Chapter 274: Ruthless

Early the next morning, Ruyan and Ji Yaohua lined up to give Ye Xiu a suffocating kiss.

Now, Ye Xiu finally understood that they had indeed seen his diary. He

also began to understand why Dongfang Bubai, Yaoyue, and the others were around him. It turned out to be because of the diary.

At first, Ye Xiu had assumed they were simply captivated by his looks. He hadn't expected the diary to be a factor.

But Ye Xiu couldn't help but feel a little confused. Was the diary also a factor in Dongfang Bubai and the others staying by his side?

Or did Dongfang Bubai and the others truly love and care for him? Wasn't it because of the diary?

Inexplicably, Ye Xiu felt a little uneasy.

Meanwhile, Ye Xiu's favorability ratings for Dongfang Bubai, Yaoyue, Murong Qiudi, and even Huang Rong, Lianxing, and Lian Nishang all dropped by one to three points.

Obviously, everyone wishes their feelings were pure, free of impurities. Even

someone like Ye Xiu, who already had a harem, still stubbornly wished for every relationship to be pure. If

Ye Xiu were to be described in one word, it would probably be pretentious.

While pretentious, it was also human nature. After a while, Ye Xiu's mood would adjust, and his favorability rating would return to normal.

Lian Nishang was delighted to see Ye Xiu's favorability rating rise to 78.

While it wasn't quite 80, 78 was still quite good.

After all, before this, Ye Xiu's favorability rating had only been 47. Furthermore, Ye Xiu rarely mentioned her name in his diary, and whenever he did, she'd only received a token reward—a basic monthly increase in internal cultivation.

Now, Lian Nishang was confident that next month's rewards would arrive, she would receive even greater rewards and a significant improvement in her cultivation.

Ye

Xiu looked at the three beautiful women before him with a complicated expression: Lian Nishang, Ruyan, and Ji Yaohua.

Of course, Lian Nishang occupied the center of the group, forcing Ruyan and Ji Yaohua to stand behind her, seemingly like two maids, or even concubines.

This was due to Lian Nishang's superior strength.

While Ji Yaohua and Ruyan, at their age and having reached the rank of Grandmaster, were considered geniuses in the normal martial arts world, they were still far behind a Grandmaster

like Lian Nishang.

The martial arts world values strength over all else, a rule Lian Nishang deeply recognized, and Ruyan and Ji Yaohua were obliged to abide by as well. After all, even if they joined forces, they were no match for Lian Nishang.

"You—" Ye Xiu hesitated.

On the one hand, Ye Xiu felt a mix of emotions, unsure what to say, and on the other, the diary constrained him from even mentioning anything about it.

"Okay, you're a grown man, stop being so fussy. It's not too late to know now. You're getting benefits every day, isn't that enough? Why bother with all that?" Lian Nishang rolled her eyes at Ye Xiu's troubled expression and said unhappily.

Ye Xiu was choked and speechless after hearing Lian Nishang's words, but the awkwardness in his heart did ease a lot after Lian Nishang's words.

Ye Xiu was also very curious about how they got the diary, and how they got it, or what.

However, neither Ye Xiu nor Lian Nishang could bring themselves to speak, and ultimately, they didn't discuss the matter further.

This time, however, Ye Xiu planned to meet Wuqing.

That's right, Ye Xiu planned to meet Wuqing.

When Ye Xiu first came to the capital, Wuqing appeared near the city gate, and the two of them even looked at each other face to face.

At the time, Ye Xiu didn't know that the diary could be read by others, so he didn't think much of it.

But now, knowing that the diary would be seen by others, Wuqing's appearance at the city gate made Ye Xiu suspicious.

Furthermore, considering that the Divine Marquisate suddenly wanted to find someone riding a thousand-mile horse, and An Shigeng sent people to hunt him down,

if Wuqing had the diary, she could have entrusted the Divine Marquisate with her search, which made sense.

So, Ye Xiu wanted to meet Wuqing.

Although if Ye Xiu's guess was correct, Wuqing was the cause of his troubles, he still couldn't feel any ill will towards her.

