Reborn As A Villainous Cannon Fodder - Chapter 415 - 415: Ch 415 - The Liu Family's Young Lady Defeat CG
Winter had arrived.
The cold winds were coming. Up north, the homeland was already frozen solid, but here in the water towns of Jiangnan, life was still pleasant enough.
Frost clung to the plum branches by the ancient town’s bridge. Passersby’s breath formed clouds in the air, but none of it dampened the good mood of the Liu family’s young miss as she stood at the bridge, gazing toward the town entrance.
If her memory served her right, today was New Year’s Day, which meant her beloved should arrive in Jiangnan today.
Three days ago, Ruoning had packed her bags at the Liuli Sect, hastily requested leave from her master, and traveled back to her hometown from the sect’s secluded suburban location.
Since returning home, she’d run into plenty of troubles.
Like her mother’s marriage pressure…
Like her sisters constantly comparing their husbands…
Like the rather sharp-tongued family elders…
When she was little, Ruoning had been the pampered granddaughter who could do no wrong. Back then, she’d thought there was nothing bad about her family.
But the older she got, the closer she came to marriageable age, the more she felt the suffocating pressure from everyone in the Liu mansion.
Marriage and children really were the duty of every person in life.
But for noble families, what should have been a union of mutual love had somehow turned sour.
Marriage had become a transaction.
Everyone calculated, how wealthy was this young master’s family? How talented was he? What rank did he hold? How much dowry would he pay?
This wasn’t matchmaking, it was selling daughters!
Ruoning had thought that once she went to the Liuli Sect to cultivate, her family would stop nagging her about it.
Reality proved her wrong. She was born a Liu family heiress. No matter where she went, she couldn’t escape her family’s influence. Even if the family elders stopped pressuring her, countless young masters would still come knocking at the sect.
The whole world seemed to treat her like some prize to be fought over!
Gradually, she’d grown to dislike mingling with others. She preferred the quiet solitude.
Gradually, she found herself missing more of those experiences with Yino. Sure, he had a terrible personality and a sharp tongue. Not only did he love taking advantage of her, but he was also always annoying her and teasing her, without the slightest understanding of how to treat a lady properly… But even so, those memories of tears and laughter were far more interesting to Ruoning than staying alone in Jiangnan.
After spending time at home, Ruoning even felt that compared to her family, the He mansion’s atmosphere was like heaven and earth! Just look how happy Yino was! The He family elders never pressured him into blind dates. They never made excessive demands of him. It seemed like as long as Yino didn’t break the law and get arrested, they didn’t care what else he did!
Even more ridiculous, when Ruoning had later taken the initiative to bring a marriage contract to the He mansion for discussion, He Chensheng and Xinyao had actually rejected it, saying something about respecting Yino’s wishes…
Good heavens!
There really were families as enlightened as the He mansion in this world!
Thinking about this, Ruoning couldn’t help but sigh. Her situation was the complete opposite of Yino’s. In a way, this only strengthened her conviction about marrying into the He family!
“Sigh…”
“This morning, Mother said she wanted to invite sister’s in-laws from the Lin mansion over for dinner…”
“At this rate, even if Yino comes, I won’t have the courage to bring him home!”
Standing on the bridge in her snow-white ermine dress, Ruoning’s troubled face exhaled layer after layer of mist in the winter air.
Just then, she suddenly froze. Looking back, she saw a white-robed figure with snow on his shoulders leaning against the bridge railing, quietly staring at her face, apparently for quite some time.
“Who’s there!”
The fur-robed girl spun around sharply, her braided hair with its golden hairpin flying with the movement.
Ruoning was reasonably alert. She backed up two steps, narrowing her cold eyes as she stared warily at the masked young man leaning against the bridge.
“Heh, the Liu family’s young lady does have some sense of caution.”
The young man smiled faintly. Rather than revealing his identity, he moved one hand to his waist, seemingly ready to grip a sword hilt.
Seeing this, Ruoning’s heart immediately rang with alarm.
She secretly pressed two fingers together behind her back, instantly summoning the Purple-Gold Liuli Sword to appear before her chest in a defensive stance.
The atmosphere became tense for a moment.
But this was the ancient town bridge in Jiangnan, the Liu family’s absolute sphere of influence. She wouldn’t be easily intimidated by such petty tricks.
“Stop playing games and die!”
The girl shouted coldly. She’d already activated an illusion array, and in the cold wind, Purple-Gold Liuli Swords materialized from all directions, stabbing toward the target.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In an instant, the black-robed young man was skewered by Ruoning’s flying swords.
Thud!
He dropped to his knees and went completely still.
“That’s… it?”
Ruoning raised her eyebrow, feeling doubtful. She maintained her spiritual swords and illusion technique with two fingers while carefully approaching with catlike steps to examine the body.
After confirming there was no danger, she bent down and reached out a pale hand from her fur sleeve to lift his mask.
But at that very moment, the black-robed young man who should have been pierced by her sword suddenly reached up and grabbed Ruoning’s wrist.
“Ha—?!”
The girl was shocked. She immediately had her ready illusion technique and Purple-Gold Liuli Swords pierce him through completely once again.
That wrist-grabbing had terrified Ruoning. After this renewed bombardment, she finally caught her breath and calmed her racing heart.
But even so…
Ruoning still felt something was wrong, a sense of unease that wouldn’t fade.
“Your illusion technique still needs work. Don’t get kidnapped when you reach the secret realm.”
A familiar, cool male voice came from beside her ear. Almost instantly, Ruoning’s eyes widened as the image of a long-awaited young man surfaced in her mind.
Memories flooded back. Combined with the slightly teasing, gentle whisper by her ear, it created a chain reaction in Ruoning’s mind. Her ears felt like they were being tickled, her earlobes burning with embarrassment.
“I wasn’t—“
Annoyed by the mockery, she immediately tried to elbow the young man standing beside her.
But the moment her elbow moved, Ruoning finally realized what that persistent sense of unease had been. Although she’d repeatedly attacked and confirmed the black-robed young man before her was completely down, the hand gripping her wrist had never disappeared.
The reason was simple, the person holding her wrist had been standing behind her the entire time.
And because of this, using the grip on her wrist as leverage, Yino simply pulled, easily using Ruoning’s own momentum to draw her into his embrace.
“Don’t move around. I’m about to dispel the illusion. If you start making noise and people see us, you’ll be embarrassed!”
Standing on the busy bridge in the ancient town of Jiangnan, Yino held Ruoning’s wrist with one hand while unabashedly pulling the girl into his arms and pressing her against the wall.
He pressed against her from behind, bringing his face close to her ear, while she was pressed against the bridge railing. They looked out at the bustling streets of the ancient town, but it was the blue-haired girl pinned against the bridge who first couldn’t stand the shame and blushed deeply.
“There are so many people on the street! What’s proper about you pressing against me like this!”
“Who told you not to recognize me and then lose so badly? This is your punishment~ and I’m being merciful by not carrying you princess-style through town for everyone to see, okay?”
“W! What are you even saying!”
“I get it now, you’re getting excited hearing this and want to experience a defeat CG?”
“Wait! I’m not getting excited or anything like that!”
