<h4>Chapter 542: Three Women, One Snake, One Man (part 1)</h4>


    Ding Xue’s voice was soft and charming, like a fine rain that entered the dharmaship to be heard by both Xu Qing and Ling’er.


    Ling’er’s eyes widened, and she looked suspiciously outside.


    Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change as he waved his hand, opening the dharmaship’s defenses.


    Ding Xue approached through the moonlight. She had long hair and violet garments. Her hair was bound with a golden ribbon, which glittered resplendently. Strapped to her back was an ancient bronze sword that made her seem very valiant. That said, she also seemed somewhat flirtatious, with bewitching eyes and a cute smile. She was still young, but in the two years that had passed, she had transformed from a girl into a seductive young woman. As the moonlight shone down on her, she seemed incredibly attractive, but at the same time, charmingly shy.


    Surprised, Xu Qing instinctively looked in the direction of the shore.


    “What are you looking at little old me like that for, Big Bro Xu Qing?” Ding Xue asked, looking a bit bashful as she stepped onto the deck.


    “I’m not looking at you,” Xu Qing replied truthfully. “I’m looking for Zhao Zhongheng.”


    Ding Xue’s ample chest rose and fell. Although Xu Qing’s unromantic words were potentially lethal, they didn’t do much to her. Difficulties existed to be ovee, right??


    Eyes glittering beautifully, she approached Xu Qing. Upon seeing his captivating face, her heart skipped a beat, and she swallowed. As she struggled to maintain control, she sighed inwardly with regret at the thought of failing to win him over back during the Merfolk Isles days.[1]


    <i>It’s all the fault of that Zhao Zhongheng! Hmph! But that’s fine. With effort, one can achieve anything!</i>


    As Ding Xue tried to pump herself up mentally, she took out a stack of spirit notes and offered it to Xu Qing. She made sure to reveal some of her snow-white forearm as she did.


    “Big Bro Xu Qing, this is your share of the profits from Harbor 176. Thanks to Zhang San’s skill and my attentive care, there isn’t a single spirit coin missing.”


    Xu Qing nodded. He had already learned from Zhang San that Ding Xue had been taking care of his share of the profits for the past two years. He was very grateful for her warm-heartedness. That was especially true when he thought about how, thanks to her love of knowledge, she had given him a lot of spirit stones back when he was very poor. Because of that, he’d always had a good impression of Ding Xue. Smiling, he took the spirit notes. Pulling out a few, he handed them back to Ding Xue.


    “Here, take these.”


    Ding Xue blinked a few times and refrained from taking the spirit notes. Then, she stood there for a moment fiddling with the hem of her sleeve, looking like she wanted to say something. After a few breaths of time passed, she was mentally ready. Taking out a white bottle from her bag of holding, she ced it in front of her.


    “Big Bro Xu Qing, this is some osmanthus-vored lotus seed soup that I personally prepared. I’m nning to give it to my aunt and uncle, but I’m hoping you can try it and give me some feedback.”


    Xu Qing hesitated briefly. However, there didn’t seem to be any reason to refuse, so he took the bottle and sampled it. He frowned.


    “It’s a bit sweet.”


    An embarrassed flush crept up Ding Xue’s neck to her face. “Big Bro Xu Qing, you.... Anyway, okay. I get it.”


    Xu Qing wasn’t sure what she meant by that, and was about to inquire. Before he could, Ding Xue stood.


    “I need to go, Big Bro Xu Qing. I know you just got back and need to rest. I’lle back tomorrow. By the way, thanks for the pocket money.”


    Still blushing, Ding Xue took the spirit notes and hurried away. Once outside the dharmaship and on the shore, a pleased smile appeared on her face.


    <i>It turns out the methods my aunt taught me really do work. I just need to set myself up as his household administrator. If I want to win Big Bro Xu Qing, I can’t rush things. I have to make sure things go smoothly. That way, he doesn’t get his guard up. Then, slowly but surely, I’ll melt his heart. I also need to be sure to not be too assertive. I need to make myself seem like helpless prey. Aunt exined that that’s how she won over Uncle years ago.</i>


    With such thoughts on her mind, Ding Xue started nning out her next steps in finer detail....


    Back on the dharmaship, Xu Qing frowned as he tried to figure out what exactly Ding Xue meant by the things she said. There were obviously multiple interpretations.


    “Big Bro Xu Qing,” Ling’er said from his sleeve. “You need to be careful about her. I picked up some hidden aggression in her eyes when she was looking at you. She must have some specific thing she’s trying to aplish. My papa once told me that there are some people who are always trying to get things out of other people. I think she’s that type of person. She’s bad news, Big Bro Xu Qing.”


    Xu Qing felt his guard go up. But then he realized it wasn’t likely that Ding Xue meant him any harm. That said, it probably wouldn’t hurt to keep his guard up, at least a little bit.


