Chapter 323: Chapter 319: Brazen Audacity
Lin Hao, of course, had no idea what others were thinking. At that moment, seeing Wenren Yuxin, he was reminded of the first time they had met.
Back then, Wenren Yuxin had represented the Treasure-Seeking Holy Hall to discuss a partnership with Lin Hao. Later, to confirm his identity, she had given him a handkerchief.
But afterward, Lin Hao joined the Heaven-Stepping Sect, and the Danling Sect also came knocking on his door, so he never had a chance to use the handkerchief.
And after Wenren Yuxin learned of Lin Hao’s identity, she had Ninety-Five describe him and sketch his portrait, so naturally, the matter of the handkerchief was never brought up again.
Wenren Yuxin’s words, "It’s been months," made Lin Hao think of that handkerchief.
"Miss Wenren, this is the handkerchief you gave me that day. I’m returning it to you now." The handkerchief was no longer needed, so Lin Hao’s first thought was to give it back.
"Ahem..." Seeing Lin Hao suddenly produce a handkerchief, Chen Qian, who was standing to the side, let his eyes dart back and forth between the two of them. He then let out a cough and backed away.
Before leaving, Chen Qian gave Lin Hao a suggestive look and a discreet thumbs-up.
It wasn’t just Chen Qian. When the people around them saw the handkerchief, the crowd absolutely erupted.
"You’ve got to be kidding me! So Lin Hao and Wenren Yuxin are old flames? She even gave him her personal handkerchief."
"No wonder he’s been so arrogant since arriving in Imperial City. Turns out he latched onto the Wenren family’s ship a long time ago."
"What’s he trying to do by returning the handkerchief now? Don’t tell me he’s trying to dump Miss Wenren?"
"No way. He’s already offended two of the four great families. Is he trying to make an enemy of all four?"
"Wrong. It’s not just the four great families. There’s also the Eighth Prince." At that moment, an extremely soft voice spoke up.
"That’s right! The Eighth Prince has always had his heart set on Miss Wenren. Now that this handkerchief has appeared, he won’t let Lin Hao off the hook, no matter the reason. Now we’ve got a good show to watch." Someone else chimed in, their gaze drifting to a spot not far away.
There, a youth of about seventeen or eighteen stood expressionlessly, his eyes fixed on the handkerchief.
He was none other than the royal family’s Eighth Prince, Duan Xinyu. He was also one of the five who had first appeared at the entrance of the Saint Institute yesterday. At the time, he had stood in the very center, a clear display of his distinguished status.
Although the surrounding people spoke softly, their words still reached the ears of those who were paying attention. Even Lin Hao heard every single word.
This left Lin Hao feeling extremely awkward.
To be honest, he had never considered getting involved with Wenren Yuxin, which was why he had taken out the handkerchief so casually.
Hearing their words, Lin Hao finally realized he had made a mistake.
Although he had merged with the memories of the Carefree Divine Monarch and Chu Tiandu, the former was solely focused on the martial path, while the latter only had eyes for that Demon Race princess. Neither was much better than Lin Hao when it came to romance. As a result, Lin Hao was completely clueless about handling matters between men and women.
Now, hearing the surrounding gossip and seeing the frosty expression on Wenren Yuxin’s face, Lin Hao’s hand recoiled in fright. He quickly stuffed the handkerchief back into his robes.
Of course, Lin Hao didn’t do this because he was afraid of trouble, but simply because he didn’t want to lose Wenren Yuxin as a friend. That was all.
Pfft!
Wenren Yuxin, whose face had been covered in frost just a moment ago, couldn’t hold it in when she saw Lin Hao’s expression and actions. She let out a small laugh.
She was older than Lin Hao and had long since figured out what he was thinking.
Seeing this, how could she not laugh?
Not far away, a murderous glint flashed through the Eighth Prince Duan Xinyu’s eyes before vanishing, his expression returning to normal.
