Chapter 256: Cousin, Stalker

Chapter 256: Chapter 256: Cousin, Stalker

Zhang Yun scoffed. So what if she knew him? Didn’t Li Cuicui know him too? Since she had added him on WeChat just to pick a fight, there was no need to hold back. There was no point in being polite to a stranger.

"Plenty of people know me. Who the hell do you think you are?"

After sending that message, Zhang Yun put his phone down and went to take a shower.

Zhang Fu had set the rice cooker on a timer beforehand. Since he was only cooking for the two of them, the dishes were done quickly. By the time Zhang Yun finished his shower, dinner was ready.

During the meal, he asked about his dad’s headaches. After confirming that there had been no issues over the past few days, Zhang Yun felt a bit more at ease.

His dad assumed it was the result of the old doctor’s acupuncture, but Zhang Yun knew it was actually due to the Medicinal Wine infused with the Mysterious Petal. He reminded his dad to keep drinking a cup every night.

They also talked about Wang Changshun. They hadn’t expected to get rid of him so easily; they had assumed he would pester them for a while.

After his dad went to clear the table and wash the dishes, Zhang Yun finally remembered Li Cuicui’s cousin!

Tsk, tsk. The girl had added him on WeChat to argue, and he had fired back a single retort before leaving her hanging for an hour. She was probably cursing him out right now.

He opened WeChat and took a look. Sure enough, Cousin Li had sent three replies. She must have realized that talking to herself was boring and stopped messaging him afterward.

Zhang Yun tapped the chat with a smirk, but the contents caught him completely off guard.

"I am Yuan You.

"I’m not looking for you about my cousin; that’s between the two of you. You didn’t tell me what time tonight!

"Where are you?"

Li Cuicui’s cousin was actually Yuan You?

This world was too small... Well, duh! Anyone who would run to the Ancient Tomb deep in Bijia Mountain naturally lived in the surrounding villages. Both Tianxin Village and Wa Village were close by.

Suddenly, everything made sense!

Initially, because he had seen her visit Zhang Lifeng, he had only considered their shared martial lineage. In reality, she was staying at Li Cuicui’s house and only went to the Ancient Tomb at night. She had probably just gone to visit her martial uncle that day.

No wonder she had appeared right outside his window to scare him the other night!

So she had also intended to vent some anger on Li Cuicui’s behalf.

Thinking back to Yuan You, she truly possessed top-tier looks and a stunning figure. Perhaps due to practicing her Cultivation Technique and studying medicine, she had a somewhat otherworldly grace. Even in a tracksuit, she carried the ethereal presence of a Female Ghost in the dead of night. If she were to change into traditional ancient clothing, she would definitely have the enchanting vibe of Xiaoqian.

With such qualities, it was no wonder Li Cuicui and Li Jin were so proud. They must have figured that even if Zhang Yun looked down on Li Cuicui, they could still introduce him to her cousin.

He quickly typed his replies: "So it’s you.

"I didn’t know you lived in Wa Village. I thought your Ancient Tomb Sect actually lived in the Ancient Tomb, so I didn’t want to set a specific time and force you to travel through the mountains at night.

"That’s why I’m planning to stay over there tonight. You can come by whenever it’s convenient for you.

"It’s not far from your place either. Whatever works for you—we can set a time first if you prefer."

After sending that flurry of messages, he called out to his dad, reminding him to drink the Medicinal Wine and lock the doors at night. He was heading out to guard the fish pond.

By the time Zhang Fu emerged from the kitchen, Zhang Yun had already left.

"Oh? Is Zhang Yun off to guard the fish again?" Uncle Xi, a neighbor who happened to be walking by, struck up a conversation at the courtyard gate.

Zhang Fu sighed. "He went into the mountains right after breakfast and didn’t get back until the afternoon. He tumbled around and came back covered in mud and sand, without even finding a single ginseng leaf. Then he didn’t even rest in the afternoon—he went straight to plant seedlings until dusk. He just finished dinner, and now he’s off to guard the fish pond."

"Haha, Brother Fu, you might not say it, but you’re clearly hurting for your son!" Uncle Xi offered him a cigarette, and the two men started smoking at the gate.

"Of course I am! I just don’t want to see him collapse from exhaustion."

Uncle Xi replied earnestly, "I disagree! Young people should work hard and hustle. When we were young, didn’t we also juggle all sorts of side jobs on top of farming? Even if we didn’t make a fortune, it was definitely better than being lazy."

