Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xiao FengYang raised his head, only to discover Ling Tian sending a smile at him, full of deep meaning and intention.
Ling Chen would never in her dreams expect that the standard that Ling Tian expected her to follow since she was young, to always sit on his left, would be a clear signal to Xiao FengYang and the rest and even to his women as well as their families! It became the most obvious hidden signal!
Just this small action, no matter the Xiao Family, Shui Family, or even Jiao Yue and the Ling Family, no one dared to utter a word about the question of Ling Tian’s official wife, the Empress!
Xiao FengYang’s face reddened, and he cleared his throat, saying, “Meng FanYun is the current generation sect master for the Above Heavens sect. His XianTian realm cultivation is deep and unfathomable, most likely already at the transformation boundary. His behavior is eccentric, and he is always gloomy and depressed. However, there will be a period every year in which he will become irascible. During that period of time, he will mysteriously disappear, but this old man here saw him during that phase a few times…” Xiao FengYang was aware that since Ling Tian wanted to know all about Meng FanYun, it would of course have to be information that his own people could not obtain. Thus, he decided to begin from his behavioral problem.
“Eccentric behavior? Normally gloomy, but sometimes irascible and violent?” Ling Tian’s fingers idly drummed on his armrest as he looked at Li Xue.
Li Xue rolled her eyes at him, explaining, “To have such a situation appear, and furthermore on a XianTian realm expert, it should be said to be a rare occurrence. It could be that Meng FanYun is schizophrenic, with two personalities: one gloomy and one violent. Most of the time, the gloomy personality would be on the surface, suppressing the violent one, but when it is unable to suppress it, then that would be when the violent personality surfaces. As for the cause, it is either a problem with his cultivation, causing a cultivation deviation, or it could be an inborn trait.”
“There’s a third possibility, and that is of Meng FanYun being a mental patient,” Ling Tian evilly guessed. “Or maybe… he’s epileptic!”
Li Xue let out a snort of laughter.
Xiao FengYang was completely lost in a fog of conversation, unable to understand them. He only understood the term ‘cultivation deviation’, but while he thought this was unlikely to be the case, he did not dare voice out his thoughts.
“Meng FanYun, the sect master of Above Heavens. It is said that he has already practiced the hereditary secret manual of Above Heavens, the Divine Blazing Sun Formula, to perfection. When he unleashes a palm strike, it is able to melt gold and disintegrate stone. Just based on the purity of his inner qi, he would only be above that of the Yu Family head, Yu ManLou. Against his enemies, he is merciless and even vicious. I heard that he is only focused on the martial way, and in order to preserve his yang energy, he has remained unwed, using vicious methods to achieve the head position of Above Heavens. Within the sect, his order is law.” Ling Chen recited whatever she remembered from the Ling Family Courtyard about Meng FanYun like a mathematician reciting formulas.
Beside Xiao FengYang, Xiao YouHan who was seated there had a change in expression. It was not surprising for the Xiao Family to have information on Meng FanYun, but for Ling Tian’s side to have such detailed information was totally out of her imagination.
“Turns out that he’s an old bachelor, then that’s a given. Since there is no harmony between Yin and Yang, this will easily lead to feelings of irritation and violence.” Ling Tian concluded
“However, the more the facts are so, the more we have to pay attention to the enemy. To have cultivated the Divine Blazing Sun Formula to perfection using a virgin body, he is not to be slighted.” Li Xue smiled and warned, “We definitely have to guard against this!”
Ling Tian looked like he wanted to speak, but his expression suddenly changed. He raised his voice, “Since you’re already here, just come straight in.”
“Yes!” Following a sound of assent, Xiao FengYang and the rest suddenly felt the air being filled with a cold and bloody aura, the pressure making them feel it was hard to breathe.
A dark shadow flashed, and Ling Jian, dressed in black robes, appeared like an apparition in front of Ling Tian. Throughout this, his body remained ramrod straight.
“How did it go?” Ling Tian asked.
Ling Tian never asked if Ling Jian if the mission was a failure or success because he had never let Ling Tian down once!
“It went pretty well, the ‘three souls and seven mortals’ of the Yu Family have all been buried outside of Yan County. Not a single one escaped.” Ling Jian replied calmly, as though he had just performed something insignificant.
“En, then how many of our brothers are injured?” Ling Tian frowned. For Ling Jian to only mention that of the Yu Family and not their side, Ling Tian immediately concluded that there had to be some injuries on their side, or else Ling Jian would report to him about their status.
Ling Jian’s eyes dulled as he stated, “Ling Yun was hit by the final counterattack of the three souls, and has received serious internal injuries to his organs. Ling Forty-Nine took a wound to his chest and has injured his little finger on his left hand. The rest are unharmed.”
“Are there any in danger of losing their lives?” Ling Tian exclaimed while frowning deeper. “How could you all be so careless?!”
“Yan County had the fourth elder of the Moon Climbing Star Picking Tower helming the place. We killed him as well alongside the others!” Ling Jian calmly replied. “Ling Forty-Nine is not in any mortal danger but will require half a year of rest. And Ling Yun has consumed the Heaven Reversing Restoration Pill given by Justice before, and has taken a turn for the better already.”
“It’s good that they are in no mortal danger. When they return, I’ll ask Senior Justice to have a look at them again, to ensure that there are no hidden injuries.” Ling Tian breathed out in relief, but he still felt the heartache. He had watched this group of youths grow from a young age, and to hear that two of them suffered from grievous injuries today, it naturally did not sit well with him.
“What about Third Master Yu?”
“Third Master Yu… I’ve sealed his acupoints and arranged for a group of merchants to escort him back to the Yu Family.” Ling Jian’s eyes flashed with a tinge of guilt.
