Chapter 397: Yu Wanrou’s Fate

Translator: Minotauruz

Yu Wanrou gnashed her teeth. She could accept falling prey to the ploys of just about anyone. So, why did it have to be Jun Xiaomo of all people?! The fact that she was now at Jun Xiaomo’s mercy made her feel incredibly aggrieved and humiliated.

“Jun Xiaomo, just what do you want?” Yu Wanrou gritted her teeth as she asked.

She knew that there was no meaning acting pitiful in front of Jun Xiaomo. After all, Jun Xiaomo hated her to the core. It was fine if they hadn’t crossed paths. But she knew that, as soon as they crossed paths, there was a good chance that only one of them would come out of it alive.

Jun Xiaomo smiled coldly, before slowly explaining, “What do you think? Do you want to hazard a guess as to what I’m about to do?”

Yu Wanrou’s heart began to thump quickly. She was incredibly fearful that Jun Xiaomo would slit her throat in the very next moment. After all, her spiritual waters were unable to stem fatal injuries.

In fact, she could even tell that her present abilities could hardly hold a candle to Jun Xiaomo, and it was going to be an incredibly easy thing for Jun Xiaomo to take her life.

Unfortunately, her following of men were just too far away right now, and none of them were in rage to rescue her.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Du Yongxu stood in a daze within the frontiers of battle as he gazed past his allies and enemies alike, staring straight at Jun Xiaomo with an impassioned blaze in his eyes.

Ever since the Secondary Inter-Sect Competition, he already found Jun Xiaomo incredibly mesmerizing, especially when she was clothed in that striking-red garment of hers. Now that ten years had passed since then, he was already under the impression that Jun Xiaomo had perished some time back. How could he have expected to encounter Jun Xiaomo in such a place right now?

Besides, Jun Xiaomo looked far more mesmerizing now than ever.

Unfortunately, Jun Xiaomo’s attention was evidently not on him right now. Du Yongxu was unable to repress the wicked desires in his heart, so he raised his voice and yelled across the battlefield, “Jun Xiaomo, release Yu Wanrou. Let’s talk things through calmly.”

As he said these things, Du Yongxu’s gaze had never once shifted towards Yu Wanrou – it remained completely transfixed on Jun Xiaomo.

Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen noticed the evidently peculiar gaze in his eyes as well, and their hearts began to burn with the flames of rage.

Jun Xiaomo glanced over at Du Yongxu and smirked, “Release her? I wouldn’t dare. Aren’t you guys already brandishing your weapons against us right now? If I release her, aren’t I going to be turned into a sieve in just an instant?”

“Then, Jun Xiaomo, just what do you want?!” Another one of Yu Wanrou’s followers barked indignantly. Unlike Du Yongxu, this follower’s heart was completely captivated by Yu Wanrou.

“What do I want? It’s simple. Drop your weapons, back off ten miles away, and hand over the map of the Arcane Realm to us. If you do that, I’ll release her. What do you say?”

“Map of the Arcane Realm?!” Yu Wanrou grew alarmed and she shrieked, “I don’t know what map you’re talking about! I don’t know!”

“Yu Wanrou, stop acting. We’ve been tailing you for over ten days now. It’s just that you’ve failed to discover us all this while. What’s the matter, are you going to continue this act in denial?” Jun Xiaomo chuckled lightly. Her tone of voice was casual, yet it was precisely because it was so casual it drew out the ire of Yu Wanrou’s faction even more.

Yu Wanrou’s eyes quivered momentarily. Truth be told, she sincerely did not want to hand the map of the Arcane Realm over to Jun Xiaomo. After all, she could ascend to the peak of the cultivation world once she seizes ownership of the Arcane Realm. If she hands over the map right now, the odds of succeeding would be far, far lower.

“I can give you anything else, apart from the map of the Arcane Realm. I’ve got some spiritual waters with me that can heal wounds almost miraculously. These waters are even comparable to ninth-grade recovery pills. If you release me, I’ll give you ten bottles of it. What do you say?” Yu Wanrou attempted to barter.

“What’s this? Are you saying that the map worth more than your own life?” Jun Xiaomo refused to budge.