"That’s true, but the situation is different now." Zhang Fu nodded in agreement; country folks always viewed diligence as a virtue.

"You should be content! Zhang Yun is doing great. Usually, when people win the lottery, play the stock market, or make a killing off those crypto coins, they become lazy and entitled. They spend every day hoping for another windfall and completely lose touch with reality, eventually losing it all and ending up right back where they started.

"Look at your Zhang Yun. Faced with a suitcase full of cash, he could still treat it with a level head. He even went into the mountains to dig for ginseng, yet he didn’t neglect the fish pond and still went out to work the fields. A young man like him is really quite exceptional."

Zhang Fu gave a good-natured smile. "Hehe, hearing you say that makes me realize I might have let things go to my head."

"Brother Fu, don’t think I’m jealous, but while a million is a lot, it’d vanish the second you tried to buy an apartment in the city. It’s a good thing Zhang Yun hasn’t let it go to his head."

"You’re right. I need to check myself too and just let things be. He’s at an age where he can endure hardships, so I should let him build some character."

While they chatted, Zhang Yun had already left the village, heading toward the small wooden cabin by the fish pond.

He didn’t know if she was deliberately getting revenge on him for taking an hour to reply, but Yuan You hadn’t answered his latest messages, leaving him clueless as to when she would arrive.

Not knowing if Yuan You might already be waiting at the wooden cabin, Zhang Yun took out the Divine Master Card in advance and slipped it into his pocket. The whole reason he had scheduled the meeting for tonight was that it wouldn’t have been convenient to pull it out for her right on the spot back then.

As soon as he stepped outside the village, he sensed that someone was following him!

It seemed they had been tailing him since he was inside the village. Since there were people in every household and buildings blocking his line of sight, Zhang Yun hadn’t noticed. Now that he was out in the open, it became obvious.

Who else could it be?

Yuan You had probably waited too long for a reply and marched over personally.

She was only following him, not closing the distance... Zhang Yun pondered for a moment. He guessed she wanted to observe him in secret to see what he would use for the exchange.

Fortunately, he had taken out the Divine Master Card in advance, so there was no need for him to make anything magically "appear" from his storage space.

Zhang Yun pretended not to notice and kept walking forward. Then, he deliberately headed toward the ridges of the rice paddies!

Vegetable patches, cornfields, or fields with other tall crops could provide cover for his pursuer. Rice paddies, on the other hand, could not!

The rice had just been harvested. The paddies were either newly planted with seedlings, freshly plowed and harrowed, or entirely unplowed. There wasn’t even a place to crouch down for cover.

Sure enough, his pursuer had no options. Not daring to approach, the person could only tail him from a distance under the cover of night.

Of course, since the paddies offered an unobstructed view stretching far into the distance, there was no fear of losing sight of him.

As he reached a bend in the ridge, Zhang Yun noticed the distance between them had widened. Deciding to play a prank, he suddenly broke into a sprint!

This was territory he knew well, so sprinting along the ridges was easy. Even if he accidentally stepped into the flooded paddies, it didn’t matter; he could just wash his feet at the fish pond. But could Yuan You run like this?

Zhang Yun charged ahead at full speed, unconcerned about whether she could keep up. After all, their final destination was the same.

Once he reached the foot of the mountain and followed the path into the valley, the abundant vegetation and rocks provided excellent cover. However, Yuan You still didn’t seem to have closed the gap.

She hadn’t actually stepped into the flooded paddies, had she?

The paddies being prepared for the late rice harvest were currently flooded to soak before the soil was turned over, broken up, and leveled. A single step into them would result in sinking deep into the mud. Zhang Yun had wanted Yuan You to experience what it felt like to plant rice seedlings, but given her Body Technique, it was probably quite difficult for her to slip and lose her footing.

"You’re finally here."

"AH!!!"

Just as Zhang Yun arrived beside the fish pond, a voice rang out, and he saw Yuan You step out from beneath the eaves of the small wooden cabin.

"You..." Zhang Yun was genuinely shocked. If Yuan You was waiting here, then who had been following him just now? It was impossible for her to be so fast that she could detour and arrive ahead of him in the short time it took to enter the mountains, right?

Moreover, she wasn’t panting at all. This girl was truly extraordinary.