Today, The Villain Couple is Settling Scores Again

Earlier at Gong Feihong's place, everyone had agreed to search for their own treasures in the treasure hall and not to divide them equally anymore.

So, after entering Fang Quan's Treasure Hall, the five of them split up.

Two quarters of an hour earlier, on the second floor of Fang Quan's Treasure Hall.

Yin Yusheng emerged from a room, gently rubbing his temples, looking somewhat weary.

After searching for a long time, he hadn't found anything useful.

Nearby, Yang Ye's frustrated voice came from a room: "Why do you keep dragging me into this room?"

His spirit pig was stubbornly tugging at his clothes, anxiously grunting and pulling him towards the corner.

Yang Ye was helpless.

Ever since the spirit pig woke up, it had been circling this room.

He had initially thought there might be something hidden here, but after searching thoroughly, he found nothing.

Yin Yusheng walked in and asked, "Junior Brother Yang, what's going on?"

Yang Ye briefly explained the situation.

Yin Yusheng pondered for a moment and said, "Your spirit beast must have sensed something."

"But I really didn't find anything," Yang Ye said with a dark expression, using his leg to push the pig away. "Senior Brother, do you have any ideas?"

Yin Yusheng replied gently, "Let me take a look."

He carefully inspected the area but also found nothing.

"Let's take a break," Yin Yusheng sighed, sitting down on the floor and taking out his alchemy furnace and materials to make fasting paste.

The spirit pig, seeing this, immediately rushed over and stood guard in front of the furnace.

Yang Ye sat down beside him, leaning back on his hands. "Senior Brother Yin, do you think we might have wasted those ten days of digging?"

Yin Yusheng smiled. "Not necessarily. We probably just haven't found the right method. Once the fasting paste is ready, we'll call the others and discuss what to do next."

Yang Ye nodded. "True."

Yin Yusheng added, "Even if we don't find anything in the treasure hall, we still have the Silver Trace Grass and the demon core, which far exceed our expectations."

Yang Ye sat up straight. "Senior Brother, your Dao heart is steadier than mine."

Yin Yusheng shook his head with a smile. "I'm just older and have experienced more."

As they chatted, Wen Jiu, who was passing by, paused and looked at the alchemy furnace before silently entering the room.

Yin Yusheng greeted her, "Junior Sister Wen."

Yang Ye also greeted, "Senior Sister."

Wen Jiu nodded slightly and found a spot to sit.

She glanced around at the piles of books, and her eyes lit up when she saw a poetry collection.

It was a common poetry collection on the Nine Provinces Continent.

Wen Jiu's father was a teacher at a private school, and he had personally taught her this collection when she was young.

Since joining the Jade Clarity Sect, Wen Jiu rarely returned home, and she seldom saw her parents.

With a hint of nostalgia, she picked up the poetry collection and began flipping through it while quietly listening to Yin Yusheng and Yang Ye talk about the Jade Clarity Sect.

She turned the pages slowly, one by one.

The aroma of the fasting paste gradually wafted from the alchemy furnace. After turning over thirty pages, Wen Jiu's hand suddenly paused.

On the page she was looking at, in the corner, there was a tiny line of text written in needlepoint script: [In room West Three on the second floor, lightly tap the bookshelf in the following places to obtain a sword manual.]

Wen Jiu suddenly stood up.

Yin Yusheng and Yang Ye, who were in the middle of their conversation, stopped and looked at her in surprise.

Yin Yusheng asked, "Junior Sister Wen, what's wrong?"

Wen Jiu showed them the page. The three of them exchanged glances.

Yin Yusheng grabbed the alchemy furnace, and the three of them quickly left the room and headed towards West Three.

The spirit pig, unwilling to give up, followed them on its short legs.

The tiny text in the poetry book was clear. Wen Jiu followed the instructions and lightly tapped the bookshelf in West Three with her spiritual energy.

In the next moment, a hidden compartment popped out from the corner of the wall.

Wen Jiu went over and took out what was inside. Her face lit up with joy, and she exclaimed, "It's the 'Lotus Heart Sword Manual (Volume Five)'!"

Seeing this, Yin Yusheng and Yang Ye were both happy for her.

