Explanation was just a word to delay time.

After Jian Xingzhi said this, Qin Wanwan quietly looked at him. She didn’t speak, and he couldn’t continue making things up.

Qin Wanwan controlled her emotions and calmly raised her hand, removing the small hook still hanging from her mouth, and sat up.

“Get up.”

Her voice still had its usual soft quality, but Jian Xingzhi sensed an atmosphere of an approaching storm.

He instantly got off the bed and scurried to the foot of the bed, the farthest point from Qin Wanwan.

Qin Wanwan examined the hook in the night. The hook was very smooth, carrying a chill—it must have just been washed.

Jian Xingzhi quickly explained: “I washed this hook.”

“Where did you get it?”

Qin Wanwan controlled her anger, trying to calm herself down. Jian Xingzhi didn’t dare lie, curling up in the corner: “From the kitchen. For hanging cured meat.”

“Did you prepare other tools too?”

Qin Wanwan continued questioning. Jian Xingzhi hesitated for a moment. Qin Wanwan directly urged him: “Take them out!”

Jian Xingzhi quickly retrieved his dimensional pouch and dumped all his tools out in one go, then shrank back.

His failed attempt to steal the dimensional pouch last time had led him to research thoroughly for a long time. He had imagined all possible situations and brought various burglary tools.

Including but not limited to: various types of hooks, wrenches, hammers, wire…

Qin Wanwan was so angry she laughed.

What made her angriest wasn’t Jian Xingzhi—it was what had possessed her brain earlier to actually speculate that he might kiss her?

Anger made her calm. After calming down, she was both ashamed and annoyed at herself for having such fantasies, finding it unforgivable.

She had a bit of a headache and covered her forehead, saying nothing. Jian Xingzhi looked at her, cautiously: “Um, why don’t you sleep first? I’ll go back now.”

With that, Jian Xingzhi began collecting things from the bed, gathering them while carefully watching Qin Wanwan.

Qin Wanwan sat cross-legged on the bed, covering her forehead without speaking. Jian Xingzhi finished collecting his tools, jumped off the bed, and quickly fled the scene.

After he ran off, 38 finally spoke: “Female lead, he’s gone.”

“I know.”

“Don’t be angry anymore,” 38 advised her. “Although he thinks badly of you in his heart, don’t take offense. After all, he’s been stupid for more than just a day or two…”

“He’s not who I’m most angry at,” Qin Wanwan painfully analyzed after hearing 38’s words. “I’m angry at myself.”

“What are you angry about?” 38 didn’t understand. Qin Wanwan was struck silent by his question.

How could she say that she had actually thought Jian Xingzhi would kiss her?

Most importantly, she had clearly thought he would kiss her and kept her eyes closed without moving, but the other party had absolutely no such intention and used a hook on her!

For a female immortal, this was truly too humiliating.

She didn’t want to analyze this psychology in detail with 38. She lay back down on the bed.

After lying back down, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. After thinking left and right, she made up her mind.

If she couldn’t sleep well tonight, Jian Xingzhi shouldn’t expect to sleep well for a month!

Having made this significant decision, she felt slightly better. She pulled up her blanket, closed her eyes, and continued sleeping.

Meanwhile, Jian Xingzhi fled back to his room clutching his tools, his heart still pounding as he recalled the earlier situation.

“I’m done for,” he put down his tools and began regretting. “She’ll definitely strengthen her defenses even more now.”

“She was sleeping, not unconscious. You tried to pry open her mouth while she was sleeping—isn’t that obviously going to wake someone up?”

666 sighed: “Master, why don’t you give up? Just let the heart-linking talisman stay with her. It’s not that big a deal.”

“How is it not a big deal?”

Jian Xingzhi was very unhappy hearing this: “Isn’t my life a big deal?!”

“She might not even use that talisman.” 666 tried to persuade him. “You should have some confidence in yourself.”

Jian Xingzhi said nothing.

His feelings toward Qin Wanwan were now extremely complex. Emotionally, he found it very difficult to accept that his little disciple was a ruthless figure like Jishan Nujun.

But rationally, when he saw how Qin Wanwan treated Yan Wushuang outside his field of vision, thought about how Qin Wanwan was clearly a big shot deliberately pretending to be weak, and recalled how Qin Wanwan had secretly dug pits for him in the past and tried to sell him out, he felt he couldn’t act on emotion.

The two emotions seemed to oscillate wildly. He took a deep breath and decided: “I’ll test her tomorrow.”

“How will you test?”