It was mainly because Wuqing was not only beautiful, but also had disabled legs and was confined to a wheelchair.

People are naturally compassionate towards the weak or those with disabilities like Wuqing, at least most people do.

So, Ye Xiu still wanted to give Wuqing a chance and pass on the Divine Illumination Sutra or the Rama Internal Power to Wuqing.

On the one hand, Ye Xiu didn't want to watch a beauty like Wuqing confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. On the other hand, Ye Xiu also had a ulterior motive: he wanted to gain the favor, or rather, the affection, of a beauty like Wuqing.

He had developed feelings for certain characters before his time travel, and afterward,

he naturally hoped that the characters he had feelings for would also be fond of him. Lian Nishang, on the other hand, was bored, or perhaps, having just become Ye Xiu's woman, she didn't want to leave his side. Unless it was absolutely impossible, she didn't want to leave him. Ye Xiu did

n't object.

Although Ye Xiu's goal was to win Wuqing's favor, he wasn't against Lian Nishang. After all, Lian Nishang was a great beauty, especially one who had become his woman.

In fact, if Lian Nishang didn't want Ye Xiu to look for Wuqing, even though it might have made him feel a little uncomfortable, he would

have obeyed her and not gone after her. At least for the time being, Lian Nishang and Ye Xiu were closer than Wuqing.

And Lian Nishang didn't do that.

If Lian Nishang hadn't obtained the diary, she would have been overbearing and possessive. If Ye Xiu had been her man then, she would have absolutely refused to let him approach other women, let alone gain their favor.

But now, thanks to the diary, Lian Nishang's thoughts have changed significantly. This

is mainly because Ye Xiu has too many women.

Even though the diary mentioned that Ye Xiu's women were only in the single digits, with so many women already around him, it was only a matter of time before those women would be unable to escape Ye Xiu's Dragon Subduing Stick. Therefore, in Lian Nishang's view, those women were undoubtedly Ye Xiu's women.

With so many already, it was meaningless for Lian Nishang to think about monopolizing them.

Furthermore, Lian Nishang had been constantly wandering around, contemplating how to approach Ye Xiu, how to get closer to him, how to gain his favor.

Each time she pondered this, Lian Nishang subconsciously relaxed her expectations of Ye Xiu.

So much so that now, Lian Nishang felt that as long as Ye Xiu could keep her by his side and his favorability didn't decrease, that was enough.

If Lian Nishang hadn't had this change of heart, she wouldn't have come to Ye Xiu now. After all, with all the women around him, if Lian Nishang had truly cared, she wouldn't have come to him.

Furthermore, although Lian Nishang had become a bandit, even a leader of the Green Forest Path, she still had a small pocket of kindness in her heart.

She wasn't stingy with her kindness towards Wuqing, a woman confined to a wheelchair since childhood. She hoped that she could stand up, at least become a normal person who could walk, jump, and run.

...

"Divine Marquis Mansion!" Ye Xiu and Lian Nishang arrived at Zhuge Shenhou's residence and saw the three characters "Divine Marquis Mansion" written on it.

Ding ding ding!

Ye Xiu went forward and knocked on the door.

"I'm coming." As he spoke, the main door to the Divine Marquis Mansion opened a crack, and a head popped in, catching sight of Ye Xiu and Lian Nishang standing outside.

The man didn't seem to change much when he saw Ye Xiu. After all, Ye Xiu had undergone a facelift. While his appearance wasn't ugly, it certainly wasn't as handsome as his original face.

Instead, when he saw Lian Nishang, a flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes. It was clear he'd rarely seen a woman as beautiful as Wuqing.

"Excuse me, are you two?"

"We're specifically looking for Wuqing. Please let us know," Ye Xiu said with a smile.

"Looking for Wuqing? Who are you? Why are you looking for Wuqing?" The man frowned at Ye Xiu's words.

If it had been anyone else in the Divine Marquis Mansion, he wouldn't have been so wary, but Wuqing, the most beautiful girl in the mansion, and one who was also physically challenged, naturally made the Divine Marquis Mansion's residents wary.