    Ling’er felt very happy to see Xu Qing taking her advice seriously. “Aren’t I pretty amazing, Big Bro Xu Qing? Especially when ites to getting a read on people. With me around, you’ll have a much easier time figuring out who the bad people are.”


    Xu Qing smiled and was about to start meditating when he once again looked toward the shore.


    Before long, he heard the rather high-pitched voice of an excited young woman.


    “You’re finally back, Big Bro Xu Qing....”


    A young woman appeared outside. She was dressed in all ck, and she was carrying a veryrge earthenware jug on her shoulder. The jug was so muchrger than her petite frame that it created a very discordant image. However, that just made her seem more unique. She had fair skin and eyebrows like willow leaves, as well as eyes that, though not unusuallyrge, seemed capable of revealing her heart to the world. Her facial expression seemed to be one of infatuation, passion, and also morbid obsession. There were a lot of scars visible on the skin of her forearm, all of which had been put there by her own fingernails. Her lips and nose were very distinctive, as was her pretty ponytail. All of these things together created a very unique image.


    Yanyan.


    She leaped into the air and right toward the dharmaship’s defenses. Of course, Xu Qing’s dharmaship had Gold Core power, and since Yanyan was only in Foundation Establishment, she could be seriously injured if she mmed right into the defenses. She didn’t seem to care.


    Knowing Yanyan well, Xu Qing lowered the defenses so she could easilynd on the deck.


    She looked a bit disappointed, as if she’d been ready to be seriously injured, and had been looking forward to it. But then she thought about what was toe, and she brightened up. She put the earthenware jug down with a thump, then dumped a pile of torture instruments off to the side.


    There were needles, des, pincers, saws, and more.... Many of them were ck with blood thanks to their heavy usage over the past two years. A good number of them were also stained with the baleful aura of resentful souls, which spread out into the dharmaship.


    “Big Bro Xu Qing. Let’s... get started, okay?”


    Her nose red and she started breathing heavily as she pped the jug. The jug shattered, and streams of smoke billowed out. Unexpectedly, they were Smokewights.


    Although the Smokewights had been heavily sanctioned after the Lieutenant Governor’s Coup, some of the more clever ones had fled before any action was taken. And of course, there were others that had been away before everything went down. Some were top experts, others were more ordinary individuals.


    The ones that tumbled out of the jug were thetter. There were quite a few of them, but most emitted Foundation Establishment fluctuations. The handful that were in Gold Core were extremely weak.


    “Big Bro Xu Qing, my grandma helped me capture these Smokewights. Sadly, we couldn’t find the big one. Just these shrimps. But we can still have some fun with them. After you left, I was all alone, and it was just so boring!”


    Eyes glittering with excitement, she grabbed one of the Smokewights. As it struggled in her hand, numerous des flew up and circled around her like a tempest. They shed through the smoke, but no screams could be heard. That was because no matter how you shed up a Smokewight, they could form back together almost instantly, and it didn’t inflict any pain.


    Despite that, Yanyan seemed entranced with the concept of slicing up the Smokewight. Trembling almost uncontrobly, she looked over at Xu Qing.


    She was about to say something when she noticed that his facial expression was somewhat aloof. Stunned, she hesitated for a moment and then said, “You don’t like this, Big Bro Xu Qing?”


    She looked deeply apprehensive, even despairing, and she even started to wilt physically. She obviously cared a lot about Xu Qing’s opinion, and whatever he said next could affect her entire world.


    Xu Qing looked at her and realized that there was something unusual about Yanyan. She had been a morbid person two years ago, but she hadn’t been as crazed as this. What was more, he could tell that many of the scars on her arm were fresh. The look in her eyes was the same as you would expect to see in a drowning person who was pleading for help. Her illness had gotten worse. It wasn’t that she treated others sadistically. She treated herself sadistically. And it was only in that state of twisted pain that she felt she could breathe and be happy.


    As Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with profound light, he heard an aged voice speaking from outside. It was none other than Guru Easher, Yanyan’s grandmother.


    “I only have this one grandchild, Xu Qing,” she said bitterly, “Can you help her...? Ever since she was little, she’s had no mutagen in her, and as a result, she has a problem with inner devils. Her personality has be more and more cruel over the years. I’ve tried many times to purify her, but her problembined with her personality makes it impossible to cleanse her of wicked thoughts.


    “Things got really bad when she tried to reach Gold Core but failed. She very nearly copsed mentally. I can keep her safe physically, but she has too much mental pressure to deal with. She either has to torture others or torture herself. And that just makes her more antisocial and entric. I have no other options here. But I do trust you.”


    Xu Qing looked at Yanyan. He could see the despair in her eyes, and the way she seemed to be wilting. It was as if her sea of consciousness was riddled with damage thanks to all of her pent-up frustrations.


    “So immature,” Xu Qing suddenly said.


    Yanyan looked up at him.


    1. The Merfolk Isles arc with Xu Qing, Ding Xue, and Zhao Zhongheng was in <u>chapters 166</u>-<u>168</u> ?