The Holy Maiden's Jealousy!

When Gu Changsheng returned to Spirit Hall's temporary residence, it was already late at night. The courtyard was silent, with only a few Crystal Lamps beneath the corridor casting a gentle glow.

The moment he stepped through the courtyard Gate, he sensed a gaze fall upon him.

Hu Liena sat beside the stone table, resting her cheek on one hand. A cup of tea that had long gone cold sat before her.

She had changed out of her Team Uniform from earlier that day and was now wearing a light purple dress. Her long hair draped over her shoulders, making her seem less like a dignified Holy Maiden and more like a languid young girl.

Yet her alluring eyes were slightly narrowed at that moment.

"Back?"

Her voice was soft, but it made Gu Changsheng pause slightly.

Hu Liena's tone was off. Keeping his expression calm, he walked into the courtyard with some caution.

"Senior Sister, you haven't rested yet?"

Hu Liena gently swirled her teacup and said faintly,

"My junior brother went wandering around Tiandou City at night. As his senior sister, naturally I had to wait for him."

Gu Changsheng heard the implication in her words and immediately lowered his head.

"I only went to the Old District to buy some Parchment."

Hu Liena's gaze fell upon his shoulder.

A tear had been cut into his white robe there. Although it had been wrapped with a handkerchief, the bloodstain was still obvious.

"You got injured buying Parchment?"

Gu Changsheng looked down at it, an embarrassed smile appearing at the corner of his lips.

"I ran into a few blind fools."

The smile on Hu Liena's face faded slightly.

"Who?"

Gu Changsheng said,

"I'm not sure yet. Three Soul Sects and one Spirit King. Someone had used God-Bewitching Incense and a Soul-Suppressing Bell in advance to suppress my Mental Power."

Hu Liena's eyes instantly turned cold.

The faintly delicate emotion from before was immediately buried beneath Killing Intent.

"They dared attack you in Tiandou City?"

Gu Changsheng nodded, then gave his analysis.

"It was probably a test. Or perhaps they were targeting the Spirit Hall Team."

Hu Liena immediately rose to her feet and walked over to him.

"Are you badly hurt?"

"Not badly..."

Hu Liena ignored his stubborn front and directly reached out to undo the outer robe around his shoulder.

Gu Changsheng instinctively raised his hand.

"Senior Sister, I can do it myself."

Hu Liena raised her eyes to look at him.

"Don't move."

The two words were soft, yet impossible to refuse.

Gu Changsheng could only lower his hand as Hu Liena carefully peeled away the handkerchief wrapping the wound.

When she saw the wound, her brows furrowed slightly.

"And you said it wasn't bad. The wound isn't fatal, but it's deep. If it had been half an inch farther over, it would have injured your muscles and bones!"

Hu Liena took out a Medicine Bottle, dipped her fingertips in some medicinal powder, and gently sprinkled it over the wound.

Gu Changsheng's brow twitched slightly.

Hu Liena noticed, and her movements immediately became gentler.

"Now you know it hurts?"

Gu Changsheng said,

"It's fine."

Hu Liena gave a soft snort.

"Hmph. Little Junior Brother, you're still as stubborn as ever."

She rebandaged Gu Changsheng's wound, her movements practiced and meticulous.

But as she wrapped it, she suddenly stopped.

Because the handkerchief that had originally been tied around Gu Changsheng's shoulder was not in Spirit Hall's style.

It was light pink, with a tiny rabbit embroidered at one corner.

Hu Liena's gaze paused slightly, and the air in the courtyard seemed to grow a little quieter.

Gu Changsheng noticed as well. Hu Liena held the handkerchief between her fingers, raised her eyes to him, and slowly curved her lips into a smile.

"Little Junior Brother, whose handkerchief is this?"

Gu Changsheng fell silent for a moment.

This question was harder to deal with than the assassination attempt from earlier.

Seeing that he did not answer, Hu Liena's smile deepened.

"You went to buy Parchment, encountered an assassination attempt, and then some girl even bandaged your wound?"

"Looks like you had quite an eventful trip."

Gu Changsheng calmly said,

"She just happened to pass by."

"She?"

Hu Liena sharply caught the key point.

"So it really was a girl."

Gu Changsheng said, "This... Senior Sister..."

Hu Liena placed the handkerchief on the stone table and lightly tapped the embroidered rabbit with her fingertip.

"Pink handkerchief, little rabbit."

"Xiao Wu from Shrek, right?"

Gu Changsheng did not deny it.

Hu Liena's gaze instantly became subtle.

"So it really was her."

She stood very close to Gu Changsheng, close enough for him to smell the faint fragrance on her.

Hu Liena tilted her head up slightly. There was a smile at the corner of her eyes, but obvious displeasure hid within it.

"Three years ago in the Star Dou Great Forest, you spoke up for her. Today at the Soul Arena, she was also the first person you looked at."

"And when you came back injured tonight, you were even carrying her handkerchief."

"Little Junior Brother, shouldn't you explain yourself to your senior sister?"

Panic finally showed on Gu Changsheng's face. He knew that his senior sister's gaze looked as though she wanted to kill him, so he immediately replied,

"She owed me a favor from three years ago. Helping me tonight was only reasonable."

Hu Liena blinked lightly.

"Then has she repaid that favor?"

Gu Changsheng looked at her but did not answer immediately.

Hu Liena's eyes narrowed.

"No?"

Gu Changsheng sighed.

"She said this time didn't count."

Hu Liena smiled, though her smile was somewhat dangerous.

"This time doesn't count? Does that mean she wants to keep helping you next time?"

Gu Changsheng felt that this was not a good question to answer.

Seeing him fall silent, the sourness in Hu Liena's heart became even more obvious.

She could not explain why she felt uncomfortable.

