When Qin Lingyu received the Messenger Paper Crane, he was respectfully seated before He Zhang, diligently reporting to his master on the matters of the Sect.

Qin Lingyu was He Zhang’s First-Seat Disciple. Whenever He Zhang was occupied with urgent or important matters, he would delegate part of his authority to Qin Lingyu, allowing him to preside over the matters of the Sect on his behalf.

Qin Lingyu was clothed in jade-green attire, seated upright on the mat in a dignified manner. His sturdy build and handsome appearance were topped off by his formidable cultivation. Overall, he sported a suave and striking appearance that caused many of his martial sisters to fall in love with him. Most importantly, he was even a Chosen Disciple of Limitless Sect, and his potential was practically immeasurable.

Dawn Sect was considered a mid-tier sect. Above it there were still upper-tier sects, supreme-tier sects and hidden sects. Limitless Sect was an upper-tier sect, and only accepted Foundation Establishment cultivators with potential as its disciples. Qin Lingyu had attained the peak twelfth level of Qi Mastery when he was only twenty-three years old, and he was already knocking on the door of the Foundation Establishment level. He was considered a genius in the cultivation world, and naturally Sect Elder Zhang Qing from the Limitless Sect had taken an interest in him.

He Zhang was also once a disciple from Limitless Sect. Therefore, he very much approved of it when Qin Lingyu was appointed a Chosen Disciple of the Limitless Sect.

As more of Dawn Sect’s disciples entered Limitless Sect under He Zhang’s charge, the relationship between the two sects would draw closer and closer, and naturally He Zhang’s position as the Sect Leader would become more and more secure.

After receiving Yu Wanrou’s message, Qin Lingyu indifferently placed the Messenger Paper Crane in his sleeve and did not depart immediately.

He was certainly fond of Yu Wanrou – her warmth and gentleness; her moving disposition; and even the way they locked lips in an impassioned kiss, these were things that that headstrong and unruly Jun Xiaomo could never match up to.

Truth be told, if not for He Zhang’s orders, he absolutely did not want to marry Jun Xiaomo. Who cared if Jun Xiaomo’s father was a Peakmaster? Qin Lingyu was certain that within his lifetime, he would achieve much more than Jun Xiaomo’s father ever did.

He Zhang also noticed Qin Lingyu’s unwillingness. Therefore, he reminded Qin Lingyu that if he was able to take Jun Xiaomo’s hand in marriage, he would gain access to the insurmountable riches and treasures of Heavenly Peak!

Jun Xiaomo’s father was a Peakmaster, and the dowry he would offer for the marriage would already be quite substantial. Besides, becoming cultivation companions through wedlock was not an irreversible thing. The lifespan of cultivators was very long, and it was not uncommon to hear of cultivation companions growing cold to each other and eventually separating.

Since marrying Jun Xiaomo was something that brought only profits and no detriment, then why fret over matters of love and fondness? He Zhang thoroughly analyzed with Qin Lingyu all the pros and cons of marrying Jun Xiaomo.

Qin Lingyu was an ambitious man, and he was thoroughly convinced by He Zhang’s analysis.

Therefore, he had over these few years always feigned civility with Jun Xiaomo. His attitude could not be said to be extremely pleasant, yet it was at the same time not filled with animosity. In Qin Lingyu’s eyes, Jun Xiaomo always had been a cheap woman. No matter how he treated Jun Xiaomo, she continued to treat him as the apple of her eyes. At the same time, Jun Xiaomo’s actions never moved Qin Lingyu either. In fact, the more Jun Xiaomo stuck to him, the more contempt he felt for Jun Xiaomo.

Qin Lingyu’s head was in the clouds. His ego had long since been lifted to immeasurable heights by the attention poured onto him by Jun Xiaomo and other female cultivators.

Therefore, Qin Lingyu felt that only other female cultivators who were similarly fawned over by male cultivators would be suitable for him. Besides, Yu Wanrou was warm and thoughtful, nothing like the blockhead Jun Xiaomo who only knew how to say “I like you”.

Even so, the lovers’ rendezvous between Qin Lingyu and Yu Wanrou had to be carried out in secret. If others discovered the illegitimate relationship between him and Yu Wanrou, then the consequences would be unfathomable. Discounting what others might do, the manifestation of rage from Jun Xiaomo’s father alone would already cause him to be unable to eat or walk properly!

Having received Yu Wanrou’s message, Qin Lingyu knew that she had met with some danger. However, even though his heart was worried, he did not think that this worry alone was sufficient justification to abdicate his duties and excuse himself from this meeting with He Zhang.

In the end, the most important thing to Qin Lingyu was still himself!

