Chapter 348: Picking up Zhong Lingyin and Ye Liyou at the Airport!
'At that time, the remnant soul imprint of the Sword Palace Master Lin Xuanyan within Ye Linyuan's body probably wouldn't be so formidable anymore. Slowly, like a soft knife cutting meat...'
Shen Anyu narrowed his eyes, his gaze unfocused as he stared out the tinted window of the luxury vehicle, pondering the intricate game of chess he was playing.
The Land Immortal Peak-level remnant soul imprint residing within Ye Linyuan's consciousness was a variable that made Shen Anyu quite wary. It was the ultimate "Grandpa" cheat—a safety net that would shameless burst forth with heaven-defying power whenever the Child of Destiny encountered a life-or-death crisis. To forcefully crush it now would trigger a backlash that even Shen Anyu found troublesome.
He could only take it slowly. Boil the frog in warm water.
Inside the spacious, leather-scented cabin of the extended Rolls-Royce Phantom, Shen Anyu and Ye Linyuan sat in silence. On the surface, it was a peaceful ride, but in the unseen realm of the mind, both were contemplating how to deal with the other. The air was thick with unspoken schemes.
Meanwhile, sitting on the adjacent plush leather seat, Yang Luoluo's vibrant, pretty face showed a mix of nervousness and anticipation. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her dress.
"It's been so long since I've seen Fifth Sister Zhong Lingyin and Fourth Senior Sister Ye Liyou. I truly miss them."
She broke the silence, her voice soft and melodious. Immediately after, Yang Luoluo's beautiful eyes looked up at Shen Anyu. Her lashes fluttered slightly, and her small, cherry-like mouth parted slightly in awe:
"Senior Brother Anyu, thank you for personally bringing us here."
Yang Luoluo looked at Shen Anyu with profound gratitude, but also a deep sense of surprise that warmed her chest.
Shen Anyu was the Young Master of the Yanxia Shen Family—a figure of supreme nobility, comparable to a prince in this modern era. For someone of his illustrious status to personally drive a car, to act as a chauffeur for her and her junior brother, made Yang Luoluo feel overwhelmed with flattery.
It felt unreal. Senior Brother was simply too good to her, wasn't he?
Human psychology was a funny thing; different people doing the same act produced vastly different impressions. If an ordinary taxi driver or the family's chauffeur had driven her, Yang Luoluo wouldn't have felt a ripple of emotion. It would have been a service, a transaction. But Shen Anyu's status was clearly not ordinary. When a god lowered himself to serve a mortal, the mortal did not feel entitled; they felt worshipful.
[Ding! The Destined Heroine Yang Luoluo is overjoyed. Plundering +6666 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! Detected that the Destined Heroine Yang Luoluo's favorability has increased +1. Plundering +3000 Destiny Value!]
...
Shen Anyu glanced at the holographic projection that only he could see, a faint, imperceptible smile touching the corners of his lips. He was a little surprised—a pleasant surprise. He hadn't expected to inadvertently farm some favorability points just by managing his logistics.
In reality, his motives were far from the chivalrous image Yang Luoluo had constructed in her mind.
He had personally driven to pick them up, of course, not to curry favor with Yang Luoluo; with his current charm and status, there was no need for such low-level fawning.
It was merely to prevent his 'boat' from capsizing.
The complexities of his harem were reaching a critical point. Ye Liyou, the Blood Shadow Rose, had personally escorted the superstar Zhong Lingyin back to Yanxia's Magic City to protect her from the dark undercurrents targeting the celebrity.
If anything went wrong during their arrival—if they met the wrong people or said the wrong things—Shen Anyu's delicate act of juggling multiple women could be exposed. He needed to control the information flow.
Furthermore, there was a more strategic reason: to closely supervise Ye Linyuan and prevent him from contacting Ye Liyou in private.
Shen Anyu's eyes darkened slightly as he glanced at the silent Ye Linyuan. This Child of Destiny was like a cockroach; give him an inch, and he would survive a nuclear blast.
Otherwise, Ye Linyuan was very likely to play the "pitiful junior brother" card and ask Ye Liyou to take him to the deep valley to find the First Senior Sister, Fairy Pei, or to locate the Third Senior Sister, the Goddess Doctor Murong Jieyu.
With Ye Liyou's strength—which was comparable to a Martial Dao Grandmaster and possessed the stealth capabilities of a top-tier assassin—she could easily bypass obstacles and achieve this. If Ye Linyuan linked up with those powerful backers, Shen Anyu's harvest plan would face unnecessary hurdles.
