Chapter 170: Protagonist (8)

Lately, Qian’s favorite toy was a colorful ball—just an ordinary little thing that wouldn’t roll back on its own after being kicked, requiring someone to fetch it.

Jing Lingzhao couldn’t understand how all his prized treasures had lost out to such a simple ball!

Still, playing ball with the child was quite fun.

Qian disliked walking on her own. After walking a short distance, she would sit down right where she was, looking up expectantly for someone to pick her up.

She would even fake it sometimes—perfectly capable of walking but too lazy to bother, sitting on the ground pretending her legs had no strength.

But when it came to playing ball, she’d willingly take a few more steps.

The ball was tossed by Jing Lingzhao and hit Gongxi Yue’s back. Qian toddled over, bumping into her mother’s back, giggling as she scooped up the ball, then circled in front of Gongxi Yue, tossing the ball to her, asking her to play along.

Gongxi Wenxing quickly ran over, taking Qian’s hand and leading her away with the ball.

“Come on, Qianbao, let’s go play over there with Auntie. Don’t bother your mother.” Looking at Lou Yuan’s miserable and battered state, she truly feared that her ruthless sister would drag her little niece into the training too.

When Duan Yuanlang arrived, Qian was sitting on Jing Lingzhao’s knee, tossing the ball, while her aunt went running to fetch it.

“Martial Uncle.” Duan Yuanlang glanced at his senior sister, who was beating her little junior disciple mercilessly, and softly explained his visit, “I’ve come to deliver the wooden cart for Qian.”

Previously, when the child had suddenly shouted that earth-shattering “Dad,” it had startled him so much that he accidentally crushed the handle of the wooden cart. He had to take it back for repairs before bringing it today.

Last night, he’d been left dazed by that single word, endlessly speculating why the child would suddenly call him “Dad,” while forcibly suppressing those overly hopeful thoughts.

“Qian, do you like the little wooden cart? Want to give it a try?” Today, every time Duan Yuanlang looked at Qian, he couldn’t help but show a few extra traces of paternal affection.

Sure enough, Qian loved the little cart. She climbed on eagerly, gripping the handle and swaying back and forth, her face blooming with smiles. Then, lifting her head, she happily called out again, “Dad!”

In an instant, the air froze.

Jing Lingzhao’s gaze toward his junior nephew turned scrutinizing. He slowly said, “So it’s you, boy?”

Gongxi Wenxing was equally stunned, as though she hadn’t expected her death-defying brother-in-law to be standing right here.

But the biggest reaction didn’t come from Jing Lingzhao. It was Lou Yuan.

Just moments ago, he’d been lying on the ground, beaten by Gongxi Yue’s Falling Frost Wind. Now, in a burst of life, he sprang up, gnashing his teeth as he roared, “Impossible!”

“It’s not him! Senior Sister, tell me, it’s not him!”

Gongxi Yue: “…” Not only did she want to hit her junior disciple, she also wanted to hit the kid.

On the side, the master spoke to Duan Yuanlang: “Draw your sword. Let your Martial Uncle see your skill.”

Duan Yuanlang knew he couldn’t withstand even one angry strike from his Martial Uncle, but glancing at Qian nearby, he felt he couldn’t fail the child who had called him “Dad,” so he solemnly replied, “Alright, please instruct me.”

The little junior disciple practically jumped up: “Master, let me take your sword!”

Gongxi Yue rubbed her aching head. “Master! Junior Disciple! Don’t make things worse! Not Second Junior Disciple!”

Unfortunately, no one listened to her. Her master still wore that suspicious look.

As for Qian, who had just caused her two martial uncles to get beaten because of one “Dad,” she played with her cart around the bloodbath like nothing had happened, laughing happily.

In the end, Duan Yuanlang walked away holding his waist, while Lou Yuan was carried off, still yelling hoarsely, “I refuse to accept this!”

Gongxi Yue began to wonder if her little junior disciple had been brainwashed by some kind of Conquest System.

Speaking of that System, a few days later, Gongxi Yue received a flying crane message.

The people she had sent to monitor Xiao Shou reported back—he had disappeared near Dannan Snow Mountain.

This man’s goal was to conquer all kinds of women. His appearance at Dannan Snow Mountain likely meant he was targeting the Snowfall Palace Saintess.

Mu Yiling, the Saintess of Snowfall Palace—Gongxi Yue had met her once in the past, and they had gotten along quite well. In the future, the two would become friends after braving dangers together in a Secret Realm cave to obtain Extreme Cold Heavenly Water.

