Chapter 493: Come With Me

　　The corners of Chu Liuyue’s lips curved up slightly. “It looks like we have quite the affinity. Does that person have the same name as me?”

　　Qiang Wanzhou shook his head. “I don’t know her name, but she told me to call her ‘Yue.’ That’s how I recognize this word.”

　　That person happens to have the same name as me… Chu Liuyue propped her chin up with her hand as she fell into deep thought. She then tentatively asked, “Is she from Xi Ling?”

　　Qiang Wanzhou nodded.

　　Chu Liuyue raised her brows slightly. Is that person a fraud…? I was given the name ‘Yue’ by my father in my last life, and ever since I was crowned a princess, nobody in the whole of Xi Ling dared to use this name again. Those who were born after I was crowned avoided using the name, while those who originally had ‘Yue’ in their names had to change their names.

　　The person he’s looking for claimed to be from Xi Ling, yet their name is ‘Yue.’ It’s either their original name or… it was fabricated. If it’s the former, Qiang Wanzhou will recognize the person if they ever meet again. But if it’s the latter… his search will be futile. He won’t be able to find that person.

　　“Was that person… really good to you?” she asked, only to receive a strange look from Qiang Wanzhou.

　　“Of course. She was the one who gave me my name.”

　　Chu Liuyue swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue when she saw his look of conviction. Knowing that he would surely not believe her words and might even flare up at her should she explain this to him now, she decided to find out more about this matter first before she slowly broke the news to him. At this point, she put her thoughts away and told him with a smile, “You do have a nice name.”

　　The poker-faced Qiang Wanzhou turned his head away and answered a moment later, “Of course.”

　　She shot him a glance, only to notice that his ears had turned pinkish. As she held back her laughter, she shifted her gaze back to the arena.

　　Most of the matches had already ended, leaving behind a small number of people still battling it out. The atmosphere in the square, however, remained just as lively as before.

　　After watching the remaining matches for a while, she turned to face Qiang Wanzhou upon remembering something. “Oh yeah, don’t go around biting people again during the competition.”

　　The aura he exuded immediately became chilly. “Are you saying that I’m barbaric?”

　　He had been hearing people saying such things to him lately.

　　Chu Liuyue gave him a light flick on the forehead in response. “What are you saying? I’m just afraid that you’d get dirtied by their blood! Your current condition can’t be cured with just a fire seed. Listen to me if you want to live longer!”

　　Never expecting to hear such an answer, Qiang Wanzhou—who initially looked furious—became somewhat embarrassed.

　　“Given your capabilities, you can easily win against most of those people here. Why even bother doing that?” said Chu Liuyue as a trace of disgust appeared on her face. “Moreover, the person you fought with had no aptitude at all. Don’t you hate it as well?”

　　Qiang Wanzhou hung his head low as he replied dejectedly, “B-but I need their blood…”

　　It looks like this kid knows nothing about his own condition. After letting out a sigh, she told him softly, “Although the cold, evil qi in your body can be temporarily suppressed by the blood and qi of other cultivators, it’ll do you more harm than good in the long run. Therefore, don’t do it again. Understand?”

　　Qiang Wanzhou unconsciously bobbed his head when he saw her serious expression.

　　It was only then that Chu Liuyue sighed in relief. I somehow have the feeling that I’m raising a child…

　　Dong!

　　The ringing of a bell was heard, and it reverberated throughout the square.

　　Chu Liuyue looked over, only to see the Black Guards hitting the big bronze bell that was placed in the square.

　　Her keen senses led her to look in the direction of the black marble board. As expected, she noticed that only half of the names remained on it.

　　Elder Qiuxi rose up in the air. “The Wan Zheng Competition’s preliminary round has come to an end! Congratulations to the 196 winners!”

　　Loud cheers erupted from the crowd, with almost nobody caring about the handful of depressed people. After all, it was the long-standing rule of Xi Ling City that the winners were crowned kings while the losers were nothing.

　　Elder Qiuxi swept a glance across Chu Liuyue and the others, his voice full of vigor. “You’ll gather here at the same time tomorrow morning for the official start of the competition.”

　　Everyone heard him loud and clear, and the excitement of the competitors who had survived the preliminary round couldn’t be concealed.

　　“I hope you all go back and have a good rest today in preparation for tomorrow’s competition. Generous prizes and the chance to enter Xi Ling’s top sects are awaiting you!”

　　His words were indubitably a great motivation booster, which made the crowd even more excited.

　　“Yes!”

　　Rising to her feet, Chu Liuyue smiled at Qiang Wanzhou and said, “Come with me.”

　　Qiang Wanzhou nodded and quickly followed her.

　　Around them, a lot of people had already hopped off the spectator seats to celebrate the victory with the winning participants. The entire square was brimming with people.

　　Chu Liuyue and Qiang Wanzhou squeezed past the bustling crowd, intending to make their exit in a low profile.

　　When Jiang Yucheng stood up, his gaze once again fell onto Chu Liuyue. He couldn’t help but frown when he saw the blond boy behind her. Earlier, he had noticed the two of them speaking to each other for quite some time, yet they were now seen leaving together. He thus asked, “Do they know each other?”

　　The man next to him followed his line of sight and answered, “That young chap is from Nan Jiang and was inadvertently roped into joining the competition. I don’t think they knew each other before this.”

　　Jiang Yucheng gave the blond chap a scrutinizing look. “His Yuan meridian… Go run a check on him.”

　　“Understood!”

　　Just when Jiang Yucheng was about to turn around and leave, he happened to see a smiling Chu Liuyue look back and ruffle the young man’s hair. Though there was a sullen look on his face, the young man only shot her a glare and said nothing about her action.

　　Chu Liuyue then tugged on his arm and led him through the crowd to leave.

　　A hint of displeasure sprouted in Jiang Yucheng’s heart right there and then. He had no idea what brought about this emotion, but he was indeed furious at the sight, for that smile wasn’t supposed to appear again, no matter how similar it was.

　　“Eldest Young Master, do you want me to go do something about it?” asked the man next to him softly.

　　“No need,” he replied coldly before turning around to leave.

　　…

　　It was only when a faint blush crept up on Qiang Wanzhou’s fair and translucent face that Chu Liuyue stopped teasing him. While it was fun teasing the kiddo, overdoing it would only piss him off.

　　“The place I’m staying at is a little special; you’ll know what I mean when we get there. First, we’ll go buy some herbs that will help with your condition.” As she spoke, she made a mental list of the herbs that she needed. Tsk, this lackey doesn’t come cheap…

　　Being the taciturn person he was, Qiang Wanzhou mostly bobbed his head in response to her rambling.

　　“Hold it right there!” A man suddenly stopped right in front of Chu Liuyue.

　　She looked up, only to see an unfamiliar face before her. “You are…?”

　　However, this man wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were fixed on Qiang Wanzhou as he chided him with a frown. “Who permitted you to run around on your own?”