Chapter 187: Rong Ruihan Undermines He Zhang’s Plans

Translator: Minotauruz

Jun Xiaomo spent three full days and nights before she managed to finally stabilize her condition at the sixth level of Qi Mastery. Then, her second battle in the competition arrived two days thereafter.

On the morning of her battle, Jun Xiaomo woke up and washed up earlier than usual. Then, she arrived at the great hall of her inn, hoping to find a quiet corner to settle down at.

Since it was still earlier than usual, there were not many people in the great hall. The only reason why Jun Xiaomo had woken up so early was so that she could ensure that she was thoroughly prepared for her battle today.

Thus, she did not expect to see Rong Ruihan already awake and seated by the window-side, sipping a cup of tea all by himself. Several guests couldn’t help but steal glances at him when they noticed his suave and elegant disposition.

“Brother Rong, you’re early today.” Jun Xiaomo walked over to Rong Ruihan’s table and sat across him.

Rong Ruihan smiled faintly. Instantly, several young ladies who were stealing glances at him flushed with embarrassment as they gazed in astonishment at how this cold and suave man had such a warm and soft side to him as well. Unfortunately, he seems to have a partner already... They looked at Jun Xiaomo as they thought to themselves dejectedly.

Jun Xiaomo glanced around at her surroundings as she poured herself a cup of tea. Then, she teased with a soft voice, “Brother Rong, did you wake up so early so that you could be an eye candy for other people here? There are several others here who are staring at you.”

Bemused, Rong Ruihan’s eyes flickered slightly, before he lowered his eyes as he remained taciturn.

After pausing for a moment, Rong Ruihan took another sip of his tea before he placidly retorted, “Then am I considered an eye candy to you?”

Jun Xiaomo had been drinking her tea when he had asked this question, and she nearly choked on her tea.

“Cough cough cough...” She looked up and denounced Rong Ruihan’s untimely response, “Brother Rong, are you doing this on purpose?”

He must have been waiting for her to drink her tea before rendering her speechless with such a peculiar response.

“Am I considered an eye candy to you?” Rong Ruihan asked again. Even though there was a faint smile on his face, his eyes were filled with earnest.

“Cough...” Jun Xiaomo coughed into her fist, before she stuck out her thumb proudly and responded with some measure of exasperation, “Brother Rong is suave and charming, elegant and distinguished. There’s no better eye candy than you.”

Rong Ruihan knew that Jun Xiaomo had purposefully exaggerated her response, but he nevertheless welcomed her compliments. His smile widened as he casually remarked, “Thank you for your compliments. I think so as well.”

Jun Xiaomo nearly choked at Rong Ruihan’s casual remark again, and she decried his behaviour, “Brother Rong, I never knew there would be times when you would be so thick-skinned too.”

Rong Ruihan smiled, but he grew taciturn as he tacitly agreed with Jun Xiaomo’s observations.

Just then, a waiter interjected as he served food to the table, “Dear guests, your buns, porridge and other dishes are here! Please enjoy...”

“This...isn’t this a little bit too much?” Jun Xiaomo stared in horror at the amount of food served by the waiter.

“It’s not too much. It’s for two people after all.” Rong Ruihan explained.

“Two people?” Jun Xiaomo was taken aback.

“I knew you would wake up early today, so I’ve taken the liberty to order two portions of breakfast. This way, you’ll be able to eat once you’ve arrived, and there won’t be a need to wait for too long.”

Jun Xiaomo froze momentarily, but she soon began to understand the rationale for his actions – Perhaps Rong Ruihan is afraid that He Zhang would spike my food again this morning, so he came especially early to order breakfast on my behalf so that He Zhang wouldn’t have the opportunity to make a move, right?

After all, there was no way He Zhang would have known that Rong Ruihan would be at the great hall early just so he could order breakfast for Jun Xiaomo.

“So that’s the case...then I’ve got to thank brother Rong for your efforts.” Jun Xiaomo smiled faintly at Rong Ruihan as she sighed helplessly in her heart.

