Good, Very Good

When Luo Yan and Zhu Zhuqing returned to the inn, there was hardly anyone left on the streets.

The wind blew in from the west of Suotuo City, carrying a chill that only came at night.

Zhu Zhuqing walked ahead without looking back. Luo Yan trailed half a step behind, still thinking about the look on Dai Mubai's face at the Rose Hotel.

He could not quite describe the feeling. Part of him felt that Zhu Zhuqing deserved better, while another part of him found Dai Mubai somewhat pitiful.

"You talked much less tonight," Zhu Zhuqing suddenly said.

"Did I?"

Luo Yan smiled. "I was worried you might be upset. If I kept talking nonsense and you got annoyed, what if you mistook me for Dai Mubai and beat me up?"

Zhu Zhuqing raised her head and glanced at the old signboard of the Eternal Fortune Inn. "I can't beat you anyway."

Luo Yan stopped as well, standing beside her.

Tonight had not been easy for her. She had carried that jade piece for so many years, and returning it tonight was like forcibly waking herself from a long dream.

"Let's go."

He said, "Get some rest early."

Zhu Zhuqing looked at him without speaking. Just as the two of them were about to enter the inn, Luo Yan suddenly stopped.

His brow lifted slightly. The sensation was faint, but the direction it came from was extremely precise.

Someone already knew they were here. Someone was waiting for them to return.

"What is it?" Zhu Zhuqing asked.

"Don't move yet," Luo Yan said quietly.

He turned to face the street entrance. There was nothing in the darkness, only a few fallen leaves rolling across the bluestone pavement.

But he did not relax. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes, and his spiritual perception gently spread out from him.

Then he "saw" it.

"There's an expert," Luo Yan said in a low voice as he opened his eyes.

"How strong?" Zhu Zhuqing asked.

"At least three or four stories high," Luo Yan said. "Possibly more."

He paused, then added, "The attribute is a little strange."

Zhu Zhuqing's body sank slightly, but Luo Yan grabbed her wrist and shook his head, pulling her toward the inn.

The innkeeper was already slumped over asleep. The lobby was so quiet that only the lamp wick crackled. Luo Yan did not return to his room. He stopped at the stairs, because that aura had drawn closer.

"Go upstairs," he said softly.

Zhu Zhuqing did not ask. She immediately started upstairs, with Luo Yan following behind her.

The moment they reached their door, that aura stopped outside the inn, close enough for Luo Yan to sense clearly. Yet the visitor did not enter.

"Kitten," he said softly, "go in first. Don't come out. I'll handle this."

Zhu Zhuqing did not move. She looked at him, and her meaning was clear in her eyes: if they left, they would leave together.

Luo Yan sighed. He turned and slowly headed downstairs, but when he had only reached halfway, that aura suddenly dispersed.

Luo Yan halted. He released his perception again. There was no one downstairs, but somehow, that oppressive feeling had already descended above their heads.

He abruptly turned around.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, a figure had appeared at some unknown point.

The man stood before Luo Yan and Zhu Zhuqing's room with his back to them. He wore a white robe, his hands clasped behind his back, his posture perfectly straight.

That bearing... Sword Douluo Chen Xin?

Could the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect have discovered that I was the one in Notting City with a thousand-year second Soul Ring?

Luo Yan slowly withdrew his hand from his sleeve.

This man could not be here to kill him. Otherwise, he would not have stood waiting like this. Yet that made things even more troublesome.

"Senior."

Luo Yan spoke, his voice low. "This is our room. You're standing at the wrong door."

The man did not turn around. He merely gave a very soft "Mm."

"You are Luo Yan?" he asked.

Luo Yan did not answer immediately. He looked at Zhu Zhuqing, who was looking at him as well.

"I am," Luo Yan said.

"Then I found the right person." The man finally turned around.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, falling across half his face. Luo Yan saw his eyes. They were like a well without ripples, yet they looked only at Luo Yan, as though they intended to slowly see through him, from skin to bone.

Luo Yan's hand had already gently settled on Zhu Zhuqing's waist. If the man before them made any unusual move, he would immediately pull Zhu Zhuqing away and teleport.

Chen Xin's gaze did not shift.

His eyes slowly lowered, stopping on Luo Yan's left hand at Zhu Zhuqing's waist. More precisely, they stopped on the bracelet half-hidden beneath Luo Yan's sleeve.

