Chapter 81: Chapter 81: She Won Again
Gu Jue moved so fast that no one could quite see his actions. They only saw a flash of cold light, followed by the two men’s agonizing screams.
The weapons in their hands clattered to the ground. In perfect unison, they both clutched their right wrists with their left hands, their faces contorted in pain.
Bright red beads of blood dripped down, slowly staining the snow-covered ground.
Only then did the others seem to snap out of a daze, realizing what had just happened.
Ye Zhiyao subconsciously stepped forward. "Mr. Li, Mr. Liu, are you..."
Before she could finish a complete sentence, the two men turned their anger on her. "Get lost!"
"I see what’s going on! You’re all in this together, just messing with us, aren’t you?"
Gu Jue didn’t bother to explain. He just spat out a single cold word: "Scram."
Li Yijiang’s face was full of resentment, but he didn’t dare say anything to Gu Jue. Instead, his gaze turned venomous as he looked at Lu Sangjiu. "...You just wait. This isn’t over between us!"
With that, the two men supported each other and left.
Ye Zhiyao’s expression was stiff. She couldn’t believe they had come to hate her, too.
’I didn’t even do anything. Why would they yell at me?’
For Ye Zhiyao, who had been constantly flattered and praised by the two, this was incredibly hard to accept.
But she also knew that at this point, it was no longer important to dwell on what those two thought.
The most important thing for her to do now was to try and salvage her image in Gu Jue’s eyes.
So she immediately turned back, her voice filled with a pitiable fragility. "Senior Brother Gu, I..."
Before she could finish, Gu Jue cut her off. "There is no need to say more, Ye."
"The matter between you and Mr. Lu’s group is for you to resolve yourselves."
After speaking, he turned to Lu Sangjiu, took out an Elixir Pill meant to calm one’s qi and blood, and handed it to her. "You’ll feel better after taking this."
Lu Sangjiu’s face immediately filled with gratitude. "Thank you so much, Mr. Gu!"
As she lowered her eyes, however, the corners of her lips curved into a mocking smile. ’So sorry, Ye Zhiyao. It seems I’ve won this round, too.’
’Truthfully, if Gu Jue hadn’t been here, Lu Sangjiu would have much preferred to let Feng Lin and Chi Yan dispose of those two idiots. It would have been simple, direct, and profitable.’
’But since Gu Jue was present, she couldn’t destroy the image she had so carefully cultivated. She had to take the opportunity to sort this matter out properly.’
’After all, from her interactions with him recently, she had come to feel clearly that Gu Jue was different from Qin Yu or Bai Heng.’
’Qin Yu and Bai Heng, perhaps because they had spent so much time with Ye Zhiyao, already possessed a kind of blind adoration for her.’
’Whether their character and conduct were always like this or had been influenced by Ye Zhiyao, Lu Sangjiu, in any case, looked down on them.’
’That was why she’d never thought about trying to make them leave Ye Zhiyao’s side. After all, she could just kill them when the opportunity arose in the future. Who had the time to try and reform them?’
’But Gu Jue was different. He had a clear sense of right and wrong and didn’t hold the same kind of seemingly innate hostility toward her—someone who opposed Ye Zhiyao—that Qin Yu did.’
’With a person like that, if she didn’t seize the chance to drive a wedge between him and Ye Zhiyao, was she supposed to just stand by and watch Ye Zhiyao gain another powerful protector?’
Now, seeing his attitude toward Ye Zhiyao, Lu Sangjiu felt that today’s performance had truly not been in vain.
At that moment, Ye Zhiyao was left speechless by Gu Jue’s words. A flash of embarrassment crossed her face, but in the end, she said nothing, simply biting her lip before turning and walking away.
Normally, Qin Yu would have followed her, but this time he hesitated. Instead of immediately going after Ye Zhiyao, he walked over to Lu Sangjiu.
Lu Sangjiu looked up at him in confusion. Just as she was about to ask what he wanted, he spoke first.