The next moment, he walked straight over and said with a smile, "Yuxin, I didn’t realize you two knew each other."
Duan Xinyu addressed Wenren Yuxin, not once glancing at Lin Hao. And when the word "him" left his lips, it was as placid as water, as if Lin Hao were just some random passerby.
This was complete and utter disregard for Lin Hao.
"Your Highness, have you resolved your cultivation issue?" Wenren Yuxin asked, ignoring his question.
Yesterday, on the eve of Lin Hao entering the Trial Forest, Duan Xinyu had suddenly left using that very excuse. Then, after all the examinees had entered the Trial Forest, four people had rushed over, used their Tokens, and entered the fourth region.
Wenren Yuxin had seen through the cultivation of those four at a glance. They were all at the Seventh Layer of the Elemental Control Realm.
Disciples with such a cultivation level would normally receive a different kind of token from the Saint Institute and gain direct entry. One person might be understandable, but four appearing at once was cause for suspicion.
Although she had no proof, Wenren Yuxin immediately connected it to Duan Xinyu.
This was partly intuition, and partly because Wenren Yuxin had accurate intelligence about the incident that had occurred at the gates of the Heaven-Stepping Sect.
Now, Duan Xinyu had appeared and was completely ignoring Lin Hao, which angered Wenren Yuxin.
Lin Hao treated her as a friend, and she would treat him the same way.
She wouldn’t back down even if it was a Prince who was bullying her friend.
Hearing Wenren Yuxin’s words, Duan Xinyu paused for a moment before nodding with a smile.
"Congratulations. Sigh, I wonder who will help me with my cultivation problems," Wenren Yuxin said with a smile, though her brow furrowed immediately after.
Duan Xinyu’s eyes lit up, and he was just about to speak.
However...
"Oh, right! Lin Hao, you’re so powerful. I was hoping I could ask you for some guidance. Would that be alright?" Wenren Yuxin’s beautiful eyes sparkled as she looked at Lin Hao with a hopeful expression.
As for Duan Xinyu, he was spectacularly ignored.
Duan Xinyu quickly shut his mouth and lowered his head.
Staring at the ground, a frantic killing intent surged in his eyes.
Now, he was one hundred percent certain that the relationship between Wenren Yuxin and Lin Hao was anything but ordinary.
Lin Hao had just leaped to the top of Duan Xinyu’s list of enemies.
Over on his side, Lin Hao nodded in agreement.
Although Wenren Yuxin’s words seemed to be making the situation worse instead of better, Lin Hao no longer cared.
Offending Duan Xinyu was now inevitable.
No, it was Duan Xinyu who had offended *him*.
Yesterday in the Trial Forest, Lin Hao had encountered three groups of people. One was from the Hu family, one was from the Lin family, and the last group was obvious—they were from the royal family.
Lin Hao had always been one to repay every grievance. Since Duan Xinyu was a member of the royal family and was clearly hostile, he was now an enemy!
Seeing Lin Hao nod, Wenren Yuxin took his hand and bid farewell to Duan Xinyu.
Duan Xinyu forced a smile and watched them leave before turning and striding away.
From a corner, Lin Xinran had watched the entire scene with cold eyes. A strange smile appeared on her face as she stared at the departing backs of Wenren Yuxin and Lin Hao.
Meanwhile, Lin Hao, who had left with Wenren Yuxin, was led directly to a courtyard.
"Senior Sister Wenren... ah!" A female disciple greeted Wenren Yuxin, then suddenly caught sight of Lin Hao beside her and let out a cry of shock.
The sound startled the other female disciples, and soon, several more people appeared in the courtyard.
Wenren Yuxin was a little embarrassed.
’Normally, the courtyard should be empty at this time.’
That was why she had chosen to bring Lin Hao back here.
But she hadn’t expected to miscalculate this time.
Several female disciples saw that Wenren Yuxin had actually brought a man back, and their beautiful eyes went wide.