Although Wen Jiu hadn't spoken much these days, they knew she had always looked up to Elder Lotus Heart.

She had also been practicing the Lotus Heart Sword.

Yin Yusheng congratulated her with a smile, "It's truly fortunate to have found the original manuscript of the Lotus Heart Sword Manual."

Wen Jiu's smile faded slightly. She hesitated for a moment and then whispered, "I... I probably won't keep it..."

Yang Ye raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Wen Jiu hesitated again and then said softly, "I... need money."

The 'Lotus Heart Sword Manual' consists of seven volumes, written by Elder Lotus Heart of the Jade Clarity Sect a thousand years ago. However, due to some mishaps, the original manuscripts were lost. Although Elder Lotus Heart's disciples later reconstructed the manual from memory, the Jade Clarity Sect has been collecting the original manuscripts.

In other words, the original manuscript Wen Jiu found could be sold to the Jade Clarity Sect's library for about ten thousand spirit stones!

Everyone: "..."

Yin Yusheng looked at the spirit pig by his feet and said, "Let's go back and search the books in that room again. Maybe we'll find more hidden clues."

The three of them immediately got to work.

Sure enough, after that, Yang Ye and Yin Yusheng flipped through five or six books and found some items.

What they found wasn't as valuable as Wen Jiu's discovery, but it was still good.

Yin Yusheng put the spirit herb he found in the hidden compartment into his Mustard Seed Pouch and called out to Shen Jizhi, who was passing by. He briefly explained the situation: "Brother Shen, go and tell Junior Sister Jian. The three of us found these items in this room. If you can't find anything elsewhere, come and search here too."

The night in the treasure hall grew quieter.

The spirit pig curled up beside Yang Ye, its belly exposed as it slept soundly, snoring softly.

Today, it was content.

Everyone had fed it half of their fasting paste, and it felt that its pig life was complete.

Near the spirit pig, the five of them—Jian Huan, Yin Yusheng, Yang Ye, Wen Jiu, and Shen Jizhi—were focused, their hands moving quickly as they flipped through the pages of the books.

Several reluctant cultivators came up from below, eyeing the room with greedy intentions as they passed by.

For wealth, men would die; for food, birds would perish. Although the five of them were strong and had killed the three brothers with the highest cultivation level on this journey, if the remaining cultivators joined forces, it wasn't impossible for them to succeed.

However, when Jian Huan took out the 'Jade Clarity Sect's token' and hung the exquisite and valuable token on the door, those thoughts instantly vanished.

Five disciples of the Jade Clarity Sect...

If all five of them perished in this secret realm, the others would likely be hunted down by the Jade Clarity Sect sooner or later.

Forget it, they all left to search other rooms, but the books in those rooms didn't seem to have any clues.

Yang Ye watched as a cultivator carefully examined the token on the door, quickly bowed to them, and then left. He couldn't help but whisper, "Do you think if we hung a real token, they would assume we were impersonating Jade Clarity Sect disciples?"

Yin Yusheng nodded. "Yes, I've tried it before."

He had once shown a real token, but no one believed him at the time.

The two senior brothers chatted for a while, slowing down their pace of flipping through the books, even considering taking a break.

They had been reading so much that they were a bit tired.

But the other three were flipping through the books faster and more intently, not even joining their conversation.

Shen Jizhi and Wen Jiu were one thing, but even Jian Huan, who usually liked to chat, hadn't said a word all night.

Yin Yusheng and Yang Ye exchanged helpless glances and continued flipping through the books.

Time passed slowly, and suddenly, Jian Huan's eyes focused.

She immediately sat up straight, bringing the book closer to her eyes. Sure enough, there was a line of tiny, cute text: [In room West Nine on the second floor, a piece of fourth-grade spirit iron. Open the hidden compartment to find the next book.]

The next book?

Jian Huan quickly flipped the book over, glanced at the title, and started searching through the pile of books for the next one.

Yin Yusheng asked curiously, "Junior Sister Jian, what are you looking for?"

Jian Huan replied quickly, "'The Art of Pottery Making, Part Two.' Have you seen this book?"

Yin Yusheng: "No."

Yang Ye looked at the book in his hand: "I don't have it either."