"I know you were lying, but... I also feel guilty for not saving you that day."
"I was the one who pulled my junior sister away that day. I hope you won’t misunderstand her. If you’re going to blame someone, blame me."
After saying this, Qin Yu seemed to feel a bit more at ease. Without waiting for Lu Sangjiu’s reply, he cupped his hands in a brief salute and turned to chase after Ye Zhiyao.
Lu Sangjiu raised an eyebrow slightly. ’Is... this his idea of an apology?’
She was actually a little surprised. ’Is it just my imagination, or is Qin Yu showing signs of a redemption arc?’
She suddenly recalled the faint premonition she’d felt in her heart the day she obtained the Cold Ice Crystal Stone.
’Could it be... that when I successfully took something from Ye Zhiyao, her destiny as the female lead was shaken? And as a result, even Qin Yu, who used to follow her blindly, is starting to regain some of his reason?’
This speculation flashed through her mind, but her train of thought was broken by Liu Xi’s annoyed cry of "Oh, no!"
Seeing Liu Xi beside her, practically beating her chest and stamping her feet in frustration, Lu Sangjiu asked, puzzled, "What’s wrong with you?"
Liu Xi said with a long face, "All the Thousand-year-old Cold Iron Ore we’ve dug up these past few days was being held by Ye Zhiyao for safekeeping! We just forgot to ask for it... Now it all belongs to those two!"
Lu Sangjiu: "..."
’Damn,’ she thought. ’Can I just say, that’s the female lead with the Heavenly Dao giving her special treatment for you.’
’To be able to find a loophole and gain an advantage even at a time like this... Impressive. Truly impressive!’
In contrast to Liu Xi’s heartache over the loss, Gu Jue was expressionless. He said flatly, "If they took it, they took it. We’ll just dig for more."
Liu Xi pouted, still deeply unhappy about it. ’After all, if it were anyone else, it would be one thing. But for Ye Zhiyao to be the one to profit from it is just infuriating!’
Because Ye Zhiyao had left Qishan early, Lu Sangjiu also became a bit anxious. She lost the heart to continue mining here, afraid that if she fell too far behind Ye Zhiyao, she wouldn’t be in time to intercept her inheritance.
So, without holding back, she directly summoned Duoduo from her Spirit Pet Bag.
"She’s an expert at mining. We’ll just leave it to her!"
Under normal circumstances, the ice on Qishan’s summit was so severe that even a Snow Cloud Beast would be powerless against it.
But Duoduo’s mutation had made her much stronger. Now, mining on this summit was no problem for her at all.
In just half a day, she dug up a full twenty-five pieces of Thousand-year-old Cold Iron Ore.
To put that in perspective, Ye Zhiyao’s previous team of six, working together in shifts, had only managed to dig up ten pieces in two full days.
In comparison, Duoduo’s efficiency was simply astonishing, and it inevitably attracted some covetous gazes.
Lu Sangjiu didn’t mind. Eager to leave, she generously divided the ore equally among the others, giving each person exactly five pieces.
Feng Lin and Chi Yan accepted without hesitation, but unexpectedly, Gu Jue refused.
"This was earned through the hard work of your Beast Pet. We cannot accept it."
’Yup...’ she thought. ’Same old song and dance. Gu Jue’s brand of righteousness, bordering on pedantic, was flaring up again.’
Lu Sangjiu felt a headache coming on. "So you don’t plan on taking any Thousand-year-old Cold Iron Ore?"
"I do, but it must be earned through our own efforts."
As he spoke, he showed her the two pieces of ore that he and Liu Xi had painstakingly dug up over the past half-day.
Lu Sangjiu fell silent. ’His meaning was obvious: he had to stay behind and continue to work hard at mining.’
’He probably wouldn’t leave until he had personally mined a quantity that he found satisfactory.’
’But Lu Sangjiu had to go down the mountain immediately. In that case... wouldn’t she be losing this powerful ally?’
