Phoenix Destiny

The Alioth Star-Lord looked exactly the same as how he did years ago.

The only difference was that he had grown a bit older and looked more mature.

In fact, Lu Mingshu could barely remember what he looked like in the past. When they first met, she was just a kid. The only impression she had of him was that he was a good-looking youngster.

“C-Cousin…!” the junior sister of Yu Kuang stuttered.

“Imperial Tutor didn’t give you that item so you could use it in such a way.”

The automatic wheelchair slowly came into the ally. Xie Lianzhen glanced over them, “Get back to the mountain and stay in the Red Fountain Cave for a month.”

“Cousin!” she moaned in despair. By the time she was released, the Qilin Festival would already be over!

“Senior Brother Xie-” Yu Kuang began.

Before Yu Kuang could continue, Xie Lianzhen cut him off, “You too. Jia Yan’s still young, but what about you? You should be taking care of her instead of creating more trouble.”

“It’s not like that, Senior Brother Xie…!” Yu Kuang tried to defend himself, but he couldn’t come up with an excuse. It was Jia Yan’s own fault for trying to harass Lu Mingshu in the first place.

“Don’t blame Senior Brother Yu!” Jia Yan interrupted. “It was my decision. He only came because he was worried about me.”

“Yeah, sure. He was worried,” Xie Lianzhen glanced at Yu Kuang. Even though he sounded calm, it was obvious that he was blaming everything on Yu Kuang. “If you were worried for Jia Yan, you should’ve stopped her instead of joining the fight. The Qilin Festival is almost here, and yet you’ve injured Lu Mingshu. How is she supposed to fight now?”

“Cousin!” even though Yu Kuang remained silent, Jia Yan felt indignant, “Why are you siding with her? Yu Kuang didn’t cause any serious injury; it’s just a small cut.”

“Junior Sister!” Yu Kuang tried to interrupt.

However, Jia Yan chose to ignore Yu Kuang, “Am I wrong? We did all of this for you, yet you… I would’ve ignored it if it was Ling Wuxia, but who is she?”

Xie Lianzhen furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing that and bellowed, “Shut up! Why are you spouting nonsense when you’re not a kid anymore? Behave, and don’t slander her!”

“Reputation? What the hell?” Jia Yan muttered, “Do you think I’m dumb? She doesn’t appreciate you! The Nine Jade Palace is just making use of you!”

She turned toward Lu Mingshu and gave a deadly stare, “What, are you scared of getting exposed?”

“Shut the fuck up!” Xie Lianzhen bellowed. “What does it have to do with you anyway? So what if I’m your cousin? Who do you think you are?”

“You…!” Jia Yan burst into tears.

“Senior Brother Xie!” Yu Kuang burst out. “How could you say such things to her? You may not be related by blood, but she’s done so much for you since you were kids. Why are you always so unappreciative?”

“Junior Brother Yu. You are always finding excuses for her when she gets into trouble; that’s why she’s getting more and more out of control. Your reason is that she’s doing it out of goodwill for me, but what if she accidentally kills someone? Goodwill can’t be exchanged for life – what’s wrong will always be wrong.”

“I never thought of it that way!” tears muffled her voice.

“And yet you keep repeating the same mistake again and again. Jia Yan, by doing this, you’re just embarrassing me,” Xie Lianzhen sighed. He paused for a while before continuing, “I know – you did all of this for me, and I don’t wish to see people hating you because of me. Besides, she may not be the one that wants to make use of me.”

“If not her, then who?” Jia Yan cried even more. “I am so angry because everyone looks down on you!”

Xie Lianzhen smiled at her warmly, “Now, now, not having the intention to marry me does not mean that she looks down on me. Her parents forced her into this, so how could you blame her?”

“Stepmother,” Lu Mingshu corrected, interrupting the heartwarming conversation between the cousins.

The three of them turned to her.

As soon as Xie Lianzhen appeared, she hadn’t spoken, as if it had nothing to do with her.

“Nothing to do with my mother,” Lu Mingshu said firmly.

Jia Yan’s mouth widened in shock, “Not your mother?”

“Yes.”

Silence took over.

The happiness was all gone, and so were the heartwarming moments. Silence took over, and everyone just stood there.

“Erm,” Yu Kuang coughed slightly, “Erm, Miss Lu, I apologize….”

Silence once again took over.

“Miss Lu?” Yu Kuang called out.

“What?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I heard you the first time.”

“Oh… then, shouldn’t you respond?”

“Hell no!” Lu Mingshu rolled her eyes, “What do you want me to say? ‘It’s alright, I don’t mind’? Sorry, but I do mind.”

“Uh…”

Yu Kuang bit his lips. It wasn’t a rule that an apology would be automatically accepted.

“Heh,” Xie Lianzhen chuckled. “Nevermind. You two aren’t to blame for being so impulsive anyway. It was his idea after all….”

“Is Junior Brother Xie talking about me?” a deep voice cut Xie Lianzhen off, as a man strolled into the alley.

He was tall and buff, and he took heavy steps. Even though he was young, he gave off a mysterious aura.

“Senior Brother Wei,” Xie Lianzhen plastered a smile onto his face, “I didn’t expect you to be here. Aren’t you busy cultivating?”

“The Qilin Festival is the day after tomorrow. I should have enough time to prepare,” he stopped right by Yu Kuang. “What about you, huh? You rarely go out, yet you’re here in Tianyun City today. I’m surprised.”

Xie Lianzhen nodded and smiled at him, “It’s merely a coincidence. I came because the queen called me. What about you? Are you here just to make things difficult for a young girl? Surely Senior Brother Wei isn’t so petty, am I right?”

Smiles were plastered on both of their faces, but sarcasm filled their conversation.

Lu Mingshu raised her eyebrows. This seems weird.

The identity of this Senior Brother Wei was now abundantly clear to Mingshu.

Wei Chunqiu! The top disciple of the Seventh Truth Platform!

Wow, interesting. Just by competing in some arenas, I gained the attention of the disciples of the Seventh Truth Platform, including Wei Chunqiu. How popular am I?

“Cousin, it’s all my fault, I’m too much of a busybody. Don’t blame it on Senior Brother Wei….”

“Yeah!” Yu Kuang added on. “We chose to do this. Senior Brother Wei even helped defend Lu Mingshu just now.”

When that fist was broken, the sparkle was caused by Xie Lianzhen, but the sword energy was because of Wei Chunqiu.

Xie Lianzhen turned to them and gave them a death-stare, “Did I ask for your explanations? Go and reflect on what you’ve done wrong!”

Both of them lowered their heads in silence.

“Hah!” Wei Chunqiu laughed out loud. “It’s not surprising that Junior Sister Shi would do something like this, but it’s surprising that you would. Seems like you are very pleased with the girl chosen for you!”

“And it’s surprising that Senior Brother Wei would poke your nose into somebody else’s business. So, what brought you here?”

“You could say… curiosity,” Wei Chunqiu smiled. “If everything comes to fruition, our Seventh Truth Platform would definitely be affected, and to a rather great extent, no?”

Xie Lianzhen burst out laughing, “Senior Brother Wei, are you not confident in me, or are you overly confident in her?”