Chapter 454: What Wild Seed?

Xiao Lingwei noticed Xiahou Rui, glanced at him, and smilingly asked, "Want to play a round?"

Everyone realized what was happening, turned their heads, and saw their own Young Master standing behind them like a ghost.

Frightened, they hurriedly shoved their bets back into their storage space, hastily bowed to Xiahou Rui, and apologized.

Xiahou Rui glanced at them indifferently, his gaze finally landing on Xiahou Third Elder, "Third Elder."

Xiahou Third Elder's face was tense, his heart feeling uneasy.

He raised his hands in a salute.

"Present."

Xiahou Rui said, "Take them out first; I have something to say to Miss Xiao."

"This..." Xiahou Third Elder hesitated slightly, but ultimately agreed.

Ying Wuji, who had been sitting not far away, also stood up upon hearing this, pulling Cang Li out of the room.

In the room, only Xiao Lingwei and Xiahou Rui remained.

For a moment, they fell into an eerie silence.

Xiao Lingwei asked, "What do you want to say to me?"

"Sit." Xiahou Rui said softly.

Xiao Lingwei blinked slightly, then sat down.

Xiahou Rui then sat down opposite her.

Xiahou Rui said, "Miss Xiao, if I didn't have this frail, disabled body, would you not have broken off our engagement?"

Xiao Lingwei shook her head.

"I want to break off the engagement not because you have a frail body, but because I currently have no intention of forming a dao partnership with anyone else, and I also have no feelings for you—nothing more."

Xiahou Rui gave a bitter smile.

Xiao Lingwei asked, "Xiahou Young Master probably doesn't have any feelings for me either, right?"

Xiahou Rui lowered his long eyelashes, remained silent for a long time, then said, "Xiao Lingwei, do you still remember twelve years ago, when you came to the Xiahou residence with your father?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lingwei nodded.

Xiahou Rui seemed to fall into memory: "When I was young and bullied by peers, you reached out, took my hand, and said, 'Don't be afraid, I'll help you teach them a lesson.'"

He pursed his lips, lifted his gaze to her, and said, "So from that time on, I regarded you as my fiancée. Over these twelve years, I have quietly gathered news about you, realizing you've grown ever stronger while I've become aware that the distance between us has only widened."

"You've returned to Fusang Island for so long, knowing I'm also there, yet you never came to see me before. No lie—I feel a bit disappointed."

Xiahou Rui gazed into her eyes, his tone especially firm: "I don't want to give up this engagement."

Upon hearing those last words, Xiao Lingwei fell into silence.

Xiahou Rui added, "Worldly affairs are impermanent; if I truly die in the future, this engagement will naturally dissolve. If I happen to survive, I will wait for the day you agree to become my dao partner."

Xiao Lingwei lifted her eyes, "What if I never agree in my lifetime?"

"As you wish." Xiahou Rui chuckled, then immediately seemed to feel unwell, coughing violently as his complexion grew even paler.

Xiao Lingwei gazed at his bloodless face and asked, "Do you really want to open the Gate of the Demon Realm?"

Xiahou Rui's expression flickered slightly.

Xiao Lingwei added, "There's no one else here."

"Yes." Xiahou Rui lowered his eyes, "Because I really want to live."

Xiao Lingwei frowned and rebuked, "Are you going to harm innocent people just to save yourself?!"

Xiahou Rui pressed his lips together.

"You say you'll wait for my consent to become your dao partner, but your conduct is what I despise most, so I can frankly tell you I will never——" Xiao Lingwei's words were cut off as Xiahou Rui clapped a hand over her mouth.

Xiao Lingwei's pupils contracted slightly, and she froze for a moment.

Probably because no strange man had ever dared to cover her mouth before, she momentarily couldn't react.

After she regained her senses, she grabbed his hand, pulled him away, and stared at him with a cold face, "Are you looking to die?!"

Xiahou Rui shook his head, "No......"

Bang!

The table between them shattered into powder under Xiao Lingwei's palm strike.

The fumes made Xiahou Rui cough uncontrollably.

"Cough cough......"

The guards outside, hearing the explosion, turned pale with shock.

That young woman even pushed the door open and rushed in anxiously.

"Young Master!"

The young woman saw the mess all over the floor and the handsome youth unable to straighten up from coughing, her face showing worry.

She was about to walk toward Xiahou Rui, but saw him seemingly rise anxiously, unsteady on his feet, and he lunged straight into Xiao Lingwei's arms.

Xiao Lingwei instinctively supported his arm.

Their eyes met.

Xiao Lingwei gazed down at him coldly.

Xiahou Rui's handsome face had no trace of color; he lifted his long eyelashes and looked at Xiao Lingwei with a pleading gaze.

Actually, Xiahou Rui is two days younger than Xiao Lingwei.

"Lingwei, I know I was wrong." The boy said softly, "Don't be angry with me, okay?"

This remark was also heard by Cang Li, Ying Wuji, Xiahou Third Elder, and others who had rushed in, leaving them stunned for a moment.

The young woman's face shifted, seeming incredulous.

Xiao Lingwei: "......?"

She pushed Xiahou Rui aside, frowned and said, "Are you delirious?"

The others: "......"

Xiahou Rui's complexion turned slightly rigid; he sensed the others' strange looks, swiftly raised his hand to summon a servant, and had the servant support him back to the inner chamber.

But before he had taken two steps, he violently coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body began to tremble uncontrollably, and he immediately fell into a faint.

Seeing this, Xiahou Third Elder's expression instantly changed, and he hurriedly called for a physician.

The physicians treated Xiahou Rui in the inner chamber.

Cang Li also entered the inner chamber to assess the situation; he found Xiahou Rui's body severely hollowed, like a tree stripped of its core by ants, gradually withering.

And this illness is congenital.

Although Cang Li is also a physician, his current medical skill cannot cure Xiahou Rui at all.

Cang Li seemed to ask Xiahou Third Elder casually, "Have you ever asked the Dan Alliance Chairman to see our young master?"

When Xiahou Third Elder heard this, his expression became extremely complicated.

"She could never have treated our young master! Twenty years ago, our Madam and the Dan Alliance Chairman had already become mortal enemies! Two years after the young master was born, Madam consulted many physicians but none could cure him, so Madam had to beg the Dan Alliance Chairman, only to have the Chairman ruthlessly expel our Madam from the Dan Alliance!" Xiahou Third Elder grew increasingly agitated as he spoke, his tone clenched with teeth.

"It is said that at that time, the Dan Alliance Chairman was roaming somewhere, got a bastard child! And that bastard even died in the womb! How satisfying! Who made her refuse to treat our family's young master!"

Xiahou Third Elder's spittle flew wildly.

Cang Li's face turned dark, "Stop insulting people, okay?"

Xiahou Third Elder frowned, "I didn't insult you."

Cang Li gritted his teeth.

"What bastard child? He has a father and a mother! His father is—"