473: Chapter 117 Letting go of the matter and letting go of you.

After knocking Zhang Chulan unconscious, Meng Li channeled a wisp of Qi into his body for a re-examination. Finding the situation consistent with what Chen Duo had said, he withdrew his technique.

Seeing this, Xu Si hurriedly asked, "How's the situation?"

Meng Li replied, "It's just as Chen Duo said."

"When will he wake up?" Xu Si asked again.

Meng Li glanced at Zhang Chulan and answered, "That depends on Zhang Chulan himself. I just knocked back the other consciousness within him by knocking him out. I also carefully checked his original spirit and found that while he's a bit weak, there's no problem with him taking back control of his body."

"Reasonably speaking, he should have woken up by now. Since he hasn't, there's a high probability that he himself is unwilling to wake up."

"In this situation, there's no way to force him awake; we can only wait until he figures it out for himself."

Xu San and Xu Si immediately looked at each other.

Lu Linglong and Lu Lin were equally surprised.

Then, Meng Li asked Xu San and Xu Si in confusion, "By the way, how did he end up like this?"

"Did he get into a fight with Ma Xianhong?"

"That's not right; there are secret passages in the Dark Fortress ruins. With Zhang Chulan's craftiness, he should have turned and run the moment he saw things going south."

Xu Si glanced at the unconscious Zhang Chulan and sighed softly, "He was ambushed while pursuing Ma Xianhong."

"Let's talk about the specifics outside."

Meng Li nodded.

Soon, the group arrived in the living room.

Through Xu Si's narration and supplements from Lu Linglong, Lu Lin, and Feng Baobao, Meng Li quickly understood the whole story.

After a long wait, Zhang Chulan finally met Ma Xianhong and had a conversation with him.

However, in the end, Ma Xianhong chose to leave alone.

Not long after he left, Zhang Chulan, sensing something was wrong as if he'd realized something, took Feng Baobao and chased after him.

Unexpectedly, they didn't catch Ma Xianhong; instead, the two of them fell into an ambush.

There were several people ambushing them.

The leader was a Physical Cultivation Expert with high defense and great strength, who initially suppressed Feng Baobao in combat.

The rest were also skilled, and Zhang Chulan was outnumbered.

For a time, Feng Baobao and Zhang Chulan were besieged, their situation becoming perilous.

At the critical moment, the Protective Pearl played its part, winning a moment of respite for the two.

Then, Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao didn't dare hold back any longer and quickly took out their trump card obtained from Meng Li from their Storage Dharma Pearls—the Hei Wu Wei Automatons!

With the help of two battle puppets, their disadvantage was somewhat reversed.

Later, Lu Linglong and Lu Lin, who were following Zhang Chulan, noticed something was wrong and rushed over to help.

Only then did the situation completely turn around.

But even so, they paid a considerable price to resolve the crisis.

The two Hei Wu Wei Automatons acted as meat shields and were scrapped.

Zhang Chulan and the others were all injured, though to varying degrees.

Among them, Zhang Chulan was the most severely injured.

Because those ambushers were coming specifically for him, each of them wanting to eliminate him quickly, even at the cost of their own lives.

The two puppets were scrapped while blocking the Jade and Stone Burn Together Moves of two opponents for Zhang Chulan.

After finishing the story, Xu Si couldn't help but remark emotionally, "At that time, Bao'er and the Lu siblings were all pinned down, and Chu Lan was hit by a dirty trick."

"If not for those two puppets, he probably would have been finished."

Then, he said to Meng Li with a grin, "Do you still have stock of those puppets? If so, I want another batch."

Meng Li shook his head, "No more. I have to keep the rest to guard my own home."

"Then when you're free, refine another batch," Xu Si said, refusing to give up.

It wasn't that he was greedy, but after this test, the effects of the Hei Wu Wei Automatons were even better than expected.

Their combat power was impressive, and they could block killing Moves at critical moments.

Most importantly, while they added strength, they wouldn't bring trouble like leaking secrets, making them very suitable for protecting Feng Baobao.

If conditions hadn't disallowed it and he wasn't worried about it backfiring, Xu Si would have wanted to equip every employee with one, and give Feng Baobao a whole battalion.

Hearing this, Meng Li thought for a moment and replied, "In a couple of days. I need to gather some Materials first."

"Alright, I'll wait for your good news," Xu Si replied with a smile.

Lu Lin, standing nearby, roughly understood the situation after listening to their conversation.

She glanced at Lu Linglong, coughed twice, and said, "Dr. Meng, Mr. Xu Si, from what you're saying, those puppets are Dr. Meng's Artifact Refining creations and can be traded, right?"

Meng Li and Xu Si nodded.

Lu Lin immediately said, "Then would it be convenient to spare two for Linglong and me?"

Seeing herself mentioned, Lu Linglong was first taken aback, then reacted and said with a smile, "That's right, we'll pay the market price."

Hearing this, Meng Li nodded slightly, "Sure."

Lu Linglong and Lu Lin hurriedly said, "Thank you."

...

Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the Xu Family Villa.

"Have you... been doing well lately?"

Looking at the person in front of him whom he wanted to see but also avoided, and finally met by chance, Zhang Lingyu spoke.

Actually, at first, he wanted to ask if the rumors were true and what her relationship with Meng Li was, but the words that came out involuntarily became such a piece of nonsense.

Because the Xia He in front of him clearly looked like she had been living very well lately.

Her long pink hair was loosely draped, and she was wearing a form-fitting white inner garment and blue jeans, paired with white sneakers, showcasing her youth and purity while perfectly accentuating her figure; however, they were all long styles. Compared to her previous tank tops and shorts, she looked less provocative and more dignified and proper.

These changes made Zhang Lingyu feel secretly relieved but also a bit flustered.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he felt that Xia He seemed to have become a bit fuller and more mature.

The former referred to her physique, while the latter referred to both her body and her psyche.

When they met on Longhu Mountain before, Xia He would pounce on him and hug him wildly, getting all handsy the moment she saw him. But now, although she stopped when she saw him, she no longer had her previous passion; while not cold, she maintained her distance.

Just like her response: "I'm fine. And you?"

This lukewarm answer carried a sense of distance, a stark contrast to Xia He's previous behavior.

It was as if their relationship had changed from lovers to ordinary friends.

This made Zhang Lingyu feel somewhat uncomfortable, even panicked.

So, he asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Hearing this, Xia He was slightly stunned, then chuckled, "Nothing's wrong with me. I'm the same as before."

Zhang Lingyu said, "No, you weren't like this before. You used to..."

He stopped halfway because he couldn't bring himself to say it.

But Xia He understood what he meant.

She said with a smile, "Are you talking about that? It's simple. I've let go of some things, and I've let go of you."

Zhang Lingyu was shaken to his core, as if struck by a bolt from the blue, and stood there dazed.

Let go of some things, and let go of... me?!

When he came to his senses, he stared intensely at Xia He, saying in disbelief, "How is that possible? We..."

He stopped halfway again.

Even now, Zhang Lingyu still found that Momentary 'Insertion' from back then hard to speak of.

Xia He saw this and felt both ridiculous and fortunate in her heart.

Ridiculous, laughing at Zhang Lingyu and also at her former self.

Fortunate that she had already moved on and let go; otherwise, continuing to be entangled with such a twist would be very tiring.

Since they met today, she might as well make a clean break.

Therefore, she took over the conversation with a calm face, "You want to say that we once liked each other and even rolled in the sheets together, right?"

Zhang Lingyu's face turned red, but he still nodded.

Unexpectedly, in the next second, Xia He said, "So what?"