Chapter 12: At the Door, a Formidable Enemy?

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: At the Door, a Formidable Enemy?

"Sincerity? Do you think this massive fist of mine is sincere enough?" Lu Yuan held up his fist with a sinister grin. "If I beat you up, your second sister won’t even scold me. She’ll just think you were being naughty and deserved it."

"You vicious bastard..." Lin Siheng gritted his teeth. He realized this was the trouble with preconceived notions, as his sisters had completely fallen for this guy’s act.

"Out with it!" Lu Yuan urged, growing a little impatient.

"It’s the daughter of one of my mother’s senior martial sisters. Her name is Mu something-yan," Lin Siheng answered honestly, having no other choice.

"A girl..." Lu Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He figured that as long as it was a girl, it wouldn’t affect his relationship with Lin Siyao. His future mother-in-law’s martial niece... then Madam Mu...

"It’s a girl," Lin Siheng nodded affirmatively. "And she’s prettier than my second sister. Do you want to see her?"

"Bullshit! Your second sister is the prettiest! She is the most beautiful woman in the world!" Lu Yuan loudly retorted. He knew this brat was daring to dig a trap for him and clearly hadn’t been beaten enough.

"Heh, I knew it," Lin Siheng smirked. He thought the man was utterly shameless, using these exact tricks to keep his second sister wrapped around his finger.

"I’ll tell your second sister later that you said Mu something-yan is prettier than her," Lu Yuan quickly countered.

"You wouldn’t dare!" Lin Siheng’s eyes darted around, suddenly panicking. His second sister was absolutely merciless when it came to beating him up.

"I was just tricking you to test your attitude! How could anyone possibly be prettier than my second sister? My second sister is the most beautiful woman in the entire world!"

"Is that so?" Lu Yuan’s lips curled up slightly. "Then what about your oldest sister?"

Lin Siheng’s little mind instantly went blank.

"My oldest sister is first, and my second sister is second!"

"I see. Then what rank is your mother?" Lu Yuan asked in sudden realization.

"You..." Lin Siheng was fully panicked now. He had completely forgotten about the ultimate boss! "I’ll kill you!"

SWISH.

Lu Yuan grabbed him by the collar and carried him out of the room. He figured this little brat was still too green to compete with him. Just as Lu Yuan was contemplating whether to toss the boy over the wall...

KNOCK KNOCK.

The sound of someone knocking at the gate rang out. Because they had rushed in earlier, the front gate had been left open. As a result, when Lu Yuan turned his head, he saw two breathtaking beauties standing there.

One wore a brocade dress embroidered with clusters of golden peonies. Her hair was styled in an elegant, sweeping updo adorned with gold and jade, exuding pure magnificence and nobility. Her facial features were extraordinarily stunning, a beauty of one in a hundred thousand. She appeared to be around eighteen, possessing an aura of blossoming youth. However, her eyes carried a sense of authority, and her entire being radiated a unique presence that gave off an inexplicable pressure.

The other wore a light blue dress. Her features were slightly more immature, and her demeanor was delicate, yet she already possessed peerless beauty and an ethereal, worldly grace. Her large eyes were lively and expressive.

"Siyao, you..." Lu Yuan looked at his fiancée, Lin Siyao, while still dangling the struggling Lin Siheng from one hand. The scene was suddenly rather awkward, so he hurriedly set the boy down.

"Brother Yuan, this is Sister Mu, a relative from my mother’s side. She heard about our engagement and wanted to come over and meet you," Lin Siyao said with a smile, pulling the girl in the brocade dress into the courtyard. A pretty maidservant followed behind them with her eyes lowered submissively.

"My name is Mu Lingyan. I am Siyao’s cousin," the girl in the brocade dress, Mu Lingyan, introduced herself. Her gaze wandered casually as she sized up Lu Yuan and the small courtyard.

"Miss Mu." Lu Yuan gave a simple bow. Since she didn’t mention the Marquis Mansion, he decided to pretend he knew nothing about it.

[The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Mu Lingyan and your former fiancée, Lin Siyao, are mortal enemies. She sought you out today to form an alliance with you to deal with Lin Siyao together.]

[Task Issued: Make eye contact with Mu Lingyan and secretly form an alliance. Reward: 2 points of Root Bone.]

