Care for Some Melon?

Having arrived outside the main gates long ago, Li Guanqi stood frozen in place, his mouth agape. Tang Jing had led him all the way to the main hall, but hearing a commotion inside, Li Guanqi had decided not to enter just yet. Instead, from the doorway, he caught the sound of a woman breaking off an engagement. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before. Following his curiosity, he sent a thread of divine sense inside. What he saw immediately caught him off guard. Li Guanqi swallowed hard and patted his chest. "Now that's a massive melon!" Beside him, Tang Jing furrowed her brows slightly and asked in an utterly innocent whisper, "What melon? Where? Watermelon? Muskmelon?" Seeing the pristine cluelessness in her eyes, Li Guanqi felt an uncontrollable itch to spill the gossip. Unable to hold back any longer, he pulled Tang Jing over to the window and pointed at the woman inside. "Do you know who that woman is?" A flash of distaste crossed Tang Jing's eyes, and she transmitted her voice in a low murmur, "Of course I do. She's Yun Mengxi, a direct disciple under our Sixth Elder." Li Guanqi paused slightly, murmuring under his breath, "A direct disciple?" Tang Jing had no idea why he was asking, and she questioned with some confusion, "You know her?" The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curved into a mischievous smirk. "Know her? Oh, I know her all too well... And do you know who that man sitting inside is?" "Of course. Wu Kun, the eldest young master of the Wu family." "Why ask about that?" Li Guanqi raised his eyebrows with a grin. "Then do you know what the relationship between them is?" Tang Jing scrunched up her small face and mumbled, "What relationship could they possi—Whoa!! You mean... the two of them?! They're in THAT kind of relationship?!" Tang Jing's eyes went wide, and she grabbed Li Guanqi's arm in sheer excitement. Fortunately, Li Guanqi had long since set up an invisible spatial barrier around the two of them, or her voice would certainly have carried inside. Tang Jing's face flushed bright red, looking just like someone who had stumbled upon an explosive secret. Curiosity about other people's private lives was human nature; uncovering someone else's secret never failed to stir up intense excitement. Seeing her reaction, Li Guanqi smiled faintly. Then he pointed at the youth. "Then do you know who that young man is?" Tang Jing hurriedly shook her head. Piecing together what she had overheard earlier, she ventured cautiously, "Yun Mengxi's fiancé? But isn't Yun Mengxi breaking off an engagement right now?" Li Guanqi shook his head. "Not quite. That youth... came with Wu Kun. Seems to be his follower." Hearing that, Tang Jing clasped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in disbelief! Li Guanqi did not tell her what he had seen and heard back at the tavern. Speaking of those things would make him seem like a bit of a scoundrel, so it was better left unsaid. Even so, Tang Jing was utterly shaken. Her lips moved as she mumbled under her breath, "She's his fiancée, she's fooling around with him, he didn't know about the two of them, and now he knows she's his fiancée!" "Heavens! That is way too thrilling!" Tang Jing shook Li Guanqi's arm like an excitable little girl. Although she only acted this way out of sheer excitement, Li Guanqi still casually pulled his arm free. "What in the world are you rambling about? You're making my head spin. But you're right. Between the three of them... it's quite a show." At this, the corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curled slightly as he asked, "Well? Did you get your fill of melon?" Tang Jing blinked, only now realizing what Li Guanqi had meant by 'eating melon.' "Ohh, so that's it. Not that kind of melon after all." Looking at Li Guanqi's silhouette, she found herself even more captivated. She found him delightfully engaging and humorous—a lethal combination for a young girl whose heart was just beginning to stir. Inside the hall. With sorrow in his eyes, Cang Lu slowly drew out a sheet of paper—their marriage contract. In his utter disillusionment, he intended to return the contract to Yun Mengxi's face. Yet Yun Mengxi's expression abruptly shifted! She felt she had already made herself abundantly clear, yet Cang Lu had dared to bring out the marriage contract arranged by their families' elders at a moment like this! *Is he trying to force my hand? Hmph!* Her face chilling, Yun Mengxi flashed forward with blinding speed, closing the distance to Cang Lu in an instant. Before he could react, she snatched the marriage contract from his grasp! With a sweep of her arms, she tore that neatly preserved marriage contract to shreds! Sitting to the side, Wu Kun's lips curled into a faint smirk. Watching the furious Yun Mengxi, and then the stunned youth, he felt a sick, twisted thrill inside. Especially at the thought that Cang Lu—who routinely bought Vigor Pills for him—was actually Yun Mengxi's fiancé! His heart pounded violently, an inexplicable rush of excitement surging straight to his head. Were it not for the business at hand, he likely would have dragged Yun Mengxi away right then and there. Cang Lu was someone his family had taken in three years ago. At the time, it had been described as a favor born of friendship between their fathers, so Wu Kun had not been in a position to object. In any case, Cang Lu was merely a taciturn fellow who usually spent his time tinkering with an ancient zither. Wu Kun had simply treated him like a servant, bossing him around at will, and the youth had always obeyed without question. Thinking about how the woman he had been dallying with all this time was this fellow's fiancée, Wu Kun felt an overwhelming surge of excitement. High up on the dais, Chu Xingxian's gaze remained calm and indifferent. He saw nothing wrong with Yun Mengxi's actions. Everyone had their own choices to make. If Yun Mengxi wished to break the engagement, then let her. Seated just below the old man was Yun Mengxi's master, Ning Gang, the Sixth Elder of the Wind Thunder Sect. Watching the girl tear the contract to pieces with her own hands, a subtle gleam flashed in the elder's eyes. He, too, felt that an ordinary mortal could never be worthy of his direct disciple. Moreover, Wu Kun had only been granted an audience with Chu Xingxian today because Ning Gang had pulled strings behind the scenes. The Wu family was in the business of reselling demon beast materials, and naturally wished to attach themselves to a towering tree like the Wind Thunder Sect. With the Wind Thunder Sect's protection, the Wu family's business would flourish boundlessly. Meanwhile, Chu Xingxian frowned slightly on the dais. He could not care less about the squabbles of the younger generation. If not for the fact that he was waiting for Li Guanqi, he would not even be here. Li Guanqi had already been standing outside the door for quite a while now, so Chu Xingxian merely wanted this matter concluded as quickly as possible. Though to his eyes, that youth seemed far better than Wu Kun. Wu Kun was merely an early Core Formation cultivator with an unstable foundation and dreadful core quality; his cultivation had already reached its limit for this lifetime. By contrast, this youth possessed a steady aura and an exceptionally high-quality core. He was quite promising material. Yun Mengxi tossed the shreds of the marriage contract into the air. With a frosty face, she looked at Cang Lu and lowered her voice to say, "I already said I am breaking the engagement. Don't think a scrap of paper can bind me!" "The elders of our two families are no longer in this world, so this contract naturally counts for nothing!" "In light of our past acquaintance, I advise you to leave the mountain at once. Harbor no further delusions!"