23: You are so brave

At the peak of Holy Son Peak, Jiang Chen sat cross-legged, the myriad manifestations star compass floating before him.

The compass glowed, clearly reflecting two scenes.

One was Lin Fan's dilapidated hut.

In the scene, Lin Fan was Cultivating frantically, spiritual power surging around him, his face filled with resentment and unwillingness.

He transformed all humiliation into motivation for Cultivation, yet he didn't know that the more he rushed for success, the faster his Heart Demon would grow.

The other scene was Xu Ying's location.

Xu Ying was in a secret chamber, mumbling incantations at an incense burner.

The blue smoke wafting from the incense burner was colorless and odorless, yet it carried a strange power that could stir the mind and incite desires.

It was the spirit-bewitching incense (forbidden medicine) he had meticulously prepared for Su Qinger.

“Two fools, one blinded by hatred, the other by lust.” Jiang Chen commented indifferently, looking at the scenes on the compass.

【host, aren't you going to act yet? Xu Ying seems to be ready, just waiting for Su Qinger to walk into his trap!】

“When will you become as patient as I am?”

Jiang Chen's voice was unhurried, “The show hasn't even started. What good would it do for me to jump out now?”

“Jiang Jiu.” Jiang Chen spoke to the shadow behind him.

“Your subordinate is here.”

“Go, in my name, deliver an invitation to Su Qinger.”

An invitation appeared out of thin air at Jiang Chen's fingertip.

“Tell her that tomorrow at noon, I would like to invite her to Tingxue Pavilion for a talk, to personally explain the matter between Lin Fan and me.”

Jiang Jiu took the invitation, his figure pausing slightly, seemingly puzzled.

Wasn't Saint Your Highness waiting for Xu Ying to make his move? Why was he actively arranging a meeting with Su Qinger? Wouldn't this disrupt the plan?

Jiang Chen seemed to read his mind, a slight smile playing on his lips.

“Also, find a way to let Xu Ying's people know about this news.”

Jiang Jiu's figure instantly understood, he hoarsely acknowledged with a ‘yes,’ and then disappeared into the night.

【Brilliant! host, truly brilliant!】

The System immediately flattered him.

【This is an overt scheme! When you actively arrange a meeting with Su Qinger, that fellow Xu Ying will surely think it's his best opportunity to strike! Because once something happens to Su Qinger after she accepts the invitation, all suspicion will point to you!】

“Precisely.”

Jiang Chen nodded approvingly, “He will think this is a flaw I left for him, a perfect opportunity for him to frame me. He will absolutely not let it go.”

A person blinded by desire, upon seeing such a heaven-sent opportunity, would not consider whether there was a trap behind it.

“As for Su Qinger...”

Jiang Chen's gaze deepened, “A woman who is distraught and eager to seek the truth will not refuse such a face-to-face confrontation.”

Everything was within his calculations... The next day, early morning.

Su Qinger received Jiang Chen's invitation.

That beautiful invitation, carrying a hint of coldness, made her hesitate for a long time.

“Young Miss, you must not go!”

The Guardian advised with a grave expression, “That Jiang Chen is deeply cunning, who knows what he's planning? Tingxue Pavilion is a secluded place, what if he sets up an ambush?”

“He wouldn't.” Su Qinger shook her head, interrupting the Elder's words.

Her intuition told her that Jiang Chen would not resort to such underhanded tactics.

That man possessed absolute pride and confidence; he disdained such methods.

More importantly, she needed this answer.

She wanted to hear with her own ears, from Jiang Chen's mouth, exactly how the events unfolded.

“My decision to go is made; you need not try to dissuade me further.” Su Qinger clutched the invitation, her tone firm.

At the same time, Xu Ying also received the news.

“Hahahaha! Heaven helps me! Heaven helps me!” He burst into laughter in the secret chamber.

“Jiang Chen, oh Jiang Chen, you are truly foolish! To dare to actively arrange a meeting with Su Qinger, and even choose a place like Tingxue Pavilion! You are practically handing me the knife yourself!”

In his opinion, this was simply an opportunity for a perfect crime.

He could set up formations and the spirit-bewitching incense (forbidden medicine) in Tingxue Pavilion beforehand, and as soon as Su Qinger arrived, he would capture her.

After he had enjoyed the beauty and drained her primordial yin, he would leave the unconscious Su Qinger there.

By then, everyone would believe that Jiang Chen had committed an impropriety against Fairy Su.

Killing two birds with one stone!

Not only would he gain the beauty, but he would also utterly destroy Jiang Chen's reputation, leaving him no chance of recovery!

The immense ecstasy made him completely lose his reason.

He immediately took his confidants and stealthily headed to the back mountain, beginning to set up a net around Tingxue Pavilion.

Noon was approaching.

On the quiet path leading to Tingxue Pavilion in the back mountain, Su Qinger, in a white dress, walked alone.

She had dismissed her Guardian, wanting to give herself and Jiang Chen a private space to talk.

The mountain path wound, surrounded by lush vegetation and beautiful scenery, but she had no mind to appreciate it.

Her heart beat faster and faster as she got closer to Tingxue Pavilion.

Finally, an ancient pavilion appeared at the end of the path.

The pavilion was built on the edge of a cliff, shrouded in clouds, with an open view, indeed a good place for a conversation.

However, the pavilion was empty.

Jiang Chen hadn't arrived yet.

Su Qinger walked to the edge of the pavilion, looking down at the sea of clouds below, her mind filled with countless thoughts.

Just then, a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance subtly entered her nostrils.

The fragrance was exquisitely elegant at first sniff, making one feel refreshed, but after inhaling it, she felt her body slightly weaken, and her mind began to feel a little hazy.

Something was wrong!

Alarm bells rang in Su Qinger's mind, and she immediately held her breath, trying to circulate her spiritual Qi to force the strange fragrance out of her body.

But to her horror, she found that her spiritual Qi had become incredibly sluggish, completely unable to be mobilized!

“How could this be...” Her beautiful face turned pale, her body went limp, and she almost fell to the ground.

“Hehehe... Young Miss Su, no need to waste your efforts.”

A sinister laugh echoed from the woods behind the pavilion.

Xu Ying slowly emerged, accompanied by two confidants.

He no longer had yesterday's gentle elegance; his handsome face was now filled with undisguised desire and greed, his eyes looking as if they wanted to devour Su Qinger whole.

“It's you!” Su Qinger was both shocked and angry, supporting herself against a pillar, forcing her body to stand, “Xu Ying! You despicable scoundrel! What have you done?!”

“Despicable?” Xu Ying burst into laughter, “Fairy Su, you're truly wronging me. I just couldn't bear to see you fall into that Devil Head Jiang Chen's trap, so I specially came to save you.”

He approached step by step, his gaze growing more fervent.

“Don't worry, I'll take good care of you later. Once we've done the deed, you'll be my, Xu Ying's, woman. By then, we can expose Jiang Chen's crimes together, wouldn't that be wonderful?”

“You're dreaming!”

Su Qinger trembled with rage, she struggled to retreat, but her body became increasingly disobedient, and her vision began to blur.

Could it be that today, her purity would truly be compromised, ruined by this man?

Just as her consciousness was about to sink into oblivion, a somewhat lazy voice clearly echoed in the pavilion.

“You dare to touch a guest I invited?”

“Who gave you the guts?”