Chapter 281 152: Hostage

The air in the guest room instantly froze.

Li Tianxin shrank down into the bathtub. Jiang Ran placed a hand on the edge of the tub, just watching him quietly.

Silence…

After an unknown period of silence, Li Tianxin finally lifted his head out of the water.

He let out a long breath.

"And if I don't admit it?"

Jiang Ran smiled.

'Doesn't that just prove you've already admitted it?'

But he still said,

"It's fine if you don't. I'll just join you for a wash."

"...You're shameless!!"

Li Tianxin's eyes went wide, but then he suddenly broke into a coquettish smile.

"Brother-in-law, I just knew you had ill intentions for me the first time you saw me.

"Back when we were eating in the living room, I said no one was around and you could do whatever you wanted to me…

"You acted all prim and proper then, but aren't you showing your true colors now?"

"..."

Jiang Ran looked uncomfortable. "Can you put that face away before you act all girly? This is just disgusting..."

"Hmph!"

The person in the tub snorted coldly. Jiang Ran looked up to see the skin on his face suddenly begin to twitch.

Energy seemed to flow beneath the skin, making it bulge one moment and sink the next. A moment later, that sallow, unremarkable face had vanished.

The delicate face of Tang Huayi appeared before Jiang Ran once more.

Their eyes met, but Jiang Ran was speechless for a long time.

"What's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted?"

Tang Huayi said with a smile, "To meet again like this... Oh, right. My Heavenly Mechanism Star Shifting Great Transformation Skill has only undone the part on my face.

"My upper body is still that of a man... How about I undo that too, and you take off your clothes and get in so I can serve you properly?"

Jiang Ran nodded and began to take off his outer robe.

Tang Huayi froze, then quickly said,

"What are you doing?"

"Weren't you the one who just said it?"

Jiang Ran chuckled.

"To let me in so you can serve me properly. If you have the guts to say it, you think I don't have the guts to do it?"

"...Brother-in-law, you don't know how fierce my sister is. If anything improper were to happen between us...

"I'm afraid I wouldn't have many days left to live."

Tang Huayi said, her face full of sorrow.

"So, it's better if we both behave ourselves."

Jiang Ran was amused by this.

"You're quite afraid of your sister, aren't you?"

"I am."

Tang Huayi nodded. "In this world, the person I fear most... is her."

"What kind of person is she, exactly?"

Jiang Ran's brow furrowed slightly.

"You want to know?"

Tang Huayi tilted her head, looked at Jiang Ran, and then smiled.

"I'm not telling you."

Hearing this, Jiang Ran smiled as well, but there was no mirth in his eyes. Instead, there was the glint of a blade.

Tang Huayi's expression changed slightly, and her smile vanished.

"Brother-in-law... You're not... thinking of killing me, are you?"

"It's hard to say."

Jiang Ran said lightly,

"That depends on your performance."

"How... do you want me to perform?"

Tang Huayi also let out a breath. She knew all the previous banter was just fooling around; now was the critical moment.

She had been by Jiang Ran's side for so long that she had some understanding of his personality.

She knew he was ruthless. If he really wanted to kill someone, he wouldn't care if you were a man or a woman. He didn't have a soft spot for women in the slightest.

"Let's have a proper talk."

Jiang Ran began softly,

"What's the deal with the Great Transformation Divine Blade? Is that skill also in the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records?"

"No, but I got the manual a long time ago. I just practiced it casually, and now I know it, don't I?"

"...'Just practiced it casually,' indeed.

"Did my master really arrange that marriage for me?"

"Yes!"

Tang Huayi answered honestly, "And this marriage was decided a very long time ago."

"A long time ago? How long?"

"Seventeen years ago!"

"So, everything Master Tang told me back then was just a pack of lies?"

"Telling you the truth directly would have been hard to accept, so naturally, we had to phrase it differently."

Tang Huayi said with a smile, "After all, you know where we come from. We couldn't just tell you that you're the designated son-in-law of our Demon Sect. What would we have done if we scared you away?"

Jiang Ran's brow furrowed.

"What is my master's relationship with you all, exactly?"

"Enemies!"

Tang Huayi answered without a second thought, "He is the great enemy of our Demon Sect!!"

"Bullshit!"

Jiang Ran's face darkened.

"Does that even make sense?"

'If they're enemies, how could he possibly let his own disciple marry a demoness from the Demon Sect?'

"It does!"

Tang Huayi said quickly,

"Everything I'm saying is true, without a single lie. Many years ago, he had an... entanglement with our sect's Saintess, which led to a great deal of resentment between them. To this day, although they are forced to cooperate for various reasons...

"they still don't consider each other friends.

"It's still an adversarial relationship."

Jiang Ran's brow furrowed. What Tang Huayi said seemed to correspond with the words of the old man he'd met fishing by the small river in Wenxiang Forest.

"What are the reasons you're forced to cooperate?"

"That, I cannot say."

After saying this, Tang Huayi saw Jiang Ran's face darken again and said helplessly,

"Really, I truly cannot say.

"Even if you kill me, I can't say it!"

Jiang Ran glanced at her and pondered for a moment.

"We'll set that question aside for now.

"Let me ask you, in Cangzhou Prefecture, the Qinghe Gang... who destroyed them?"

"Don't you already know?"

Tang Huayi smiled. "My sister killed them."

"...Fan Yumou's Qinghe Gang had existed in Cangzhou Prefecture for many years.

"Why move against them so suddenly?"