No One Knows You Better Than Your Bestie

He had not even reached the second floor.

Just then, he saw Nalan Shu coming down the stairs, with Lin Jialu behind him.

"You're Haochen?!"

The moment he saw Long Haochen, Nalan Shu was stunned as well.

But his gaze soon turned fervent. He strode quickly over to Long Haochen, barely able to suppress his emotions.

"Little Haochen, was it your teacher who took action two days ago?"

Long Haochen was slightly taken aback, but he quickly nodded with pride.

"So that's how it was. I knew it!"

Nalan Shu drew a deep breath, unable to hide the admiration in his eyes.

The Demon Race had gone to great lengths to infiltrate the area, so they naturally would not retreat empty-handed.

Clearly, something had frightened them.

After thinking it over, the only possibility was that Long Xingyu, the Divine Seal Knight, had taken action!

According to the intelligence Nalan Shu obtained afterward, the Demon Race had originally planned a major operation this time, with no fewer than five legions infiltrating Alliance territory.

Yet Long Xingyu had scared them into retreat.

Fortunately, Long Xingyu had been there. Otherwise, humanity would likely have suffered grievous losses.

"Little Haochen, come with me!"

Nalan Shu led Long Haochen to the second floor.

Ye Tian did not continue following them.

However, Lin Jialu suddenly spoke from the side. "Ye Tian, thank you for saving me from that Dike Race Infiltrator earlier."

Ye Tian smiled lightly and waved his hand. "No need to thank me. We're all fighting for humanity. When someone is in danger, it's only right to lend a hand."

Yet Lin Jialu shook her head.

"To you, it may have been a small effort, but to me, it was a life-saving kindness. If I did nothing in return, that would be far too ungrateful."

"I'd like to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude."

After saying that, the young woman looked at him expectantly.

"This..."

Ye Tian could not help but pause.

Just as he was about to say something, a sharp female shout rang out.

"Lin Jialu, what are you doing at the Knight Branch Hall?"

Accompanied by a faint fragrant breeze, Li Xin arrived at Ye Tian's side, staring at Lin Jialu with a wary expression.

She had heard their conversation just now.

Lin Jialu had actually secretly invited him behind her back. She was clearly up to no good.

At that thought, Li Xin's gaze became even more unfriendly.

"Nothing much. I was just here to ask Uncle Nalan about something."

Having her plans interrupted so suddenly, Lin Jialu felt somewhat discouraged, though her expression remained calm on the surface.

The young woman turned to Ye Tian and added gently, "I happened to run into little brother Ye Tian, so I thought I'd treat him to a meal to thank him for saving my life."

"Who's your little brother? Don't try to force a connection, okay?"

Li Xin had initially only been suspicious.

But when she heard what Lin Jialu called Ye Tian, her vigilance immediately rose further.

"Little brother Ye Tian didn't object, so why are you getting so worked up?"

"You!"

Li Xin immediately became flustered.

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Ye Tian hurriedly stepped in to stop them.

"Stop arguing. It's just a meal. I can accept."

"Then I'm coming too!"

Li Xin grabbed Ye Tian's arm.

Lin Jialu merely curled her lips at that.

Though there was now an extra unwanted person, at least her objective had been achieved. She did not mind Li Xin tagging along.

"Then let's go!"

The three left the Haoyue Branch Hall together.

As for Long Haochen, there was no need for anyone to worry too much about him.

Even without his connection to Long Xingyu, given the talent Long Haochen had displayed, Nalan Shu would still make proper arrangements for him.

They arrived at the largest restaurant in Haoyue City.

The moment they entered, a server came forward to greet them.

"Miss Xin'er, Miss Jialu, you've both come!"

Lin Jialu nodded. "Please arrange an available private room for us."

The server looked at Lin Jialu and Li Xin in surprise.

Though he had no idea why these two formidable young ladies had suddenly come together, he wisely did not ask any questions.

"Certainly. Please follow me, the three of you!"

They went upstairs to a private room on the second floor.

Before long, exquisite dishes filled the table.

"Little brother Ye Tian, let me toast you. Thank you for saving me."

"If you ever need anything in the future, you can come to me. Even if I have to rely on my family's resources, I'll do my best to help!"

Holding a glass of juice, Lin Jialu spoke with complete sincerity.

Ye Tian raised his own glass as well.

"You're overstating it, Sister Lin. As members of the Holy Temple Alliance, we should naturally support one another against the Demon Race."

"Besides, you're Sister Xin's good friend."

At those words, Li Xin immediately curled her lips.

"Hmph, who's her good friend?"

Lin Jialu instinctively snapped back, "Tch, as if I want to be your friend!"

"That's for the best. After all, I'm already a Fourth-tier Great Knight, while someone is still only a third-tier mage!"

That sentence instantly struck Lin Jialu where it hurt.

The young woman immediately gave a cold snort.

"As if you reached that level through your own hard work!"

"What do you mean by that?" Li Xin could not help feeling a little guilty.

Seeing Li Xin react like that, Lin Jialu's beautiful eyes immediately lit up, and she became even more certain of her guess.

"Stop pretending. I already asked Uncle Nalan!"

Lin Jialu's gaze was firm. "Your Innate Internal Spiritual Energy is even lower than mine. There's no way your cultivation speed could be this much faster than mine."

"I learned from Uncle Nalan that before you went to the Knight Holy Mountain, your cultivation was only about equal to mine. But after you returned, your strength advanced by leaps and bounds. That's clearly abnormal!"

"According to Uncle Nalan, after you came back, you asked him to apply to the Knight Holy Temple for a Retainer Knight Rune developed from Ancient Elvish Script."

"So I have every reason to suspect that your strength came from that."

"That Ancient Elvish Script rune must have some special effect that lets Retainer Knights gain benefits."

"Then everything makes sense!"

"Li Xin, you became someone's retainer, didn't you? And the only person you'd willingly become a retainer for would be little brother Ye Tian!"

"Am I right?"

A string of deductions poured from her mouth.

Ye Tian and Li Xin were both rendered speechless.

She had inferred so much from only a few clues—and the key was that she had actually guessed correctly!

Should they say Lin Jialu understood Li Xin too well?

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Li Xin came back to her senses, her gaze slightly evasive.

Lin Jialu snorted again. "I knew you wouldn't admit it."

"But the way you're acting now only proves I was right. You really did become little brother Ye Tian's Retainer Knight, and you became stronger because of it!"

Unable to find any reason to refute her, Li Xin simply stopped speaking.

After all, this was only Lin Jialu's speculation. She had no evidence at all.

But Lin Jialu gritted her teeth and said something that shocked them both.

"Little brother Ye Tian, can I become your Retainer Knight?"

"Ah?!"

Ye Tian froze.

He had never expected Lin Jialu to make such a request.

He had indeed thought about it before, but someone offering herself voluntarily was an entirely different matter.

Li Xin also widened her eyes in disbelief.

"Lin Jialu, are you crazy?"

"I'm not crazy. If you can do it, then I definitely can too. The one thing I refuse to do is lose to you!"