Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Senior Brother Lin Dao, I Know You Like Me

Rong Shu turned to look toward Qin Yuan and the others and found that none of them had heard what Lin Dao had just said. [Senior Brother Lin Dao said that only to me?] She thought for a moment, then nodded honestly to Lin Dao.

After eating two pieces of ration cake, Rong Shu put the rest away. When she got off the Flying Boat earlier, she had already taken a Fasting Pill, so she did not feel hungry now.

On the other side, Qin Yuan and his companions were not ordinary people after all; after only a few bites, they pretended to be full and stopped eating.

Qin Yuan gathered everyone to discuss who would stand watch tonight. First, he eliminated the three female cultivators with the lowest cultivation levels. That meant the watchman could only be chosen from among Qin Yuan’s group of four.

“Hey, Lin Dao,” Wan Li Xuan rolled his eyes, his gaze landing on Lin Dao in the corner as he said with a hint of provocation and false concern: “Because of you we lost a lead for nothing just now, so you can take the night watch tonight. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”

Hearing this, Lin Dao let his cold gaze sweep over Wan Li Xuan’s taunting, hypocritical face; too lazy to argue, he only answered faintly: “Fine.” [Perfect. Tonight I can take care of a few things.]

Seeing Lin Dao agree, Dai Zhou finally spoke, his tone earnest: “Junior Brother Lin, be careful during the watch. If anything happens, alert us at once.”

Lin Dao replied with a neutral sound: “Mm.”

With the night watch decided, the others returned to their rooms to rest. Because the town was strange, none of them slept alone; aside from Lin Dao, the three men and three women split into two rooms, one for men and one for women.

On the inn’s second floor, Rong Shu entered the room and saw Tao Yu Shuang tidying up, but Yu Ruan Ruan was nowhere in sight. The room had not been occupied for a long time and was dusty. Since they were only staying one night, Tao Yu Shuang planned to clean just the floor and the bed.

Rong Shu helped her tidy the room. When they had almost finished and Yu Ruan Ruan still had not returned, Tao Yu Shuang frowned and murmured: “Strange. Where did Junior Sister Yu go? Why hasn’t she come back yet?” Then she asked Rong Shu: “Junior Sister Rong, do you know where your senior sister went?”

Rong Shu shook her head and answered with indifference: “No idea; maybe she went to wash the dishes.” Partway through, she had seen Yu Ruan Ruan heading toward the kitchen, but she had not thought much of it. Since Yu Ruan Ruan had borrowed the inn’s bowls, she should wash them clean before returning them.

Tao Yu Shuang imagined the delicate and pampered Yu Ruan Ruan squatting in the kitchen scrubbing plates; the image was almost beyond belief. She suggested with caution: “Then let’s look for Junior Sister Yu first. This town is odd; we should be careful.” Rong Shu nodded without concern: “Mm-hm.”

… …

When Rong Shu went to the small kitchen to look for Yu Ruan Ruan, she found no one there. Catching the rear door ajar from the corner of her eye, she headed that way. After stepping out, she suddenly heard Yu Ruan Ruan’s voice by the bend of a wall: “Senior Brother Lin Dao, I know you like me…”

Rong Shu froze, horrified. Wow! [Did I just stumble on something explosive?!] Thinking of what had happened on the Flying Boat, she smothered her curiosity and immediately turned tail to run.

Rong Shu: ???|*????|?

[Didn’t hear anything, didn’t hear anything, didn’t hear anything! As long as I run fast enough, I heard nothing!]

While Rong Shu slipped away on tiptoe, Lin Dao, expression cool, let his gaze pass as if by chance across the corner of the wall ahead. Yu Ruan Ruan, head lowered and cheeks faintly red, spoke as if embarrassed while drawing a line with her lips: “Senior Brother Lin Dao, I devote myself to cultivation and pursue the immortal path. I have no interest in matters between men and women… please forgive me.”

Lin Dao was silent, then he called her name in a low voice that carried a magnetic calm: “Yu Ruan Ruan.”

Her earlobes burned. Although Lin Dao’s looks were ordinary and unremarkable, why did his voice sound so… appealing? Yu Ruan Ruan’s resolve suddenly wavered. But the System had told her that this Lin Dao was just an ordinary man, while she was destined to become the center of this world. Lin Dao was not worthy of her. At the very least, only someone like her master, a man of spotless grace and moonlit bearing, could barely be a match for her.

“Get treatment if you’re sick,” Lin Dao finished flatly.

Yu Ruan Ruan’s face changed at once; she snapped her head up in disbelief to look at him. Yet, meeting Lin Dao’s deep, cold eyes, she inexplicably calmed down. [He must be speaking in anger, upset that I rejected him and shattered his unrealistic fantasy.]

She softened her tone and tried to persuade him while keeping her distance: “Senior Brother Lin Dao, I know this may be hard to accept at once, but even if I were to seek a dao companion, I long for someone gifted by Heaven, the kind of favored son who can spur me to strive upward.”

Lin Dao remained silent. [Was I not clear enough?] He did not even need to think to guess what nonsense Wan Li Xuan had fed her. [An idiot doing something needless.]

Lin Dao could not be bothered to tangle with Yu Ruan Ruan. Seeing him try to leave “in a huff,” Yu Ruan Ruan’s thoughts short-circuited and she reached out to stop him: “Senior Brother Lin Dao, you have to promise me. Give up liking me!”

Lin Dao reacted swiftly, halting just in time so she did not even touch the hem of his robe. He had just breathed a sigh of relief when her bizarre demand made his eyes go cold; he was about to lose his patience.

[Huh?] The long-silent System suddenly made a puzzled sound.

Yu Ruan Ruan asked inwardly: [What is it?]

The System spoke, hesitant at first: [His fate… has changed?]

Yu Ruan Ruan was stunned. [What is going on?]

The System did not leave her confused for long as it continued, incredulous: [His fortune is actually higher than Jun Xiu Ran’s!]

Yu Ruan Ruan’s eyes widened. What?! Her master was the person with the greatest fortune she had ever encountered. And this plain, ordinary Lin Dao… his fortune was even higher than Master’s? How was that possible?!

[Wait. A life-and-death calamity? I see… then even sky-high fortune is worth nothing,] the System’s surprised tone gradually leveled out, now tinged with a lofty pity, like a verdict being passed: [A life-and-death tribulation. A ten-deaths-no-life kind.]

Yu Ruan Ruan did not fully understand the System’s terms, but she understood “ten deaths and no life.” At once her gaze upon Lin Dao filled with regret and pity.

The System warned her coolly: [Do not get involved with this person. Beware of being dragged down with him.]

[I know,] Yu Ruan Ruan answered in her heart, and her resolve to draw a clean line from Lin Dao solidified completely. If at first she had entertained the idea of stringing him along, now she wished for nothing more than for Lin Dao to stay far, far away, lest his misfortune rub off on her.

“Then that’s that, Lin Dao. We’ve made everything clear, so keep your distance from me from now on,” she tossed over her shoulder, leaving without a backward glance.

“F***,” the always composed, well-bred man could not help but curse under his breath. [So this is what Zi An meant by “people with holes in their brains.”] Truly eye-opening. If Yu Ruan Ruan had not left so quickly, he might have lopped this brain-addled nuisance in two with a single sword.