Chapter 109
Chapter 109: The Azure Luan’s Tail Feather
When Shi Zi Chu and Jiang Wan Sheng arrived at Lin Qing Yu’s residence, Jiang Xian was already seated by the bed.
Jiang Wan Sheng carefully placed the child into the cradle beside him, a sense of relief washing over him, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted.
Lin Qing Yu lay half-reclined on the bed, her face drained of color, as delicate and fragile as pale porcelain.
Seeing the pity in Jiang Wan Sheng and Shi Zi Chu’s eyes, their gazes almost on the verge of spilling over, Lin Qing Yu curled the corners of her lips into a faint smile. “Am I not fine?” she asked softly.
Unable to hold back, Jiang Wan Sheng shot an icy, disapproving glance at his father.
Jiang Xian looked at Lin Qing Yu with guilt in his eyes, his expression pitiful.
Father and son—those sorrowful looks seemed almost like a dog soaked in rain.
Jiang Wan Sheng snorted and then took out a blood gu.
Lin Qing Yu’s eyes widened in surprise.
A blood gu?
Shi Zi Chu’s gaze lingered on Lin Qing Yu. When he saw that her shock was genuine, he asked gently, “Aunt Lin, you didn’t know?”
Lin Qing Yu nodded slightly.
Jiang Wan Sheng turned to look at Shi Zi Chu.
An absurd thought suddenly flickered through Shi Zi Chu’s mind, but it was so outrageous that he hesitated to believe it.
“When I sensed the blood gu, I was already on the verge of collapse,” Lin Qing Yu recalled the situation. “Before this, I didn’t detect any blood gu inside me.”
With her expertise in gu sorcery, such a thing should never have happened.
Suppressing his suspicions, Shi Zi Chu spoke in a soft voice, “No matter what, Aunt Lin, it’s good to see you’re unharmed.”
Lin Qing Yu smiled, her eyes crinkling warmly. “Qing Qing is right.”
Knowing that Lin Qing Yu needed rest, Shi Zi Chu gave a few instructions before leaving, with Jiang Wan Sheng following suit.
Once they were outside, Jiang Wan Sheng reached out and hooked his finger around Shi Zi Chu’s hand.
“Qing Qing,”
The voice, tinged with lingering resentment, spoke softly, “My chest hurts.”
The blade had been driven in with such decisiveness.
Shi Zi Chu’s gaze softened, tinged with a hint of pity, but his words remained blunt. “Sheng Sheng, be good. I need to find Clan Chief Ye.”
?
Jiang Wan Sheng seized Shi Zi Chu’s wrist, pulling him into his embrace, his arm wrapped around his waist like a serpent coiling around its prey.
His voice was dark, filled with biting resentment. “You and he… you’ve been together for so many years…”
Before Shi Zi Chu could react, he swiftly covered Jiang Wan Sheng’s mouth.
With Xing Lan’s temper, if she found out about her marriage to Ye He Qi, she would go mad with jealousy.
Moreover, this needed to be addressed swiftly—if she learned of it from someone else, it would be disastrous.
Jiang Wan Sheng, sensing the moment, kissed the palm of Shi Zi Chu’s hand.
The wet, heated kiss felt like a poisonous snake’s flicking tongue, intertwining dark desires and possessiveness.
Shi Zi Chu pulled his hand away with exasperation, pinching Jiang Wan Sheng’s cheek. “Sheng Sheng, are you a dog?”
Jiang Wan Sheng shook his head, then nodded.
Shi Zi Chu released him, wiping his hand on his sleeve. “I have a matter to discuss with Clan Chief Ye.”
Reluctantly, Jiang Wan Sheng let go of him.
Ye He Qi’s residence wasn’t far from where Shi Zi Chu and Xing Lan stayed, but…
Meanwhile, at Ye He Qi’s residence.
Chu Zhi Rou entered with permission and saw Ye He Qi wiping blood from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief.
“Big Brother?” Chu Zhi Rou’s voice rose, filled with shock and concern.
Ye He Qi glanced at her indifferently, his long, graceful fingers finishing the task of wiping away the blood.
After a pause, his voice, warm yet commanding, spoke slowly. “The mission in the Ten Thousand Visions Realm failed and I suffered backlash.”
Chu Zhi Rou froze, a pained look flashing across her face as she muttered under her breath, staring at Ye He Qi.
