Chapter 519 - 229: In Love?
A man beside him chuckled teasingly.
"Ah, Senior Brother Yan, you sure are fast. Fairy Wen is so gentle and graceful, a cut above the rest. This junior brother of yours actually fell for her at first sight, too... It’s just a shame Senior Brother Yan got there first."
Another disciple lamented.
None of them noticed the stiff, awkward expression on Yan Chen’s face.
One of them asked, "Senior Brother Yan, tell us! How did it go? Have you won Fairy Wen over yet?"
Another prodded him curiously.
The smile on Yan Chen’s face grew even more rigid. He avoided his sect-mates’ gazes and mumbled evasively, "Fairy Wen is busy with her affairs. She accepted the Jade Marrow... Let’s just not mention it again."
His companion, oblivious to the strangeness, had his eyes light up. "She accepted it? That basically means it’s a done deal! Senior Brother Yan, just press on a little more, and you’re sure to seal the deal!"
Another person chimed in, "Exactly! The Fire-Departing Jade Marrow is incredibly precious. Fairy Wen will surely understand the depth of your feelings!"
Yan Chen lowered his gaze. The corner of his mouth twitched, but in the end, he said nothing more and simply nodded.
And as his eyes shifted, he happened to catch sight of Qin Fang in the distance, squinting in his direction.
His expression immediately froze.
Qin Fang narrowed his eyes. After a moment of thought, he sent a Transmission: "Senior Brother Yan, saying things like that could damage my senior sister’s reputation... Look, are you going to clear this up yourself, or should I expose you?"
Qin Fang’s gaze was cold.
Yan Chen’s face was rigid, and a flicker of humiliation flashed in the depths of his eyes.
He saw Qin Fang’s gaze growing colder, poised to speak.
He had no choice but to hastily say, "Alright, alright, I’ll tell you the truth. Fairy Wen... she never even accepted the Fire-Departing Jade Marrow..."
His words left the disciples around him stunned. They stared at Yan Chen instinctively.
Yan Chen’s expression was grim. After his mouth twitched, he said dejectedly, "Fairy Wen’s heart already belongs to another. She rejected me outright. In the future... do not mention this again. It would be terrible if this caused a misunderstanding between our two sects."
"Her heart belongs to another?"
"Huh?"
"This..."
The Nanming Li Fire Sect disciples clearly hadn’t expected this outcome. They looked at each other in dismay.
One of them asked hesitantly, "This... couldn’t that just be an excuse? Isn’t Fairy Wen at the Sacrificial Hall? We haven’t seen anyone making a special effort to visit her there..."
Yan Chen noticed Qin Fang was still watching him. Anger welled up inside him, and he blurted out, "It’s Qin Fang! The Hall Master’s True Inheritance of the Heavenly Gang Wuji Sect’s Guiyuan Lineage!"
"Qin Fang?"
"Qin Linyuan?"
The disciples were all stunned.
They had all clearly heard Qin Fang’s name before.
...After staying in the Heavenly Gang Wuji Sect for so long, it would have been hard *not* to.
"I’ve been hearing that name a lot lately... The disciples of the Heavenly Gang Wuji Sect mention him with great respect, calling him the number one prodigy of their sect in the last hundred years... It’s a shame I heard he wasn’t Within the Sect, so I never got the chance to meet him... To think, Fairy Wen has actually fallen for him?"
"I’ve also heard that the duty of running the Sacrificial Hall in Lanyang City rotates between the Heavenly Gang Wuji Sect’s Six Meridians. The position of Chief Steward is usually held by a Hall Master’s True Inheritance from one of those lineages... I thought Fairy Wen was an Elder’s True Inheritance, not a Hall Master’s... So she’s there performing her duties... for her husband?"
The disciples discussed among themselves in astonishment.
Yan Chen, meanwhile, grew increasingly mortified... It was vexing enough that the woman he liked already had her heart set on someone else.
...And he had even been caught red-handed in his bluff.
Now his own junior brothers were making such a fuss right in front of the guy.
All of this made Yan Chen feel utterly miserable.
"Enough. What’s the point of going on about this? The guy’s already back; I saw him today. Don’t bring this up again."
With that, Yan Chen turned and walked away.
The disciples exchanged glances.
"Looks like Senior Brother Yan was really serious this time. It’s a shame the flower already has a master. It’s only normal that he’s upset."
"Right, let’s not mention it again. Any more of this and Senior Brother Yan will completely lose face."
Muttering amongst themselves, they gradually drifted away.
In the distance, Qin Fang was stunned.
’Senior Sister... has feelings for me?’
’N-no, that can’t be, right?’
Despite having lived two lives, Qin Fang was, in fact, a virgin.
He had "dated" someone once during college in his past life... but as soon as they started, he ran into a max-level succubus... and she played him like a fiddle.
After that, Qin Fang had sealed his heart, focusing solely on his studies and making money.
Just when things were finally starting to look up and his heartache was about to heal...
A stroke of great fortune came along and sent him straight to another World.
And then... he had a "refugee" start.
Every single day was just a struggle to survive...
In truth, he hadn’t been oblivious to how Qinghe and Xiao Jiu had acted back at Old Ox Back.
He had simply avoided it subconsciously.
He never thought that one act of avoidance would lead to an eternal separation by death...
...At the thought of Qinghe, Qin Fang’s expression stiffened slightly.
He remained silent for a long time before finally, quietly, flying back to Linyuan Peak.
On the back of Linyuan Peak, he saw the small, weed-choked burial mound.
’I haven’t been here in over a year.’
The thought of Qinghe made his heart grow heavy and suffocated once more.
...The girl whose last words had been, "Brother Qin, I really like... you," would never open her bright eyes again...
Qin Fang sat before the grave. The surrounding weeds began to pull themselves out, root and all, clearing the outline of the mound.
Suddenly, a bamboo tube of Bee Meat and honey flew out from the nearby house.
It landed in Qin Fang’s hand.
"Qinghe, I haven’t been here for a year. I went back to Old Ox Back to bring you Bee Meat and honey..."
he said softly, opening the bamboo tube and placing its two contents before the grave.
Then he sat there in silence.
For a long, long time...
The next day, Qin Fang began practicing the Root and Leaf Skill, logging it into his status panel to prepare for the upcoming trip to the Heavenly Gang Secret Realm.
(Rest assured, the romance is just for flavor. To be honest, I’m not very good at writing love scenes... but it feels less realistic if I don’t include them... More tomorrow.)