Chapter 85: The Hatred Between Two Women

The two words “reconsider” sparked a flash of unbridled anger in Wen Huanhuan’s eyes.

If that old thing were just an ordinary Inner Disciple, it might have been different. They might have even properly thanked him.

But that old thing was Ruoshui’s disciple.

She had finally caught an opportunity for a life-for-life exchange. How could she be willing to give it up?

As long as he was killed, her thoughts would be clear and unburdened. The knot in her heart would finally loosen.

“Husband, kill him!”

A flicker of madness passed through Wen Huanhuan’s eyes.

Her cheeks flushed crimson as her slender, jade-like finger pointed accusingly at Li Meng.

Facing the killing intent emanating from the two Golden Core Seniors on the viewing platform of the upper pavilion, Li Meng was utterly baffled.

This isn’t right. What’s going on? Could my identity as ‘Iron Ox’ have been discovered?

That shouldn’t be possible.

A Shapeshifting Talisman of the Divine Thunderbolt grade couldn’t be detected by a Golden Core cultivator. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator could only see slight hints of something amiss if they looked closely.

“Senior Brother Li, you… you need to run!”

Yuan Baobao was on the verge of tears from fright.

She had no idea what was happening. Senior Brother Li had clearly saved them. Why did her Master want to kill him?

“Do not fret, wife. Your husband will take his life for you right now!”

Han Li used his Divine Sense to lock onto that junior on the deck.

A mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator was nothing but an ant. He could crush him with a thought.

“Han Li, Wen Huanhuan, it seems you two truly have no wish to live!”

A clear, cold voice abruptly rang out in the night sky.

ZOOM!

A water-blue streak of escaping light descended from the heavens. Its speed was so great it was like a flowing radiance illuminating the night, a bolt of azure lightning striking down onto the deck.

As the dazzling spiritual light dissipated, a graceful figure clad in a long purple palace dress appeared.

She wore a veil over her face, obscuring her true features. Her voluptuous figure curved in all the right places, slender and elegant. The form-fitting dress perfectly outlined the curves of her waist.

Just looking at her exquisite back gave one a sense of breathtaking beauty.

A pair of icy eyes gazed up at the two figures on the upper viewing platform.

Looking at the woman on the deck, Wen Huanhuan’s expression shifted through several rapid changes—shock, fear, and then forced composure.

She pursed her lips into a smile and nestled deeper into her husband’s embrace.

“Senior Sister, don’t be angry. This Junior Sister was just joking with our Junior Nephew. It wasn’t serious, not serious at all!”

Han Li lowered his head to look at his wife in his arms. Meeting her husband’s gaze, Wen Huanhuan shook her head slightly.

Ruoshui was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator at Great Perfection. Even if they fought two against one, they wouldn’t gain any advantage.

Ruoshui turned around expressionlessly and walked toward Li Meng.

Facing his Master’s beautiful eyes staring directly at him, Li Meng gave a sheepish grin and was about to say something.

But his Master shot him a glare first.

“Be quiet. Follow me.”

Despite being harsh words, they sounded surprisingly gentle.

Ruoshui rose on an air current and flew into the distance.

Li Meng turned his head to look at Junior Sister Yuan and Junior Brother Xuan.

“Junior Sister Yuan, Junior Brother Xuan, let us meet again at the sect another day!”

The terrified Yuan Baobao nodded vigorously. It was fortunate Senior Brother Li’s Master had arrived.

A joke? Master just now hadn’t seemed like she was joking at all.

Li Meng turned and rose on an air current, following his Master into the night sky.

Watching Senior Brother Li’s figure gradually recede, Xuan Hao inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed his Master’s wife and Senior Brother Li’s Master harbored some irreconcilable hatred. Otherwise, his Master’s wife wouldn’t have targeted Senior Brother Li so deliberately.

What kind of hatred could make her risk severe punishment from the Enforcement Hall just to kill Senior Brother Li? Was it simply because he was Elder Ruoshui’s disciple?

