Published: February 24, 2025
Chapter 96: Unveiling True Feelings
Tan Yun naturally denied it; nothing had actually happened.
Mu Mengyi suddenly stopped in her tracks, her beautiful eyes focused on Tan Yun as she said seriously, “I can sense that she has feelings for you. What do you think of her as a person?”
Tan Yun pondered for a moment and replied, “From our few interactions, I feel she is kind-hearted like you. I believe, based on my experience, I won’t misjudge someone.”
“Is that so?” Mu Mengyi huffed, “If she is truly kind-hearted, then why did she drug me during the Hidden Dragon Rankings competition? Why use such underhanded means to defeat me?”
“Or do you believe she didn’t drug me, and I am lying to slander her?”
Tan Yun raised his hand, curling his finger to lightly poke Mu Mengyi’s delicate nose, smiling as he said, “Silly girl, how could I possibly doubt you?”
“Then who do you actually believe?” Mu Mengyi pouted playfully.
“I believe neither of you is lying.” After saying this, Tan Yun noticed that Mu Mengyi was genuinely angry, so he continued, “I believe you were indeed drugged, but the person who did it could not have been Zhong Wu Shiyao.”
“Hmm?” Mu Mengyi's brows furrowed slightly.
“Mengyi, do you know Zhong Wu Shiyao's character?” Tan Yun asked thoughtfully.
“Why should I care about her?” Mu Mengyi replied sourly. “But you, she saved you twice, and she's beautiful. Are you smitten with her, which is why you're speaking up for her?”
“Are you jealous?” Tan Yun laughed as he hugged Mu Mengyi, comforting her for a moment. Mu Mengyi’s mood improved slightly, but her cherry lips still pouted mischievously. “Do tell, why are you so certain it wasn’t her who drugged you? Or do you know something?”
Tan Yun asked, “Do you still remember when her good friend Rongrong came to see me?”
“Hmm, I remember.” Mu Mengyi still sounded jealous. “It must have been Zhong Wu Shiyao who sent her to find you. You didn’t say anything when you came back, and I didn’t have the courage to ask. What did she talk to you about?”
“You, jealous little fool.” Tan Yun chuckled as he embraced Mu Mengyi, then sobered up, “It wasn’t Shiyao who sent her to find me. It was because she saw how heartless I was towards Shiyao during our battle on the Duel Platform that she came to me out of anger.”
Mu Mengyi looked at Tan Yun in surprise. “What did Rongrong say to you?”
“She told me a few things, about Shiyao’s background.” Tan Yun replied.
“Go on.” Mu Mengyi urged, “I only know she is an orphan brought back by an elder from our sect. I don’t know anything else.”
“Hmm.” A hint of compassion appeared in Tan Yun's eyes. “Shiyao was born on the outskirts of Heavenly Punishment Mountain Range, to a poor family.”
“Her father made a living hunting, and when she was five years old, her father was killed by a wild beast, and her mother passed away in grief three days later.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Mengyi couldn’t hide her sympathy for Shiyao’s tragic fate. “I didn’t expect her to be so pitiful, losing both parents at such a young age.”
Mu Mengyi thought of her own deceased father and her mother, whose fate remained uncertain, feeling a pang of sadness as she said, “She was only five years old; she must have felt so helpless.”
Tan Yun sighed, “There are three great misfortunes in life: losing one’s father in childhood, losing one’s wife in middle age, and losing one’s child in old age. Any one of these is hard for anyone to bear.”
“But what makes Shiyao's situation even sadder goes beyond that.” Tan Yun lamented, “Before her mother passed away, she told her that she was not their biological child…”
Before Tan Yun could finish his sentence, Mu Mengyi shuddered. “What? She's not their biological child?”
“Hmm.” Tan Yun nodded. “When she was an infant, she was found by her adoptive father in a wolf den while he was out hunting. She still doesn’t know who her biological parents are or why they abandoned her.”