CHAPTER 384: CHAPTER 383: RIVAL VS NEMESIS (2 UPDATES)

After boarding the plane, the person picking up Yun Ran and the others smiled sincerely and even brought Yun Ran a bunch of fresh flowers.

With such ceremonial gestures, who could say they weren’t genuinely celebrating for Yun Ran?

"Congratulations on your team finishing early, here are some gifts for you."

As he spoke, more items were handed over to Yun Ran and the others, including food, useful items, and several medals.

They lavished praises freely, causing Xin Fu and the other three from aristocratic families to blush a bit.

It was the first time they experienced the feeling of winning effortlessly, but now these flowers and applause were all directed at them, making them somewhat uncomfortable.

Yun Ran, however, thoroughly enjoyed and was accustomed to this applause and flowers, treating them like a lullaby and gradually dozed off.

Everyone: ...

Somehow, they felt that this strategy of killing with kindness didn’t quite play out as expected.

Upon returning to the island, Yun Ran went to wash up immediately. Her hair, soaked and dried by sea water, felt like it was all knotted.

After Yun Ran comfortably soaked in a bath, she saw Dragon Spirit, who enjoyed joining in the fun, had returned early.

Little Paperman was diligently drying Yun Ran’s hair, and also massaging and kneading her shoulders, fully enjoying their time.

"Wow, this is indeed a rare sight!"

Dragon Spirit, clearly unamused, glanced at Yun Ran before saying, "You elevated the stakes of the previous competition, now there’s nothing interesting to watch."

"Where’s Ginsengfruit?"

"That little disciple of yours was taken away by Daoist Qingmu and others. They said in your absence, they should at least help look after him, so he’s probably gone to learn with them."

Yun Ran: ...

She highly suspected that Daoist Qingmu and the others saw Ginsengfruit as a promising candidate and harbored the intention to snatch the disciple.

"Don’t tell me you didn’t realize that those old geezers were flattering to kill you!"

Yun Ran, still thinking, was brought back to her senses by Dragon Spirit’s remark.

Yun Ran sized up Dragon Spirit, "The words ’old geezers’ shouldn’t be coming out of your mouth!"

After all, who could be older than Dragon Spirit on this island?

"I just had to tell you, sooner or later you’re going to perish because of that mouth."

After speaking, Dragon Spirit didn’t bother with Yun Ran anymore and left, increasingly annoyed by Yun Ran’s mouth.

At this moment, only Yun Ran was left in the courtyard. She took out her cell phone and dialed Xie Xuzhi’s number.

Xie Xuzhi, having slept less than three hours, was still spirited and handling matters. Seeing the call from Yun Ran, he answered it immediately.

"You’re back?"

"Yeah, I now realize being the deputy director isn’t easy."

Facing a group of people where each has their own schemes, merely having a position wasn’t enough.

"So, should I thank you for your understanding?"

Xie Xuzhi could still joke at this time, indicating that the situation wasn’t too tricky, at least still within his control.

"You want to ask about Rong Gu, right? She hasn’t shown up yet, but I’ve already ordered a full-scale search for her."

Yun Ran, knowing what she wanted to know, promptly hung up the phone.

Xie Xuzhi, looking at the disconnected call, chuckled lightly, evidently tickled by it.

He had never met anyone more blunt than Yun Ran, lacking even the basic small talk.

At this moment, Xie Xuzhi didn’t realize how double-standard he was; if it were anyone else, even an extra word would annoy him.

After hanging up, Yun Ran calculated again but could only determine that Rong Gu was in the Capital City, unable to pinpoint her exact location.

"Tsk tsk, truly a worthy opponent, exceptionally well hidden."

Yun Ran glanced at the red dots on her palm, thankful for her profound Dao progress. Otherwise, having soaked in the seawater for so long, anyone else’s hand would be ruined.

At this moment, in a villa in the outskirts of Capital City.

Rong Gu watched another one of her substitutes split open and withdrew her gaze indifferently.

"This Yun Ran is truly my nemesis; in just a few days, she has ruined over a dozen of my substitutes!"

Her substitutes served a similar function to Yun Ran’s Little Paperman, the only difference being Yun Ran’s were bolstered by Heavenly Thunder and Merit, making them hard to damage with Evil Techniques.

These substitutes, if pitted against other Xuanmen people, wouldn’t give them much of a chance.

The making of these substitutes was challenging, all crafted from millennium-old yin earth mud. Even the Ghost Kings would shudder upon seeing these substitutes.

But Yun Ran had easily destroyed so many of them.

Soon, a knock came from the door: "Fairy, may I come in?"

Rong Gu stored away the split substitute before responding, "Come in!"

A middle-aged man dressed notably respectfully regarded Rong Gu, "Fairy, the negotiations are about to start, what do you think..."

Rong Gu looked up emotionlessly, "If the Xie Family people were so easy to deal with, you wouldn’t have paid a hefty price to have me take action. Xie Xuzhi isn’t so easily killed, with Yun Ran backing him!"

In the past, she had used many techniques; anyone else would have long been dead, but they were useless on Xie Xuzhi.

It wasn’t just because Xie Xuzhi himself possessed numerous Magic Artifacts and had the backing of skilled agents from the Special Administration Bureau.

Moreover, he had a unique protection on him that left her powerless.

"Instead of urging me here, you might as well check what Xie Xuzhi has that specifically counters yin evil.

That item, even the yin curse from Xing Ke he had before could be suppressed by it.

Though, my previous schemes were not without effect.

The item suppressing the yin curse on him is losing its effect. As long as we find it and coordinate our efforts, within three days, he will definitely fall into a coma."

The middle-aged man didn’t doubt Rong Gu’s words, though Xie Xuzhi’s yin curse had nothing to do with them, they could still recognize and capitalize on it.

Just when they thought Xie Xuzhi, their stumbling block, was about to be finished, six months ago, Xie Xuzhi suddenly became almost like a normal person.

This had dragged their plan by another half a year.

"We already have leads from our insiders in the Xie Family, the results will be out soon!"

Rong Gu nodded, "This matter must be clarified before the Xuanmen Competition, or else it could lead to unexpected changes!"

The middle-aged man nodded, having initially underestimated Yun Ran as a minor variable, but now, Yun Ran was a key person they were guarding against.