Was it you that night?
Chapter 292 - 290: Winner Takes All!

Chapter 292: Chapter 290: Winner Takes All!

"Mr. Wuya isn’t here. This is a bet between you and me, where the victor shall be king, and the defeated, an outlaw. We have agreed to abide by the outcome; does Big Senior Brother dare to wager on this game with me?" Seeing Xiao Chen searching for Dongfang Wuya, Shen Qinghe resorted to provocation once more.

For so many years, Xiao Chen had restrained himself; he was originally a wild and arrogant character. Now, he was provoked by Shen Qinghe into revealing a long-lost boldness: "Fine, I shall honor the bet and take you on this game!"

He couldn’t possibly lose to Shen Qinghe, for her divine power hadn’t awakened yet. How could she possibly escape from under his watch? Besides, with Shu Xiu’s magical treasure in hand, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t lose to her.

"Agreed, let’s seal the oath with a high five!"

Shen Qinghe and Xiao Chen high-fived, officially kicking off their wager.

Although Xiao Chen was certain that Shen Qinghe couldn’t escape his grasp, he still didn’t dare to be careless. No matter where Shen Qinghe went, he would create an avatar to follow close by, preventing her from having the chance to pull any tricks under his watch.

When Shen Qinghe saw Xiao Chen applying this strict surveillance tactic against her, she wasn’t panicked in the least.

The current situation was that she was fighting against Xiao Chen’s avatar, and she wasn’t necessarily his opponent, plus causing a commotion would alert Xiao Chen. In that case, she had no chance of winning.

Shen Qinghe watched Xiao Chen clumsily stir-fry the vegetables and shook her head with a sigh: "It seems today’s meal won’t taste very good! It’s not just that Big Senior Brother’s cooking is lacking, but his sincerity as well. These ingredients are too ordinary. How about this, I’ll go with Senior Sister Shu to find some mushrooms."

Xiao Chen subconsciously wanted to stop her, but Shen Qinghe added, "Big Senior Brother isn’t worried about me running away and thus refusing to let me go mushroom hunting, is he?"

Xiao Chen looked at Shu Xiu: "You may go, but Shu Xiu must stay."

"That won’t do. Senior Sister Shu is an expert at finding mushrooms; she knows where they grow. Don’t worry, isn’t your avatar keeping an eye on me? Do you think Senior Sister Shu and I are capable of escaping from under Big Senior Brother’s watch?" Shen Qinghe replied with palpable irritation.

Xiao Chen thought that Shen Qinghe’s words made sense.

No matter where Shen Qinghe was, his avatar would closely monitor her every move; she had no opportunity to escape his line of sight.

But his instincts told him that Shen Qinghe was not a simple woman, and he shouldn’t let her get too far away.

Seeing Xiao Chen still hesitating, Shen Qinghe spoke lazily, "Why not just call off this bet? Judging by the food that Big Senior Brother has prepared, frankly, I don’t have the slightest appetite. If Big Senior Brother is afraid to bet, then let’s cancel the wedding in three days."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the house.

Watching Shen Qinghe’s retreating figure, Xiao Chen eventually gave in: "Fine, let’s see what tricks you can come up with."

Although he was sure she had schemes, he still believed that his cultivation base was far superior to hers; the current Shen Qinghe couldn’t possibly escape his clutches.

Shen Qinghe turned her head upon hearing his words and smirked sarcastically, "And here I thought Big Senior Brother, the grand Ancestral Dragon, was actually afraid of a little female cultivator like me."

Xiao Chen ignored her sarcastic tone and simply reminded her, "You have only two quarters of an hour, and you can’t go too far."

"Alright, I got it." Shen Qinghe, having achieved her aim, took Shu Xiu up the mountain to collect mushrooms.

Shu Xiu herself knew that she had no idea which mushrooms were edible and which were poisonous. Therefore, Qinghe asking her to join in mushroom picking was definitely part of a plan, which she would need to cooperate with when the time came.

From the corner of her eye, she glanced at the persistent avatar of Xiao Chen that followed them like a shadow. Although it was just Xiao Chen’s avatar, escaping from his surveillance would be far from easy.

"We’re strapped for time; Sister Shu, why don’t you look over there while I search around here?" suggested Shen Qinghe to Shu Xiu.

Shu Xiu of course agreed to cooperate fully and cheerfully replied, "I’ll go check over there. Don’t wander off too far."

Shen Qinghe looked at Shu Xiu’s retreating figure and called out loudly, "If you encounter any danger, remember to call for me!"

Shu Xiu’s mind stirred, and she smiled back, "What danger could I possibly encounter? Don’t worry, if there is any danger, I will definitely call for help loudly."

Only then did Shen Qinghe feel reassured and parted ways with Shu Xiu.

Xiao Chen’s avatar, of course, stayed by Shen Qinghe’s side. However, just after a short while, they heard Shu Xiu let out a scream, and Shen Qinghe hurried over.

But when she arrived at the source of the sound, Shu Xiu’s figure was nowhere to be found. She turned to Xiao Chen’s avatar following her and said, "You search over there, I’ll look here."

"I cannot leave your side," Xiao Chen’s avatar replied.

Shen Qinghe kicked Xiao Chen’s avatar fiercely and rushed out quickly.

Xiao Chen’s avatar also hurriedly followed her but was still a step too late. Shen Qinghe clearly charged into the forest, but in the blink of an eye, her trace vanished.

After searching for a while, he found Shen Qinghe unconscious behind a tree.

Xiao Chen’s avatar breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the unconscious Shen Qinghe, and in a flash, was back in front of Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen took the unconscious Shen Qinghe, but the moment he caught her, he noticed something was amiss. This was not Shen Qinghe; there was a unique grassy scent about Shen Qinghe, which this person lacked.

With one palm strike, the person revealed their true form—it was actually a rabbit.

Xiao Chen’s usually gentle face instantly darkened, as he quickly headed to the mountains where Shen Qinghe had disappeared, searching every place with a glimmer of hope. However, not only did he not find any trace of Shen Qinghe, but Shu Xiu had also vanished without a trace.

Standing in the mountains, he remembered the bet he had with Shen Qinghe and couldn’t help but smirk wryly.

After all, he had been too careless. He had taken a gamble with Shen Qinghe, only to watch her disappear right under his nose.

However, he couldn’t figure out how exactly Shen Qinghe had vanished from right under his watch.

Xiao Chen was truly puzzled, "Qinghe, how did you do it?"

The only response was the whistling of the wind in the mountains...

As for Shen Qinghe, she had actually seen the markers left by Shu Xiu while searching for her. Eventually, she used the search for Shu Xiu as a pretext to rush into the woods and then concealed herself.

Yes, now not only could her soul hide from sight, but her body could also merge with the world around her, just like her life-bound magic treasure.

As soon as Xiao Chen’s avatar took the rabbit away, she found Shu Xiu, and within a moment, had taken Shu Xiu back to the Sky Pole Sect.

Even she herself found such changes miraculous.

She suspected that she had indeed awakened divine power after dual cultivation with Dongfang Wuya, after all, Mr. Wuya’s body was indeed immensely nourishing.

But compared to before, she felt that her transformation was not significant; she could separate her soul from her body, and at the same time, both her soul and body could become translucent.

Dongfang Wuya was shuttling back and forth between Bixiao Tower and Simple Residence Courtyard. Once he returned from Simple Residence Courtyard, he saw Shen Qinghe appear.

He was both shocked and delighted, not expecting that Shen Qinghe could really escape from right under Xiao Chen’s watch.