After Steward Zhu took the person away.
The next day,
Chao Xiangzi paid a sudden visit.
Ye Ju was not in the mood and did not wish to entertain him.
“Fellow Daoist Ye, I have something important to tell you, about Xiao Bai.”
Upon hearing that it was related to Xiao Bai, Ye Ju could no longer remain calm and opened the courtyard gate.
Chao Xiangzi appeared very flustered upon entering, hesitant to speak. Ye Ju grew impatient.
“If you have something to say, Fellow Daoist Chao, please speak directly, no need to stammer.”
“This… this… Fellow Daoist Ye, I apologize to you first!” Chao Xiangzi suddenly bowed to Ye Ju.
Ye Ju jumped up in fright. What was this? Such a grand gesture. This young lady still had a long life to live and didn't want her lifespan to be shortened!
“Fellow Daoist Chao, what is the reason for this?”
“Fellow Daoist Ye, the person Xiao Bai captured is related to my cousin?” Chao Xiangzi finished speaking, not daring to look at Ye Ju.
Ye Ju, who had just sat down, suddenly stood up. “What? Explain clearly, what do you mean related to your cousin?”
Chao Xiangzi regained his composure at this moment. Once the words were out, everything became smoother.
That ruffian was the brother of Zhu Xianxian’s maid. He was involved in all sorts of vices, gambling, and debauchery. This morning, Ayou went out to procure goods and encountered that maid. The maid had seen Ayou at the pearl appreciation event last time and knew he was Fellow Daoist Ye’s attendant.
Seeing him buying so many goods alone, she became greedy. After returning, she intentionally told Zhu Xianxian about this. Coincidentally, Zhu Xianxian was still upset about Ye Ju bidding on the nut boat, so she and the maid devised a consecutive scheme.
First, they hired someone to follow Ayou. As soon as Ayou left with the goods, someone immediately impersonated a Hot Pot City manager to alter the delivery address, absconding with the goods and reselling them. For the goods part, Zhu Xianxian found people from the underground casino in the west of the city. They agreed to split the profits fifty-fifty after the deed was done. Then, they instructed the maid’s brother to waylay Ayou. This ruffian knew nothing about the goods, so after robbing the spirit stones, he dared to spend them at the casino the same day. He was truly an idiot!
Ye Ju looked at Chao Xiangzi with a half-smile.
“What? Are you upset that your cousin’s plan was ruined by this scoundrel?”
Chao Xiangzi’s face turned red, and he waved his hands repeatedly!
“No… no…”
“Continue!” Ye Ju suppressed her anger.
“Xiao Bai captured this ruffian and caused a commotion at the casino, even killing three people. The casino’s Nine-Nine Heavenly Net did not trap Xiao Bai. They immediately recognized Xiao Bai as the Nine-tailed Fox Divine Beast, and its master was Fairy Ye Ju, who underwent heavenly tribulation yesterday. No one in Pearl City has undergone tribulation for hundreds of years. Golden Core cultivators are few and far between. Offending a Golden Core cultivator is something no one can bear, resulting in severe injuries at best, and family annihilation at worst!”
The casino’s higher-ups found the matter suspicious, thinking they had offended Fellow Daoist Ye, and began to investigate. They discovered that one of their managers had colluded with the cousin to set up the scheme. After dealing with the manager, the higher-ups of the west city casino went to the cousin’s family, threatening that if she did not resolve the matter herself, her entire family would cease to exist!
After speaking, Chao Xiangzi bowed solemnly, apologizing on behalf of his cousin.
His cousin had come to beg him, threatening to kill herself. He was very angry when he found out, realizing for the first time that his cousin was not the same person he knew as a child.
Ye Ju remained silent for a long time after Chao Xiangzi finished speaking. All schemes and stratagems were merely paper tigers in the face of absolute power. The truth was uncovered in just one day. But this was also due to the casino’s forces being wary of her. If Xiao Bai were a little weaker, or if she herself were weaker, would this still be the truth?
