Chapter 241: Is Selling Myself Enough (Eighth Update)

As she spoke, she held her breath and began to move quickly.

With her bones reforged by the spirit stones, Ye Wenxin’s physical strength had significantly improved, making her much sturdier than before.

No longer a fragile mage, she now had the capacity for both offense and defense, though she still leaned towards long-range attacks.

In close combat, Ye Wenxin remained at a disadvantage.

“Sister Wenxin, when will you hold me?”

“Sister, Sister, can you hold me now?”

Throughout the journey, Qiao Ni exhibited excessive enthusiasm towards Ye Wenxin, who could only respond with a wry smile.

Many times, she wanted to put Madam Yu down and carry Qiao Ni instead, but the deceptive Madam Yu showed no intention of letting go.

With a bit of thought, Ye Wenxin understood that Madam Yu was worried she might harm her daughter.

However, Ye Wenxin couldn’t fathom what rumors Madam Yu had heard, to harbor such hatred, even to the point of wanting her dead.

Or perhaps, due to her husband’s long-term neglect, Madam Yu’s love for her daughter had become twisted, bordering on incestuous¹?

Ye Wenxin dared not ponder further. She saw Madam Yu looking at her again, still appearing delicate and weak, with a slender waist and a unique fragrance coming off her.

She couldn’t tell what kind of perfume it was, but it smelled exceptionally pleasant.

“Miss Wenxin, I believe you can definitely hold on.”

“Miss Wenxin, keep it up.”

Madam Yu continuously encouraged Ye Wenxin to carry her princess-style, resulting in Ye Wenxin stubbornly carrying her all the way down the mountain.

When they finally reached the familiar town with its landmarks, Madam Yu was finally willing to get down.

Despite Ye Wenxin’s enhanced strength, her arms felt weak from the effort.

“Sister Wenxin, are you alright?” Qiao Ni, noticing Ye Wenxin’s exhaustion, appeared very concerned and started to approach her, but Madam Yu quickly grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Ni Ni, is there anything you want me to get you?” Madam Yu was clearly trying to divert Qiao Ni’s attention, not giving her a chance to get close to Ye Wenxin.

However, Qiao Ni didn’t pick up on her mother’s intent and still tried to approach Ye Wenxin.

This behavior made Ye Wenxin suspect whether she had drunkenly gotten involved with someone, and inadvertently conceived Qiao Ni as an illegitimate child. (TL: Tht’s a wild suspicion)

Then it would make sense why Qiao Ni was so intent on seeking Ye Wenxin’s favor over her mother.

“Junior Sister, are you alright?”

Huang Hanyan finally couldn’t stand by any longer. Seeing Ye Wenxin in an awkward situation, she stepped in to help.

But just as she was about to intervene, Ye Wenxin suddenly lunged at her.

“Ah!” Huang Hanyan, completely unprepared, was startled, but when she realized that it was Ye Wenxin who had embraced her, she blushed slightly and half-hugged Ye Wenxin around the waist, holding her close.

“I’ll take Junior Sister to the inn first. We’ll wait for you all there.”

Everyone initially planned to go to the trading market, but Huang Hanyan didn’t have anything to buy.

Seeing that Ye Wenxin was pretending to be weak in her arms, this also provided the two of them a good opportunity to be alone.

Sha Nian-nian, unfamiliar with the group, saw Ye Wenxin feigning weakness and decided to stay at the inn with the two.

Naturally, Qiao Ni also wanted to stay with Ye Wenxin, but was once again pulled away by Madam Yu.

“Come on, Ni Ni, let’s go get something to eat.”

“But, Mother, Sister Wenxin isn’t feeling well.”

While Qiao Ni was on the verge of tears, Ye Wenxin could only wave to her, watching as Madam Yu led her away.

After everything was settled, Ye Wenxin showed no intention of getting up. She looked at the faintly blushing Huang Hanyan and grinned.

“Senior Sister Hanyan, why don’t you actually carry me to the inn? I completely ran out of strength.”

Huang Hanyan blushed even more. She had initially thought of carrying Ye Wenxin when she fell into her arms, but seeing Ye Wenxin’s rosy complexion and hearing her strong voice, she knew Ye Wenxin was faking it.

She gently set Ye Wenxin down and maintained a respectful distance.

“It’s fine. She’s not from the Azure Wings Sect, so you don’t have to act so distant,” Ye Wenxin explained, noticing Huang Hanyan’s reticence and wanting to clarify Sha Nian-nian’s identity.

“I’ll go…” Sha Nian-nian started to leave but then paused, looking at Ye Wenxin. “It…will be…troublesome…”

“It’s indeed troublesome for you to leave now. How about you travel with us halfway tomorrow and then say you need to visit a deceased relative, and that’s when we’ll part ways?”

Ye Wenxin thought it would be too abrupt for Sha Nian-nian to leave now, so she decided to let her stay for a bit longer.

However, what was meant as an ordinary excuse, ended up making Sha Nian-nian’s face flush with anger.

“Y-you’re the one… who should b-be dead…”

“Alright, alright, I’m dead, and you’re not.” Ye Wenxin rolled her eyes and decided to stop arguing with Sha Nian-nian.

Instead, she turned her attention to Huang Hanyan.

“Senior Sister, do you know the purpose behind your trip down the mountain this time?” Ye Wenxin asked solemnly.

Even though Huang Hanyan hadn’t officially become her disciple, Ye Wenxin couldn’t help but worry about this strong-willed woman.

“I do… But I didn’t expect you to be around again.”

Huang Hanyan’s eyes carried a hint of melancholy, as if she had long been resigned to her fate. However, she never imagined that Ye Wenxin would be among the escort group.

“Yeah, after all, I’m your creditor. If you die, wouldn’t my investment be in vain?” Ye Wenxin responded with a smile.

Huang Hanyan chuckled along, showing her first smile of the day and even joining in Ye Wenxin’s banter.

“Well, if I were to ask you to save me, would selling myself be enough?” Huang Hanyan replied, somehow feeling that Ye Wenxin could help change her passive situation.

“Let’s see… How about instead of selling yourself, I’ll take the lives of everyone in the Huang Clan?” Ye Wenxin deliberated for a few seconds before responding.

Huang Hanyan paused for a moment upon hearing this, her expression darkening, “You know about that too.”

This time, the mastermind behind the matter wasn’t the Azure Wings Sect aiming to kill Huang Hanyan, but rather members of the Huang Clan fearing her lack of marriage value might cause future trouble, thus using the sect to eliminate her.

Ye Wenxin nodded. “Fatty informed me.”

Ever since she heard about Huang Hanyan from Jin Xiaoqin, Ye Wenxin had instructed the Cozy Gang to start gathering information.

It was only from Huang Hanyan’s fiancé that she finally learned the truth of the matter, and she felt even more pity for Huang Hanyan.

“Fatty? From the Cozy Gang? You’ve become so capable now.” Huang Hanyan smiled bitterly. She wanted to follow Ye Wenxin’s lead in laughing freely, but she found herself unable to muster a genuine smile.

On this journey, there was no telling when she might meet her end, and the fact that Elder Wu was sent to disgust her, had left Huang Hanyan even more despondent.

“Yep, so long as you join my Cozy Gang, as the gang leader, I will ensure your safety for life,” Ye Wenxin couldn’t help but feel proud of herself.

Yet, in truth, aside from refining pills every day, she hadn’t done anything else.

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Footnotes:

1. – The term used here is actually ‘German orthopedics’, which is Chinese internet slang for incest. ↩︎