However, the innocent Zhong Lingyin and the relatively weaker Yang Luoluo would find it difficult to help him in such high-level endeavors.
But with Shen Anyu present, acting as the benevolent senior brother and the controlling force, Ye Linyuan would not escape his grasp. He was the spider sitting in the center of the web, feeling every vibration.
Shen Anyu smiled slightly, tapped his fingers on the armrest, and directly composed a message on his phone interface.
...
[Location: Magic City International Airport – Tarmac]
The midday sun beat down on the asphalt, creating shimmering waves of heat that distorted the air. The roar of jet engines filled the background as a private luxury airliner taxied to a halt. The stairs lowered, and passengers began to disembark one after another.
Usually, the elite passengers of a private charter were focused on their own business, moving with haste. But today, the flow of traffic had slowed noticeably.
Many people occasionally looked towards the two seats on the back left of the transport shuttle, their gazes filled with undisguised admiration, lust, and curiosity.
There were indeed two women there who seemed to suck the light out of the surroundings, demanding attention simply by existing.
The woman seated on the inside was dressed in a flowing white gown that fluttered slightly in the air conditioning vent's breeze. She appeared pure and noble, spotless like a lotus flower untouched by the mud of the world. Her skin was snow-white, glowing with a healthy luster. Even with large, dark sunglasses and a face mask completely covering her features, one could still discern her graceful, hourglass figure and outstanding temperament. Her eyes, visible behind the tint, were clear and lively, holding the innocence of a fawn.
Beside her, the woman seated on the outside offered a striking contrast. She wore a crimson red dress that clung to her body like a second skin, accentuating her porcelain complexion. Her eyebrows were sharp and straight, extending to her temples like swords, framing exquisite facial features that radiated a valiant, heroic demeanor. Her starry eyes held a chilling aura, a frostiness that made people subconsciously lower their heads, daring not to look directly at her.
Fire and Ice. Purity and Danger.
These two women, one pure and pristine, the other cold and stunningly beautiful, were both top-tier beauties that one might not see once in a lifetime.
These two women were, naturally, the Heavenly Queen Zhong Lingyin and the Blood Shadow Rose, Ye Liyou.
A man in a bespoke Italian suit with gold-rimmed glasses frequently turned his head, straining his neck to catch a glimpse. He seemed unable to resist, even when his female companion, sensing the wandering eye, pinched his thigh hard enough to bruise.
"Ouch! I was just looking..."
"Keep walking!"
Not just him, everyone in the cabin, male or female, couldn't help but look over. The magnetic pull of beauty at this level transcended gender.
Especially the flight attendants, who whispered excitedly among themselves. They knew the identity of the woman in white: the globally popular Heavenly Queen, Zhong Lingyin. If not for strict professional ethics and the non-disclosure agreements they signed, they would have likely gone up to ask for an autograph or a photo.
However, not everyone possessed self-restraint.
A successful, pot-bellied middle-aged man, seeing the plane had landed and passengers were starting to disembark, felt his courage swell. He feared missing his chance to network with such high-caliber women. Straightening his tie and puffing out his chest to display his expensive watch, he finally couldn't resist striking up a conversation.
He stepped forward, blocking their path with a greasy, practiced smile.
"Two beauties, allow me to introduce myself. I am a majority shareholder of Huayi Entertainment Company. I have quite a few connections in the industry. I wonder if I have the honor of getting your contact information? Perhaps we could discuss a modeling contract or..."
His eyes roved over their figures greedily.
Zhong Lingyin smiled sweetly beneath her mask upon hearing this, though her eyes held a hint of mockery. Not to mention that she was now a globally renowned Heavenly Queen superstar whom billionaires begged to meet, even before her debut, she was the eldest daughter of the majestic Zhong Family. She was not someone a mere Huayi Entertainment Company shareholder could simply approach.
Due to the ten-billion-dollar bounty on her head and being targeted by many powerful figures in the Dark World, Zhong Lingyin and Fourth Senior Sister Ye Liyou had returned to Yanxia in secret. Zhong Lingyin's management team had stayed behind as a decoy, splitting up their actions to confuse the assassins.
They had even deliberately disguised themselves to avoid attention, yet they still attracted flies.
Ye Liyou was even less bothered to respond politely. She didn't even glance at the man's expensive watch or his face. Her gaze, cold and sharp as a scalpel, swept over the middle-aged man.
Her red lips parted slightly, and she spat out one word:
"Scram!"
