22 Legacy World 1.12 It's Time

Xinyi had been taking the route that ZhangYong mentioned before to secretly venture out of her estate in the nights.

Each time she snuck out then returned to her courtyard, her familiarity with the roads increased, the better her teamwork with BaoBao was, the faster they progressed, and the further they could go.

After the grand apology feast, Xinyi returned to casually interacting with ZhangYong but he could still sense a distance between them.

Although she answered any question he asked and would humour him from time to time, there was something about the way she carried herself that made his heart unable to settle. Perhaps it was the way she did not put her heart into her interactions with him. Perhaps it was the way she behaved like she had no attachments to anyone or anything. It simply felt like Xinyi could choose any day to up and be gone with the wind.

A month flew by and ZhangYong still did not manage to get a firm hold on Xinyi.

Suddenly, at the end of yet another sparring match, Xinyi requested for him to continue beyond their regular duration.

"Please fight like you're really out to kill me." Xinyi asked in a dead serious manner.

She was getting impatient. The end of the month was in a few days. She wanted her martial ability to at least be on par with any average person out there before she left. It would be an important factor in her survival after she ran away. At the very least, she would learn how it might feel like to fight against someone who was truly after her life.

"Are you sure?" ZhangYong asked with a frown.

"Yes." Xinyi said with eyes burning with determination.

The look in her eyes tickled ZhangYong's heart and fueled an urge to test her for real.

ZhangYong closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, they looked sharp and predatory. While he slowly assumed a position that allowed him to attack or defend, killing intent spilled forth. Power coursed through his body and expanded outwards. It was like his spiritual energy took on his killing intent as well and was acting on it.

Xinyi's knees almost buckled under the invisible hair raising pressure that was suddenly placed on her body. She found that not only could she not move, it was also slightly difficult to breathe and there was an inexplicable fear felt down to her bones. She felt like a prey that was left with no way to escape and could only accept death.

However, she stubbornly refused to give in. She circulated her spiritual energy within her body and used it to resist the intimidating pressure.

Biting hard on her lower lip and fighting against the instinctive fear wrapping around her body, she moved forward one slow step at a time. Very slowly, she picked up speed and eventually managed to break into a run.

ZhangYong's eyebrows rose slightly in amazement. The people who were of lower martial ability than him who could break free of the frozen state that his killing intent put them in were few and rare. What he found even more amazing was that all those people were men in the troops under his father.

He smirked for a second before becoming serious again.

Her body was full of sweat by the time she was within striking distance. She yelled out as she swung her sword down at ZhangYong. It was a plain, simple, and straightforward strike, but it carried all her killing intent and strength.

ZhangYong swung his sword up and moved to meet her blow. The only chance he gave her was by meeting her sword with his instead of cutting her down any other way.

Everything happened like he expected and he sliced through her sword like it was jelly. However, he could tell that the force in her sword was far stronger and steadier than he thought. This miscalculation caused him to suffer a surface wound across his shoulder and chest when Xinyi completed the swing of her sword, or rather what remained of it.

Knowing that it signified her maximising and perfecting the use and control of spiritual energy, his lips stretched into a wide toothy grin and his eyes shone with pride. "High level sky realm. Congratulations."

Xinyi was on all fours in front of ZhangYong and panting heavily. Sweat rolled off her drenched body and dripped onto the ground. The last attack had drained her of everything she had.

Meanwhile, BaoBao was cheering and praising her to the high heavens.

Xinyi could not help laugh at his innocence and over-the-top reaction.

/BaoBao, you're really too funny. This is just the average level that people would reach!/

Although her laugh sounded weak because of her fatigue, the smile on her face completely revealed the joy that she felt because of BaoBao.

Her laugh was pleasing to ZhangYong's ears and he found himself momentarily dazzled by her pure smile that revealed dimples he never knew she had.

It, unfortunately, did not last for a long time. Her laughter and smile disappeared without a trace while she sluggishly got up from the floor. Now that she was looking at him with her usual slack face, he even wondered to himself if what just happened was merely his hallucination.

"Let's find out the results of the experiment now." Xinyi said before making her way to the potted herbs.

Today was the half year mark since the day she included him into the experiment.

After Xinyi made soup using the herbs in the exact same way she did the last time she experimented on her edible herbs, she set the food on the stone table.

They started with the one that Xinyi nourished and found no difference from the usual ones they ate all the time. They have long gotten used to eating herbs nourished by her spiritual energy.

When they drank the one that Zhang Yong nourished, their eyes became as wide as saucers.

ZhangYong finally understood what Xinyi meant by feeling cleansed. He could not find any other way to describe this feeling. His spiritual energy felt like it was being cleaned of impurities and purified into a more condensed state.

It was only much later that he would realise how it would aid in his control and the flow of his spiritual energy while improving the strength of his spiritual power. He would also find that the purity of his spiritual energy allowed him to experience a little bit of the power of the next level before he completely advanced into it.

The day that he realises all the benefits of eating a spiritually nourished herb would be the day he recognises the value of it in advancing levels and realms.

What Xinyi experienced was equivalent to what she experienced all the time except that it was several times the intensity. It was so intense that she felt the need to cultivate properly after she ate as if to replace the lost impurities with more spiritual energy.

