273: Messy

"What a mess!" Hua Dieer's pretty face flushed red. "Besides, who's your wife?"

Feng Ming was instantly speechless. "Who said you were my wife? I was just giving an example. Do you understand what an example is?" Then, his tone shifted as he looked at her teasingly. "I say, could it be that you actually want to be my wife?"

Hua Dieer's cheeks grew even hotter, a mix of shame and anger. "Who wants to be your wife! Stop dreaming!"

Feng Ming chuckled. "Oh, so you don't? That's fine! But if you did, that would be okay too! After all, I've taken so many liberties with you; it's only right that I take responsibility for you."

"In your dreams! Who wants you to take responsibility!" Hua Dieer retorted indignantly, but an unconscious smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, unnoticed even by herself.

Feng Ming shrugged. "I've said my piece. Whether you let me take responsibility or not, I'm right here. If you ever change your mind, just come find me. I can't promise much else, but I, Feng Ming, never back down from what I've done."

He changed the subject and added, "But let me be clear: I have no problem taking responsibility for the liberties I've taken. However, if you let someone else take liberties with you, then I'm out! I only fix the cars I've broken myself; if someone else broke them, it has nothing to do with me."

Hua Dieer burst out laughing. "I didn't expect you to be so protective of your 'food'!"

Feng Ming facepalmed helplessly. "What kind of analogy is that? Stop joking around and let's get moving! As long as you understand what I mean."

Hua Dieer nodded and said no more. She just watched Feng Ming's back, unable to suppress the smile on her lips.

She muttered to herself, "Hua Dieer, oh Hua Dieer, what are you so happy about? You don't actually want him to take responsibility, do you? This Feng Ming is such a playboy! You can't really like him."

"Then again, this playboy is quite popular. Both Anan and Shuwan speak so highly of him. Could it be that this particular 'radish' has a unique flavor?"

The more she thought, the hotter her cheeks became. She shook her head vigorously, scolding herself, "Crazy, I'm going crazy! Whether he 'tastes' good or not is none of my business! My Heart Demon hasn't even been resolved yet, and I'm actually thinking about this!"

She kept warning herself, but the smile on her lips was hard to suppress, tilting upward... Meanwhile, on a plain within the Trial Grounds, Huangfu Yunyan and Huangfu Rui were sprinting non-stop.

At first, they were fine and could run at full speed. But as time passed, their stamina began to drop continuously. Three hours later, Huangfu Yunyan's stamina was completely exhausted. She collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

"I can't... I really can't run anymore! Go on without me!"

Huangfu Rui turned around and hoisted her onto his shoulder. "We're in this together. If you can't escape, do you think I can? Just hold on a bit longer. I don't believe Jiang Shuwan will keep chasing us forever instead of snatching heaven ranking ticketss!"

Huangfu Yunyan shook her head, her voice filled with despair. "She has no need to snatch them! As Feng Ming's woman, his heaven ranking ticketss have already secured a top ten spot. Once Feng Ming enters the imperial court as an official, it doesn't matter if she, as his wife, makes the top ten or not."

"Relatively speaking, killing us is the priority. So, she will definitely hunt us down all the way. Moreover, further ahead is Yin Feng Valley. Once we get there, we'll truly have nowhere left to run!"

Huangfu Rui's heart skipped a beat, but he remained stubborn. "That's still better than waiting here to die! If we're really forced into Yin Feng Valley, even if I die, I'll drag her down with me and make Feng Ming suffer for the rest of his life!"

"Wait, Huangfu Yunyan, where's that arrogance of yours from before? How is it that your will is now weaker than mine?"

Huangfu Yunyan froze upon hearing this, a wave of sorrow welling up in her heart.

Her obsession was to bring down Feng Ming. For this, she had endured humiliation and even sacrificed herself.

But after the Expedition Banquet concluded, her greatest trump card turned out to be insignificant to the Jiang Family. Their indifference had long since shattered her hopes, leaving her heart as cold as ash.

Sensing the change in her mindset, Huangfu Rui cursed angrily, "Huangfu Yunyan, you damn woman! I didn't even want revenge at first; you were the one who forced me onto this path!"

"And now you want to give up? What about me? Let me tell you, even if you die, you'll die on the run!" With that, he continued sprinting while carrying Huangfu Yunyan.

These words actually touched Huangfu Yunyan. She silently pulled out a map and finally began to seriously study a way to escape.

Time ticked away. Feng Ming traveled with Hua Dieer toward Wangyue Spring for seven hours. It was getting late, and the first night of the Trial arrived.

The heaven ranking ticketss standings for the first day stagnated temporarily. Feng Ming's tickets were still far in the lead. The second-place Zhang Bai only had a little over two hundred tickets, and the third-place had even fewer.

The number of tickets in the rankings showed a cliff-like drop. The reason was simple: the trial grounds were too large. Aside from gaining an early advantage to get more tickets, it would only get harder to snatch them later on.

Everyone had maps and real-time locations; no one would just stand still waiting to be robbed. Thus, the further into the Late Stage, the harder ticket snatching would become. After all, those who remained were all somewhat capable.

At late night, Feng Ming and Hua Dieer finally arrived near Wangyue Spring.

At this moment, there were no other Cultivators around Wangyue Spring besides them. The three red dots that had been heading straight here earlier had clearly already entered the interior of the Danger Zone.

Feng Ming stood outside the spring and sent messages to Feng Mian and Jiang Shuwan.

They were already converging on Yin Feng Valley as planned, but they were still far away. It would take at least three days for Jiang Shuwan to force the Huangfu siblings into Yin Feng Valley, and Feng Mian would take even longer.

During this time, Qin Hu and Guan Rong also contacted Feng Ming. After learning of the situation, they could only join the encirclement due to the distance, heading to meet up with Jiang Shuwan first before planning their next move.

Feng Ming analyzed the situation. It was certain that the others couldn't make it in time, but someone had already entered Wangyue Spring.

To avoid missing the Opportunity and to figure out the identities of the three people who entered first—especially since he wasn't even sure if others had gone in as well.

The priority was to go in and investigate. Feng Ming immediately decided to take Hua Dieer inside first.

Hua Dieer didn't refuse, but she looked worried. "Are you really okay with letting Shuwan and the others surround Huangfu Rui and his sister? Huangfu Rui's talent is very strong. Even without a special Physique, he won't accept his fate at the final moment. If they fight to the death, they..."

Feng Ming's tone was firm. "Don't worry. Shuwan is quite strong, and with my big brother and Guan Rong there, the Huangfu siblings definitely won't escape this time."

"Besides... I gave them all the good items I could before entering the trial grounds. Since this is a Trial, they have to try and face things themselves. What I need to do is let go and give them this chance."

"This is a world of immortal cultivation. They'll never grow if they always rely on my protection. The same goes for us; Wangyue Spring is a hurdle we must overcome. Instead of worrying about them, we should figure out the identities of the three people who went inside."

Seeing Feng Ming say this, Hua Dieer nodded and spoke no more. Feng Ming took the Opportunity to send a message to Jiang Shuwan, informing her of his plan.

After receiving a reply, he led Hua Dieer deeper into Wangyue Spring.

Just as the two of them stepped inside, a cold warning voice rang in their ears simultaneously: "Warning! You have entered the range of the Danger Zone, Wangyue Spring. communication stone functions will be restricted. Please leave as soon as possible..."