Chapter 33

Chapter 33: First Meeting with Tong Que

Over the next seven matches, word of Lin Xu’s miserable defeat traveled fast.

Some late-stage Foundation Establishment disciples, timid by nature, surrendered the moment they were assigned to Lin Zhao.

The braver ones lasted a few moves at most before Bone Sword’s point hovered at a vital spot and their defeat was declared.

While the clan tournament thundered on, a slender figure holding a child’s hand slipped into Lin Family City.

Chen Luo Luo’s eyes darted everywhere, nerves tight as wire. She leaned down and asked the boy, “Que Que, what are you looking for here?”

Then, more urgently, “It’s not safe outside. Can you go back to the sect with Sister?”

The boy glanced at her. Maybe it was imagination, but Chen Luo Luo always felt something mocking in his gaze.

She forced herself to calm down.

The System had helped her plunder Fate Luck from female leads across countless worlds. It had never failed. There was no reason it would keep stumbling on Lin Zhao.

Tong Que crossed his arms and looked her over like she was something mildly amusing. He couldn’t even be bothered to pretend obedient anymore.

How could a woman with nothing but a pretty face be the one who’d defeated a demon soul at the Enlightenment realm with Foundation Establishment strength?

Still, he was curious. Very curious.

Because Chen Luo Luo could rewrite the faces of women in his memories.

“But I want to play here a little longer,” Tong Que said, smiling sweetly. “Sister Luo Luo, you’ll say yes, right? Please?”

His face was deceptively innocent. Those delicate brows, that soft smile—at least Chen Luo Luo fell for it.

“O-okay.” She looked around again, anxious Tong Que might run into Lin Zhao, and still warned, “But we have to go back soon.”

Tong Que didn’t answer. He pointed ahead with a child’s bright curiosity. “Sister, what’s that place? Can we go take a look?”

Chen Luo Luo followed his finger.

Lin Family Restaurant.

Her face darkened at once.

No matter where she went, she couldn’t escape the Lin Family. Like a ghost that clung to her shadow.

But she couldn’t show that in front of Tong Que. She forced a gentle smile. “That’s not a good place. Let’s go somewhere else, okay? Didn’t you want somewhere crowded? Come on—Sister will take you.”

Tong Que looked at the restaurant with exaggerated regret and nodded reluctantly. “Fine.”

Chen Luo Luo had barely exhaled when she turned—and saw Lin Zhao walking toward them with Su Bai.

Her vision went black.

For a heartbeat, she almost fainted on the spot.

Lin Zhao caught the resentful, unwilling gaze and looked over. She saw Chen Luo Luo—and the boy beside her.

She didn’t recognize him as the child she’d saved. She simply treated them as air, turning to Su Bai as if nothing had happened. “We’ve already tried all the best dishes at Lin Family Restaurant. What do you want to eat today?”

Su Bai’s gaze was sharp. He noticed Chen Luo Luo immediately. His eyes lingered a moment longer on Tong Que, then slid away, calm and unreadable.

“Do you know the woman in the goose-yellow dress?” he asked.

Lin Zhao’s voice stayed flat. “Chen Luo Luo. Yun Ding Peak’s Immortal Venerable’s little disciple.”

She didn’t say more, and Su Bai understood.

But this time, he’d asked for another reason. Chen Luo Luo always gave him a faint sense of rejection, as if something in his bones refused to tolerate her existence.

Chen Luo Luo saw they’d noticed her. Avoiding them by pretending she hadn’t seen anything felt impossible now, so she tugged Tong Que as if to leave quickly.

Tong Que suddenly squeezed her hand. “Sister, who is that pretty sister in blue?”

The words pretty sister struck like a needle.

Jealousy flashed across Chen Luo Luo’s eyes so fast it was nearly invisible.

On Yun Ding Peak, everyone had worshipped her for years. She’d forgotten how obvious it was that, in beauty and presence, she still fell short of Lin Zhao. Now Tong Que—wearing an innocent child’s face—had stabbed right into that gap.

