“Murong?” Baili Bin was only one click away from seeing the contents of the document, but he turned and looked at Uncle Tai.
The elder’s expression was serious as he replied, “Yes, Young Master. Master has already gone back to the Baili family to ask for usage of the Baili Family Arcana.”
The Baili Family Arcana?!
It was at this point that an expression of shock made its way onto Baili Bin’s face, upon knowing that they were going to unseal the family arcana that had been kept unused for more than a decade, and he set everything aside to prepare for his trip to the ancient martial arts world.
***
“Sister Gu, you were so cool back there!” Hua Youlin looked at Gu Xiqiao with an expression of worship. Those men that could manhandle him like that were all like mice in front of a cat when Gu Xiqiao was there.
To a boy of his age, Gu Xiqiao probably was the very image of a superhero.
Gu Xiqiao glanced over at him and started up the car. “It wasn’t that hard.”
“I see you brought Haha too.” Hua Youlin commented upon seeing the familiar dog on the backseat of the car.
“Yeah, it was probably bored.” Gu Xiqiao drove the car onto the main road. Jiang Shuxuan wasn’t at home, so Gu Xiqiao didn’t feel safe letting Haha stay at home by itself, so she brought it out for a spin instead.
Hua Youlin reached over to the backseat and carried Haha into his arms. “What about Xixi?” He hadn’t seen the bird in two days.
Gu Xiqiao suddenly felt as if Hua Youlin was better in the past, the way he didn’t speak a lot in contrast to how he seemed to never shut up now, and if someone gave him a megaphone he would probably use it to shout to the entire world. “I’ll take you to see Xixi now.”
As the car drove towards the city center, Hua Youlin continued to chatter on. “Sister Gu, why are we going in this direction? Aren’t we going back home?”
“We’ll be having dinner outside.” Gu Xiqiao glanced at the rows of shops as they passed them by. “What do you want for dinner?”
“Ah, we won’t be eating at home?” Hua Youlin was a little disappointed, having become a fan of Gu Xiqiao’s cooking after just a few days.
“Brother Jiang won’t be coming home today.” (read: I won’t be cooking.)
Hua Youlin: “…”
He wanted to fight Jiang Shuxuan, but then again, if he wasn’t home, that meant that he could ask Sister Gu whenever he had problems with his studies! He wouldn’t need to sit together awkwardly with that statue anymore!
“Hey, it’s Dalin!” Hua Youlin saw a familiar silhouette by the road, and he patted Gu Xiqiao’s shoulder excitedly. “Sister Gu look! It’s Dalin and Brother Luo!”
It’s not as if they hadn’t met before, why was he so excited?
Gu Xiqiao sighed and resignedly parked her car by the road, and Hua Youlin practically pranced out of the car.
Shen Nianzhi didn’t expect that she would be able to hold an art exhibition of her own one day and in the Imperial Capital of all places. Not only that, but the ones that would join the exhibition were also all people that she couldn’t even imagine, and she had been in a dazed state ever since she saw Mu Zong.
Even she as an art student knew what the Nine Heavens Group was.
She didn’t have a lot of hopes for the name card that Gu Xiqiao had given her and only called out of politeness’ sake, but she didn’t expect to be told that they were willing to sponsor her to hold an art exhibition, as well as an art studio of her own.
It was as if a gift had fallen onto her from the sky.
In that building, she met Luo Wenlang too, and when he saw her, he stretched out his arm in greeting with a smile. “So you’re the lucky one that Uncle Mu told me about, welcome, Nianzhi.”
Everything passed by after that like a blur for her. She hadn’t even come back to her senses from how she got an art exhibition for herself, and now after three days of the exhibition, she was already quite well known in Imperial Capital, and even an international art organization stretched out an olive branch for her.
In this time, not only did she get to know Mu Zong, but Yu Ning, Su Wu, Ning Qing, and the others, and the most that she heard them talk about was the topic of Gu Xiqiao. From them, she learned about all the exploits of the girl that was around the same age as she was.
If it weren’t for the fact that one of those extraordinary events was happening to her right at that moment, she couldn’t even believe it.
“Shen Nianzhi, congratulations.” She was talking with her three roommates, and the one that congratulated her was a girl in a red jacket that seemed genuinely happy for her.
Shen Nianzhi bowed politely and smiled. “Thanks, I was just… Very lucky.”
One of the other roommates grumbled with a weird tone, “I saw you with a middle-aged man the other day…”
They knew about Shen Nianzhi’s background, and how she got her name crossed out of the art exhibition from before because of Meng Yufan, and now she was holding an art exhibition for herself? There was definitely something unsightly going on behind the scenes!
Shen Nianzhi didn’t care at all about their comments and was even quite pleased about the fact that she got the chance to ride on Gu Xiqiao’s coattails. Every time she thought of how lucky she was, she wanted to run around the field in glee, because if it weren’t for Gu Xiqiao, there wouldn’t be the Shen Nianzhi of today.
“How shameless!” The two roommates muttered upon seeing her smile, grumbling inwardly in jealousy—Why couldn’t they have been the lucky ones?
The red-jacketed girl glanced at the two. “Alright, enough of that, don’t just say that grapes are sour just because you can’t taste them!”
“Didn’t you dislike Shen Nianzhi too? Why did you change so quickly?” The girl in the red jacket had a better family than the two others, so they didn’t dare to argue back against her.
Why? Perhaps it was because of that sight she saw on that rainy day…
That girl that Shen Nianzhi met that day left a deep and lasting impression on her, and she unconsciously found it hard to believe that a person with such a clear gaze would associate with someone bad.
She was about to turn around and leave the scene before she saw them.
