Chapter 540: Dead Wood, How Can I Hint at You?
While Xiao Lin was clinging to An'yu, Zhang Tianen unleashed Divine Might, killing the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect. The entire Villa was almost razed to the ground, and the air was filled with the scorching scent of thunder.
"Hehe, it seems I, Zhang Tianen, am still going strong..."
Zhang Tianen stood amidst the smoldering ruins of the villa courtyard, a grim smile etched on his face. The air hung thick and heavy, saturated with the acrid smell of ozone and cooked flesh. He glanced down at the thing that was once the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect. It was now little more than a carbonized statue, frozen in a silent scream, its features blasted into an unrecognizable lump of black char. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, the brief surge of victory already fading, replaced by a sudden, chilling realization.
Movement. From the underground secret room.
His expression twisted, the pride draining away to be replaced by a complex storm of heartache and profound remorse. His protective fury, once directed at his enemy, now curdled into a knot of dread in his stomach.
He had failed. He still couldn't protect his precious daughter; she had been taken by some unknown brat!
'Xiao Lin's mother, I'm sorry!'
A wave of guilt and distress washed over him, so potent it nearly buckled his knees. He had poured his life into safeguarding Ji Xiaolin, yet she had still been ambushed right under his nose. His heart ached with a father's deepest fear. It was utterly inconvenient for him to storm in now; it would only embarrass her further. He could only wait, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, his knuckles white.
'That brat… I won't let him off.'
Zhang Tianen's eyes narrowed into slits, a murderous glint hardening their depths. He didn't care if the boy was the Young Master of the Yanxia Shen Family or the emperor himself. No one touched his daughter. Xiao Lin was his only treasure, the one person in the world more important than his own life.
"Oh, Zhang Zhiyun, how are you?"
The thought surfaced abruptly, and Zhang Tianen finally remembered the other young man. His expression flickered, and he quickly spun around, his spiritual sense sweeping across the wreckage to locate him.
He couldn't have died, could he? The thought was a nuisance, not a tragedy.
Finding him huddled in a far corner, however, Zhang Tianen felt a wave of relief, though it was quickly followed by a forced, slightly strained smile.
"Zhang Zhiyun is quite lucky."
He couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. The battle between him and the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect had been apocalyptic. The courtyard had become a crucible of divine lightning, a maelstrom of destructive energy that should have vaporized anyone caught in its periphery. Yet, somehow, the storm had passed over Zhang Zhiyun, leaving him untouched by the collateral damage. More astonishingly, the boy had taken a direct hit from the Myriad Curses Sword of the Wan Fa Sect—an artifact steeped in generations of malice, a vessel for countless malevolent curses—and he was still breathing?
This wasn't just luck; it was a miracle of defiance against all odds.
Shen An'yu, of course, was not the least bit surprised. 'After all, Zhang Zhiyun is a Child of Destiny; how could he die so easily?' he mused from the quiet darkness of the cellar. 'They're all unkillable cockroaches, the type who can do sit-ups in their own coffins. Unless I, the Great Villain of Destiny, personally make a move, or their halo of destiny value shatters completely, they basically can't die. Jump off a cliff? They won't be splattered into paste; they'll find a peerless cultivation manual. Curses and poisons? Those are just power-ups in disguise.'
Of course, Shen An'yu had no intention of eliminating Zhang Zhiyun right now. If he killed him, where would he plunder more Destiny Points from? He had finally stumbled upon a prime specimen, a Child of Destiny boasting a staggering five million points. Shouldn't he have some fun first? Besides, the entire situation was perfectly, deliciously under his control.
At this moment, Zhang Zhiyun was a pathetic sight, rolling in a dusty corner of the villa. He was covered in grime and debris, his robes torn and his hair matted with blood and dirt. The spirited, invincible demeanor of the Tianshi Sect's most outstanding successor in a thousand years was gone, replaced by the wretched image of a stray dog kicked to the curb.
Worse, his exposed skin was a horrifying tapestry of dense, crawling runes. They glowed with a sickening crimson and abyssal black light, pulsing faintly like malevolent veins. His aura was a flickering candle flame in a storm, his breathing shallow and ragged. He was on his last breath. His condition was not just poor; it was catastrophic.
But that faint breath remained. He wasn't completely dead yet.
Zhang Tianen knelt beside him, his fingers gently probing Zhang Zhiyun's meridians. As his own pure energy flowed into the young man's body, his expression instantly became grim.
"Trouble!" he muttered, his voice low and serious.
But he wasn't surprised. That was the Myriad Curses Sword of the Wan Fa Sect, their ultimate, foulest trump card. Unleashed with the full, desperate power of an old and mighty Tianshi expert like the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect, its potency was terrifying. It was a miracle Zhang Zhiyun hadn't disintegrated on the spot. Being severely wounded and on the brink of death was, by all accounts, a fantastic outcome.
Two and a half hours bled away. Zhang Tianen was drenched in sweat, his face pale with exertion. Despite his immense power, he still hadn't completely removed the malevolent curses writhing within Zhang Zhiyun's body.
