Chapter 366: Ye Xiuwen’s Obstinance, His Master’s Anxiety

Translator: Minotauruz

“Master, have you finally regained consciousness?!” The leader of Rong Ruihan’s clansmen was so excited that he quickly set down the bowl of medicine on the table and made his way towards Rong Ruihan’s bed to help him up.

“This place is...?”

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“This is a place where the Heavenly Peak’s Peakmaster, Senior Jun, is temporarily putting up at. We ran into Senior Jun shortly after escaping from the valley, and he was the one who led us here. Truth be told, if not for the fact that we had run into Senior Jun, Master might not have been able to tide through the most critical part of your injuries.” The leader of the clansmen choked up slightly as he explained ruefully.

Rong Ruihan’s injuries had truly been well beyond the realms of grievous. To make matters worse, the clansmen had consumed far too many spirit stones and recovery medicines in the battle at the valley in order to rescue Rong Ruihan, and they did not possess the means to give Rong Ruihan the appropriate level of care he needed.

Fortunately, it was only through their serendipitous encounter with Senior Jun that they managed to pull Rong Ruihan back from the jaws of death.

“Where’s Xiaomo?” Rong Ruihan’s voice was filled with anxiety. He knew that he had just woken up from a long, arduous nightmare that was related to Jun Xiaomo. However, no matter how much he tried, he could not recall the details of the dreams.

The only thing he knew was that the dream constantly afflicted him with a deep sense of uneasiness. In turn, he eagerly desired to see Jun Xiaomo to ensure her safety with his very own eyes – If we’ve been rescued by Xiaomo’s own father, she should be fine, right?

The leader of the clansmen revealed a slightly troubled expression on his face. He knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before his master learnt of Jun Xiaomo’s disappearance again. Unfortunately, his master’s body had not fully recovered yet, and there was still a high risk of injury if his master acted impulsively and attempted to search for Jun Xiaomo.

As Rong Ruihan’s loyal servant, he couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Rong Ruihan sacrifice the wellness of his own body to go about searching for Jun Xiaomo.

“Where’s Xiaomo?!” Rong Ruihan barked with a harsher voice. Despite his severe injuries, his body’s aura instantly flourished, bearing down heavily on the leader of his clansmen.

“She...she’s been brought away by Ye Xiuwen, and we’re unable to locate her right now.” The leader of his clansmen bowed obsequiously as he reported. He knew that there was no hiding it anymore.

“Ye. Xiu. Wen!” Rong Ruihan’s eyes were blazing with fury, “To think that this is how you’d repay me after I saved you from being trapped by the spirit tool. Great! Just great!”

Rong Ruihan had not forgotten that moment when he and Jun Xiaomo were trapped and struggling for their lives within the spirit tool, while Ye Xiuwen had lackadaisically sat outside the spirit tool with Zhang Shuyue with such a vile and vicious expression on his face.

Rong Ruihan had never felt so desperate and despondent before – not even when his own father had turned against him and decreed his death. He wanted to rescue Jun Xiaomo, yet he was completely powerless to do so. He wanted to release Jun Xiaomo from the spirit tool, yet they remained helplessly trapped within the spirit tool, fated to be toyed about by Ye Xiuwen.

And now, Ye Xiuwen had even taken Jun Xiaomo away, abandoning the rest of the Heavenly Peak disciples in search of his own life.

Was he not aware just how many people were after Jun Xiaomo’s life?! Was he trying to get Jun Xiaomo killed?!

The bulging veins on Rong Ruihan’s forehead began to throb uncontrollably when he recalled how Jun Xiaomo was persecuted in his dreams.

“No! This won’t do. I’m going to go look for her right now.” Rong Ruihan scrambled to get out of bed, only to be stopped by the leader of his clansmen.

“Are you trying to stop me?!” Rong Ruihan glared coldly at the leader as though frost were coming out of his eyes.

“Master, please don’t be anxious.” The leader resisted the intense pressure bearing down on his body as he explained, “Your servant thinks that it’s not going to be easy for you to search for Miss Jun right now. Besides, Senior Jun might well be more anxious to locate Jun Xiaomo than you are. If he’s unable to locate Jun Xiaomo, there’s no reason we would be able to do better than him in any event.”

“Then what do we do?” Rong Ruihan knew that his subordinate’s explanations were rational, so he clenched his fists as he suppressed the urge to go searching for Jun Xiaomo.

The leader of the clansmen sighed briefly, “Senior Jun has mentioned that the only thing we can do right now is to wait. If someone with malicious intentions locates their whereabouts, we will definitely hear news of it.”

Rong Ruihan drew a deep breath, and a trace of reluctance and indignation flickered across the depths of his eyes.

---------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, just as Jun Linxuan and Rong Ruihan were desperate to locate Jun Xiaomo’s whereabouts, Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo had just embarked on their trek along the winding paths leading towards the mountain ranges. He had heard that the mountain ranges were incredibly idyllic and tranquil, perfect for calming the heart and soothing the mind. Thus, he thought to bring Jun Xiaomo there to foster the growth of their unborn child.

Naturally, they were followed by an obsequious tail that couldn’t be shaken off no matter what Ye Xiuwen did. This tail was none other than Ye Xiuwen’s master, the sprightly old man.