666 was curious. Jian Xingzhi thought for a moment: “She doesn’t know yet that I already know her true identity, so she’s not guarded against me when speaking. I’ll probe her intentions and find out how she plans to use the heart-linking talisman.”

Jian Xingzhi’s action capacity was strong. He immediately prepared a series of interview questions. The next morning before dawn, he charged into Qin Wanwan’s room and, as usual, fished her out and helped her wash up and dress.

Qin Wanwan was sleeping drowsily. Seeing Jian Xingzhi, she wanted to be angry but was too sleepy to muster anger. As Jian Xingzhi helped her dress, he secretly observed her.

The technique of questioning was to start with trivial matters!

“Wanwan, how did you sleep last night?”

At this mention, Qin Wanwan became irritated. She lifted her eyelids and listlessly responded: “Mm.”

How she slept last night—shouldn’t you have some idea?

Seeing her low spirits, Jian Xingzhi cleared his throat lightly: “About last night, I apologize. Actually, I just wanted to ask you for that heart-linking talisman…”

“Oh.”

Qin Wanwan had already guessed as much.

Knowing he thought she was his imagined enemy, how could he feel comfortable leaving something like the heart-linking talisman in her hands?

“I thought about it all night. The heart-linking talisman being in your hands isn’t necessarily bad.”

Jian Xingzhi fastened her belt for her, forcing a smile: “But can you tell me roughly when you might use it?”

He had given her this talisman to prevent him from hurting her when the Charm Bone Insect acted up.

If Qin Wanwan was keeping it to save her life for this reason, he decided to let it go.

But the hoped-for answer didn’t come. Qin Wanwan smiled slightly: “When it’s time to use it.”

“For example?”

Jian Xingzhi was somewhat uneasy. Qin Wanwan smiled and said no more. After finishing washing up, she turned her head: “Let’s go.”

Seeing that Qin Wanwan wouldn’t respond to either soft or hard approaches, Jian Xingzhi thought for a moment and decided to adopt his second set of tactics.

He quickly caught up with Qin Wanwan, carefully considering his words: “Beicheng, actually I have another question I don’t understand.”

“What question?” Qin Wanwan glanced at him. Seeing Jian Xingzhi frowning deeply as if thinking, Qin Wanwan felt much better inside.

Jian Xingzhi described with difficulty: “It’s just, I was thinking—if one day you and your enemy fell into trouble together, under what circumstances would you act subservient to him?”

“Naturally, because there’s something to gain.” Qin Wanwan immediately knew what Jian Xingzhi was asking. Thinking about how he must be speculating about her in his heart, Qin Wanwan felt both angry and amused. She glanced at Jian Xingzhi and deliberately said, “For example, secretly learning the other party’s core techniques to make me number one in the world, then defeating him. For instance, you and I—” Qin Wanwan stopped walking and turned to stare at him fixedly.

Jian Xingzhi instantly straightened his spine. He felt this was a hint.

Qin Wanwan smiled: “If you were my enemy, Master, when I have the power to ascend, I will definitely battle you for three hundred rounds, shatter your dao heart, and prevent you from becoming number one in the world.”

Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi’s face turned deathly pale. Qin Wanwan looked at Jian Xingzhi’s face that had been scared snow-white and raised her hand to pat his shoulder.

“However, Master, don’t be afraid. You’re not that kind of person.”

No, I am.

Jian Xingzhi clearly knew that his various behaviors, if applied to an ordinary person, would definitely make him an enemy!

But he didn’t dare say more. Qin Wanwan looked at him with complete trust—he simply didn’t dare make a sound.

Watching Jian Xingzhi being scared, Qin Wanwan was completely satisfied. She patted his shoulder and stepped out the door.

Cuilu and Xie Gutang had long been prepared, waiting for her at the entrance. Qin Wanwan went forward and greeted everyone. After greetings, the group followed Qin Wanwan to the semifinals venue.

There were a total of 32 people in the semifinals—contestants who had won ten consecutive matches during this period. The semifinals would determine 4 advancing contestants who would compete in an arena battle after ten days.

The 40 people arrived early and waited in the contestant seats on the side. Cuilu encouraged Qin Wanwan: “Today you can kill freely, kill magnificently—if anything happens, Ghost City will take responsibility for you!”

“That’s right!” Nanfeng brought out his momentum. “Master, you’re the best!”

“There’s no need to worry too much,” Xie Gutang was obviously the most stable among them, comforting her. “Your natural talent is already excellent. I’ve observed your sword intent recently—there’s no problem.”

Hearing Xie Gutang’s words, Qin Wanwan completely relaxed. Seeing that Jian Xingzhi wasn’t speaking, she turned to look at him: “Master?”

