Chapter 166: Protagonist (4)

Gongxi Yue stood under the corridor, one hand behind her back, gazing at the Qionghua flowers blooming in her courtyard, the other hand gently caressing the hilt of her sword at her waist.

Gongxi Wenxing and Gongxi Jianchen came over, laughing and chatting while holding the child.

“Elder Sister, look at our Qian! Isn’t she adorable?”

Having been taken away for just a short while, the child had undergone a complete transformation.

She was now dressed in a brand-new outfit, styled as lavishly as her three elders. Both her wrists were adorned with gold-inlaid jade bangles, made from Fangshan Spirit Jade, a rare and delicate light pink stone.

These bracelets were not just ornamental but were also magical artifacts that could protect their wearer in times of danger.

On her ankles were two anklets of the same kind, designed for Light Body and Wind Control. Giving such items to a child who couldn’t even walk yet was obviously excessive, but her indulgent great-uncle didn’t mind in the least.

If her arms and legs weren’t so short, he would have decked her out with even more treasures.

Around her neck hung a longevity lock with a small jade sachet attached—a high-grade storage space artifact, large enough to hold half a city. It was already stuffed with Spirit Stones piled like small mountains—pocket money from her great-uncle, aunt, and uncle.

On top of that, her short wisps of baby hair had been tied into several little tufts, each decorated with exquisite ornaments.

Just looking at those familiar trinkets made it obvious that her aunt had pulled them directly from her own head to put on the child.

Gazing at her daughter now decked out like a walking treasure tree, Gongxi Yue fell silent: “…”

The child pouted, on the verge of tears. Upon sensing her mother’s familiar aura, she reached out towards Gongxi Yue for a hug while scratching at her own head—the expensive and beautiful ornaments were pulling painfully at her scalp.

Gongxi Yue took the child into her arms and carefully removed every single jingling trinket from her head, freeing her at last.

Gongxi Wenxing, seeing her hard work go unappreciated, let out an unhappy little hum.

“Elder Sister, Qian cries whenever she doesn’t see you for even a short while.”

“Little kids crying is honestly terrifying,” Gongxi Jianchen fanned himself with his folding fan, visibly moved by the memory.

With her head finally freed, Qian nestled against Gongxi Yue’s chest, inhaling the faint fragrance on her mother’s clothes, clutching her robe with tiny hands.

Gongxi Yue was still unaccustomed to holding a child and had to use both hands to support her.

“Ah ah ah! Wuwa!” The child waved her fists, babbling a string of baby talk up at her mother.

Though Gongxi Yue couldn’t understand, she somehow felt the little one seemed a bit aggrieved, like she was tattling.

“Mm.” Gongxi Yue nodded in response.

Encouraged by her mother’s reply, the child babbled even more enthusiastically, her little rice-sized teeth showing as she talked.

Gongxi Yue held her tiny fists, gently squeezing the soft dimples on them, nodding again, “Mm, I know.”

Her great-uncle had said it: even if you don’t understand, just act like you do.

“Qian behaves so well with Mother. She wouldn’t even let us play with her for a bit without throwing a fuss,” Gongxi Wenxing leaned her head against Gongxi Yue’s shoulder, reaching out to tease the child again.

She seemed ready to snatch her back for more cuddles at any moment.

Compared to her brother Gongxi Jianchen, Gongxi Wenxing’s affection for Qian was especially intense. Since seeing the child, her gaze had scarcely left her, and even her once-favorite elder sister was now a lower priority.

Gongxi Yue observed her sister, knowing well that she had already fallen under the influence of Xiao Shou’s System. Her current obsession with Qian was also because of the System attached to the child.

In the same world, Conquest Systems of the same level were in competition, and a hierarchy existed among them—the more luck and fortune one could gather, the stronger it would become.

Having met Xiao Shou and tested him, Gongxi Yue had already determined that his System was stronger than the one attached to Qian. However, with her own presence added, their powers were roughly balanced.

Although Qian’s System was bound and restricted in many ways and couldn’t use many functions, Gongxi Yue felt it was already enough.

She was connected to Qian by blood and flesh, giving her control over Qian’s System.

