After helping Bu Jingyun tend to his wound, Shi Sheng turned back to Father Shen who she’d kicked to the side.
She’d been wondering why the man had resorted to taking Bu Jingyun hostage instead of dealing with her on his own.
She finally knew why—Father Shen was injured, and very heavily at that.
‘That marriage alliance popping out of nowhere makes sense now.
The imperial family wants the support of the Shen Clan, but what did this guy ask for in exchange? Whatever it is, it’s certainly nothing good.’
Shi Sheng spent some time pondering what must’ve happened. ‘Jun Hanlin probably acted against the Shen Clan. Damn, this ML-sama’s pretty useful! I wonder what kind of face he’d make if he discovers he was just helping me make bridal garments1…
Just imagining that scene… pretty interesting, eh?’
Father Shen seized the opportunity to call for backup while Shi Sheng was preoccupied with her thoughts. By the time she regained her focus, the previously-deserted great hall was already filled with people.
The weakest among these reinforcements was a seventh-level Spirit King cultivator; they wouldn’t be as easy to kill as the ones from before.
“Kill her!” Father Shen roared, livid to the point he no longer cared about who this woman could possibly be or why she was impersonating his daughter.
Shi Sheng’s lip curled upwards. While grabbing Bu Jingyun’s wrist, she simultaneously hurled a purple ball at the crowd.
Bang!
The blast reverberated far and wide, prompting even those outside the Shen Clan’s territory to seek refuge. As the once grandiose hall collapsed under the onslaught of crackling purple lightning, Shi Sheng flew out unscathed with Bu Jingyan in tow.
She tilted her sword to fly higher before looking down at the dispersing masses.
All bystanders had largely managed to escape by now, so Shi Sheng started flinging those little lightning balls like grenades.
The entire Shen Clan compound caved in, producing a cloud of dust amidst the intermittent flashes of lightning.
Rumble—
Shi Sheng paused midway at the sudden, deafening clap of thunder and looked up to see the sky swiftly growing dark and heavy with storm clouds.
‘Shit. I was having too much fun and forgot about System’s warning!!!’
She hurriedly stowed away the remaining balls before taking off.
Bu Jingyun raised his head and looked behind them. “The lightning’s after you?”
“No, they just came to admire the view—of course, dumbass! You think we left for another reason?”
“But… it’s still following us.”
‘Wut?’ Shi Sheng glanced back and saw the patch of thunderclouds chasing them at abnormal speeds. ‘Chotto matte! How can you guys move so quickly?! This is illogical; you can’t just defy the laws of physics just because you’re the Heavenly Dao! You’re going to get complaints, ya know?!’
Shi Sheng found a clearing to drop off Bu Jingyun before leading her posse of thunderclouds into the distance.
Bu Jingyun couldn’t help but feel discomfort as he watched the lightning bolts rain down on some distant point. He wanted to follow her, but he found no faster way there than to walk.
By the time he’d arrived at the spot that had been struck most intensely, he was met with the sight of a collapsed Shi Sheng whose life and death remained uncertain.
His heart suddenly clenched, and he sped forward.
“Shen Yaoguang?”
“En?” Shi Sheng’s eyelids were lightly shut, but they flickered upon hearing his voice as she murmured.
Bu Jingyun heaved an inward sigh of relief. ‘This woman is a menace; there’s no way she would’ve died that easily…’
“Showing off will get you struck by lightning, the ancients did not lie to me,” Shi Sheng muttered weakly before flipping the bird at the sky.
‘That cultivation world attempted to strike me down.
This Xuanhuan world’s attempted to strike me down too.
And look, I’m still alive! Idiot!!!
Ouch, damn it hurts!’
Shi Sheng shrunk into Bu Jingyun’s arms as her face crumpled with pain.
Bu Jingyun didn’t know what he was thinking, but he actually pulled her closer. There was a strange robe on her, though it was now in tatters. He attempted to remove it but to no avail, so he could only carry her away as she was.
……
Shi Sheng’s eyes flew open. Her face was pale while her chest was heaving greatly. ‘That dream again…’
“You’re awake,” a clear voice pulled her back to reality. Her head shot upwards as she was greeted by the sight of a red-clothed man standing, back facing the light, with an unreadable expression on his face.
Shi Sheng’s eyes rolled in their sockets as she completely woke up. She turned to survey her surroundings.
“Where are we?” ‘Wasn’t I getting struck by lightning? How’d I get here?’
Bu Jingyun moved forward, stepping out of the light, though it hardly obscured his enchanting features. He lowered his gaze to look at her. “Nine Silences Hall.”
‘Nine Silences Hall?’
“What did you bring me here for?”
“Keeping you.” ‘Hmph! What, only you can keep me but I can’t keep you?’
‘Keep… keep your grandpa! Am I(bbb) the type of person you can afford to keep? I talk in sums of hundreds of millions, ‘kay?’
“How come you’re wearing red again?” Shi Sheng frowned as she saw his clothes. ‘Too bright. And with those looks, I feel like I’m about to go blind.’
“This is my territory. I decide what I wear.” ‘Hmph! I just like wearing red clothes!’
“So you were this eager to get married to me? We can hold the wedding after I’ve recovered,” Shi Sheng grinned, looking exceptionally attractive.
Bu Jingyun, “…” ‘Shameless!’
He flicked his sleeves and left in a huff.
But if you looked closely, you’d be able to find that the tips of his ears had turned pink, making him look rather adorable.
Shi Sheng’s lips twitched. She attempted to move her arms but found that they were unbearably sore. She was still wearing the enchanted robe that had helped her resist the lightning.
‘Luckily, the spirit energy used is the same, or else I really would’ve been struck to death and gotten a game over.’
Shi Sheng stripped off the robe and examined for injuries. ‘Not too bad. Seems like there aren’t any major problems.’
Only after several days of recuperation did the soreness recede, though she could still feel it.
‘I don’t think I have the strength to tear off Bu Jingyun’s clothes right now…’
Shi Sheng was exercising her limbs when a girl entered, carrying a tray.
The girl laid out the items on the tray onto the table.
“Miss, it’s time to eat.”
This girl was the one who’d been attending to her needs these past few days. Her name was Xiao He, a very cute girl.
“Porridge again?” Shi Sheng’s expression turned grumpy upon noticing the meal on the table.
Xiao He covered her smile with a hand. “Hallmaster ordered us to prepare lighter meals because your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
She paused before continuing, “Miss, you are a lucky lady. Our Hallmaster has never been this good to anyone before.”
“Oh yeah?” ‘Good your head!’
“Aren’t there other women by his side?” ‘He’s already a century old. He should’ve already done that by now, surely…’
“No.” Xiao He shook her head. “Sentinel has always been the one to take care of the Hallmaster’s daily needs, so we hardly get to see Hallmaster.”
Shi Sheng, “…”
‘Why do I get this feeling of déjà vu?
The Hallmaster and the Sentinel.
That classic ship in yaoi novels.
From how concerned that Sentinel is over Bu Jingyun, that scenario… is quite plausible.’
Shi Sheng couldn’t help but imagine the two of them rolling on the bed.
‘The Sentinel’s the buff one, so he’s got to be the top…
See? Collective opinions form wisdom: That Hallmaster is definitely boy toy material…’
Shi Sheng couldn’t help but get the shivers. ‘I won’t have to break them apart, will I? Noooo I’m(bbb) only interested in breaking the leads’ ship!!!’