“Miss Xiang, are you determined to keep the child in your belly?” Shen Zhiwei quickly adjusted his emotions. “If it is something not quite human, what will you do then?”
Hearing Realizer Lingzhi’s words, Xiangxiang felt a flicker of hope and said cautiously, “Realizer Lingzhi, there is nothing wrong with my child. Please believe me!”
Perhaps she wasn’t entirely unaware of what was inside her belly, but the “radiance” of maternal instinct was acting up, forcing her to keep this thing no matter what.
If the entity in her belly truly belonged to the sect leader, then just what sort of creature was the current leader of the Azure Firmament Sect?
Perhaps Three-Eight knew something, but judging by his attitude, he had no intention of telling him.
“Little Master-Uncle,” Mo Rubai asked softly, “Should Senior Sister Xiang head back first?”
“Back?” Shen Zhiwei sneered coldly. “If she goes back now, she’ll drop from an inner disciple down to an outer disciple. Miss Xiang, can you really stomach that kind of humiliation?”
Which of the disciples who managed to enter the inner sect wasn’t a proud favorite of heaven?
If Xiangxiang truly gave up on the trial because of this incident, what awaited her would likely be endless censure and revilement.
Was it really worth it for that ball of flesh inside her belly?
“Why be so harsh?” Mo Rubai asked with a puzzled expression. “Senior Sister Xiang hasn’t done anything that defies heaven or reason.”
“Oh? Is that so?” Shen Zhiwei looked at Xiangxiang with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “Have you truly done nothing that defies heaven or reason?”
Meeting Shen Zhiwei’s eyes, Xiangxiang couldn’t shake the feeling that the other party already knew something.
“Realizer Lingzhi!” Ming Xiangchu couldn’t take it anymore. “Xiangxiang won’t leave, and she won’t be in any danger. Even if I have to risk my life, I will definitely protect her!”
Shen Zhiwei: “…”
Was there something wrong with this female lead’s brain?
Feeling somewhat speechless, Shen Zhiwei thought for a moment before untying a jade pendant from his belt. “This jade pendant can save your life in a moment of crisis.”
Staring at the jade pendant that had landed on her lap, Xiangxiang was momentarily stunned. Why was Realizer Lingzhi suddenly being so kind?
“Little Master-Uncle!” Mo Rubai panicked. “Then what about you?”
Shen Zhiwei looked at him as if he were an idiot. “I can’t die.”
“Oh—” Mo Rubai felt somewhat awkward. It was strange; he had clearly thought of Shen Zhiwei as a cold and ruthless person before, but through these few encounters over such a short span of time, he found that the reality didn’t seem to be the case at all?
This person was far too contradictory.
Yet Mo Rubai still didn’t dare lower his guard. After all, he still didn’t know whether Shen Zhiwei was actually Shen Ming or not.
“Since there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving first.”
Under Mo Rubai’s watchful gaze, Shen Zhiwei turned and walked away with cold detachment.
He figured Xiangxiang was simply unlucky. If she had called upon Realizer Lanyan or Realizer Nuyan instead, she probably would have been able to exit safely right now.
Unfortunately for her, the one who showed up was him.
There was no helping it; Three-Eight had taken a fancy to whatever was inside Xiangxiang’s belly, and he ultimately couldn’t overrule the Three-Eight residing in his head.
Otherwise, he’d be nagged to death!
“Is this jade pendant really useful?” Clenching the warm jade pendant in her palm, Xiangxiang felt a lingering sense of unease.
“Since Little Master-Uncle gave it to you, it’s naturally useful,” Mo Rubai comforted her. “Don’t worry too much. There won’t be anything too dangerous here either. As long as you stick closely to Senior Sister Ming, nothing will go wrong.”
Looking at Senior Brother Mo before her, the grievances suppressed in Xiangxiang’s heart suddenly burst forth. Tears streamed all over her face as she leaned sideways, wanting to throw herself against Mo Rubai.
With a gentle push, Mo Rubai sent Xiangxiang leaning right back into Ming Xiangchu’s embrace.
“Senior Sister Ming,” Mo Rubai said mildly, “Since Xiangxiang has you to take care of her, I’ll take my leave first.”
Before Ming Xiangchu could say anything, A-ling asked with confusion, “Are we not going to stay and accompany Senior Sister Xiang and Senior Sister Ming?”
Mo Rubai sighed. “We came into this place for the trial, and now that Xiangxiang is unwell, we must carry both her and Senior Sister Ming’s expectations forward. Only then can I have peace of mind.”
A-ling’s eyes turned red from Mo Rubai’s speech. “Senior Brother Mo, sob, you… you’re so good.”
Shen Zhiwei, who had opened the water mirror out of sheer curiosity, once again shattered it with a heavy sense of disgust.
The male lead wasn’t as upright as he had imagined. Speaking all those high-sounding words—wasn’t it just because he didn’t want to be weighed down by a pregnant woman and waste time?
Such a shallow trick was something he could see through at a glance.
Yet clearly, those women, including Xiangxiang, hadn’t seen through it at all and instead felt deeply moved.
They had thought the male lead was a white lotus, but who would have guessed he was actually a black-hearted lotus.
Precisely because of this realization, Shen Zhiwei felt far less scrupulous about plotting against Mo Rubai from here on out.
Mentally calculating the distance, Shen Zhiwei realized this spot was only a few hundred meters away from the domain of the Illusionary Passion Flower.
Luring Mo Rubai and his women over should be quite easy. It was just a pity that Ming Xiangchu and Xiangxiang weren’t together with them.
Four women should be enough… right?
Scanning his surroundings, Shen Zhiwei spotted a pair of extremely ugly Pole-Rats not far away. They had sharp, rat-like faces with monkey features, and sparse, patchy fur that looked completely bald and exceptionally hideous. Moreover, these creatures could fart; whenever they encountered an enemy, they would flip their rear ends toward the opponent, and the stench was utterly nauseating.
Such spiritual beasts couldn’t really hurt anyone since their spiritual cores were completely useless, but killing them was quite difficult. Once they finished farting, they would shrink down to the size of ordinary rats and constantly tail their enemy, letting out a fart from time to time.
They were extremely tenacious and annoying!
Shen Zhiwei smiled slightly. Perfect, these will do!
In less than a quarter of an hour, a slight disturbance broke out over on Mo Rubai’s side.
A Pole-Rat had gone completely wild and charged straight toward them!
Mo Rubai had naturally heard of such creatures, but these beasts were normally as timid as mice; how could one possibly take the initiative to attack them?
“Ah!”
Although A-ling had heard of them as well, this was her first time seeing one in person. Brushing against the bald patches on the Pole-Rat’s body gave her a scalp-tingling sensation. Letting out a shrill scream, she drew a large saber and began frantically slashing blindly at the creature!
“Don’t!” Before Mo Rubai could issue a warning, he heard an earth-shattering “Puff—” sound.
“Cover your noses and mouths! Follow me!”
Bellowing at the top of his lungs, Mo Rubai sprinted off in one direction.
However, yet another Pole-Rat appeared blocking that direction!
The female cultivators were dizzy with the overwhelming stench. Catching sight of a blurry figure waving at them from afar, they gritted their teeth through the nausea and cried out, “Senior Brother Mo, someone’s over there! Let’s hurry!”
“A-ling, stop chopping!” Forcing the terrified A-ling along by dragging her, Mo Rubai led the junior sisters heading toward that direction.
Events proved this to be a fine route, yet looking at the flowers before him, Mo Rubai suddenly felt as though he had forgotten something.
This kind of flower… he felt like he had seen it somewhere before…