Chapter 134: The Beautiful Junior Sister

The Apex!

Xiang Lan'er completely disregarded the nonsense about the final threats. What intrigued her was how this fellow repeatedly brought up claiming first place. She probed, "You've seen the people I have; they're only good for errands and odd jobs. It's not funny to joke about them winning first place with them."

Shi Chun replied, "I'm not joking with you, nor am I asking them to fight. Only five people can enter from one sect. Surely, your people aren't all from the same continent, are they?"

"How can we win without fighting?" Xiang Lan'er pondered, then asked doubtfully, "What difference does it make if they're from different continents?"

Shi Chun explained, "I don't know how many people you have, but have them find a way to return to their respective continents. I don't need them to fight; I just need them to gather information on the current status of the main forces on each continent."

Xiang Lan'er blinked slightly. "We can't win first place just with that, can we? Ultimately, it'll still come down to fighting. Do you perhaps have other forces?"

Shi Chun nodded. "That's right. My people will handle the fighting. Your personnel only need to gather the information I mentioned."

"Heh heh heh heh," Wu Jinliang chuckled, sounding like a mountain bandit.

Xiang Lan'er, however, drew a sharp breath. She had thought these two were joking, but they were serious. How many people would they need to arrange to enter to claim first place?

Regardless of anything else, one thing was clear: these two indeed had hidden forces behind them, concealed so deeply that she had almost been fooled.

She pressed, "Why do you want to win first place? It can't just be for the meager reward, can it?"

She inwardly mused that even the demonic path wouldn't covet such a small reward. Shi Chun said, "That's classified information; I'm afraid I cannot disclose it."

He couldn't be bothered to explain further; these days, no one believed the truth.

Wu Jinliang chuckled again at the opportune moment.

Xiang Lan'er immediately interjected, "My people can cooperate with you, but I must be involved in this matter." She had no other agenda than to subtly gauge Shi Chun's true strength. Wasn't her previous plot to kill Wu Jinliang driven by this same motive? Now that Shi Chun's backing forces were starting to show, she naturally didn't want to miss the opportunity.

She clearly understood the higher-ups' intentions: Shi Chun's connection with Bowang Tower was more important than Wukang Mountain. No matter which faction he belonged to, any chance to win him over was worth trying. Shi Chun pondered for a moment and agreed, as he still needed her for liaison. He immediately rolled up his sleeve, pointed at the tag on his bracelet, and told Wu Jinliang, "Get her a tag for Youxia Mountain too."

"Uh, this..." Wu Jinliang was startled. "Weren't all the junior sisters... ruined?"

Shi Chun replied, "There can also be one who survived being ruined."

Wu Jinliang looked Xiang Lan'er up and down, tutting, "It really suits her."

Xiang Lan'er seemed to understand, yet completely didn't, asking suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

"What it means can be explained later. For now, let's get things ready, and we need to hide these hundreds of Insect-Grade Crystals first."

The three first rode the Wind Scale Beast away from the area, landing in a hidden spot in a mountainous region. Then Wu Jinliang went to get the tags, and Xiang Lan'er went to hide the Insect-Grade Crystals. As for where she hid them, Shi Chun couldn't be bothered to ask; he let her hide them herself, as people feel more secure when they hide things themselves.

He genuinely didn't care for those few hundred pieces and couldn't be bothered to scheme over them.

Shi Chun himself pulled out a parent-child talisman, the one he had specifically asked for from Chu Jingting, the leader of the Biluan Sect in Xuanzhou. He sent a message asking, "Brother Chu, are you there?"

He wondered if the other party was still alive after the competition of the past few days.

Before long, Chu Jingting's reply came: "Brother Wang, you're still alive!"

Shi Chun replied, "Do not let anyone else know, or we will both face grave misfortune."

Chu Jingting asked, "What do you mean?" Shi Chun said, "I'll explain in person. How can I find you, Brother Chu?" Chu Jingting replied, "From where we last parted ways, go about three hundred li to the left. There's a large rift valley by the shore. Send a message when you arrive, and I'll come find you." Shi Chun responded, "Alright."

