Chapter 52: Pseudo-Flirting Unsuccessful

Chapter 52: Pseudo-Flirting UnsuccessfulThe remaining wolves, seeing their leader obliterated into a fine mist, were thrown into disarray.

Their formation crumbled.

And one by one, they fell.

Within minutes, the battlefield fell eerily silent.

Though the group sustained a few injuries, none were life-threatening. Scratches, bruises, and some torn sleeves — nothing they couldn’t handle.

They slowly regrouped near what remained of the big grey wolf.

Or rather — what didn’t remain.

There was no corpse. No blood. Not even bones. Just empty space and lingering dread.

"S-Senior Sister... y-you’re terrifying — I mean, strong," said Yu Xueqing, still wide-eyed from the spectacle.

The others shared the same thought.

If the fight could be ended so easily... what had they been struggling for?



The realization left a bitter taste in their mouths. They had bled, bruised, and really roared from the bottom of their hearts — and then watched someone else wrap it up in a single stroke.

They wanted to look cool in front of each other.

But apparently, coolness had levels.

And they were still stuck in the tutorial.

"Hmph," Ming Tianmei snorted, crossing her arms.

Yu Lingluo arrived beside her and said in an exaggeratedly betrayed tone, "You traitor! You stole my kill!"

She delivered it with such a straight, innocent face that the others began doubting their own judgment of who was normal here.

"Shut up," Ming Tianmei muttered coldly.

The faint red scratch still marked her cheek. Her voice hadn’t thawed yet.

Yu Lingluo didn’t seem to mind. She knew her best friend had occasional mental ’events.’

Sometimes her entire personality flipped without warning. Still, she placed a hand over her heart and whimpered dramatically, "So heartless!"

Then, shifting topics in a blink, she looked around and asked, "Wait... where’s Yuan’er?"

She scanned the area, turning left and right. No sign of Yu Xuan.

Mo Lin, standing nearby with a smug grin, said proudly, "I think, after witnessing my supreme battle skills, it’s finally time to change who we call Young Maste—"

Thunk!

A small pebble struck him squarely on the forehead.

"Gah!" he winced, a fresh bump already forming.

From above, perched casually on a tree branch like some omnipotent spectator, Yu Xuan looked down at them with a slight smile.

"Looks like no one needs rest," he said calmly. "Shall we keep moving?"

"Damn," Mo Lin muttered under his breath, rubbing the bump.

"What should we do with all these wolf corpses?" Yu Bo asked, surveying the battlefield.

Ming Tianmei replied flatly, "Store them in your space rings. We might be able to sell them later."

The others nodded at the suggestion and got to work.

Each of them had their own basic space ring — nothing too flashy, but useful enough. Inside were healing pills, cultivation pills, a couple of poison antidotes and poison pills, some offensive and defensive talismans, and even a few liquid concoctions for emergency wounds.

They might have looked like a band of arrogant brats, but the clan had invested heavily in them.

They weren’t prodigies for nothing.

Meanwhile, Yu Xuan, watching them collect wolf corpses like loot from a dungeon, felt an overwhelming wave of regret.



He stared at the empty space where his wolves had been — the black-furred ones from earlier.

Wolves he had crushed. Pulverized. Obliterated into paste.

He didn’t even have their bones left.

A hollow laugh echoed in his mind.

He had gone full god-mode on them... and forgot to loot the damn drops.

He felt stupid, so stupid in fact, it felt like someone made him do free labor.

He sighed and sat back on the tree branch, sulking slightly.

"I suffered a massive loss," he whispered under his breath.

Looking down from the tree, Yu Xuan noticed that while the others were busy collecting wolf corpses, Ming Tianmei stood motionless, staring into empty space.

Curious, he leapt down with a superhero landing.

It could also be said, in the privacy of his thoughts, that Ming Tianmei had once been his first crush in this new world.

Not that he would ever admit it.

"Tianmei, what are you looking at?" he asked casually as he approached.

Over the years, the two had developed a fairly solid friendship — though Yu Xuan still found her a little... unpredictable at times.

Ming Tianmei, snapped out of her trance, turned to face him.

Her gaze landed on the all-too-familiar face — the same one that had been haunting her dreams nightly, like corrupt officials haunting the treasury.

She looked at his eyes.

’What... amazing eyessss,’ she drooled internally.

"...Nothing," she said aloud, her face completely blank.

Yu Xuan raised a brow. With her, this was normal — sometimes she spoke too much, other times not at all.

Without saying anything more, he pulled a small handkerchief from his space ring — it materialized elegantly in his hand, almost like a magician’s trick.

He stepped forward and gently began to dab the scratch on her cheek.

"You should be more careful when you fight," he said, his voice soft but clear.

She nodded slowly, her expression dazed. "...Yes."

Yu Xuan frowned a little.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied again, her tone barely above a whisper.

Yu Xuan narrowed his eyes. Something felt off.



He said dramatically. "See that rock over there? It’s basking in the sunlight."

"Yes."

"A talisman just grew wings and flew across the sky."

"Yes."

"A—"

Before he could finish, a swift kick landed on his back, sending him tumbling forward like a rolling cabbage.

He staggered up and turned to see the furious expression of Yu Lingluo.

"Flirting in front of me??" she snapped, her voice practically hissing with annoyance.

But her internal monologue told a different story altogether:

’My brother from the same mother is flirting with my sister from another mother?! Unforgivable!!!’

Ming Tianmei, meanwhile, turned her head calmly and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, whispering under her breath, "...But he touched my face first."

Yu Xuan, caught between the two, had one thought: Save Me.