Chapter 539: Ji Xiaolin Was Petrified. He Was Controlled? He Was Controlled!
Meanwhile, inside the Villa courtyard above, Zhang Tianen's Face was grim as he said in a deep voice, "No, you must have used some trick to harm my daughter."
He knew his daughter, Ji Xiaolin's, personality well enough to know she would never act like this. In a parent's heart, their own daughter is always good; it must be the bad people who harmed her. Glancing at Zhang Zhiyun, who was still unconscious, Zhang Tianen let out a sigh of relief, then glared at the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect with Killing Intent. He had to silence him to protect his daughter's reputation. As his words fell, Zhang Tianen fiercely attacked, streaks of silver lightning like chains striking towards the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect!
"Zhang Tianen, don't go too far! This Master has already given you Face!" The Master of Myriad Dharma Sect was both shocked and enraged, hurriedly fighting back. A suffocating wave of dark mist erupted from his body, instantly permeating his surroundings. Within the churning black fog, the vague outlines of ghostly phantoms clawed their way into existence, their forms twisting and contorting. They layered upon each other, their silent screams echoing in the soul, transforming the pristine courtyard into a nightmarish landscape of spectral horror.
Don't go too far~
The taunting, almost sing-song lilt of those words fell into Zhang Tianen's ears, and his expression twisted into a mask of pure fury. The insult, the blatant disregard for his daughter's honor, ignited a volcano of rage within him. His attacks became exponentially more ferocious, a storm of righteous fury made manifest!
The air itself seemed to split apart. Streaks of dazzling silver lightning, no longer mere chains but divine spears of judgment, tore through the darkness. Each bolt carried a formidable, purifying power that burned away corruption. They blasted into the ghostly dark mist with deafening force, the clash of light and shadow sending violent shockwaves across the villa.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The courtyard became a warzone. The ground cracked and split under the sheer force of their confrontation. Tiles exploded into shrapnel. Ancient trees were blasted into splinters. The very foundations of the villa groaned under the strain.
One after another, the spectral phantoms cultivated by the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect over countless years shrieked as they were struck. These were not mere illusions; they were condensed Yin energy, malevolent spirits bound to his will. But against Zhang Tianen's righteous thunder, they were nothing. The lightning seared through them, annihilating their forms in bursts of acrid smoke. Their tortured wails were cut short as they dissolved into nothingness, causing the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect's heart to bleed with every loss. Pain, terror, and disbelief warred on his face. He had underestimated the fury of a protective father.
At this moment, Zhang Tianen, driven by a primal need to protect Ji Xiaolin, held nothing back. The full, terrifying might of the man once hailed as the strongest expert in the Yan Xia cultivation world erupted with a thunderous roar. The sky above the villa darkened, not with the Master's mist, but with gathering storm clouds that swirled in sympathy with Zhang Tianen's rage. It was as if the earth was shattering and the heavens themselves were falling to do his bidding.
For a time, the battle was a cataclysmic spectacle of raw power. Blinding lightning surged and danced, forming a cage of pure energy. The demonic dark mist roiled and enveloped everything, desperately trying to corrupt and consume. Arcane spells, flung from the Master's hands, manifested as screaming skulls and grasping claws of shadow, only to be obliterated by crisscrossing beams of golden light that radiated from Zhang Tianen's body. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and decay, a maelstrom of conflicting energies that would have instantly disintegrated any lesser cultivator who dared to draw near.
"Tsk tsk, Zhang Tianen is so strong, he can even suppress the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect. It looks like the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect is in trouble."
Far from the epicenter of the chaos, perched in a secure location, a man watched the entire scene unfold through a high-powered telescope. A wicked grin spread across his face. This was Du Zhao, a man whose ink-black ambition was matched only by his opportunism, the very same man who had just been promoted to Great Elder of the Wan Fa Sect by the Master himself. As he watched his new boss get systematically dismantled, his expression became a fascinating tapestry of greed and delight.
'Wait a minute,' he thought, his mind racing. 'If Zhang Tianen kills the Sect Master… and all these other high-ranking officials who came with him are finished off in the crossfire… doesn't that make me… the biggest fish left in the pond?'
The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning far more pleasant than the ones currently striking his Sect Master.
He could actually become the boss of the Wan Fa Sect? The supreme leader?
'Is this what they call winning by doing absolutely nothing??'
A long, long time later.
Inside the underground secret room of the Villa, Ji Xiaolin slowly woke up. The silence was absolute, a stark contrast to the chaos she vaguely remembered. Consciousness returned in fragments, her mind groggy and her limbs heavy. As her senses sharpened, she regained a bit of clarity, but when she found herself intimately entangled with Shen Anyu in an extremely embarrassing position, her cheeks immediately flushed a deep, burning crimson.
What made Ji Xiaolin even more mortified was that the unconscious Shen Anyu seemed to be murmuring in his sleep, his voice a low, husky whisper that vibrated right next to her ear:
"Ji Xiaolin, you need to have self-control~"
"Ji Xiaolin, don't go too far~"
"Ji Xiaolin, you~"
Ji Xiaolin couldn't listen anymore. With a soft gasp, she covered her ears in a futile act of self-deception, her heart pounding against her ribs. She was utterly, hopelessly mortified.
The memories of what had happened earlier flooded her mind, crashing down on her like a tidal wave. The heat, the uncontrollable urge, the haze of passion…
It was her lack of self-control, her inability to hold back the drug's overwhelming influence, that led her to… to Shen Anyu.
