The Chatterbox Who Was Almost Talked into Becoming Introverted

"Su Yueli, I'm going to compete too." Su Yueli paused before replying.

Hearing that, Lin Ye's eyes instantly lit up, as though he had found a long-lost relative.

Lin Ye seemed to be a thoroughgoing familiar stranger.

Even though Su Yueli exuded a cold, aloof air that warned strangers to keep away, he was like a clueless blockhead. Once he opened his mouth, there was no shutting it again.

"Really? What a coincidence!"

"I'm from the Lin Lineage of Shuo Province City. My family does a bit of business in furs and medicinal herbs, so we're fairly well-off. I never liked business from childhood—I only liked practicing with the saber. This time, I'm heading to the Great Li Imperial City to see the heroes of the world for myself!"

Lin Ye wolfed down meat as he launched into an unending account of his life, his words carrying the cheerfulness and innocence of someone yet untempered by the world.

Su Yueli merely listened quietly, nodding now and then in response.

Though he talked enough to give anyone a headache, his mind was simple and free of scheming. That fiery spirit of his formed a stark contrast with someone like her, who was poor with words.

"By the way, Miss Su, where is your hometown?"

Lin Ye leaned closer curiously. "Judging by your bearing and manner, your parents must have been Martial Dao experts too, right? Anyone capable of raising someone like you surely wasn't ordinary."

Su Yueli's chopsticks paused slightly over the dish.

Her eyes lowered, her tone remaining calm. "They're gone. They were killed by cultivators. After that, I lived in a small mountain village near Fengling City."

The air seemed to freeze for an instant.

The smile on Lin Ye's face stiffened, and he wanted nothing more than to slap himself.

"Th-this... I'm sorry, Miss Su. I didn't know..."

He scratched his head awkwardly, trying to salvage the atmosphere. "Then... then the people in that village must have treated you well, right? People in small mountain villages are mostly simple and honest. At least it must have given you something to hold onto."

Su Yueli looked up at him and said flatly, "The village was wiped out. More than four hundred people in the entire village. Not one was spared."

"Hiss—"

Lin Ye sucked in a sharp breath. The corners of his mouth twitched wildly, and sweat began pouring down his body in a way visible to the naked eye.

He gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly. What kind of conversation was this? Every step was a landmine!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! This damned mouth of mine!" Lin Ye repeatedly clasped his hands in apology, his face red as he fidgeted restlessly.

"It's fine. It's all in the past." Su Yueli shook her head, not caring much.

Seeing that her expression remained unchanged, Lin Ye finally relaxed a little and secretly swore never to mention family again.

His eyes rolled, and his gaze landed on Su Yueli's wine gourd. Bracing himself, he forced out another topic. "Then who taught Miss Su her martial arts? Your master must have been an incredible expert to teach someone like you. He must have treated you very well, right?"

Su Yueli set down her chopsticks and looked at him.

"Dead."

Su Yueli uttered those two words, then added, "After he slaughtered the entire village, he killed himself. But there must have been hidden circumstances behind it."

"Uh..."

Lin Ye's eyes widened and his mouth fell slightly open. He was completely dumbfounded.

Her master had slaughtered the whole village? Then killed himself?!

What kind of human tragedy was this?!

His head buzzed. The eloquence he had always taken pride in now seemed so pale and powerless.

He swallowed, making one last struggle as he asked in a dry voice, "Then... then you must have a few close friends, right?"

"Dead. Froze to death in a ruined temple."

For a time, the table in the corner of the tavern sank into deathly silence.

Lin Ye seemed petrified as he sat blankly on the bench, unable to say a word. Even the air seemed to have turned colder.

He did not dare speak again, afraid that if he kept asking, Su Yueli would even tell him how every dog she had raised had died miserably.

Seeing Lin Ye's worldview shattered, his face like he had lost both parents, an odd amusement instead rose in Su Yueli's heart.

It was rare to see a chatterbox suffer such a setback.

"Alright, don't make that face."

Su Yueli took the tea beside her and rinsed her mouth, her tone softening somewhat. "I'm not that fragile. Besides, my master's sworn friend treated me very well, so I had somewhere to settle down."

Hearing that, Lin Ye seemed to have seized a lifeline and let out a long breath.

"That's good! That's good!"

