Chapter 1775: He Is My Man!
Chapter 1775: He Is My Man!
“You used to live here? All alone?” Qiu Honglei asked in surprise. While living all the way here in the desolate outskirts meant having beautiful scenery nearby, it brought a lot of complications. On top of that, it had to be extremely lonely.
“That’s right,” Jing Teng said, sounding a bit sentimental as she looked at the residence. “This was where I spent my childhood. When I used to live here alone, I didn’t feel much, but then…”
“Then what?” Wei Suo asked curiously. The past of such a beautiful woman was always fascinating.
Jing Teng shook her head, clearly not in the mood to continue. She quickly arrived outside the courtyard entrance. The place was already overgrown and covered under vines and impossible to enter. However, when she stood there, even without doing much, the vines seemed to come alive and withdrew to either side, revealing the main entrance.
“Jing Manor?” Zu An said in surprise as the pretty but slightly immature writing on the entrance was revealed. Don’t tell me she still has other family here?
Jing Teng looked up at the two characters. A wistful look appeared on her face as she said, “In the past, I received enlightenment from Immortal Ruler Baopu and took on human form. At the time, I was extremely curious about human society and had a great yearning for it. I collected all sorts of human novels, and in them, all the clans’ courtyards were written as ‘something something manor’. That was why I copied them and wrote that on my door too. Back then, I had just started to practice writing characters, so the writing is a bit ugly. I’ve given you all a poor showing.”
Wei Suo said with a smile, “Not at all, not at all. It’s already much better than my handwriting now!”
Jing Teng smiled, but didn’t respond.
Qiu Honglei secretly told Zu An, “She was young and didn’t understand the ways of the world, and yet had a yearning for human society. No wonder she was tricked by a trashy man.”
Zu An had a strange expression. As expected, it was still women who understood women best.
Jing Teng strolled through the courtyard. The courtyard was full of weeds and shrubbery with no place to walk, but as she strolled past, all the plants moved aside. The others were amazed by the sight.
As the vines withdrew, the original house was revealed. The rooms were already clearly run down and full of spiderwebs. The doors and windows looked as if they were about to fall apart at any moment.
Jing Teng walked up to a half-broken swing and gently massaged its rope. It clearly evoked some memories of the past. She said, “I grew up here happily until I was sixteen years old. It was then that I encountered a wounded man who accidentally came to this place. At the time, I didn’t think too much and saved him after seeing that he was at death’s door. Later on, he taught me some poems and songs of the human world and told me about the sights of the world, and how incredible the outside was.
“As time went on, I developed a good impression of him. I thought he was a man that was worth entrusting everything to, just like in those stories.”
Qiu Honglei couldn't help but say with a sigh, “The male leads in those stories are often just trash, though.”
“That’s right. Unfortunately, I was young and inexperienced. I thought I would be the exception,” Jing Teng said, laughing in self-mockery. “At the time, I thought that our encounter was like a meeting of fate, but now that I think back, there were quite a few formations set up around my courtyard. Normally, it should have been impossible to find. Why would anyone jump in while seriously injured? It was all a conspiracy from the very start.”
“Don’t think about it anymore. It’s all in the past,” Qiu Honglei said, unable to help but feel sympathetic as a woman. Thank goodness Ah Zu is still pretty good.
Wei Suo was also a bit angry. He thought to himself, Which trash would scheme to harm her when she’s so beautiful? Does that guy not have eyes?
Only Zu An remained rather calm as he looked at a corner in the room. He said, “Your distinguished selves have hidden in the corner for so long. Just how much longer do you plan on eavesdropping?”
The others were all shocked to hear those words. They hadn’t noticed that there was someone else here.
Two figures slowly walked out from behind a large tree. The one in the lead was a middle-aged man in blue robes. He had a tall and straight-backed figure, square eyes, and a broad nose. He looked rather grand and majestic, and there was even a hint of a scholarly air to him.
However, Zu An and Qiu Honglei’s gazes immediately shifted to the white-clad woman behind him. Her long hair fluttered around, her white dress dancing in the wind. She looked just like an aloof goddess. However, the expression on her face gave off an icy chill that made her seem to be looking down on all others from a thousand miles away.
The woman was none other than Yan Xuehen, who had been separated from them all this time! Zu An hadn’t expected to reunite with her here and immediately beamed with joy.
Qiu Honglei had a conflicted expression. After all, this was Chu Chuyan’s master, and the arch-enemy of her own master. With the natural enmity between the orthodox and devil factions present as well, she felt a lot of pressure.
