I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 296: Chapter 178: Drawing Prison

"Come on, let’s go join the feast!"

Xiao Buping’s reputation was even worse than he’d imagined. Afraid he’d get beaten up while impersonating the man, Zheng Xiu deliberately waited until most of the others had left before leading Xiaotao down from the high platform.

Then, something completely unexpected happened.

There, by the stairs, stood Xie Luohe. Dressed in a moon-patterned black robe and black silk gloves, she leaned against a tree with her arms crossed. As Zheng Xiu and Xiaotao emerged from the Sword Inquiry Platform hand in hand, she raised her eyes to look at them and let out a faint, sorrowful sigh. She looked as if she had been waiting for a long time.

Zheng Xiu couldn’t possibly have missed her. ’What the hell is she scheming now?’ he wondered. He feigned ignorance, lowered his head, and tried to brazenly walk past her.

Xie Luohe looked at Zheng Xiu with a reproachful gaze. "You’re here."

CRACK.

Hearing Xie Luohe’s strange words, Zheng Xiu’s head snapped to the side with an audible crack. His face was a mask of utter confusion.

"I know you don’t want to see me. That’s why I covered my face."

Oho!

In an instant, the Martial Knights who hadn’t yet left—whether they were behind Zheng Xiu or hadn’t gotten far ahead—reacted with astonishing speed.

In a few flashes, they vanished, hiding in the woods or leaping onto branches to secretly observe the pair’s "chance encounter" in front of the Sword Inquiry Platform.

’There’s a story here!’

The eyes of every Knight hiding in the shadows gleamed. ’This is insane!’ they all thought.

Though Xie Luohe had only appeared once, her reputation was infamous in the world of brigands. She was even known as the "Number One Villain." Furthermore, the earth-shattering palm strike she’d used to grievously wound the young woman from Ruyi Square in the blink of an eye had left a deep impression on everyone.

As for Xiao Buping, his reputation preceded him.

Now, with Xie Luohe stopping Xiao Buping and speaking such ambiguous words, everyone’s imagination was running wild. They waited in the shadows, eager for the show to begin.

Perhaps tomorrow’s headline in the Martial World would be: "Number One Villain Tears the Iron Fan Beast Limb from Limb."

Zheng Xiu stared blankly at Xiaotao.

But Xiaotao seemed even more bewildered than he was. She shook her head and clutched his sleeve, completely at a loss.

"You..."

"Don’t say a word," Xie Luohe cut him off with a bitter laugh. "Times have changed. After so many years, we meet again... but you are not the man you once were, and I am certainly not the woman I used to be."

Zheng Xiu was taken aback.

Somehow, those words—which sounded like the ravings of a madwoman—reminded Zheng Xiu of his and Feng Bei’s current predicament.

Though Xie Luohe wore a mask, her words felt like a genuine outpouring of emotion, stirring the hearts of all who listened. The usually cold woman’s voice trembled, a sob held back within it. Her heartbreaking words struck like lightning. In the forest, many of the more sentimental female Knights began to weep silently. They gripped their weapons, ready to swarm out as one and cut down the scumbag—the public enemy of all women in the Martial World.

"I..."

Zheng Xiu snapped back to his senses, realizing he’d been completely taken in by Xie Luohe’s performance and infected by a strange sense of sorrow. He was just about to shout, "When the hell did I—" when Xie Luohe moved like a lightning bolt. In the blink of an eye, she was standing before him, one finger gently pressed to his lips.

"Say no more," Xie Luohe said, gazing "deeply" into Zheng Xiu’s eyes. Her gaze then shifted to the utterly bewildered Xiaotao. She sighed. "There is no need. Every word you speak now is a sharp arrow piercing me to the bone. If that is how it is, what more is there to say? I understand what is in your heart. I have understood for a long time. How can a wilted flower of yesterday compete with a new and tender love?"

Silence spoke volumes.

Xie Luohe’s voice was placid, her sigh like the wind, yet every word hinted at his faithlessness, every sentence dripped with lost love. She seemed to be mourning a scoundrel who had cast aside his old flame for a new one, a story that perfectly matched the rumors circulating about Xiao Buping in the Jianghu.

If there was anyone who had caught a mere glimpse of Xiao Buping years ago and still harbored doubts about his identity, Xie Luohe’s performance just now would have settled the matter. His identity as Xiao Buping was now set in stone, completely confirmed.

Zheng Xiu shot her a look that said, ’What the hell are you up to?’

A faint trace of sorrow flickered in Xie Luohe’s eyes. Then she added her thumb to her finger, took two steps closer until their faces were inches apart, and secretly pinched Zheng Xiu’s lips shut.

"What you gave me all those years ago, I, Xie Luohe, return to you today."

Xie Luohe pulled a long arrow from the quiver on her back.

Tied to the long arrow was a crumpled note.

"You sent me a message by long arrow once. I kept that letter for many years. Now, I’m giving it back. I’m giving it all back to you."

"From this day forward, all ties between us are severed. We owe each other nothing."

Xie Luohe forcefully pressed the long arrow into Zheng Xiu’s palm. She then bent his stiff fingers, one by one, closing his hand into a fist around the shaft and forcing him to grip the arrow tightly.

"This token of our love... burn it, throw it away, keep it—do whatever you want with it."

Xie Luohe turned and began to walk, step by step, down the mountain.

"To me, all living things were but grass and trees; you alone were the verdant mountain."

"But from this day forward, my verdant mountain has crumbled into sand."

"Farewell."

"I wish you both a long life together, until your hair turns gray."

Xiaotao was so moved she burst into tears, covering her face as she sobbed.

By the time Xie Luohe’s figure had vanished into the mountain path, Xiaotao was still crying uncontrollably.

The faint sound of sobbing drifted from the woods.

Mixed in with the weeping were a few hushed questions, asking if they should execute the fiend on the spot.

Zheng Xiu didn’t dare to linger. He grabbed the still-sobbing Xiaotao and bolted down the mountain.

On the way, they happened upon Dugu Xiang. It was impossible to tell whether it was intentional or not, but he was strolling leisurely down the mountain path, glancing back every now and then.

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