Grandpa Mo returns

Meanwhile, Ren Yue's face was bright red as she entered the bathroom. She was extremely shy but also excited.

Long Chen's gaze earlier excited her greatly. If she was alone with him, she wouldn't be so shy and would have allowed him to look at her blatantly.

However, Ren Yue couldn't act like that in Tao Lihua's presence.

But still, this incident had become a bright memory for Ren Yue. She was happy to know that Long Chen indeed found her body attractive.

'Once Lihua is gone, I can recreate this scenario. Yes. I can ask Chen to guide me regarding this technique. Hehe...' Ren Yue prepared this plan while blushing madly.

'Oh my god. How can I have such corrupt thoughts?' Ren Yue submerged herself in her tub in shame.

However, another part of her mind spoke up, 'But it was really nice to see him stare at me like that…'

'Why do I have such thoughts about him? Have I really fallen for him?' Ren Yue wondered.

She didn't have the answer to this question. The concept of love was a bit foreign to Ren Yue.

From a noticeably young age, she had been taught the etiquettes of a Noble Family Heiress. She had been taught that the value of her family would always be greater than her individual value.

She might even be forced to marry someone she hated. Her family wanted her to understand this concept and accept it.

Her mother had fallen in love with a guy. But just like Ren Yue, she was a Noble Family Heiress, and her family married her to the Ren Family, ignoring her wishes to be with her lover.

Her lover naturally could not resist the might of a Noble Family and gave up.

Thus, her mother advised her never to fall in love with a guy because she would experience immense pain once she is forcefully separated from her lover.

'…My family has been exterminated. I am the young lady and even the Matriarch of the Ren Family. My destiny is in my hands,' Ren Yue thought.

However, she didn't plan to act so quickly. She did like Long Chen, but she was still very unclear about his life.

Although he mentioned that he was merely an ordinary man, Ren Yue didn't believe him.

Firstly, an ordinary man wouldn't possess so many techniques and such profound knowledge. He must have acquired a legacy, or he possesses a very secret background.

Secondly, he still hadn't mentioned his desire to her. She still didn't understand why he was helping her.

Ren Yue could see that Long Chen was truly determined and genuine as he helped her. But she couldn't bring herself to truly trust him until he could reveal his motives to her.

Thirdly, she was unclear about his romantic feelings.

Today's incident allowed Ren Yue to understand that Long Chen truly viewed her as an attractive woman. However, he still had never shown any signs of genuinely liking her or loving her.

Moreover, Ren Yue was unclear whether he had any lover or crush.

"…When will you reveal it to me, Brother Chen?" She spoke as she slowly cleaned her body.

She naturally wasn't planning to pester Long Chen about this issue. There was a lot on her mind, and her primary task remained the same.

The destruction of the Jin Family.

As for the revenge against Lian Ming, she didn't care all that much. Ren Yue planned to make her faction stronger for now. Once her faction is strong enough, she could easily capture Lian Ming and torture her.

After Ren Yue finished taking her bath, she wore a neat green dress and began to cultivate.

Ren Yue still hadn't completely absorbed the energy from that bitter soup.

The size of the energy within her sea of qi was significant enough to allow Ren Yue to reach the mid-stage of the 2 Star Rank. Meanwhile, Long Chen was already 2 Star Warrior when he drank this soup, so he was about to reach the high level of 2-Star Rank.

Long Chen knew this herb would be immensely helpful for their cultivation, so he planted its seeds in Ren Yue's garden.

Long Chen dripped a lot of his blood over the soil every day. It acted as fertilizer which accelerated the growth of Dark Thyme. Fortunately, his Moonlit Phantasm True Scripture possessed primary healing, allowing him to recover his blood. In turn, he had to ingest a lot more food.

The rest of the day passed by rather quickly.

The next day, the situation in Suqui Town stabilized quite a bit. The primary reason that the Suqui Town stabilized was that Lian Ming declared that she found multiple warriors in the outfit of the Mayor's personal guards attacking the Oak Ridge Institute.

The citizens of Suqui Town required only this information to realize that they had been fooled. The rumors were probably to provoke them.

Thus, they quickly calmed down.

No one doubted Lian Ming's words because she had no reason to speak up for the Mayor. Just a week ago, the Mayor demoted Lian Ming. If the Mayor had indeed done something wicked, she would have definitely taken revenge.