Chen Luo Luo swallowed it down. Then she lifted her eyes, letting tears gather as if the pain was real.

“That person…” she said softly, voice trembling. “She used to be my Senior Sister. But she did terrible things, so Master expelled her from the sect.”

She wiped her tears and forced herself into a brave smile. “Even though she hurt me so much, I still want to persuade Master to give Senior Sister another chance. If she’s willing to change, I’ll persuade others to accept her again.”

Tong Que gripped her hand tighter. Amusement deepened in his eyes, but his face put on shock. “She’s that bad, and Sister still helps her? You’re too kind!”

Chen Luo Luo managed a strained smile. “Enough. I don’t want to think about those sad things. Let’s go.”

Tong Que yanked his hand free. “I’ll help Sister get revenge!”

He charged at Lin Zhao like a little calf, head down and fearless.

Lin Zhao’s hand lifted instantly. The moment she realized it was a child, she pulled her strength back and simply caught him by the collar.

Up close, her gaze turned cold and sharp.

“So you’re Yun Ding’s old turtle’s new disciple?” she asked, with not a trace of kindness.

Tong Que stared at her face, smelling the faint heat of her aura. In that instant, he confirmed it—this was the person who’d saved him that day.

And her strength…

It had risen again.

In such a short time.

Compared to her, Chen Luo Luo was an insult to the word idiot.

Lin Zhao tossed him back toward Chen Luo Luo without hesitation.

For some reason, Tong Que stirred an instinctive hostility in her, like a hidden thorn pressing against her skin.

Whatever his relationship was with Chen Luo Luo, Lin Zhao had no interest in treating him gently.

“Senior Sister!” Chen Luo Luo caught Tong Que and looked at Lin Zhao with tear-bright eyes. “He’s just a child. No matter how unhappy you are with me, you can’t drag an innocent person into it.”

Lin Zhao had intended to ignore her. Yun Ding Peak’s people could be lurking nearby, and Chen Luo Luo wasn’t worth the trouble.

But Chen Luo Luo had delivered herself to Lin Zhao’s doorstep.

If Lin Zhao didn’t strike, she’d be insulting herself.

Bone Sword appeared in her hand. Lin Zhao’s smile was all edge. “Did you come out alone today?”

Chen Luo Luo caught the killing intent in that voice. Memory flashed—her misery in the Secret Realm—and terror surged.

She turned to run.

Lin Zhao flicked her wrist.

Bone Sword flew out like a green streak of death and stopped in front of Chen Luo Luo’s path, blade humming.

Chen Luo Luo screamed.

White light flared around her—and she vanished from where she stood, clutching Tong Que tight.

Lin Zhao looked down.

All that remained on the ground was the scorched residue of a Teleportation Talisman.

“Fast runner,” Lin Zhao said, grinding the ashes beneath her heel. “You can run for a moment, but you can’t run forever. Chen Luo Luo, it’s time to return what you stole.”

Su Bai stepped closer and glanced at the remnants. “A Fifth Grade Teleportation Talisman. Yun Ding Peak is willing to spend.”

Lin Zhao crossed her arms, eyes cold. “No matter how much they spend, she can’t hide forever.”

After the clan tournament, Chen Luo Luo would have to spit out those three portions of Phoenix Fortune.

Su Bai’s lips curved faintly. “There’s a tavern near the east side of the city. They got a new Peach Blossom Spirit Wine. I heard it’s good.”

Lin Zhao’s eyes lit. “Is it really?”

“Of course.” Su Bai’s tone warmed with amusement. “But don’t drink too much. Aunt will scold you again—and you still have matches this afternoon.”

Lin Zhao sighed dramatically. “Fine. I’ll just watch you drink and live through you.”

They walked away, Lin Zhao’s figure fading into sunlight.

High above, in a corner where the light couldn’t reach, a pitch-black figure watched and tightened its grip on a jade pendant.

“Su Bai,” it whispered, voice like a curse. “Just wait. At the Continental Grand Tournament, I’ll make sure you die miserably.”