Yu Wanrou gnashed her teeth, “The map was something that we’d obtained from all of our hard-earned efforts. Don’t you think you’d be taking an unfair advantage if we just gave it to you like that?!”

“Oh? Taking an unfair advantage? I think we can hardly hold a candle to you, the masters of that, can we? After all, you’re someone who’d even stoop so low to seize the sagely treasure of another person’s clan.” Jun Xiaomo retorted.

“Pfft...” The lady who was first attacked by Yu Wanrou’s entourage burst out into laughter as she gave Jun Xiaomo a grateful glance.

Yu Wanrou’s heart was so incensed that she felt a clump of blood lodged in her throat.

“Ten miles is too far. We can do three miles.” One of Yu Wanrou’s followers bargained, “As for the map to the Arcane Realm, we can give that to you as long as you don’t harm Yu Wanrou at all. If you harm even a hair on her head, we’ll never let you off!”

With tears in her eyes, Yu Wanrou cast that man a deeply emotional gaze, evidently touched by his actions.

“Deal.” Jun Xiaomo nodded as she held Yu Wanrou even more tightly, “You may leave now.”

There were several men in Yu Wanrou’s following who still couldn’t bear to part with the map of the Arcane Realm. However, as more from their entourage began to depart, and their numbers dwindled, they knew that there was no other option available to them.

“Remember, don’t you dare pull a fast one of us. Otherwise, I’ll make her blood flow like a river.” Jun Xiaomo left them a casual reminder. One of Yu Wanrou’s men paused momentarily in his steps, before shooting off into the distance.

That said, Jun Xiaomo remained ill-at-ease, so she quickly retrieved a Tracking Talisman and tossed it onto the back of one of the departing cultivators.

This way, she would know if they were attempting to pull a fast one on her.

Yu Wanrou continued to clench her fists so tightly that her fingers dug deep into her palms. She was overwhelmed by both fear and hatred. She had never been blackmailed or threatened like that ever since she earned the following of men behind her.

After a few incense sticks of time, Jun Xiaomo placidly muttered, “Alright, they’re already three miles away. You can retrieve the map of the Arcane Realm now.”

Yu Wanrou struggled in her heart for a moment, but under the threat of potentially losing her life, she reluctantly retrieved the map of the Arcane Realm from her Interspatial Ring.

Jun Xiaomo tossed the map over to Ye Xiuwen. After Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan opened and examined the map, they nodded back to Jun Xiaomo, confirming the authenticity of the map.

Smiling radiantly, Jun Xiaomo tapped Yu Wanrou’s neck as she added, “You might as well bring out the ten bottles of spiritual waters also.”

Yu Wanrou’s eyes widened as she cried out in disbelief, “Didn’t you say that you only wanted the map of the Arcane Realm?!”

Jun Xiaomo continued with a stoic gaze, “Since you’d offered to fork out a bunch of spiritual waters, we wouldn’t mind taking some with us for the journey ahead either. After all, your life is in our hands right now. We can naturally do anything we want with you.”

“You! You’re shameless!” Yu Wanrou was so infuriated that she was on the brink of tearing Jun Xiaomo to shreds.

“I still can’t hold a candle to you in terms of shamelessness. Stealing someone’s fiancée, snatching someone’s lover, and seizing another clan’s sagely treasure, Yu Wanrou, I wonder if your heart is truly made of stone. Furthermore, I’ll bet that you’ve never truly had feelings for the men following you right now, have you? You’re just keeping them by your side like spoils of war for bragging rights, as though you’re afraid that others wouldn’t know how charming you can be.” Jun Xiaomo mocked.

“You!” Yu Wanrou was incensed and frustrated by the fact that Jun Xiaomo had just exposed the deepest secrets in her heart. However, seeing that her following of men were not around, she began to ramble on irresponsibly as she snickered coldly, “So what? At least I’m not like you, unable to even keep my fiancé obsequiously by my side. It is my accomplishment that these men are all willing to follow me. It is my triumph that they are willing to take orders from me and be at my beck and call. And you, Jun Xiaomo, all you know to do is simply to flap your lips.”

“It turns out that the person you love the most is still none other than yourself.” Jun Xiaomo chuckled coldly, “Apart from flapping my lips, I’m also good at killing people. Are you going to hand over the spiritual waters or not? Don’t you dare blame me for not giving you fair warning!”