"Go and tell Miss Wuqing that the rider of a thousand-mile horse is here to visit."

"The rider of a thousand-mile horse?" This person clearly knew that the Divine Marquis's residence had been trying to find a rider for a while, but hadn't found him. They'd gradually given up the search, but now, someone claiming to be the rider of a thousand-mile horse had come to visit.

"Then, please wait a moment, I'll go and report."

The person closed the door again. Ye Xiu and Lian Nishang stood outside the Divine Marquis's residence, waiting. Lian Nishang couldn't help but feel a little impatient. She wasn't a woman with a lot of patience, or rather, she didn't have that much patience for things like this.

But now that she was with Ye Xiu, even the most impatient situation didn't make her feel impatient.

...

"Uncle, uncle. There are two people outside. They claim to be the rider of a thousand-mile horse, and they've come specifically to find Wuqing." The person quickly ran into the hall, looked at the group eating hot pot, and shouted to Zhuge Shenhou.

"Someone riding a thousand-mile horse? Looking for Wuqing?" Zhuge Xiaohua subconsciously looked at Wuqing next to him.

Zhuge Xiaohua had also felt that something was not right with Wuqing these past few days.

No, it wasn't just these few days, it had been a while. For a while, Wuqing's mood had been a little off, as if he had encountered something, or was waiting for someone.

Later, Wuqing suddenly said that he was looking for someone riding a thousand-mile horse. Zhuge Shenhou didn't ask Wuqing too many questions about this, but directly mobilized people to look for him, in order to solve Wuqing's problem.

In recent days, Wuqing's reaction has been more obvious.

At this time, someone claiming to be riding a thousand-mile horse came to look for Wuqing, which inevitably made Zhuge Xiaohua feel a little more worried.

As for Wuqing, after hearing that someone claiming to be riding a thousand-mile horse was looking for her, Wuqing immediately thought of the diary she had read yesterday. She was almost certain that it was the owner of the diary who came to look for her.

Wuqing had always hoped to find Ye Xiu, to obtain the Divine Illumination Sutra or the Rama Internal Power, or even to learn the truth about the Sheng family's annihilation.

However, Wuqing had been struggling with how to meet Ye Xiu and how to conduct the conversation without causing him to misunderstand.

Now, with Ye Xiu taking the initiative, Wuqing was naturally overjoyed, overjoyed, even feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Zhuge Xiaohua frowned at Wuqing's sudden change in expression, as he felt that Wuqing's behavior resembled that of a young woman in love, eager to see her beloved.

This made Zhuge Xiaohua feel uneasy. Was the daughter he had painstakingly raised being seduced away by another man?

Yet, he had never seen Wuqing interact with any other man. When Wuqing suddenly began to change, Zhuge Xiaohua had even investigated for a while, but to no avail.

"Uncle, and Wuqing, and those two outside?"

Zhuge Xiaohua was startled awake. "Let them in."

"Yes, let them in," Wuqing agreed, his tone mingled with anticipation and nervousness. This made Zhuge Xiaohua even more annoyed.

Soon, Ye Xiu and Lian Nishang were led into the living room.

Ye Xiu saw Zhuge Xiaohua, Wuqing, and Tieshou gathered around a table for hot pot, but he didn't seem to mind, as he knew hot pot was a common occurrence in the Divine Marquis's residence.

Ye Xiu glanced past the others and fixed his gaze on Wuqing. Wuqing was still as beautiful as ever, but now, her face was filled with unconcealed excitement.

Zhuge Xiaohua, on the other hand, glanced from Ye Xiu and Lian Nishang, his eyes flickering with amazement at Lian Nishang's beauty before finally settling on Ye Xiu.

However, Zhuge Xiaohua couldn't help but frown as she gazed at Ye Xiu's relatively ordinary face. This was especially true when he saw Wuqing looking at Ye Xiu with such excitement.

