"Ruoxue, why didn't you tell me you've returned?" Xuan Jiu walked up with a smile, his handsome face carrying a calm expression.

"Young Master Xuan..." Ning Ruoxue bit her red lips tightly.

"Young Master Xuan? Haha, that's too formal. Don't we have a marriage arrangement? You should call me Brother Xuan Jiu." Xuan Jiu continued smiling.

Ning Ruoxue shook her head, saying, "Young Master Xuan, let's reconsider the marriage arrangement. When Ruoxue was yet to be born, the arrangement was made without us having met. Don't you find it all too frivolous?"

"Why would I?" Xuan Jiu gently shook his head, his gaze sweeping over Ning Ruoxue's delicate figure.

Then.

He slowly walked towards Ning Ruoxue!

Reaching out to pull Ning Ruoxue, he smiled and said, "We've met now, haven't we? I am quite pleased with you."

Seeing this, Ning Ruoxue instinctively stepped back half a step.

Xuan Jiu's hand awkwardly froze in mid-air, and the smile on his face solidified.

"Miss, what does this mean? Young Master Xuan wants to pull you and you step back? Is Young Master Xuan that frightening? Are you rejecting him like this?" Ning Shuang suddenly spoke, her voice somewhat icy. Though she was Ning Ruoxue's maid, she seemed to have forgotten her status at the moment.

Moreover.

As long as Ning Ruoxue marries Xuan Jiu, Ning Shuang, as a maid, will certainly accompany her in the marriage.

Thus.

Ning Shuang very much hoped that Ning Ruoxue would marry Xuan Jiu!

Otherwise, considering Ning Shuang's status, she may never find a man like Xuan Jiu in her next life.

If she could become Xuan Jiu's woman, what's wrong with being a concubine?

"What do you mean?" Xuan Jiu's voice turned cold.

Ning Ruoxue quickly shook her head and said, "Young Master Xuan, I have blood on me, it's unclean! I'm afraid it will dirty your hands."

Indeed, Ning Ruoxue had blood on her, and it was Lin Fan's blood.

She had carried Lin Fan back to the Ning Family, and some of Lin Fan's blood had inevitably stained her clothes.

"Haha, now that you mention it, I remember you brought back a man earlier, didn't you? I heard he was seriously injured. Why don't I take a look? I have considerable expertise in medical skill; maybe I can save your friend." Xuan Jiu chuckled while looking at Ning Ruoxue, though his smile hid a dagger.

From Ning Zhong's mouth, Xuan Jiu had already learned Lin Fan's identity as someone from the Divine Wind Continent.

Speaking of it.

His fiancée brought home a critically injured and dying stranger.

The first thing she did was not to meet him, her fiancé.

Instead, she went to the Ning Family's treasury to find medicinal materials to save a dying man. Anyone would feel uncomfortable, but Xuan Jiu did not explode right there and then.

"No... no need... He's fine..." Ning Ruoxue decisively shook her head.

She knew deeply that Xuan Jiu's jealousy was very intense, extremely intense.

If Xuan Jiu saw Lin Fan, Lin Fan would absolutely be doomed!

"What if I insist on seeing him?" Xuan Jiu smiled casually.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Ning Ruoxue kept her head down, tightly clenched her delicate fists. She was determined not to let Xuan Jiu enter the treasury, as Lin Fan was still recovering, and if Xuan Jiu went in now, would Lin Fan even survive?

"No way!"

Ning Ruoxue suddenly raised her head.

In that moment.

The smile vanished entirely from Xuan Jiu's face.

It was replaced with endless coldness and iciness.

"Nonsense! Ruoxue, move aside. Young Master Xuan said he understands medical skill, and he wants to check your friend's injuries, what are you blocking for? Are you doubting Young Master Xuan's character? Do you know the status of our Ning Family? From the start, we've been a subordinate family to the Xuan Family. Without the Xuan Family's support, do you think our Ning Family's Treasure Pavilion could spread across the lower realm?" Ning Hongtao, who hadn't spoken all along, let out a low shout full of anger.

Due to the Ning and Xuan families' relationship, Ning Hongtao always hoped Ning Ruoxue would marry Xuan Jiu.

Although Xuan Jiu's cultivation talent is not outstanding, and he couldn't become the head of the Xuan Family.

But.

Xuan Jiu is quite favored in the Ning Family, and as long as the Ning Family's ancestor remains alive, Xuan Jiu will surely hold influence within the Xuan Family.

"Dad! You want me to marry Young Master Xuan, but won't you consider your daughter's feelings?" Ning Ruoxue couldn't help but shout, her beautiful eyes filled with tears.

No one cared about her feelings since childhood, neither her father nor mother, all pushed her to marry Xuan Jiu.

And never asked whether she liked Xuan Jiu!

Yes!

So what if she didn't like him?

Her fate has long been destined.

Thus, Ning Ruoxue left the Sumeru Continent to try to change her fate, to join the Cloud Immortal Palace, to become a disciple and change her destiny!

"Your feelings? What feelings? If your father didn't consider your feelings, would he let you marry Young Master Xuan Jiu? Do you not know Young Master Xuan Jiu's status? Would you suffer by marrying him? Your father is thinking for your benefit, that's why he wants you to marry Young Master Xuan Jiu! Why can't you understand your father's good intentions!" Ning Hongtao erupted in fury, words stuck in his throat.

His daughter dared to refute him.

"Thinking for me? You think you're thinking for yourself! If you love Xuan Jiu that much, why don't you marry him yourself!" Ning Ruoxue screamed, almost falling apart.

The words she heard most over the years were that father was thinking for her!

If it was truly for her, why never ask what she wanted?

"Shut up!"

Ning Hongtao was about to explode with rage, surrounded by hundreds of people from the Xuan Family.

Even Xuan Jiu was present!

Ning Ruoxue dared to utter such words.

Ning Hongtao felt his old face was utterly disgraced.

"Ruoxue! Why have you become like this? Tell your father, have you fallen for that cripple you brought back? That useless man, severely injured, according to Ning Zhong, is about to die! Why bring home such a nearly expired waste?" Ning Hongtao simmered, hovering on the brink of explosion.

"Dad! Don't dare to talk nonsense, Lin Fan is not a waste, nor a cripple, he is the most extraordinary person in the world! I won't let you insult him!" Ning Ruoxue's beautiful eyes were red, streaked with blood, her delicate form trembling with anger.

"So you really like him?"

Ning Hongtao's expression soured dramatically!

His daughter's behavior left no doubt about her feelings for Lin Fan.

"Yes! I do like him! So what? I just don't like Xuan Jiu, not at all!!!" Ning Ruoxue took the plunge, blocking the treasury door, and shouted, "Dad! If you want to go in and hurt Lin Fan, you'll have to kill me first!"