Jun Xiaomo still got cramps from time to time over the last few days, albeit the intensity of these cramps had already begun to fade. Notwithstanding that, Ye Xiuwen’s master had never ceased to remind Ye Xiuwen that this period of time was incredibly delicate and special, and Ye Xiuwen had to do all he could to ensure that Jun Xiaomo was emotionally stable, so as to establish a good foundation for the unborn child’s growth and development. Thus, Ye Xiuwen consciously suppressed his possessiveness over Jun Xiaomo, and he also grew to become more caring and considerate to her as well.

That said, Ye Xiuwen would on rare occasions still experience an outburst of emotions. Whenever that happened, Jun Xiaomo would always appear before the sprightly old man in a tragic state with deep purple marks on her hands, evidently caused by the manifestation of Ye Xiuwen’s rage.

Jun Xiaomo couldn’t wrap her mind over how she could possibly have Ye Xiuwen’s child. She could hardly locate a single shred of memory of Ye Xiuwen in her mind, and her impression of Ye Xiuwen only worsened as time went on.

She personally felt that there was no way she could have fallen for such a manic, egotistical person, and the best explanation for her pregnancy was that he had forced himself upon her.

Whenever she considered the possibility of this, Jun Xiaomo would feel incredibly disgusted and nauseated, and thoughts of escaping would once again surface on her mind.

Unfortunately, once bitten, twice shy. Ye Xiuwen had kept a close eye on her ever since her very first, botched attempt at an escape. He had even pledged to shackle and bind her to himself using chains if she ever attempted to escape again.

Thus, Jun Xiaomo’s heart grew sullen and melancholic. Even though she were pregnant, her body only grew slimmer and slimmer, as though she were completely malnourished.

The sprightly old man noticed all of these things, and he began to grow anxious once more. He knew that his disciple’s relationship with Jun Xiaomo must have been incredibly good in the past. Otherwise, there was no way that his disciple would have struggled and worked so hard over the twelve years he was trapped within the Death’s Gorge, cultivating and battling day and night with the sole goal of being reunited once again with Jun Xiaomo.

Sigh, I’d only left him for a short while to look for an old friend. Who would’ve thought that his personality would experience such a massive upheaval? It’s tragic!

No matter how the old man pondered and thought about things, his mind was only drawn to one conclusion – and that was that the problem lay with his own disciple. After all, was there any lady who would be able to put up with him, given his present attitude?

“Disciple, do ye think that there’s been any changes to yer personality lately?” The sprightly old man could no longer repress the urge to question Ye Xiuwen.

“Changes? What changes could there be?” Ye Xiuwen quipped back with a slightly darkened gaze.

Ye dare say that there aren’t changes? It’s so stark! Would ye ever have treated me this way to begin with, hmm?! The old man snorted in his heart as he glared at Ye Xiuwen, “Don’t ye think yer personality has changed? If not for the fact that I can verify yer identity through yer memories and yer soul, I might even have suspected someone seized yer body!”

“Seized my body?” Ye Xiuwen chuckled coldly, “Don’t worry, there’s nobody who can do so for now.”

Hmph! Such arrogance! The sprightly old man suddenly realized that his disciple was getting increasingly less adorable, so he furrowed his brows, “Don’t ye find yer present personality a problem?”

Ye Xiuwen glanced dispassionately at his master as he responded, “I don’t think so. I even know why my personality has changed.”

The old man widened his eyes as he barked, “Ye know the reason for yer change?!”

Ye Xiuwen retrieved from his Interspatial Ring the spirit tool that had previously held Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan, placed it on his palm and explained, “My personality has changed ever since I’d seized control of this spirit tool.”

The old man immediately furrowed his brows. He could sense strong traces of vile energy emanating from the spirit tool in Ye Xiuwen’s hands.

He knew immediately that the spirit tool was not a simple tool. If possible, he would much prefer it if his disciple could sever his connection with the spirit tool once and for all.

However, almost as though he could guess the old man’s train of thoughts, Ye Xiuwen continued, “However, even though my personality has experienced a massive change, I don’t think that this is a bad thing. I didn’t like my previously hesitant and passive self. If I’m fond of someone, there’s no reason not to fight and seize her for myself. Hesitance and worry would only lead to missed opportunities. See, isn’t Xiaomo by my side right now?”

As he finished speaking, a peculiar grin crept up the corner of Ye Xiuwen’s lips.

The old man reached out with his hand, intending to snatch the spirit tool straight from Ye Xiuwen’s arms. Unfortunately, Ye Xiuwen pre-empted the old man, and he immediately stored the spirit tool within his Interspatial Ring before the old man could reach it.

“Master, don’t bother trying to seize this spirit tool from my hands. I’ll never sever my contract with it.” Ye Xiuwen muttered impertinently.

“Ye brat!” The old man glared infuriatedly at Ye Xiuwen, “Ye’ll get yer just desserts if ye carry on like this! Xiaomo might run from ye even after she has yer kid!”

“She won’t be able to do so.” Ye Xiuwen calmly responded, as though expounding a universal truth.

The old man could no longer be bothered to butt heads with Ye Xiuwen any longer. Disciple’s going to be the death of me one day! Thus, he drew the curtains and returned to the carriage in a huff.

Jun Xiaomo was pregnant, so they had hired a horse carriage to facilitate their travels towards the mountain ranges.

Jun Xiaomo sat inside the horse carriage, leaning against the window with her eyes shut. Dark rings could be seen around her eyes.

It was evident that the multitude of things weighing on her heart, coupled by the long journey towards the mountain range, had taken its toll on her spirits.

The sprightly old man sighed in his heart – This won’t do. I’ve got to think of something to correct that unruly disciple of mine!