Today, The Villain Couple is Settling Scores Again

Chapter 106

The next day, Jian Huan woke up fifteen minutes later than her usual biological clock.

It was still early in the morning, the windows were closed, and the room was bathed in a hazy deep blue.

As her consciousness gradually returned, she realized that Shen Jizhi, who had held her before she fell asleep the previous night, was no longer beside her. She lay still for a moment, her mind blank, until a thought suddenly struck her—

!!

Jian Huan let out a yelp, tossed the blanket aside, slipped on her embroidered shoes, rushed out of the room, and darted back to her own quarters. She quickly changed into her disciple robes and was about to descend the stone steps when she happened to see Shen Jizhi entering the courtyard from outside.

He had just finished his sword practice, clad in black robes with a snow-white sword in hand.

His black hair was mostly damp, and his chest rose and fell heavily. When he saw Jian Huan, a faint smile lingered in his glass-like eyes, and he nodded slightly at her. "Awake?"

He had been about to come back and wake her.

Jian Huan stopped in her tracks and hummed in acknowledgment. Remembering the events of the previous night, her dark eyes inadvertently flicked downward to a certain part of him before she quickly looked away, her cheeks burning.

Ahem.

They had gone to bed very late last night, yet he still had the energy to follow his usual routine and practice swordplay.

Sword cultivators truly had boundless stamina.

Noticing her gaze, Shen Jizhi's eyebrow twitched imperceptibly. He sheathed his sword and walked toward her, saying, "Aren't you going? You're going to be late."

"Just a moment, just a moment…" Jian Huan suddenly paused and shot him a sharp look. "How do you know what I'm going to do? Why do you say I'll be late?"

Shen Jizhi replied indifferently, "Today is the sixteenth. Aren't you going to compete with Jiang Mian for the Great Purple-Gold Cake at the dining hall?"

The Great Purple-Gold Cake was only sold on the sixteenth of each month, and only three hundred portions were available. Every month, many disciples of the Jade Clarity Sect would rush to buy it early in the morning.

If Jian Huan was in the sect, she would always go with Jiang Mian early in the morning on this day.

More than two years ago, Shen Jizhi had secretly bought a portion once. He thought the taste was just average, no different from Fasting Pills. Jian Huan and the others probably just enjoyed the thrill of the "competition."

Jian Huan was stunned. "How do you know that?"

She had never mentioned it to him, and he rarely ever went to the dining hall.

In the past, he would just take Fasting Pills. Now that he had reached the Golden Core Stage, he didn't even need Fasting Pills anymore—he could survive on a bit of dew.

Unlike her and most other cultivators, who still indulged in the pleasures of food.

How could one live without enjoying delicious food to the fullest?

Shen Jizhi walked up to her and gave her a look that said, "What do you think?"

Jian Huan had been in such a hurry that morning that she hadn't properly arranged her clothes. Most of her seaweed-like black hair was tucked into her collar.

"Your habits haven't changed much," Shen Jizhi said quietly, reaching out to pull her hair out of her collar and straightening her collar for her.

His warm fingertips brushed against the porcelain-like skin at the back of her neck, causing Jian Huan to shiver. She glanced at him furtively, her small movements reminiscent of when she had observed his expression the previous night while helping him relieve his tension.

Shen Jizhi's Adam's apple bobbed as he suppressed some lingering thoughts. He lowered his eyes and withdrew his hand. "Go on, then."

"Mm." Jian Huan tossed her sword into the air, jumped onto it, and was about to fly off when she suddenly leaped back down. She hooked her arm around Shen Jizhi's shoulder from behind, pulled him down slightly, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a quick kiss on his cheek before running off, her face flushed.

The black-robed young man stiffened, standing rooted to the spot for a good while before he calmly walked back into the room.

The room still carried the lingering warmth from earlier.

The blanket was half-hanging off the bed. He shook his head slightly, a hint of helplessness in his expression, and walked over to pick it up and fold it neatly.

The dining hall was bustling with noise and activity in the morning.