Gu Changsheng was her junior brother.

By all rights, she should not care too much about whom he interacted with.

But when she saw that pink handkerchief, it felt as though something had lightly pricked her heart.

Especially when she thought of Xiao Wu bandaging his wound.

Hu Liena felt even more inexplicably irritated.

She withdrew her gaze, her tone growing lighter.

"Looks like Little Junior Brother has grown up and has secrets of his own now."

Gu Changsheng looked at her and immediately explained,

"Senior Sister, you misunderstand."

"What am I misunderstanding?"

Hu Liena raised her eyes, smiling enchantingly.

"Am I misunderstanding that you were with Shrek's little girl late at night? Or that you deliberately hid it from us?"

Gu Changsheng continued,

"I didn't mean to hide it from you. It's just that if Chrysanthemum Elder found out Xiao Wu had appeared there, things would become complicated."

Hu Liena naturally understood this. Spirit Hall and Shrek already stood on opposing sides.

Xiao Wu had appeared at the scene of Gu Changsheng's attack late at night. If Yue Guan learned of it, there would definitely be questioning.

But understanding was one thing.

Being unhappy was another.

Hu Liena put away the Medicine Bottle.

"I'll wash the handkerchief for you and return it to you tomorrow."

Gu Changsheng was startled.

Hu Liena had already picked up the pink handkerchief.

Gu Changsheng said,

"There's no need to trouble yourself, Senior Sister."

Hu Liena looked at him, her smile gentle.

"It's no trouble at all~"

"After all, it belongs to that little girl. I can't exactly let you return it covered in blood."

Gu Changsheng heard the emphasis in her words.

After a moment of silence, he said,

"If Senior Sister doesn't like it, I don't have to return it."

Hu Liena's movements paused.

She looked at Gu Changsheng.

The courtyard light fell across his face, making his expression appear especially earnest.

The faint sourness in Hu Liena's heart suddenly faded somewhat, yet she also felt that she might have been making too much of it.

She gave a soft snort.

"Who said I don't like it?"

"I'm just afraid you'll turn the tactical core of the Spirit Hall Team into half an auxiliary for Shrek!"

Gu Changsheng hurriedly replied,

"Senior Sister, don't worry. That absolutely won't happen!"

Hu Liena asked once more,

"What if you encounter Xiao Wu in the arena someday?"

Gu Changsheng answered quickly.

"I won't hold back."

Hu Liena stared at him.

"Really?"

"Really!"

Gu Changsheng paused, then added,

"But I also won't let her die outside the arena."

Hu Liena fell silent.

She understood.

Xiao Wu truly was special to Gu Changsheng, but that specialness was not simply romantic affection.

At least, not yet.

It was more like a bottom line he had set for himself.

Hu Liena felt slightly better, yet she still could not help asking,

"Little Junior Brother, why do you care so much about her?"

Gu Changsheng looked into the night.

"Because she is an unpredictable variable."

Hu Liena softly said,

"Only an unpredictable variable?"

Gu Changsheng withdrew his gaze and looked at her.

"For the moment, yes. There are some things I didn't know how to explain to Senior Sister, like Xiao Wu..."

Hu Liena narrowed her eyes slightly.

"For the moment?"

Gu Changsheng: "..."

Seeing that he had been stumped, Hu Liena finally couldn't help but laugh softly.

The main reason was that he didn't know how to explain it either. He couldn't exactly say that Xiao Wu would become the Sea God's girlfriend in the future!

Besides, his current main objective was to dismantle Tang San's most trusted allies from within. As for his feelings toward Xiao Wu, they could only be described as confused.

She raised a hand to straighten Gu Changsheng's collar, her fingertips lightly pressing beside the bandaged area.

"Remember, you belong to Spirit Hall."

Gu Changsheng nodded.

"I know."

Hu Liena stepped half a pace closer and lowered her voice.

"And you're my little junior brother."

Gu Changsheng was slightly startled.

Hu Liena looked at him, her gaze carrying a trace of seriousness, along with emotions that were difficult to put into words.

"If you get hurt again, you're not allowed to let someone else bandage you first."

Gu Changsheng fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright."

Only then was Hu Liena satisfied.

She stuffed the Medicine Bottle into his hand.

"Go back and rest. Tomorrow morning, tell Chrysanthemum Elder about what happened tonight."

Gu Changsheng said,

"About Xiao Wu..."

Hu Liena cut him off.

"I won't tell."

Gu Changsheng looked at her.

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

Hu Liena snorted softly.

"Don't thank me too soon."

She waved the pink handkerchief in her hand.

"I'll keep this handkerchief for now."

Gu Changsheng asked,

"Why?"

Hu Liena turned and walked toward her room, her voice drifting back lightly.

"I'm afraid you'll take it to see her again in the middle of the night."

Gu Changsheng stood where he was, momentarily speechless.

"Senior Sister... you..."

He wanted to say something, but stopped himself, and the courtyard fell quiet once more.

After a while, he lowered his head to look at the Medicine Bottle in his hand, then glanced in the direction Hu Liena had left, a helpless smile appearing in his eyes.

In the shadows,

Yan leaned against the window and lowered his voice.

"I told you there was something off about our little junior brother."

Xie Yue stood behind him, expressionless.

"You'd better pray that Nana didn't notice you spying."

Yan's expression stiffened.

The next moment, a faint voice came from the direction of Hu Liena's room.

"Yan, double your training tomorrow."

Yan: "..."

Xie Yue turned and left.

"You brought it on yourself."

The night wind swept through the courtyard.

The wound on Gu Changsheng's shoulder throbbed faintly, but his heart felt inexplicably calmer.

He knew that after tonight, some relationships had quietly changed.

Xiao Wu was an uncertainty.

Senior Sister was too...