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Chapter 89: A Sense of Ritual

“We’re not so familiar with each other yet.” Xiao Ran kept moving to the side.

“We don’t talk about feelings or the process. We only look at the results. It has nothing to do with familiarity,” Ling Qing’er said.

Xiao Ran shook his head vigorously and retreated to the corner.

Ling Qing’er crossed her arms and looked at him teasingly.

Reaching out, she held his chin with two delicate smooth fingers as fair as white jade. “You’re resisting so hard. Am I not pretty enough?”

“It really has nothing to do with being pretty or not.”

“You already have someone that you liked?” Ling Qing’er asked again.

Xiao Ran shook his head.

“Isn’t that settled? I don’t even dislike you, so why are you still making excuses?” Ling Qing’er asked.

“When we got here, we had a deal. I was just here to play along with your charade.”

“I want to make the charade real.”

“That was too rash,” Xiao Ran said.

“Is it because there is no proper ceremony?” Ling Qing’er asked.

With a wave of her right hand, she retracted her spiritual soul energy and issued instructions to the people outside.

“Bring me two red candles and prepare a table of food and drinks as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, my lady,” the maid replied.

“I need to pee.” Xiao Ran suddenly wanted to pee in order to slip away.

Ling Qing’er pulled him back and looked at him playfully. “There’s a chamber pot on the side.”

Xiao Ran was dumbstruck once more.

There was no escape at all. This was a moment that he deeply regretted.

Why did he agree to her request when he knew it was a trap? Women were so fickle.

Ling Qing’er was also carefully observing him. Before making her decision, she only felt that Xiao Ran was very ordinary. After making up her mind, the more she looked at Xiao Ran, the more satisfied she was with him.

Although his status was much lower than hers in comparison, nothing was perfect.

Even with her beauty, this guy was still so resistant to her overtures. She was so angry that she wanted to bite him.

The maid returned shortly.

She placed the wine and dishes on the table, lit the red candles, and left.

Ling Qing’er activated her spiritual soul energy again, surrounding the room with a barricade.

“Sit.”

She pressed Xiao Ran onto the chair and sat beside him.

She poured two cups of wine and placed one in front of Xiao Ran. “What are you waiting for?”

“What?” Xiao Ran asked.

“Didn’t you want a sense of ritual? There you go.”

She shoved the wine cup into his hand and held Xiao Ran’s wrist with one hand. Then she crossed her arms with his and drank the wine with that crossed arm.

“Are you satisfied now?” Ling Qing’er rolled her eyes at him.

“I… I haven’t decided yet.” Xiao Ran became more nervous.

WHOOSH!

With a clap of her hands, the room went dark.

“No…” Xiao Ran yelled loudly in a final attempt to resist.

Life was like that. Since one could not fight against it, one should obediently yield to it!

The next day,

Xiao Ran put on his clothes expressionlessly. He looked as if someone owed him money.

“After we leave this place, we’ll pretend that this never happened. None of us are allowed to mention it,” Ling Qing’er said faintly.

Without looking back, Xiao Ran left the room.

After busying himself until noon, Xiao Ran excused himself from Mother Ling and the others with the excuse that there was something urgent waiting for him in Horizon Prefecture, and departed quickly.

As she stared at his rapidly disappearing profile,

Ling Qing’er had a trace of resentment in her heart initially, but it disappeared at this moment. She covered her mouth and giggled girlishly. “I’m not a tiger that eats people.”

When he reached Horizon Prefecture,

he headed straight for the Divine Sword Guards’ base station.

“Halt!” The guard at the door stopped him.

Xiao Ran took out his identity plaque with a stone cold expression.

“Greetings, my Lord!”

“Is Zhou Ming here?” Xiao Ran asked.

Zhou Ming was Little Zhou’s full name.

“Lord Zhou is already here. Do you want me to bring you there?”

“Lead the way,” Xiao Ran said.

They entered the courtyard and, following his lead, stopped outside a room.

“Lord Zhou is inside.”