"Are Mu Lingyan and Lin Siyao mortal enemies? Aren’t they good sisters?" Lu Yuan wondered. "Make eye contact? Right in front of my fiancée, Lin Siyao..." He felt that this system was not only blind but actively trying to get him killed.

"I heard you broke through to the Ninth Grade and achieved mastery in your ancestral Saber Technique. Not bad," Mu Lingyan said, pulling a tiny wooden box about an inch long from her sleeve. "I missed your engagement. Here is a Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill. Consider it my engagement gift to you both."

The Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill was an Eighth-Grade Pill meant for Bone Marrow Cleansing and Blood Exchange. It could allow someone with Eighth Grade Cultivation to take a massive leap forward and was worth at least several hundred taels of silver. Those at the Ninth Grade could also use it to slightly improve their aptitude.

"This is too precious. I cannot accept it," Lu Yuan declined.

"Is this precious?" Mu Lingyan glanced at Lin Siyao before turning back. "If I give it to you, take it. I, Mu Lingyan, have no habit of taking back what I have already given away."

Lu Yuan looked at Mu Lingyan, absolutely certain that this woman was here to stir up trouble. She wanted to make him realize the sheer gap between their statuses so he would back down in the face of insurmountable odds. People from major aristocratic families really were all cut from the same cloth.

"Do you understand?" Mu Lingyan seemed to convey through her gaze as she looked at Lu Yuan, her expression calm but carrying a hint of contempt.

[Congratulations on completing the task. A preliminary alliance has been formed. 2 points of Root Bone have been credited and can be used at any time.]

Lu Yuan accepted the wooden box. "Thank you for the generous gift, Miss Mu. When Miss Mu gets engaged, I will definitely present an even greater gift to express my gratitude."

"I..." Mu Lingyan’s eyes widened slightly before she nodded. "Heh, fine, I will be waiting. Now that we’ve met, I should head back. Siyao, come visit my family’s home when you have free time. You too, kid."

Mu Lingyan bade farewell to Lin Siyao and Lin Siheng, then departed. Lin Siyao and Lu Yuan walked her to the gate, watching as she boarded her carriage and rode away.

"This is the first time we’ve met, so I had no idea what her intentions were or what she was thinking. She insisted on meeting you, and I didn’t feel it was right to refuse," Lin Siyao apologized to Lu Yuan. Bringing someone to his door so abruptly was a bit impolite. Moreover, she had caught onto Mu Lingyan’s underlying meaning. Mu Lingyan looked down on Lu Yuan... But as long as she herself liked him, that was all that mattered.

"It’s nothing," Lu Yuan shook his head.

So what if she was Mu Lingyan? Give him ten years, and he would drag even the mightiest down from their pedestals. Still, the pressure was a bit heavy. If Mu Lingyan got engaged this year or the next, how was he supposed to return the favor with an even greater gift? At seventeen or eighteen, she wasn’t young anymore. He hoped it would be later—preferably ten years from now.

"Why are you apologizing to him? He just scored a free Eighth-Grade Pill," Lin Siheng rolled his eyes in displeasure. He hadn’t received a pill as a gift yet! Furthermore, he really disliked how overly cautious and deferential his second sister acted in front of this guy surnamed Lu.

HISSS.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath. "Siyao, he just told me earlier that Cousin Mu was prettier than you!"

"You..." Lin Siheng immediately jumped up and down in a panic. "I didn’t say that! I didn’t say that! He said it!"

"I had never even met Cousin Mu before this, so how could I possibly say that?" Lu Yuan feigned utter innocence.

"You... This..." Lin Siheng’s eyes darted around. "You’re saying it now! That’s what you were thinking in your heart!"

"Nonsense. Are you a mind reader now? You even know what I’m thinking?" Lu Yuan shook his head. "Besides, I just told you that your second sister is the most beautiful woman in the world. What was your response to that?"

"I said my mother is the prettiest, my oldest sister is second, and my second sister is third!" Lin Siheng answered rapidly.

THWACK.

Lu Yuan flicked Lin Siheng on the forehead. "Idiot. You’re actually saying that right in front of your second sister."

"Huh?" Lin Siheng was completely bewildered. Had he... said something wrong?