However, Lian Ming still spoke up for the Mayor. This indicated that he might genuinely be innocent.

Long Chen heard this news and was relieved. However, he wondered, 'What will the JRA do next? Now that their plan has failed, they will definitely investigate this matter in detail. Fortunately, I have no connection to her. Even if they spend an entire year investigating her, nothing can come up.'

He then focused on the situation at hand.

Tao Lihua is preparing to leave as the situation in Suqui Town has calmed down.

Hu Jie was naturally prepared to accompany Tao Lihua to the Storm Desert Sect. He couldn't actually enter the sect, but he could stay somewhere nearby.

Ren Yue had already ordered Tao Lihua to quickly accept a mission after returning to the Storm Desert Sect and leaving.

They had no time to waste.

~~

In the next couple of days, Grandpa Mo returned to Ren Yue's manor. He seemed to be in a bad mood.

Ren Yue quickly arrived in the living room to meet him. It had been two weeks since they separated, and she deeply missed him.

Grandpa Mo was the closest person to Ren Yue. In fact, she even considered him to be part of her family.

"…Young lady, I set up seven merchants in different parts of our territory," Despite mentioning this news, Grandpa Mo didn't seem happy.

Ren Yue naturally noticed his emotions and asked him, "What's the matter?"

"Young lady, you must be aware of how a merchant conducts trade. He prepares multiple caravans and sets them out while selecting various cities, towns, and villages. These caravans buy the commodities where the price is lowest and sell them in the city."

"Out of the seven caravans that have been sent by these merchants recently, only four have reached their first destination and contacted their masters. I investigated the path of these caravans and found no clues," Grandpa Mo spoke with an indignant look.

"…Maybe a local gang looted them. This should be normal. You don't need to be troubled about this, Grandpa. Actually, I expected these troubles to arise," Ren Yue spoke calmly.

Grandpa Mo seemed rather distressed as he spoke, "We are short of funds now that we have invested in these merchants. If we mess up in this matter, we will suffer a huge loss! We must recover those goods!"

Ren Yue knew Grandpa Mo would remain distressed if they kept discussing this topic. Thus, she changed the subject by saying, "Right. I forgot to mention it earlier, but I am a 2-Star Warrior now."

"That won't resolve our issu-. Wait. What did you just say?! You are already a 2-Star Warrior?!" Grandpa Mo was initially absent-minded as he heard Ren Yue's words, but his mind soon registered what she had uttered.

Saying that he was absolutely stunned would be an understatement.

It had barely been two weeks since he left Ren Yue's side, and she had already reached the 2-Star Rank?! This was shocking and a bit terrifying.

"Please tell me everything that occurred after my departure," Grandpa Mo spoke with an excited smile on his face.

Ren Yue smiled as she narrated all the events that occurred after Grandpa Mo left the manor.

After hearing about all these events occurring in the last two weeks, Grandpa Mo was genuinely astonished.

Moreover, he was surprised to hear Ren Yue praise Long Chen's skills so greatly. It seemed that he had left a deep impression on her—especially with his illusional skills and movement technique.

"Grandpa Mo, you should get some rest. You have been on a long journey. We will discuss this matter later," Ren Yue spoke seriously.

With a bitter laugh, Grandpa Mo spoke, "I am so stressed that I can't sleep peacefully."

"You must still get some rest! I know that you force yourself for my sake, and I don't like that!" Ren Yue spoke with a commanding tone.

Even though Grandpa Mo was slightly dissatisfied, he knew that Ren Yue was just worried about him.

"Alright," Grandpa Mo spoke as he headed to his room.

After Grandpa Mo walked away, another young man entered the living room.

Ren Yue hid her joy upon seeing him and retained a solemn expression. The person who entered the living room was naturally Long Chen.

"I apologize, Miss Ren. I couldn't help but eavesdrop on your conversation with Sir Mo. I didn't wish to interrupt your reunion," Long Chen spoke calmly.

"That's no problem. In fact, it has saved me a lot of trouble as I was about to summon you and inform you of this matter anyway," Ren Yue uttered nonchalantly.

Long Chen didn't doubt her words. He knew that she would discuss this matter with him eventually.