“Ah?” Jian Xingzhi suddenly snapped back from Qin Wanwan’s intimidation. Qin Wanwan looked at him with a half-smile. “Won’t you say something?”

“You…” Jian Xingzhi hesitated, then raised his head, looking at her with complete trust. “I believe you’ll have no problem. However, it’s just a competition—don’t kill anyone, or there will be heavenly punishment when you ascend.”

Qin Wanwan: “???”

Qin Wanwan didn’t understand what Jian Xingzhi was saying. Staff members called her name, asking her to wait in the contestant seats.

Qin Wanwan walked to the contestant seats and sat down. As soon as she sat, she saw an old acquaintance.

Yan Wushuang was cracking melon seeds with Golden Sword Boy sitting beside him. Qin Wanwan was quite surprised: “Why are you here?”

“Why can’t I be here?”

Yan Wushuang rolled his eyes, but thinking Qin Wanwan would definitely ask, he explained: “The Gentleman’s Sword prize money is generous. Our Giant Sword Manor is counting on this competition for a turnaround! Let me tell you,” Yan Wushuang looked at her with a face full of warning, “don’t think about competing with us!”

“No,” Qin Wanwan frowned, “didn’t they say sword intent below Spirit Transformation stage? Why are you here?”

“Because my cultivation regressed quickly!” Yan Wushuang answered without any shame, even somewhat proudly. “How about that? I can regress enough to participate in the Gentleman’s Sword, but your master can’t. I’m more capable than him, right?”

Qin Wanwan was momentarily speechless. From far away, Jian Xingzhi heard their conversation and shouted at them: “Even if I regressed for a hundred years, I couldn’t possibly regress to your level!”

Yan Wushuang stuck his tongue out at Jian Xingzhi. Qin Wanwan was rendered speechless by this elementary school-level bickering and turned her head away, not wanting to face them.

The competition was divided into 4 zones. Each person would experience 3 duels in each zone. Qin Wanwan was assigned to the Vermillion Bird zone, Yan Wushuang to the Azure Dragon zone. Seeing the zone signs, Yan Wushuang raised his eyebrows: “Oh, you’re in the same zone as Boy?”

“Unlucky.”

Golden Sword Boy rolled his eyes. Qin Wanwan sighed: “I don’t want to fight children either.”

“You!”

Golden Sword Boy was about to make a move when Yan Wushuang quickly held him back and spoke nicely to Qin Wanwan: “My junior brother has a hot temper. Please forgive him. Let me make a deal with you—go easy on him, and I’ll pay you extra.”

Qin Wanwan was extremely shocked that Giant Sword Manor would actually pay her money. She looked Yan Wushuang up and down, incredulous: “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m serious,” Yan Wushuang maintained his smile, still with his usual carefree manner, but Qin Wanwan vaguely saw a trace of seriousness in his eyes. “We lost the boat race, and our food for the second half of the year all depends on Giant Sword Manor. Daoist Qin, you know—our Giant Sword Manor has elderly above and young below…”

Before he finished speaking, Qin Wanwan walked straight past Yan Wushuang without taking a single cloud with her.

Yan Wushuang persisted in finishing his words: “Even a dog depends on me.”

“Senior Brother,” Golden Sword Boy turned to look at Yan Wushuang, “she left.”

“There’s nothing to be done then,” Yan Wushuang turned to look at Golden Sword Boy. “Boy, your senior brother has done everything he can to help you. The rest is up to you.”

“Senior Brother,” Golden Sword Boy said expressionlessly, “you only tried to persuade her.”

“I’ve already made tremendous effort, even willing to spend money.”

Yan Wushuang was very sincere. Golden Sword Boy coldly turned his head and drew his sword from the waist of his seven or eight-year-old body: “Just wait. I will restore the glory of our Giant Sword Manor!”

With that, cheers erupted in the arena. Qin Wanwan did a backflip and made a beautiful entrance onto the competition stage. Jian Xingzhi and the others excitedly applauded from their seats, already clenching their fists and shouting before the match even started: “Good! Beautiful!”

Qin Wanwan bowed respectfully, turned to look at the blind cultivator across from her, and skillfully raised her hand: “Fellow Daoist, please.”

—

**Author’s Note:**

**[Mini Theater]**

Qin Wanwan: “Ahhhhh!! How could I think about Jian Xingzhi kissing me! I can’t forgive myself!!”

38: “Why can’t you forgive yourself?”

Qin Wanwan: “Humans and dogs walk different paths!! We cannot share the same destination!!”