Chapter Sixty-Five: A Misunderstanding
Chapter Sixty-Five: A Misunderstanding
Lin Xueyou noticed that Lu Yao was distracted by the battle between Li Hao and the destitute youth, and hadn’t even considered the reason for her fainting. She gently reminded her, “Lu Yao, don’t worry about who they are or why they’re fighting here. Let me ask you something.”
Lu Yao looked at her, puzzled. “What is it, Sister Xueyou?”
Lin Xueyou asked, “Do you feel anything unusual in your body right now?”
Lu Yao took a moment to reflect seriously. “Other than feeling weak and powerless, I don’t sense anything unusual.”
She still didn’t understand why Lin Xueyou was asking these questions. Upon hearing Lu Yao’s answer, Lin Xueyou’s face flushed with embarrassment. She covered her enchanting lips with her hand and exclaimed softly. In her heart, she thought, “Oh no, based on what I’ve read, after such things happen between a man and a woman, the woman feels weak all over. The princess must have lost her purity. If she realizes this herself, what will become of her?”
Lu Yao was confused by Lin Xueyou’s strange behavior, her surprised expression, and her reddened delicate face. She couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Xueyou, what’s wrong?”
Lin Xueyou was lost in her own thoughts, startled when Lu Yao called her, and let out a soft cry. Realizing her own loss of composure, she quickly denied, “It’s nothing, really!”
Her words came out awkwardly, making it obvious that something was wrong. Lu Yao saw Lin Xueyou’s reluctance to explain and decided not to press further.
She then glanced around and noticed a giant tree, thick as two large water vats, with a human-shaped crater in its trunk. Below the figure’s waist was a gash as if cut by a sharp weapon, and there was still fresh blood trickling down.
She shifted slightly, feeling uncomfortable in her clothes, and realized her inner garment was askew. In the middle of this public setting, her heart raced wildly, and her cheeks turned crimson.
Lin Xueyou caught the change in Lu Yao’s expression, and the image of Lu Yao’s disheveled attire kept flashing in her mind. She thought, “How could the princess end up like this? Her innocence is already gone, yet her reaction is shyness, not grief or despair. That’s so unusual.”
Despite her thoughts, Lin Xueyou, a maiden in her twenties, couldn’t bring herself to speak of such things.
Lu Yao paid no mind to whatever Lin Xueyou was thinking. She just felt discomfort in her chest area but was too embarrassed to adjust it in front of everyone. After a brief inner struggle, she calmed herself and endured the discomfort.
She murmured to herself, “I remember going to find Brother Li Hao. How did I faint here? Here… fainted… fainted…”
As she pondered, fragments of how she arrived here surfaced in her mind, including the lewd gaze and sly smile of the unsavory youth. Then she… ended up like this…
Lu Yao again felt her inner garment was crooked, and suddenly understood what had happened. Fear welled up inside her, and she was about to cry when a ragged, disheveled youth crashed in front of her, startling her out of her misery.
The destitute youth landed before Lu Yao, creating a crater several yards deep, sending dust flying everywhere. As he hit the ground, a handsome youth in a crimson robe with dark red hair pointed his mighty war halberd at the fallen youth’s brow.
“Brother Li Hao?”
The red-clad, red-haired youth who sent the destitute youth underground was none other than Li Hao.
Upon hearing Lu Yao’s call, the icy expression in Li Hao’s eyes finally softened.
---
Lu Yao then looked at the defeated youth under Li Hao’s Nine Dragons Halberd, recalling that the previous lewd youth was not like this. She tentatively asked, “Was it you who saved me?”
The destitute youth finally saw Li Hao’s true face and his eyes lit up with excitement. Li Hao was baffled by the gaze of the youth beneath his halberd.
The youth, upon hearing Lu Yao’s voice and seeing Li Hao, suddenly understood why Lu Yao felt familiar to him.
Before he could speak to Li Hao, Lu Yao addressed him, so he focused on answering her question. He nodded to Lu Yao, “Yes.”
Lu Yao was relieved, thinking, “Thank goodness, I was rescued. Otherwise, how could I ever face my parents, see Brother Li Hao, or even live on? I’m truly fortunate.”
She then sincerely thanked the youth, “Thank you.”
Li Hao and Lin Xueyou were confused, not understanding what was going on.
Lu Yao explained, “Brother Li Hao, it was he who saved me.”
Li Hao, though full of doubts, decided to clear things up first. He instantly withdrew the Nine Dragons Halberd into his consciousness.
He reached down to pull the youth out of the crater and said earnestly, “I apologize for my misunderstanding, brother.”
The youth showed no anger, seeming to have forgotten Li Hao’s earlier attack, and even looked quite excited.
He replied, “Benefactor, you needn’t apologize. Zhenba is unharmed.”
