Chapter 532: Ji Xiaolin Was Ashamed and Angry for Intercepting the Son of Destiny!
Ji Xiaolin's pupils constricted, and her expression immediately changed. With her insight as Zhang Tianen's only daughter, she naturally knew that this was a level where mental power was so strong that it became almost substantial, twisting the surrounding air—at least the level of a Half-Step Celestial Master. And, it was clear that the visitor meant no good.
A suffocating pressure descended upon the narrow alley, heavy and choking. The air grew thick, shimmering with a distorted haze around the black-robed figure. The scent of ozone and something faintly rotten, like disturbed grave soil, pricked at Ji Xiaolin's nostrils. The man's single, baleful eye glowed with a dim, predatory light, fixing her in place like a pinned insect. This was no mere martial artist; this was a predator of the highest order, a creature whose very presence warped reality. Her breath hitched in her throat, and a cold dread seeped into her bones.
Could it be Zhang Zhiyun's enemy? The thought ignited a blaze of fury in her heart. 'Damn it, that scoundrel! Who acknowledged him as my fiancé? He had just met her once and already brought her such danger.' The sheer injustice of it all was maddening. She had been ambushed, cornered by a monster, all because of a man she barely knew and certainly didn't want.
Just as the icy grip of fear threatened to paralyze her, a warm, large hand enveloped her own, which had grown clammy and cold from fright. The sudden contact was a grounding shock, an anchor in the storm of oppressive energy. Ji Xiaolin looked up, her eyes widening in astonishment to find that it was the young, handsome man from earlier.
While holding Ji Xiaolin's small hand, Shen Anyu shielded her behind him, his body a solid, unyielding barrier between her and the threat. His gaze, though seemingly solemn, held an unshakable calm as he looked at the black-robed One-Eyed Old Man. His voice was steady, cutting through the heavy silence.
"I don't know who this Zhang Zhiyun you speak of is," Shen Anyu declared, his tone leaving no room for argument. "But Xiaolin is my Shen Anyu's fiancée. Don't get it wrong; if you're looking for trouble, find someone else."
'Idiot!' Ji Xiaolin screamed internally, her mind reeling from his audacity. 'What is he doing?! Is he insane?!' But even as the panicked thought flashed through her mind, an inexplicable warmth bloomed in her chest, pushing back against the chilling fear. It was reckless, it was foolish, but it was also… brave. She looked at Shen Anyu's back, at the calm confidence in his posture, and a strange glint flickered in her beautiful eyes.
But the next moment, she wanted to punch him.
Without any warning, Shen Anyu suddenly pulled her into his embrace. Her front was pressed flush against his hard, warm chest, stealing her breath. His large hand moved, settling with possessive firmness just below her slender waist, his fingers fitting perfectly into the curve above her hip. A jolt, sharp and electric, shot through her entire body.
Ji Xiaolin was both shy and intensely annoyed. A hot blush flooded her cheeks. She was about to struggle, to shove this infuriatingly bold man away, when he leaned close to her earlobe, his warm breath ghosting over her skin as he imperceptibly transmitted his voice directly into her mind:
"That black-robed One-Eyed Old Man, if I'm not mistaken, is the Right Protector of the Wan Fa Sect, the Half-Step Celestial Master known as the One-Eyed Old Man. He's extremely cruel and terrifying, and he's clearly here with ill intentions. You must cooperate with me. Otherwise, if our act is exposed, your life will be in danger."
Wan Fa Sect!
The name struck Ji Xiaolin's heart like a hammer blow. All the color drained from her face. That wasn't just some common criminal organization; they were a notoriously evil and dark magical cabal, infamous for their countless cruel incidents of human experimentation and twisted sorcery. Their influence was a cancerous growth that spanned the globe, and their methods were brazen and utterly without mercy. They didn't listen to reason. They only dealt in death and suffering.
This One-Eyed Old Man had clearly targeted Zhang Zhiyun. A profound sense of injustice washed over Ji Xiaolin. Who in their right mind would want to be Zhang Zhiyun's fiancée? And now, because of this forced connection, she was staring down a monster from the Wan Fa Sect, with no way to even explain the situation.
Her only hope was to bluff her way through this nightmare.
Immediately, Ji Xiaolin shot a look at Shen Anyu with her beautiful eyes, a silent, grudging acceptance. Her body, once rigid with the intent to struggle, softened almost imperceptibly, allowing herself to be held. She leaned into his embrace, playing the part of a protected lover. But inside, her resentment towards Zhang Zhiyun crystallized into a cold, hard certainty. She began to curse his name, his arrogance, and the day he ever walked into her life.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Zhang Zhiyun's emotional storyline has encountered a major setback. The Destined Heroine Ji Xiaolin's aversion towards him has increased. Plunder +66666 Destiny Value!]
…
"Achoo—!"
At that very moment, in Ji Xiaolin's home, Zhang Zhiyun, who was deep in conversation with Zhang Tianen, let out a sudden, violent sneeze. His eyelids twitched wildly. A powerful and unsettling premonition gripped him, a cold dread that slithered down his spine, whispering that something deeply unfavorable was happening.
Instinctively, Zhang Zhiyun's fingers began to move, tracing complex patterns in the air as he attempted to divine the source of his unease. But the threads of fate were murky, obscured by a dense fog he could not penetrate. It seemed a Master had deliberately concealed the heavenly secrets from him.
"Zhiyun, what's wrong?" Zhang Tianen asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
The inexplicable sense of impending doom receded as quickly as it had come, and Zhang Zhiyun's brow relaxed. He forced a smile.