In Zhuge Xiaohua's opinion, for Wuqing to truly fall in love with a man, that man had to be handsome and possess excellent qualities. Ye Xiu, on the other hand, didn't meet the physical requirements, not to mention that from a father's perspective, he was inherently ugly.

"You two, don't know what to address?" Zhuge Xiaohua, though annoyed, didn't show it.

"Ye Xiu."

"Lian Nishang."

"Ye Xiu? Lian Nishang?" Zhuge Xiaohua frowned, quickly searching his mind for the two names. However, it seemed neither of these names existed within the Great Song Dynasty, or rather, there were no corresponding individuals.

Then, expanding outwards, to the Mongols, the Sui Dynasty, and finally the Great Ming Dynasty, two people suddenly appeared in his memory.

One was Lian Nishang, the Jade Rakshasa, leader of the Green Forest Sect, and the other was Ye Xiu, a relatively well-known disciple of the Huashan Sword Sect. However, Lian Nishang's appearance seemed to fit the bill: beautiful, with a touch of heroism and fierceness between her brows.

As for Ye Xiu, the fit was somewhat different.

After all, according to the news, Ye Xiu, a Huashan Sect disciple, was exceptionally handsome, even vaguely hailed as the most handsome man in the Ming Dynasty.

Meanwhile, the Ye Xiu before him was ordinary. Suddenly, Zhuge Xiaohua became interested and scrutinized Ye Xiu's face, focusing on his neck and the area around his ears, trying to discern any

signs of disguise. But despite her meticulous observation, Zhuge Xiaohua could detect no trace of disguise.

On the other hand, Wuqing's eyes lit up again after hearing Ye Xiu and Lian Nishang introduce themselves.

Wuqing was certain that the relatively ordinary-looking man, Ye Xiu, was the true owner of the diary.

"Uncle, can I—can I—talk to them alone?" Wuqing said to Zhuge Xiaohua beside him.

"Of course," Zhuge Xiaohua paused briefly before nodding.

"Please follow me, both of you." Wuqing used his psychic powers to push his wheelchair outside.

Seeing this, Ye Xiu and Lian Nishang also walked out, Ye Xiu offering a hand to push Wuqing's wheelchair.

"Thank you!" Wuqing bowed his head in gratitude.

"You're welcome."

Zhuge Xiaohua and the others watched as Wuqing, Ye Xiu, and the others left the living room.

"Uncle, do you want to—" Tieshou couldn't help but ask Zhuge Xiaohua.

"No, since Wuqing wants to talk to them alone, then let them do it. Come, let's get back to our hot pot," Zhuge Xiaohua said, picking up the meatballs from the hot pot with her chopsticks.

...

"Wuqing, you should know who I am, right? You're the same as Nishang and the others, right?" Ye Xiu asked, looking at Wuqing.

"Yes!" Wuqing nodded.

"So, do you know why I came looking for you?" Ye Xiu asked again.

"Yes, it's because I sent someone to look for you, causing you trouble. An Shigeng even sent people after you because of this. I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If you want to blame someone, just blame me. Uncle Shi—everyone in the Divine Marquisate had no idea what was going on and was simply following my orders." Wuqing apologized sincerely, trying to take all the blame on himself.

"Although this incident does make me a little upset, and I do have the urge to hit someone, but since it's you who said it—never mind, let it go. Actually, I came looking for you this time to give you a chance, a chance to stand up. You should know I have a way to help you, right?"

"Yes, the Divine Illumination Sutra and the Rama Internal Power." Wuqing nodded, a little excited. "It's just that I don't have any bargaining chips to offer—"

"You should also know that I'm, uh, a little greedy for you." Ye Xiu looked at Wuqing deliberately.

Wuqing's cheeks flushed red, and he lowered his head shyly: "If, if you can tell me who was responsible for the Sheng family's extermination, I, I can, I can-" Wuqing's voice became increasingly low.

"Well, that's no problem. Actually, your Sheng family was carried out by Zhuge Xiaohua under the order of the Emperor."

"What?" Wuqing, who was originally a little shy and excited, was suddenly struck by lightning and looked at Ye Xiu in surprise.