“We are on different sides, and for you to do so is already extremely noble. Take a seat.” Ling Tian let out a long breath of air before saying.
Ling Jian let out a sound of assent, but before he could sit, his eyes fell onto Xiao FengYang, followed by swirling onto the face of Xiao YouHan who was seated beside him. She was exactly the mental demon that had been haunting his dreams during this period of time. Now, they had met once again!
Xiao YouHan immediately flared up, wondering why this person was so impolite. She raised her eyes to stare back, not backing down the slightest bit.
She was however unaware that just based on her identity as a disciple of the Above Heavens sect, if it was not because she was the mental demon in Ling Jian’s heart, even with her status as a third generation Xiao Family member and the cousin of Xiao YanXue, she would still have to queue behind six others if she wanted to speak to Ling Jian!
When their gazes collided, it was like an ice blade crossing with a frost sword. In that instant, the temperature within the tent dropped quite a few degrees.
Everyone sitting inside looked at each other in dismay.
After a long while, Ling Tian could not help but break the silence by awkwardly laughing, “Ah’Jian you brat… you’re really direct.” Ling Chen and Li Xue’s mouths curled up into grins as they looked towards the two that were akin to roosters battling it out.
“What are you looking at? What’s there to look at?!” Xiao YouHan, in the end, was a woman, so how could she stoop as low as Ling Jian? She could not take the staring match any longer, and forcing down her embarrassment, she spat at him.
“I’m looking at you! You’re my mental demon!” Ling Jian stated as though it was a matter of fact. “Young noble once mentioned to me, that if I wished to reach the pinnacle, then I’ll need to sever all mental demons!”
“Cough cough cough….” Ling Tian choked so badly, he started to cough in a pathetic manner. ‘What I told you was to sever your mental demons, not the person you fell in love with! Ling Jian, Ling Jian, you really know how to twist my words!”
“Mental demon? I’m YOUR mental demon?” Xiao YouHan could not help but yelp in surprise. This was the first time she felt so incensed in her life, as she rebutted, “What kind of dogsh*t b*stard talk is that?!”
“Whatever it is, you’re my mental demon!” Ling Jian was adamant, and maintained his icy disposition as he pressured her, “If I cannot expel you out of my mind, then my martial arts and sword skills will never reach the realm of great success!” He snorted, “In the past, I refused to believe in such a thing, but now I found out that this thing such as mental demons actually exist! If I cannot subdue you, then I’ll never be able to improve an inch in my entire life!”
“You! Lecher!” Xiao YouHan was almost driven mad with anger. She was nowhere as pure as Ling Jian’s mind was, and based on her gut instinct, she could see that the guy had probably fallen for her. How else would he have such a weird gaze? But she never expected that he would actually resort to such a method in order to woo a girl. Mental demon? What a joke! He even righteously said that he had to subdue her. How shameless!
She had a mind to run up and give him a good, tight slap. But having witnessed his martial skills the last round, she knew that she would not be a match for him, and she couldn’t help but to grind her teeth in frustration.
Meanwhile, Xiao FengYang, that wily old fox, how could he not be able to see the intricacies behind this fiasco? Noting the weird smiles on Ling Tian and company, he knew immediately that Ling Tian was aware of this situation.
He coughed twice, ready to step out and mediate, but he suddenly realized a point. Since Xiao YanXue already belonged to Ling Tian, if Xiao YouHan was also betrothed to Ling Jian, even though she was from the Above Heavens Sect she was still a descendant of the Xiao Family, and to be able to marry Ling Tian’s closest aide… wouldn’t that mean an elevation of status for the Xiao Family? He immediately swallowed the words that he was about to speak.
“Ling Jian, actually, this mental demon can be removed in more than one way.” Li Xue spoke, all the while smiling like a little fox.
“Eh? You have other methods?” Ling Jian’s interest was indeed piqued to the point that he did not care that the idea was from the witch Li Xue!
Li Xue smiled, before whispering a few words into Ling Jian’s ear.
“WHAT? I can get rid of my mental demon by marrying her?!” Ling Jian shouted out, startled. His face turned red. “Nonsense! What sort of solution is this? How is this possible?! You witch, what kind of weird scheme are you plotting again?!”
Never in her dreams did Li Xue expect this idiot to just blurt out her plan, and she felt her face turn red with embarrassment. She fiercely glared at him, before turning her head away, ignoring him completely.
“What? What a good lecher, to actually have such delusional thoughts!” Xiao YouHan was in a fine temper. One reason was because she thought Ling Jian actually harbored such a thought, and second was that this person whom she thought was a decent fellow actually turned out to be like this! What was so good about him? Wasn’t it just his high accomplishment in the martial arts? What sort of right do you have to reject this option immediately? At this moment, due to her anger, she had already forgotten her own stand, that she should have agreed to disagree on the marriage. However, her entire mind was clouded with fury at being disdained.
“Don’t imagine that your love is reciprocated.” Ling Jian snorted loudly. “Young noble has long said that you’re my mental demon. How could I ever marry my destined foe?”
Xiao YouHan trembled violently, and her eyes could no longer maintain that aloof and icy expression. She stared at Ling Jian, as though wishing to be able to swallow him down immediately. She had seen her fair share of hateful and shameless guys, but this person refreshed both her records!
“I just discovered that actually, Ah’Jian is an expert at picking up chicks.” Ling Tian suddenly whispered in a soft tone.
“What? Him?!” Li Xue and Ling Chen almost wanted to laugh out loud. To be even unaware that he was in love with someone, and treat the party as a mental demon, such a person could also be classified as an expert in picking up chicks?