This Is What a Villain Is Like

Chapter 170: Chapter 93: Who Would Joke About Their Honor? What Do You Take Me For?

The newly formed Destiny Dao Fruit, which was originally only the size of a thumb, had grown a size larger.

While Ling Zhuyun’s words didn’t signify a complete break with Ye Ming, they had clearly stated her position and extricated her from the matter.

Regardless of what version of events Ye Ming would later hear, the seeds of doubt between him and Ling Zhuyun had already been planted.

With suspicion between them, their fates were destined to never intersect again. Jiang Lan, the instigator of it all, could naturally enjoy everything he was due with a clear conscience.

Afterward, what had happened in the great hall quickly spread throughout the Secret Realm.

Many cultivators who were competing for opportunities also received this news and began to deliberately search for Ye Ling’s whereabouts.

The Blood Immortal Sect was always an existence whose very name made people turn pale.

The many members of the younger generation, as well as the Loose Cultivators, who were searching for opportunities in the Purple Mist True Monarch’s grounds, also grew fearful and vigilant.

On this trip to the Secret Realm, many members of the Blood Immortal Sect were hiding in the shadows.

However, very few were as brazen as Ye Ling, exposing themselves in plain sight.

Thus, many of the younger generation intent on avenging their fellow disciples began hunting him down as soon as they learned of his whereabouts.

In just a short time, the name Ye Ling was thrust into the eye of the storm within this Secret Realm.

Back in the great hall, after Qi Heng and his group left in indignation, the other cultivators who had gathered also departed one by one, not lingering for long.

"Thank you for that," Ling Zhuyun said to Jiang Lan, having finally collected herself. She looked at him, all emotion masked in her eyes.

Jiang Lan shook his head. "No need."

Silence fell for a long moment.

"I owe you another favor. If you hadn’t helped me out of that situation, I probably wouldn’t have been able to say those things myself," Ling Zhuyun said.

It was tantamount to absolving herself of all involvement.

She was still that holy, ethereal Saintess of the Jasper Pool Sect, leaving no stain or trace behind.

A wave of shame washed over her. She felt like a hypocrite who had already tarnished the title of "Saintess."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lan merely glanced at her and didn’t respond.

Ling Zhuyun silently followed behind him.

"Am... am I a little foolish?" After a moment, her red lips parted as she asked.

"You’re not just a little foolish. You’re stupid."

...

Ling Zhuyun bit her lip, her misty eyes staring straight at him.

Jiang Lan ignored her, calling over to Li Daoyi, Luo Ying, Ao Xu, and the others to continue deeper into the grounds.

’But judging from the flow of destiny surging from my Mud Ball Palace...’

’Perhaps I could try to push our relationship forward a bit?’

He mused to himself.

The corridors and halls leading deeper into the grounds were very spacious. Cultivators had clearly been here long ago, sweeping everything clean and leaving nothing behind.

It was the same in the other side halls; almost everything that could be taken had been, as if a plague of locusts had passed through.

Jiang Lan’s target was the Dark Mansion, so he didn’t care about these grounds at all. The real treasures weren’t here.

These grounds were merely the living and training quarters for the Purple Mist True Monarch’s former Disciples. The Magical Artifacts, Elixir Pills, Secret Manuals, and Scriptures were all just ordinary items.

He was just wandering around here as a pretense.

"You... you insulted me just now..." Ling Zhuyun said as she caught up to him.

"You heard wrong."

"Jiang Lan..."

Jiang Lan walked ahead and said casually, "When you’re wrongly accused, doing nothing won’t prove your innocence."

"Since you trust that Ye fellow so much, just wait and see how he proves your innocence for you..."

"You clearly have a way out, yet you do nothing and just wait to die. If that isn’t stupid, what is?"

Ling Zhuyun strode forward on her long, slender legs, silently walking beside him.

"Are you angry on my behalf?" she asked.

"No. It just pisses me off to watch. If I hadn’t stepped in for you, were you just going to let your hands be tied, let Qi Heng and the others capture you, and then present your neck for the slaughter, obediently waiting to die?"

"And if Ye Ling is killed in the end, you’ll naturally become an accomplice of the Blood Immortal Sect. You’d be so tainted even the Yellow River couldn’t wash you clean, and you’d become a disgrace to the Jasper Pool Sect. You’re willing to accept that?" Jiang Lan asked.

Ling Zhuyun fell silent, which, in a way, was a tacit admission.

Jiang Lan rubbed his brow, looking like he had a headache.

But he didn’t say anything more, seemingly too tired to waste his breath.

Seeing Jiang Lan start to walk faster, Ling Zhuyun also quickened her pace to follow.

For some reason, even though Jiang Lan was clearly very angry right now, she felt an indescribable sensation in her heart.

It was like a Cultivation Technique she had struggled with for a long time, only to suddenly grasp and understand it one day, leaving her in a good mood for the rest of the day—happy, joyful?

"Don’t be angry because of me. I know this won’t solve anything."

"But it was the only way I could think of to avoid hurting Qi Heng and the others, while also not bringing trouble or bother to Ye Ling."

"If he was wrongly accused, and I had chosen to explain by asserting that he was connected to the Blood Immortal Sect, then it would be almost impossible for him to clear his name later..." she attempted to explain from behind.

Suddenly, Jiang Lan stopped in his tracks, and his back collided solidly with something soft.

"Saintess Zhu Yun, you might as well go find your fellow Disciples from the Jasper Pool Sect first. Following me like this isn’t a solution," Jiang Lan said, turning his head.

Ling Zhuyun hadn’t expected him to stop so suddenly. With her thoughts in turmoil, she hadn’t been paying attention and bumped right into him.