Chapter Forty-One: I Regret It (Second Update)

Jiang Yu did not return to the boxing club. Instead, he took the elevator straight down to the first floor of the Baida Hui shopping mall, grabbed a bite to eat at random, and left alone.

For Jiang Ziyue, her goal had already been achieved. Whether Jiang Yu stayed or left no longer mattered. In name, he had acknowledged Lin Dong as his master; among the ordinary martial artists of Yun City, Jiang Yu’s status and standing had risen significantly.

There is no hierarchy in learning; whoever is accomplished becomes the teacher.

Among secular martial artists, it was commonplace for those in their thirties or forties to apprentice themselves to someone a decade or more their junior. If age were truly the only measure, Lin Dong would still not be qualified to be even Jiang Yu’s great-great-grandson.

Thinking this, Jiang Yu shook his head and smiled. His mindset had long since transcended the mundane world. Since he had decided to experience the dust of the mortal realm, he must let go of the pride of the Immortal Lord of Mingdong and fully merge with the identity of this body.

Just as he was about to leave, a pleasant voice sounded from behind.

Unexpectedly, he ran into an acquaintance here.

Sun Wanyue was dressed in a Korean-style outfit, her nearly 1.7-meter figure mature and alluring. Beneath a pleated miniskirt, her shapely legs in high-heeled sandals exuded an enticing charm.

Many passing men cast admiring glances her way.

She carried several shopping bags in her hand, her expression complicated as she stood behind Jiang Yu. Having just recovered from a serious illness and feeling refreshed, she had come alone to Baida Hui for some shopping, never expecting to run into Jiang Yu at the entrance.

Normally, Sun Wanyue would have avoided Jiang Yu like the plague. Who at No. 1 High didn’t know how relentlessly Jiang Yu had pursued her, treating her as a goddess?

But this time, she’d called out to him on a strange impulse.

“Do you need something?”

Jiang Yu’s gaze was calm as he asked offhandedly.

With such indifference, it seemed that if Sun Wanyue said it was nothing, Jiang Yu would turn and leave the very next moment.

The once burning gaze that had been fixed on her was now long gone. Perhaps, after being repeatedly humiliated by her sharp words, this young man had long since given up hope.

A pang of hurt suddenly struck Sun Wanyue’s heart.

She couldn’t even explain this abrupt emotion; it felt as if, in some unseen way, she had lost something precious.

That day, the video she’d seen on her phone replayed in her mind. That scene had been etched in her memory: the high-ranking members of the Xia family had all appeared, luxury cars crowded the food street, all to invite a young man.

Although most of the videos were deleted in the days that followed—almost as if some force was intervening to stop their spread—Sun Wanyue could never forget that profile in the video.

Before the videos disappeared, she couldn’t even recall how many times she had watched them.

Now, she studied Jiang Yu intently, her beautiful eyes not daring to blink, as if afraid to miss a single detail.

When Jiang Yu’s profile matched perfectly with that fleeting glimpse from the video, a thunderclap seemed to explode in Sun Wanyue’s heart. She trembled violently.

She suddenly covered her mouth. “Jiang Yu, you…”

Jiang Yu touched his face—her strange gaze made it seem as if he had something on it.

“What about me?” Jiang Yu smiled faintly.

The surprise and disbelief in Sun Wanyue’s enchanting eyes only grew deeper.

She pointed at Jiang Yu, her red lips quivering.

“The youth who shook Yun City in that video—was that you?”

Sun Wanyue clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay calm. A storm raged inside her, her mind blank, her gaze now filled with nothing but Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu replied airily, “That was me. Anything else?”

Plenty of people had filmed that day, and Jiang Yu had expected the video to spread online. Anyone who browsed the web regularly might have seen it.

Hearing him admit it with her own ears, Sun Wanyue’s last trace of doubt vanished completely.

“How can that be? Jiang Yu, tell me, that wasn’t you!”

Sun Wanyue’s emotions flared.

Jiang Yu replied coolly, “The person you saw in the video was indeed me.”

His words dropped like a comet, crashing into the still waters of Sun Wanyue’s heart.

With eyes rimmed red, Sun Wanyue grabbed Jiang Yu’s arm. “Jiang Yu, why? Tell me why! You’re just a worthless outcast from the Jiang family. You’re sickly. You’re lazy. You…”

Her sharp questions rang incessantly in Jiang Yu’s ear.

“The Xia family stands above all, controls the economic lifeblood of Jiangbei, and ranks among the top ten on the Chinese Forbes rich list. Have they lost their minds? Why would they go to such lengths for you? I don’t see a trace of that greatness in you.”

Jiang Yu had once been Sun Wanyue’s pursuer.

Such a blow was hard to accept—what other girls could possibly understand?

If she had agreed to Jiang Yu’s pursuit, would this remarkable young man have been her boyfriend? And now, she had missed out on someone so outstanding because of her narrow vision.

Sun Wanyue insisted on disbelief, questioning him again and again, but deep down, she had already accepted it. Otherwise, why would her emotions be so out of control?

The boy she’d once considered her life’s greatest humiliation had now become the protagonist of that city-shaking video.

The sense of disparity was suffocating.

“Why? The moment you stood on the podium with the love letter I gave you and mocked me in front of everyone, you lost all right to ask me that question!”

A calm voice exploded in Sun Wanyue’s ear.

