Chapter 254: Chapter 251: Unrecognized Feelings

"I..."

Mo Qi had just started to speak when Niu Kexin cut him off.

"Search your heart and tell me, do you truly feel nothing?"

"O-Of course."

Mo Qi didn’t dare to look Niu Kexin in the eye again. He turned his face away and stammered his reply.

He didn’t know why he felt so flustered. He had always treated Liu Ruyan like a little sister all these years!

Niu Kexin smiled sweetly. ’It seems this silly little brother hasn’t faced his feelings yet.’

’This won’t do. I have to give Sister Ruyan a little push.’

Her eyes darted about as a plan formed in her mind. She said deliberately, "Since Little Brother Mo only sees Ruyan as a sister, then this is simple. Just hang a sign on the door of the Cultivation Room saying you forfeit all challenges. That way, everything will be settled."

"No way!" Mo Qi refused instantly, without a second thought.

"Why not?" Niu Kexin asked with a smile.

"I... I am the great Mo Qi! How can I just forfeit without a fight? Wouldn’t that make me a laughingstock for the whole world? It’s humiliating! It’s an insult... an insult to my dignity! That’s right, my dignity!" Mo Qi mumbled for a long time before finally landing on a flimsy excuse.

"Hee hee hee," Niu Kexin giggled, covering her mouth. "If I recall correctly, Little Brother Mo, you’re the last person to care about what others think. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so reserved back at the Void Sect."

Mo Qi froze. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

’That’s right. I live in the moment and never care what other people think.’

’So why did I say something like that?’

’Why is my heart in such turmoil?’

’It makes no sense!’

’Could it be... that I really... for that girl Ruyan...’

’No, no, no!’

’She’s always seen me as an older brother. How could I possibly have those kinds of thoughts?’

"Little Brother Mo, what are you thinking about?" Niu Kexin asked suddenly.

"Huh? N-Nothing," Mo Qi replied, his face turning a rare shade of red.

"Really?"

"Really!" Mo Qi’s expression suddenly turned serious. He said, "It’s like this. Ruyan is looking for a husband, so it’s not too much for me, as her older brother, to screen the candidates for her, right? I can’t rest easy otherwise. That’s why I absolutely cannot go easy on them!"

Hearing this, Niu Kexin’s face lit up with a smile. She kept staring at Mo Qi until he felt incredibly flustered.

’Screen the candidates?’

’I’m just afraid no one will be able to pass *your* screening!’

Though she thought this, Niu Kexin didn’t say it out loud.

She knew she had pushed him far enough. Any more pressure and it might backfire.

’Sister Ruyan, this is all I can do to help,’ Niu Kexin thought to herself. ’Now it’s up to this silly little brother to recognize his own feelings.’

Liu Hui and Jin Sanpang exchanged a look and shrugged in unison.

When it came to matters of the heart, their level of cluelessness was on par with Mo Qi’s, so they decided not to meddle.

"Liu Hui."

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Since we’re screening them, let’s have a good look at the young talents of the Empire. You stand guard outside and tell anyone who wants to challenge me that I’ll be waiting for them in the Cultivation Room!"

"Also, add one more condition. Tell them that if they want to challenge me, they have to present a Spiritual Object that catches my eye. I, Mo Qi, am not just anyone. How could I waste my time with them for free?"

Liu Hui’s eyes lit up. ’What a brilliant idea!’

’My Lord is truly My Lord, never letting an opportunity like this go to waste.’

’There are so many young men in the entire Empire. Even if only ten percent of them can produce a Spiritual Object, that would still be an unimaginably huge fortune!’

"My Lord, what if they object, refuse to hand over a Spiritual Object, and try to force their way in?" Liu Hui asked.

"Stupid!" Mo Qi grinned mischievously. "Can’t you just spread the news that I’m Ruyan’s older brother? I refuse to believe anyone would dare offend their potential ’brother-in-law’."

Liu Hui was suddenly enlightened.

"Yes, My Lord! I’ll get it done right away!"

With that, he dragged Jin Sanpang away with him.

Niu Kexin watched Mo Qi arrange all this with a look of deep affection. No matter how she looked at him, she found him incredibly attractive.

"Hmph, a bunch of toads thinking they can marry our Ruyan. As her older brother, I won’t allow it!"

Mo Qi kept reminding himself that he was only doing this out of brotherly concern for his sister.

But the more he reminded himself, the more flustered he became.

"Oh, right!"

Niu Kexin thought of something and leaned close to Mo Qi’s ear. "Little Brother Mo, you don’t think of me as just an older sister too, do you?"

The familiar fragrance filled his nostrils, and Mo Qi’s heart skipped a beat.

Before he could respond, Niu Kexin giggled and walked away.

Just before she disappeared from sight, a barely audible voice reached his ears: "This big sister never planned on you being her little brother forever."

Mo Qi stood there in a daze for a long time before letting out a wry smile.

But mixed in with that wry smile was an inexplicable sense of joy and anticipation.

...

Inspired by Mo Qi, Liu Hui and Jin Sanpang went outside.

Upon seeing the two of them, all the young men who had been waiting and watching involuntarily took a step back.

They had a deep impression of Jin Sanpang’s earlier outburst. A cultivator in the Vajra Realm was not someone they could contend with.

"Everyone, don’t be nervous. It was all a misunderstanding just now."

Liu Hui wore a smile, but no matter how they looked at it, the crowd felt his smile was filled with scheming intent.

"I know you are all here to challenge Qin Daye in accordance with the imperial decree."

"However, there are a few things I hope you’ll understand, and a few rules I hope you’ll follow."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd said discontentedly, "The imperial decree didn’t mention any rules! Are you trying to place yourselves above the decree?"

"That’s right! This is treason!"

"A crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your clan!"

Spurred on by a few instigators, the crowd grew agitated.

"Shut up!" Jin Sanpang roared, smashing his two giant hammers down with force.

BOOM!

The ground shook violently. The crowd lost their footing and hastily leaped into the air, none of them daring to make another sound.

"Are you done?" Liu Hui’s smile vanished. "If you’re done, then it’s my turn to speak, isn’t it?"

The crowd fell silent.

"The first thing I want to say is that Qin Daye is Miss Liu Ruyan’s older brother."

As soon as he said this, the once-furious crowd was instantly stunned, their expressions turning vacant.

’What?’

’Qin Daye is Liu Ruyan’s brother?!’

The Wen and Wu Goddesses both favor Qin Daye and are competing with Liu Ruyan and Niu Kexin for his affection. It was over this that Liu Ruyan even injured Mu Xue’s brother, Mu He.

This news had already spread throughout the Imperial City.

Everyone believed that the reason Liu Hong had arranged this marriage selection through a Royal Family decree, and set up such rules, was to teach Qin Daye a lesson.

They never would have imagined that Qin Daye was actually Liu Ruyan’s brother!

"Why should we believe you?"

Someone voiced their doubt.

Liu Hui said, "If things were really as you imagine, with Qin Daye and Liu Ruyan being in love, do you think Master Liu would announce it to the world in such a high-profile manner?"

"What kind of status does he have? If he were dissatisfied with a potential grandson-in-law, he could easily get rid of him without anyone ever knowing. Why go to all this trouble? Do you think Master Liu has nothing better to do? That he enjoys such pointless games?"

The crowd was stunned into silence. His logic was sound, and they couldn’t refute it.

What they didn’t expect, however, was that Liu Hong really *was* that idle! And he really *had* done something so pointless!