Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Miao Xiao Miao continued. “I only know that after that event, my father’s fate suddenly changed in a heaven shaking and earth shattering manner. From a piece of trash that everybody disdained to look at to someone that everybody fought over to curry favor with. His physique had also changed greatly, and he got married with Mother after that. Even until now, Father is still extremely grateful to the Holy Tree. He feels exceedingly strongly that without the tree, our family would not exist!”
Miao Xiao Miao smiled lighty and said in a soft voice. “Naturally, there would also not be… me.”
“Your father is truly blessed by the heavens.” Jun Mo Xie already had a rough guess in his heart. From the looks of it, this Rainbow Holy Tree has slowly developed a consciousness after the accumulation of many long years. But this kind of young spirit’s temper was still incomparably pure, with clear likes and dislikes. Someone who looked like a good person was a good person, while a villainous looking person will be a bad person. In addition, without anyone to guide it, it was willful and slowly developed extreme personalities…
As for Miao Xiao Miao’s father, Jun Mo Xie could guess that it had simply taken pity on the weak.
“Now that the Spiritual Herbal Gardens are open, our Misty Illusory Manor has once again obtained the opportunity to pick the herbs inside. But because of the 1,400 years gap, no one dares to approach the tree. Naturally, we do not dare to bring more candidates into the garden! Thus, the idea of bringing two people into the garden at the same time is not possible!” Miao Xiao Miao said with a sigh.
“There’s no need to put it so hopelessly. Afterall, there are no absolutes in the world. I feel that the Holy Tree might not necessarily reject the presence of one more person. The reason the garden was sealed previously was most likely because the tree didn’t like some of the people that approached it in the past. We can perhaps try letting a few more people into the garden this time, and then approach the tree one person at a time to try to obtain the acknowledgement of the tree? If the tree dislikes that person, we can just send in the next one. That way, wouldn’t we have many more opportunities!” Jun Mo Xie said.
“That sounds feasible…” Miao Xiao Miao pondered for a moment and nodded. “However, this matter still needs to be approved by the elders of the Misty Illusory Manor first! Based on my guess, the elders might not be willing to take such a risk!”
“That will be a problem for the Zhan Family to worry about!” Jun Mo Xie said confidently. “And my purpose in accepting the challenge this time is to obtain this opportunity!”
Looking at Miao Xiao Miao, he said with a slight smile. “If I rejected the challenge, it would ultimately be seen as a sign of weakness. Since they’ve spent such great efforts to arrange difficulties for me, why shouldn’t I take the chance to pose some difficult questions for them as well? They wish to humiliate me and test me? I can give them a chance to do so! But at the same time, they will have to promise me some conditions before I will be willing to compete with them. Opportunities go both ways; how can I let them down like this!
“If I win, you can strut into the Spiritual Herbal Gardens without any dissent. As for my slot, the Zhan Family will naturally obtain it for me. With the Zhan Family’s status as the number one aristocrat family in the Misty Illusory Manor, it should be possible for them to obtain this extra slot!”
Jun Mo Xie smiled sinisterly. “That way, wouldn’t it be a great joy?”
“How could you only think on the bright side? What if you lose?” Miao Xiao Miao rolled her eyes and stared at him. There was an unspeakably cute charm on her face as she said that, causing Jun Mo Xie’s heart to skip, and he suddenly remembered Dugu Xiao Yi in his heart. This lass is actually so cute when she rolls her eyes, like my little Xiao Yi.
“If I lose… I will naturally be humiliated by them a little. Also, according to our previous arrangements, if I lose, that means you lose as well. The both of us will lose the chance to enter the Spiritual Herbal Gardens!” Jun Mo Xie cackled. “If it really ended like that, I guess you can count it as me dragging you down this once.”
His face turned unusually serious as he asked. “Miss Miao, would you… be willing to let me drag you down this one time? Or… will you trust me?”
Miao Xiao Miao’s face instantly reddened and she turned her head away uncomfortably. “You underestimate the importance of this matter with your words. If you win, everything will naturally be nice and dandy! But if you lose… my qualifications will be lost as well… That is the equivalent of my happiness and future being wrecked! This bet you’re taking is equivalent to betting the rest of my life… However, you won’t suffer much of a loss…”
“Betting your life? How could it be betting the rest of your life away? Your words are surely a little too heavy!” Jun Mo Xie said hesitantly.
“For the two of us to meet is also a kind of fate. There are some things that you would know sooner or later, so I will tell it to you briefly in advance. Our Miao Family is in a state of decline right now, and there hasn’t been an outstanding junior in our family for many generations now! Although there are still quite a number of strong seniors in our Miao Family, their ages are great… Most likely, the next generation’s Manor Lord will no longer belong to our Miao Family. Truthfully, if not for my father gaining the acknowledgement of the Holy Tree over a hundred years ago, becoming the lord of the Spiritual Herbal Garden, our Miao Family would most likely have become relegated long ago!”
