Volume One, Chapter 85: It Was Not Intentional

After bidding farewell to Li Changsheng, Jiang Chen began his preparations as instructed by him.

The following evening, Jiang Chen left his room and followed the route to attend his classes. Yet, after an entire morning had passed, Lin Mo and Lin Ning still hadn't shown up! A sense of foreboding welled up within Jiang Chen; he felt certain something had happened. Otherwise, Lin Mo would never miss school. Without a second thought, he hurriedly slipped out the window and, using his technique to traverse distances in a blink, arrived at the home of Lin Mo and Lin Ning.

Before he even entered, his fears were confirmed: the agents sent from Institute 509 lay sprawled at the doorway, lifeless. Jiang Chen had suspected the foreign spies would make a move, but he hadn’t expected their action to be so swift—right after Li Changsheng had contacted him, the Lin siblings had already been kidnapped.

But in the short term, these individuals were unlikely to do anything drastic; they would simply flee, since their objective had been achieved and remaining here was pointless.

Quickly, Jiang Chen followed Li Changsheng’s trace of energy to the hotel where he was staying. In his haste, he climbed straight through the window.

But as soon as he entered, the scene before him was blinding. A young woman was soaking in the bathtub, her fair arms draped over the edge as she hummed a tune.

"I love bathing, my skin feels so smooth, oh oh oh..." Li Nanqiu sang, opening her eyes at the disturbance.

She met Jiang Chen’s gaze. The next second, she shrieked, "Ah… Brother, there’s a pervert!"

Downstairs, Li Changsheng’s voice called out, "Who’s there? Where did this pervert come from?"

Li Changsheng was puzzled; his sister wasn’t weak, and even an ordinary cultivator wouldn’t stand a chance against her. Why hadn’t she dealt with the intruder?

Jiang Chen covered his eyes and hurriedly explained, "I—I didn’t know, I didn’t see anything, please don’t misunderstand, don’t misunderstand, I’ll leave right now!"

"No way, you can’t leave! You saw everything—I’ll have my brother kill you!" Li Nanqiu, still in the tub, wore an expression of terror.

Li Changsheng rushed up with a sword in hand. When he saw Jiang Chen, he was dumbfounded. "Wait... Why is it you?"

"I need to talk to you," Jiang Chen said, rubbing his nose in embarrassment.

Li Nanqiu was stunned. "Wait, wait, how do you two know each other? Brother, are you two accomplices?"

Li Changsheng rolled his eyes. "I’ll take him outside; you come out in a bit, we need to discuss something."

Li Nanqiu protested, "No, brother! Kill him—he saw everything!"

Li Changsheng looked at Jiang Chen. "Did you see everything?"

Jiang Chen waved his hands frantically. "No, no, I didn’t see anything, miss, please don’t wrong an innocent man."

Li Nanqiu pouted. "Brother, he’s lying, he’s lying! He saw, and he’s still lying!"

Finally, Li Changsheng said, "Enough, let’s not talk about this now. We have matters to discuss. Hurry and get dressed."

He led Jiang Chen downstairs to the lounge. Li Changsheng very much wanted to teach Jiang Chen a lesson, but upon reflection, if Jiang Chen hadn’t been in such a hurry, he never would have acted this way.

"So, what’s the matter that made you so anxious?" Li Changsheng poured Jiang Chen a cup of tea.

Jiang Chen had no time for tea. "Lin Mo and Lin Ning have been taken. Their captors moved incredibly fast—before I could react, they were already gone, and I suspect they’re about to be smuggled out."

Li Changsheng shot to his feet. "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"

"There’s no point in rushing now. If they could sneak in, they’ll have no trouble getting out. But I’ve received word: someone is already intercepting them, and they’re on their way back. We just need to cut them off," Jiang Chen explained.

"What do you mean? Their strength isn’t weak—where did you find such helpers?" Li Changsheng asked, puzzled.

Jiang Chen pointed south. "My master is personally leading the interception, and I’ve already received confirmation—they’re returning."

Li Changsheng recalled that, during his research, he had overlooked the words ‘Headmaster of Dragon Tiger Mountain.’ Now it made sense; only Jiang Chen, the chief disciple, could summon the previous celestial master.

"Let’s go. Get ready—we’ll intercept them. Three Six-winged Angels, right?" Jiang Chen said casually.

Li Changsheng nodded, still amazed that Jiang Chen was so thoroughly prepared.

He had expected Jiang Chen to need another two or three days; he hadn’t anticipated that Jiang Chen already had contingency plans in place, meaning he had considered how to respond to such emergencies in advance—perhaps he had even accounted for the possibility of Lin Ning and Lin Mo disappearing.

Li Changsheng couldn’t help but remark, "I’m starting to suspect you’re the Chosen One."

After all, this kind of planning was beyond normal people.

Soon, Li Nanqiu came downstairs, freshly bathed, but this time she carried a longsword.

"You despicable scoundrel! I’ll cut you down!" Li Nanqiu swung at Jiang Chen, but Jiang Chen didn’t so much as flinch, nor did he bother to dodge.

Li Nanqiu’s sword hovered over his head, while Li Changsheng watched the scene with a grin.

"Why didn’t you dodge?! And you—why are you laughing?" Li Nanqiu’s face was tightly scrunched in frustration.

Li Changsheng shook his head, smiling. "I’m not laughing, where did you see me laugh?"

"Hmph, I’m ignoring you for now. But you—why did you look at me just now?" Li Nanqiu’s sword pressed against Jiang Chen’s neck.

Ordinarily, if someone dared to put a sword to his throat, that person would be on the ground in the next instant. But this time was different; Jiang Chen was clearly in the wrong.

And what he had done was indeed out of line. Regardless of his reasons, it wasn’t right.

Jiang Chen stood up and said, "Let me offer you my apologies first. Do as you wish—kill me or punish me, it’s your choice."

He surrendered completely; his cards were on the table—she could do as she pleased.

Li Nanqiu had only ever met one other person as unreasonable as this: her brother.

"I don’t care. An apology isn’t enough—you must make it up to me in a way that satisfies me." Li Nanqiu felt she had suffered a loss.

Jiang Chen stroked his chin thoughtfully. "How about this? When I get the chance, I’ll gift you an artifact, or perhaps a sealing item, if you’re interested."

The words ‘Heavenly Dao Sealing Item’ didn’t just shock her—Li Changsheng, seated nearby, was now anxious as well.

"Brother Jiang Chen, how about this: you look at me, then give me a sealing item. What do you think?"

...