Chapter 42

The young girl was clearly smiling. Though she was tall and slender, it seemed all the food she had eaten over the past year had only gone towards her height. Even draped in a large cloak, she still appeared thin and frail.

But despite her frail and pale appearance, her friendly smile made Li Dong and Ni Si, who were standing in front of the cabinet, instinctively take a step back. They were reminded once again of the bone-chilling cold that had once gripped them.

As Lin Du took a step forward, they retreated a step back, until she reached the middle of the hall and they finally stopped.

“You both seem… afraid of me?” she said, raising her eyebrows slightly, her gaze drifting to the plain wooden box in their hands—something Du Shao had discarded earlier.

Ordinary wooden boxes couldn’t preserve the medicinal properties of herbs, and after a thousand years, the herbs inside had likely withered into shriveled, useless remnants.

Li Dong thought to himself, how could we not be afraid? She nearly froze us to death. If that tree demon hadn’t gone mad and somehow removed the ice, he and Ni Si might not be here now.

Lin Du chuckled, turning her gaze to Ni Si. “Aren’t you curious about what I just said?”

Ni Si hesitated for a moment, “Which part?”

With a good-natured smile, Lin Du adjusted her cloak and placed her hands inside. “About two-timing.”

A flash of murderous intent crossed Li Dong’s eyes. “Sisi, don’t listen to her nonsense!”

“Ni Daoist, aren’t you curious about how I know Li Dong?” Lin Du took another step forward. “It’s because the first person who helped me in this world was his fiancée, who is now an inner disciple of the Ji Shi Sect. I suppose she’s the ‘cousin’ Li Dong mentioned?”

“Lin Du! Stop making things up. She’s just someone from my hometown,” Li Dong clenched his fists and turned to grab Ni Si’s hand. “Sisi, don’t let an outsider come between us.”

Lin Du kept her eyes on Ni Si, noticing a subtle change in her expression, and smiled. “I just want to tell you, feeling sorry for a man will ruin your life, and spending money on a man will ruin three generations.”

This guy was a classic mooching man. She couldn’t believe that in the original story, Li Dong and Ni Si ended up living happily ever after.

She casually folded her sleeves, “Let’s go.”

Li Dong quickly turned to block her path, holding Ni Si’s arms earnestly. “Sisi, don’t listen to her. She extorted you from the start, and now she’s trying to drive a wedge between us. She’s just a naturally spiteful person who can’t stand seeing others happy.”

Lin Du paused, smirking at his words—naturally spiteful?

She chuckled softly. This was only the beginning.

“Sister, are you coming?” Lin Du called out.

Li Dong’s body stiffened, and he turned around in shock.

From behind the rosewood lattice door, another figure in a water-colored figure appeared.

Who else could it be but Du Shao?

Lin Du flicked her fingers lightly under the cloak, releasing the silencing spell.

But Du Shao still felt a lump in her throat, unable to speak.

“Sister, need me to curse him out for you? I won’t charge you,” Lin Du offered.

Du Shao stared at the utterly bewildered man before her. This was a man she had known for twenty years, yet she had never seen him as someone who would two-time or deceive.

Since they had joined different sects, they hadn’t seen each other often and only communicated by letters. Li Dong had gotten angry at her for being resolute, ignoring her for quite some time until she sent some clothes and basic elixirs. Only then did he start communicating with her again.

Thinking back now, it seemed it was all for the resources she had in the Ji Shi Sect.

But how could that be possible?

The Li Dong she remembered was the boy who would share his food with her even if he didn’t eat himself, who would spend his meager allowance to buy her hairpins, who cried in secret under the blankets because he didn’t want to be separated from her when his mother visited.

He wasn’t this man now, who spoke of nothing but foundation establishment, resources, and proposing marriage to someone else with a mouth full of lies.

Du Shao took a deep breath, feeling like her heart was burning, “I’ll give you one last chance to explain.”

Lin Du stiffened, turning her head away to stifle a curse.

She had marked this scumbag with extreme cold energy, allowing her to track him.

Knowing that Ni Si and Li Dong wouldn’t want to separate, she had quickly set up a simple guiding formation after sensing their approach while Du Shao was searching for items.

She had gone through so much effort to bring these three together, and Li Dong had played his role perfectly, only for Du Shao to now offer him “one last chance.”

Lin Du clutched her chest, feeling as if her heart might burst from frustration.

She was on the verge of breaking down.

In modern times, her inbox was filled with messages from people asking, “Should I give him one more chance?” It seemed even in the cultivation world, she couldn’t escape this kind of torment.

Lin Du raised her hand, veins standing out on her pale skin as she pressed against her forehead, speaking within her mind, “System, if they don’t break up today, I’m seriously done.”

[Host, please calm down. You don’t want to get killed by anger a second time, do you?]

“Ah Shao… I…” Li Dong began.

Ni Si stared at Du Shao, scrutinizing her with a sharp gaze. “Who exactly are you to Li Dong?”

Li Dong’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly cut in, “She’s just someone from my hometown.”

Du Shao closed her eyes for a moment, then laughed bitterly in her anger. “If we’re just from the same hometown, then let’s return our engagement tokens to each other. I’ll give back your jade pendant, and you return my spirit sword. Our engagement is over.”

As she spoke, she forcefully tore off the pouch she always wore. The lovers’ knot on it swayed violently in the air.

To protect it from damage, she had kept the jade pendant safely inside a pouch engraved with a defensive formation. Though the pendant was just an ordinary one, with only a faint trace of spiritual energy, she had always treasured it.

Du Shao stared straight at him. “Do you have anything else to say?”

Li Dong tightened his grip on the spirit sword.

Ni Si noticed this too, and frowned. “Didn’t you tell me this spirit sword was passed down from your parents?”

Du Shao sneered. “Before, it could have been considered partially from my parents. But now, it’s just a gift from a fellow townsman.”

Li Dong hesitated for a long moment before finally making up his mind, angrily retorting, “Ah Shao, I’ve always seen you as a younger sister. That jade pendant was never an engagement token, and this spirit sword is a family heirloom. Are you crazy to say such nonsense?”

Lin Du raised an eyebrow at this, barely resisting the urge to applaud the scumbag’s psychological resilience. Seeing that things with Du Shao couldn’t be salvaged, he decisively chose to sacrifice her to save himself—a classic move from a cunning man.

Du Shao was so stunned by Li Dong’s shamelessness that she was left speechless.

Before she could respond, he continued, frowning as he scolded her in a tone of a concerned older brother, “Yes, I know you’ve always had feelings for me, but I’ve only ever seen you as a sister. I gave you that jade pendant because you liked it, and I had no idea it would lead to such a misunderstanding. I understand you’re upset after hearing me talk about marrying Sisi, but I truly love her. She’s going to be your future sister-in-law, so please stop this nonsense.”

“From childhood to now, I’ve only ever loved one person, and that’s Sisi. From the moment I joined the sect, it was love at first sight.”

Ni Si’s expression softened slightly upon hearing Li Dong’s words. She then raised an eyebrow and lifted her chin. “You heard him? Stop deluding yourself with wishful thinking.”

To discredit a woman’s words, all it takes is to label her as someone who acts out of love-driven resentment.

Du Shao’s face turned as pale as gold paper, her muscles twitching as if she were too enraged to speak. Her normally gentle and bright eyes were now filled with shattered light.

[Dungeon 1 current task progress: 100%, reward: Yi Qi Shuyu Pill x1]

“Let me interrupt for a moment,” Lin Du said, placing the pill that had appeared in her palm into her storage ring. Her heartache vanished, and she felt much more spirited.

“Did you two get engaged without a written marriage contract?” she asked.