When she saw Zu An, Yan Xuehen’s ice-cold expression revealed a trace of gentleness. She had clearly already been aware of him for a while. She had been carrying out the highest-level mission for the Adventurer’s Guild precisely to find where he was, and yet she actually found him just like that! Could this really just be fate?
Zu An was about to call out to her when Yan Xuehen shook her head slightly. Soon after, she said by his ear, “Ah… Zu An, Lady Qiu, let’s pretend to not know each other.”
Forget about Qiu Honglei, even Zu An was confused. He asked, “Why?”
“This one next to me is none other than the Adventurer’s Guild’s president, Zang Ao. Recently, the guild received a top-grade assassination order, which was precisely to kill… Zu An. The reward was extremely generous, to the point that even I was a bit stirred. Countless experts want to eliminate you right now, so I want to first find out who put this bounty on your head.”
“So that was the situation!” Zu An muttered, finally understanding. This man was that previous boyfriend Jing Teng mentioned? This guy does know how to put on airs, at least.
Qiu Honglei was more concerned with the news that Zu An was now on the wanted list. She couldn't understand why, even though they hadn’t spent that much time in this world, they had ended up with such a bounty. Could it be that Zhao Han’s group was causing them trouble?
It wasn’t her fault for not thinking of the Ghost King. After all, the Ghost King had countless subordinates and didn’t have any need to spend that much money to ask the Adventurer’s Guild to complete such a mission.
The middle-aged man gave Zu An a surprised look; it was uncertain whether it was because he thought Zu An had seen through his identity, or that he knew that he was wanted. Only then did he turn to Jing Teng and ask, “Teng Teng, am I really just that unbearable in your heart?”
Jing Teng frowned and replied, “Zang Ao, do not refer to me with such a disgusting name.”
The two immediately showed mutual hostility upon first sight.
The handsome middle-aged uncle laughed bitterly and said, “Alright, alright. Since you don’t like it, I won’t call you that anymore.”
Jing Teng laughed coldly and replied, “That tone again. That little girl of the past might have been fooled by you, but the same behavior will only get a single reaction from me, which is disgust!”
The handsome uncle remained silent for a moment before saying, “I know that I have deeply hurt you in the past. I do not dare to ask for your forgiveness, but I really was too young back then, and knew nothing about the world. That was why I was at a loss when I found out about your identity and made that huge mistake.”
“If you aren’t going to ask for forgiveness, what’s the meaning of even saying these things?” Jing Teng replied with a sneer. “All this does is make you seem even more hypocritical.”
Zu An, Qiu Honglei, Yan Xuehen, and even Wei Suo silently watched the drama play out.
Qiu Honglei secretly said to Zu An through ki transmission, “It seems these two still have some unresolved feelings. If they really didn’t feel anything anymore, they wouldn’t be arguing in such a worked-up manner.”
“That’s hard to say. Even if there’s no passion left, being deceived is still enough to completely infuriate a person,” Zu An replied.
“I guess you’re right,” Qiu Honglei said with a smile and continued to watch the situation.
The middle-aged man was really embarrassed to have so many prying eyes around. He looked at the people at Jing Teng’s side and asked, “Are these all your friends?”
Jing Teng nodded. “They are all my friends, and they helped me a lot. This is Lady Qiu, and this is young Master Wei.”
Qiu Honglei was one thing, but when Wei Suo heard her call him ‘young master’, he immediately stuck out his chest with confidence.
When it was Zu An’s turn, Jing Teng hesitated for a moment. Then, she wrapped her arm around his and gently leaned her head against his shoulder, saying, “This is my man.”
The smile on the middle-aged man’s face instantly froze. He stared hatefully at Zu An as he asked, “He’s not your boyfriend, but your man?” He just couldn’t get those words out of his head. All sorts of possibilities appeared.
Zu An’s expression immediately froze. He had been perfectly fine watching the situation a moment before, so how had he ended up getting dragged in?!
Yan Xuehen and Qiu Honglei immediately shot him sharp glares.
Damn kid, just how much time have you spent in this world? And yet you’ve already got yourself another pretty woman? Absolutely ridiculous!
You have successfully trolled Yan Xuehen for +666 +666 +666…
I knew it! I knew it! I felt as if something wasn’t right between the two of them along the way, and as it turns out, sure enough, they had an affair! Just when did they start getting close? They actually hid it from me and did it in secret all the way until now… Ah Zu, you really are an annoying womanizer!
You have successfully trolled Qiu Honglei for +666 +666 +666…
When he felt the endless Rage points coming in, Zu An could feel the strong killing intent within. He knew that he couldn’t let the situation continue and was about to explain when Jing Teng’s nervous voice said in his ear, “Help me!”
When he saw the pleading look in her eyes, Zu An couldn't just expose her either.