After putting away the parent-child talisman, he stayed put and waited. First, Xiang Lan'er returned, but he had to wait a long time for Wu Jinliang.

When Wu Jinliang finally returned, it was already mid-afternoon, and he brought back a tag.

One side read: "Xuanzhou Youxia Mountain, Five." The other side read: "Feng Meimei."

"The name suits the person, doesn't it? I put a lot of effort into thinking of this name for you; it was much harder than killing someone," Wu Jinliang said, helping Xiang Lan'er put the tag on her bracelet while panting.

Shi Chun glanced at it and remembered the name and ranking to avoid mistakes later. He didn't care about the quality of the name itself, as he had no right to question others' names, given that his own name was frequently mocked.

Xiang Lan'er's eyebrows shot up. This name truly disgusted her a little, though she would make do with a fake name. However, this time, she confirmed who was behind these crude acts. The previous fake indenture had also been this person's handiwork. It seemed Wu Jinliang enjoyed fabricating things.

Just fabricating wasn't enough; he also had to teach them how to use it. Wu Jinliang rolled up his sleeves, demonstrating as he explained, "When you encounter someone from Shengzhou, just cover the Xuanzhou tag when you roll up your sleeve. When you encounter someone from Xuanzhou, cover the Shengzhou tag. Click-clack, like this, and like this, and like this." Xiang Lan'er mimicked the gesture but remained highly doubtful. "Will this work? It's normal for strangers to want to verify. We'll be exposed instantly."

This method was truly too crude, so crude it was unbelievable. Did he really think everyone in the world was a fool? She, for one, had never used such a rough and unrefined method in her life, which made her lose confidence in her own performance.

Shi Chun said dismissively, "Just put on a show. With the two of us covering for you, you won't be exposed. Remember one thing: you're playing a female disciple from Youxia Mountain who was assaulted. It would be even better if you could show some signs of trauma. I saw you perform quite well in front of Bian Weikang, so this shouldn't be difficult for you. If all else fails, just be quiet and act like you don't like talking. Don't worry about anything else; we're here."

Xiang Lan'er vaguely understood what the words "ruined" she'd heard earlier meant. She asked, very confused, "Why do I have to play such a woman?"

Shi Chun replied, "There's no other way. The information gathered by relevant personnel beforehand indicated this. Oh, and the one who assaulted you was Bai Shuchuan from Jieyun Mountain. Just in case, don't reveal too much when responding. Anyway, you're traumatized, so it's fine if you don't want to talk."

Xiang Lan'er's eyes widened a little more. "What's Bai Shuchuan?"

Shi Chun raised his chin towards Wu Jinliang. "Because Bai Shuchuan cursed him."

Wu Jinliang grunted. What kind of logic was this? Xiang Lan'er was utterly confused.

That was pretty much all the instructions given. Shi Chun then told Wu Jinliang the meeting location that Chu Jingting had provided.

Wu Jinliang, somewhat eager, immediately rode the Wind Scale Beast, carrying the two of them into the air.

The journey wasn't too far. They didn't detour but instead crossed the Moon Sea directly from high altitude.

Looking at the Moon Sea's mountains and forests below, Wu Jinliang was still very happy and excited, even though he had ridden the Wind Scale Beast many times. Before leaving the place of exile, he could never have dreamed of acquiring such a high-level magical artifact so quickly.

He could already imagine that after the Heavenly Meteor Shower Convention, he could just find a girl in the capital, ride the Wind Scale Beast with a grand display, and winning her over would be effortless.

Thinking of the delightful possibilities, he chuckled to himself.

"Why can that guy laugh like that even when he's alone?" Shi Chun and Xiang Lan'er both felt a shiver of disgust and exchanged glances.

Even from the air, the large rift valley by the shore that Chu Jingting had mentioned was clearly visible.

After the three landed and confirmed no one was around, Shi Chun took out the parent-child talisman again to contact Chu Jingting, informing him of their arrival.

With great skill comes great daring; he wasn't afraid of being ambushed at all. Chu Jingting told him to wait a moment, saying he needed to find an excuse to slip away.

