Chapter 534: My Guy, This Operation Was Brilliant!
"Young Master Shen, you are of noble status. My Wan Fa Sect will not harm a single hair on your head. As long as you stay honestly in this secret chamber for a while, someone will naturally release you. Otherwise, hehe, don't blame this old man for being impolite."
The black-robed, one-eyed old man let out a strange, rasping laugh, his single eye glinting with malice as he stared at Shen Anyu and Ji Xiaolin.
The two of them had been swiftly transported from the bustling city to this desolate villa on the outskirts of Hangzhou, and now found themselves locked in its subterranean heart.
With a deafening bang, the heavy iron door slammed shut, its locking mechanism grinding with a final, echoing thud that sealed their fate.
The underground chamber, surprisingly, was not the damp, lightless dungeon one might expect. It was immaculately clean, the concrete floor polished to a dull sheen. A small, comfortable-looking sofa sat against one wall, facing a wall-mounted television. An air conditioning unit hummed quietly in the corner, churning out cool, sterile air that did little to ease the tension. The conditions were far from squalid, a bizarre courtesy extended to their high-profile captive.
Shen Anyu and Ji Xiaolin exchanged a loaded glance, a silent acknowledgment of their shared predicament. The moment of stillness was shattered when Ji Xiaolin, her face a mask of fury and humiliation, launched herself at him.
"You bastard!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with rage. "How dare you treat me like that! I'll kill you!"
Her attack was more desperate than skilled. She pounced like a wildcat, nails extended, teeth bared, aiming clumsy swipes at his face and chest. Her cheeks were flushed a deep crimson, a combination of shame and righteous anger that, even now, gave her a uniquely captivating charm. Shen Anyu sidestepped her initial lunge with casual grace, a faint, almost infuriating smile playing on his lips.
He weaved around another wild swing, his movements fluid and unhurried. "You truly don't recognize a good deed when you see one, do you? If I hadn't stepped in, that one-eyed monster would have shown you a much crueler side of himself. Do you really think you'd be enjoying this… 'VIP' treatment otherwise? You were captured, yes, but they were almost polite about it. They didn't even lay a hand on you."
"I…" Ji Xiaolin's mouth opened, the words 'my father is Zhang Tianen' poised on her tongue, ready to be unleashed as a threat. But just as quickly, the fire in her eyes died down, replaced by a cold, bitter reality. Her pretty face sank, and she fell silent.
'The Tianshi Sect…' she thought with a surge of disgust. 'They're all the same. Nothing but trouble.' Her own father, Zhang Tianen, had trapped her mother in a lifetime of misery. And that vile excuse for a man, Zhang Zhiyun… just the existence of a marriage engagement to him had nearly cost her her life. The memory was a fresh, venomous wound. Thinking of it, Ji Xiaolin gritted her teeth, her small fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. A wave of pure, undiluted resentment washed over her.
"What's wrong, Xiaolin?" Shen Anyu's voice cut through her dark thoughts. The playful smile was gone, replaced by a look of genuine, gentle concern on his devastatingly handsome face. He took a cautious step closer. "I was wrong just now. It was an emergency, and I acted without thinking. I'm sorry."
His apology, delivered with such disarming sincerity, was a masterstroke. Seeing the warm, solicitous expression in his eyes, Ji Xiaolin felt the rigid wall of her anger begin to crumble. A part of her knew he wasn't to blame for this mess. In fact, he was right. If he hadn't shielded her with his own status, her fate at the hands of the Wan Fa Sect would have been terrifyingly grim. That one-eyed old man radiated an aura of casual brutality; he was no benevolent captor.
Even revealing her connection to Zhang Tianen wouldn't have saved her. It might have even made things worse. The Wan Fa Sect already held a death grudge against the Tianshi Sect, and their primary target was the Young Sect Leader, Zhang Zhiyun. As the saying went, when you have too many debts, you stop worrying. A grudge with her father would just be one more to the pile.
The Wan Fa Sect, however, was clearly not eager to escalate their conflict unnecessarily. They didn't want to simultaneously provoke the Tianshi Sect, the colossal Shen Family of Yanxia, and the powerful An Family of Yanxia. With no direct conflict of interest, angering two such superpowers over a single woman would be strategic suicide.
Shen Anyu had, without a doubt, saved her from a much darker fate.
[Ding! Detected a +10 increase in favorability from Destined Heroine Ji Xiaolin. Plundering 30,000 Destiny Points!]
Despite this logical conclusion, the phantom sensation of his lips on hers still burned. The memory of the warmth, the pressure, the sheer audacity of it, sent a fresh wave of heat to her cheeks. Ji Xiaolin shot him a glare that was more shy than angry, then spun around, turning her back to him in a huff, refusing to grant him the satisfaction of a response.
Her mind was a chaotic storm. Kidnapped by a malevolent Artificer True Person. Forced into an intimate, albeit life-saving, moment with a man she'd only just met. There was no one to complain to, no outlet for her frustration. Worse still was the gnawing uncertainty of what came next. How would the one-eyed old man deal with them? Their situation was precarious, balanced on a knife's edge.
A flicker of amusement danced in Shen Anyu's eyes. He was about to step forward, to offer more of his "comfort"—preferably with her comforted directly in his arms—when she suddenly whirled back around.
Her nimble, intelligent eyes were wide and serious, blinking once as she fixed her gaze on him.
"Hey," she said, her voice softer now. "Do you have a fiancée?"
"No," Shen Anyu replied without a fraction of a second's hesitation. His voice was firm, his answer honest.
