Only after a delayed reaction did Qin Zhizhi discover that a person had been standing quietly beside her at some point. He wore the standard green-and-white robe of the Heguang Sect’s disciples, which billowed gracefully as the wind passed, presenting a tall, elegant, and exceptionally dashing figure.
She had heard from Su Qingyi earlier that Jun Wuya was the Heguang Sect’s “Little Jade Lord,” immensely adored by both the elders and the disciples. Seeing him now, he certainly lived up to the title. With rosy lips, white teeth, and an elegant, handsome face, his features carried fewer sharp angles and a touch more soft refinement compared to Xie Yutai and Lu Yuandao. He possessed the kind of looks that appealed to all ages and genders alike.
No wonder Qin Zhijie loved him to the point of desperation—the Qin family’s ancestral trait was clearly being a sucker for good looks. However, compared to Xie Yutai, he was still far too immature. As expected, her own taste was superior.
Right now, Jun Wuya was looking down at Qin Zhizhi, his handsome eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“Senior Brother Jun, why are you here?” Sensing the tense atmosphere, Su Qingyi quickly spoke up to inquire.
Jun Wuya raised his eyes, gave a small nod to Su Qingyi, and forced a smile. “I am waiting for Miss Qin. Qingyi, go wait to the side for a moment.”
“Oh… alright.” Su Qingyi blanked for a second. She cast a hesitant glance at the silent Qin Zhizhi before turning around and walking far enough away that she could no longer hear their conversation before stopping.
With Su Qingyi gone, only Qin Zhizhi and Jun Wuya were left facing each other. Since Jun Wuya didn’t speak, Qin Zhizhi had no idea what to say either. She wasn’t familiar with him, and the original owner hadn’t spent much time with him, leaving her with no behavioral template to follow.
After a long stretch of silence, Qin Zhizhi finally couldn’t help but ask, “Is there something you need?”
Realizing the question sounded a bit sarcastic, she quickly tacked on, “Immortal Master Jun.”
That should be respectful enough.
Jun Wuya’s expression shifted uncertainly, as if he were struggling internally. Seeing her speak first, he asked slowly, “Why did you come back?”
Qin Zhizhi’s eyes practically turned into literal question marks.
As if his patience had reached its absolute limit, Jun Wuya closed his eyes and opened them again, saying deliberately, “Since you already found someone your heart desires and agreed to leave together, why return?”
To describe an elopement so poetically and elegantly—he truly was an educated cultural man. Qin Zhizhi was instantly amused. “Are you alright?”
She felt she was being very gentle. What she actually wanted to ask was: What is wrong with your brain? She had never seen a man so eager to place a green hat of cuckoldry squarely on his own head. How courageous. A true man, this Jun Wuya!
Jun Wuya’s expression soured, his tone darkening. “Since you returned safely, you should have kept a low profile. Why did you have to go and beat your younger sister, making the whole affair common knowledge?”
Originally, Jun Wuya hadn’t wanted to get involved in this matter. He didn’t have much of an impression of Qin Zhizhi left. Unfortunately, Qin Zhijie kept insisting that she had eloped with someone else, spreading the rumor throughout the entire sect. Having a bright green hat forced upon him out of nowhere made him rather depressed. But because he detested Qin Zhijie’s pestering so fiercely, he had used secluded cultivation as an excuse just to get two days of peace.
Today, he heard that his runaway fiancée had returned, throwing his thoughts into a chaotic mess. His mind was entirely occupied by one question: Since she already ran away, why bother coming back? Before he could even steady his emotions, Qin Zhijie had come crying and screaming to the front of his cultivation room. She claimed that Qin Zhizhi must have trusted the wrong person and now regretted it, wishing to return to the Heguang Sect to cling to Jun Wuya. She alleged that upon seeing Qin Zhijie here, Qin Zhizhi grew intensely envious and struck her directly, making a laughingstock of them in front of many onlookers.
Allowing them to keep causing such a scene in the Heguang Sect wasn’t a long-term solution either. Head aching severely, Jun Wuya had no choice but to come out, intending to first meet this runaway fiancée of his.
Looking at her now, although his fiancée appeared delicate, slender, and mild-tempered, there was a persistent trace of distraction in her eyes. She looked at him as if he were completely transparent.
This gaze inexplicably made Jun Wuya feel even more irritable, and his tone grew harsher. “Even though you previously… no matter what, you are still a lady, and reputation still matters. You openly struck Qin Zhijie today; how will you account for this to your parents in the future? Go apologize to Qin Zhijie now while there’s still time, and let this matter pass. After recuperating in the Heguang Sect for a period, you will still have some face left to return to Wudu City.”
I’m not listening, I’m not listening, a turtle is reciting scriptures.
Qin Zhizhi nonchalantly plucked at the leaves of a nearby shrub. “Ah, yes, yes, yes. You are completely right.”
Regardless of Jun Wuya’s current feelings toward Qin Zhizhi and Qin Zhijie, at this stage, Qin Zhijie’s brainwashing had been incredibly successful. Right now, no matter what she said, Jun Wuya was convinced it was her fault—that she was unfaithful, unchaste, unrefined, and rowdy. Since he already held this impression, she certainly couldn’t overturn it with just a couple of sentences.
Faced with this kind of person, Qin Zhizhi was too lazy to even bother explaining.
Noticing her perfunctory attitude, Jun Wuya’s eyebrows twisted tightly into a knot. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “What is this attitude of yours? Is there anything I said that is incorrect?”