Wen Jiu shook her head.

Shen Jizhi slowly looked up, holding up a book he had just flipped through a few pages of: "This one?"

Jian Huan's hand paused. She looked up, her eyes landing on the cover, and they instantly sparkled with excitement. She reached out to grab it: "Yes, that's it!"

Shen Jizhi reacted quickly, raising the book high to avoid her grasp.

He raised an eyebrow slightly. Though he didn't speak, his eyes conveyed the message clearly.

Want it for free? No way.

Jian Huan closed her eyes and sat up straight. "Same as before, half for each, okay?"

Shen Jizhi quickly flipped through the book in his hand and soon found a line of tiny text, which explained how to tap the bookshelf, but it didn't specify which room's bookshelf.

If it were any other time, splitting something fifty-fifty wouldn’t have been an issue.

But tonight, Shen Jizhi didn’t want to share equally.

He didn’t know why he felt this way, but he just didn’t want to.

Shen Jizhi shook his head. “No.”

Jian Huan was taken aback by his refusal, her expression faltering slightly. “No?”

Shen Jizhi closed the book in his hand, his gaze settling on Jian Huan’s face as he calmly proposed, “Let’s exchange books. Whoever grabs it first gets it.”

Jian Huan: “?”

Did he think he could outmatch her and take all the spirit iron for himself?

Without hesitation, Jian Huan got up, brushing off the faint dust from flipping through the book. She tilted her chin up confidently. “Fine, bring it on!”

She didn’t want to share with him either!

The two exchanged books. Jian Huan received the second volume but didn’t rush to open it. Instead, she summoned her green bamboo staff and shot out of the room, heading straight for West Chamber Nine.

Shen Jizhi didn’t even bother looking. He simply chased after her.

The two left in such a hurry that the gust of wind they created even startled the spirit pig awake from its slumber.

Yang Ye quickly reached out to soothe the little pig, puzzled. “Aren’t they supposed to be family? Why are they fighting like this? Doesn’t it all end up in the same pocket anyway?”

Yin Yusheng chimed in, “But don’t you think they’ve been acting strange since they arrived? It feels like they’re having a spat.”

Wen Jiu nodded in agreement. She felt the same way.

Yang Ye shrugged. “Well, I don’t get it.”

Jian Huan sensed something was off the moment she saw Shen Jizhi chasing after her.

Without hesitation, she ducked into a random room, standing in front of a bookshelf and flipping through a book.

Shen Jizhi entered and lightly tapped the bookshelf with his sword. But after one tap, he noticed Jian Huan remained unfazed.

This wasn’t the right room.

He sheathed his sword, flipping through the pages of a book until he found the information he needed.

Meanwhile, Jian Huan was memorizing a complex sequence of taps. Seeing Shen Jizhi’s progress, her eyelids twitched, and she immediately lunged forward to block his path.

But Shen Jizhi was annoyingly nimble, slipping past her like a fish through water without even touching her.

Jian Huan gritted her teeth, secured the book in her arms, and gave chase.

In West Chamber Nine, Shen Jizhi had already reached the bookshelf and was about to make the first tap.

Jian Huan raised her hand, and the green bamboo staff lashed out mercilessly toward his back.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The staff, borrowed from Elder Yu Qing, was no ordinary weapon, and Shen Jizhi swiftly dodged.

Jian Huan didn’t go for the bookshelf. Before she could tap it, she needed to incapacitate Shen Jizhi.

She pursed her lips, her eyes glinting as she prepared a paralysis talisman hidden in her sleeve.

Shen Jizhi’s gaze fell on her concealed hand.

Though he couldn’t see her movements, after spending so much time together, he knew exactly what she was planning.

Without hesitation, Shen Jizhi closed the distance between them.

He knew all too well the weakness of a talisman user.

If he stayed close enough, they wouldn’t have the time or space to use their talismans.

Every talisman Jian Huan threw out, Shen Jizhi sliced apart.

For a moment, fragments of yellow talisman paper fluttered in the air, falling before their eyes and slightly obscuring their vision.

Seeing the talismans she had spent money on destroyed one after another, Jian Huan’s eyes burned with anger. She gritted her teeth. “Shen! Ji! Zhi!”

