After speaking, Fang Chen felt a bit awkward. He thought to himself-
His acting just now might have been a bit too exaggerated. What if Jiang Ningyi had already seen through the act?
Sigh.
He was usually an honest person, so suddenly having to play the villain felt completely unnatural!
“Senior Brother, I just found out!”
Jiang Ningyi looked at Fang Chen’s arrogant and overbearing expression, replying quietly while her mind raced…
If she hadn’t already known the truth and seen through the facade beneath her Senior Brother’s disguise, she might actually have been fooled.
After all, Senior Brother’s arrogance and haughtiness were so utterly natural and detestable that they practically made one want to draw a sword and strike him down!
“Since you know, why aren’t you following the rules yet?”
Fang Chen sneered.
“What rules?”
“Pay the toll!”
Fang Chen said with a contemptuous laugh.
Jiang Ningyi produced a Storage Ring. “Senior Brother, here you are. Five hundred Low Grade Spirit Stones, is that enough?”
At that moment, the smile froze on Fang Chen’s face…
What was going on?
What was happening here?
Good grief, Jiang Ningyi, you’re so young, why aren’t you playing by the script?
According to how things normally went, as a core disciple who caught someone collecting tolls here, shouldn’t she draw her sword, hack him to pieces, purge evil, and uphold righteousness?
Why was she actually handing over money?
In that instant, Fang Chen’s brain raced frantically, practically burning out as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong…
Jiang Ningyi stared quietly at Fang Chen. “Senior Brother, why aren’t you taking it?”
On the way from the foot of the mountain, she had been worrying about how to hand the spirit stones for the recording jade slip back to Fang Chen.
Given Senior Brother Fang’s usual stubborn pride, he certainly wouldn’t just accept her spirit stones.
She hadn’t expected him to put on such an act himself, so she had simply gone along with it!
Fang Chen opened his mouth. “I, ah…”
Jiang Ningyi urged him on, “Take it!”
“I refuse.” Fang Chen simply broke character and gave up. “I’m not collecting today. What are you going to do about it?”
At that, Jiang Ningyi sighed inwardly.
Her intention to give him the money had still been seen through by Senior Brother Fang!
Since things had come to this, she had no choice but to lay her cards on the table. “Senior Brother, just take it. You don’t need to keep acting with me anymore!”
“Xiao Qing told me everything about what happened. You’re still in the outer sect without any support from the Sect, and spending so many spirit stones to buy that recording jade slip for Junior Brother must have left you completely strapped for cash.”
Fang Chen was stunned. He pointed behind Jiang Ningyi. “Who did you say was strapped for cash?” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Jiang Ningyi turned around to follow his gesture…
Bathed in the bright sunlight, two massive lions carved from pure gold stood in majestic, dazzling splendor!
Jiang Ningyi: “…”
It seemed the Fang family was indeed rather well-off…
After staring blankly for two full seconds, Jiang Ningyi quickly thought of another angle to persuade him to accept the spirit stones.
But when she turned back around, her eyes widened in astonishment.
There was not a soul in front of her. Only a single figure clutching a guzheng was bolting away at full speed, kicking up a trail of dust as he vanished into the distance at an alarming rate…
Jiang Ningyi cried out in anxious exasperation, “Stop right there!”
But Fang Chen only ran faster…
…
Clutching the guzheng, Fang Chen sprinted all the way to the bridge connecting Yingguang Lake Mountain and the Sea Turtle Platform. Only when he saw more people around did he finally slow down, his face dark as he muttered under his breath:
“Damn it, Xiao Qing, I knew you were the one who stabbed me in the back…”
“No good deed goes unpunished!”
Fang Chen was thoroughly troubled now. What was he supposed to do?
He had previously been notorious as a hopeless profligate in Jiang Ningyi’s eyes. Now, after this incident, she would undoubtedly view him as some noble, selfless martyr who silently endured infamy to do good…
Such a dramatic reversal created an immense contrast. Wouldn’t that completely max out her Favorability?
