I Shall Steal The Heavens 243 Chapter 242: Bluffing

The bodyguards from the Martial Arts Alliance immediately sprang up and imposed themselves between Song Ting Yu and Mo Long the moment they sensed the air of hostility emanating from him. Even though they were no match for him, they would not hesitate to sell their lives to protect their lady. With grim determination, they held their fists up and acc.u.mulated qi for whatever martial arts techniques they deemed appropriate.

Mo Long didn't even place them in his eyes, and laughed scornfully.

"If I want to kill that brat, there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"My father will send high-level experts to hunt you down if you do this," Song Ting Yu warned. She was bluffing, of course. Her father had no idea what was going on, and she had yet to contact him and informed him of what had transpired in the few days she spent at Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and Wu Ling Academy.

"Go ahead. They won't be able to reach me in time before I complete my mission." Mo Long wasn't even the least intimidated.

Song Ting Yu smiled stiffly. "You misunderstand me. The Martial Arts Alliance will destroy Green Dragon Sect for this act of betrayal. If you disobey an order from the Alliance Chief, through me as a proxy, it will be counted as treason against the Martial Arts Alliance." She narrowed her pearly eyes. "Even your sect leader, Jian Ao, will not survive the purge."

"Why would you go so far just to protect an insignificant brat?" Mo Long snorted. "Do you really expect me to believe that the Martial Arts Alliance will go so far as to protect a former enemy? One with the means to destroy them, even?"

"Those same means can destroy you too," Song Ting Yu reminded him, and then smiled sweetly as a strange light flickered in her eyes. "And he is a valuable person. For someone of his age to create something as devastating as the Sunburst bombs…don't you think he will have more to contribute to the future of the Great Zhou Empire? Even if he is part of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, who had a falling-out with the Alliance, it's not as if we can't strike an understanding and form a partners.h.i.+p. True, we have done irreparable damage to his sect, and he is wise not to trust us, but that doesn't mean we still can't form a relations.h.i.+p of mutual benefits."

"So what does that have to do with you marrying him?" Mo Long scoffed disbelievingly. "If what you say is true, then why would he ever agree to marry someone from an organization he cannot trust? Surely he still holds a grudge against the Alliance?"

"You underestimate my powers of persuasion, and my charm." Even though Song Ting Yu maintained a confident façade, inside her heart was thumping wildly as she hoped that Mo Long would not see through her bluff.

The handsone Green Dragon Sect a.s.sa.s.sin regarded her suspiciously. Seeing his hesitation, Song Ting Yu tried one last push.

"My father is also interested in recruiting Mister Fei into the Song family. With his Heaven and Earth Formula, his potential is limitless. He will surely not be restrained by Nine-Tailed Fox Sect alone. He will move on to much larger things." Song Ting Yu's dazzling smile widened. "He might even become the future Alliance Chief…"

Mo Long scowled, hardly believing the words coming out of Song Ting Yu's mouth. Despite his skepticism, he could see that Song Ting Yu truly believed what she was uttering. Her eyes were glinting in fevered pa.s.sion, and her cheeks were flushed pink. She really looked like a maiden in love. He had never seen Song Ting Yu so taken with a boy before.

Little did he know, it was most probably because Song Ting Yu had her own charm technique reflected upon herself.

However, Mo Long was wavering slightly now. He realized that he couldn't afford to be careless. If Song Ting Yu was telling the truth, and the Martial Arts Alliance had really accepted the engagement between her and me, then his a.s.sa.s.sination would bring the wrath of the Alliance upon his Green Dragon Sect. Moreover, the Green Dragon Sect had suffered horrendous casualties in the last battle. Though they were not as bad as the near-annihilated Snow Valley Sect and the other nine sects who had taken part as the vanguard of the invasion of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, right now they couldn't afford to go to war against the Alliance, who still had three other major sects at their beck and call. Even after the cessation of White Tiger Sect, Red Phoenix Sect and Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, and the demise of Snow Valley Sect, they still had Black Tortoise Sect, Kunlun Sect and Heavenly Way Sect under them.

Even Green Dragon Sect had remained under their umbrella, so unless Jian Ao was willing to enact a total break from them like my Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, they couldn't afford to recklessly offend the three families who governed the Martial Arts Alliance. Of course, the Alliance wasn't stupid enough to waste their time putting down civil wars and dealing with infighting, so Song Ting Yu was playing a dangerous game here. It was unlikely that her father would be bothered to crush Jian Ao and Green Dragon Sect for "disobedience."