Yu Wanrou glared hatefully at Jun Xiaomo. However, she knew that her life was in Jun Xiaomo’s hands, so she had no choice but to give in to her.

Reluctantly, Yu Wanrou reached into her Interspatial Ring and retrieved ten bottles of spiritual water and handed it to Jun Xiaomo.

“Can you finally release me now?” Yu Wanrou gnashed her teeth.

Jun Xiaomo nodded her head as she released her, “Yes, I can.”

Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen continued to watch from a distance, and the immediately furrowed their brows.

They had all learnt about the things of Jun Xiaomo’s previous life from her recount of it. Neither of them would dare underestimate someone like Yu Wanrou, and they were all concerned that releasing her right now would only serve to invite trouble onto themselves in future.

Yu Wanrou’s face immediately gleamed in delight, as she reached into her Interspatial Ring for a Teleportation Scroll in order to reunite with her following of men. Unexpectedly, Jun Xiaomo hacked at her neck with a powerful blow. Yu Wanrou’s eyes faded to black, and she passed out completely.

“And here I was, thinking that you were really going to let her go.” Chi Jingtian walked over to Jun Xiaomo’s side and prodded Yu Wanrou’s limp body with his foot.

It was not because he was unsympathetic to the plight of a demure, dainty lady. Rather, he simply couldn’t bring himself to sympathize with a vicious, cold-hearted woman to begin with.

“We’re still going to release her in the end. But I’m going to give her a huge ‘present’ before I do so.” Jun Xiaomo explained as she squatted down before delivering a powerful blow straight towards Yu Wanrou’s abdomen.

Pfft! A huge mouthful of blood spurted down from Yu Wanrou’s mouth in an instant. As she snapped awake from the excruciating pain once more, she glared at Jun Xiaomo with her eyes wide open. Yet, this time, her eyes were only filled with dread and fear.

“This is something I’m returning to you.” Jun Xiaomo muttered dispassionately as she forcefully pressed both hands onto Yu Wanrou’s abdomen, causing the energy within Yu Wanrou’s body to flow out like streams of water in an instant.

Compared with what happened to her in her previous life, Jun Xiaomo had presently only crippled Yu Wanrou’s cultivation and plucked out her spiritual root. It could be said that Jun Xiaomo was already being merciful to Yu Wanrou.

“Ahh--!” Yu Wanrou shrieked in pain, and she finally passed out from the intense, electrifying pain once more.

After crippling Yu Wanrou’s cultivation, Jun Xiaomo stood up again, retrieved her silken handkerchief and cleaned off the blood on her hands.

Some distance away, the clansmen stared at Jun Xiaomo with alarm in their eyes. They had never expected someone so beautiful like Jun Xiaomo to possibly be so vicious in her actions.

That said, as soon as they recalled the fact that Jun Xiaomo had essentially rescued them with their intervention, they immediately shelved their assessment of her.

“Fellow cultivator, we sincerely thank you for your earlier assistance. We intend to take our leave now. We will never forget your kindness and favour.” The leader of the clansmen bowed respectfully to Jun Xiaomo and the others.

They were hardly interested in the map of the Arcane Realm to begin with. After all, they knew that there was no way they would be able to successfully enter the depths of the Arcane Realm with their abilities alone.

Besides, Jun Xiaomo and the rest had just saved their lives. They should never covet something that belonged to Jun Xiaomo.

Jun Xiaomo gave them a friendly smile.

After they took their leave, the sprightly old man enthusiastically minced his way over to take a peep at the map of the Arcane Realm. He rubbed his hands together, as though eager to dive straight to the depths of the Arcane Realm in an instant.

“What are we going to do with her?” Chi Jingtian kicked Yu Wanrou once more.

“Those men are going to come looking for her in due time.” As Jun Xiaomo spoke, she tossed another talisman over to Yu Wanrou’s side.

This was a Voice Recording Talisman. All of the heartless things that Yu Wanrou had said earlier had been recorded and left behind by Jun Xiaomo.

With a faint smile on her lips, Jun Xiaomo wondered in her heart whether Yu Wanrou’s following of men would continue to treasure her the same way once they discover Yu Wanrou’s crippled cultivation and learn of her true character.