This Is What a Villain Is Like

Chapter 206: Chapter 99: Why Is Lin Fan Already Dead? He Has Returned to Take Revenge on All His Past-Life Enemies

But Jiang Lan spoke. "Don’t move."

Ling Zhuyun’s head swam. She froze, her delicate hands instinctively clutching the sleeves of her dress in a tense grip.

"I’m not some kind of monster. Is there any need to be so afraid?" Jiang Lan asked with a soft chuckle, caressing her cheek through the veil.

Ling Zhuyun didn’t answer. A mist seemed to form in her eyes, and a deep blush spread from her ears to her neck.

Seeing this, Jiang Lan pulled off her veil and held it in his hand. "Don’t wear these things when you see me from now on."

"I like the way you look now. Veils are for other people to see..."

Ling Zhuyun gently bit her lip and nodded instinctively.

"You didn’t come all this way today just for this, did you?"

"No."

"I have to return to the Jasper Pool Sect with my Sect, so I came to say goodbye." As Ling Zhuyun spoke, her eyes were fixed on him, as if trying to discern his true feelings.

"I see. In that case, I’ll keep this veil as a memento," Jiang Lan said nonchalantly. "Then, whenever I miss you, I can take it out for a look..."

"And it smells quite nice, I have to say."

With that, he lifted it to his nose for a sniff before tucking it inside his robes.

The blush on Ling Zhuyun’s ears and neck deepened, a crimson tide even creeping up her flawless, pale cheeks.

Just then, as if he had remembered something, Jiang Lan opened his palm. A flash of pure light shone.

A jade hairpin, simple in design yet lustrous and beautiful, appeared in his hand. A Pearl Flower and tassels dangled from its end.

"What’s this?" Ling Zhuyun’s gaze was instantly captivated by the small object in his hand.

"Back in the training hall, didn’t you say your master would bring you little trinkets to cheer you up every time she punished you?"

"You said your favorite was a jade hairpin, but you accidentally broke it..."

"And I must say, it’s a perfect match."

Jiang Lan explained casually as he stood up. While she was still in a daze, he tucked the jade hairpin into her dark hair.

"You actually remembered..." Ling Zhuyun had never imagined he would recall something she had only mentioned in passing.

Her bright eyes were fixed on Jiang Lan, swirling with a torrent of emotions.

"I have a good memory. I happened to see it while I was out and bought it on the spot."

Jiang Lan said nonchalantly. ’As the most powerful and sought-after noble in Great Xia, who is both romantic and devoted, isn’t this just standard procedure?’

’It was nothing more than knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist coming to him, so he’d simply given an order to have it purchased and prepared ahead of time.’

"This is the first time I’ve accepted a gift from a man." A smile graced Ling Zhuyun’s lips. She wanted to take the hairpin down to look at it more closely, but she was afraid of accidentally dropping and breaking it.

As the Saintess of the Jasper Pool Sect, she had been pursued by many men. They had offered her numerous gifts, many of them priceless treasures, but she had never accepted any of them.

Jiang Lan, however, hadn’t given her a chance to refuse, simply pinning it in her hair himself.

"You don’t like it?"

"...I like it."

Ling Zhuyun didn’t stay long. When she rose to take her leave, she took out another veil and put it on.

It was a Secret Treasure that concealed her true face, impenetrable even to Divine Sense.

Not long after Ling Zhuyun left, an unexpected visitor arrived at his door.

It was a woman named Linglong, the Commander from the Observatory in charge of investigating the Purple Mist Mountain incident.

Jiang Lan assumed she was there to ask about Purple Mist Mountain, but to his surprise, she started asking about Lin Fan of Yu Yi City, probing for specific details.

Jiang Lan answered vaguely and called for Ying to respond to her. He was surprised that the Observatory had suddenly sought him out.

She had specifically asked about the incidents in Yu Yi City and what Jiang Lan had been doing there at the time.

At the time, Jiang Lan and Li Mengning had gone to the Blood Red Plateau; they weren’t in the City Lord’s Mansion.

And that was hardly a secret.

Jiang Lan was certain he hadn’t left behind any clues or openings. It was impossible for anyone to connect the dots back to him without a reason.

But for this Commander from the Observatory to suddenly suspect him made him wary.

’My recent actions must have caught the attention of several powerful groups.’

’But what did this Commander Linglong mean by questioning me personally? Is there something about me that drew her suspicion? Or is this just a routine check?’

’The Observatory may not interfere with imperial power, but in the original story, it was always entangled with the Royal Family.’

’Because of that incident years ago, any information about me in the Observatory’s records is surely a mystery.’

’This Commander is pretending to investigate Lin Fan, but she’s really just using it as an excuse to probe into my affairs...’

’It seems the Royal Family has finally decided to focus some of its attention on me.’

Not long after Linglong Commander left, Mr. Chu appeared and told Jiang Lan a few things.

"That Linglong Commander is from Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. She can control all manner of beasts. Any bird, beast, insect, or fish could become her eyes..."

Jiang Lan was slightly taken aback when he heard this.

There didn’t seem to be a character like that in the original story, but he did remember Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.

Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain was one of Empress Xia Junxi’s most die-hard loyalist factions.

’Her visit to investigate me was a pretense. In reality, she wanted to use the local animals as spies to gauge my true strength.’

Jiang Lan scoffed inwardly. Given his profound level of control over life itself...

...how could he possibly fail to notice if some living creature was deliberately trying to spy on him?

However, the incident served as a reminder. Since he couldn’t find a suitable person of great destiny at the moment, he could always start with the Empress.