"Nothing, Master-Uncle. Just an illusion, I suppose." But he made a mental note. That feeling was too strong to be a mere coincidence. It was anything but ordinary.
After a pause, Zhang Zhiyun's expression turned solemn as he looked at Zhang Tianen. "Master-Uncle, I wrote to you earlier, asking you to investigate the news of the Hangzhou Zhang Family's destruction twenty years ago. You said you had clues. What are they?"
Zhang Tianen let out a soft sigh, his eyes distant. "After returning to Hangzhou these past few years, I have retired from the world of sorcery and no longer concern myself with its affairs. However, since this matter concerns you, I did conduct some investigation. It should be the work of the Wan Fa Sect. It seems they were looking for something within your Hangzhou Zhang Family."
"Wan Fa Sect!!!"
The name was a lit fuse. Zhang Zhiyun's handsome face contorted into a mask of pure rage. His eyes instantly turned blood-red, blazing with a murderous intent so potent it felt tangible. The air around him crackled, and the ambient temperature in the room plummeted as a malevolent aura erupted from his body. The notorious evil sorcerer organization, the Wan Fa Sect, had annihilated his entire family, slaughtering them to the last man, woman, and child, all to find some thing. A blood debt must be repaid in blood. He swore a silent, venomous oath to make the Wan Fa Sect pay a thousand times over.
"Still!"
At that moment, Zhang Tianen slowly uttered the single word. It was not shouted, but it carried an inexplicable spiritual weight, a mental fluctuation that rippled through the air like a clear bell chime. The soundwave struck Zhang Zhiyun's consciousness, shattering the red haze of his hatred and pulling him back from the brink of his killing intent.
"Master-Uncle, I lost my composure." Zhang Zhiyun's breathing gradually evened out as he calmed his raging spirit, offering his thanks.
"It's nothing, Zhiyun. What is the relationship between us? In the future, I'll have to trouble you to take good care of Xiaolin a lot."
Zhang Tianen looked at Zhang Zhiyun with deep satisfaction. He was handsome, his talent was extraordinary, and he had already reached the rank of Half-Step Celestial Master at such a young age. He was destined to become a full-fledged Celestial Master, take charge of the Tianshi Sect, and perhaps even had a chance of reaching the legendary world of a Land Immortal.
Such a fine son-in-law was a treasure one couldn't find even with a lantern.
'Xiaolin, although your father made this decision on his own, it's truly for your own good,' Zhang Tianen thought, his heart swelling with paternal certainty. 'If you miss out on a man like Zhang Zhiyun, you will never find another. You'll understand in the future that your father truly had your best interests at heart. You will absolutely not regret this.'
Upon hearing Ji Xiaolin's name, the grimace on Zhang Zhiyun's face melted into a smile. He seamlessly changed his form of address. "Uncle, rest assured. I, Zhang Zhiyun, will definitely take good care of Xiaolin."
The truth was, Zhang Zhiyun had fallen for Ji Xiaolin the moment he saw her. That stunning woman with her long legs, slender waist, and high ponytail, her delicate, bright face infused with a vibrant, heroic spirit—she was perfect. He no longer felt any resistance to the arranged marriage; in fact, he found it incredibly appealing. Resistance to arranged marriages, in the end, was always about dissatisfaction with the partner. When one was presented with an exceptionally beautiful woman as a fiancée, what man would be dissatisfied? Zhang Zhiyun was now extremely satisfied.
Zhang Tianen nodded with a smile, then continued, "Those rats from the Wan Fa Sect hide in the darkness. They are not easy to root out. This matter still needs to be deliberated at length. Uncle will help you."
Although he had retired, he was more than willing to lend a hand—or two—to help his chosen future son-in-law.
Zhang Zhiyun was immediately overjoyed. His satisfaction with Ji Xiaolin as his fiancée skyrocketed. This was like a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Not only did he get a beautiful wife, but he also gained the backing of a Celestial Master Peak grandmaster like Zhang Tianen, an expert whom even his own Master, the head of the Tianshi Sect, might not be able to match.
With Zhang Tianen's assistance, dealing with the Wan Fa Sect would be no problem at all.
He was absolutely determined to marry Ji Xiaolin!
…
On the other side, in the alley.
The black-robed One-Eyed Old Man listened to Shen Anyu's declaration and let out a sinister, rattling chuckle. "Do you think this old man is so easy to fool?"
"My subordinates have already witnessed it with their own eyes and taken photos."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The next moment, several photographs flew from his sleeve, moving with impossible speed. They embedded themselves deep into the nearby brick wall with sharp thuds. They were photos of Ji Xiaolin and Zhang Zhiyun together at Hangzhou Airport, with Zhang Tianen conspicuously absent. These images had been sent to the One-Eyed Old Man by Shen Anyu's own people, agents secretly placed within a hidden branch of the Wan Fa Sect.
Shen Anyu had spent years embedding assets into organizations like the Martial God Hall, the Wan Fa Sect, and various other dark syndicates. In fact, many of these shadowy organizations were little more than masked identities under Shen Anyu's direct command, all for critical moments precisely like this one.
Looking at these photos, Ji Xiaolin's pretty face turned deathly pale. She frantically tried to explain, "I really have nothing to do with that scoundrel Zhang Zhiyun! If you want to find trouble, find him, don't find me!"
Bang!
At this moment, Shen Anyu feigned a surge of anger, turning on her. "Alright, Xiaolin! You actually went to the airport to pick up a man behind my back! Just wait until I get back and deal with you."
"You!" Ji Xiaolin's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Shen Anyu. She never expected Shen Anyu to scold her. Both angry and shy, she bit her lip, her pretty face flushed red.
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