However, Song Ting Yu was aware of other methods that would be more effective. Such as a.s.sa.s.sinations. They didn't have to punish Green Dragon Sect – they had top-level a.s.sa.s.sins who could remove Jian Ao (and Mo Long in the bargain) so that he would be replaced with a more amenable sect leader.

Mo Long furrowed his brow and watched Song Ting Yu hesitantly, trying to see if there were any openings, anything that would give her away. When he found none, he relaxed and put on a vague smile. "Then Green Dragon Sect will be the first to congratulate Miss Song and Mister Fei's joyous union."

With that parting remark, he turned and vanished into the shadows.

Even after he departed, Song Ting Yu maintained the dazzling smile on her beautiful face. Her eyes gleamed mysteriously, flickering with rainbow colors as she watched the shadows. A few seconds later, her smile curled into a knowing smirk.

"You're hiding right now, hoping to find a chance to expose my bluff. You're waiting for me to meet up with Fei Wu and slip up, then you will immediately kill him. Did you really think I wouldn't know?" Song Ting Yu had already seen through Mo Long's intentions, and giggled inwardly. "I'm more skilled than anyone at acting. You're just wasting your energy."

Aware that Mo Long had concealed himself somewhere and was waiting for a chance to kill me, Song Ting Yu also realized that she had no way of preventing him from enacting Jian Ao's vengeance, even with the bodyguards surrounding her.

As if reading her mood, her bodyguards shuffled.

"Miss, what should we do?" the leader of her bodyguards asked. "Should we track that Green Dragon Sect expert down and incapacitate him?"

"We're no match for him." Song Ting Yu shook her head. "It'll be suicide."

Running through the options in her mind, Song Ting Yu deduced that the moment Mo Long confirmed that she had no relations.h.i.+p with me – that the engagement she claimed to have with me was a lie – he would not hesitate to attack me right in front of her in order to execute the mission that Jian Ao had a.s.signed him.

Upon encountering Mo Long and learning of his intentions, Song Ting Yu stopped trying to erase my imprint from her mind despite trying so urgently to do so before. Instead, she gestured to her bodyguards and gathered them before marching into Wu Ling Academy again.

Unfortunately, n.o.body knew where I was. Thankfully, Song Ting Yu wasn't going to do something as stupid as riding her Flowing Cloud Rainbow b.u.t.terfly and roaming above Wu Ling Academy. No matter how high her status was, that was liable to have her kicked off the campus grounds on the grounds of suspicious loitering.

And thankfully she didn't have to wait five days. Like…seriously, who was that patient? The martial artists in Spirit Realm clearly had a lot of time in their hands to waste, and had nothing better to do than wait around.

I only spent a couple of hours going into Martial City and buying a few potions and antidotes that we would need for the trip to the Toxic Marshes, and being a straightlaced guy, I headed straight home after dinner instead of going to game centers or seeking for entertainment. My idea of entertainment was reading manga and webnovels, and watching anime on my computer, so I couldn't be bothered to spend money in game centers and other expensive luxury facilities, or waste both time and money in maid cafes or hostess clubs.

That was when Song Ting Yu noticed my presence, and a light flickered in her brilliant eyes. She sat up straight and headed toward my direction, flanked by her bodyguards.

"You've finally appeared!" she gushed, my imprint on her mind still pretty strong. Hopping onto her Flowing Cloud Rainbow b.u.t.terfly, she urged it to fly speedily toward me.

Not far away, Mo Long's figure silently slipped out of the shadows. He had been hiding near Song Ting Yu, and thanks to his skills and level, he was able to avoid detection from her and her bodyguards. Completely veiling his presence, he had stuck close to her because he guessed correctly that she would meet up with me sooner or later.

Song Ting Yu was correct. There was no way Mo Long would abort his mission based on her words alone.

Similarly, Mo Long was also correct in his guess that she would lead him to me. He smiled as he followed her, certain that there was no engagement between me and Song Ting Yu. Obviously, he wasn't going to fall for that intimacy bulls.h.i.+t, because anyone could fake intimacy. Actually, shouldn't he contact the Martial Arts Alliance and confirm with them if there was an engagement? He could just call them and ask, couldn't he?

Then the whole idiotic bluff would fall apart. What was with characters not doing the smart thing and just falling into plot-induced stupidity?

