The Emperor's fragment glimmered beneath the moonlight, its edges especially clear.
"What I said earlier—have you thought it over?"
Lin Chen and Dai Qinghe walked side by side along the white jade path leading out of the city. Their shadows stretched long behind them.
Dai Qinghe turned to Lin Chen beside him.
"Maybe I should think it over a little more."
Lin Chen smiled.
The encounter in the flower garden still lingered in the air, that faint, oppressive feeling refusing to fade.
"Qinghe, my previous proposal is effective."
Dai Qinghe stopped and looked at him. His golden eyes shone beneath the night sky.
"If we work together, perhaps we really can change the future."
Lin Chen watched the deep, unguarded light in Dai Qinghe's eyes.
He folded his arms and smiled. "Does Young Master Dai have any thoughts on that, even without you?"
"I should change my name, too?"
Dai Qinghe: "..."
"Tonight, in the western suburbs of Heaven Dou City, in the forest, I want to discuss the matter of joining the Emperor's faction. Just you and me."
Lin Chen paused, then took a few steps back and made an inviting gesture toward the young master of the Martial Soul Hall.
A smile appeared on his face.
"Very well. A lonely man and woman spending the night in the forest... Wait, no. As two grown men, if we go to a small grove together, people might get the wrong idea about you."
"..."
Dai Qinghe was speechless, his lips twitching.
That was completely out of line!
Lin Chen shrugged and walked away without looking back.
"Forget it. You should go home and think carefully about Bi Biyao."
Dai Qinghe remained where he stood, watching Lin Chen's unhurried retreat. His hand hidden in his sleeve clenched into a fist.
"Bi Biyao... He really has seen through both my mother's plans and the situation I'm in now."
The Emperor's sleeping quarters were enveloped in darkness.
Zhu Zhuqing sat to one side, listening to Lin Chen.
"Kid, it's getting late. This old man will take you back to the academy first. I'll come pick you up early tomorrow morning."
"The forest at Sunset Forest is poisonous. There are venomous insects there, too. If ordinary people go in, they could be poisoned to death."
Lin Chen nodded. He had already been to Sunset Forest in his mind.
"The most dangerous place is..."
He leaned against the wall, his mental power once again opening that diary that had left him astonished and uneasy.
It was already late.
But every woman with a diary—including Bi Biyao, who was currently preoccupied with the Martial Soul Hall—had noticed its latest entry at the same time.
Especially Zhu Zhuqing.
She was desperate to know whether Lin Chen would reveal—
More of the matter involving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
[Phew, the royal family's evening meal is so filling that it hurts. Qian Renxue, that fake woman, keeps giving me all kinds of looks. I think she likes me. Isn't that why she didn't directly refuse when I asked whether she'd go to the grove with me tonight?]
Qian Renxue: "Ah—!!"
The other women: "???"
Wait, what?!
So he really did make a move on her?
He's already about to go to the grove with her?!!
Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuyun, and Ning Rongrong all felt an ominous foreboding.
Bi Biyao: "Young Lin... You're in trouble!"
[Never mind, I won't mention that fake woman today. Let's talk about Zhu Zhuyun...]
[In the original fate, Zhu Zhuyun, the number one attacker under the heavens, nearly gave her life for Tang San.]
[The first time was before the All-Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament. Tang San was intercepted by the Martial Soul Hall, and she risked her life to save him, even stubbornly taking on the Ghost and Moon's combined attack.]
[The second time was during the final battle. Without Zhu Zhuyun and Gu Rong fighting to the death, Tang San's people wouldn't have been able to hold on. In the end, they would have been surrounded and wiped out.]
[That was because Tang San was the protagonist and couldn't die. He had plot armor.]
[And what was the result? Tang San survived, and so did his friends and enemies! Even Dai Mubai managed to survive, though his legs and hands were crippled. In the end, he had Zhu Zhuyun and Gu Rong risk their lives to save him.]
A smile tugged at Lin Chen's lips.
He admitted it: the diary entry he had revised was meant to give Zhu Zhuyun a little "polish," so Tang San would get beaten up even worse!
If I don't mess with him, he'll mess with me.
So I'll just make Tang San suffer!
"Bastard! Tang San is such a hypocritical, two-faced wolf!!"
Zhu Zhuyun's chest heaved with fury. Although she was usually strong and stubborn, her father and younger brother were the people she cared about most.
Before this, she had thought Tang San was a good person.
What an ordinary person!
But the truth revealed by the diary was like a bolt from the blue.
"With his ability to come back to life, I wonder how many people he tricked into saving his life..."
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong lowered their heads and whispered.
"That fake hypocrite! I really was blind to have thought he was upright!"
Zhu Zhuyun sat nearby. Her expression remained calm, but deep within her clear eyes, a profound anger stirred.
She had thought Tang San was so cold and rational that he was almost ruthless. Now it seemed that was just a selfish nature wrapped in a noble appearance!
At the same time, in the Emperor's sleeping quarters where Dai Mubai was staying.
Dai Mubai was trying to comfort Zhu Zhuyun. "Uncle, it's a good thing Zhuqing joined the Emperor's faction. And... how do you feel about Lin Chen?"
Tang San fell silent. He had no choice but to admit it.
From Lin Chen, he had sensed a terrifying, bone-deep killing intent, greater than what he had felt from anyone else.
Because of this, he was very concerned about Zhu Zhuyun and the others.
"All right, that's enough for today. I'll go have a drink first..."
[Once Zhu Zhuyun and Qian Renxue leave, tomorrow morning I'll properly talk things over with Zhu Zhuqing.]
Zhu Zhuqing's heart skipped half a beat.
"Could it be... he's starting to like me..."
She believed today's diary had all been about Zhu Zhuyun and Lin Chen, and that Lin Chen had deliberately written it to draw Zhu Zhuqing's attention.
His diary entry today was all about making Zhu Zhuqing—
The reason?
Wasn't it obvious?
"I'll work hard to become stronger. For the sake of the clan, I'll do whatever it takes."
"Tomorrow..."
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes brightened. The look in them was no longer gloomy; a glimmer of determination had taken its place.
If she could change her fate, what did a little hardship matter?
"The worst that can happen is that I'll wear black tomorrow!"
"Don't men all like women in black?!"
However, the three of them—Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuyun, and Ning Rongrong—were all quietly waiting. No one knew who Lin Chen would choose tonight.
A secluded forest...
He was going to the grove with a little beauty!
"Why am I not as good as a man wearing black?!"
Night had grown deep, and the streets were quiet.
Lin Chen dismounted in the shadows near the city gate and said a few words to the old man.
Then, alone, he stepped into the night outside the city.
"The moon is bright and the stars are sparse. Tonight really is a lovely night."
Outside Heaven Dou City, the cold wind cut like a knife.
Lin Chen stood in an empty clearing. The Zhu Xian Sword on his back gave off a faint, subdued gleam.
"I'm tired..."
Before you continue