Chapter 252: All Or Nothing
The voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Wen Xuanning thought he had misheard, so he asked, "What did you say?"
"I saw… what you just did to Brother Cai Zhi."
Ling Yuke said, suddenly raising her head.
Tears still clung to her aggrieved little face, but her watery eyes held a determined, all-or-nothing resolve.
Wen Xuanning's expression shifted slightly but quickly returned to its usual calm.
"Oh… so you did see it after all." Wen Xuanning's voice remained gentle, but it carried a hint of danger.
"What else did you see?" Wen Xuanning asked casually.
His hand, however, reached forward, moving towards Ling Yuke's neck.
Ling Yuke flinched in fright.
However, the hand brushed past her neck and finally rested on her chin, gently wiping away a single tear.
Then, his slender fingers, carrying that tear, retracted.
The summer evening breeze in Chang'an blew between them, sticky and anxious.
Ling Yuke bit her lip, hesitating for a moment, but then bravely said, "I also saw… the Holy Sword."
Wen Xuanning smiled, his smile as warm as a spring breeze.
The spring breeze, however, brought a chill to Ling Yuke's heart.
She couldn't help but shrink her shoulders, seemingly wanting to escape the person before her, yet the trace of affection in her heart made her want to draw closer.
Love at this age was the most illogical.
Wen Xuanning looked at her, and suddenly felt that this little girl, though foolish and ridiculous, was also somewhat interesting.
He chuckled softly.
"What do you want?"
Ling Yuke froze, looking up at Wen Xuanning.
"Don't you have something you want? Otherwise, why would you say these things?" Wen Xuanning's voice was low and husky, as he watched her with a faint, knowing smile.
He knew best how to use this 'skin'.
Ling Yuke's heart pounded as he stared at her, and she shyly turned her face away.
"I…"
Hesitating to speak, Ling Yuke's face was both red and hot.
She composed herself, turned her face back to Wen Xuanning, and saw him standing quietly, waiting for her to speak.
Under the divine radiance, he stood tall and elegant, unmatched in his handsomeness, like a son of a deity.
Her heart pounded like a drum again.
"I hope…" Ling Yuke took a deep breath, her gaze firm and her voice clear, "I hope to be engaged to you."
Wen Xuanning paused, then chuckled softly.
"Ling Yuke, you are still a child. This kind of thing isn't something you can just say casually."
Ling Yuke was very indignant: "I'm not a child! You're only the same age as me, just one month older!"
Wen Xuanning still smiled indifferently, not taking her words seriously.
Ling Yuke became a little annoyed, taking a step forward and tugging at Wen Xuanning's sleeve.
"Brother Xuanning, I know you must want to do something. Although I don't know exactly what it is, there are some things you probably don't want the world to know, right?"
Wen Xuanning's smile instantly turned icy, and he slowly pulled his sleeve back.
"Are you threatening me?"
Ling Yuke's eyes were filled with tears, but her gaze remained firm.
"I just like you, and I'm willing to do anything for you." She said urgently, "As long as you agree to be engaged to me, I won't tell anyone."
"I can even help you!" Ling Yuke even promised.
Wen Xuanning was silent for a moment, looking at Ling Yuke, who was full of apprehension and nervousness, and then he suddenly smiled.
How interesting.
"Good." He said in a deep voice.
Though it was just a single word, Ling Yuke's face was full of disbelief, thinking she had misheard.
Then, a joyful smile bloomed, and tears welled up.
She threw herself into Wen Xuanning's arms, hugging him tightly.
From now on, this embrace would be hers!
"I'm so happy, Brother Xuanning."
Ling Yuke was intoxicated by love, unaware that as Wen Xuanning held her, his face was utterly calm, and a sinister smile played on his lips.
…
On the cloud sedan, Wang Dongdong, after listening to Liu Sheng, finally learned that Liu Sheng had experienced such twists and turns.
"So… we were controlled by something unknown in between, and lost a period of memory."
Wang Dongdong finally understood where the previous sense of incongruity came from.
"But, why didn't you expose Jiang Cai Zhi just now!"
After this incident, Wang Dongdong would no longer call Jiang Cai Zhi 'Brother Cai Zhi'.
She had just seen Jiang Cai Zhi's unusually different expression and knew that what Liu Sheng said must be true.
Liu Sheng, however, calmly stated, "I have no evidence."
In this era, using weird objects to harm people was practically undetectable, convenient and covert.
If not for most of the weird objects being housed and uniformly managed by the Weaving Institute, there would likely be many more unsolved criminal cases.
"Moreover, in the Jiang Family, I cannot guarantee that Jiang Cai Zhi will be convicted." Liu Sheng said, "Although they later treated us with the utmost hospitality, that was based on me saving Jiang Caibin."
"If it involves Jiang Cai Zhi, who do you think they will help?"
Wang Dongdong, hearing this, became a little deflated: "Yes, both are the future of the Jiang Family. Both are equally important, so what would they do…"
"Besides, Jiang Cai Zhi is already in officialdom, and according to what you said, he has a great future. How could they easily abandon him?" Liu Sheng shook her head and sighed.
From Little Green Garden to Chang'an, Liu Sheng experienced for the first time the undercurrents beneath the prosperous dream of Chang'an.
This was merely an initial exploration of the fringes; she feared there would be more complex struggles in the future, and she didn't know if she could handle them.
Since she was already here, some things had to be faced.
Just consider it a side effect of doing research!
Wang Dongdong, however, was anxious, saying with displeasure, "Then what should we do?"
She really didn't want to let Jiang Cai Zhi off.
Liu Sheng thought the same; she had inexplicably become his target, and she couldn't just let it go lightly.
"It's okay, I left a backup plan there." Liu Sheng smiled faintly.
…
At that time, Lu Siniang had already been weakened, only waiting for Liu Sheng to take her in.
As for high dimension analysis or anything else, that could wait until she was purified; now was not the time.
There were still a bunch of troublesome things to deal with.
Speaking of dealing with trouble, Liu Sheng suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
Other ideas popped into her mind.
Her gaze flickered backward, landing on Jiang Caibin.
At this moment, Jiang Caibin was still lying weakly and helplessly on the ground, watching everything with surprise and fear.
Seeing Liu Sheng look at him, he even flinched.
Seeing Jiang Caibin's timid demeanor, Liu Sheng was a little speechless.
But after thinking about it, she still uttered that classic line.
"Do you want to possess power?"
Liu Sheng's voice was extremely low, carrying a seductive power like a weird object.
Jiang Caibin was stunned. Was she asking him?
"Do you want to get back up?"
Liu Sheng looked at him deeply and asked again.
"Do you want to stand before those who harmed you and tell them you're back?"
This time, Jiang Caibin was certain she was asking him.
His heart jolted, and after a moment of stunned silence, he nodded wildly.
Of course!
He certainly hoped to stand up again!
He was willing to pay any price to restore his normal physique and live a good life.
And then, revenge!
So, Liu Sheng pointed to the weakened Lu Siniang deep within the embroidered bed.
"You, absorb her." She said expressionlessly.
Jiang Caibin then understood Liu Sheng's meaning.
She was telling him to go all in and become a Yugui!
But, but…
"You're unwilling? This is the only way to save you." Liu Sheng said coldly.
"You should have noticed, the poison in your body resists spiritual power, so spiritual power cannot restore you. Otherwise, your paralysis would be very easy to cure."
Jiang Caibin, of course, knew that.
0 0 No one would think Wen Xuanning is cool, right?
There shouldn't be, right?