They didn't wait too long. As dusk approached, Chu Jingting arrived, not alone, but with several members of the Biluan Sect. He had secretly scouted the area beforehand.

At the reunion of old friends, Chu Jingting was both excited and surprised. "Brother Wang, Brother Gao is alive too! That's wonderful, truly wonderful..." Then his gaze fell upon the very beautiful Xiang Lan'er, and he hesitated, asking, "And who might this be?"

He had already noticed the chestnut-colored attire under her cloak, similar to Shi Chun's, and had a slight suspicion.

Shi Chun gestured, "Junior Sister, this is Brother Chu Jingting of the Biluan Sect."

Xiang Lan'er indeed put on a dejected and silent act, subtly nodding in greeting to Chu Jingting.

So Shi Chun took her wrist and helped her reveal the tag on her bracelet, displayed the name on it, and then lowered her hand.

Chu Jingting uttered an "Oh," then seemed confused again. "Isn't your Junior Sister..."

Shi Chun subtly shook his head at him, gesturing not to speak of such things. Then he pulled Chu Jingting and his companions a little further away before whispering to them, "We also thought she was gone, but then she contacted us via the parent-child talisman, and we learned she was still alive. Gentlemen, it's truly a painful memory. We are also very sad about it. Please don't mention that matter in front of her; it's really inappropriate."

The others suddenly understood. Looking at Xiang Lan'er's appearance, she was indeed uncommonly beautiful. Her original charm and allure were entirely imaginable, and it was perfectly understandable that some beasts couldn't control themselves.

Chu Jingting said in a deep voice, "What was the killer's name again, Bai...?"

Wu Jinliang, who had come closer, promptly interjected, "Bai Shuchuan!"

Chu Jingting gnashed his teeth in hatred. "That scoundrel! To ruin such a wonderful person like this! Don't let him fall into my hands!"

One of his companions also said bitterly, "How dare he think Xuanzhou has no one! If he falls into our hands, he will surely be executed!"

The group of men all felt heartbroken, because Xiang Lan'er was simply too beautiful. Everyone has the inclination to protect beauty, and they felt a profound sense of injustice.

They now understood Wu Jinliang's sorrowful cry from back then; it was entirely accurate. She truly was a junior sister as beautiful as a flower!

Xiang Lan'er, wanting to know what they were discussing, deliberately moved closer. Her original intention was to probe Shi Chun's background.

Seeing her approach, the men, being sensible, immediately stopped talking about the matter.

Chu Jingting and the others each nodded in greeting to her, attempting to convey warm and kind smiles to soothe her.

Of course, their visit wasn't just for this beautiful junior sister. Chu Jingting quickly returned to the main topic. "Brother Wang, Brother Gao, I heard you both died. I even used the parent-child talisman to contact you, but you didn't reply. Why was that?"

Shi Chun sighed, "It wasn't that we didn't want to reply; it's that we were too scared to contact you at the time."

Chu Jingting was puzzled. "Why? I'm all ears."

Shi Chun asked, "After we parted ways, do you know what Suk Yuan Sect did? Yan Ji transferred you away, and he also transferred the people he brought. Additionally, he brought in hundreds more, concealing the dangers before the incident from them. He used the Insect-Grade Crystals we found earlier in Moon Sea as a pretext, claiming there were large quantities of them inside, and that Guan Wen was leading people to find them. In reality, he was luring everyone in to help search for Guan Wen, forcing the two of us to lead the way. As a result, not long after entering, we encountered a dangerous ambush.

"After we narrowly escaped back to shore, we immediately hid. We had no choice but to hide. With Suk Yuan Sect doing something like that, and us knowing the truth, how could Suk Yuan Sect tolerate us? Once they knew we were alive, they would surely silence us. Not contacting you earlier, Brother Chu, was also for your own good. I ask you, if Suk Yuan Sect knew you also knew about this matter, would they let you speak?"

Chu Jingting and the others were first shocked, astonished that Suk Yuan Sect would do such a thing.