Then, that future Xiao Shou would conquer even this pure and innocent friend of hers, praising her as a jealous-free, serene and otherworldly confidante.

In the future Gongxi Yue had seen, Xiao Shou shouldn’t have gone to Dannan Snow Mountain at this point in time. But obviously, because her interference had thwarted his conquest of Gongxi Wenxing, Xiao Shou had shifted his target prematurely.

“You’re going to Dannan Snow Mountain? Why so sudden?” Lately, Jing Lingzhao truly couldn’t figure out his eldest disciple’s thoughts.

Gongxi Yue looked at her master, hesitated for a moment, then said, “To retrieve something.”

In the original future, she had gone to Dannan Snow Mountain for the Extreme Cold Heavenly Water because her master had been injured during closed-door cultivation and needed it for healing.

But recently, her master had been slacking off in cultivation, spending every day playing with Qian, showing no signs of entering closed-door cultivation, let alone getting injured.

Still, she was determined to use this as an excuse to meet Mu Yiling early and help her avoid Xiao Shou.

“Fine, go ahead. I’ll take care of Qian for you,” said Jing Lingzhao.

Gongxi Yue replied, “I’ll be taking Qian with me.”

No matter how much her master objected, Gongxi Yue took Qian along anyway, bringing with her the troublesome little junior disciple Lou Yuan as well.

Before heading to Dannan Snow Mountain, she first dumped that problematic junior disciple into the newly reopened Mortal World Heart Refining Pagoda, telling him, “Don’t come out until you forge your Sword Heart.”

A Sword Cultivator with a Sword Heart, with their own determination and pursuit, wouldn’t so easily fall into obsession.

Once the junior disciple was dealt with, Gongxi Yue carried the child and set off for Snowfall Palace.

The snowy canyon of Snowfall Palace was Saintess Mu Yiling’s secluded cultivation ground, surrounded by towering, steep ice walls on all sides, rarely visited by people or birds.

Protected by a natural barrier, outsiders couldn’t approach. Only a small path from within Snowfall Palace led here, ensuring the Saintess could cultivate undisturbed.

Recently, while cultivating here, Mu Yiling had found an injured man beneath the ice wall.

That man had fallen from the snowy mountain, badly wounded. Claiming he remembered nothing, he asked to stay temporarily to recuperate. Seeing his low cultivation level, Mu Yiling deemed him harmless and agreed.

She hadn’t seen anyone from outside Snowfall Palace for a long time. Though the man couldn’t recall his name or origin, he was amusing when he spoke and told great stories.

Whenever she finished cultivating, Mu Yiling would visit him to hear more fascinating tales.

Xiao Shou lay against a large rock, a beast skin beneath him, clutching his chest as he bargained with the System.

It had taken him great effort to redeem this secluded cultivation spot near Mu Yiling, and he had also redeemed a one-time boundary-breaking ability just to land in this snowy canyon and meet her.

But now, his remaining points weren’t enough to exchange for healing medicine for his injuries.

[Host, please strive to conquer character “Mu Yiling” to earn points and heal your wounds.]

Xiao Shou gritted his teeth. “No shit, like I didn’t know that! Of course I want to conquer her as soon as possible!”

But a four-star character wasn’t so easy to conquer.

Though he had a base-level favorability halo, making Mu Yiling agree to let him stay upon first meeting—creating the perfect setup for a lonely man and woman living together…

Though he used the excuse of amnesia to lower her guard, acted harmless, told her captivating stories from his past life to pique her interest, even cracked jokes to make her laugh…

The conquest progress was still maddeningly slow!

Women like this—reclusive, unworldly, naive—should have been the easiest to conquer. He’d done it with similar types before.

But Mu Yiling seemed naturally oblivious. While she listened attentively to his stories, she remained frustratingly unflirtable. After all this time, she hadn’t blushed even once.

And her tiger spirit beast was a constant hindrance, growling low whenever he tried to get closer… One day, he’d skin that beast for sure.

Feeling the scar under his mask, Xiao Shou’s expression darkened. If it weren’t for this scar, with his looks, conquering her would have been far easier.

Seeing Mu Yiling appear on the small path, Xiao Shou instantly masked the ugly expression on his face and let out a weak cough. His eyes brimmed with endless affection as he gazed at Mu Yiling approaching, his voice low and tender: “You’re here.”

Mu Yiling was riding a white tiger spirit beast as she came up to Xiao Shou.