Li Hao was puzzled by the youth calling him “benefactor” and asked, “Brother, are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for someone else?”
The youth shook his head firmly. “Zhenba is certain you're my benefactor. Do you remember the first day of the selection tournament when you stood up for a stranger?”
Li Hao could never forget that memorable event—he was nearly killed on the way home because of it.
Li Hao looked at the youth in disbelief. “That youth was you?”
The youth finally managed a smile. Despite his ragged appearance and dirty hair, his smile was still quite charming to the girls, though his handsomeness was hidden.
He replied, “Yes, that was me.”
Li Hao found it almost unbelievable. Back then, the youth’s eyes were dull, he was bullied by Du Qingfeng and others, apologizing endlessly and acting timidly. He was nothing like the decisive and fierce figure he showed today.
With many questions still in his heart, Li Hao quickly took out a healing pill from his robe and offered it to the youth. The youth accepted it without hesitation, swallowing it and sitting down to heal.
Li Hao looked at Lu Yao, feeling guilty for failing to protect her as he would a sister.
“Yao’er, I’m sorry. I didn’t protect you well enough and let you be wronged.”
---
Lu Yao heard Li Hao’s apology, and all her pent-up emotions—grievance, fear, worry—came flooding out. Her young heart was overwhelmed and she threw herself into Li Hao’s arms, sobbing.
Li Hao gently patted her back and soothed her, “Yao’er, it’s all right. With Brother Li Hao here, no one can hurt you.”
After crying for a while, Lu Yao calmed down, sniffled a few times, and finally left Li Hao’s strong embrace.
Li Hao still needed answers to his questions and asked, “Yao’er, what exactly happened?”
Lu Yao replied, “I’m not clear about everything, I only know part of it. I was separated in the Inner Realm not far from here and don’t know how long I slept. When I woke up, you and my siblings weren’t around, so I searched for you. I asked other contestants about you whenever I met them. Eventually, I met a young man much older than this gentleman. He claimed you were looking for me, so I followed him here. Unexpectedly, he deceived me and drugged me with a mind-numbing powder. After that, I remember nothing.”
Li Hao and Lin Xueyou understood the cause of Lu Yao’s fainting. The rest, not even Lu Yao knew, so they were clueless.
At this moment, the youth named Zhenba finished regulating his breath, suppressing his injuries, and stood to continue Lu Yao’s story.
“Benefactor, this is what I know. I have no family or ties, so I wander as I please. While wandering, I spotted this young lady and felt a strange sense of familiarity, though I couldn’t recall where I’d met her. Here, as someone with no connections, my curiosity was piqued, so I kept my distance, hoping to remember. After following her for a while without success, I was about to give up when I saw a timid youth with three different-looking girls. Soon after, that timid youth lured this young lady away. He didn’t seem like a good person, so I asked around. Sure enough, he was trouble. I followed and found the young lady unconscious, with that youth about to harm her. I taught him a lesson. Just as I dealt with him, a black-clad youth resembling you attacked me. Then came the battle with you, but your movements were so strange I never managed to see your true face, which led to our fight.”
Had Li Hao known that the lewd youth had his manhood cut off, and that Zhenba described this severe punishment as merely “teaching a lesson,” he would surely have had a different expression.
Zhenba continued, “Now that I’ve seen you clearly, I realize why the young lady seemed familiar—on the first day of registration, I saw her beside you, which explains everything.”
With Zhenba’s explanation, Li Hao and Lin Xueyou fully understood the entire sequence of events. At this moment, Li Hao was the most embarrassed.
Li Hao spoke sincerely to Zhenba, “I am Li Hao. Please don’t call me benefactor; it makes me uncomfortable. Frankly, when I saw Yao’er in distress, I got agitated and mistook you for the culprit, which led to my attack. Please don’t hold it against me. The black-clad youth who first attacked you was my avatar. I’m truly sorry. How are your injuries now?”
Zhenba was momentarily stunned, shocked by Li Hao’s mention of an avatar.
He looked at Li Hao in disbelief. “I’m fine now. That black-clad youth was your avatar?”
“Yes, he’s one of my avatars.”
As Li Hao spoke, he formed a seal with his hands, and his Earth Soul avatar appeared from the formation before Zhenba. This left both Lu Yao and Zhenba dumbfounded.
Lu Yao, amazed at Li Hao’s Earth Soul avatar, studied him from head to toe like a curious child.
She exclaimed, “The hair is different, and there’s no halberd mark on the forehead, but everything else is identical.”
Zhenba was even more astonished that Li Hao’s black-clad avatar could withstand nearly four hundred strikes across six cultivation realms.
He said in disbelief, “How can your avatar be so real and powerful, able to withstand so many attacks across six cultivation realms? Thinking about it, losing to your avatar—five realms below me—is no injustice at all.”