And once he casually displayed some guzheng skills, stunned the entire Sect, and became the center of attention, he would fit Jiang Ningyi’s ideal partner criteria to the letter. At that point…
He really would be dead meat!
“No, I have to figure something out…”
Fang Chen’s mind raced once more.
Clearly, trying to keep up the pretense of being a mere profligate was useless now.
Wait!
An idea suddenly sparked in his mind.
As the saying goes, even saints have flaws!
While his personal character and moral integrity might apparently be viewed as flawless and lofty, that didn’t mean he had to be a good person in other ways, right?
A bad temper, laziness, gluttony, greed, lust… and so on.
With so many glaring flaws available, if he just picked one to put on display, wouldn’t Jiang Ningyi be utterly repulsed and turn away in disgust?
At that thought, Fang Chen broke into a triumphant grin. Hehe!
That’s what he would do.
The advantage was entirely on his side.
Everything was under control!
With that settled, Fang Chen quickened his pace and left the Sea Turtle Platform behind.
“Where did he go?”
Frowning in hesitation, she looked out at the various paths branching off from the Sea Turtle Platform.
…
Outer disciples of the Danran Sect resided on Yingguang Lake Mountain beside Yingguang Lake, and crossing over to the inner sect required passing through the Sea Turtle Platform.
The platform itself was constructed from the actual carcass of a giant sea turtle!
It was the remains of a powerful demon clan entity slain by Danran Sect experts long ago. Because its shell possessed extraordinary defensive properties, it had been placed there to serve as the core nexus for the outer mountain’s defensive formation, as well as a passage for Sect disciples.
After passing the platform, Fang Chen recalled from the original owner’s memories that inner sect visits had been rare, and since he was now heading toward Yunyun Peak-where the alchemy rooms were located-the path ahead was entirely unfamiliar.
With no other choice, he had to ask for directions while getting lost along the way.
Perhaps because his erratic route was too unpredictable, Jiang Ningyi lost his trail completely…
When Fang Chen finally strolled up to the foot of Yunyun Peak, a figure standing nearby suddenly stiffened, rage instantly flaring in their eyes.
“Fang Chen?!”
At the exact same moment…
Fang Chen arrived at the base of the peak and noticed a cold-faced female disciple in crimson robes standing not far away, accompanied by a young girl dressed in the same blue robes as Jiang Ningyi.
Holding the guzheng, Fang Chen stepped forward.
Before he could even offer a greeting, the girl in blue smiled and took the initiative to speak, “May I ask what brings you to Yunyun Peak?”
“Returning Elder Hua’s guzheng!” Fang Chen answered honestly.
His deeper motivation was to see if he could catch a glimpse of Elder Hua, forge a connection with a senior figure, and perhaps use the returned instrument to secure some backing!
Of course, Fang Chen didn’t actually expect to become close to an Elder just by returning a guzheng; his goal was simply to get noticed.
After all, with zero cultivation talent and a cursed system constantly wishing for his demise, anyone facing such a hellish beginning had to look for an out before it was too late.
“Oh? How did Elder Hua’s guzheng end up with you?” The girl blinked in surprise.
Hearing that, Fang Chen froze as well.
How was he supposed to explain?
Should he tell them he was so infamous that he had frightened four kids out of their wits, causing them to abandon the instrument at his doorstep?
That wouldn’t look very good, would it?
Fortunately, the cold-faced female disciple in crimson stepped in to smooth things over, saying calmly, “Elder Hua’s guzheng was sent out for maintenance. Counting the days, today is indeed when the outer sect is supposed to return it.”
With that, she stepped forward to inspect the instrument in Fang Chen’s hands, nodded once she confirmed it was authentic, and let the matter rest.
The blue-robed girl’s expression cleared up. “In that case, follow me. I’ll take you to Elder Hua.”
“Understood!” Fang Chen nodded immediately.
The two of them then headed up the mountain path one after the other.
After they had gone some distance, a short-haired female disciple wearing the same crimson robes stepped out from a nearby cottage.
Walking up to the cold-faced disciple, she smiled and asked, “Are you sure it’s alright for us to help Junior Sister Ling deal with this Fang Chen?”