Chapter 48: No One Understands You Better Than Your Mortal Enemy
"Senior… um, about that…"
Meng Xiaoyan genuinely regretted following Fan Chen here now.
At first, she had only come because Qian Renxue was generous with money, thinking she could make a quick profit. Then Fan Chen showed up, and she figured she might as well chat with him—after all, they hadn't seen each other for quite some time.
Everything had been going just fine, right up until that little thing suddenly spoke.
From that moment on, everything changed.
Guang Ling's appearance nearly scared her half to death. For a child like her, reading the situation was a fundamental survival instinct.
From the way Fan Chen and Qian Renxue addressed him, his unrealistically youthful appearance, and the faint yet overwhelming aura he exuded, she instantly guessed his identity.
Titled Douluo are said to possess the miraculous ability to return to youth—every kid on the Douluo Continent has heard that before.
But almost no one had actually seen one in person, so it was usually treated as just a story.
Meng Xiaoyan never imagined she'd truly run into one.
And worse—this one seemed like he was about to target her.
That realization completely terrified her. She had no intention of dying young like this.
"Now you're stuttering? When you argue with me, why is your mouth so damn sharp?"
Fan Chen suddenly ran over and flicked Meng Xiaoyan on the head. The pain made her instantly want to turn on him.
"You—!"
"What? Hurry up and call him Master."
Fan Chen shot Meng Xiaoyan a series of frantic looks. He could tell that Guang Ling had developed some interest in her.
Not too strong yet—but earlier, he had also exchanged information with Xiao Bai.
Only then did he realize that Xiao Bai had found Meng Xiaoyan using Guang Ling and Luan Yuqing's disciple-selection template.
That information had been gathered by Fan Chen during idle chats with them.
Meng Xiaoyan's compatibility with Guang Ling was as high as 80%, while her compatibility with Luan Yuqing was around 60%.
It wasn't top-tier, but it was more than passable.
"Fifth Grandpa, trust me. She and I come from the same orphanage—I know her very well."
"Sure, she's greedy, loves scamming people out of snacks and toys, sometimes sneaks bugs into the female caretakers' clothes to scare them, and she's insanely good with a slingshot…"
Meng Xiaoyan was completely numb.
Was Fan Chen helping her—or taking the opportunity to drag her through the mud?
Why was he just blurting everything out?!
Sure enough—
No one understands you better than your mortal enemy.
She could see it clearly now. This was revenge.
Blatant, shameless revenge.
All because she'd just called him by a nickname earlier—was that really necessary?!
"Slingshot?"
Guang Ling automatically ignored everything else Fan Chen said and latched onto the one detail that caught his interest.
"Yeah. She's deadly accurate with it. Most of the bird nests around the orphanage were ruined by her."
"Brother, I'm begging you—stop talking!"
Meng Xiaoyan finally snapped. If Fan Chen kept going, she was going to die of social embarrassment on the spot.
"Do you have a slingshot on you?"
Guang Ling paid no attention to Fan Chen's other comments. His gaze was fixed intently on Meng Xiaoyan as he asked the question.
"I… do."
Facing Guang Ling's inquiry, Meng Xiaoyan answered weakly. She looked like a completely tamed kitten, even letting out a couple of small, ingratiating murmurs.
She pulled a small wooden slingshot out of her canvas pouch and handed it to Guang Ling.
"What's the farthest target you can hit?"
Guang Ling glanced at the slingshot in her hand and continued questioning.
"Under normal circumstances, about a hundred meters. If I use my martial soul, I can double that. I haven't tried farther than that, but I think I could go even farther…"
Meng Xiaoyan seemed deeply afraid of Guang Ling. Her voice kept dropping lower and lower, until even she probably couldn't hear herself clearly anymore.
"Try it."
"Huh?"
For a moment, Meng Xiaoyan didn't understand what Guang Ling meant. Then Fan Chen shoved her from behind.
"He wants you to test how far you can shoot. Let's see if you're just bragging."
The moment she heard Fan Chen's voice, Meng Xiaoyan's anger flared. Her earlier timidity vanished completely, replaced by a single thought—
'I want to kill Fan Chen.'
