Chapter 13 Murong Xue

He thought something big had happened, but he didn't expect Chen Wudi to be in such a rush just to see a woman.

"What kind of woman, that's the stunner ranked third on the Beauty List," Chen Wudi retorted when he saw Xu Nian's indifferent face.

"That's still only third place, not the first. What's so good about that?" Xu Nian teased on purpose.

Chen Wudi rolled his eyes, making an ignorant face.

Seeing Xu Nian still unmoved, Chen Wudi had to patiently explain, "Although there are ten on the Beauty List, only the top three can truly be called stunning beauties. The women ranked below third are just average beauties, but the top three are very different."

"What's so different?" Xu Nian asked curiously.

"The top three on the Beauty List all have beauty, temperament, talent, and status all in one. They're simply incomparable to the other seven beauties. Take the third-ranked one, for example. Her looks are absolutely gorgeous, her figure is hot, her talent is King-level, ranked sixth on the Hidden Dragon List, and her temperament is undeniably cold and proud. Even more, her father is the City Lord, a Xuantian-level Battle General," Chen Wudi said with excitement in his eyes.

"Wait, are you talking about Murong Xue?" Xu Nian asked in surprise.

"Exactly, it's Murong Xue from your Tianhai City. You know her?" Chen Wudi asked excitedly, grabbing Xu Nian's arm.

"Murong Xue is recognized as the number one beauty in Tianhai City. Who doesn't know her?" Xu Nian replied lightly.

"That's true, with your past status in the Qin Family, you couldn't have possibly been in contact with her," Chen Wudi said, immediately looking disappointed.

Xu Nian just smiled, saying nothing.

He could easily see through Chen Wudi's thoughts; Chen Wudi obviously wanted to use Xu Nian to get close to Murong Xue.

Now, finding that Xu Nian's status made it impossible for him to have any connection with Murong Xue, Chen Wudi was understandably disappointed.

In fact, Xu Nian had indeed had an encounter with Murong Xue, although it was only for one day. Yet the events of that day were unimaginable to others, and that sensuous scene still lingered in Xu Nian's mind.

"Are you going or not? If you don't go now, I'm leaving," Chen Wudi said impatiently as Xu Nian zoned out.

Xu Nian just smiled and didn't answer, instead heading straight towards the Scripture Pavilion.

"Such a repressed guy!"

Chen Wudi cursed under his breath as he looked at Xu Nian's retreating figure, then quickly followed him.

...

Qinglin Academy, first floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

Murong Xue, as usual, was selecting the Combat Skills she wanted, ignoring the fervent gazes of those around her.

On the first of every month, she would come to the Scripture Pavilion to pick out the Combat Skills she desired, and her appearance would inevitably attract attention. Some people even figured out her routine, waiting at the Scripture Pavilion on each month's first day.

Over time, the Scripture Pavilion would become packed to the gills on the first day.

Murong Xue's personality was always cold and proud; she wouldn't change her habits for anyone.

Moreover, even if she deliberately altered her schedule, it was to no avail. As soon as she appeared, she would certainly grab the attention of the crowd.

When Xu Nian and Chen Wudi arrived at the Scripture Pavilion, the first floor was already surrounded by several layers of people, and they had to squeeze their way to the front row.

When Xu Nian saw Murong Xue's charming figure, he was still stunned for a few seconds.

Murong Xue was clad in a plain white dress, which outlined her slender figure with striking clarity. Her graceful curves were so enchanting that they elicited gasps of admiration and led to fanciful daydreams, especially her face, which resembled a fairy descending to earth, pure and as lovely as a lotus emerging from clear water.

Standing there, she looked like a delicate jade statue, akin to a breathtaking painting.

"How about it, isn't Murong Xue beautiful?" Chen Wudi saw Xu Nian's dazed expression and snickered.

Xu Nian could only smile wryly and shake his head. His stupor was because the moment he saw Murong Xue, he remembered the scene from a year ago that had suddenly come to his mind.

It was an afternoon a year ago when Xu Nian was hunting in the forests of Tianhai City and was unexpectedly collided with by a figure.

At first, he thought it was some fierce beast, but it turned out to be a severely injured beautiful young girl.

The girl had taken an arrow to the chest, and her blood was flowing profusely, a truly shocking sight.

The moment the girl collided with Xu Nian, she was already losing consciousness.

She could only manage to say 'Save... save me...' before losing consciousness.

Xu Nian was initially shocked, but he quickly realized that the girl was being pursued and took her into a very secluded cave. Sure enough, it wasn't long before their pursuers arrived.

Holding the girl, Xu Nian hid in the cave and thus avoided a calamity.

Although they escaped pursuit, the girl had an arrow wound, and it was poisoned at that, leaving her life hanging by a thread.

In his anxiousness, Xu Nian could only find some clean water and hemostatic herbs to treat the girl's wounds.

He removed the arrow, cleaned the wound, sucked out the poison with his mouth, and applied the hemostatic medicine, touching the girl's private areas throughout the process.

But with a life at stake, Xu Nian had no choice but to proceed.

Not until nightfall, when Xu Nian saw that the girl was no longer in mortal danger, did he return home alone to reassure his mother and planned to go back the next day.

However, when Xu Nian arrived at the cave early the next day, he discovered that the girl was no longer there.

Latter, Xu Nian learned from others that the daughter of Cloud Sea City's City Lord had been assassinated outside the city, and that was when he realized the girl he had saved was Murong Xue.

Although Murong Xue was only fifteen at the time, she was already well-developed, so Xu Nian saw what he should not have seen.

Fearing that Murong Xue might hold a grudge against him, he told no one about the incident, acting as if it had never happened, while Murong Xue herself was in a coma at the time and could not possibly recognize him, so to this day, only Xu Nian knew of this event.

In fact, Murong Xue truly did not know who had saved her, as she was in a daze at the time and only knew a young man had treated her wounds.

As for who this young man was, she had no memory whatsoever.

Suddenly, Xu Nian's body stiffened, and his gaze fixated on the delicate jade pendant hanging from Murong Xue's slender waist.

He was all too familiar with this jade pendant, as its true owner was himself.

He had thought he had lost it carelessly while running through the woods, but it turned out it had been left in the cave, and he never expected Murong Xue to have picked it up.

"I never thought she would actually keep this jade pendant with her all the time. If she knew the significance of this jade pendant, I wonder what she would think," Xu Nian thought to himself with self-mocking laughter.

Although the jade pendant was just an ordinary one, it was the heirloom of his mother's family, and Xu Nian was only holding on to it temporarily.

In his mother's words, it was a gift for the future daughter-in-law upon meeting her.