Moreover, Steward Zhu was likely not unaware of this, which made his intention in taking the person away deeply questionable…
At this moment, Ye Ju gained a deeper understanding of this cultivation world. Weakness was truly a sin; only by becoming stronger could one prevail!
Ye Ju looked coldly at Chao Xiangzi.
“Chao Xiangzi, you are not your cousin. The one who should apologize is not you, and the one to apologize to is not me, but Ayou.”
With that, she tossed the wooden token he had given her back to him.
“Deliver my goods. I’ll give you this face, and this matter ends here. We are quits, but from now on, we will no longer be friends.”
Chao Xiangzi looked up sharply, gazing at Ye Ju in disbelief, his lips trembling slightly. He took the wooden token and turned to leave.
Zhu Xianxian arrived, wearing a veil, displaying the demeanor of a noble young lady. Who would have thought she was someone with a malicious heart, who bullied the weak? The maid accompanying her had changed; it was said that the former maid, Xiao Bi, had already been punished. She had instigated her mistress and designed the scheme to embezzle the goods to help her brother pay off gambling debts.
Ye Ju could only scoff. Miss Zhu was completely unaware that her cousin had sold her out completely!
Chao Xiangzi’s expression was blank, his gaze towards Ye Ju deep, yet he remained silent. Ye Ju ignored him.
She watched Zhu Xianxian tearfully explain the reasons, portraying herself as an innocent and ignorant young woman, unaware of the world’s wickedness, to perfection. Ye Ju almost wanted to award her a golden statuette.
Zhu Xianxian, seeing her tearful plea met with Ye Ju’s indifferent expression, gritted her teeth with hatred. Who knew this woman was so formidable? The Hot Pot City was her creation, and she had become the proprietress of Zhenxiu Zhai. In less than three months, Zhenxiu Zhai Hot Pot City had spread throughout the entire Tianchen Continent, their businesses booming and raking in fortunes, earning everyone’s envy.
Now, she was being asked to apologize to a mere attendant, which was utter humiliation. She was, after all, a proud young lady of the Zhu family. She would endure, and one day, she would repay all these disgraces with interest.
“I am extremely sorry. The lowly maid by my side privately instructed her brother to injure you. These are compensation for you.” Under the pressure of two gazes, Zhu Xianxian was forced to bow and apologize to the attendant, Ayou.
“I… I’m fine. I… I forgive you.” Ayou was terrified to see the grand Miss Zhu personally apologize to him.
A few days later,
Ayou’s injuries healed quickly after Ye Ju secretly added spirit spring water to his medicine several times. Ye Ju decided it was time to depart. All the goods were stored in her spirit ring.
It turned out that spirit rings could be purchased. Ye Ju spent a large sum of spirit stones at the Treasure Pavilion in Pearl City to buy a spirit ring. The one she had been using, she had Ayou return to Chao Xiangzi. Since they were no longer friends, wearing a ring gifted by someone felt strange. In Huaxia, rings carried profound meaning. Ye Ju felt a chill, resolving not to casually accept gifts in the future.
After Ayou returned the spirit ring, he hesitated, wanting to say something, but Ye Ju pretended not to see. For people with no intersection, there was no need to waste more time.
Hearing that Chao Yangzi had returned on the day of her heavenly tribulation, he had gone into seclusion. He had not yet emerged. Ye Ju had no opportunity to bid him farewell in person. She prepared to go to Thousand Mile Lake to pick up Xiao Mo before setting sail.
Xiao Bai, at breakneck speed, carried Ye Ju and Ayou to Thousand Mile Lake.
Upon hearing they were leaving Pearl City, Ayou was even happier than Ye Ju. Pearl City held only painful memories for Ayou. How fortunate it was to leave with Fairy Ye.
Arriving at Thousand Mile Lake, the lake was vast, its east and west banks disappearing into the distance. It was long from north to south, and about five kilometers wide. Ye Ju’s spiritual sense spread out but found no trace of Xiao Mo. Ye Ju then took out her purple bamboo boat, deciding to search for him on the lake surface.