They all knew Wenren Yuxin had incredibly high standards and wouldn’t even give the Eighth Prince the time of day. To suddenly see her bring a man back was as shocking as seeing the sun rise in the west.
Seeing their expressions, even Wenren Yuxin, who had witnessed countless grand occasions, couldn’t help but feel her face flush.
But she was no ordinary person. She quickly composed herself and introduced him, "This is Junior Brother Lin Hao. I have some questions to ask him."
"I knew he looked familiar! So it’s him!" one of the female disciples exclaimed.
They had gone to watch Lin Hao’s battle with the Saint Master just now, but they had been standing too far away to see clearly.
"Ahem, Senior Sister Wenren, we’ll let you get to it. I have something to take care of, so I’ll be leaving."
"Senior Sister Wenren, I’m going to the library pavilion to borrow a martial arts manual. I’ll be on my way, too."
"I’m going to find Master Duan to ask him some questions."
"..."
The moment they heard it was Lin Hao, the female disciples didn’t dare to tease anymore. They all found various excuses to take their leave.
In an instant, only Wenren Yuxin and Lin Hao were left in the courtyard.
"Am I that scary?" Lin Hao asked speechlessly, rubbing his nose.
"Sigh, and here I was thinking about finding you a fiancée. Looks like that’s hopeless now," Wenren Yuxin teased.
A sentence slipped out of Lin Hao’s mouth before he could stop it: "You could just offer yourself to me instead."
"Would you dare to have me, little brother?" Wenren Yuxin froze for a second, then shot Lin Hao a look that was overflowing with charm.
"Heh heh, what do you think?" Lin Hao gave a brazen laugh and reached out his hand.
However, Wenren Yuxin didn’t move an inch, completely unafraid.
"You win." In the end, Lin Hao was the one to back down.
Seeing Lin Hao’s dejected look, Wenren Yuxin giggled.
At this moment, Lin Hao had completely lost his usual assertiveness. Seeing him flustered was incredibly satisfying for Wenren Yuxin.
SLAP!
However, in the next moment, the smile on Wenren Yuxin’s face froze.
A sharp pain, mixed with a tingling numbness, shot through a certain perky part of her body.
"So firm and springy..." Lin Hao murmured to himself with a look of reminiscence.
"You little bastard, you’re dead!" Wenren Yuxin’s face was beet red as she ground out the words.
In all her life, no one who met her had ever dared to be so presumptuous, not even the Prince. For this guy Lin Hao to dare and hit her *there*—he had the audacity of a lecher!
Wenren Yuxin lunged to hit him, but with a flash, Lin Hao had already darted into a room.
There was a wooden plaque outside the room with Wenren Yuxin’s name on it, which Lin Hao had already spotted.
With her sleeves fluttering, Wenren Yuxin immediately rushed in after him.
After that, the sounds of playful laughter and roughhousing could be heard from inside.
"Lin Hao, if I don’t kill you, I’m not a man! I swear you won’t live to see tomorrow’s sun!" Outside the courtyard, a person stood with a savage expression, fists clenched tightly, forcing these words through their teeth.
This person turned and left. After walking a good distance, he lightly struck out with his palm, and a giant boulder by the side of the road silently turned to dust!
Meanwhile, Lin Hao stayed in Wenren Yuxin’s room for several hours.
No one knew what the two of them were doing inside.
It wasn’t until after noon that Lin Hao and Wenren Yuxin came out, one after the other.
They had only been out for a short while when a visitor arrived.
"Miss Wenren, we have reliable information that something major is about to happen. The Eighth Prince is hosting a banquet at the royal mansion tonight and has invited the young elites of the Saint Institute and the four great families to discuss a strategy."
The messenger presented an invitation card very respectfully.
Wenren Yuxin frowned as she took it, but she glanced at Lin Hao.
Just as Lin Hao was about to leave, the messenger spoke up, saying that the Eighth Prince had also invited him to attend.
