280 Intrude Every Day

Mo Cheng's estate was about ten times larger than Li Meirong's little wooden cabin and orchard combined. The main entrance was a well planned garden, carefully constructed with the utmost detail. There were not many flowers or ornaments of decoration, but the simple layout design possessed an air of luxury all the same. It was flanked by several smaller trails leading to adjoining courtyards, whilst the central trail was a paved path to a training grounds circle without a single person in sight.

A collection of expensive looking armaments were aligned on a polished rack at the left side of the circle. Tossed nearby were a handful of practise swords and a few broadswords stacked on top of each other in a rather careless manner.

Li Meirong stepped onto training grounds with a remote look on her face while holding her unusually silent Fox Spirit in her arms. Feng Huang hovered not far behind, making little comments here and there as she looked around.

Briefly glancing at the weapons tossed at the side, Li Meirong noted that they appeared to have been recently used, and assumed that Mo Cheng was somewhere nearby, most likely taking a break after his morning practise.

As it were, her assumptions were spot on. She soon heard a feminine chortle followed by the bustling racket of unhurried footsteps and teasing murmurs coming over from one of the smaller trails on towards the main path.

Turning swiftly to face the approaching group, Li Meirong bent down and protectively placed Snowball behind her. As she straightened her back, the light in her eyes dimmed as she saw Mo Cheng followed around by several giggling female disciples. Like a delicate white flower in a sea of green grassland, Shu Qianqian stood out among them, staying closest to Mo Cheng and possessively holding onto one of his arms.

Mo Cheng held a napkin to the side of his neck, wiping off a trail of sweat from his sun kissed skin. His warm brown eyes shone bright and his wide smile made him look like the fresh young youth he was. Innocent and brave, gentle and kind. And as it seemed, quite fond of being lavished with attention.

As soon as he turned to face Li Meirong, his smile widened and formed a pair of dimples near the corners of his lips.

"Sister Meirong, what a pleasant surprise!" Mo Cheng exclaimed, all but forgetting the entourage of girls he came with. He tossed the napkin without any regard and shook Shu Qianqian away from him, only to hurry along the path to Li Meirong's side.

The moment his eyes set on hers, he acted as though he was simply discarding a few unimportant objects, and not actual human beings with feelings that could get hurt from his balatant disregard.

Behind him, Shu Qianqian gritted her teeth and glared daggers at Li Meirong, large doe-like eyes burning with unconcealed hatred. The other fellow girls at her side stopped giggling at once and stared at each other in quiet dismay. They bowed and bade their farewells before gracefully retreating to their residences.

Li Meirong ignored Mo Cheng and narrowed her eyes at Shu Qianqian. She gathered that she must have not been able to veil her anger well enough, because she noticed Shu Qianqian flinch as soon as they were locked in the short-lived staring contest.

The scornful glare Shu Qianqian sent her way was gradually replaced by eyebrows curving up at the corners in dread, and eyes that showed a little too much white for them to mask their owner's fear.

However, Mo Cheng noticed none of that. He eagerly came to stand in front of Li Meirong, his figure blocked Shu Qianqian from view and forced Li Meirong's attention to him.

"Brother Cheng, I apologize for intruding so suddenly," said Li Meirong. She forced herself to smile politely and clenched her hands into fists, curbing the urge to beat Shu Qianqian to a pulp.

"Please don't!" said Mo Cheng and let out a burst of nervous laughter. "I wish you'd intrude on me every day."