"There's a bird nest on a tree more than one hundred and fifty meters away. Aren't you good at hitting bird nests? Knock it down, and we'll talk."
Guang Ling pointed toward a distant tree. Between its branches sat a nest made of twigs and dried mud.
It was summer, with dense and lush foliage. At that distance, an ordinary person wouldn't even notice the nest's existence.
Fan Chen followed the direction Guang Ling was pointing and searched for a while before finally spotting the target, while Meng Xiaoyan merely glanced at it once and then nodded.
"I'll give you five chances. Knock the bird nest down within five shots, and I'll let you go."
"If you do it in three shots, you take half of this bag of Gold Soul Coins. In two shots, you take it all."
A small cloth pouch stuffed full of Gold Soul Coins was tossed onto the ground in front of Meng Xiaoyan by Guang Ling, as casually as if he were throwing out trash. The loosened drawstring revealed the dazzling golden coins inside.
Meng Xiaoyan's eyes went wide at the sight. In that instant, all the fear in her heart vanished, replaced by excitement that surged through her entire body.
"Then what if I do it in one shot?"
Tempted by the Gold Soul Coins, Meng Xiaoyan spoke to Guang Ling directly for the first time.
"Quite confident, are you? If you manage it in one shot, I'll give you five bags of Gold Soul Coins like this—and a bonus on top of that."
"Deal!"
At that moment, Meng Xiaoyan's eyes shone even brighter than the Gold Soul Coins themselves. She was completely swept up in an intense, exhilarated state.
From Fan Chen's perspective, Meng Xiaoyan's soul power was boiling, surging madly toward her eyes.
White and violet light flowed around her eye sockets as she casually picked up a small stone from the ground.
She raised the slingshot in her hand—left hand holding the frame, right hand pulling back the band.
Her entire presence changed in that instant—focused, singular, and brimming with absolute confidence.
Whoosh—!
She released her fingers, and the stone shot out like an arrow guided by perfect targeting, slicing through the air and striking the distant bird nest head-on.
The nest shook violently and tilted to one side.
Just as it looked like it was about to fall, it suddenly stopped.
The nest had gotten caught between the branches.
"What a pity," Fan Chen muttered, feeling regret for Meng Xiaoyan.
But Meng Xiaoyan merely gave a confident smile.
In the next moment, the branch snapped—and the bird nest crashed down from the tree, smashing onto the ground.
"How dare you doubt your Big Sister Meng's slingshot skills? Little Fan Chen, absolutely laughable."
The words left her mouth, and Meng Xiaoyan froze.
She suddenly realized—this time, she wasn't betting against Fan Chen.
"Sorry, sorry… It's a force of habit."
Damn reflexes. She had instinctively mocked Fan Chen without even thinking.
"There's no need to be so polite between master and disciple. I'm a rather easygoing person."
Guang Ling smiled as he looked at Meng Xiaoyan, who was repeatedly bowing her head in apology. His face was full of satisfaction.
"Master and disciple? Me?"
"If not you, then who—me? Has your brain rusted over or something?"
Afraid she might run off, Fan Chen immediately rushed over and flicked her on the head again, knocking some sense into her.
It wasn't easy finding someone to share his burden—especially when that someone was his mortal enemy.
If she ran now, Fan Chen would cry himself to death.
"You hit my head again! Touch me one more time, and I'll flip out!"
"Flip what face? Remember—call me Senior Brother from now on. Got it?"
Guang Ling was ranked fifth, while Golden Crocodile Douluo was ranked second.
By seniority, Meng Xiaoyan had to call him Senior Brother.
And since he had joined earlier on top of that, the double advantage meant he would always have the upper hand over Meng Xiaoyan.
Just thinking about it made him happy.
"Not calling you. If you don't like it, kill me."
Meng Xiaoyan's stubborn streak flared up. She didn't care at all and directly confronted Fan Chen head-on.
Off to the side, Qian Renxue held Xiao Bai in her arms, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
After all, this was the first time she'd ever seen such a way of getting along.
Meanwhile, Guang Ling watched the two kids bicker with great amusement, making no move to stop them.
After all, he was in a good mood today.
"Looks like the Douluo Hall is going to get lively from now on."
—
End of Chapter