Book 10: Chapter 69

Su Xiao couldn’t find Shen Yiren anywhere and ended up doing a lap of the four-way intersection after asking people. Only then did it occur to him that she wasn’t the type to leave clues behind. Luckily, the scent of plum blossoms grazed his nose, prompting him to follow the scent seldom found in Nanjiang. Of course, the first layer of Yijin Jing deserved credit for empowering him with the ability to do so.Though shocked upon finding Ming Xiaolou and Shen Yiren locking horns, something else stuck out more to Su Xiao.“Watch out!” Su Xiao cried.A masked man leapt out from a thicket when Ming Xiaolou and Shen Yiren were about to clash, aiming his blade at Ming Xiaolou’s back. He felt distressed while they were fighting, but if he left, they’d notice him right away since he was at the centre. Jumping out to attack was merely a gamble before he mentally broke down.Ming Xiaolou, caught in a pincer attack, had to give Shen Yiren her all. There was no slipping Shen Yiren because Shen Yiren had locked onto her.Despite both of their lives being jeopardised, Shen Yiren diverted the trajectory of her attack around Ming Xiaolou to impale the wraith through the forehead. On the other hand, Xia’er was a beat slower with her decision, so she only cancelled out 10% of her output. As a result, she couldn’t stop the remaining energy from spearing Shen Yiren’s left shoulder.“Miss Shen!” “Vice-Captain!” Xia’er and Su Xiao cried in unison as they watched Shen Yiren fall from the sky.Shen Yiren gritted her teeth to absorb her landing.Xia’er rushed over to tend to Shen Yiren’s wounds. Xia’er left her fingerprints on Shen Yiren’s left shoulder that was bleeding.  Because Savage Slay Manual was predominantly a Yin Realm discipline, her internal energy carried a venomous component that an ordinary physician wouldn’t be able to treat.“Vice C-, Ma’am Ming, are you all right?” Su Xiao had a lot to ask, but Shen Yiren’s wellbeing came first.“I’m fine.” Although Shen Yiren was able to speak now, she had to strain herself. “This left arm of mine was already crippled. This minor injury doesn’t make any difference.”“Don’t say that. I will ask the doctor to check up on you when we get back. Let me carry you back.”“I was freezing, but I’m okay now. What are you imagining? If you run around town with me on your back, we’ll have a mob of people claiming the mistress beat the main wife at our store tomorrow. You might be fine with that, but I’m not, hahaha.”“But… you’re ashen white…”Shen Yiren shook her head right before Ming Xiaolou stated, “I admit defeat.”“What?” Shen Yiren looked up at Ming Xiaolou. “We didn’t settle our match. How about a second match? I’ll be good to go after a quick break.”“Not necessary. I know I lost.” Looking down at the ground, Ming Xiaolou asserted, “You could’ve pulled out to save yourself, yet you chose to protect me, while I was hesitant to trust you, leading to me hurting you. You’re more decisive than I am. Plus… you saved my life. I’m not one to show ingratitude to someone who did something for me.”Shen Yiren dimpled, seeing her younger self in Ming Xiaolou. Shen Yiren wasn’t born a workaholic. Prior to her parents passing away, she had a relatively “ordinary” life for a girl. She could play all day without knowing fatigue. She’d admit to her faults the same way Ming Xiaolou did when she did something wrong. If Ming Feizhen’s assessment earned him a chance at being debt-free, he would be debt-free; she’d be very similar to Ming Xiaolou if her father was still alive.“You don’t need to go as far as admitting defeat. At the end of the day, you helped me. Besides, given your relationship with Feizhen, we’re friends to begin with. I was born in Yuansheng’s twelfth year – the year of the rat. How about you?”“I-I was born in the year of the dragon.”“I’m a year older, huh. How about we address each other as sisters from now?”Ming Xiaolou wept as she leapt into Shen Yiren’s embrace.“Um,” Su Xiao interjected hesitantly. “Can someone tell me what happened?”Shen Yiren responded, “I forgot to explain. Xiao Han, this is Xia’er – real name Ming Xiaolou. She’s not a businessman’s daughter. If you ask me, I could count on one hand the number of people more famous than her father in the martial arts community. His alias is Yuhua of the World. He is Mount Daluo’s patriarch, Ming Huayu.” Before Su Xiao could pick his chin off the ground, she added, “In other words, he’s Feizhen’s shifu. She’s considered his younger sister.”Ming Xiaolou timidly popped her head out from Shen Yiren’s embrace. “Xiao Han, I apologise for lying to you, but I never harmed you. I was the one who saved you when that Beussent fellow approached you.”“Eh?!” Su Xiao further conversed with Ming Xiaolou to renew his impression of her.What’s with Feizhen’s siblings? All of them are so god darn tough to win over.Candidly, Shen Yiren somewhat regretted duelling Xia’er because they took on the risk of injuring themselves and the other if anything went awry. She was confident she could remain standing; however, she feared hurting Ming Feizhen’s sister. Though she got hurt, it was worth it in the end.“Let’s head back. Xia’er, I need to introduce you to everyone.”“Okay,” beaming, Xia’er finished, “Sister-in-law!”“Why are you calling me sister-in-law?!”“Huh? How else am I supposed to address you? Didn’t you say you would treat me as your sister?”“Yeah, so you sh-”“That’s why I’m treating you as my sister-in-law.”… I give up.“Once we get back, uh… Hero Li will craft a profile for you. Now, we need to clean up here. Also, who is the assassin?”Xia’er docilely called Uncle Tian over to tidy up and bring them a carriage. They wrapped the wraith’s corpse up in hay and stuff him at the bottom of the carriage. They didn’t need to worry about guard inspections as Xiuyu was technically their turf. Uncle Tian proved to Shen Yiren why Mount Daluo was at the top of the food chain with the way he dealt with the corpse.Long Zaitian possessed the perceptiveness to notice Shen Yiren was in poor condition. Howbeit, he feigned ignorance to it as he welcomed her into the conference room in case anyone caught on to them. Worried, Emperor Yuansheng used his internal energy to help her regulate her flow of internal energy.Xia’er apologised profusely to everyone after her story was told. Emperor Yuansheng told her not to mind it, and the others weren’t offended. Their real problem was the wraiths.Everyone who encountered a wraith reported to Shen Yiren. Abels was the only one who managed to capture a wraith in one piece. Regrettably, the wraith refused to spill a single bean. They let Xia’er take care of interrogating him for she claimed she was a first-rate interrogator. As promised, it didn’t take her long to get “Baimu’s Sacred Beast” out of him, helping her establish herself as a valuable asset.“Wait.” Emperor Yuansheng said, “I gave Brother Sima the character of Ming Feizhen’s younger cousin when he joined. Miss Xia’er, I think I should also give you a profile.”“That will not be necessary. I am my brother and sister-in-law’s younger sister! Right, Sister-in-Law?”Emperor Yuansheng slapped the table: “Perfect!”Sima Huai flicked up a thumb: “Good stuff!”Xia’er brushed her nose with her thumb: “This is standard for me.”They were so busy celebrating that they didn’t hear Shen Yiren breathing heavily out of her nose.***Su Xiao: “Xia’er, watch. This small stool is for eating by the corner. This small stool is for resting feet whilst drinking tea. This cloth is for wiping tables. This small tray is for carrying teacups. Make sure you always have money on you because you pay for the fruit first and receive your reimbursement later. Your third and fourth brothers are in charge of keeping the loo clean. You can be in charge of cooking. This basin is for washing feet. Just leave it aside for now. Big Brother Ming will take care of it when he returns.”