She could sense Xiao Shou’s communication with his System and block any influence his System tried to exert on this side.

As long as she helped Qian take away all of Xiao Shou’s “conquest targets,” she could continuously weaken both Xiao Shou and his System.

So for now, her first priority was…

Gongxi Yue turned to her sister and suddenly said, “That Xiao Shou in your courtyard—get him out of here as soon as possible. From now on, you’re not allowed to see him again.”

Gongxi Wenxing froze, her first instinct one of guilt.

“Elder Sister, you’ve met Xiao Shou?”

She tried to laugh it off but soon looked displeased.

“I’m this old already, can’t I even have a lover? Sure, he’s just a rogue cultivator, but he’s fun, and I really like him.”

Gongxi Yue said nothing, but her stare was oppressively heavy. Gongxi Wenxing, though afraid, was stubborn with her reluctance to give up.

Gongxi Jianchen watched the subtle confrontation brewing between his two sisters, stunned.

Second Sister was getting bold—she actually dared to defy Big Sister’s orders.

Big Sister was also acting strange. She had always appeared strict but was actually quite lenient with them, never interfering in their personal matters. Why was she reacting like this now?

“If Big Sister’s saying this much, she definitely has a good reason. Maybe there’s something wrong with that man. You’re the dignified Second Miss of the Gongxi Family—you’ll never lack suitors. Just listen to Big Sister and drive him out already,” Gongxi Jianchen advised.

Even the baby in Gongxi Yue’s arms joined in with a burst of “Ah ah ah,” though no one could tell what she wanted to say.

Gongxi Wenxing remained unyielding. “No! I feel miserable whenever I don’t see him. Life feels so dull without him. Sister, please, let me keep him!”

Gongxi Jianchen had never seen his twin sister like this before and realized something was very wrong. “That guy didn’t drug you with some kind of love spell, did he?”

Gongxi Yue gently patted the little girl who kept chiming in her arms, thinking to herself that her sister was more deeply affected than she expected—she wouldn’t even listen to her own words.

Since that was the case, she wouldn’t waste more time talking.

“Jianchen, go drive him out of the Gongxi Family.”

“No!” Gongxi Wenxing screamed, about to dash out of the courtyard, but she was instantly pinned in place by the pressure of a Sword Cultivator’s spiritual aura.

Gongxi Jianchen brought people straight to Gongxi Wenxing’s courtyard, dragged out the Xiao Shou who was still applying medicine to his wounds, and kicked him out—not just from the Gongxi Family estate but from the entire city under the Gongxi Family’s control.

If not for Big Sister’s longstanding teachings about not casually taking lives, Gongxi Jianchen would’ve wanted to kill him right then and there for making his two sisters argue like this.

Xiao Shou was still just a rogue cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage—completely unable to resist. Disgraced and battered, he was thrown out like a stray dog.

He was adaptable, knowing when to yield. Recognizing how dire the situation was, he didn’t force the issue. He found a temporary place nearby to tend his wounds while waiting for Gongxi Wenxing to come find him.

Her affection for him had already grown too deep. With such influence, even separation wouldn’t stop her from “longing for him to her bones.”

So what if he’d been driven out? That Second Miss would come looking for him sooner or later.

Xiao Shou smirked lazily but accidentally tugged at the wounds on his face, making him grimace in pain.

“System! Is there really no way to heal the scars on my face? Isn’t there some scar removal cream I can exchange for in the System Shop?”

[Ding—Detected special power within the lingering sword energy of the wounds. Additional energy is required to remove it. Estimated: conquest of two 3-star targets or one 4-star target required to eliminate scarring.]

His wound split open again. Xiao Shou touched his face and came away with a palm full of blood. He licked the blood from his lips.

Gongxi Yue. He chewed on the name, repeating it softly.

Getting kicked out like this was clearly her doing.

Never before had he wanted to conquer someone so badly. He wondered—once his cultivation surpassed Gongxi Yue’s, would that lofty immortal still look at him like an ant?

“System, search for conquerable targets—four-star only.” Dropping all pretense of carelessness, Xiao Shou grew serious.