"Then I…" Ji Xiaolin's gaze darted away for a moment, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. She looked at his handsome, heroic profile, the strong line of his jaw, and a delicate blush crept up her neck. She stopped herself, her lips pressing together. 'This isn't the right time,' she thought, chastising herself. 'It's not appropriate.'
'If… if we can get out of this alive,' a small, hopeful voice whispered in her mind, 'that would be wonderful. Perhaps… perhaps then, we could get to know each other properly.'
Thinking this, Ji Xiaolin gently bit her lower lip, a troubled expression returning to her face as she forced her thoughts back to the immediate danger. Shen Anyu might be safe due to his family name, but her own safety was anything but guaranteed.
"Xiaolin," Shen Anyu's voice was a low murmur, pulling her from her thoughts. His eyes flickered with a cunning light. "I secretly planted a listening device outside just before they closed the door. Maybe we can monitor their movements and find a chance to escape."
Ji Xiaolin's beautiful eyes instantly lit up, a beacon of hope in the sterile room. A brilliant smile bloomed on her face as she gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up. She immediately moved closer, her earlier reservations forgotten in the face of a tangible plan. She leaned in, her ear close to the small receiver he produced, straining to hear the intercepted sounds. Her confidence surged. As long as that monster, the Wan Fa Sect's Right Protector, left the premises, she was certain she could break them out. A mere iron door was no match for an Artificer True Person like herself.
She hadn't dared to use her own spiritual senses to eavesdrop; a Half-Step Celestial Master like the one-eyed old man would have detected it instantly. But a piece of mundane mortal technology? It was ingenious, a clever trick that might just have an unexpected, life-saving effect.
However, it was still high summer, and both of them were dressed in thin clothing.
As they huddled together, listening intently, the heat from his body seemed to radiate into hers. Their shoulders brushed, then pressed together. The fabric of his shirt was a thin barrier against his skin. A faint, clean scent of sandalwood and mint emanated from him, an intoxicating aroma that filled her senses. Looking up at the intense concentration on his handsome face, a captivating blush quietly stole across her fair cheeks, deeper and warmer than before.
And at this very moment, in the villa directly above the secret chamber, a different conversation was taking place.
The Wan Fa Sect's Right Protector, the one-eyed old man, clapped his subordinate on the shoulder, his single eye glowing with genuine approval.
"This time, you have performed a great service," he praised, his voice a gravelly rumble of satisfaction. "Even the Sect Master himself commended your work. He said he would reward you handsomely."
He was exceptionally pleased with this particular underling. The man hadn't been with the Wan Fa Sect for long, but he had a knack for delivering spectacular results. This latest achievement—managing to photograph Zhang Zhiyun and uncover his true identity—was his most valuable contribution yet.
The revelation had sent shockwaves through the entire upper echelon of the Wan Fa Sect. The Right Protector, the Sect Master, and all the other elders were still reeling from the chilling discovery.
To learn that the last remnant of the Hangzhou Zhang Family—a clan they had personally annihilated twenty years ago—was not only alive but was now the Young Sect Leader of the mighty Tianshi Sect, and a Half-Step Celestial Master in his early twenties… it was the stuff of nightmares.
This was a blood feud, a grudge born from genocide. It was an endless, irreconcilable hatred.
Once a talent like Zhang Zhiyun fully matured, there would be no corner of the earth where the Wan Fa Sect could hide. He would hunt them down to the last man, driven by a vengeance that would never fade. This was a threat on a completely different level from a standard bounty. With ordinary enemies, you could flee abroad, lay low for a few years, and wait for the heat to die down. No one would pour endless resources into pursuing the formidable Wan Fa Sect over a simple contract.
But this? This was the righteous fury of a sole survivor, armed with immense power and talent. The trouble he represented was immeasurable.
Therefore, the decision had been swift and unanimous. Even if it meant completely enraging the Tianshi Sect, they had to find a way to kill Zhang Zhiyun. They had to cut the weed out at its root. The Tianshi Sect's retaliation, while fearsome, was preferable to the specter of Zhang Zhiyun's unending hunt. They could weather the storm, go into hiding, and the Tianshi Sect would eventually move on. After all, a dead genius is no longer a genius. He wouldn't be worth the colossal price of a full-scale war.
"By the way," the one-eyed old man said, his tone turning friendly. "What was your name again?"
"Protector, this subordinate's name is Du Zhao. My nickname is Emei Peak."
"Emei Peak, and Du Zhao? Quite the romantic flair, isn't it?" The one-eyed old man chuckled, patting Du Zhao's shoulder again. "Keep up the good work. This old man appreciates you greatly. Even the Sect Master has taken notice of you. Stick with it, and in another ten or twenty years, you might even find yourself in my position."
Du Zhao put on a look of someone deeply flattered, nodding repeatedly. 'In another ten or twenty years,' he thought wryly, 'the grass on the Wan Fa Sect's grave will probably be a foot tall.'
As a house-born servant of the Yanxia Shen Family, whose ancestors had served Shen Anyu's lineage for several hundred years, Du Zhao vividly recalled the day his Young Master had given the order. Shen Anyu had suddenly dispatched dozens of his most loyal and trusted servants to infiltrate various underworld organizations across the country. They were given new identities, disguised their appearances, and even underwent crash courses in acting to perfect their cover stories.
'It seems the Wan Fa Sect fishing line can finally be reeled in,' he mused.
He certainly didn't want to be undercover for three years, and then another three years, and then another three years after that, only to accidentally end up as the boss of the Wan Fa Sect…
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