Send the Ancient Jade Over

Xiao Chen smiled, his palm wrapped around the mildly cool Ancient Jade in his hand. "It seems you recognize this."

The expressions on their faces shifted uncertainly.

Xiao Chen tossed the Ancient Jade in his hand and smiled. "Or rather, you came to the Xiao Clan for this Ancient Jade."

Hearing this, Gu Xun'er and Ling Ying exchanged a glance.

Only after a long while did she grit her teeth and say softly, "Your guess is correct, Senior."

A chill surfaced in Xiao Chen's eyes. "When the Gu Clan sent you to the Xiao Clan, their original intention was for you to secretly obtain the Xiao Clan's portion of the key, wasn't it? If not for the blood oath the Xiao Clan's ancestors once swore with your clan, some of them would probably have planned to take it by force."

Gu Xun'er bit her red lip lightly and, after a long while, nodded gently.

Xiao Chen put away the Ancient Jade, lay down on a bamboo chair nearby, and sighed helplessly.

"To make things so troublesome over a mere Dou Di's inheritance. How interesting."

At his words, Gu Xun'er's delicate frame trembled, while Ling Ying's face filled with shock.

A mere Dou Di?

Wouldn't that mean this Xiao Clan ancestor's cultivation had already...

"All right, here's the message I want you to take to him..."

"If you want to break through and experience what it feels like to become a Dou Di, send the Gu Clan's piece of Ancient Jade over to me."

Hearing this, both Gu Xun'er and Ling Ying froze.

They had come here to take away the Xiao Clan's piece of Ancient Jade.

Yet this Xiao Clan ancestor was actually telling them to send over their own clan's Ancient Jade?

Did... did that make any sense?

Seeing them standing there dumbfounded, Xiao Chen chuckled. "I know asking for it outright does sound insane, but I'm helping your Gu Clan."

Asking for the Ancient Jade was helping the Gu Clan?

Gu Xun'er and Ling Ying could no longer understand what Xiao Chen was saying.

"You don't need to think about anything else. Just deliver the message."

Xiao Chen waved a hand.

He believed Gu Yuan would understand what he meant.

"Yes." At this point, Ling Ying could hardly say anything more.

He was only a messenger. Why think so much about it?

"Oh, one more thing."

Just as Ling Ying was about to leave, Xiao Chen suddenly spoke again.

Ling Ying glanced at Gu Xun'er, then cupped his hands and asked, "Please go ahead, Senior."

"I know all about the Soul Clan's recent movements, and I've already investigated all their schemes."

As his words fell, both Gu Xun'er and Ling Ying were shaken to the core.

"But I don't want to concern myself with so many things right now, so whatever comes up can wait until later."

"Also, I know where Tuoshe Ancient Emperor's Cave is."

"Of course, that can also be discussed another day."

"Right now, I have only one demand of the Gu Clan."

"And that is, don't bother me, and don't let anyone else bother me either. Understood?"

Watching Xiao Chen's arrogant manner from the bamboo chair beside him, Little Gold could not help rolling his eyes.

That man was a Nine-Star Dou Saint. Could you beat him?

Still, credit where credit was due-he certainly put on a convincing act...

By now, Gu Xun'er and Ling Ying were too shocked to speak.

"All right, off you go."

Xiao Chen waved a hand.

Gu Xun'er and Ling Ying cupped their hands in salute. She was about to turn away, but stopped, hesitating to speak.

Seeing this, Xiao Chen raised an eyebrow and asked, "Anything else?"

After hesitating for a moment, she took a deep breath and mustered her courage. "Senior, I don't want to go back."

Xiao Chen smiled faintly. "I never said you had to go back."

Gu Xun'er froze.

"I was speaking to Ling Ying just now, telling him to deliver the message. Did you misunderstand?"

"I... I thought you wanted to drive us away, Senior."

The girl's cheeks reddened slightly.

Xiao Chen shook his head. "I only meant for you to leave my courtyard. You go back to your room, and Ling Ying goes back to the Gu Clan. Is that clear now?"

"Yes, it's clear." Gu Xun'er inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Chen yawned and looked at Gu Xun'er. "What? You don't want to leave because you can't bear to part with that boy?"

Her body stiffened slightly, and a blush slowly rose over her exquisite little face.

But then she panicked.

Could this Xiao Clan ancestor disapprove of her and Brother Xiao Yan...

"Your eyes truly blaze like torches, Senior. Nothing escapes you."

Xiao Chen gave a faint laugh, neither confirming nor denying it.

Her beautiful eyes fixed on Xiao Chen, Gu Xun'er asked somewhat nervously, "May I ask where you stand on this, Senior?"

"Where I stand?"

"What stance could I possibly have?"

"Shouldn't you be concerned about where that boy Xiao Yan stands?"

Xiao Chen chuckled.

"I understand."

"Thank you, Senior."

After a sweet smile, Xun'er bowed to Xiao Chen again and said lightly, "It's getting late, so I should head back. Please don't mention tonight's conversation to Brother Xiao Yan, Senior."

"Don't worry. I won't mention a single word." Xiao Chen nodded.

Seeing Xiao Chen agree, Xun'er smiled faintly. Just as she was about to turn around, a white blur suddenly came flying through the air.

Slightly startled, Xun'er waved her small hand, drawing it into her grasp.

Looking at the little jade bottle in her hand, Xun'er paused, then turned her gaze toward the man resting with his eyes closed on the bamboo chair.

"You have good talent. There's a medicinal pill in there. If you trust me, take it. It will benefit you greatly in the future. It might even let you reach Dou Sheng ahead of time."

Xiao Chen said with a faint smile.

Hearing this, surprise filled Xun'er's eyes. She tightened her grip on the jade bottle and nodded gratefully at Xiao Chen.

"Thank you for your care, Senior."

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Xiao Chen suddenly sighed softly and murmured, "Well, well, Xiao Yan. Back then, you sneaked into Xun'er's room and, for no apparent reason, performed some completely useless meridian nurturing. Yet by sheer accident, you actually won her heart in the process. Ah, come to think of it, you really are a fellow lucky enough to make others jealous."

"As for me, I don't have that kind of luck. There's nothing I can do about Xun'er, but..."

"Heh heh heh..."

Little Gold could not bear to watch any longer. Rolling his eyes, he said, "Hey, hey, hey, could you stop making that disgusting laugh?"

"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it." Despite his words, Xiao Chen still could not suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

"Little Gold, tell me, how would you feel if a girl who used to be the goddess of your dreams now treated you with the utmost respect?"

"Tch, how pathetic. I'm a Golden Emperor Dragon. What would I need a dream goddess for?"

"I'm the man of their dreams, all right?"

Hearing this, Xiao Chen shrugged.

It seemed this fellow could not share his feelings.

He understood Xun'er's personality fairly well.

If not for that incident in her childhood, the grown-up Xun'er's attitude toward Xiao Yan probably would not have differed much from her attitude toward Xiao Ning and the others.

In her everyday life in the Xiao Clan, this girl might have seemed gentle and amiable, but beneath that faint smile lay a concealed indifference.

Greeting her was easy. Having a deep conversation with her was difficult.

Yet someone with such a cool, reserved disposition had treated him with such deference tonight...

Smiling with a hint of smugness, Xiao Chen leisurely clasped his hands behind his head and began to hum.

"Ah, what a wonderful night."