Chapter 444

Xiao Lingwei gave a slight nod, smiling, "What a coincidence."

Immediately, her gaze shifted to Xiao Lingchao, whose face was full of displeasure.

Xiao Lingchao turned his head away, deliberately not looking at Xiao Lingwei.

Xiao Lingwei's expression remained normal; she seemed to recall something and then introduced them to Yuan Yao and the others: "This is my cousin Xiao Fu, this is my cousin's wife Qiao Ruoning, and this is my cousin Xiao Ru."

Xiao Fu's gaze never left Yuan Yao; his eyes shone with admiration until Qiao Ruoning, with a cold face, lightly jabbed his arm with her elbow, and he snapped out of it.

He raised his hands in a salute, smiling, "I am Xiao Fu; you may call me Xiao Fu."

Cang Li and the others responded with indifferent expressions.

Xiao Lingwei also noticed the covetous look in Xiao Fu's eyes just moments ago; her face instantly turned cold, and she gave him an icy glance.

Xiao Fu instantly felt a chill down his back; his expression shifted slightly, he wanted to say something to explain, but anything he said now would only seem like a feeble cover-up.

Xiao Lingwei stopped the introductions, she took Yuan Yao's hand and walked away directly.

Song Yan and the others followed.

Xiao Fu felt a slight panic in his heart.

"Brother, how could you…" Xiao Ru stared at Xiao Fu in surprise, but did not finish her sentence.

Meanwhile, Xiao Lingchao was unaware of the undercurrents just now, because he had turned his head away and seen nothing.

Therefore, after Xiao Lingchao discovered that Xiao Lingwei and her group had left without greeting, his expression grew even uglier.

He inwardly fumed: What's so great about it!

At this moment, Xiao Ru furrowed her brows and said to Xiao Lingchao, "Lingchao, we probably misspoke just now and upset Cousin Lingwei."

Xiao Fu regretted, "Lingchao, why don't you go apologize to Cousin Lingwei for me?"

Upon hearing that, Xiao Lingchao let out a cold laugh, "Misspoken? You didn't say anything either; she simply doesn't want to deal with us. Since she doesn't want to deal with us, why should we warm our faces to stick to her cold backside?"

The plump youth Fang Xiu, although unaware of why Xiao Lingwei's expression suddenly changed, felt instinctively that it was not because Xiao Lingwei didn't want to deal with them.

"Well…" Xiao Ru showed a troubled expression.

The anger that had been building in Xiao Lingchao's heart also found an outlet: "I think she should come apologize to you!"

Xiao Ru hurriedly said, "Lingchao, don't bear a grudge against Cousin Lingwei because of us."

Xiao Lingchao's face grew even uglier.

He felt that a rift had already formed between him and Xiao Lingwei.

Xiao Lingchao fiercely flicked his sleeve and walked away without looking back.

Seeing this, the plump youth Fang Xiu hurriedly followed.

"Lingchao!"

Meanwhile, the three people left behind exchanged glances.

Qiao Ruoning stared at Xiao Fu with an unpleasant expression, lowering her voice: "When will you finally quit your lecherous habit? That's Xiao Lingwei's junior fellow disciple, and you dare to harbor such lust?!"

Xiao Fu defended, "She is so beautiful; I've never seen such a lovely lady. I just glanced and got dazed—is that wrong? Besides, I didn't lay a hand on her! I think Xiao Lingwei is making a mountain out of a molehill."

Qiao Ruoning glared at him, "If you weren't already married to me, wouldn't you still want Xiao Lingwei to introduce her junior fellow disciple to you?"

Upon hearing that, Xiao Fu felt guilty and retorted, "What are you saying all this for?!"

At this moment, Xiao Ru spoke up: "Brother, don't set your sights on Yuan Yao. She is a disciple of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord, not like the ordinary young ladies of secular clans."

Xiao Fu replied perfunctorily, "I know."

…

Meanwhile, on the other side.

On the bustling street filled with passersby, several figures stood out remarkably.

Xiao Lingwei wore an apologetic expression as she said, "Yao Yao, did I scare you just now?"

Yuan Yao shook her head.

"No."

Xiao Lingwei let out a breath of relief, "Good that it's not."

Cang Li pressed his palms together, took a deep breath, and with a solemn face said, "Second Senior Sister, that cousin of yours looks like no good person at first glance."

Xiao Lingwei frowned, "I know. I won't let him get near Yao Yao from now on."

Yuan Yao laughed, "Second Senior Sister, don't worry too much about me, don't think I'm as fragile as tofu; if your cousin really wants to deal with me, he'll have to get past my sword first."

Xiao Lingwei was amused by that.

She let out a deep sigh, "If he weren't my cousin, I would have already whipped him. But if he dares to do it again, I will certainly show no mercy."

Ying Wuji suddenly spoke up, "Second Senior Sister, would you like to have a talk with your younger brother?"

Xiao Lingwei blinked slightly.

Ying Wuji continued, "Your younger brother is getting so close to them; he's likely to be led astray by them."

Upon hearing that, Xiao Lingwei nodded thoughtfully.

"Good."

Yuan Yao couldn't help but be curious, "Second Senior Sister, is your relationship with Xiao Lingchao not good?"

"Not really." Xiao Lingwei pondered for a few seconds, "He always runs away when he sees me; maybe he's afraid of me. But I really haven't sat down and had a proper talk with him."

Cang Li raised an eyebrow, teasing, "Second Senior Sister, you wouldn't happen to not know how to talk to your younger brother, would you?"

Xiao Lingwei fell silent for a moment, as if sinking into some memory.

She slowly spoke, "Actually, I have another younger brother named Xiao Lingjing. When we were young, he always liked to cling to me. Whether I was cultivating or resting, he would always keep me company. I still remember him flashing his little white teeth as he smiled at me; it was truly adorable."

"That year, I was five, and I followed the clan elders out for training. When I returned, I found Ah Jing lying in that little coffin, motionless, having slept forever. They all said Ah Jing died of a sudden illness. But later, I overheard the clan elders talking."

——"We must never let Ling'er know the truth! If she learns that Ah Jing was lured away by a corrupt demonic cultivator who longed for her, and used him as an evil sacrifice…"

At that time, upon hearing those words, her whole body trembled.

She rushed into the hall, begging the clan elders to tell her the truth.

The clan elders still wanted to conceal the truth, but in the end they could not resist her and thus spoke the truth.

Originally, an evil cultivator had infiltrated the Island Lord's Mansion; he had come specifically for A Jing, because A Jing's physique was extraordinary—it was an Innate Dao Body.

Usually, that evil cultivator was just an ordinary guard within the Island Lord's Mansion.

After she followed the clan elders away from the mansion for training, that evil cultivator saw A Jing crying all day, wanting to find his older sister, and thus conceived a plan.

One day, he finally got a chance to approach A Jing, and he whispered: "Second Young Master, I know where the Eldest Miss is; I'll take you to see her."

At that time, A Jing was only two or three years old; he could not tell good from bad, his heart and eyes filled only with his older sister.

Upon hearing that he could find his sister, he happily agreed.

By the time they found A Jing, his Dao Bone had already been dug out, and he had lost all vitality.

That evil cultivator also fled.

But they still caught up with the evil cultivator, who was actually a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator; after merging with the Innate Dao Bone, his cultivation surged to the early stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm.

Together they seized the evil cultivator, forced the truth from him, and then killed him.