Compendio de hombres apuestos en el mundo de las artes marciales

Capítulo 50

After saying that, he walked out of the house and headed towards Duan Chen's room. Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun naturally wouldn't let him, rushing out of the house to block his way. The three of them started fighting without exchanging a word. The two of them were already harboring resentment, while Li Linke felt that he had only used his lightness skill to compete with these two before, and hadn't really fought them yet, so he found it quite novel. The three of them fought with increasing vigor, and soon Zhan Yun struck Li Linke's shoulder with a palm strike, while Zhao Ting kicked him in the calf.

The three of them stopped simultaneously, and Li Linke smiled slightly and praised them.

Zhan Yunqing frowned slightly and said loudly, "It's unfair."

Zhao Ting nodded, his dark eyes gleaming. "Let's try again."

Xiao Yiyi smoothed her hair and walked gracefully past the three of them. When she reached Li Lingke, she chuckled softly and said, "Ah Ke, you've gotten old!"

Li Lingke narrowed his blue eyes at her teasing words. Xiao Yiyi had already reached the door of the room, then turned back to look at the two of them, gesturing with her chin towards Li Lingke: "Keep an eye on him. If he goes inside, neither of you will ever see my disciple again."

Therefore, that night, all the rooms were brightly lit, and the doors were slightly ajar.

Chapter Twenty-One: Using Schemes and Emotions

Outside, the sky was overcast, and snow was falling heavily, leaving the courtyard silent. Plum blossoms were just beginning to bloom in the snow, their red petals as vibrant as fire, igniting a blazing fire in the eyes of the person in question.

In a corner of the porch, the person's face was pale, lips trembling slightly, her hands tugging at a silk handkerchief, her slender fingertips turning slightly blue from the force. Inside the house, the sounds of Liu Yichen and a young man laughing and talking occasionally drifted into her ears. Her pearly teeth gradually tightened around her full lips, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes. With a slight sway of her skirt, she turned and left.

In the room diagonally opposite, Duan Chen peeked through a small hole in the window paper and watched the person's departing figure. He took a sip of his light tea and a slight smile played on his lips. Zhan Yun and the others stood nearby, also quietly watching the scene outside the window. Seeing that the person had left, Zhao Ting raised an eyebrow and asked in a deep voice, "Is that all?"

Duan Chen took another sip of tea, turned around and looked at the two people sitting together quietly studying something, a faint smile in his eyes: "The medicine is strong enough, just wait patiently."

Beside the round table, Xiao Yiyi looked up at Duan Chen and revealed a knowing smile: "Luo'er, this person is really interesting! Come and take a look at these items."

Hearing this from a distance, Zuo Xin sighed softly. "Well! This guy's bound to show off!" Sure enough, as soon as Xiao Yiyi said this, Xiao Changqing chuckled, quickly walked over to Duan Chen, and pulled him to the table: "Come, little Duan, come and see! These are all good stuff!" Then, he gave Xiao Yiyi a smug look, "My beautiful master has such good taste! Hehe, otherwise why would we have the same surname!"

Xiao Yiyi smiled brightly, picked up a teacup, took a sip of water, and nodded generously: "It's good to have the surname Xiao!"

As Xiao Changqing proudly showed Duan Chen the items one by one, he nodded vigorously in agreement. Zuo Xin immediately felt a headache coming on, Zhao Ting's face darkened, Zhan Yun coughed twice, and Zhou Yufei burst out laughing, but Duan Chen remained expressionless.

As Xiao Yiyi watched Xiao Changqing display his treasures with a smile, she also noticed Duan Chen's expression and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "This child..." Zhan Yun, standing to Duan Chen's right, finally managed to squeeze in a moment and gently called out, "Chen'er."

Duan Chen was holding a small bottle handed to him by Xiao Changqing in his right hand. As the person approached subtly, the warm breath and soft whisper made Duan Chen frown. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his eyes widened, and his fingers loosened, causing the celadon bottle to fall to the ground.

Zhan Yun swiftly reached out and snatched the small bottle between his two fingers. Xiao Changqing, standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief, took the bottle from Zhan Yun's fingers, and then held it to his heart with great care. His handsome face was almost scrunched up like a bun: "My little aunt! This 'Clear Breeze Dew' took me three whole years to refine before I could get even a small bottle. Even the concubines in the harem don't have the fortune to use it once. I'll give it to you, but you can't just waste someone's hard work like this!" As he spoke, he winked at Xiao Yiyi with a particularly aggrieved expression, as if to say, "Tell me about this disciple of yours, she's bullying me too much!"

Duan Chen seemed not to hear Xiao Changqing's long string of complaints. He slowly turned around, his bloodless lips slightly parted, his phoenix eyes filled with panic, staring blankly at the person in front of him.

Those around were confused, but Zhan Yun secretly cried out in alarm; this time, he truly remembered! Duan Chen's phoenix eyes widened in shock as all the events of last night underwater flooded back into his mind: he was leaning against that person's chest, and then, his chin was pinched, and that person's lips were pressed against his…

The cool, soft touch was clearly imprinted on his heart, and the person's slightly pink lips came into view. Duan Chen was momentarily flustered and hurriedly turned around and ran outside.

Everyone in the room was completely bewildered. Zhan Yun smiled wryly and chased after him. Just as they reached the door, Zhan Yun pulled the man into his arms and simultaneously swerved to the side. The door was pushed open, and Liu Yichen was also stunned by the scene—what was going on?

Duan Chen had just been walking out without noticing the commotion outside the door when Zhan Yun pulled her into his arms. She then realized what was happening and quickly tried to pull away. Zhan Yun had noticed since their time in the plum grove that when Duan Chen got flustered or shy, her ears would turn red first. Seeing the thin blush on the tips of her ears, he knew she was genuinely uncomfortable. Considering her injuries, he quickly released her and took a step back.