"That Myriad Curses Sword is truly vicious," he grunted, finally pulling his hands back. "Some of the curses have attached themselves to his very essence like maggots burrowing into bone. They're impossible to remove… unless a Land Immortal intervenes."
Looking at the broken young man, Zhang Tianen's expression was uncertain, his brows furrowed in thought. Zhang Zhiyun was lucky to be alive, yes, but what kind of life would it be? Even if he recovered, his potential would be catastrophically reduced, his cultivation path severed. Could he still be considered a suitable son-in-law? A cripple for his peerless daughter? The thought was uncharitable, but it was pragmatic.
Just then, Zhang Tianen's ears twitched. He heard a familiar set of light footsteps, and another, unfamiliar, steady set accompanying them. He knew, with a sinking feeling, that it was his daughter, Ji Xiaolin, and the brat who had stolen his precious girl. His expression immediately darkened, his mind racing as he pondered what to do.
If his daughter was unwilling, he would kill that brat without a second thought.
If his daughter was willing… he still had to assess the situation. If that brat was unworthy of his treasure, it still wouldn't do.
A metallic groaning sound echoed from the hidden entrance. After Ji Xiaolin used a fire-elemental Esoteric Art to melt the iron door into slag, she emerged from the underground secret room and walked forward quickly. Her bright and pretty little face was puffed up, her cheeks flushed with a mix of indignation and embarrassment, making her look like a pouting fugu, as if she were about to blow bubbles of frustration.
Shen An'yu followed slowly behind her, his expression a mask of calm, but inside, he was suppressing a laugh that threatened to burst out.
He knew exactly what was going on. Ji Xiaolin, not wanting to lose face, had originally tried to use an Esoteric Art to muddle his memory, to make him believe that their passionate encounter in the dark was nothing more than a fever dream. After all, she had completely lost her composure, pouncing on him with a wild, unrestrained passion that contradicted her usual proud demeanor.
[Akarin's Note: The raw text gives a specific example: "Refer to Green Snake and Fahai." This is a famous scene from the Chinese legend/film Green Snake, where the monk Fahai's Buddhist resolve is tested (and broken) by the seductive Green Snake demon. It's used here to imply a scenario where primal desire overwhelmed spiritual discipline.]
If this "dark history" wasn't covered up, Ji Xiaolin felt she would never be able to look Shen An'yu in the eye again. Despite the powerful affection she now felt for him, her pride demanded that she hide it, at least for a little while longer.
However, what Ji Xiaolin had never, ever expected was that Shen An'yu would actually act as if nothing had happened at all. He treated it like a dream, just as she'd intended.
But now, she had lost the most important thing a woman could give, and her heart was filled with a bitter, unspoken grievance.
Ji Xiaolin felt like she had tried to be clever but had ended up monumentally shooting herself in the foot.
If she told Shen An'yu that it wasn't a dream, that it was all real… she couldn't bring herself to say the words. The shame would be off the charts.
But if she didn't tell him, was she supposed to just suffer this great loss in vain? Were they supposed to become strangers now?
The moment she thought of that, a sharp, sudden pang pierced Ji Xiaolin's heart.
After surviving that life-and-death crisis together, her favorability towards Shen An'yu had already soared to seventy. This wasn't just a crush; it was genuine love. And that was before… well, before she had ridden him up and down countless times in the dark.
Outwardly, Ji Xiaolin was all tsundere pride and stubbornness, but deep down, she desperately wanted to be with Shen An'yu. All he had to do was pursue her, just a little, and she would happily go along with it.
However, Shen An'yu was acting like a block of wood.
'Dead wood, dead wood, you utter block of dead wood! How am I supposed to hint at you...'
Ji Xiaolin was muttering furiously in her heart when her expression suddenly changed. She stopped dead in her tracks, her head snapping up as she took in the scene of devastation around them. She exclaimed:
"This is... this is the Tianshi Sect's thunder Dao Esoteric Art?"
Ji Xiaolin looked up, her eyes wide with shock. The villa courtyard ground was covered in scorched earth and blackened craters. In some places, the dirt had been superheated into smooth, glassy patches. The air, still thick with the smell of thunder, now carried the stench of death. She spotted several charred corpses that looked like pieces of black charcoal. From the few tattered remnants of their clothing, she could tell they were from the Wan Fa Sect.
"My old man came to save me!"
Ji Xiaolin's beautiful eyes lit up, and a wave of pure joy washed over her. This level of overwhelming Tianshi Sect thunder arts, and the timing of the rescue… it had to be her father. Although there was an insurmountable gap in their relationship, Ji Xiaolin still trusted and even admired her old man's immense power.
Shen An'yu watched the high ponytail swinging behind her head as she took in the scene, a faint smile flashing in his eyes, tinged with something that almost looked like nostalgia.
"Not good, quickly hide. Wait for my signal before leaving."
The next moment, Ji Xiaolin's joy turned to panic. She grabbed Shen An'yu's arm and quickly pushed him back toward the gaping maw of the underground secret room.
"Why?" Shen An'yu tilted his head, a slight, knowing smile playing on his lips as he asked the obvious question.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
And at this moment, Zhang Tianen's heavy footsteps were getting closer and closer...
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