Chapter 106: Life of Trials

"Where are you touching him?" Yang Mei Mei repeated as she grabbed my hand and put me behind her. She moved with great intent that for a moment, I let her do as she pleased.

My eyes darted towards Yang Mei Mei, then to Wu Yan, then to Yang Mei Mei again. Then they blinked. I didn't know why Yang Mei Mei was reacting that way. Was she jealous? Is this what they call rivalry? I could only wonder.

I've never had women fight over me before so I didn't know how it felt. In my previous life, all I ever did was spend time cultivating and trying to get my hands on cultivation techniques just so I could climb the ladder as fast as I could. There were some who were stronger and more talented than me so I didn't have the luxury to spend my time on such useless things as adventure or romance. If I probably spent more time outside my Sect, then I would've had hundreds of women fawning over me because of my looks.

But nay, I just had to choose the path to cultivation. If I didn't become the strongest cultivator back then, however, I would have regretted my life decisions right then there.

Ah, thank you, System, for giving me a second— no, a third chance in life. I express my gratitude from bringing me back to life and giving me another shot in this lifetime. Although you gave me more hardships in life than most, you also gave me rewarding benefits that came with your System.

Now that I think about it, I should check my storage ring later, and then arrange my inventory and try to figure out everything in my System Status.

But right now, I have to take care of these ladies fighting over me. Well, more like Yang Mei Mei is being overprotective here.

"Yang Mei Mei, stop it." I hissed at her, hoping that Wu Yan wouldn't hear what I said. "Why are you antagonizing her? She's a party member of mine, of course, she'll be worried."

"B-but, she was touching you all over the place. Aren't you uncom—"

"It's fine, it's normal to worry about your party members. And that much of a skinship is nothing. It's not like we're snuggling at each other's faces. Why? Are you jealous?"

Yang Mei Mei flinched as her face reddened. Then, she pouted her lips and looked at me straight in the eye. There was uncertainty on his expression but in the end, she was just a flustered eighteen-year-old girl. "N-no, why would I  be? I mean... after everything we've been through, I thought you'll take responsibility for me?" 

Sigh~ this girl is helpless.

"All right all right, I'll take responsibility of you, then we'll get married and live a happy life, is that what you want?" I sarcastically asked.

And then it happened.

The redness on Yang Mei Mei's face spread to her ears, making her impulsively cover her face in embarrassment. Before we knew it, she disappeared from our sight and she was already a long distance away, running from us.

"She's fast, all right." I sighed.

After the commotion, Liu Zhi's party, Luo Zehn, and I were invited by Shen Rong to his pavilion. This was the same pavilion where Wu Yan and I were invited to dinner so it didn't take us a long time to find it. Up until now, Wu Yan would repeatedly glance towards me, and every time I gazed at her, she would turn her face away while covering her face. She and Yang Mei Mei had the same expression on their face and I didn't know how to act on it.

Just like I said, these are all uncharted territories for me. Honestly, women are so hard to understand.

"Where's that new girl? Is she going with us to the Pavilion?" Blade asked me, nudging me from the side to catch my attention since my mind was wandering somewhere else.

"I don't know. Just let her be, she'll be back soon enough. Also, I'm connected to everyone I know so I could track their whereabouts no matter the time and place. She's safe." I assured Blade. He was probably wondering why Yang Mei Mei behaved that way when I whispered something to her but I didn't have the audacity to tell him so I just made the explanation as vague as possible.

You know, Blade is an understanding type of guy. Just like now, although he had a lot of questions in his mind, he stopped asking me about it and just nodded at my response.

"You know, that woman." Blade began.

"Yeah? What about her?"

"She's stronger and faster than me... " Blade sighed. "I feel sorry for her. I mean, I don't feel sorry for her in a pitiful way, but I feel sorry for her because of her life."

"What do you mean?" I asked. This was the first time I heard Blade spoke in a saddened tone, and his low voice made it even more effective.

"She must have experienced a life of hardship. Her Core was too stable for her age and her cultivation level is probably a bit higher than mine. I don't know what happened to her but she must've lived an awful life. A young woman like her shouldn't be like that. She should be living happily in a shelter while moderately cultivating. As for her, it was obvious that she'd walked to hell and back multiple times."

I glanced at Blade in surprise. I never thought of him to be philosophical but right now, he was speaking like an old sage who had watched plenty of lives and years go by. But I get where he was standing.

After all, it was true that Yang Mei Mei lived such a tribulation without the help of others. A whole shelter targets her and there was no one fighting with her for three years. I more or less get why she reacted that way when I told her I would help her. She probably thought that finally, there was someone whom she could rely on.

And I'll gladly be that someone, no questions asked... although Wu Yan might misunderstand where I'm getting at. Well, let's think about it when it happens.

"So you've arrived." Shen Rong greeted us as he gestured towards us to take our seats.