Even her battle with the Shadowless Hand’s puppet hadn’t been this frustrating.

Shen Jizhi’s footwork was faster than hers. She tried to create distance between them, but it was impossible.

Without distance, she couldn’t use her green bamboo staff to form an array around Shen Jizhi.

Every tricky angle she tried to throw a talisman from was countered by Shen Jizhi.

He could predict every move she made. He knew her too well.

When they teamed up against others, this deep understanding allowed them to coordinate seamlessly.

But in a fight between them, this familiarity worked against Jian Huan.

Jian Huan looked into Shen Jizhi’s eyes and suddenly said, “You think you’re the only one who knows me?”

Shen Jizhi didn’t respond. His fingers formed a seal, and a locking spell was about to take effect.

This spell would bind the target’s limbs with spiritual ropes, rendering them immobile. The duration depended on both Shen Jizhi’s and Jian Huan’s cultivation levels.

Since Jian Huan’s cultivation was slightly higher than his, the spell wouldn’t last long.

But it would be enough for him to retrieve the spirit iron.

Jian Huan had been trying to create distance, but now, seeing his hand seal, she gritted her teeth and did the opposite—she closed the gap.

Shen Jizhi’s eyes widened as he realized her plan and tried to dodge.

But it was too late.

Jian Huan threw herself into his arms.

Her soft body pressed against his, her hair brushing against his neck.

The strands of hair swayed with the wind, sending ripples through him.

Shen Jizhi’s body stiffened instantly.

Jian Huan clung to him tightly, a sly smile spreading across her face.

With a flick of her wrist, a yellow talisman appeared, and she gently stuck it to his back.

Feeling the man in her arms go completely rigid, Jian Huan leaned in and whispered in his ear, her tone triumphant, “You lose, Shen Jizhi.”

With that, she let go of Shen Jizhi and kicked him away.

With a loud thud, Shen Jizhi landed in a pile of scattered books.

Dust flew up around him, and the fragments of talisman paper that had settled on the books fluttered into the air once more.

His limbs were immobile, but his brown eyes could still move.

He stared at the figure standing by the bookshelf.

Jian Huan leisurely flipped through the book, following the instructions to tap the shelf and retrieve a piece of spirit iron from the hidden compartment.

It wasn’t very large, about the size of a palm, and it felt smooth and cool to the touch.

She walked over, her peach-pink skirt swaying gently, and stopped in front of Shen Jizhi, who was lying on the ground. She leaned down, looking at him with a smile.

“Shen Jizhi, oh Shen Jizhi,” Jian Huan sighed, tossing the spirit iron in her hand. “If only you’d agreed to split it fifty-fifty from the start.”

Shen Jizhi simply watched her in silence.

Paralyzed by the talisman, he couldn’t speak.

Jian Huan straightened up, stored the spirit iron in her Mustard Seed Pouch, then bent down to flip Shen Jizhi over and remove the talisman from his back.

His stiff body relaxed.

Shen Jizhi let out a low groan, pushed himself up from the pile of books, and stood.

Jian Huan had already turned to leave, her steps light and joyful, her skirt swaying with every skip, like a fluttering butterfly.

Shen Jizhi closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and called out, “Jian Huan.”

Jian Huan stopped and turned to look at him, her brows raised in delight, her voice almost floating. “What?”

For some reason, snatching the spirit iron from him felt even more satisfying than acquiring it any other way.

Shen Jizhi’s expression was calm. “You’ll need a long time to build your house, become an elder, and save up millions of spirit stones.”

Jian Huan tilted her head slightly. “I know, but every journey starts with a single step.”

Shen Jizhi lowered his gaze, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “True.”

Jian Huan gloated, trying to comfort him. “It’s just a piece of spirit iron. Don’t take it too hard. Wins and losses are part of life. Maybe you should go back and read more books, huh?”

With that, she gracefully stepped over the threshold and disappeared from view.

Shen Jizhi didn’t leave.

The room was in complete disarray, books scattered all over the floor in chaotic piles.

Shen Jizhi bent down, picking up each book one by one, smoothing out the pages meticulously, and placing them neatly back on the shelves.

He was tidying up the books, but he was doing more than that.