The Attack of the Wastrel

Rong Yuan finally saw Gu Lingzhi an hour later.

If it was not for the fact that no one had dared to pass themselves off as the Third Prince, Gu Lingzhi would not have believed that the man standing in front of her was Rong Yuan.

He had always looked refined and neat, but now his hair was in a mess and his clothes were creased. His eyes that were always filled with confidence now had a hint of weakness in them. Before Gu Lingzhi could ask what had happened to him, she was enveloped in a tight hug. She could not help but grimace at the force of the bone-crushing hug.

She wanted to push him away, but she paused when she felt his body trembling against hers.

This person was afraid…

Now, she knew clearly what he was feeling.

“I’ve finally found you…” Rong Yuan’s voice trembled. This made Gu Lingzhi realize that he had felt afraid because of her.

She had been delayed for a few hours due to her encounter with the white-robed man, the news of people having been expelled from the Cangwu Realm must have already spread in these few hours. Her heart started to ache.

This person truly had feelings for her…

“Lingzhi, I knew you’d be fine!” Qin Xinran suddenly interrupted.

Gu Lingzhi pushed Rong Yuan away forcefully. Qin Xinran’s confession in the Cangwu Realm was still ringing in Gu Lingzhi’s ears, how could she let her witness a situation like this?

“Lingzhi?” Rong Yuan was slightly bewildered by how Gu Lingzhi had pushed him away so abruptly. He turned to look at Qin Xinran before hugging Gu Lingzhi again.

“Xinran is not an outsider, what are you afraid of?”

Of course, she was afraid of hurting Xinran’s feelings!

Gu Lingzhi could not help but roll her eyes. Her feelings earlier were quickly replaced by one of awkwardness.

There was no way she could just calmly accept Rong Yuan’s public displays of affection.

Qin Xinran could easily tell what Gu Lingzhi was feeling. Lowering her head and pursing her lips, she murmured, “Don’t worry about me, liking someone is my business, it has nothing to do with you.”

Naturally, she felt sad that she could not be the person that the Third Prince liked. Even then, she knew that there were still many years ahead of her to live, and liking someone was only a part of growing up. She could not wallow in depression just because something had not gone the way she had wanted it to.

Just like what she had said, liking someone was indeed her own business. If the person she liked reciprocated her feelings, then good for her; but if that person liked someone else, she would not blame him.

Qin Xinran’s words did not make it any easier for Gu Lingzhi to accept Rong Yuan’s kind intentions. Gu Lingzhi could only try to put some distance between him and her, which made Rong Yuan extremely frustrated.

After having experienced all that trauma of worrying that Gu Lingzhi’s life would be in danger, he was hoping for her to reassure him. However, Gu Lingzhi could not be any more unromantic, pushing him away again and again. There was no way he would allow this to happen!

Plastering an innocent smile on his face, Rong Yuan took one stride forward and enveloped Gu Lingzhi into a hug once again.

“You…” Gu Lingzhi wanted to protest, but she was interrupted when Rong Yuan pressed his warm lips against her and started to kiss her fervently.

Why is the Third Prince acting up again? Xinran is still here; she would be heartbroken if she witnessed this!

Gu Lingzhi struggled against him whilst looking over at Qin Xinran. To her surprise, Qin Xinran looked amused and even gave Gu Lingzhi a thumbs up, urging her to kiss him back.

Was this really the reaction of someone who had a crush on the Third Prince? She must’ve looked so silly struggling against him.

Rong Yuan had thought that he had managed to convince Gu Lingzhi when she stopped struggling for a while, so he kissed her harder. The scene made Tianfeng Wei extremely furious.

Why did the Third Prince look so intoxicated while Gu Lingzhi looked so disinterested?

When Tianfeng Wei was still engaged with the Third Prince, he had never shown any affection towards her. Why would he be so daring only when it was Gu Lingzhi?

“You’re shameless!” Tianfeng Wei barked, unable to mask her jealousy anymore. “Gu Lingzhi, how dare you call yourself the First Mistress of the Gu Clan? Look at the way you seduce men, and in public! You’re shameless, you…”

Thud!

Tianfeng Wei was cut off abruptly when Yuan Zheng kicked her.

“You have no right to talk about what kind of person the Third Prince’s future wife is.”

Rong Yuan gave Gu Lingzhi another peck on the lips before getting Yuan Zheng to shut Tianfeng Wei’s mouth.

Yuan Zheng acknowledged Rong Yuan’s orders and proceeded to sit on the floor.

Other people were confused, but then Yuan Zheng started to take off his socks in one swift move and started walking towards Tianfeng Wei.”