Miao Xiao Miao sighed lightly as her eyelashes fluttered sadly. “If the position of Manor Lord was really taken away by the other families, then in order to maintain the balance of the Misty Illusory Manor, and retain the position of the family, the elders in the family will definitely marry me to the most talented successor of the new leading family! That way, we can maintain our position while slowly bidding our time and awaiting the opportunity for our Miao Family to rise up again.
“Although I seem to be doted on and loved by all right now, if things came to that point… I will still only be turned into a sacrificial offering for the family.
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“In order to avoid this worst case scenario, the only way left is for me to take over my father’s position and become the next lord of the Spiritual Herbal Garden. Only by relying on this special position can I escape this fate, obtaining an independent status. Although I still cannot marry, I can do whatever I want. At least, that is still better than spending a life of sadness with someone that I don’t like!”
A trace of loneliness could be seen in her eyes as Miao Xiao Miao sighed wistfully.
“I don’t wish to become a sacrificial item for the family.” Miao Xiao Miao said in a soft voice. “But, I’m also unwilling to see the Miao Family decline like this… After all, I’m still the Miao Family’s daughter. And the only way to have the best of both worlds is… to become the Spiritual Herbal Garden’s new Lord! At that time, even the entire Misty Illusory Manor would not dare to touch my Miao Family! Although father still controls the Spiritual Herbal Gardens in name right now, his original starting point was simply too low. His potential was not great enough, and his achievements have reached its limits. In the best case scenario, he would only have another 200 to 300 years of life left.”
Miao Xiao Miao’s voice turned heavier. “As a daughter, I should not talk about father like this. It is undoubtedly an unfilial thing to say! However… this is the truth. An undeniable fact! My talent can be said to be undoubtedly the most outstanding in the Miao Family in a thousand years! However, our Miao Family cannot wait another one thousand years… If anything happens… our Miao Family might even completely disappear from the Misty Illusory Manor within a thousand years… If I married into the new leader’s family, the hope of our Miao Family will be ended then! While the family could probably continue surviving for a few hundred years more… it’s ultimately not a long term plan! After all, the other party will not wish to see our Miao Family rise up once again!
“But if I could become the new Spiritual Herbal Garden Lord, with my talent, I’m already close to the Venerable realm. With the nourishing Qi of the Spiritual Herbal Gardens, it definitely won’t be a problem for me to breakthrough to the Saint realm or the Saint Emperor realm. That way, my lifespan will be at least over a thousand years, two thousand years, or three thousand years! In other words, I alone can secure the position of the Miao Family for thousands of years! Moreover, I don’t need to sacrifice my own happiness for it!”
Jun Mo Xie widened his eyes and sighed deeply.
“So, this request of yours is equivalent to asking me to bet my entire life away! It’s also betting with the future of my Miao Family and the lives of thousands of people!” Miao Xiao Miao looked intently at Jun Mo Xie. Her eyes trembled lightly and she bit her lip lightly, her face flickering with emotion…
In that moment, Jun Mo Xie didn’t know what to say.
To him, this decision was simply a game—an exceedingly boring and dumb game. But to Miao Xiao Miao, it actually had far reaching impacts to her future.
Young Master Jun had absolute confidence; with his abilities and experience, even if he ignored those fellows’ schemes and intricately laid out traps, he still had full confidence that he would be able to win with ease! No matter how outstanding those fellows from the Misty Illusory Manor were, no matter how dumb he was, there was no way for them to outsmart the 5,000 years worth of Chinese literature culture he’d brought over from Earth!
Jun Mo Xie had absolute confidence in his victory!
However, this Mo Jun Ye identity of his right now was completely unable to bring any sense of security to others at all! Even if he said that he had absolute confidence, the other party would only think that he was boasting!
Even if you have the Free and Natural Physique, with talent surpassing everyone, before your abilities reached a level where people had to pay attention to you, what qualifications do you have to ask others to place their future in your hands and allow you to bet with their fate?
Jun Mo Xie coughed dryly a few times and nodded. “Indeed, I might have been too engrossed in my wishful thinking. Young Miss, please don’t mind me; take it that I’ve never said anything. After careful thought, I can see now that there’s always going to be a man above a man, and heavens above the heavens. Who knows, maybe those lofty Young Masters have truly set up some heaven defying and impossible situations for me. If I lose, it would be too embarrassing! I’ll go back and have a good nap instead. That way, it’s best for you and me.” After saying that, he waved his hand and turned to leave.
Jun Mo Xie actually did not have the slightest regret in his heart as he said that.
This matter was indeed born out of a whim of his. If he truly used the lifelong happiness and the future of a young lady’s family as betting chips, even if he won and obtained the Seven Colored Holy Fruits, the results that would follow would not be something that anyone could accept! Because in such a scenario, Miao Xiao Miao would be termed as an accomplice of his! There was no way to deny it!
At that time, what would she do? That was the equivalent of ruining Miao Xiao Miao!
Can he actually live with such a thing on his conscience? In this life, he’d always done things in a decisive manner with a clear conscience! But in this moment, he truly did not dare to say that his conscience was completely clear!
“Wait!” Miao Xiao Miao sucked in a deep breath of air and called out.
“Miss! What are you doing?” Little Beansprout exclaimed anxiously.