Linlang

Moonlight cascaded like a waterfall. Splinters from the shattered square table lay strewn across the floor, while an overturned oil lamp trailed a serpent of flame along the wooden boards. The Western Regions girl's gaze, however, was as cold as a frozen winter lake. Their eyes met for an instant. Gently stroking Li Junwu's bare foot, Xu Yuan gazed at Jiayi's sharply defined, exquisite features, a slow, soft chuckle slipping from his lips. "Hey, what kind of tantrum are you throwing here?" "......" The displeasure latent in the young man's gentle tone caught Jiayi off guard for a second, her icy stare faltering. She clearly hadn't expected him to be the one to play the aggrieved party first. Beside him, Li Junwu reacted at once. Letting out a soft sigh, she abruptly pulled her foot back and said quietly, "There's no need to take it out on her. Jiayi's helped me quite a bit along the way." At her words, the chill in Xu Yuan's eyes receded somewhat. After a brief silence, he glanced back with a smile. "Well, if you say so, I'll let her off." Li Junwu smiled faintly. "After all these years, your temper hasn't changed a bit." Xu Yuan paused, then shrugged. "A leopard can't change its spots." Li Junwu rolled her eyes at him, then turned to Jiayi and said softly, "Clean up the splinters on the floor. It'll cause a mess if they catch fire." Listening to the two sing the same tune, Jiayi's soft curves, tightly wrapped beneath her ornate bodice, heaved slightly. She retorted, "I wasn't wrong earlier—" "......" Hearing this, Li Junwu silently looked away, twirling a strand of her long hair around a slender index finger. *Courting death.* Ever since they first met, this Eldest Young Master Xu had always been fickle and unpredictable with people. Only after growing close to him did she slowly understand the patterns of his temperament. If others were polite, he was polite; but if anyone dared show him attitude, he wouldn't hesitate to chop their face off. Only toward those he cared about would his tolerance soar without limit. Yet clearly, Jiayi was not among the people Xu Yuan cared about. After all, Li Junwu had already told him moments ago that the person she liked wasn't this Great Desert Divine Maiden. While these thoughts ran through Li Junwu's mind, Jiayi was still going on: "...With the situation so perilous right now, here you two are, flirting and fooling around!" "Flirting and fooling around, you say?" The moment the words left her mouth, Xu Yuan pointed at Li Junwu with an odd look, then pointed at himself. "Is there any chance that what we were doing just now was serious business too?" "How on earth does that count as serious business?" "Carrying on the lineage of Zhenxi Manor doesn't count?" "......" Jiayi clenched her fists. "......" The blush that had just begun to fade from Li Junwu's face surged right back. Xu Yuan grinned as he fixed his eyes on Jiayi's face. "Plenty of people have had a crush on Junwu in the past, but not one ever dared slam a table in front of me. Besides, I'm quite curious—in what capacity, and from what status, do you think you can lose your temper at us here?" "......" Fury flared in Jiayi's eyes, yet his words left her momentarily tongue-tied. Strictly speaking, she was essentially a prisoner right now. It was only through various circumstances that she had earned Li Junwu's trust, thereby becoming a subordinate partner in their current arrangement. For a while, only the crackle of burning splinters and the breathing of the three filled the guest room. Xu Yuan did not press his advantage. After holding her gaze—which looked ready to devour him alive—for a few breaths, he shifted his tone. "Well, whatever. 'Great Desert Divine Maiden' is no petty title, so I won't hold it against you." With that, he winked at Jiayi with a chuckle. "As for Zhenxi Manor's lineage... I'll just wait until Junwu and I are alone in bed to chat about it at our leisure~ That should suit you, shouldn't it, Jiayi?" *What a scoundrel.* Li Junwu let out an imperceptible scoff. Though she knew he was deliberately provoking Jiayi, she couldn't stop the faint flutter spreading through her heart. Soon, however, the corner of her eye caught a delicate silhouette flying backward with a whoosh. Jiayi hadn't been able to hold back—she had attacked. Only to be subdued by Xu Yuan in an instant and tossed onto the wooden bed. Utterly powerless to resist. Brushing splinters from his robe, Xu Yuan shrugged helplessly at Li Junwu. "You saw it yourself. She struck first." "......" Li Junwu had nothing to say. In the end, it was Xu Yuan who cleaned up the splinters and the snaking flame from the oil lamp. Because after being hurled onto the wooden bed, Jiayi didn't move at all. Just like the dog under the bed, once disciplined, she buried her face into the pillow and sprawled motionless, playing dead. Yet knowing Jiayi as he did from *Cangyuan*, Xu Yuan suspected there was at least some act in