He slapped his thigh hard. To cover up his earlier awkwardness, he patted his chest and declared with towering bravado, "Don't worry, Miss Su! Since we're heading the same way and going to the same place, I, Lin Ye, am determined to be your friend!"

"To be honest, I just turned twenty this year, and I'm already a Third Realm Peak martial artist!"

Lin Ye lifted his chin, his eyes full of confidence. "The journey to the Imperial City is long. If we run into any mountain bandits or petty thieves, just hide behind me. My saber, Lin Ye's saber, will definitely protect you!"

After hearing that, the corners of Su Yueli's mouth twitched twice.

Third Realm Peak? Protect her?

She was now only one step away from Fifth Realm Martial Awakening. If danger truly came, the blood qi behind a single punch of hers would probably be stronger than Lin Ye himself.

But seeing the sincerity written all over the young man's face, Su Yueli swallowed the retort that had reached her lips.

Forget it. It would be embarrassing to crush his spirits.

What if she turned this chatterbox introverted? That would be rather unpleasant.

Fairly speaking, reaching the Third Realm Peak at twenty made him a rare little genius among mortal martial artists.

"Then I'll have to thank you, Young Hero Lin." Su Yueli clasped her hands perfunctorily.

After they finished eating, the rain outside had eased somewhat.

Su Yueli rose to settle the bill, then headed straight for the inn.

Lin Ye carried that long saber on his back and followed closely at her side like a tail she could not shake off, chatting the whole way.

"Miss Su, look at this rain. Though Lingshui City is small, it has quite a bit of charm..."

"Have you been to the Great Li Imperial City? I heard there are more martial academies there than one can count..."

"And there are many immortal sects too..."

Su Yueli's head swelled with annoyance. Having lived two lives, what she feared most was dealing with overenergetic familiar strangers like him.

When they reached the entrance of the inn, Su Yueli stopped and turned to send Lin Ye away. "I'm here. Where are you staying?"

Lin Ye froze and looked up at the inn's signboard.

Then he slapped his thigh fiercely, his face lighting up with excitement. "Why stay at another inn? The room I just rented is in this very inn! I was just saying we could set out together early tomorrow morning!"

"..."

Su Yueli's face darkened, leaving her speechless.

With so many people in the city, why did she have to end up staying in the same inn as this chatterbox?

"Fate! Miss Su, this is absolutely fate arranged by Heaven!" Lin Ye cried excitedly.

Su Yueli's eyelid twitched. Resisting the urge to turn around and punch him, she entered the inn's main hall with a dark expression.

Yet the moment she stepped into the hall, Su Yueli sensed that something was off.

The formerly boisterous crowd had now shrunk into the corners, pointing and whispering toward the corridor leading to the rear courtyard. Their murmurs carried a note of fear.

"That brute is far too unreasonable."

"Isn't he? Relying on his brute strength, he insists on making the innkeeper's daughter drink with him. What a sin."

Su Yueli followed everyone's gazes.

At the corner of the corridor stood a burly, imposing man.

Bald-headed, with a face full of flesh, he wore short fighting clothes. The exposed muscles on his body were covered in crisscrossing scars. At a glance, he was clearly a ruthless figure who lived by licking blood from the blade's edge.

At that moment, the bald brute was tightly gripping the arm of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl, dragging her toward the guest rooms with a lecherous grin.

The girl was frightened out of her wits, crying and struggling. The innkeeper knelt on the ground and begged bitterly, only to be kicked over by the brute, blood spilling from his mouth.

Su Yueli frowned slightly, a trace of displeasure flashing through her eyes.

But she stopped walking.

She had seen plenty of the cultivation world's cruelty. Such cases of men bullying women and tyrants preying on the weak were equally common in the mortal world.

She carried a blood-deep hatred upon her shoulders, and her principle had always been that fewer troubles were better than more.

So long as no one provoked her, she did not particularly want to meddle in such affairs.

Just as Su Yueli prepared to turn toward the side staircase and go upstairs.

A gust of wind suddenly swept past her ear.

"Under the broad daylight and bright heavens, what kind of ability is it to bully a weak girl?!"

The next instant, an angry roar exploded through the main hall.

Lin Ye did not even remove the cloth wrapping from his saber. Like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, he charged straight past Su Yueli.

Then he pointed at the burly man, saber held across his body as he stood firm, his eyes brimming with a young hero's chivalrous spirit.

"Let that girl go!"