“No, stop, you can’t treat me like this!” Tianfeng Wei started to protest vehemently when she saw what he was going to do.

“You are in no position to reject the Third Prince’s orders!” Yuan Zheng laughed maliciously, before shoving the sock into her mouth. To prevent her from vomiting it out, he even tied it to her mouth with a small piece of cloth. Tianfeng Wei retched at the odor from the sock.

That’s too much…

That was what everyone was thinking.

To think that Yuan Zheng could be so vicious towards a lady as pretty as Tianfeng Wei.

Seeing everyone’s expression, Yuan Zheng felt proud of himself and said, “I actually learned this move from His Highness. When we were fighting against the Dayin Kingdom, we captured some warriors who refused to surrender. His Highness used this move against them and they surrendered right after. In an army camp, you can only imagine how many smelly socks there were lying around. The captives had been groaning non-stop for days! Also…”

Yuan Zheng paused for a moment when he thought of something memorable. His lips curved up in nostalgia. Rong Yuan, on the other hand, turned sour when he saw the disgusted expression on Gu Lingzhi’s face.

Only an inhumane beast could think of such a disgusting thing to do to others.

“In war, there are no tactics that cannot be used,” Rong Yuan tried very desperately to explain himself.

Gu Lingzhi could not help but think that the people of the Xia Kingdom had been deceived by the Third Prince. How was he a War God? He’s merely a smelly, unreliable and shameless person.

Having been interrupted, Rong Yuan’s skin was no longer thick enough to pull Lingzhi in for another kiss. A pity he was only able to settle scores with Tianfeng Wei today. He had to wait for all Four Great Clans to commune again before he could settle all the scores.

The warm expression in his eyes immediately turned murderous.

Whoever dared to plot against Gu Lingzhi, no matter the intention, did not deserve to live!

A day later, a line of people had finally reached the entrance of the Thousand Mountains Range, waiting for all the Four Great Clans to gather.

There was boisterous conversation and laughter, as if the incident regarding the Cangwu Realm never happened. It was almost absurd.

The mastermind behind the Five Calamities Formation, Beicheng Haotian, was surrounded by his other clan members as they interrogated him. The Clan Leader of the Beicheng Clan looked pained as he repeatedly questioned him for the reason behind his actions. At the side, the Gu Clan and Qin Clan could only look on in disbelief.

No one here was born yesterday, who are they trying to fool?

Gu Rong could not calm his heart down before knowing whether Gu Lingzhi was alive. He glared at Beicheng Haotian, almost wishing he was dead. After losing Gu Linglong, Gu Lingzhi was his only child left alive. Furthermore, she was to be wedded to the Third Prince. If something had really happened to her, his future years would be bleak.

Without the support of the Third Prince, he would risk losing his position as the Clan Leader. He would become a laughing stock if people knew that he had been voted out by his own clan members and his remaining years in the clan would no longer be as comfortable as it is now.

“I really did not know that the Young Master has been raised so well by the Beicheng Clan Leader. He is so capable that he could activate so many people in his clan with the same Level as him to go for such a dangerous mission, and he does not seem to be scared of any punishment even though he is risking the lives of more than a hundred people. Does the Beicheng Clan even have any rules?” Gu Rong laughed sarcastically, looking at Beicheng Linfeng coldly. The leader of the Qin Clan followed suit. Although his doted-on daughter, Qin Xinran, had already reported her safety, he could not help but think that there was a chance that she might have died in the Cangwu Realm. His hatred towards the Beicheng and Tianfeng Clan soared.

“Your words are too much, Gu Rong. Haotian is Haoyue’s senior, he is very talented and is popular in the clan. It is completely normal for him to have many close friends in the clan that would risk their lives for him. We were completely unaware about the incident regarding the Cangwu Realm. If we knew, we would not have given him so much power to do whatever he wanted.”

Beicheng Linfeng faked a sigh, “Now that things have come to this, the most important thing is to find those who are still alive in the Thousand Mountains Range and compensate the families of those who have passed away. When everyone has been accounted for, I will make it up to the leaders of both clans under both your conditions.”

There was no wonder that Beicheng Linfeng was a clan leader, it had been extremely easy for him to try and relieve his clan of the blame in this matter.

Those clan members who had died in the Cangwu Realm were dispensable – they were merely Martial Students and Martial Practitioners – and it would be unwise to turn against the other clans over these worthless people.

“Our Four Great Clans have been harmonious for so many years, are we really going to jeopardize our relationship over a few who had misbehaved?”