Chapter 84: A Long, Long Road
Another test?
Su narrowed his eyes. Kazel was relentless. But why was he so obsessed with figuring out Su's identity? Was it really that important to confirm whether Su was Su Qiluo?
"Yes," Su answered coldly. "If the Commander were here, he could have eliminated that swarm in under a minute. Unfortunately, he is far too busy. Even if he wanted to come watch the show, I doubt he would have the time."
"Oh?" Kazel nodded slowly and said nothing more.
Their conversation ended in a heavy silence. Fan Xuanye emerged from the house and looked between the two men. "Finished bickering?"
[Pfft. Even Fan Xuanye noticed that these two were arguing just now.][Why does Kazel keep bringing up the Commander? What's his issue?][Feels like there's history there. Maybe Kazel has a personal grudge against the Commander?][Forget it. The Commander's strong enough to crush Kazel with one hand. If there's a grudge, it's definitely one-sided.]
"Who said we were arguing?" Kazel chuckled, waving a hand casually as he strode off. "We just happened to talk about the Commander. Anyway, I'm heading to the sea. See you tonight."
Hopefully not, Su thought, eyes narrowing.
He still could not understand Kazel's animosity toward him. Was it all because he suspected Su of being Su Qiluo?
Had he somehow offended this man before?
Su tried to recall but came up with nothing. He had experienced too much and met too many people—if he remembered every little thing, his brain would have exploded by now.
But… could it be? He vaguely remembered a beautiful mermaid once confessing her love to him in public. He had walked right past her without so much as a glance.
Could Kazel have liked that mermaid?
Now that he thought about it, she had been very beautiful. It would not be impossible.
"I'll go catch some food. Stay here and hold the fort," Fan Xuanye said, casting Su a glance before heading out.
That left only Su and Bai Feifei.
"What are you looking at? Never seen a beautiful woman before?" Bai Feifei snapped, catching him staring and rolling her eyes.
"I've seen plenty of beautiful women—just never one as delusional as you," Su retorted, sneering as he turned to leave.
But before he could take a few steps, Bai Feifei exploded in rage. Everyone else she was too scared to offend—but this weakling? She could totally take him!
"Stop right there!" she shouted.
A brownish-gold glow flared in her palm. The sand beneath her feet suddenly surged forward at her command, hurling toward Su like a whip.
Sensing the incoming attack, Su's eyes turned cold. He was just about to retaliate when a powerful voice rang out—"Enough!"
A blast of wind surged across the ground. A barrier appeared in front of Su, intercepting the sandstorm and neutralizing the attack.
Deng Yijie rushed forward, eyes frantic as he checked Su for injuries. Only once he was certain Su was unharmed did he whirl toward Bai Feifei and shove her. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Yijie!" Mu Xueyao shouted in shock. She had not expected any of this.
Deng Yijie had dragged her all the way here today, claiming he wanted to say hello to Su and Mu Qingyun. He had even insisted that someone as gentle as her would definitely win Su over.
He must be insane. Did she want that walking corpse to like her?
"You?" Su was surprised to see Deng Yijie standing in front of him like a shield. "What are you doing here?"
Smiling faintly, Deng Yijie turned to him. "Her Highness wanted to check on Bai Feifei and Kazel. She also thought she could purify some water for you all."
"We can handle that ourselves," Su replied flatly, turning to head back indoors.
But Deng Yijie grabbed his arm before he could leave.
Tch.
Because of the livestream, Su lowered his gaze to mask the flicker of icy rage in his eyes.
Realizing Su was irritated, Deng Yijie quickly released him. "Your Highness, did you not say you wanted to teach him a bit of water manipulation?"
What?
The three of them froze in place.
What kind of nonsense was that?
"Ah, yes," Mu Xueyao quickly replied, adapting with practiced ease. "Just to strengthen your water ability a bit. At least you'll be able to protect yourself."
She had no idea what Deng Yijie was thinking. Still, this was being broadcasted live, and playing the benevolent princess in front of an audience could only help her image.
But seriously—had Deng Yijie lost his mind?
[What just happened? Can someone explain this chaos to me?][Wasn't Deng Yijie always super hostile toward Mu-ge and the others? Why the sudden change of heart?][Last time he interacted with them was right after Mu-ge got bitten by the bugs, then he vanished.][Ugh, our princess is so kind. Even if that loser cannot learn anything, she's still willing to teach. Teach me instead, Your Highness! You can scold me all you want!][…Can we not derail the topic right now?]
"There's no need," Su said, his expression twisted in displeasure. He found Deng Yijie's sudden fawning behavior insufferable.
He had already seen through Mu Xueyao's character. It was only because of her that he realized how unreliable public rumors could be.
[Wow. The audacity of this guy. The princess offers to teach him, and he still refuses. The nerve.][Ugh, why didn't Bai Feifei's sand attack finish him off earlier?]
"Sigh..."
Watching Su walk away, Deng Yijie could only sigh.
It seemed that winning over the Commander's approval—for both himself and the princess—would be a long, difficult journey with no visible end in sight.
"Yijie..." Mu Xueyao's eyes were misty with tears. She looked pitiful and hurt.
And to be fair—she was wronged. Dragged here for no reason, told she would teach someone, only to be rejected outright. What kind of joke was this?
"Your Highness," Deng Yijie said quickly, seeing her fragile state. He walked over and gently offered, "Let us go back for now. I will catch some fish for you later."
Another time?
Mu Xueyao's eyes flashed with cold killing intent, though her face remained pitiful as she nodded.
As the two turned to leave, she did not forget to shoot Bai Feifei a meaningful glance.