Anyway, Mo Long dashed after Song Ting Yu and her guards while maintaining a cautious distance so that they wouldn't detect him.

While I was on my way home from the pharmacy, running several calculations and plans through my head while trying to remember which episode of which anime series would be uploaded on my favorite anime streaming website tonight, I spotted Song Ting Yu and her gigantic b.u.t.terfly. d.a.m.n it, just call that b.u.t.terfly Mothra already.

"I've waited a long time for you."

Song Ting Yu's sweet voice drifted from above as her Flowing Cloud Rainbow b.u.t.terfly descended gracefully to land in front of me.

"Where did you go?"

Song Ting Yu disembarked from her Flowing Cloud Rainbow b.u.t.terfly and approached me, her eyes filled with a lot of emotions while sulking at the same time. Sort of like an impatient wife who was fed up with waiting for her husband.

I watched her for a moment, bemused, and c.o.c.ked my head to the side.

"…who are you again?"

Song Ting Yu's jaw dropped, because she completely did not expect my reaction. Even Mo Long fell over from the shock.

"How mean!" Song Ting Yu cried in outrage. "It's only been a day, but you've already forgotten how your fiancée looks like?!"

"I don't have a fiancée," I replied coldly, staring at her. "You've got the wrong person."

Song Ting Yu pouted as she struggled to maintain the crumbling charade. She gambled on throwing a big hint to me.

"More importantly, just this afternoon, an a.s.sa.s.sin from Green Dragon Sect came. He's named Mo Long." Song Ting Yu pursed her lips. "He doesn't believe that we're engaged, and he said that he had come to kill you."

She then snorted fiercely, and put on a show of a wife ferociously defending her husband to the death by placing her hands on her well curved hips.

"If he dares to attack my fiancée, the Martial Arts Alliance will utterly destroy the Green Dragon Sect! We'll not leave even a single member behind!"

I stared at her frostily, not caring much for this stupid bluff. I already knew this would happen, because of my fourth wall powers, and I enjoyed teasing her and causing her carefully crafted schemes to fall apart. So I merely curled my lips into a sneer.

"Again, I am not your fiancé. And who cares if a Mo Long (Long here is translated as Dragon) or a Shen Long or a whatever Dragon from Green Dragon Sect comes. If he wants to kill me, he's welcome to try. I'll just stomp him into the dust."

Song Ting Yu gaped at me, her delicate mouth dropping open as if she couldn't believe how stupid I was.

"Mo Long is at the early level of Nascent Soul Stage! Do you really think you can defeat him if he wants to kill you?"

She was spluttering, having forgotten herself and her bluff. I grinned.

"Why not? You guys are too obsessed with all these stages and realms." Then I turned around and stared at Mo Long, who was hidden in the shadows, having sensed his presence long ago. "And I know you're there. Quit hiding. If you want to kill me, you're welcome to try." I beckoned him over. "But don't complain if you're the one killed instead."

"Arrogant brat."

Mo Long revealed himself, lunging out of the shadows and slas.h.i.+ng at me with a terrifying green, black and gold saber that was shaped like a demonic jaw. I deflected his attack with Snow Aegis.

Clang!

Mo Long staggered back, surprised that I could push him back. He struck again, but I used Snow Aegis to s.h.i.+eld myself and force him back. The mobile turrets detached from Snow Aegis's core and fired a volley of qi beams that punctured several holes through his body.

"Ugh!"

Mo Long jumped away, howling in agony as he grimaced from the cauterized wounds on his body. He hit the ground and rolled back to his feet. Swinging his demonic saber, he unleashed a colossal tide of black qi that slammed against Snow Aegis, knocking both it and me back. I hit the ground and coughed out some blood, before staggering to my feet.

"Foolish brat." Mo Long was gingerly rubbing his wounds, but was vindicated when he saw that he had wounded me. "The girl of the Song family was trying to save you, but you spat on her attempts. If you would just go along with her bluff, you might have delayed your death a little further."

"Please." I rolled my eyes. "Who's stupid enough to believe such a dumb bluff? And are you really that idiotic? Instead of trying to confirm things with your own eyes, especially when intimacy and sweet-talking can be acted out, why didn't you just call the Martial Arts Alliance, directly contact Alliance Chief Song Yu and confirm with him?"