That said, He Zhang did notice that Qin Lingyu’s heart seemed to be someplace else. He Zhang was always rather partial towards Qin Lingyu and gave him quite a lot of latitude. Therefore, he waved his hands, saying, “We’ve already discussed almost everything that needs to be discussed. Go do what you need to do. Master wishes to get some rest.”

Qin Lingyu heaved a sigh of relief in his heart whilst maintaining an indifferent expression. Qin Lingyu respectfully bowed to He Zhang and took his leave.

Once he had thoroughly departed from He Zhang’s residence, Qin Lingyu hastened his footsteps towards the woods outside the Sect. As he sped along, a thought crept into his mind and he suddenly halted.

If others found out that he was the first person Yu Wanrou had contacted when she met with danger, he would be hard-pressed to give a cogent explanation. After all, he was not Yu Wanrou’s direct martial brother. Whether relationally or logically, the first person of Yu Wanrou’s contact should not have been him!

Qin Lingyu’s prudence in this matter got the better of him. In order to avoid a potentially disastrous outcome, he tapped his feet on the ground and swiftly went in another direction.

It was not that he was abandoning Yu Wanrou. He merely chose a much safer option – he would first gather a few fellow disciples, and then under the pretext of taking a trip to buy goods he would “unexpectedly” encounter the Yu Wanrou who had met with danger.

Qin Lingyu had not considered that if Yu Wanrou had in fact met with a life-threatening danger, then his dawdling may well have caused her to become nothing more than a handful of ashes.

Or perhaps he had already thought about this, but nevertheless had concluded that Yu Wanrou’s life was nothing compared to the importance of securing his future…

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Yu Wanrou did not know about Qin Lingyu’s hesitation before coming over to rescue her. After all, she and Qin Lingyu were passionately in love with each other. She firmly believed that with Qin Lingyu’s feelings towards her, he would show up in no time.

However, one incense of time passed…two incense of time passed…one hour passed…Qin Lingyu still had not showed up. Yu Wanrou’s heart grew more and more anxious.

Perhaps there is a good reason for his delay? Yu Wanrou bit down on her lip, thinking. Her chest throbbed with waves of intense pain, causing her to black out intermittently.

Just a few moments ago, she could no longer tolerate the immense pain and thus succumbed to the temptation of administering a few drops of her spirit spring water to her injuries. However, this only served to alleviate a little bit of the pain. She was absolutely determined not to quickly heal her injuries so that she could still maintain the persuasiveness of her sob story! Yet, Qin Lingyu still had not arrived after one whole hour.

Qin Lingyu, is this what you meant when you said you “like” me? A fit of anger swelled up from the depths of Yu Wanrou’s heart.

Shasha--…shasha--… The sound of footsteps drew near. Yu Wanrou’s heart leapt with joy, expecting the footsteps to belong to Qin Lingyu. Without missing a beat, Yu Wanrou shut her eyes and wore a pathetic look on her face.

Truth be told, given her present situation, Yu Wanrou did not have to act at all. She already looked immensely pitiful and weak.

A moment later, a cry of surprise resounded in the woods. But Yu Wanrou’s heart immediately sank. She knew that she had misplaced her hopes in Qin Lingyu.

The voice emitting the cry of surprise was rather shrill. Obviously, the passer-by was a woman.

“Sister Wanrou, what happened to you?!” Qin Shanshan ran up to her. With quivering hands, she placed a finger under Yu Wanrou’s nose, checking if she was still breathing.

Qin Shanshan had just returned from the market at the bottom of the mountain. As she passed by the woods, she saw out of the corner of her eye Yu Wanrou slumped at the foot of the tree. Her clothes were even stained with copious amounts of fresh blood. It was a bone-chilling sight.

Seeing that Yu Wanrou lying completely still, Qin Shanshan was terrified and panicked. She could not tell at first glance whether Yu Wanrou was dead or alive. She had never seen a dead person in the entire fifteen years of her life. The prospects of seeing a dead person right now completely shook her to the core.

“Sister Wanrou?” Qin Shanshan tried shouting out her name again.

Then, she discovered that Yu Wanrou still breathing weakly when she checked for Yu Wanrou’s breath with her finger.

Phew. As long as she’s not dead. The fear in Qin Shanshan’s heart diminished substantially. Even though she was a little bit jealous of Yu Wanrou’s way with people, the fact remained that Yu Wanrou has had a difficult past and was not considered talented in cultivation arts. Therefore, Qin Shanshan’s jealousy towards her was not great. Besides, Qin Shanshan was only fifteen years old right now. Her heart had not been hardened to the point where she could watch her fellow disciple die before her very eyes without batting an eyelid.