Jiang Yu gently pried her fingers off his arm and turned to leave.

...

Evening.

Sun Wanyue sat alone at the entrance to Baida Hui mall, her eyes swollen and red from crying.

Since Jiang Yu left, she’d sat dazed outside the mall all afternoon, her mind swirling with thoughts and filled with regret.

“Jiang Yu, I’m sorry.”

I...

Tears welled in her eyes again.

Jiang Yu’s last words still echoed in her ears.

Yes, the moment she stood on the podium with his letter and mocked him, she lost all qualification.

Utterly devastated, her eyes stared blankly ahead.

A burgundy Bentley Bentayga rolled to a stop at the curb. A breathtakingly beautiful woman stepped gracefully from the car.

She wore a daring black deep-V gown, custom tailored by the renowned Italian craftsman Giuseppe Berutto, each dress costing tens of thousands of euros.

The stunning Xia Ning stood like a queen, a proud décolletage beneath her ivory neck. Though not exactly revealing, the gown was designed to showcase the wearer’s perfect figure with exquisite craftsmanship.

Her slender waist gave way to a gradually tightening skirt, outlining two long, shapely legs—subtly visible, supremely alluring.

In Xia Ning’s presence, Sun Wanyue instantly lost her luster.

Countless admiring glances focused on Xia Ning.

Yun City, called the “Little Mountain City” of China, had always been famed for its beautiful women, rivaling even Sichuan province—its reputation well deserved.

“Wanyue, what’s wrong? Did someone bully you?”

Xia Ning frowned slightly, her voice gentle.

Sun Wanyue shook her head, forcing herself to clear her mind of wild thoughts, and mustered a smile. “It’s nothing, Sister Xia Ning. I caught a cold last time and missed your birthday banquet. I asked you out today to apologize.”

Xia Ning smiled. “It’s fine, I’m not angry. Your health matters more. Let’s go eat.”

The two beauties entered the Bentley amid envious stares.

Chaoyun Restaurant.

As the city’s only star-rated restaurant, its diners were mostly the powerful and wealthy. A single meal could cost tens of thousands.

Sun Wanyue hesitated for a long time before finally gathering the courage to speak: “Sister Xia Ning, have you ever met someone who, just half a month ago, seemed insignificant, but in just two weeks surpassed years—even a decade—of their peers’ progress, suddenly becoming someone you have to look up to?”

Xia Ning could see that Sun Wanyue was troubled.

She smiled gently. “Unless that person has an extraordinary background, or a powerful benefactor.”

Faced with such a vague answer, Sun Wanyue sighed, her eyes dimming further.

“Sister Xia Ning, why?”

Sun Wanyue looked up, meeting Xia Ning’s gaze.

Xia Ning’s expression didn’t change; her lips maintained a captivating smile. “There’s only one person in all of Yun City who could affect you like this—Jiang Yu.”

Sun Wanyue could no longer hold back. She threw herself onto the table, bursting into tears, her beauty made all the more pitiful by her tears.

“Sister Xia Ning, I regret it. I shouldn’t have humiliated Jiang Yu.”

Xia Ning gazed out the window, heart unsettled. “Wanyue, you and Zheng Xuan were the two most likely to get close to Jiang Yu. But because of your shortsightedness, you missed out on a genius. Who else is there to blame?”

What was supposed to be a meal between friends, once the topic of Jiang Yu arose, left both of them with complicated feelings.

“All right, let me take you home.”

After dinner, Xia Ning took Sun Wanyue’s arm, and the two left the restaurant in silence.

By ten o’clock, the streets had emptied.

As they stepped outside, a cold wind blew, and Xia Ning shivered inexplicably.

An uneasy feeling crept into her heart.

The Bentley parked at the curb was blocked at both ends by two SUVs.

A burly man with thick brows and large eyes leaned against one of the vehicles, smoking a cigarette, a pistol in his hand.

“Tsk tsk, I’ve long heard that Xia Ning’s beauty is unrivaled. Now that I’ve seen you in person, your reputation is well deserved. If I could spend just one night with you, I’d gladly trade ten years of my life.”

“But it’s a pity, such a pity.”

A voice sounded behind Xia Ning. “Han Hu, don’t waste time. Once we succeed, we leave China at once. With Xia Ning dead, Xia Housheng will surely bring bloody retribution to Jiangbei. If we’re late, and the authorities get involved, we won’t make it out.”

The speaker was hidden in darkness, a hunched figure, his face obscured, more shadow than man.

Han Hu laughed heartily. “Shadowkill has ruled the assassin world for a century, since the era of the warlords in the Republic. We specialize in assassinating the powerful, like shadows, like ghosts—hence, Shadowkill. As long as a grandmaster doesn’t appear, there’s no one in China who can stop us.”

With that, Han Hu raised his gun and aimed it at Xia Ning.

“Sorry, sweetheart.”

Bang!

The gunshot thundered through the street.

The old man hidden in the shadows prepared to retreat as the shot rang out.

Xia Ning’s expression turned pale as she turned to shield the trembling Sun Wanyue.

A moment passed—then a startled voice.

“What’s going on?”

Han Hu’s eyes widened in disbelief.

A blue barrier enveloped Sun Wanyue and Xia Ning. The bullet hit the shield, rippling its surface but doing no harm.

At the same time, a bead on the jade bracelet on Xia Ning’s wrist shattered and fell to the ground.

“A magical artifact?”