Mo Long blinked, stunned. Evidently that common sense tactic didn't even cross his mind. "That's…"

"…common sense," I finished for him with an exaggerated sigh. Then I turned to glare at Song Ting Yu. "Besides, she's part of the Martial Arts Alliance who tried to invade my Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and caused so many of my comrades to die. In what world would I just forget all that, and willingly submit to her and even agree to an engagement with her? She's the d.a.m.ned enemy! There's no f.u.c.king way I will trust her!"

When Song Ting Yu heard my declaration, she felt as if she had just been stabbed in her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes and she clutched her well endowed chest.

She was like a tragic heroine who was forced into these circ.u.mstances beyond her control despite loving someone from the enemy side, and now, even though she wasn't directly involved, she was being blamed for the atrocities her family committed.

It pained her so much it felt as if her heart was breaking. All she wanted was to live happily with me, quietly and joyfully for the rest of our lives together…

But now, because of her family, we were forever destined to be torn apart. Just what did she have to do in order to earn my forgiveness, to convince me that I could trust her? She was even willing to discard her family name, her high status, just to elope with me…

"What a terrifying influence!"

Song Ting Yu immediately snapped out of her tragic heroine roleplaying. She comprehended the reason why such horrifying pa.s.sions were ravaging her heart was because my figure had been deeply imprinted within her heart.

When she had been hit by the reflected charm technique earlier, a charm seed had been planted inside her mind. Within a short period of time, the seed had strongly taken root and was growing rapidly, blossoming into a great plant of love.

Now she finally understood why those men who had been charmed by her techniques were forever enthralled by her. She began to realize why these men, who had been ensnared by her charm technique and had her deeply imprinted within their minds were so deeply infatuated with her, and why they were willing to accept any unreasonable requests from her.

She now began to vaguely comprehend a little of those men's feelings.

As long as the charm seed was imprinted within one's heart, it would slowly blossom and grow stronger, its enchanting effect gradually increasing. As time pa.s.sed, the influence of this charm seed would only strengthen increasingly, and she would view me in a different light. In the end, she would end up completely obsessed with me, and become unable to pull herself away. She would eventually succ.u.mb to my non-existent charm.

Unfortunately for her, I had no obligation to play along with her stupid game. h.e.l.l, she deserved what she got – if she didn't try this bulls.h.i.+t matter of hypnotizing and charming people with mind control techniques, she would never have suffered a backlash and ended up a victim of her own spell. Serves her right.

Mo Long seemed to have noticed the oddity in her. He glanced at her in surprise, picking out the faint light in her eyes.

"Kid, you do realize that this Miss has totally fallen head over heels in love with you?"
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Evidently he had interpreted that pa.s.sionate gaze toward me as a sense of love. He was unaware of the fact that Song Ting Yu was suffering from the backlash from her charm technique, which caused me to be imprinted deeply inside her heart. He believed that Song Ting Yu was really in love with me.

I wasn't sure if I should enlighten him, then decided that it wasn't worth my time to explain everything. So I shrugged callously.

"Too bad I don't like her."

"Wow…are you even a man?!"

Despite his age, Mo Long was aware of how physically attractive and enchanting Song Ting Yu was, and he was shocked that someone like me could resist her charm. His eyes imperceptibly flickered.

"Or perhaps you swing the other way…?"

"I'm a straight male, if that's what you're asking," I replied. "But I only love a single girl, and Song Ting Yu is not that girl." Clenching my fists, I allowed my ferocious qi to bristle about me. "It was the Martial Arts Alliance who killed the girl I love."

Mo Long was taken aback by my answer, but then he threw his head back and burst out laughing.

"Good! Very good! I like you, kid. You have strength, integrity and are extremely loyal and faithful to the ones you love!" he shook his head bitterly. "It'll really be a waste to kill you."

"That's a.s.suming you can kill me," I retorted, tilting my head to the side and recalling my Snow Aegis to stand guard in front of me. My mobile turrets hovered about, pointing their deadly maws at him, ready for qi beams to erupt out of them at any time. "Despite your boasts and the supposed difference in levels, you have yet to succeed."

"I admit, I've vastly underestimated you." Mo Long raised his demonic saber. Above him, dozens of energy black dragons s.h.i.+mmered into life. "I will not be holding anything back now."

I stared at him for a moment, my jaw dropping to the point I was almost drooling. Then I shut my mouth and watched the dragons greedily as a grin spread across my face.

"That's an interesting technique you have there," I remarked, my eyes s.h.i.+ning excitedly. "Mind giving it to me?"