Boom!
The word wasn't loud, but it carried a terrifying mental shockwave.
Upon being swept by Ye Liyou's icy gaze, the middle-aged man's face turned instantly pale, drained of all blood. It was as if a bucket of ice water mixed with blood had been poured over his head, soaking him to the bone.
For a split second, he didn't see a beautiful woman in a red dress; he saw a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses. He saw his own head rolling on the floor.
His legs turned to jelly, and he began to tremble uncontrollably.
"I... I..."
As the Blood Shadow Rose, a gold-medal female assassin who roamed the Dark World and slaughtered her way to the top of the rankings, Ye Liyou was a powerhouse comparable to a Grandmaster. Her Killing Intent was astonishing, tempered in the fires of countless life-and-death battles.
If fully unleashed, it could directly stun everyone in the cabin into unconsciousness or stop a weak man's heart. She had reined it in significantly, only targeting him, otherwise, the airport medical team would be busy today.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The man scrambled away, stumbling over his own feet, fleeing as if a demon were chasing him.
Aside from being amiable in front of her Senior and Junior Sisters, and acting like a shy fangirl in front of Shen Anyu, Ye Liyou had always maintained a cold, ruthless demeanor toward the world.
After scaring away the insects who tried to approach her, Ye Liyou adjusted her bag and transmitted a message using Secret Sound Transmission to her Fifth Junior Sister, Zhong Lingyin, instructing her:
"Fifth Junior Sister, Seventh Sister is here to pick you up. This is Yanxia's Magic City, the Shen Family's territory. Those Dark World powerhouses wouldn't dare to act presumptuously here. You are safe."
"I have an urgent matter and need to transfer to Flower Flag Country, San Francisco, immediately."
Zhong Lingyin was surprised. She grabbed Ye Liyou's arm and asked with concern:
"Fourth Senior Sister, what's the matter that's so urgent? You don't even have time to see Seventh Sister and Junior Brother? We just arrived!"
Ye Liyou's pretty face frosted over, her brows knitting together in a tight frown as she transmitted back:
"My assassin organization, the Rose Society, has been targeted by a powerful individual. I must go back and resolve this matter."
She couldn't use her phone during the flight to maintain radio silence, but after it had just landed, Ye Liyou opened her phone to find it flooded with missed calls and frantic encrypted messages. The Rose Society was in a major crisis, facing annihilation, and as the leader, she had to rush back as soon as possible to stabilize the situation.
Zhong Lingyin's expression changed, filled with worry. Even such a formidable Fourth Senior Sister Ye Liyou felt there was danger? The situation must be catastrophic.
Beep!
Just then, a text message arrived on Ye Liyou's secure line.
Ye Liyou glanced at it instinctively, expecting another report of casualties. But as her eyes scanned the content, her body froze.
[From: Senior]
[Content: I've handled the pests circling the Rose Society. The crisis is resolved. Focus on protecting Lingyin. I'm waiting for you outside.]
Ye Liyou suddenly smiled, her tense shoulders dropping, her brows relaxing completely. The transformation was instant—from a sharp blade to a blooming flower.
She looked at the worried Fifth Junior Sister Zhong Lingyin and comforted her, her voice noticeably lighter:
"Don't worry, maybe the trouble will be resolved on my way back. Actually... it's already resolved."
"What?" Zhong Lingyin was utterly surprised and extremely curious. "How? Who?"
But no matter how much she pressed, Ye Liyou refused to say. She just stared at the screen, biting her lip gently.
Ye Liyou's cold, beautiful eyes softened, as if ice and snow were melting under the spring sun. A hint of a genuinely shy, maiden-like smile appeared on her face as she clutched her phone tightly to her chest.
'I didn't expect Senior to know that the Rose Society was in trouble and even specially rushed over to help me solve it. Senior is so good to me... He's always watching over me.'
Clutching her phone tightly, Ye Liyou's heart was filled with honey-like joy. The terrifying assassin was gone, replaced by a woman in love.
Watching the previously cold and sharp woman in the red dress break into a beautiful, tender smile, the surrounding crowd was instantly stunned. It was like seeing a glacier transform into a garden of roses in a split second. The visual impact was blinding.
Seeing this scene, Zhong Lingyin suddenly had a guess in her heart.
Could it be that Fourth Senior Sister Ye Liyou had found a man she liked?
Who could it be, to make the cold, sharp, and ruthless Fourth Senior Sister, who didn't even blink when killing, fall in love?
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