Duan Chen frowned slightly as he stood still, raising his eyes to meet Liu Yichen's slightly smiling gaze, and asked in a low voice, "The person is gone?"

Liu Yichen nodded: "Mandie is currently in Miss Duan's room. Let's go there together."

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Liu Mandie closed her umbrella, brushed the fine snowflakes off her shoulders, and slowly walked into her bedroom. A faint smile still lingered on her face, her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes were still a little moist, making her appear even more charming than usual. Seemingly unsurprised that someone was in the room, Liu Mandie turned on the two lamps near the door, instantly brightening the room.

Upon seeing the person sitting at the table, Liu Mandie's smile deepened, and her voice became even lighter: "Yiyi, are you feeling better?"

During dinner, everyone sat around the table, but Yue Yiyi said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to go back to her room first. The two had been staying together for the past few days, so after leaving the dining room, she returned to Liu Mandie's bedroom accompanied by two guards.

Liu Manyie sat down at the round table, her beautiful eyes fixed on the person opposite her, but her throat was a little hoarse: "Yiyi, why aren't you saying anything?"

Yue Yiyi kept her head down, tears still clinging to her long eyelashes, her face pale. After hesitating for a long while, she softly asked, "Are you going to marry Ran-ge?"

Liu Mandie's smile remained, but her heart grew colder with each passing moment. Desperately suppressing the tears welling up, Liu Mandie turned her head slightly and murmured an "Mmm."

Yue Yiyi suddenly raised her head, her eyes glistening with tears, her small voice trembling slightly: "But, but...don't you like Young Master Xingzhi?"

Liu Manye kept her head slightly turned away, bitterness spreading through her heart, but she still put on a shy demeanor: "I... I have feelings for him, but he's indifferent to me. Since Uncle has made arrangements for me, and Brother Lin Ran is a good person, I should..."

"Mandie! How could you say such a thing?" Yue Yiyi stood up abruptly, took two steps forward, and held her shoulders. Her bright eyes shone with a somewhat crazed light: "Since you like him, you should try your best to win him over! What's so great about that Chen girl? She's neither pretty nor gentle. That Young Master Xing only treats her well because she's a distant relative. You need to have confidence in yourself, you need to work hard, and let Young Master Xing feel your feelings. He will eventually fall in love with you!"

Liu Mandie smiled bitterly and reached out to stroke Yue Yiyi's hand: "Yiyi, you don't understand..."

"How could I not understand!" Yue Yiyi's eyes widened, her voice tinged with bitterness. "I understand that feeling best. You can only stand by and watch him be intimate with other women, fawning over them, while you can't do anything, you can't say anything, because..."

"Why?" Liu Mandie asked.

“Because, because…” Yue Yiyi blinked in confusion, then gave a sweet smile: “Mandie, please don’t marry Ran-ge, okay? You don’t want to marry Ran-ge, you like Young Master Xingzhi…”

Liu Manye felt a pang of pain in her heart, but she could only continue as Duan Chen had instructed: "This... but, Brother Lin Ran, he..." Liu Manye smiled shyly, "Brother Lin Ran seems to also intend to marry me..."

Yue Yiyi abruptly pulled her hand back and said coldly, "Impossible! Ran-ge clearly still likes Yue-ru-jie. He has always had Yue-ru-jie in his heart. How could he marry someone else so quickly!" Before the person in front of her could answer, Yue Yiyi grabbed her shoulder again, with such force that Liu Mandie frowned. "You must have said something to Ran-ge again! Tell me, what did you say to him?"

Outside the window, Yue Linran stood frozen, like a statue, her expression shifting several times before her eyes gradually became misty. Liu Yichen's brows furrowed into a deep frown, and he was about to raise his hand when Zhan Yun stopped him, gently shaking his head—the time wasn't right. At the same time, Zhan Yun gestured to Zhao Ting and Zhou Yufei not far away, signaling them to take Yue Linran away to prevent any trouble later.

Inside the room, Yue Yiyi's emotions grew increasingly agitated. Seeing that the time was right, Liu Manye gritted her teeth and, taking advantage of Yue Yiyi's momentary lapse in attention, quickly placed the soft whip hidden in her sleeve onto the table. Yue Yiyi's gaze turned just then, and upon seeing the whip on the table, she was immediately terrified. She stumbled back two steps, her whole body trembling uncontrollably: "Yue, Yue..."

Liu Mandie stood up, picked up the whip, and walked towards Yue Yiyi, her expression composed as she lowered her voice: "Yiyi, what are you afraid of? Why weren't you afraid of me back in the plum grove?" Yue Yiyi's eyes glazed over, her face paling as she stumbled backward. Liu Mandie, regaining her composure, followed her step by step, continuing as Duan Chen had instructed: "The whip hurts so much. Yiyi, I've always treated you like a sister, why do you treat me like this, why do you treat me like this…"

Liu Mandie, with her back to the lamps, already had her facial features somewhat blurred, and her sorrowful and resentful expression made her appear, from Yue Yiyi's perspective, truly like Lou Yueru possessing her. Yue Yiyi immediately shivered violently, retreating to the bedside. Her sprained ankle still limped slightly, and she collapsed onto the foot of the bed, shaking her head repeatedly: "No, no… that person told me to go. I… I didn't mean it. Sister Yueru, Sister Yueru…"

Seeing her like this, Liu Mandie's tears, which she had been holding back, streamed down her face. She loosened her grip on the whip, and her body went limp: "Yiyi, you're so foolish! Your cousin has been so good to you, how could you bear to do such a cruel thing… Besides, she… she doesn't even like—"