Ye Chu still spent his days in Yao City teasing Yao Yao from time to time, occasionally taking her for a few laps around the cold lake. For the rest of the time, he mostly studied the lone copy of the Red Evil manual. He still could not understand the sentence in it that said ‘Evil spirit and body unite, can form yin and yang’.
The fat man from Qing Mi Mountain had once said that if he cultivated on his own, reaching the Innate Realm would probably take several years. But by relying on the Red Evil lone copy, he might find the opportunity for a breakthrough. Yet clearly, Ye Chu did not grasp the meaning behind that line in the lone copy.
“Forget it! Never mind!” Ye Chu let out a light breath, his gaze falling on the invitation beside him. It was the one Su Rong had asked Liang Shan to deliver. Ye Chu had originally had no interest in attending, but thinking that he would be leaving soon, he figured it might be nice to see them.
When Ye Chu appeared at the venue, Liang Shan could not help exclaiming, “You actually came?”
It was no wonder Liang Shan was surprised. Over the past few days, countless banquet invitations had been sent to him, yet without exception, Ye Chu had thrown every single one into the stinking ditch outside Bai Xuan’s residence. He had assumed this invitation would meet the same fate, so he never expected Ye Chu to actually show up.
“As expected, only Su Rong can make you come!” Liang Shan thought of something and clicked his tongue. “You still won’t admit you’re secretly in love with Su Rong. There’s no use denying it now!”
“…” Ye Chu simply ignored Liang Shan and scanned the surroundings. There were quite a few handsome men and beautiful women, but he did not spot Su Rong anywhere. “Didn’t you say today is Su Rong’s birthday? Where is she?”
“Still getting ready, I suppose. You know how women are, always like that.” Liang Shan winked at Ye Chu and grinned. “A lot of women are interested in you now, you know. Want to take advantage of some other girls? Su Rong is pretty hard to get, after all!”
Ye Chu naturally would not bother explaining anything to Liang Shan. His gaze shifted to a group of women, and sure enough, he noticed some of them sneaking glances at him. When his eyes met theirs, they immediately blushed and hurriedly looked away.
Ye Chu was a little stunned. He had not expected that the battle against Sha Kingdom a few days ago would actually make some women develop a bit of interest in him. He just wondered whether these women would be willing to sleep with him.
Of course, Ye Chu had no idea that these women had already been discussing him endlessly behind his back. Unlike the curses from before, this time most of the talk was speculation about what Ye Chu had done in those three years.
People recalled Ye Chu’s actions since returning to Yao City and suddenly realised that after coming back, he had not committed any truly heinous deeds. On the contrary, he was quite loyal. Because of Liang Shan, he had even forcefully smashed the Dingwu Hall in a domineering manner.
The aversion people felt towards Ye Chu stemmed entirely from three years ago, when he had done countless bad things and earned a notorious reputation. But this time, upon his return, he had not only refrained from any evil acts, he was hardly even seen by anyone.
On the rare occasions he was spotted, he always carried that lazy, wickedly charming smile and an air of indifference. Compared to three years ago, the current Ye Chu was simply a young man who rarely appeared in public, somewhat handsome, with clear eyes that held a touch of melancholy.
Apart from Liang Shan and a few others who could chat with him, he almost never bothered with anyone else. He came across as rather cool. Of course, some men refused to believe a villain could truly change, so they tried to dig up dirt on any bad things Ye Chu had done.
Yet from the day he returned to Yao City, not a single bad deed could be found. Instead, he had helped Zhang Su’er and even aided Yao Kingdom.
This realisation left a group of young women dazed and dreamy. “A lonely, melancholic figure from behind, lazy yet clear eyes, always with that wicked charming smile at the corner of his mouth. So cool, incredibly strong, and shrouded in mystery. It’s hard to imagine this is the same scoundrel from three years ago. Sigh, if only he were still as rotten as back then. If he tried to force himself on me, I definitely wouldn’t struggle!”
The infatuation of these women once made Su Rong find it rather amusing. Yet she had to admit that, setting aside Ye Chu’s past reputation, his current unrestrained and lazy demeanour was indeed very attractive to women.
The rumour that Ye Chu had returned to Yao City for Su Rong’s sake spread like wildfire this time. Some women could not help sighing, “How wonderful! Ye Chu knew full well that coming back to Yao City would mean enduring endless curses, yet he still came. It shows how deeply he loves Su Rong!”
“If there was a man willing to bear millions of curses for me too, I would give myself to him without hesitation!”
“Compared to Ye Chu, Chen Bowen suddenly doesn’t seem right for Su Rong at all. In Yao City, no one seems more suited to Su Rong than Ye Chu.”
“So romantic! I wish I had a man like that for me! Even if he really is a scoundrel, I wouldn’t mind!”
“…”
When Su Rong appeared, she wore a fresh and light green outfit, beautifully made up. The clothes perfectly highlighted her budding figure. Although her chest was still a little youthful and green under the fabric, it still proudly displayed the allure of youth. Her slender waist, so slim it could be grasped in one hand, was cinched even more enticingly by a belt.
Gazing at this tempting body, Ye Chu could not help feeling a distant stir deep in his heart, a palpitation that belonged to the previous soul.
“You came!” Su Rong walked over to Ye Chu’s side. Her action immediately sparked cheers from the crowd of women.
“Together! Together!” Pang Shao somehow popped up and shouted from the side. His words instantly triggered every woman present to join in, the waves of cheering growing louder and louder.
Unlike the women, the men present wore looks of jealousy, inwardly cursing the group of women. “A bunch of infatuated fools. Have they all forgotten how he wrecked Yao City three years ago?”
But men can never understand women’s minds. As long as they liked him now, no matter how infamous Ye Chu had been in the past, they had mostly forgotten it. That was simply women’s nature!
Under the crowd’s teasing, Su Rong’s face flushed slightly. She glared fiercely at Zhang Su’er, who had been shouting the loudest. “Shut your mouth!”
Zhang Su’er grinned mischievously, and only then did the group of young ladies stop their cheering.
Pang Shao looked at Ye Chu with a sly smile, wishing he could stir up some trouble for him. Seeing this plan fail, he dragged Liang Shan away to scheme what else they could do to annoy Ye Chu.
“Thank you for what happened with Sha Kingdom last time!” Su Rong still had a blush on her face, like peach blossoms in full bloom, utterly captivating.
“For thanks, shouldn’t there be something more substantial?” Ye Chu smiled, his gaze sweeping over Su Rong, lingering briefly on her perky hips and full chest before moving away.
Su Rong’s pretty face turned even redder. She shot Ye Chu a reproachful look. “Can you please drop that unrestrained attitude? I know you’ve really changed in these three years. You’re not the old Ye Chu anymore. Why do you still insist on acting like a bad guy?”
“You’re actually wrong about that. I am still the same Ye Chu as before. For example, if you offered to sleep with me tonight, I definitely wouldn’t refuse.” Ye Chu burst out laughing.
Su Rong spat at him. “I’m too lazy to talk nonsense with you! Can’t you really return the Red Evil lone copy? The king values that thing very much!”
“Pfft!” Ye Chu could not help spitting in disdain. He thought to himself, if the king really valued it, would it have ended up propping up a table corner?
“I burned that thing to ashes!” Ye Chu shrugged. “If you want it, I’m afraid I really can’t find it anymore!”
“I’d be a fool to believe you!” Su Rong rolled her eyes. After spending this time with Ye Chu, she knew he could lie without even blinking.