At the cake stall, Jian Huan stood properly and batted her eyes coquettishly at the auntie behind the counter.

The auntie stared at her for a moment and said, "I know you."

Jian Huan blinked rapidly, feigning innocence. "Huh?"

"You think I wouldn't recognize you just because you changed your hairstyle?" The auntie put her hands on her hips and revealed her name. "Jian Huan, the talisman cultivator. I watched your final battle with Niu Zizhao back then!"

Oh no.

Jian Huan inwardly groaned.

"You've already bought one portion of the Great Purple-Gold Cake today. Now you can only buy something else," the auntie said sternly, showing no mercy.

Jian Huan clasped her hands together and pleaded in a sweet voice, "Auntie, please sell me one more portion. I didn't cut in line; I just queued up again…"

The auntie waved her hand. "No way."

"I'm not buying it for myself. I'm buying it for…" Jian Huan paused and swallowed the word "someone else." "I'm buying it for Shen Jizhi. You know him, right? The really good-looking one. He's so pitiful—he's Peak Lord Gu's only direct disciple and has been helping his master pay off debts. He's never had a chance to eat anything delicious in his life…"

"He is good-looking," the auntie mused. "But he's not my man. What do I care if he's pitiful?"

"…" Jian Huan was momentarily speechless, convinced by the auntie's logic. She rubbed her forehead. "You're right. Then I'll take… a Pink-Gold Cake instead."

Jiang Mian was sitting at a table, eating cake and waiting for Jian Huan. When the latter ran over, she asked, "How did it go?"

"Didn't get it," Jian Huan shook her head and sat down across from Jiang Mian. She took out the Great Purple-Gold Cake and the Pink-Gold Cake, divided them into two equal portions, and kept one portion for herself. She carefully wrapped the other portion, drew a big smiling face on the outer paper, and added a small note: [Wishing you a prosperous day today].

"Take your time eating. I'll see you at the talisman hall later," Jian Huan said as she got up and waved goodbye to Jiang Mian. She ran out of the dining hall but bumped into Wen Jiu at the entrance.

Jian Huan's eyes lit up, and she quickly called out, "Senior Sister Wen!"

Wen Jiu stopped and smiled when she saw Jian Huan. "Junior Sister Jian."

The two of them moved to a corner to catch up.

Jian Huan whispered into Wen Jiu's ear, "Senior Sister, didn't you have a lead before and went to look for the Bodhi Pagoda? How did it go? I've been trying to reach you and Yang Ye on the Xuantian Mirror these past few days, but you haven't replied."

"Something came up, and the Xuantian Mirror broke. We just got back last night," Wen Jiu said softly, rubbing her temples. "We were looking for Madam Gao's younger brother. The night after the Bodhi Pagoda went missing, someone saw him sneaking out of Jiuzhou City. We eventually found him, but it turned out he had used Elder Gao's identity to secure a position at the Jiuzhou Assembly and embezzled some spirit stones. He ran away because he was afraid of being caught. The Bodhi Pagoda had nothing to do with him."

Jian Huan nodded thoughtfully, her eyes flickering. "What about Yin Yusheng?"

Wen Jiu replied, "Not long after we found Madam Gao's brother, Senior Brother Yin said he had personal matters to attend to and left ahead of us."

"We've decided not to continue searching for the pagoda," Wen Jiu added. "Junior Brother Yang went to a secret realm, and Jiang Qiaoqiao returned to the Jiang family because her mother's birthday is coming up… Everyone's gone their separate ways."

Jian Huan also shared some updates about herself, but the two didn't talk for long before they each went their separate ways.

As she ran toward the Equipment Forging Hall, Jian Huan pondered.

Yin Yusheng had the fake Bodhi Pagoda he had exchanged with Ran Mu'er. He must have left early to report back to the demon race.

His whereabouts were still unknown, as if he had vanished from the face of the earth.

But Yin Yusheng wasn't dead.

He was the direct disciple of the Medicine King Peak's peak lord, and his life lamp was still lit, meaning he was alive somewhere in the world.

So, who had taken the Bodhi Pagoda from Ran Mu'er?