her display. As a woman who had been embroiled in Dachao royal power struggles since age ten, her political ambitions were self-evident. Even if her upbringing had left her starved of affection, she would never abandon her original ambitions for it. Still, nothing was absolute—after all, the variables of the real world were far greater than those in the game. Furthermore, according to the official guidebook's timeline, when the player fell in love with Jiayi in *Cangyuan*, she was already in her twenties and her personality was set. Right now, she was only seventeen or eighteen. Having her crush team up to put her in her place, she naturally felt an unbearable sense of grievance. Having tidied up the room, Xu Yuan glanced again at the wooden bed. Seeing that this slender-waisted vixen had no intention of getting up, he turned to the other woman in the room and asked, "Isn't this woman trying to seize power? How did she shut down so easily?" Li Junwu sat with one leg crossed over the other, arms folded around her waist. The sheer silk draped over her swayed gently in the breeze. She cast him a sideways glance. "You have the nerve to ask?" Xu Yuan curled his lip, dragged a chair over to sit beside her, and chuckled. "You know me. What I hate most is people throwing tantrums without any self-awareness." "All right, stop provoking her." A flash of helplessness showed in Li Junwu's long, heroic eyes as she murmured, "I haven't even asked you yet—how did you know we were here in Zhenxi Manor?" Xu Yuan weighed his words for a moment before shaking his head. "It's a long story. But if you two remain in Zhenxi Prefectural City, Zhenxi Manor might fall within a few days." "What?" Li Junwu looked stunned. Even Jiayi, sprawled on the bed, peered over with a look of startled disbelief. Noticing her gaze, Xu Yuan glanced back at the Western Regions girl and raised an eyebrow. At that, Jiayi huffed and promptly buried her face again. Xu Yuan chuckled and lowered his voice. "Looks like you don't know yet. Six or seven Saints have already gathered in the Great Desert." Li Junwu hesitated for a moment before asking, "You mean Saints are going to assault the city?" "Yeah." "Their goal?" "You, and that Great Desert Divine Maiden playing dead beside us." "......" Li Junwu. "......" Jiayi. "Wait, are you out of your mind?!" The desert enchantress bolted upright from the bed, glaring fiercely at Xu Yuan. "Something this important—why are you only saying it now?!" Glancing at the girl's flawless waist-to-hip curve, Xu Yuan replied with an amused smirk, "And how long did I delay? Even half an hour?" "Is half an hour not time? At such a critical juncture, every second counts!" "Every second counts? And what would you do with those seconds?" "Ob—obviously..." Jiayi's emerald eyes wavered, her words faltering before she snapped, "Obviously prepare!" "Oh? Then tell me, what should we prepare?" "......" Jiayi's chest heaved as she gritted her teeth and turned her face away. "Can't say, can you? Let me tell you what we should prepare instead." Xu Yuan fixed a teasing gaze on this former 2D waifu and said softly, "Though before that, I need to ask you a question." "Speak if you have something to say." Jiayi showed no warmth toward this man. "......" Xu Yuan didn't mind. Taking out a piece of raw demonic beast meat, he beckoned toward the bed. "Awoo..." The dog, which had been cowering and playing dead, scrambled and rolled out from under the bed in a flash. It dashed to Xu Yuan's feet, staring at the raw meat in his hand, and rolled over with its belly exposed, panting happily. Rubbing the mutt's belly, Xu Yuan tossed the meat onto the floor and asked quietly, "Divine Maiden, does Linlang's true form look like this?" Jiayi glared with jewel-green eyes at the shameless dog who treated anyone with food as its master. She snapped, "How could Linlang look anything like that? The avatar's appearance is shaped by the fleshly vessel it took!" "Awoo..." The hound stopped tearing at the meat, letting out an aggrieved whimper. Xu Yuan patted the dog's head and smiled. "I mean in size. Can its true form shrink to this size?" Jiayi furrowed her brows. After a moment's hesitation, she replied, "It can, but what are you getting at?" "If it can, then tomorrow morning I'll send people out of the city to bring Linlang inside." "......" Silence hung for a moment. Jiayi's exquisite face registered disbelief. Rolling her eyes and curling her lip, she muttered under her breath, "Idiot. How could you possibly bring it inside?" Unlike Jiayi's skepticism, Li Junwu knew Xu Yuan never spoke without purpose. She asked clearly, "What do you plan to do? The city defense array can detect demonic qi. Even bringing this avatar into the city took us an immense effort." "......" Xu Yuan smiled faintly and slowly stood up, beginning to unfasten his robes before the two women. Li Junwu blinked, watching intently. Jiayi stared for a second before turning her