Elsewhere, amidst a boundless sea of clouds.

A massive gourd skimmed along just above the misty vapors as it flew on an air current. In its wake, it left a long trail through the cloud sea.

Two figures sat cross-legged upon the gourd. They were none other than Li Meng and his nominal Master, “Elder Ruoshui.”

“Master, is this the same gourd Little Junior Sister uses?”

It looked similar; both were purple. But the aura it emitted was far inferior to Little Junior Sister’s gourd.

“No.”

So cold.

Li Meng narrowed his eyes as he looked at his Master’s beautifully curved back. It seemed this nominal Master of his didn’t particularly like him.

However, Li Meng could understand that. After all, he had been forcibly assigned to her by the Ancestor. The fact that his Master had appeared today to resolve the situation had already far exceeded Li Meng’s expectations.

“Strange, why would Master appear here?”

A flicker of doubt passed through Li Meng’s eyes as he muttered to himself quietly. Had some major event occurred in the Thousand Cloud Mountain Range?

“Master, why does Senior Aunt Wen harbor such great hatred for this disciple?”

Having nothing better to do, Li Meng asked his Master about the obvious elephant in the room.

“Back then, I slapped her favorite junior disciple to death with one palm!”

His Master’s words nearly caused Li Meng’s brain to short-circuit.

That single sentence revealed so much information.

So this was the root of Senior Aunt Wen’s hatred for his Master. The reason Senior Aunt Wen wanted to kill him was also simple: nothing more than revenge.

You killed my disciple; I’ll kill your disciple—a life for a life.

As for why his Master had slapped Senior Aunt Wen’s disciple to death with one palm… Li Meng didn’t ask further. He didn’t dare.

The reason wasn’t hard to guess anyway—it likely involved matters between men and women. Surely Senior Aunt Wen’s junior disciple had offended his Master in some way, leading to that fatal calamity.

Li Meng gave a rueful smile inwardly.

Could this be considered suffering collateral damage?

He had inexplicably become his Master’s disciple and then inexplicably become a sacrificial pawn in this feud. Heh, truly bizarre.

His Luck stat was as high as 4500 points. Logically speaking, he should have profound fortune and blessings with all sorts of opportunities falling into his lap. Why did it feel like he was plagued by misfortune instead?

“Master, is something major about to happen between the cultivation worlds of Zhao and Yue?”

The demonic sects in Yue had been making small moves for years now. Clearly, they were preparing for some future day. And there was only one possibility for that future “day”: war between those on the mountain peaks.

The demonic sects of Yue had long coveted the “Scarlet Forbidden Ground” controlled by Zhao’s righteous sects. That day would inevitably come; it was only a matter of sooner or later.

“The overall situation will not change easily!”

Li Meng wore a thoughtful expression on his face.

His Master’s statement had already revealed much information: there wouldn’t be any major changes in the cultivation worlds of Zhao and Yue in the short term. Even if changes occurred, they would only be minor frictions or conflicts along the borders—a few cultivators dying here or there, or several cultivation families being wiped out.

These were things neither Zhao’s righteous sects nor Yue’s demonic sects would pay too much attention to.

Time flowed by, bit by bit, as the massive gourd flew through the sea of clouds.

In that fleeting moment… the sea of clouds vanished.

The boundless sky and earth lay completely exposed before them.

Bathed in moonlight… the enormous gourd disappeared beyond the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Seven days later.

Joyous Union Sect… Inner Sect… Moon Gaze Peak…

The flight speed of Golden Core cultivators riding artifacts far surpassed that of Foundation Establishment cultivators riding air currents.

It had taken Li Meng over half a month to travel to the Thousand Cloud Mountain Range… but only seven days to return.

A massive gourd arrived, riding the wind.

Just as Moon Gaze Peak came within view…

Whoosh!

The “Ruoshui” upon the gourd shot away into the distance on a streak of escaping light, leaving Li Meng alone.