As the saying goes, after three rounds of drinks, if it’s strong liquor, it’s usually time to get drunk and part ways.
Yet, an unknown amount of time had passed.
Venerable Ye stared at the bright sun outside the window, watching it rise in the east and set in the west, rise in the east and set in the west, rise in the east and set in the west…
His bloodshot eyes bulged as he stared at Si Lian. His throat was parched, and he could no longer find a single topic to discuss.
More than three days had passed, and the progress was still stuck on the step of getting Si Lian drunk, with no advancement whatsoever.
He had almost emptied his entire history, from embarrassing childhood stories like wetting the bed to every frustrating hurdle he had encountered on the path of cultivation…
Initially, he felt he was remarkably strong for holding out this long, but then he thought carefully about the price he had paid to endure those hardships…
His family was shattered, his wife and children gone.
“How am I so miserable!”
The more he spoke, the sadder he became.
He suddenly grabbed a wine jar and downed the whole thing in one go.
Putting down the jar, old tears streamed down his face.
He collapsed onto the stool, laughing miserably as he let his tears roll onto the ground.
Si Lian patted his shoulder. “You’re drunk. Go back and rest.”
“I’m not drunk!”
“…It seems you really are drunk. To be able to hold out until now—even if you might have taken a Sobriety Pill beforehand—you’re still quite a man,” Si Lian said helplessly.
“How are you not drunk yet?”
“Dummy, I’m Dragonkind. I govern water, and liquor is also water.”
Venerable Ye was stunned.
Si Lian smiled. “Getting me drunk isn’t that simple. Go back and get a good night’s sleep. It’s the New Year; don’t go and break your Dao Heart over this.”
Venerable Ye’s eyes welled with hot tears. “It seems I really am drunk… Why don’t you kill me?”
“I enjoyed this drinking session very much. It’s been a long time since I drank so freely,” Si Lian laughed.
“The so-called path to becoming a Xian is a process of becoming lonelier and more twisted as you cultivate… As you go on, you eventually find the people around you disappearing one by one, until finally, you’re left all alone, clutching an obsession like Longevity Equal to Heaven and stubbornly walking into the dark like you’re throwing a tantrum.”
Venerable Ye’s body trembled, and he looked at Si Lian in disbelief.
Si Lian’s words were deafening, as if they had voiced the true feelings he hadn’t dared to face for many years.
“At least we had a good drink. I’m not like you Human Clan—chatting happily one second and then tearing each other’s faces off and stabbing the other with a Knife the next,” Si Lian waved her hand. “Go back. Don’t think too much. What’s past is past; thinking too much only adds to your troubles.”
“Thank you…” Venerable Ye was moved to tears.
“It’s nothing.” Si Lian exhaled a puff of smoke nonchalantly. “Do you need me to take you back?”
“No need…” Venerable Ye’s face turned slightly red, feeling very embarrassed by the sorry state he had shown.
“Why be so formal? We’re friends,” Si Lian smiled.
“Friends…” Venerable Ye was dazed.
He stood up and walked shakily out of the Hotel.
Si Lian watched him leave, narrowing her eyes.
Clearly, now was not a good time to kill Venerable Ye.
Since Ruan Ruan insisted on staying in the cell no matter what, there had to be a reason.
Before figuring that out, abruptly turning against Venerable Ye was not a good choice.
Besides, she really did have a good time drinking.
Venerable Ye clutched a chamber pot and vomited violently for two hours before he managed to clear all the alcohol from his stomach.
He fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up clutching his hungover head, he stared blankly at the balance on his Magic Crystal Card and almost fainted again.
He had calculated everything except for the fact that Si Lian’s alcohol tolerance was so absurd.
In the end, Si Lian wasn’t drunk at all, while he himself had almost been so moved by her that he nearly pulled out the plan to show her.
Fortunately, he had drunk too much and forgotten about the plan…
Thinking back on the events of the past few days and the dark history he had self-exposed just to find topics of conversation, he felt so ashamed he wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
However, recalling Si Lian’s words, he couldn’t help but feel a few sparks of warmth in his heart.
A kindred spirit!
In this lonely process of cultivation, how difficult was it to find such a considerate, kindred spirit!
No, I can’t think like that.
He dismissed the thought in horror.
The Xian often say that the Demon Race is good at bewitching people; he must have been played by her.
“Do not believe this feeling. Do not believe this fake emotion and warmth. On the path of cultivation, there is only slaughter and plunder; the Heavenly Dao is heartless,” he warned himself repeatedly.
The fact that she hadn’t turned on him meant there must be another reason.
It was highly likely that Si Lian had already guessed what secret was hidden within Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn.
And Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn might have used some method to understand her own body and exchanged information with Si Lian through secret means.
Anything was possible.
Never underestimate the enemy’s methods or blindly trust your own plans; those who operate with reduced intelligence die miserable deaths.
“Report!”
A messenger galloped to the front of the City Lord’s Mansion. However, he did not enter the City Lord’s residence but ran immediately to where Venerable Ye was.
“A small group of thugs just tried to break into the prison!” The messenger’s face was full of joy.
“But those thugs were repelled by the prison guards! Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn was captured back into the cell, and several thugs fled with heavy injuries!”
Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn was captured back into the cell.
Venerable Ye noticed those words, and suddenly his whole mood went sour.
Why did you catch her and bring her back!
You bunch of idiots breaking into jail—couldn’t you be a bit more capable? Just hurry up and kidnap that annoying teenage girl!
But he couldn’t blame the jailers; after all, he hadn’t informed them beforehand to keep the plan a secret.
Besides, someone trying to break her out was a good thing. It proved there was a high probability they didn’t know about the bomb inside Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn’s body, which allowed him to feel somewhat at ease.
“Sigh,” Venerable Ye sighed. “Fine, I’ll go see her again.”
Jiang Ke’er had been grinding her Unlocking Technique for three whole days and nights.
Now, whether her eyes were open or closed, her mind was filled with all sorts of locks; she was becoming a bit obsessed.
But the results were very significant.
Prisons were always filled with various locks of different levels; it was practically one of the best places to grind the Unlocking Technique.
Unfortunately, her Unlocking Technique had reached the level cap for what she could grind in the prison. Continuing would yield no more experience.
She had to find a “tougher” lock.
After finishing the Shenzhou Cup, she wanted to go to the Nine Palaces Chamber of Commerce to interview for a safe security position.
“Qing Yi, you said they keep harvesting my kidneys, but what do they want my kidneys for?” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn asked in a low voice, listlessly poking at a pill bug.
“Pill Refinement, what else could it be for?” Jiang Ke’er said.
“Pah!” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn spat in annoyance.
“Instead of letting those humans turn them into Dan Medicine to increase their strength, I’d rather give them to a barbecue stall to make grilled kidneys! Hey… I want to eat grilled kidneys now.”
“I’ll make them for you once we get out.”
“When can we get out?”
“We have to wait a few more days. I’m almost done figuring this out.”
Creak—
The iron door of the prison opened, and Venerable Ye stepped in with a cold face.