She was beginning to owe this man more and more despite the fact that they only claim to be no more than friends.

In fact, things were as they had expected. When Jun Xiaomo first made her way to the great hall, He Zhang had already been secretly following her under the cover of an Invisibility Talisman, hoping to find the right opportunity to spike Jun Xiaomo’s food with more Bedeviled Grass. But he had never expected Jun Xiaomo to share a meal with Rong Ruihan. Furthermore, Rong Ruihan had already ordered the food for Jun Xiaomo beforehand.

This had essentially denied He Zhang the prime opportunity to spike her food. After all, he had intended to momentarily stun the waiter before stirring the powdered Bedeviled Grass into her porridge.

He Zhang gnashed his teeth furiously as he cursed Rong Ruihan for thwarting his plans.

Then, his eyes flickered, and he thought of another plan.

He Zhang secretly left the great hall and went back upstairs to the third floor where all of the Heavenly Peak disciples were located.

He was still under the cover of the Invisibility Talisman. Given his high cultivation level, there was not a single person there who noticed He Zhang sneaking around on the third floor at this moment. Most of the disciples were still fast asleep.

Within the blink of an eye, He Zhang slipped into a room, before pasting a Noise-Cancelling Talisman on the door of the room.

In this room, there was a disciple who lay fast asleep on his bed as he snored loudly.

He Zhang crept up to that disciple, gently drew the bed curtains and revealed Wei Gaolang’s tender face. He slept with his limbs spread wide open on the bed, and he even smacked his lips from time to time. It was evident that he was deep in slumber right now.

He Zhang chuckled coldly. He knew that such unsuspecting victims were the easiest targets to manipulate.

“Ungh...” Wei Gaolang stretched himself, as though he was about to awaken. He Zhang tensed up immediately. He quickly grabbed a Drowsiness Talisman from his Interspatial Ring and slapped it on Wei Gaolang’s forehead.

Poor Wei Gaolang. He was midway through his stretch when the Drowsiness Talisman hit his forehead, and he limply collapsed back onto the bed as he fell back into a deep sleep.

He Zhang retrieved that pack of powdered Bedeviled Grass and a recovery pill. Then, he began to combine the two together with the infusion of his spiritual energy until they were finally combined together into a singular medicinal pill.

This was a rare fifth-grade recovery pill, even by the standards of the contents of He Zhang’s Interspatial Ring. He found it almost a waste to use it on Jun Xiaomo’s body.

But he knew that this could be considered an investment. As long as Jun Xiaomo consumed this medicinal pill when she was injured, then there was no way that the demonic energy within her body would not erupt uncontrollably.

As he thought about this, a vicious smile crept up the corner of He Zhang’s lips, as though he was already victorious.

He placed the recovery pill into an exquisite jade bottle, before placing the same jade bottle gingerly by Wei Gaolang’s pillow. Then, he retrieved a Confusion Talisman and a Hypnotic Talisman and applied both onto Wei Gaolang’s head.

After doing so, he leaned over beside Wei Gaolang’s ear and he craftily began to fill Wei Gaolang’s mind with how he came to obtain this pill – in his dreams, Wei Gaolang dreamt that he had somehow obtained an invaluable recovery pill, and he ran excitedly to present this as a gift to Jun Xiaomo.

Under the effects of the Confusion Talisman and the Hypnotic Talisman, Wei Gaolang would muddleheadedly comply with He Zhang’s simple suggestions. When he woke up, he would naturally think of a way to hand that invaluable recovery pill to Jun Xiaomo and persuade her to consume it during her battle.

At the same time, Jun Linxuan would never suspect He Zhang if something happened to Jun Xiaomo. After all, the “culprit” was none other than the Heavenly Peak’s youngest disciple, Wei Gaolang.

He Zhang chuckled coldly as he straightened his back and tore off the Drowsiness Talisman from Wei Gaolang’s head.

As for the Confusion Talisman and the Hypnotic Talisman, these had already seeped into Wei Gaolang’s body as soon as they had been applied.

Within a few moments, Wei Gaolang’s room door opened quietly, and then it shut again.