"Pearl." ZhangYong suddenly broke the silence.

He waited for her to look at him before he continued. "Thank you. Thank you for making me privy to this experiment and knowledge. These could cause a huge sensation in the world."

Xinyi nodded in response. "Don't mention it. It was thanks to your contribution that I now know how the person who nourishes the herbs matters. But I'd like to ask you to please keep this to yourself. This is like my trump card, so it would defeat the purpose if everyone else knows about it too."

ZhangYong understood her meaning without needing her to explain. "Of course." He said with a nod.

When they finished their meal and were about to part ways, Xinyi formally bowed to him.

Zhang Yong got taken aback by her sudden formality. Why is she behaving like this again?

"Thank you for everything you've helped me with, from teaching me, to helping me reveal the real culprit behind HuiShan meimei's poisoning, to helping me with the experiment. Thank you for everything you've given me as well. You've more than made up for your mistake so please don't feel guilty about it anymore." Only after she finished speaking did she stand back up again.

ZhangYong knew he should be feeling happy that she was expressing her forgiveness and gratitude. However, he could not find in him to be happy. Something about her behaviour bugged him.

"It's a fair trade between us. We learnt valuable things from each other. There's no need for thanks." He stared at her for a while longer in silence.

Normally he would see her after a day or two, but this time, he felt the need to see her tomorrow. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Xinyi smiled politely at him then left him to return to her room without giving him a reply. It was her usual response but something simply felt odd tonight. ZhangYong lingered around in her courtyard for a while more before disappearing into the night.

As soon as ZhangYong left, BaoBao appeared by Xinyi's side on the bed. "He's finally gone. Shall we start?"

Xinyi opened her eyes, switching from focused cultivation to continuous cultivation, then nodded.

While BaoBao destroyed the stove and the pulley system of the well, Xinyi dug up all her herbs and turned the little garden back into a spot where bushes grew. BaoBao was then in charge of disposal while she continued to keep every utensil and tool she used in the rundown shed. They later worked on returning her room to how it looked when she first transmigrated here.

Using the grey drapery as a travelling bag that she tied to her shoulders, she took one last look around her courtyard. Besides the lack of dust on things, there was no other indication of someone having lived here before. Satisfied with the results, she pulled the hat that she purchased some time ago lower to hide her face then jumped over the wall at the back of her courtyard with practiced ease, making her way out of the estate.

Xinyi headed towards the border that ZhangYong and his father protected because it was determined as the next safest and most stable area to live in when compared to the capital.

When they were passing by the only red light district in their established route, BaoBao suddenly exclaimed out in surprise, making Xinyi's heart jump in fright.

BaoBao immediately apologised for it before he caused Xinyi more panic. [Sorry, sorry, you're safe, you're safe. I just saw Ou SiLiang.]

Xinyi discreetly scanned the area around her while she continued down the path but could not find him.

[He's in one of the brothels… What's with the violent way he's having sex with those girls though…?] BaoBao sounded terribly disgusted. [He's so different from how he portrayed himself a month ago. Now I understand why you should avoid him…]

/Violent? … The original soul must have suffered much at his hands./ Disgust entered Xinyi's eyes as well and she picked up the pace at which she was going.

The next day, ZhangYong happened to receive the full report on SiLiang.

On the surface, SiLiang seemed like a normal respectable second generation rich young man. A man full of smiles, a smooth talker, and one capable enough to take over his father's trading business. All the girls eyed by him were well-pampered. Anyone seeing this would think that Xinyi got herself a good husband.

It took extra digging and an observant person who was looking for ways to bring him down to notice some oddities in his behaviour.

He was never interested in mingling too much with girls of the higher class and never showed an interest in marriage. All the girls he messed with came from poorer backgrounds and brothels. Some girls affiliated with him would also be announced as missing or dead days after spending intimate moments with him. When such cases happened, the families and establishments where the girls came from would experience a time of fortune.

As it turned out, the deaths were actually mishaps from a sick and violent sexual play he was secretly into. Their families or establishments would be generously compensated to keep their mouths shut. He only agreed to marry Xinyi as a means to kill two birds with one stone. Not only would the marriage shut his nagging father up, he would also get to taste a more "refined dish" whose family did not care enough about her to give him any trouble.

/So that night when Xinyi came back so late was his way of gauging her family's reaction?/

ZhangYong's expression had turned darker and darker the more he read on. By the time he reached the end, his eyes shone with a murderous light. /There's no way I'll let such a filthy and despicable person defile my Pearl like that./

He took the report with him to the Chen household.

Not wanting Xinyi to have some misunderstanding about her broken engagement that would make her feel heartbroken, he decided to first inform her about it.

Along his way to the Chen's household, he completely missed how an ordinary and feminine looking man glanced at him rushing through the streets, thus missing his only chance to stop Xinyi from leaving.

Because she did not have the same transport, endurance, and stamina that ZhangYong has, she was still making her way to the border where ZhangYong came from after an entire night and morning of travelling.

Since ZhangYong also took the shortest route, they were bound to cross paths. However, Xinyi believed that ZhangYong would not notice her even if they walked past each other, especially with her current get up, which was indeed what happened.