If it was someone from the demon race, they would have known about Yin Yusheng's true identity and wouldn't have let him live. Of course, it was also possible that Yin Yusheng had fled when he realized the situation was unfavorable.

If it wasn't someone from the demon race, then who was it?

By the end of the morning, Shen Jizhi had finished repairing the wooden window in Jian Huan's room and arrived at the Equipment Forging Hall.

Just as he was about to sit down, his gaze paused, landing on a paper-wrapped cake placed nearby.

A bright yellow talisman was stuck to the cake.

The young man's eyelashes fluttered as he reached out and picked it up. The cake was still warm, thanks to the talisman.

Shen Jizhi stared at the smiling face drawn on the paper for a moment, gently tapped it with his fingertip, and curved his lips into a small smile. He didn't eat it but carefully stored it in his Mustard Seed Pouch.

Outside the door, the Equipment Forging Hall was noisy as the disciples chatted about some interesting news, laughing heartily.

Shen Jizhi glanced back and, upon seeing the skinny junior brother, his eyelids twitched slightly.

The words from the Xuantian Garden the previous night resurfaced in his mind.

Were he and Jian Huan about to break up?

Shen Jizhi let out a soft scoff. After a moment's thought, he walked over to the group.

It was as if a teacher had suddenly entered a noisy classroom. Everyone fell silent, their eyes darting between Shen Jizhi and each other, some feeling uneasy.

Shen Jizhi's cold expression was particularly intimidating, sending chills down people's spines. Many instinctively stood straighter and greeted him respectfully, "Senior Brother Shen."

"Mm," Shen Jizhi responded indifferently. He walked straight up to the skinny junior brother and got straight to the point. "Your Xuantian Mirror handle is 'Jade Clarity Jade Clarity I'm the Best,' right?"

The skinny junior brother exchanged a glance with his fellow disciples nearby, and his heart skipped a beat.

Last night, he couldn’t hold back and had blabbed in the Xuantian Garden.

Was Senior Brother Shen here to hold him accountable?

The skinny junior brother nervously swallowed and stammered, “Yes, Senior Brother Shen, I…”

Shen Jizhi took out his Xuantian Mirror, tilted his chin slightly, and said, “Add me.”

“Huh?” The junior brother was completely stunned but quickly fumbled to open his Xuantian Mirror. “Oh, yes, of course…”

When ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????he had first joined the Equipment Forging Hall last year, he had added the Xuantian IDs of all the senior brothers and sisters. But when he asked Shen Jizhi, the latter didn’t even turn his head and simply replied, “I don’t have one.”

It was only later that he found out Senior Brother Shen truly didn’t own a Xuantian Mirror.

Now, the junior brother was both flustered and honored. He glanced at Shen Jizhi’s mirror and asked, “Senior Brother, did you finally buy a Xuantian Mirror?”

Shen Jizhi replied, “No, I didn’t buy it.”

The junior brother was confused. “Then how…?”

Shen Jizhi calmly added him, making sure everyone could see the unique Xuantian Mirror in his hand, and then slowly answered, “Jian Huan gave it to me.”

The junior brother: “??”

Shen Jizhi stopped there. After adding the junior brother, he turned and left. Once back in his seat, he immediately deleted the junior brother’s Xuantian ID.

The junior brother, who had just been about to check Shen Jizhi’s Xuantian ID: “???”

Alright, he understood now.

Senior Brother must have seen what he said in the Xuantian Garden last night and had come to warn him.

Shen Jizhi was about to open the Xuantian Garden to see if the junior brother had caught his hint and would say something positive when the mirror suddenly vibrated. A message came in from his only Xuantian friend.

[Qian Duoduo Has Talismans: Shen Jizhi!]

[Qian Duoduo Has Talismans: Half of your debt is awake!]

[Qian Duoduo Has Talismans: Meet me at the main gate, hurry!!]

Half of his debt…

Ran Mu’er was awake?

Shen Jizhi’s gaze deepened. He replied with a single “Okay,” then stood up and left.