Qin Shanshan thought for a moment, before retrieving a Messenger Paper Crane from her Interspatial Ring. She cast a spell on the Messenger Paper Crane, saying, “Brother, Sister Wanrou has been hurt. Hurry up and bring some people over right now!” As she finished speaking, she released her hands and the Messenger Paper Crane flew away.

Yu Wanrou heard Qin Shanshan’s voice and decided that there was no longer a need to maintain her act. After all, Qin Shanshan was Qin Lingyu’s younger sister, and she would achieve the same end by informing her about Jun Xiaomo’s actions.

Furthermore, Yu Wanrou could tell that Qin Shanshan was very jealous towards Jun Xiaomo. Therefore, she did not mind using this little lady as a conduit to broadcast to the world how the headstrong and unruly Jun Xiaomo had hurt her.

Perhaps this might be even more effective at tarnishing Jun Xiaomo’s name than if she had herself accused Jun Xiaomo. After all, Yu Wanrou did not want to diminish her reputation for being kind-hearted and magnanimous. She wanted to let people know that despite Jun Xiaomo’s unreasonable attack against her, she was still willing to forgive Jun Xiaomo’s unruly behavior on account that they were fellow disciples.

It is decided then. Yu Wanrou groaned, and under Qin Shanshan’s watchful eyes, she gradually “regained consciousness”.

“Shanshan? What are you doing here?” Yu Wanrou asked weakly, ostensibly pleasantly surprised.

“Sister Wanrou, how can you still be concerned about me. Do you even know how serious your injuries are right now?!” Qin Shanshan was filled with exasperation. She was almost frightened to death by Yu Wanrou’s condition earlier. Naturally, she could hardly be said to be calm and composed right now.

“Serious…serious injuries? Cough cough cough…” Yu Wanrou coughed uncontrollably, stopping only to gasp for breath. This alarmed Qin Shanshan even more.

“Ai--, ai--…Do…don’t speak yet.” Qin Shanshan was completely flustered. She did not know how to react in such a situation.

As Yu Wanrou’s coughing gradually abated, she tugged tenderly at Qin Shanshan’s mouth, gently smiled and revealed a look of gratitude on her face. Thereafter, she lowered her head in desolation, as though something heavy was on her mind.

Qin Shanshan looked at Yu Wanrou helplessly. She felt that Yu Wanrou was deep in thought, and her instincts told her that it had something to do with how Yu Wanrou got injured.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Shanshan could not help but ask, “Sister Wanrou, your injuries…”

“My…my injuries are not caused by anyone. I was just too careless.” Yu Wanrou nervously responded. Her calculated response made it even more obvious that she was trying to hide something.

“Sister Wanrou, stop lying to me. Tell me who hurt you so badly!” Qin Shanshan snorted disdainfully at Yu Wanrou, clearly resenting the fact that she would not even stand up for herself.

She knew that Yu Wanrou was a kindhearted person – she was the type who would not even harm an ant or a fly. Obviously, Yu Wanrou was trying to cover up for the person who had hurt herself!

Then, a thought suddenly struck Qin Shanshan.

“Sister Wanrou, your injuries are caused by Jun Xiaomo, am I right?” Even though it was phrased as a question, Qin Shanshan’s tone was filled with certainty.

Yu Wanrou raised her head, as though she were in “shock”. She looked at Qin Shanshan, and then evasively broke eye contact and lowered her head, murmuring, “It…it’s nothing. I told you I was just careless. It doesn’t concern anyone.”

“Sister Wanrou, stop trying to cover up for her! Who else other than Jun Xiaomo would pick on you? And it’s precisely because you don’t even speak up for yourself that she continues to bully you! Dare she even pick on anyone else? Sister Wanrou, you are kind to a fault!” Qin Shanshan exploded with indignation. The thought of how Jun Xiaomo had denied her of purchasing that hairpin crossed her mind again, and hatred swelled up within her.

“And since when has that arrogant and unruly princess ever considered the feelings of others?! Sister Wanrou, tell me, how exactly did she pick on you this time?”

“She…she said that your brother and I have improper associations, so she…” Yu Wanrou lowered her head and stammered as though she had been wronged and humiliated.

“Haaaaa--?! And for this reason she beat you up?!” Qin Shanshan grew even more furious, deploring, “That’s just like her. I really don’t want her to be my sister-in-law! Sister Wanrou, don’t be scared. I will tell my brother about this. Let’s see if she still dares to be so arrogant!”

Jun Xiaomo had humiliated both Qin Shanshan and Yu Wanrou! Qin Shanshan swore on her own name that she would take these matters up with her brother so that justice can be served.

“Tell me what?” A deep voice boomed from not far away. Moments later, a few tall figures walked out from the woods nearby, among which was Qin Lingyu.

He’s finally here! Yu Wanrou leaned “weakly” against the tree, her lips gently curling into a barely discernable smile.