, after they had gone a little farther, Yun Wu Ya’s subordinate asked in a low voice: “Young Valley Master, why did you steady that woman just now? She looked both naive and foolish.”
Yun Wu Ya’s lips curved in a faint, unreadable smile as he answered: “She is interesting. There is a kind of fatal allure about her.” He asked casually: “She is Jun Xiu Ran’s most favored female disciple, is she not?”
“Yes,” the subordinate replied.
Yun Wu Ya instructed lightly: “When we move, if we run into that woman, spare her life for the moment.”
He had thought this trip to Cloud Link City would be nothing more than slaughtering those so-called heaven’s favorites, but he had not expected such an unexpected bonus.
“Yes, Young Valley Master,” the subordinate answered. Although he did not understand Yun Wu Ya’s intent, he agreed without hesitation.
Then the subordinate reported: “Young Valley Master, word has just come from the Four Major Factions. They are moving tonight.”
At that, Yun Wu Ya’s lazy air vanished without a trace and a bloodthirsty killing intent surfaced as he murmured, satisfied: “Excellent… It is time these so-called righteous disciples had a taste of the prestige of our Five Great Sects.”
…