Night fell.
Three people sat around a campfire—two men and one woman.
Two were cheerful, one was sulking.
Blake tossed some more wood onto the fire and shot a vicious glare at “Su Mo” sitting across from him. “He” was chatting and laughing with Vail, and although the two weren’t being particularly intimate and weren’t sitting all that close together, it still made Blake’s chest tighten with frustration. He was itching to throw a punch at “him.”
If Vail weren’t there, he probably would’ve gone through with it. But now… he was afraid she’d never give him another chance.
No choice. He’d have to suck it up.
He let out a long sigh, about to say something, when Vail suddenly stood up and walked off. She didn’t say where she was going, but everyone knew—and no one called her out on it.
Blake took the chance to glare daggers at Ye Qingyi. She found it completely baffling and snapped back, “What are you staring at me for?”
“Su Mo, I’m warning you—stay away from Vail from now on, or don’t blame me for being rude,” Blake said, his face darker than his name suggested.
Ye Qingyi felt just as wronged. After all, it was Vail who liked her, not the other way around. Besides, there was no way she could ever like Vail that way.
What’s more, Vail wasn’t the type to pester someone relentlessly. Once she learned that the person she liked already had a girlfriend, she never said anything out of line to Ye Qingyi again. In their day-to-day interactions, she always kept things strictly friendly.
Whatever Vail might’ve been feeling inside, on the surface, she acted appropriately. The two of them were perfectly innocent.
As for why Blake was still jealous—well, anyone who’s watched Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf would know. There’s a certain someone on Green-Green Grassland with the surname Fei, and the internet is full of legends about him…
Funny how things work out. Blake was handsome, powerful, came from an impressive background, and the two even had an arranged marriage from childhood. But Vail just didn’t like him.
“We’re just ordinary friends. Don’t overthink it,” Ye Qingyi could only say.
Blake flew into a rage: “Vail is my fiancée! Even if you’re just ‘ordinary friends,’ how is it fair that she spends all day laughing and chatting with you while ignoring me?”
Ye Qingyi did feel some sympathy for Blake, but his words still grated on her nerves. “If you like a girl but never actually do anything for her—all you do is run your mouth—no wonder she’s not interested.”
“Don’t you dare tell me how to act!” Blake narrowed his eyes, a murderous aura slowly seeping out.
Didn’t he want to do things for her? Of course he did! But Vail had said not to bother. To respect her feelings, he’d held back and done nothing.
Good thing Ye Qingyi had no idea what was going through his head, or she’d have laughed her head off.
The guy was smart in so many ways—how could he be so dense about certain things?
Ye Qingyi didn’t want to waste another word on him. Talking to him any further would just be a drain on her energy. As for his threats—she didn’t take them seriously at all.
In her eyes, Blake was just another genius. And her family had no shortage of those.
Not to mention Ye Qingyu—she and Su Mo might only be C-rank, but the quality of their C-rank strength was terrifyingly high.
Ever since she’d woken up from that coma in the Qian Realm Abyss, the snow-capped peaks in her sea of qi had grown from six to seven. And that seventh mountain was taller and more imposing than any before it—clearly no ordinary peak.
She turned her head toward the darkness, avoiding Blake’s gaze.
The two sat in awkward silence until Vail returned, easing the tension just a little.
She sighed helplessly. “You two fought again, didn’t you?”
Ye Qingyi pursed her lips and said nothing.
Blake, seeing that, played dumb too.
“Blake, I’ve made myself clear before, but I think I need to say it again. Our engagement was just something our elders casually mentioned—it was never with my consent, so it doesn’t count. Once we get out of here, I’ll have them sort it out. I think we’re better off as ordinary friends.”
Vail’s tone was serious, but Blake felt like his heart was being torn apart.
“Is it because of Su Mo?” he asked bitterly.
Vail didn’t play coy. She answered openly, “I do like Su Mo, but those two things aren’t connected. Even if Su Mo weren’t in the picture, I still wouldn’t be with you. In my heart, we’re just friends.”
Before they’d entered the Tianjiao Camp, they’d only met a handful of times. There was never much of a connection to begin with, so Vail didn’t have any feelings for him. Calling them “ordinary friends” instead of “complete strangers” was her way of protecting his pride.
But Blake was different. The first time he’d laid eyes on Vail, he’d been completely captivated—and it only spiraled from there…
Blake laughed—a laugh uglier than a cry. “So I was never in your heart to begin with. Even without Su Mo, you might’ve fallen for someone else—just never me. Calling me a ‘friend’ is just a polite way of letting me down easy.”
With that out in the open, everyone felt awkward. Ye Qingyi covered her face, internally groaning: No wonder she doesn’t like him…
The atmosphere plummeted to freezing point thanks to Blake’s words, and all three fell silent.
Blake, realizing a beat too late that he’d spoken poorly, was about to explain himself when a surprised voice cut through the darkness: “What a coincidence, everyone!”
Out of the shadows, Su Mo approached the campfire. Vail immediately lit up and went to greet him. “Chiba! You’re here!”
Blake had bad blood with him and, fresh off that unpleasant exchange, naturally ignored him.
Ye Qingyi, meanwhile, put on an air of chaste virtue and pretended he didn’t exist.
Seeing this, Vail didn’t push it. She simply invited him to sit down.
Subtly, she positioned herself right between him and Ye Qingyi—almost as if she were deliberately keeping them apart.
She knew the two had once shared a “shady” past and had later fallen out over some issues. Sitting together would’ve been painfully awkward for them.
She, on the other hand, was different. Even if Lin Chiba was Chiba Zhenxiang, she could still be friends with him without any issue.
And so, aside from Vail, pretty much everyone present had some kind of beef with someone else.
Su Mo hated the lifeless atmosphere, so he took the initiative to break the ice: “So, where are you all headed?”
“North. Looking for an altar,” Vail replied.
Su Mo nodded thoughtfully. “Seems like you’ve all run into Yuan Tianxiu.”
“Exactly. What he said sounded a bit far-fetched, but we decided to go check it out anyway. Even if it’s some kind of trap, with all of us together, we’ve got nothing to fear. Now that you’re here too, we can all go as a group.”
Just then, Blake suddenly spoke up: “I’m heading off first.”
Without looking back, he strode into the darkness, his steps resolute.
Even though he hadn’t been around for the earlier conversation, he could guess pretty well what had gone down—just the usual boy-meets-girl drama: you love me, I don’t love you; I love you, you don’t love me.
But then Ye Qingyi also stood up. With a sigh, she said, “I’m going too—”
“No, you’re not!” Vail cut her off before she could finish, looking annoyed. “Why are all you men so petty?”
Ye Qingyi glanced at Su Mo and smirked. “Maybe we just have a knack for being annoying.”
Vail: =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧)
Su Mo: (￢_￢)
Not far off, Blake paused mid-step and muttered bitterly, “When I left, she said nothing. But when he barely even got the words out, she was already begging him to stay…”