Two silhouettes appeared at the entrance, one of them being the girl that she saw in the rain with a distinct lazy yet elegant aura that she couldn’t forget.
When Gu Xiqiao appeared, there was a sudden commotion from all the people that knew who she was.
Shen Nianzhi turned around to see Gu Xiqiao, and she walked over with a surprised expression. “Miss Gu? I didn’t expect to see you here!”
“Yeah, I just wanted to take a look around.” Hua Youlin had already met with Luo Wenlin, so Gu Xiqiao chose to chat with Shen Nianzhi instead.
Luo Wenlang jogged over to the two girls. “Are you free today?” Did she not think of going to Nine Heavens instead of coming to this art exhibition? Did she not know that Yu Ning, no, every employee in the company nagged about her not being there every day?
Gu Xiqiao shook her head. “Of course I’m busy! I was just fetching Little Hua, and I have to go see Yao Jiamu later…”
Just judging by her tone, it sounded as if she had a long day up ahead, but Luo Wenlang knew her well, so it was clear to him that she was just lying through her teeth, but he was already used to it as this point.
Ever since letting Mu Zong handle matters with Shen Nianzhi, she hadn’t been updated on how everything was, so it was a relief that things were going quite well, and after she asked Shen Nianzhi about her future plans, she nodded and turned around to leave.
“Thank you, Miss Gu.” Shen Nianzhi sent her off with a respectful expression.
If it weren’t for Gu Xiqiao, she didn’t know how many years she would have to work before she got to where she was today.
Gu Xiqiao smiled in response. “You would have been able to get to this point even without me.” Back in her past life, Shen Nianzhi didn’t have an easy path of ascension, but soon enough, she stood up on her own two feet and could even hold her own against Gu Xijin.
Gu Xiqiao attracted the attention of many people nearby that were excited at her appearance at this place because of that news report of her that was the talk of the town, but no one dared to go up to her and say hello.
Only after she left did they chatter excitedly about her.
Mu Yunfan stood there and stared until the pink car drove away, before looking off in another direction.
After sending Gu Xiqiao’s car off, Shen Nianzhi saw Mu Yunfan out the edge of her gaze, and upon seeing this young man that helped her quite a lot back in America, she walked towards him and bowed politely. “Mr. Mu.”
Once she got closer to him, she realized that something had happened to him, judging from how he seemed to be a completely different person as compared to a few days prior.
The Mu Yunfan that she knew was a cool and well-dressed perfectionist, but the man in front of her was a mess, from the way he wasn’t shaved to his clothes that weren’t ironed, he seemed to be a complete contrast to the person she knew in her memories, and for a moment, she didn’t even believe it was him.
“Shen Nianzhi!” Before Mu Yunfan could speak, another shrill voice rang out beside him.
Shen Nianzhi looked over, and with her artist’s eye, she realized that this woman that seemed to be at least ten years older than she was was Meng Yufan!
What happened to her?!
“Miss… Miss Mu…?” Shen Nianzhi asked with hesitation.
Meng Yufan looked around at the grand art exhibition around them, and even though one couldn’t perceive what she was thinking through the complex emotions that flashed through her eyes, her tone was as mocking as always. “Shen Nianzhi, I’ve underestimated you!”
“I should thank you, Miss Meng. If it weren’t for your help, I wouldn’t have met Miss Gu!” Shen Nianzhi smiled as she looked at Meng Yufan.
Come to think of it, if Meng Yufan hadn’t done anything to her, she wouldn’t have become a member of Nine Heavens Group! She wouldn’t have met so many good friends, nor been given so many blessings!
Mu Yunfan finally reacted upon hearing that name, and he looked at Shen Nianzhi with a bitter expression as he spoke, “She… She was the one that helped you?”
“Yes, Mr. Mu.” Shen Nianzhi sighed as she looked at this man that was a shadow of who he was before.
Upon hearing her words, Mu Yunfan breathed deeply to calm himself down, stopping himself from asking her, ask her why she didn’t tell him sooner! But as soon as he thought of this, he scoffed at himself. He was the one that was blind!
“Congratulations on your art exhibition,” Mu Yunfan could only mutter, before he turned around and left, Meng Yufan hot on his trail.
***
These days, she didn’t have any place to call home in the entire Imperial Capital, and even those ‘friends’ of hers that buttered her up and sang her praises only mocked her and bullied her when they saw her.
As the truth of what the Meng family had done came to light, all of their property was confiscated, and their entire family could only live in the slums.
How could she stand living in such a way?
Upon meeting Mu Yunfan, she stuck onto him like glue, but the man didn’t even give her a second glance. She wouldn’t take such ‘cruelty’, so she continued to shout and cry, “Brother Mu! Brother Mu!”
Mu Yunfan finally stopped walking and stood there in place, and before Meng Yufan could react, he turned around and fixed her with a freezing glare. “You disgust me.”
And he was the one that disgusted himself the most.
These words seemed to be like a bomb that imploded by her ears, and Meng Yufan was stunned, standing there as if she was paralyzed, never having heard such harsh words from Mu Yunfan before.
As her hopes were crushed, she flopped onto the floor weakly, devoid of any hope for the future.
***
In the ancient martial arts world.
Yi Bing stood at the entrance of the cave, a white glow emitting from his hand as a strong presence filled the air.
A sword that gleamed with a chilling glow was stabbed by the entrance of the cave haphazardly, its golden edges shone dangerously and stopped anyone from getting close. “No one can step into this cave—Boss’ orders!”
Even if Jiang Shuxuan wasn’t there in person, his Seven-Frosted Blade intimidated anyone that set their eyes on it.