The white tiger, as usual, gave a couple of low growls of disapproval at Xiao Shou, then lay down a few meters away from him. Mu Yiling leaned against the tiger’s belly and said to Xiao Shou, “Continue the story you were telling yesterday.”

Xiao Shou cursed inwardly—she really was treating him like a storyteller—but on the surface, he still smiled and flirted lightly: “Alright. I didn’t expect someone as untainted by the mortal world as you to enjoy these noisy market tales.”

Mu Yiling, with her silver hair and ethereal looks, spoke with her usual bluntness: “I’ve never heard them before, so I find them interesting. You can start now.”

Even the tiger let out a roar, as if urging him to stop talking nonsense and get on with it.

Xiao Shou: “…Alright.”

After listening to the story, Mu Yiling went back to her cultivation, satisfied. Usually bored, she’d recently found quite a bit of entertainment.

The next day, just as she was about to go hear another story, she unexpectedly received a visiting letter—from Gongxi Yue, chief disciple of Yunyin Immortal Sect.

As fellow talents of their generation, they had crossed paths years ago during the Talent Showcase Assembly, each leading disciples from their own sects to compete.

That Talent Showcase Assembly had been held in the Misty Smoke Forest. Mu Yiling had gotten separated from her senior and junior sisters due to her terrible sense of direction and had ended up following Gongxi Yue’s team for a while.

Mu Yiling’s deepest impression of Gongxi Yue was that she was steady, sharp, trustworthy, and extremely competitive.

Now this sudden visit left Mu Yiling quite curious.

She waited expectantly until Gongxi Yue arrived, holding a child in her arms.

Before the two could even exchange pleasantries, the child in Gongxi Yue’s arms suddenly pointed at the silver-haired, violet-eyed Mu Yiling and crisply called out: “Daddy!”

Then she reached out her little hands asking to be held.

“Daddy, hug! Daddy hug!”

The disciples of Snowfall Palace nearby all looked at their Saintess with expressions of shock.

Gongxi Yue’s forehead twitched, deeply pained by her daughter’s habit of randomly calling people daddy.

Mu Yiling took the child in her arms, stared blankly, and asked, “You came looking for the child’s father? Me? I’m not.”

The once formal meeting completely fell apart.

After much effort to clear up the misunderstanding, Gongxi Yue got straight to the point: “I’m here looking for someone. His name is Xiao Shou, and he has a scar on his face.”

Holding the child, Mu Yiling suddenly understood: “Ah, so it’s him. He’s here with me. He tells really good stories. Do you know him?”

Gongxi Yue said, “This man deceived my sister’s feelings and also entangled my junior sister.”

Looking at Mu Yiling’s innocent, otherworldly face, Gongxi Yue kept a straight face and continued, “He’s also tricked my younger brother and junior disciple. He’s a repeat offender, a vile and depraved scoundrel.”

Seeing Gongxi Yue’s righteous and trustworthy expression, Mu Yiling believed it without hesitation and marveled, “He’s that good at lying? Both men and women?”

Gongxi Yue nodded. “Exactly.”

As Mu Yiling led her to catch him, her expression still held a trace of regret: “It’s a pity. He really tells good stories.”

Watching her expression closely, Gongxi Yue felt relieved to find she wasn’t nearly as badly affected as her sister—seemed like Xiao Shou hadn’t had time to do much damage yet.

Meanwhile, Xiao Shou, feeling that his seduction progress was frustratingly slow, decided to stage a breakthrough. He calculated Mu Yiling’s usual arrival time and deliberately left his robes half-loosened to reveal his fine chest and blood-stained bandages, pretending to tend to his wounds by the mountain stream.

When it came to using his looks, Xiao Shou was quite experienced, and the scene indeed had a certain tragic allure.

Unfortunately, Mu Yiling arrived together with Gongxi Yue, with a child in her arms.

Just as he struck his pose, Xiao Shou caught sight of Gongxi Yue. On instinct, he yanked his robe closed. In the next instant, a sword qi sent him flying straight into the water.

As if history repeated itself, at this second meeting with Gongxi Yue, he hadn’t even had time to act, let alone escape—only to get beaten up again.

Lying half-dead on the ground gasping for breath, Xiao Shou was full of confusion.

Why? Why did she suddenly show up here? Why did she attack him again?

And most baffling of all—why did the child in Mu Yiling’s arms look so much like Gongxi Yue… and call Mu Yiling “Daddy”?!