Can I Trust You? (Bonus Chapter)

Yet his heart was bleeding.

He had spent ten Gold Coins on a single trip out!

Looks like cutting someone off came at a cost too!

If he'd known Flender was so easy to talk to, he should have haggled it down to five...

Zhu Zhuqing was indeed in a bad mood, but Lin Feng's matter-of-fact tone seemed to possess some strange magic, dispersing a little of the gloom in her heart.

She slowly turned her head, her gaze falling on the takeout boxes on the table, fragrant with food.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to turn her grief and anger into an appetite.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Smelling the food, she suddenly felt hunger wash over her.

"Eat up. It won't taste as good once it gets cold." Lin Feng unusually did not tease her.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded and silently walked over to sit at the table.

She picked up her chopsticks without even looking closely at what she was eating, simply shoving food into her mouth in retaliation.

Every bite seemed to chew through disappointment and anger, while also trying to fill the enormous void in her heart with food.

Before long, she had swept several generously portioned snacks clean!

Lin Feng stared in astonishment from the side. This girl had quite an appetite, didn't she?

He had originally intended to eat a few bites with her, but now not even scraps remained.

"Uh..."

He rubbed his nose, looked at the completely empty takeout boxes, and sincerely remarked, "I never expected that besides being able to sleep, you could eat so much too... Impressive!"

Zhu Zhuqing did not smile, nor could she.

She merely set down her chopsticks in silence, her empty gaze fixed on the deepening twilight beyond the window.

The conflict and confusion in her heart twisted around her like vines. She felt trapped in a dead-end alley with no exit, unable to advance or retreat.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing still so distracted, Lin Feng knew that simple words of comfort would not do much for her.

The predicament she faced was far more complicated than heartbreak.

There was the Star Luo Empire's imperial marriage system, as well as the Zhu Family's shackles. All of that had to be considered.

Should he advise her to break off the engagement or leave her family?

That would only make her think Lin Feng had ulterior motives, or was even taking advantage of her vulnerability.

This was not something that could be rushed. It would take time and strength to resolve it slowly.

For now, he needed to sever the little connection between her and Dai Mubai. At the very least, it could not be allowed to deepen further!

At the same time, he needed to give her a path where she could see hope.

Once she became strong enough, she could say no to fate.

"Go take a bath after you're done eating, then get some proper sleep. Looking at you all lifeless like this makes me uncomfortable." Lin Feng broke the silence.

"Oh, and remember to get up early tomorrow. I need your help with something."

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing was pulled out of her thoughts. She raised her head, a trace of bewilderment in her eyes. "Help?"

"Mm, help."

Meeting her gaze, Lin Feng said, "I'm planning to establish an academy and recruit disciples. Come lend me a hand."

"Start... start an academy?" Zhu Zhuqing froze, suspecting that she had misheard him.

Wasn't that a bit too much of a leap?

Lin Feng nodded in confirmation. "That's right. Since you haven't decided whether to become my disciple, I can only go find someone else first..."

Those words were like a fine needle, pricking some hidden corner of Zhu Zhuqing's heart and leaving her with a sudden sense of emptiness.

It was as though something she had assumed belonged to her was about to be taken away by someone else.

"No!" she blurted out urgently.

"Didn't you promise to give me three days to think about it? The time isn't up yet, so how could you..."

She wanted to say, How could you give up already?

But the words reached her lips and were swallowed back down, while a trace of grievance appeared on her face.

Before Lin Feng returned, she had sat there for the entire afternoon, forcing herself to calm down and think.

Their accidental encounter, his stepping in to save her, and how he had dragged her to watch the show in the hotel lobby that afternoon—though they seemed like coincidences, they all carried the air of careful calculation.

That was why she still remained wary of Lin Feng and did not dare make a decision lightly.

Yet deep in her heart, another voice was shouting: Agree to him quickly. If you miss this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

So what exactly was she struggling over?

These past two days were when all the major soul master academies began recruiting students.

Lin Feng had chosen this moment to bring up starting an academy precisely to make her choose under a sense of urgency!

Besides, she had already watched that whole show involving Dai Mubai. One day or three days made no difference.

"You think about what you need to think about, and I'll start my academy. Neither will interfere with the other."

Of course, starting an academy was for recruitment.

Zhu Zhuqing suddenly recalled the maiden in the pink dress whom she had seen in the lobby today!

Lin Feng had even specifically told her to remember that girl!

His eyes had held a different sort of light back then, as though he were very interested.

An inexplicable sense of crisis quietly arose.

She looked up at Lin Feng with suspicion in her eyes.

It was as though she wanted to see through his handsome face and discern his true thoughts.

Silence spread through the room, broken only by the faint sounds of their breathing.

Zhu Zhuqing wrestled with herself for a while, reason and instinct pulling against each other.

In the end, she took a deep breath and asked, "Can... can I trust you?"

After asking, she felt a sense of relief, but she could not help grumbling inwardly: This Bastard Man is truly awful! He said he'd give me three days to think, but every word out of his mouth is pressuring me!

Lin Feng met her gaze, his eyes profound. "Of course."

"However, whether you trust me or not, the choice is yours."

Zhu Zhuqing lowered her eyes. Her long lashes cast shadows over her fair face as she continued weighing her options.

Setting aside his miserly habits, there seemed to be nothing else about him she could not accept.

But starting an academy?

It required funding, registration procedures, qualification reviews. Could he really pull it off?

He was so stingy. Would he truly be willing to spend that much money?

A sly curve appeared on Lin Feng's lips. An academy? It was merely a convenient pretext for taking disciples.

Did they really expect him to become an academy head and handle all those trivial matters? No chance!

What he cared about had never been an academy, but gathering seven Direct Disciples who could help him reach the pinnacle!

All his effort would be devoted solely to those seven people.

As for the academy?

It was merely an academy in name, convenient for getting things done.

Zhu Zhuqing secretly clenched her teeth. For the sake of that handsome face, she would trust him!

Becoming his disciple did not seem so bad either.

Lin Feng's strength was right there for all to see—a genuine level 79 Soul Saint!

No matter how she looked at it, she was the one getting an enormous bargain.

Just as she was about to blurt out, I'm willing to become your disciple, she thought of something else.

If she became his disciple, would there be nothing left between them but the relationship of master and disciple?

Yet he was so persistent, and what he seemed to want was merely the identity of "disciple."

Ah, this was truly troubling.

But if she did not become his disciple, this young and powerful man might really turn around and leave her world without hesitation, just as he had said.

The thought inexplicably tightened her heart.

She suddenly realized that although they had known each other for barely a day and a night, she had spoken more to him than she had in the past several months combined.

Her instinctive wariness toward strangers had somehow long since quietly faded in his presence.

It seemed that merely seeing him and hearing his unreliable yet strangely reassuring voice could bring a sliver of comfort to her shattered heart.

"Alright. I trust you."