Qin Zhizhi asked, bewildered, “Are you planning to marry Qin Zhijie?”
Jun Wuya looked entirely taken aback. “How could that be possible!”
“Then are you planning to marry me?”
Jun Wuya fell silent.
Seeing his expression, Qin Zhizhi knew the answer in his heart. She sneered, “Since you don’t want either, who exactly do you think you are to meddle in my family’s affairs?”
Jun Wuya’s brow tightened further, his hands hanging at his sides unconsciously clenching into fists. “As for the matter between you and me, I can choose not to hold it against you. But beating your younger sister is, after all, a wrongdoing…”
Qin Zhizhi interrupted him. “Immortal Master Jun, open your eyes wide and take a good look. Me: a five-spiritual-root waste, a weak woman who can neither shoulder a burden nor lift a weight. Qin Zhijie: a gold-and-water dual spiritual root, exceptionally talented, at the peak of Qi Refining. May I ask, how many of me would it take to even scratch Qin Zhijie?”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but poke hard at Jun Wuya’s shoulder as a way to vent. “Do you feel anything?”
Do you have a brain, Jun Wuya? Although she really was the one who beat Qin Zhijie, so what? Would she ever admit it? Even if she lacked logic, she could still act completely confident.
“No.” Jun Wuya’s body felt as rigid as a steel plate. To him, Qin Zhizhi’s strength felt no different from an ant trying to shake a giant tree. Not only did he remain entirely unmoved, but Qin Zhizhi herself was bounced back several times by the equal and opposite reaction of the force.
“And how many of me would it take to beat you, a single-spiritual-root genius and the Heguang Sect’s Little Jade Lord?” Qin Zhizhi retracted her hand and shook it in the air, narrowing her eyes. “Crushing me to death is as easy for you people as crushing an ant. Why do you think Qin Zhijie insisted on making things difficult for me?”
A trace of helplessness flashed across Jun Wuya’s face. Could he have truly mistaken the situation? But Qin Zhijie had cried so miserably, and there were onlookers who personally witnessed her being sent flying out of the grand hall. It clearly didn’t seem like a fabricated act…
“Of course, fortunately I am not an ant, and Immortal Master Jun will definitely grant me a way to live, right?” In the next instant, Qin Zhizhi smiled again. She tilted her head slightly, shallow dimples blooming on her cheeks, her smile innocent and radiant.
The truly unfortunate little ant had already drawn her last breath on the road to being sold. She didn’t even have the chance to stand here.
The Qin Zhizhi of the Tiantong Sect possessed a beauty capable of toppling cities, and the Qin Zhizhi who resembled her closely was bound to be no less stunning. Compared to Qin Zhijie’s charming cuteness, Qin Zhizhi’s quiet grace resembled a delicate flower reflected in water. Yet when she smiled, she carried a trace of shyness and anticipation, vivid and bright—rendering her far more captivating.
“That is natural.” Jun Wuya’s face flushed slightly. Shifting his gaze away, he said hurriedly, “As long as you sincerely repent, I will certainly not make things difficult for you. As for Qin Zhijie… there must be some sort of misunderstanding.”
“Indeed, there must be some sort of misunderstanding.” Qin Zhizhi nodded, giving a hard yank to a leaf on the bush beside her. The shrub bent low with a rustle before instantly snapping back, wobbling unsteadily for a long time.
“Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, everything will be fine, right, Immortal Master Jun?”
Looking at the shaking bush, Jun Wuya nodded subconsciously. “Yes.”
Fingering the leaf in her hand, Qin Zhizhi seemed to suddenly recall something, letting out a soft sigh. “Immortal Master Jun… did you know? I almost died.”
Her tone was incredibly ethereal, as if she were no longer among the living. Listening to her, Jun Wuya fell into a brief daze, even wondering if he had misheard. “What did you say?”
Qin Zhizhi acted as if she hadn’t heard him. She simply offered Jun Wuya a small smile, her eyes curving gently, appearing thoroughly submissive and well-behaved. Without another word, she turned around to bid him farewell.
Waiting beneath a tree and already growing somewhat anxious, Su Qingyi hurried forward to meet Qin Zhizhi the moment she saw her approaching. Although she hadn’t been close enough to hear, she could roughly see that the expression on Jun Wuya’s face wasn’t very good. Linking her arm through Qin Zhizhi’s, she asked with concern, “How did it go, Zhizhi? Senior Brother Jun didn’t make things difficult for you, did he?”
Qin Zhizhi shook her head, though her footsteps paused slightly. She suddenly asked, “Qingyi, do you think Xie Yutai is sad?”
“Huh?” Such a completely random question left Su Qingyi entirely bewildered. Xie Yutai of the Guiyuan Sect? Weren’t they just discussing Senior Brother Jun Wuya?
Qin Zhizhi also let out a self-deprecating laugh, finding the question rather groundless herself.
It was just that at the exact moment she uttered the words I almost died, for some reason, the silhouette of Jun Wuya in front of her eyes gradually overlapped with Xie Yutai’s. That day, she had been far too focused on executing her mission, her mind completely filled with the thought that it was finally coming to an end. Now, she unexpectedly couldn’t recall what Xie Yutai’s expression looked like at that moment at all.
For a man like him, what sort of face would he make, and what sort of words would he say under those circumstances? Presumably, he would still be as cold and indifferent as usual. Even if there were a slight ripple in his eyes, it would mostly be astonishment and shock.
Qin Zhizhi cleared all the random thoughts from her head, taking Su Qingyi’s hand. “Right, I want to ask you for a favor.”