'How could this happen? How did things turn out like this?'
Her gaze fell upon the sheets, and her breath hitched. The sight of crimson staining the white fabric like scattered plum blossoms in the snow sent a jolt through her. Ji Xiaolin was completely flustered. Even with her quirky, rebellious, and often audacious personality, an event of this magnitude left her with a storm of extremely complex emotions.
Everything that should have been preserved, everything she should have given to her future husband, was now taken by a man she had only just met.
However.
Looking at the unconscious Shen Anyu's handsome, jade-like face, so peaceful in sleep, Ji Xiaolin's pretty face blushed again. She found herself mumbling to the silent room, "It's not a loss to give it to him, I guess."
[Ding! Detected Destined Heroine Ji Xiaolin's favorability +20, plunder +60000 destiny value!]
"Oh well, oh well, this maiden isn't the type of crying little woman," she whispered, trying to bolster her own spirits. "Since it's already happened, then let's solve the problem. Luckily, he doesn't have a fiancée. How about this maiden becomes his fiancée? Hehe."
A mischievous thought crossed her mind, but it was quickly replaced by a wave of panic.
"No, no, I can't let him know what happened. Otherwise, I'll be too embarrassed to Face him, and I'll never be able to hold my head up again in front of him."
Ji Xiaolin lightly bit her lower lip, her mind racing. As if she had thought of something brilliant, she carefully extricated herself and quickly began tidying everything in the underground secret room, meticulously erasing any trace of their encounter. However, the occasional twinge of pain from her movements made her shoot countless irritated glares at the still-unconscious Shen Anyu.
"This maiden has never suffered so much since childhood, you scoundrel Shen Anyu," she thought resentfully, recalling the events in more detail. At first, she was the one who initiated it, driven by the drug, but then…
"One more memory-confusing spell should be enough," she decided. "I'll confuse his memory from a certain period, making him think he was just dreaming."
Ji Xiaolin carefully formed a series of complex hand seals. A faint, gray light coalesced at her fingertips, then flowed like a gentle stream into the space between Shen Anyu's eyebrows.
Shen Anyu found the whole situation deeply amusing. 'What is this girl up to now?' He wasn't unconscious at all. He was the one who made women lose consciousness; it was practically impossible for a woman to render him unconscious. As for Ji Xiaolin's little spell, it might have been effective on ordinary people, or even lesser cultivators. But for Shen Anyu, a Peak Martial Dao Celestial and an eighth-layer Immortal Dao Qi Refiner, it was like a gentle breeze rustling his hair, having no effect whatsoever.
After a while longer, Shen Anyu sensed that Ji Xiaolin had finished her tidying and had settled down, her breathing evening out. Only then did he allow his eyes to flutter open, putting on a perfect performance of someone slowly waking up, looking utterly bewildered. He watched as Ji Xiaolin's eyes gradually widened in alarm:
"You, what did you do to me just now?"
"What did I do?" Ji Xiaolin feigned confusion and incomprehension, her face a perfect mask of innocence. Only the little hands clasped tightly behind her back, her knuckles turning white, and the faint flush on her delicate earlobes betrayed her nervousness.
Shen Anyu found her act hilarious, but on the surface, he adopted a look of profound, heartbroken betrayal:
"Ji Xiaolin, I told you to maintain self-control, to maintain self-control! But in the end, you actually did such a monstrous act to me! It's simply too much!"
Ji Xiaolin: "…"
She really, really wanted to hit someone right now.
Ji Xiaolin gnashed her silver teeth, glaring at Shen Anyu with a murderous look in her eyes before forcing a nonchalant tone:
"Shen Anyu, you must be dreaming. Nothing happened between us just now. This maiden has strong self-control, and I even thought of a way to solve the problem."
At this point, Ji Xiaolin raised her fair, delicate chin, her eyes shifting as she looked at Shen Anyu with a meaningful, teasing glint:
"Shen Anyu, no way, no way, you didn't just dream about this maiden, did you? You didn't do those… disgusting things in your dream, did you? Don't tell me you've fallen in love with this maiden?"
Shen Anyu: "…"
'Oh, she really wants to expose herself, doesn't she?' he thought, thoroughly entertained. 'You want to play, huh? I'll play with you.'
A hint of a smile flashed in Shen Anyu's eyes, gone in an instant. He then looked around at the tidy surroundings, pressed a hand to his forehead, and frowned, appearing genuinely confused and puzzled. He began muttering to himself:
"Impossible, that's impossible. I remember… I remember that kind of thing clearly happened. How could it be? Was I really dreaming?"
A surge of joy filled Ji Xiaolin's heart, and she secretly clenched her pink fists in victory. The plan had succeeded!
Then, Ji Xiaolin giggled, a bright and cheerful sound, and said to Shen Anyu:
"Considering your excellent performance this time, I'll forgive you for those excessive things you thought of in your dream."
"By the way," she added, her voice turning coy, "since you secretly like this maiden so much, it's not like I can't give you a chance to pursue me?"
At this, Ji Xiaolin blinked her beautiful, bright eyes, looking at Shen Anyu with a gaze full of expectation.
As long as Shen Anyu pursued her, she would definitely, immediately agree.
Shen Anyu, however, merely glanced at Ji Xiaolin and shook his head with an air of solemn finality:
"No, if something had actually happened, I would of course take responsibility. Since nothing happened, then let's just leave it at that."
Ji Xiaolin was petrified.
No, did she accidentally overdo it?
No, no, no, how could Shen Anyu act as if nothing had happened?
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