Ye Zichen finally realized that he’d walked into a trap. Judging from Chi Mei’s crafty expression, she’d already known all about this. She knew, yet she said nothing and led him into a trap anyway.
Ye Zichen gazed pitifully at the boundless lake. He wanted to cry, but had no tears.
The damage was already done, and he wasn’t the type to blame others for his mistakes. He’d already encountered the Five Elements Great Emperor’s good fortune and been marked with his karma. In that case, this was clearly his destiny.
He hurriedly held his breath and concentrated on gleaning enlightenment into the power of the five elements. Even if this place only increased his comprehension a little bit, Ye Zichen still felt that this wouldn’t be a complete loss.
Chi Mei watched from the side. She wanted to laugh but resisted the impulse. She couldn’t help but feel that this sweet little pill refiner was really adorable!
It’s just, his money-grubbing ways were super freakin’ irritating!
“Aren’t there supposed to be three of us? Are we just supposed to wait here for the third person? As impressive as the power of the five elements here is, I can’t help but feel like just sitting around waiting would be a waste of time.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. The last landscape painting’s owner is already here.”
As she spoke, she pointed at the distant mountain. Ye Zichen looked over and noticed a small black dot on the water nearest to the mountain. It was so faint, it almost seemed to fade into the lake’s surface. He wouldn’t have noticed it at all unless he were looking carefully for it.
“You ought to celebrate the fact that I’m the one who found you this time. We discovered this place many years ago, but the third landscape painting’s master had yet to appear. We agreed to take s.h.i.+fts going out into the seventy-two districts in search of the final painting and its owner. Coincidentally, this year was my turn. That guy is solitary and arrogant as heck. If he found you, he wouldn’t so much as give you the time of day.”
Chi Mei seemed to think that Ye Zichen had come out ahead since she was the one to find him, but Ye Zichen disagreed.
She’d stuck to him like a glue for the past few days, and even acted like a cutesy little girl. These were absolutely not happy memories…..
They were nightmares!
Chi Mei looked at him and laughed drily. She could see through his thoughts. Her smug look vanished without a trace. She glowered at him and went to greet her ally.
When they drew nearer, Ye Zichen saw the figure clearly; that black dot was actually a young man. He was clad in coa.r.s.e fabrics, with no trace of artifacts of treasures of any kind.
He sat cross-legged atop the lake. He was barefoot, with a rusted longsword across his lap.
Even after Chi Mei and Ye Zichen reached him, he didn’t open his eyes until Chi Mei shouted…..
“Hey, grumpyface!”
The man’s eyes instantly popped open. His gaze was relentless and sharp as an unsheathed sword, and his killing intent was palpable.
“Ss….!” Ye Zichen sucked air between his teeth. This intense, sharp energy set him completely on edge. Furthermore, as the man opened his eyes, something seemed to change about his rusted sword, too.
“I’ll say it one more time. I’m your brother,” said the man coldly. His sharp brows furrowed slightly; clearly, he didn’t appreciate Chi Mei calling him “grumpyface.” The next moment, he noticed Ye Zichen standing beside her.
“So he’s the third person? You’re late. I’ve been waiting for you for fifteen years.”
No wonder Chi Mei called him “grumpyface.” He’d glowered this whole time, as if he found the whole world deeply irritating. As he looked at Ye Zichen, his gaze was extremely unfriendly, as if he were blaming Ye Zichen for wasting so much of their time by not showing up earlier.
At first, Ye Zichen was stunned that such a grumpy, irritable guy could be Chi Mei’s big brother. Neither their looks nor their personality was at all similar; they really didn’t seem like siblings.
And now this guy was blaming him? In the past, given Ye Zichen’s temperament, he might have simply slapped him and beaten him until his nose no longer resembled a nose and his face no longer resembled a face.
However, he was still unsure of the world in the painting, and hadn’t been here as long as this grumblebucket. Also, he had to consider Chi Mei’s feelings. In the end, Ye Zichen decided to let it slide.
Also, at the end of the day, Ye Zichen was concerned about that rusted sword too…..
The body of the sword was covered in rust, and its s.p.a.ckled blade didn’t seem particularly sharp. Judging purely by appearance, it was worse than an ordinary iron sword.
Even so, Ye Zichen couldn’t help but glance at it. He felt a vague premonition: I shouldn’t provoke it.
I’ll spare your life, thought Ye Zichen to himself.
“How can you talk to my sweetie like that?” Chi Mei put her hands on her hips and strode forward.” Let me tell you: you have to be polite to him! Got it?”
The grumpy-faced guy was stunned that Chi Mei would go against him for Ye Zichen’s sake. He swept his gaze across the two of them. As he did, his rusted sword trembled slightly.
His eyes filled with shock, then he forced himself to smile. He stretched out his hand to Ye Zichen as if inviting him to shake it. However, his smile was hideous; it was uglier than his usual grimace by far.
“Wu Yi!”
Ye ZIchen was stunned by his sudden change in att.i.tude. Wasn’t this guy p.i.s.sed at me earlier? Is he afraid of Chi Mei?
Ye Zichen didn’t get it, but he still took Wu Yi’s hand and shook it. “Ye Zichen.”
“You won both my little sister and my sword’s approval. You’re not bad.”
Even though this guy seemed to have set aside his distaste, his tone was still ridiculously arrogant.
But that didn’t matter. What mattered was his sword!
He just said his sword had acknowledged Ye Zichen. That implied his sword had a soul.
Ye Zichen was stunned. No wonder that rusted blade seemed so dangerous. It was actually a sentient divine artifact!
“Alright. Since we’re all here, let’s hurry up and start. I’ve already wasted far too much time here. I don’t have much time left.”
With that, a landscape painting popped into his hands. While he turned away, Chi Mei stuck her tongue out at him, but took their two paintings out as well.
Ye Zichen was stunned once more. Weren’t they inside the painting already? Where did these paintings come from?
“Ha ha ha, you’re confused, aren’t you?” Chi Mei smiled deviously at him. After spending a few days together, and comparing her initial demeanor to her current behavior, Ye Zichen was truly uncertain of which personality was the real Chi Mei.
“If you make me your dao partner, I’ll explain it to you.”
Grumpyface, who was carrying the landscape paintings as he led the way forward, froze. His eyes widened in disbelief, but when he turned around to look……
“Get away from me, okay?” To his astonishment, Ye Zichen just shoved her away disdainfully. When Wu Yi looked back at Chi Mei, he discovered that his sister didn’t seem angry at all. To the contrary, she was still coquettishly and coyly coming onto Ye Zichen!
What on earth was going on?