The jade was slightly greenish, with silver at the joint. It was not valuable, but it was very familiar.

Chen Xin stared at that bracelet for a long time.

He recognized it.

It had been a gift from a noble family when Ning Rongrong awakened her Martial Soul at the age of six. It was merely a storage bracelet.

But that girl had loved it dearly and worn it for years. Then, at some point, she suddenly stopped wearing it. He had not asked at the time, assuming that as the girl grew up, she had simply switched to prettier accessories.

Combined with how Rongrong had occasionally seemed absent-minded these past two years.

After searching for so long... it turned out she had given it to some little lover.

She had given it to a boy from Notting City. Yet the hand of that boy wearing the bracelet was currently wrapped around the waist of a young woman!

Luo Yan could clearly sense that the old man opposite him was looking at his hand.

But what was there to look at?

His gaze swept lightly over Zhu Zhuqing's slender waist. Damn! The bracelet!!!

"Good," Chen Xin suddenly said, his voice as calm as ever. "Very good."

Luo Yan's Adam's apple bobbed. "Senior, I can explain."

"Explain what?"

Chen Xin asked, "Why are you wearing Rongrong's bracelet, or why is your hand on someone else's waist?"

Luo Yan opened his mouth, but before he could utter even half a word, a rapid series of footsteps suddenly sounded from below.

The footsteps were light. Zhu Zhuqing turned her head first, and Luo Yan looked over as well.

Ning Rongrong ran upstairs.

There was still a little sweat on her forehead, and her cheeks were flushed. She had clearly rushed all the way back from Shrek Academy.

But when she looked up and saw the white-robed old man in the corridor, her entire body froze.

"Grandpa Sword...?" Her voice instantly softened.

Chen Xin only said, "Come here."

Ning Rongrong did not move. She looked at Chen Xin, then at Luo Yan. Seeing that Luo Yan had already removed his hand from Zhu Zhuqing's waist, the emotions in her eyes changed several times in quick succession. In the end, she only gave a quiet "Mm" and slowly walked behind Chen Xin.

Just as Luo Yan was about to say something, Chen Xin suddenly moved.

He raised one hand, held two fingers together like a sword, and lightly pointed at Luo Yan from afar.

Luo Yan's pupils shrank sharply. That single point seemed to press the entire corridor down by an inch.

"Luo Yan!"

Ning Rongrong cried out in fright. She knew her Grandpa Sword too well. That gesture looked light, but if it truly landed, let alone Luo Yan, even the Soul Ancestors at the academy would lose a layer of skin.

But Luo Yan did not meet it head-on.

With one hand, he shoved Zhu Zhuqing to the side, using the force of that push to lean backward.

The lingering pressure of that sword grazed past his chest, severing several strands of his hair.

The old wooden floor cracked with a sharp sound, splitting open in a thin line. Luo Yan staggered back five steps before regaining his footing.

"Luo Yan!" Zhu Zhuqing came back to her senses as well. Her pupils suddenly contracted, and her Martial Soul instantly possessed her body as she tried to stand in front of Luo Yan.

Luo Yan did not allow it. He raised his hand and blocked her behind him. The Elation Mask had already returned to his face, and one yellow and one purple Soul Ring silently spread beneath his feet.

Yet Chen Xin did not move again. He looked somewhat stunned at the Soul Rings beneath Luo Yan and Zhu Zhuqing's feet.

Luo Yan narrowed his eyes as Soul Power quietly surged within him. Chen Xin had not been serious with that attack just now.

If he had truly been angry, Luo Yan would not even have had a chance to dodge.

"Senior, if you want to test me, then test me."

Luo Yan's altered voice spread through the corridor. "But don't target the person beside me. She just settled an old matter tonight and can't endure a second one."

At his words, Zhu Zhuqing looked at him. She said nothing, but the shock in her eyes had already faded.

Ning Rongrong had already run to Chen Xin's side and said anxiously, "Grandpa Sword! He... he still hasn't shown me the next part! If you beat him half to death, who am I supposed to find?"

"Didn't you come to settle accounts with him?" Chen Xin asked.

"I... I never told you to hit him!" Ning Rongrong was both furious and anxious, her face flushing bright red.