On the bed, the tender-faced Wei Gaolang yawned a few times before he slowly got out of bed.

Then, the jade bottle beside his pillow caught his eye. Wei Gaolang’s eyes brightened as he smacked his head, “That’s right! I’d wanted to give this recovery pill to martial sister yesterday. I’d actually forgotten all about it! This won’t do. I’ve got to get it to martial sister before the competition begins!”

He Zhang stood surreptitiously outside his door as he used his divine sense to observe Wei Gaolang’s actions. As soon as he heard Wei Gaolang’s exclamation, He Zhang revealed a wicked smile with absolute delight, before promptly slipping away. He left no traces, and nobody knew that he had ever been around Wei Gaolang at all.

On the other side, Jun Xiaomo had just finished eating, and she began to chat heartily with Rong Ruihan.

She rested her chin on her palms as her almond-shaped eyes glanced over towards the stairwell some distance away. She wondered what He Zhang was going to do now, given that Rong Ruihan had denied him of any opportunity of spiking her food.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

She was curious as to what form and what means He Zhang was going to use to deliver the powdered Bedeviled Grass to her hands.

Just then, Qin Lingyu appeared on the other end of the staircase. Jun Xiaomo lazily glanced up, and their eyes coincidentally met.

Just like that, the ex-fiancé-fiancée couple locked eyes with each other momentarily. One remained completely expressionless, while the other revealed an indifferent expression with a frigid gaze in her eyes.

Jun Xiaomo was the first one to shift her attention away. After all, she was completely disinterested in Qin Lingyu right now. In fact, she might even find herself nauseated if she continued staring at Qin Lingyu for no reason.

“Xiaomo, have some tea.” Rong Ruihan filled Jun Xiaomo’s cup with some tea and successfully brought her attention away from Qin Lingyu.

“Thanks.” Jun Xiaomo smiled as she thanked him, before bringing her teacup to her lips and taking a small sip out of the cup.

Yet Qin Lingyu’s gaze remained transfixed on Jun Xiaomo. In the glimmer of dawn, Jun Xiaomo was dressed in striking red as she languidly leaned her chin onto her palms. Her beautiful eyelashes cast a faint shadow over her doleful eyes, deepening her gaze; and she wore a faint smile on her lips which glistened brilliantly after sipping her tea. Her lips were like the radiant pink petals of a pretty flower that gleamed with morning dew, causing a person to want to...touch it, feel it, and then pluck it from the stem and play with it.

It’s still the same person, but how could she have transformed so much over the course of only one year?

Furthermore, even though she was aggressive and imposing during combat, she was like a completely different person outside of combat. Every single move she made was filled with such an enticing and alluring disposition, as though she were silently but surely luring her enemies into a trap specially craft for them.

Qin Lingyu’s expressions darkened and grew sullen.

“Martial brother Lingyu, why are you standing here in a daze?” A coquettish voice resounded from behind him, jolting Qin Lingyu back to his senses.

“Nothing much.” Qin Lingyu shifted his gaze away, before turning back to face Yu Wanrou, “You’re up early today.”

“That’s right. I couldn’t really sleep in for some reason.” Yu Wanrou glared at Qin Lingyu with an aggrieved and annoyed look.

Last night, she had thought of an excuse to ask Qin Lingyu to spend the night with her. Yet in the end, Qin Lingyu curtly rejected her on the pretext of the inconveniences of being out in public.

Truth be told, it had been quite some time since they last spent the night together, and she missed Qin Lingyu’s strong and secure embrace.

A sense of weariness swelled up from the depths of Qin Lingyu’s heart, but he nevertheless smiled warmly at Yu Wanrou as he remarked, “You must be homesick. Don’t worry, it’ll get better once you acclimatize and get used to this place.”

In other words, he would satiate Yu Wanrou’s desires after this period of time.

Yu Wanrou smiled bashfully, before glancing at where Jun Xiaomo was seated out of the corner of her eye. A frigid, vicious intent flashed across the depths of her eyes.