Ye He Qi looked up, his gentle voice unwavering as he asked, “Did you complete your mission?”
His simple and gentle inquiry drained the color from Chu Zhi Rou’s face.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, her frail body swaying as if about to collapse.
Ye He Qi lowered his gaze to the bloodstained handkerchief in his hand and spoke in a warm, elegant tone. “I spent considerable effort stabilizing Shi Zi Chu, but because you sought to end your life to advise her, she turned on me and used gu venom to control me. By the time I woke up, she had returned to the cultivation world.”
Chu Zhi Rou’s eyes widened.
Big Brother was suffering because of her failure?!
Ye He Qi’s voice, tinged with exhaustion, added, “If you have nothing more to say, leave.”
The dismissal, filled with disappointment and detachment, made Chu Zhi Rou panic.
“Big Brother, I was wrong!”
With a loud thud, Chu Zhi Rou dropped to her knees, her tone frantic. “I… I was just jealous of Shi Zi Chu! Big Brother, I was wrong! I promise I’ll always obey you from now on!”
Ye He Qi coughed into his fist, trying to suppress a fit of coughing.
[Ye He Qi is now at mid-fusion, his cultivation regressed by one level.] System 003 informed Chu Zhi Rou. [He values strength and benefits, so you’d better find a way to make amends.]
To say that Chu Zhi Rou’s past actions had directly crossed Ye He Qi’s bottom line would be an understatement.
Chu Zhi Rou trembled, terrified.
She had been under Ye He Qi’s control for over a decade and knew exactly what kind of temper he had.
And because she knew, she wished she could faint on the spot.
“Big Brother, Big Brother!”
Chu Zhi Rou crawled to Ye He Qi’s side, holding out a small box with both hands, her voice pitiful. “I really know I was wrong! Please, Big Brother, forgive me just this once!”
Ye He Qi’s face remained gentle, though he was silent as he watched her.
After a long pause, when Chu Zhi Rou was on the verge of tears, he finally reached out and opened the box.
Inside was an azure luan tail feather.
An immortal-grade heavenly treasure.
His flirtatious peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, hiding the calculating glint in his gaze.
“You’re thoughtful,” Ye He Qi said as he took the azure luan tail feather from the box, his voice less distant than before. “A reward from the Ten Thousand Visions Realm?”
His question seemed to offer her an excuse.
Chu Zhi Rou quickly agreed. “Rou Rou only hopes Big Brother recovers his cultivation soon.”
Ye He Qi pulled out a porcelain vial and tossed it into the box. His voice was warm, with a hint of expectation. “This bottle of Xuan Huang Dan will help you recover to the Golden Core level faster.”
Relieved by Ye He Qi’s forgiveness, Chu Zhi Rou breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
“Yes, Rou Rou understands.”
She responded meekly and timidly, her gaze flicking upward. Then she froze.
On Ye He Qi’s left hand, he wore a plain, fine silver ring.
The fine silver ring seemed even more expensive against the backdrop of his long, jade-like fingers.
“System! System! Is that a spatial storage ring?!”
Chu Zhi Rou’s voice cried out in her mind, urgently calling to the heroine system.
System 003 responded, [Uncertain.]
Chu Zhi Rou’s eyes locked onto the ring, attracting Ye He Qi’s attention. He glanced down at the fine silver ring on his finger.
It was the same ring Shi Zi Chu had given him in the Ten Thousand Visions Realm, though he wasn’t sure how it had ended up in the cultivation world with him.
Seeing Chu Zhi Rou’s gaze, Shi Zi Chu had clearly set a trap for him.
“Big Brother…” Chu Zhi Rou bit her lip and, gathering her courage, asked, “This silver ring…”
“Do you like it?” Ye He Qi asked, countering.
Chu Zhi Rou looked at him, and when she saw no displeasure in his expression, she nodded carefully.
The system’s answer was uncertain.
This meant that the silver ring could indeed be a spatial storage ring!
“I can’t give it to you.”
Seeing the disappointment on Chu Zhi Rou’s face, Ye He Qi’s voice softened with helplessness. “It was given to me by Shi Zi Chu.”
Chu Zhi Rou’s expression remained one of disappointment, but there was a flicker of something strange in her eyes.
The fine silver ring was given to Big Brother by Shi Zi Chu?
What was Shi Zi Chu up to?