Chapter 190: The Real Gufang Ninglin

"Come on then." Gufang Ninglin held her head high and chest out, deliberately puffing it out even further, as if wanting to show off the treasure that wasn't very large.

Jiang Xun jumped into the cave and slowly reached his hand toward Gufang Ninglin's treasure, only to see Gufang Ninglin completely unmoved, her eyes closed.

Just two centimeters from where Jiang Xun's hand was about to touch, Jiang Xun stopped.

"Alright, stop messing around."

Jiang Xun lowered his hand and said.

"I knew you weren't that kind of person, Junior Brother." Gufang Ninglin opened her eyes and smiled.

"Oh really? Put down the Image Shadow Talisman in your hand, and let's see if I'm that kind of person." Jiang Xun grabbed Gufang Ninglin's wrist and said.

"Hehe." Gufang Ninglin squinted her eyes and chuckled.

"Senior Sister, tell me the truth, why are you living in a cave?" Jiang Xun sat cross-legged on the ground, looking at Gufang Ninglin as he asked.

"To cultivate," Gufang Ninglin replied.

"Actually, I came here specifically to find you. I found out where you lived, I knew you lived here, and I also found out why no one comes here..."

Because Gufang Ninglin lived here, they all looked down on Gufang Ninglin, feeling that any place she had stayed was filthy, so they were unwilling to walk into this patch of woods.

The black sludge in the small stream was also wastewater poured by others before Gufang Ninglin was taken as a disciple by He Luyun, which had stained the stream black.

"Pitying me for coming here?" Hearing this, Gufang Ninglin squatted in front of Jiang Xun and smiled: "I live here just fine; no one disturbs me, and it's convenient for cultivation."

"Tell the truth."

Jiang Xun's pupils turned black as he stared into Gufang Ninglin's eyes.

After a momentary lapse of focus, the smile on Gufang Ninglin's face vanished.

"Because living in Tian Wai Lou requires paying Spirit Stones to Tian Wai Lou every month. It's too expensive, I can't afford it, and the courtyards outside are the same; I can only live here."

Gufang Ninglin lowered her head, looking like a completely different person. Her voice was very low, and she didn't dare look up at Jiang Xun. This wasn't being controlled, but rather an inferiority complex deep in her bones; this was the real her.

"There's such a thing? How much is the Yellow-Rank Room per month?"

Jiang Xun asked upon hearing this.

"One thousand High-grade Spirit Stones..."

"..." Jiang Xun was stunned. To members of the royal family, this naturally didn't count for much, but to ordinary people, it was an astronomical price. These one thousand High-grade Spirit Stones were enough for a family of three to live extravagantly for a lifetime.

"What about the courtyards?"

"Seven hundred High-grade Spirit Stones."

"Are the courtyards okay? Your Gufang Dynasty should be able to come up with seven hundred Spirit Stones a month, right?" Jiang Xun asked upon hearing this.

She was willing to spend three hundred to buy a useless Charm Pill, after all.

Gufang Ninglin didn't speak; she shook her head.

"But you already spent three hundred to buy a useless medicinal pill."

Jiang Xun asked his question.

"That, that is... that is..."

Gufang Ninglin struggled for a long time without getting a word out.

"Are you going to say it or not? If you don't, I'm never going to pay attention to you again."

As Jiang Xun said this, he prepared to get up and leave.

How could the bewitched Gufang Ninglin be willing to let that happen? She hurriedly grabbed Jiang Xun's arm: "That was for my Imperial Father."

"Huh?" Jiang Xun's brow furrowed upon hearing this.

"Because my aptitude is poor, and I am the only heir of the Gufang Dynasty, Father intends to have another Prince, but Mother has never had any interest in that sort of thing, so Father asked me to buy the Charm Pill for Mother to take."

Gufang Ninglin lowered her head, her face blushing until it seemed it would bleed.

"The three hundred Spirit Stones were also what I had painstakingly saved up from doing tasks all this time. Who knew that when I went to buy it, I had to have a Dao companion, but the people on Tianwai Island treat me... that's why I asked you to go with me."

"Your dynasty can't even come up with three hundred Spirit Stones?"

Jiang Xun asked in surprise.

"The Spirit Stones and money are all used on the common people; expenses exceed income."

Gufang Ninglin nodded.

"Then those five Great Restoration Pills?" Jiang Xun frowned, thinking of the five Great Restoration Pills in his Storage Ring. Although the Great Restoration Pills weren't expensive to Jiang Xun, they should have been quite expensive for someone like Gufang Ninglin.

"They, they were the apprenticeship gift given to me by Master."

"And you just gave them to me like that?"

"I had to thank you, didn't I? That was a thank-you gift, and I didn't have anything else..."

"I'm truly speechless." Jiang Xun couldn't help but feel a bit of heartache for this girl.

Her father not only wanted to have a Prince, but also made her pay for it and find a way to buy the Charm Pill. Once a Prince was born, Gufang Ninglin would surely be even more of a tool to him.

"Take it back." Jiang Xun took out the Storage Ring and shoved it into Gufang Ninglin's hand, then held her hand tightly to prevent her from opening it.

"No, this is a thank-you gift I gave you; what does it mean for you to give it back to me?" Gufang Ninglin said anxiously: "And those Spirit Stones, I should have been the one to pay for them anyway; this isn't appropriate."

"There's nothing inappropriate about it. I'm telling you to keep it, so keep it, or I'm leaving."

"You... you... then go."

Gufang Ninglin's eyes turned red, and she said aggrievedly.

She would rather never see Jiang Xun again than accept Jiang Xun's help.

"..." Jiang Xun was speechless for a moment. After taking a deep breath, he said: "Then I'll ask you a question. If you tell me, I'll take it back."

"Okay." Gufang Ninglin nodded.

"Why did you trick me into that mud pit outside, and then trick me into taking off my clothes?"

"..." Gufang Ninglin was silent for a moment, then said: "To make you dislike me and be unwilling to have contact with me. That way, after you learned about my situation later, you wouldn't pity me."

Hearing this, Jiang Xun took another deep breath to steady himself and let go of Gufang Ninglin's hand.

She also immediately shoved the Storage Ring back into Jiang Xun's hand, and reached out to wipe away her tears: "I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize." Jiang Xun shook his head: "Cang Xingyan should have mentioned it to you before; why is it that your father is unwilling, and you are also unwilling, to have the Gufang Dynasty join the Canghe Dynasty? What is the point of struggling to hold on like this?"

"This, I really cannot say."

Gufang Ninglin shook her head, her face earnest.

"Do you have hidden difficulties?"

Seeing this, Jiang Xun asked.

Gufang Ninglin nodded.

"You actually want to join the Canghe Dynasty very much, but you cannot?"

Gufang Ninglin nodded again.

"Is someone threatening you?"

Gufang Ninglin shook her head.

"Have you sworn some kind of oath?"

Gufang Ninglin nodded.

"Alright, I understand." Jiang Xun nodded, took Gufang Ninglin's hand, and said: "Come with me."

"Where to?" Gufang Ninglin asked.

"To arrange a place for you to stay; I will pay for it."

"No, no need!" Upon hearing this, Gufang Ninglin hurriedly struggled to free her hand from Jiang Xun's and stood where she was: "Don't worry about me, you will be ostracized by them."

"You brought me along today, holding my arm as we walked through the market, just so I would hear those things they said about you, and thereby stay away from you, right?" Jiang Xun frowned, realizing the truth.

"I'm sorry..."

She apologized once more.