60: Chapter 60 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (Part 8)

At this point, it had been exactly seven days since they boarded the vessel.

Halfway through the journey, the Jinwu Flying Boat was entering the Chaotic Cloud Sea Area, where the astral winds raged most fiercely. The protective barrier outside the cabins emitted a deeper, more muffled hum than usual.

Chu Shi had just finished a round of cultivation.

Seven days of bitter cultivation, combined with the medicinal power of the Body Tempering Paste, had allowed him to firmly step into the mid-stage of the Tree Bark Realm.

The skin, flesh, and tendons throughout his body had been tempered to be as tough as resilient wood. Ordinary swords and sabers would only leave a shallow scratch if they struck him.

Just as he finished his practice, he heard a knock at the door.

This knock was completely different from the one four days ago.

It was heavy and urgent, trembling, one after another, persistent.

Like a cornered young beast knocking on the very last door in its desperation.

Chu Shi's brow furrowed even deeper as he stood up and pulled open the door.

Outside the door, Yun Mengyao stood in tattered clothes, her face haggard.

Her messy hair clung to her sweat-drenched temples, her lips were chapped, and her eyes were bloodshot.

The moment she saw Chu Shi open the door, it was as if she had seen a saving grace. Her legs gave way, and she knelt down toward Chu Shi, crying out in a hoarse voice, "Brother Chu! Please!

Save me! I really can't go on living like this!"

Chu Shi stepped aside to avoid her, not letting her touch him. Leaning against the doorframe, his gaze was incredibly cold. "Get up. Speak properly if you have something to say, and don't play these tricks with me."

Yun Mengyao knelt on the ground, weeping heart-wrenchingly. Her tears mixed with the dust on her face, leaving streaks of wretchedness:

"Brother Chu, it's Zhao Xuan.

Zhao Xuan corners me, forces me, and humiliates me every single day.

He wants me to go to his cabin to serve him, to treat me as his plaything.

Because I refused, he harasses me daily. Now I can't even eat or sleep, let alone cultivate.

Brother Chu, you're the only one on this entire vessel who can help me! Please, help me just this once, okay?"

Looking at her in this state, memories of his predecessor instantly flashed through Chu Shi's mind.

Three years ago, it was exactly like this.

Yun Mengyao had run crying to his predecessor, claiming that Zhao Xuan was bullying and harassing her.

In a fit of passion, his predecessor rushed to stand up for her, falling out with Zhao Xuan in public.

Using the influence of the Chu Family, his predecessor had utterly humiliated Zhao Xuan, cementing a deep grudge between them.

It was also from that moment on that his predecessor fell completely into her gentle trap, step by step becoming the laughingstock of the entire Canglan State City.

So after all this time, it was still the same old trick.

Chu Shi felt utterly speechless, and also found it incredibly vexing.

It turned out that all the trouble his predecessor had gotten into, from start to finish, had been from cleaning up this woman's messes.

"Yun Mengyao," his tone was completely devoid of emotion, even carrying a hint of mockery.

"I recall telling you last time that there is no longer any connection between us.

The grudge between you and Zhao Xuan is your own business. It has absolutely nothing to do with me.

You were the one who hooked up with him in the first place, and you were the one who insisted on using my name to humiliate him.

Now that he has come back to seek revenge on you, you should bear it yourself."

With that, he raised his hand to close the door.

"Don't! Brother Chu, don't close the door!"

Yun Mengyao hurriedly lunged forward, desperately holding the door open, her fingernails nearly snapping against the wood as she cried even harder.

"I know I was wrong! I'll kowtow and apologize to you! I really know I was wrong!

But Zhao Xuan is a lunatic!

He's not just taking revenge on me, he also wants to use me to disgust you, Brother Chu!

He said... he said he wants to turn the woman you once held in the palm of your hand into his plaything, to make the entire vessel laugh at you.

Brother Chu, surely you don't want..."

These words made Chu Shi's hand on the door pause.

But before he could speak, a casual, undisguisedly malicious voice drifted over from the end of the corridor:

"Yo, Young Master Chu, this woman actually hit the nail on the head.

That is exactly what I mean. What can you possibly do to me?"

Chu Shi looked up.

Zhao Xuan, accompanied by four lackeys, was walking over leisurely.

His brand-new blue Inner Sect Disciple robes were pressed crisp, his hair was combed till it shone, and a smug, self-satisfied smile hung on his face.

The look he gave Chu Shi was filled with an undisguised, venomous resentment and provocation that had built up over three years.

He had timed it perfectly, wanting to wait until Yun Mengyao had entangled Chu Shi before making his entrance to push this drama to its climax.

Walking up to Yun Mengyao, he bent down and grabbed her chin, forcing her to raise her head to face Chu Shi.

His tone was frivolous and malicious, like he was displaying a trophy. "Young Master Chu, look at this. This is the goddess you used to hold in the palm of your hand, whom you couldn't even bear to speak a harsh word to.

And now? How is she being held by me at my whim, looking just like a stray dog?"

Tears streamed down Yun Mengyao's face from the pain, yet she could not break free.

She could only gaze pitifully at Chu Shi with her watery eyes, playing the role of a fragile, manipulative green tea bitch to the absolute limit.

Chu Shi's face turned completely cold. The atmospheric pressure around him instantly dropped by several degrees, and even the air in the corridor seemed to freeze.

"Zhao Xuan, let her go." His voice was flat, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness.

"What's this? Is Young Master Chu feeling heartache?" Zhao Xuan burst into laughter, applying even more force to the hand squeezing Yun Mengyao's chin.

"Chu Shi, I really thought you had changed your ways and stopped being a simp.

What? It's only been a few words, and you already can't resist playing the hero saving the beauty?"

He suddenly released his grip, took a step forward to close in on Chu Shi, and said viciously, word by word:

"Who in the entire Canglan City doesn't know?

Three years ago, for this woman, you didn't hesitate to fall out with me in public and humiliate me.

Now, after being a simp for several years, you suddenly act all lofty and pretend you don't know her?"

He paused, the malice in his eyes growing even thicker. He raised his voice slightly, making it loud enough for the surrounding disciples who had gathered to watch the commotion to hear clearly:

"Let me tell you, Chu Shi, I am taking this woman today, no matter what!

Not only will I keep her as a plaything, but I will also let everyone on the flying boat and in the entire Great Sun Holy Land know.

The goddess you, Chu Shi, simped over for years, holding in the palm of your hand and not even daring to touch, will from now on be nothing but Zhao Xuan's bed-warming toy.

What can you possibly do to me?"

The surrounding disciples instantly erupted into a clamor, their whispers rising and falling as all eyes focused on Chu Shi.

No matter how much Chu Shi did not want to get involved in this mess, and no matter how clearly he knew that this was entirely a grudge between Yun Mengyao and Zhao Xuan from start to finish...

...at this moment, Zhao Xuan had already trampled his dignity into the dirt.

He could not care less whether this woman lived or died, but he would absolutely not tolerate someone shitting on his head.

Especially in such a disgusting manner, humiliating him in front of all the disciples on the vessel.

He could choose not to settle the debts of his predecessor.

But now, when a slap was delivered straight to his face, he had to return it.

"Zhao Xuan." Chu Shi's gaze completely darkened, resembling ice that had remained frozen for ten thousand years.

"I will say this one last time: don't go looking for trouble.

I have no interest in interfering in the grudge between you and her.

But if you want to use her to disgust me, then you've picked the wrong target."