There was only one five-star conquest target in the entire world, and that was Gongxi Yue. So four-star targets were already characters with extremely strong destiny, like Gongxi Wenxing, who was merely a three-star.

Once he fully conquered Gongxi Wenxing and harvested her, his cultivation would break through to the Golden Core stage. No one else in this world could cultivate and break through as easily as he could.

[Ding—Target detected: Snowfall Palace Saintess “Mu Yiling,” Destiny Rating: Four Stars]

“Big sister, let me go see him, please bring him back.”

Gongxi Yue turned a deaf ear to her sister’s tearful pleas and continued practicing her sword in the wide courtyard.

As the Qionghua flowers fell, her white robes fluttered, her sword gathered a clear radiance, sweeping wind and swirling snow.

Even Gongxi Wenxing, whose mind was muddled from the influence, fell silent in the face of the sword intent as cold and sharp as snow.

Gongxi Jianchen walked into the courtyard holding Qian just as Gongxi Yue finished her movement and sheathed her sword.

Qian reached out to grab the drifting petals in the air, and when she saw her mother amidst the falling blossoms, she let out a series of excited babbles.

After staying at the Gongxi Family for a few days, this little child, Qian, ended up busier with social obligations than Gongxi Yue.

Gongxi Yao wanted to record her name into the family genealogy and was preparing a grand family banquet to formally introduce her to all the relatives. Using this as an excuse, he would keep the child by his side every day to show her off for a while.

Only at midday would the child finally be brought back by her uncle.

During this time, Gongxi Yue would stay in the courtyard, keeping an eye on Gongxi Wenxing.

Gongxi Jianchen had just brought Qian back but didn’t even have time to hand her over to Gongxi Yue before she fell into Gongxi Wenxing’s arms.

“Qian, my little Qianbao, Auntie’s heart hurts, come comfort Auntie quickly!”

Gongxi Wenxing hugged Qian tightly and took two deep breaths as if inhaling her.

“How’s Second Sister today? Still shouting to see that man?” Gongxi Jianchen asked worriedly as he walked to Gongxi Yue’s side.

“Mm.” Gongxi Yue responded flatly.

It had been manageable the past few days, but as more time passed, Gongxi Wenxing’s “lovesickness” was growing worse.

Gongxi Jianchen had witnessed her obsession these days. If not for their big sister holding her down, she would have run off long ago.

He had even brought several court physicians to check if Second Sister had been poisoned with some kind of love spell, but in the end, nothing was found.

To anyone else, she just looked like a woman hopelessly lovestruck, unable to extricate herself.

Gongxi Wenxing, who had been tearfully crying to see Xiao Shou like she was lovesick to the bone, became quickly distracted the moment she saw Qian, smiling brightly and playing with her.

It seemed Qian really could suppress the influence of the other System. As long as her sister liked Qian enough, she might eventually shake off this unnatural obsession with Xiao Shou.

The only problem was that under the tug-of-war between the two Systems, this aunt’s affection toward Qian was… a bit overenthusiastic.

“Ah ah ah ah! Mmm ah! Ma!” Qian lay on her aunt’s lap, swinging her sturdy arms and legs, her belly being nuzzled by her aunt’s face.

“Qianbao Qianbao, haven’t seen Auntie all morning, did you miss Auntie?”

“Ah! Hrrr, tch, yi!”

“You’re calling Auntie, aren’t you? You want Auntie to kiss you, don’t you, muah muah muah!”

“Pfft, pfft!”

The child waved her hand and pressed it against her aunt’s bright, smiling face, refusing her storm of kisses.

Gongxi Wenxing let out a burst of giggles and grabbed the child’s two little hands, pretending she was going to bite them.

“Awoo! Qianbao was born to be kissed by Auntie! If you’re not resisting, it means you want Auntie’s kisses!”

Watching the child’s full-body resistance and Second Sister’s face full of doting smiles, Gongxi Jianchen struggled to suppress his laughter behind his fan.

Gongxi Yue stood to the side with her sword in hand, watching silently: “……”

Not a big problem. Once she settled Xiao Shou and his System, things should return to normal.