“You may go!” Xiao Ran said with a wave of his hand.

He pushed open the door and went in.

The heavy smell of alcohol hit him, along with a nauseating stench.

Trying hard to contain his discomfort, he entered the bedroom.

On the bed,

Little Zhou laid on the bed dead drunk, snoring loudly in a deep sleep. There was also a pile of vomit beside him.

“This fellow…” Xiao Ran was dumbfounded.

He walked over and sent a stream of purifying spiritual force into his body to dispel the alcohol in his body. He then patted his face. “Wake up.”

“Who hit me?” Little Zhou sat up angrily with wide open eyes.

Seeing that it was Xiao Ran, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“Brother Xiao, when did you arrive?”

“I just arrived. What happened to you?” Xiao Ran asked.

“Brother Xiao, you don’t know, but Zhao Ning and the others were so welcoming and enthusiastic. When I received your message, I immediately rushed over. As soon as I arrived, they brought me to the Spring Manor, offering me good wine and good food. After all that, they even handled all the arrangements for me.”

At this point, Little Zhou suddenly remembered.

“By the way, how did I get back?”

Xiao Ran’s face darkened as he gave him a knock on his head.

“That task that I entrusted you. How is it?”

“What task?”

“Assessment.”

“Ah! I forgot.” Little Zhou recalled in shock.

“Why didn’t your father break your damn legs?” Xiao Ran asked angrily. He really wanted to beat him up.

A flurry of footsteps could be heard outside.

“I’ll settle the score with you after this.” With that warning, Xiao Ran walked out.

A middle-aged man in a silver sword robe walked over quickly with four subordinates.

Looking at Xiao Ran who came out of the bedroom, he cupped his fists and bowed. “Battalion Commander Zhao Ning at your service, Lord Xiao!”

The highest-ranking person in charge of the prefecture was called the Battalion Commander.

The highest-ranking person in charge of the province level was referred to as the Chief Commander.

Although he was a rank higher than Xiao Ran, Xiao Ran was from the capital city on official business. It was not an exaggeration to address him as “Lord”.

Xiao Ran looked at him. “How did you know my name?”

“Lord Zhou mentioned it previously,” Zhao Ning said.

Little Zhou happened to come out at this moment. When he heard his words, he wished he could find a rat hole to escape into.

Xiao Ran glared at him sternly.

“How many people are left here now?”

“This, this…” Zhao Ning hesitated.

“Speak!” Xiao Ran berated.

Zhao Ning’s expression changed, displaying a mix of emotions. After a while, he smiled in a sinister fashion.

“Xiao! You’re just a miserable Sapphire Sword Guard, one rank lower than me. Just because I gave you some respect and addressed you as ‘Lord’, you really thought that you are a high-ranking official, getting all arrogant and putting on airs in front of me?”

He clapped his hands.

Twenty odd people appeared outside the room.

Xiao Ran looked at them with disdain. “Are you really that afraid of the assessment?”

In the Divine Sword Guard’s assessment, there were three areas to be reviewed, namely, personnel, caseload, and the accounts ledgers.

Personnel referred to the troops stationed there, including the progress of their skills evolution.

Caseload referred to the cases that occurred in the area where the base station was located, including the rate of solving cases, and the crime rate.

Accounts ledgers were much simpler. It only involved income and expenditure.

“What a joke! What’s there to be afraid of?” Zhao Ning sneered.

“Answer my question honestly,” Xiao Ran said.

“And if I don’t?”

The atmosphere was tense and oppressive.

Little Zhou stood beside Xiao Ran and placed his palm on the hilt of his sword. If the situation turned unfavorable, he could attack at once.

Zhao Ning curled his lips in disdain. “Try circulating your spirit energy and see for yourself.”

Little Zhou was stunned and looked doubtful for a moment. He tried to activate his skills to mobilize the spirit energy in his body.

However, he realized that his spiritual power had disappeared. With a look of shock, he glared at him angrily. “It was you!”