Ren Yingying Advises Linghu Chong

"Little Junior Sister is naïve and knows nothing of the world's ugliness! She must have been sweet-talked and deceived by that vicious wretch Ji Shu!"

Linghu Chong's thoughts churned like overturned rivers and seas; he could not calm down:

"I'm going to find Martial Mother and Master and tell them about this."

He headed toward the courtyard where the Mount Hua Sect was staying.

Ren Yingying suddenly appeared and reached out to stop him, her face cold as she said:

"Linghu Chong, you climbed the mountain with a sword in the middle of the night. Were you planning to kill Ji Shu?"

"I only hate that he desecrated the corpses of the Six Immortals of Peach Valley!"

Linghu Chong's face was full of rage. "You saw it too. He slashed apart the Six Immortals of Peach Valley's clothes. They were already dead, yet he still humiliated them like that. If this can be endured, what cannot? I'm going to seek justice for the Six Immortals of Peach Valley!"

"And then?"

Ren Yingying gave a soft laugh and said:

"Can you beat him?"

"How would I know without fighting him?"

"So you only went up to the summit of Mount Song, then came back down. You never fought Ji Shu?"

Ren Yingying said coldly:

"Did seeing your beloved Little Junior Sister lying in Ji Shu's arms make you unhappy? Did it make you furious? Was that why you ran down the mountain as though you'd lost your soul, then went to Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze to complain like a useless failure?!"

"You followed me!"

Linghu Chong snapped.

"I was only worried about you."

Ren Yingying remained very calm:

"I was afraid Ji Shu would kill you."

"...Even you look down on me!"

"Linghu Chong."

Ren Yingying was deeply disappointed:

"Have you noticed that ever since you learned your Little Junior Sister had fallen for Ji Shu, you've been acting as though you've lost your mind? You like your Little Junior Sister so much—then what am I? Have you ever even put me in your eyes? Have you ever considered how I feel?"

"Yingying, I..."

"Enough!"

Ren Yingying cut him off and said:

"I don't want to bring up the past again. I also hope you'll always look ahead. We still have many things to do. Don't keep drowning yourself in the past, unable to pull free. Otherwise, you'll be forever shrouded by shadows, until you completely lose yourself. Just like these past two days with Ji Shu. Look at Ji Shu, then look at yourself. Before Ji Shu, you're like a..."

A child!

How calm and steady Ji Shu was!

Of course, Ren Yingying did not say those words aloud.

She merely changed the subject, lightly turning the page, and said:

"Today, I specifically had someone investigate Ji Shu. I discovered that his talent is so peerless it can be called rare throughout the ages, impossible to find in all the world! We'd best not make an enemy of him."

A flash of shock and fervor passed through her eyes.

It was an instinctive reaction, one she could not suppress whenever Ji Shu's talent was mentioned.

Linghu Chong saw it clearly, and his heart felt even worse. All his life, Linghu Chong had been praised as a genius, yet now even his own girlfriend had begun to show admiration and awe toward his enemy.

His heart turned cold, and he could not help saying:

"No matter how peerless his talent is, he's only human. And humans die!"

"...All men are mortal. But he truly is an unrivaled genius. We should find a way to build a good relationship with him, not become enemies. I think..."

"Enough. Don't say any more."

Linghu Chong interrupted Ren Yingying, turned, and walked away. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep." He paused, then added, "You should rest well too."

After several flashes, his figure swiftly vanished into the darkness without a trace.

Ren Yingying stood where she was, staring blankly at Linghu Chong's retreating back. Was this still the carefree, uninhibited, high-spirited hero Linghu Chong from her memories? When had he become so narrow-minded, impulsive, selfish, even unable to listen to reason? Had he ever considered that if he insisted on opposing Ji Shu, he might drag his family and friends down into the abyss with him?!

What kind of person was Ji Shu?

She had paid a considerable price to investigate him thoroughly.

A man who had entered the Mount Hua Sect barely a month ago, yet had repeatedly ruined the Mount Song Sect's operations, killing until Ding Mian and the others fled in defeat, while Night Owl Ji Wushi and the rest all died!

Even the Six Immortals of Peach Valley could not withstand a single strike of his sword!

And he had taken less than a month to grow to his current level. What if he were given another year?

To make an enemy of such a terrifying person?

Ren Yingying shuddered, but when she thought of Linghu Chong, she gritted her teeth and thought to herself:

"If Brother Chong truly decides to fight Ji Shu to the death, should I help him? Or should I protect myself wisely?"

Because of the Players' arrival, although her relationship with Linghu Chong was now far from shallow and they were boyfriend and girlfriend, they had not taken that substantive step.

It was perfectly normal for her to hesitate and struggle at such a time.

Even husband and wife are birds of the same forest; when calamity strikes, they fly their separate ways. Ren Yingying and Linghu Chong's feelings had not yet grown deep enough for them to die for one another. It was understandable that she would consider her future path.

"I should try persuading Brother Chong again."

Ren Yingying walked in Linghu Chong's direction.

Not long after Ren Yingying disappeared.

Ding Mian, Lu Bai, and the others also appeared.

"The Demonic Cult's Saint Aunt actually showed up on our Mount Song. What audacity!"

A cold-faced middle-aged man with a sword on his back snorted.

Ding Mian then said:

"Junior Brother Fei is right. But our urgent task is not dealing with this so-called Saint Aunt. We need to continue arranging the mechanisms to kill Ji Shu!"

"Is that Ji Shu wretch really that strange?"

Junior Brother Fei was none other than Great Songyang Hand Fei Bin, one of the Thirteen Protectors. A long sword scar ran across his face, left there by Mo Da. At that moment, he unconsciously touched the scar and said coldly:

"I heard that wretch has been sleeping on the summit of Mount Song since yesterday. I'll go destroy him right now!"

"Hold on."

Ding Mian hurriedly stopped him:

"Even the Six Immortals of Peach Valley could not withstand a single strike from him. Junior Brother Fei, stay calm. There's no need to rush this moment."

"What sort of people are the Six Immortals of Peach Valley? Are they worthy of being compared to me, Fei Bin?"

Fei Bin said disdainfully:

"You make Ji Shu sound like some god or demon. But in the end, he's merely a newly initiated disciple of Mount Hua. I want to test his true strength."

Tang Ying'e said upon hearing this:

"If Senior Brother Fei wants to test Ji Shu's strength, wait one day and get on the arena then. If you go now, I fear people will seize upon it."

"It's the dead of night. No one will know."

"Right now, there are too many Martial Arts Sects on Mount Song. With so many people and so many eyes, no one knows whether someone might be watching us in secret. Caution is best. Our urgent task is to help the Sect Leader ascend to the position of Sect Leader of the Five Peaks Sword Sect. Other than that, we must arrange those killing weapons."

"Fine. Let that fellow live one more day."

Though Fei Bin said this aloud, inwardly his vigilance was raised to the utmost.

He decided that on the day of the grand competition, he would first use a sea of people tactic to exhaust Ji Shu's internal energy, then take the stage and use his ultimate move to hunt him down!

At dawn the next day.

Yue Lingshan woke up.

She found herself curled up in Ji Shu's arms, both hands tightly wrapped around his neck. Her face instantly flushed crimson, her heart pounded like a war drum, and she scrambled to get up. She rose too quickly, and after stepping off the rock, she stumbled carelessly and twisted her ankle. With an "ah," she fell face-first onto Ji Shu again.

"I'm sorry."