head, spitting out, "Y-You... what in the world are you trying to do?!" *Rustle—* Before her words even settled, Xu Yuan had already undone his outer robe and gently draped it over Li Junwu's semi-bare frame. Li Junwu's lovely eyes widened slightly. Xu Yuan looked at her and asked with a smile, "How is it?" With his close gaze and the scent clinging to his garment drifting into her nostrils, Li Junwu tightened her crossed legs slightly and replied clearly, "Mm... it's quite warm." "Huh? I'm asking about the material, woman." "......" Li Junwu fell silent. Reaching out with a slender hand, Li Junwu pressed her palm against Xu Yuan's leaning face and shoved him away. Turning her head, she let her long hair shield her expression and scoffed softly, "If you don't make yourself clear, how am I supposed to know what you're asking?" Straightening up, Xu Yuan watched her odd reaction, a flicker of bewilderment passing through him before he sighed. "This dharma garment can shield against a Saint's probing. Naturally, it can also block Linlang's aura. I plan to use it to smuggle Linlang into the city." With that, he called out clearly to Jiayi: "Hey, Lady Divine Maiden, do you have anything to say?" "You want Linlang's hiding place?" "And a keepsake from you. Otherwise, the people I send will probably just end up swallowed whole by Linlang." "Ha, you wish." Clutching the thin blanket, Jiayi scrutinized him with her lovely eyes. "Why should I take your word for it?" *Looks like my good bro didn't train her very well.* Then again, Xu Yuan had never expected her to cooperate right away. Linlang was Jiayi's trump card and the leverage she had used to negotiate with Li Junwu the whole way. She certainly wouldn't hand it over based on a few words from him. With that in mind, Xu Yuan strolled toward the bed. Seeing him approach, Jiayi's delicate frame trembled. She shrank back warily, biting her lip with eyes full of humiliation. *Is he... going to use force?* To her surprise, the hateful man merely tossed a folded sheet of xuan paper to her. Standing by the bedside, Xu Yuan looked down at her. "Open it and see." "......" Hesitation in her eyes, Jiayi reached out, picked up the paper, and unfolded it. Instantly, her pupils constricted. Noticing the shift in her expression, Xu Yuan said slowly, "Looks like you recognize him." *Rustle, rustle...* The thin xuan paper crinkled under her tightening grip. Jiayi bit her lip and took a deep breath. Looking up at him, she asked in a low voice, "He isn't dead?" "He should be. After all, someone ripped his heart right out." Xu Yuan spoke with a teasing smile as he plopped down on the edge of the bed, glancing sidelong at her shaken expression. "And Jiayi, that heart should be arriving in the Western Desert any moment now~" *** "So this is Nalan Ting's heart?" Beneath the moonlight, high above the vault of heaven, gale winds howled as two figures stood suspended in the void. A hunchbacked old man examined the rhythmically beating heart in the woman's hand, clicking his tongue in marvel. "To have condensed the sacred blood of the Great Desert to such purity..." The woman was tall, clad in a plain white, ornate palace gown. A veil obscured her face, but her golden eyes shone brilliantly in the moonlight. To the old man's wonder, she offered only cold silence. The hunchbacked old man withdrew his gaze and said softly, "Nalan Ting, that king of Dachao, could be considered quite dazzling even in their long history. It was merely a pity that his brilliance was so short-lived." Tianyuan's voice was as cold and aloof as snow. "You hold high praise for a failure." The hunchbacked old man chuckled and shook his head, asking in return with a low laugh, "A failure? Every choice Nalan Ting made, every piece he placed on the board, was struck right on the pulse of success. It was merely that the Dachao people were ultimately too weak. Even if every step was right, they could not withstand the trend of the realm." With that, the hunchbacked old man paused briefly. Staring at the heart in her hands, he chuckled softly. "Besides, whether Nalan Ting failed or not is far from settled." To this, Tianyuan remained noncommittal, casting a nonchalant glance toward the Western Desert. "His descendants were far too inept. Even though he garnered plenty of capital for his people during the Dachao Incident, it ultimately amounted to nothing more than a pipe dream." "......" At this, the hunchbacked old man was taken aback, then gave a wry laugh. "Lord Pavilion Master, your thinking is far too cold-blooded, and far too narrow. Nalan Ting's objective was to lead the Dachao people into the Central Plains. Thus, whether his descendants fought their way past the passes or were assimilated and absorbed into our Great Yan, both were futures he wished to see. Otherwise, during the Dachao Incident, he would not have proactively entrusted the secret of this god-blood-fused heart to an old man like me..."