Chapter 468: Li Yuan’s Misfortune

“How is this my problem?”

Tushan Yingyu froze in shock at Wang Haoran’s indifferent response.

Taking advantage of her momentary daze, Wang Haoran forcefully pulled her soul body out of Xu Ruochu.

“……”

“Let me go!”

The fluffy nine-tailed little fox, now held by the scruff of her neck, began to struggle violently.

Having been drained of much of her power by Wang Haoran’s “Soul Binding Lock,” coupled with the energy spent on her massive self-destruction earlier, she was now powerless to resist Wang Haoran and his Yin-Yang Creation Physique.

“Let—me—go!”

However, instead of listening, Wang Haoran, seeing her still full of energy, casually looped the Soul Binding Lock around her short neck.

With a tug on the chain, he treated her like a pet.

“Perfect!”

“Damn it! Damn it! Bastard! Bastard!”

Bound once again, Tushan Yingyu could only vent her helpless rage.

“I am the mighty Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox! How could I submit to you, you—”

Before she could finish, Wang Haoran chuckled and pressed down on her fox head.

“Good little foxes should behave!”

For now, Wang Haoran decided to change his approach.

Keeping her as a pet seemed like a good idea—

After all, doing “those things” with a fluffy fox form of Tushan Yingyu was out of the question…

After stuffing the “defiant” little fox into his sleeve.

Wang Haoran turned his attention to Xu Ruochu.

“Sorry, are you okay?”

“……” Facing Wang Haoran’s concern, Xu Ruochu lowered her head, her voice soft:

“……Not okay.”

“It hurts here… it feels uncomfortable…”

She placed her hand over her abdomen, where her dantian was.

“……”

“Should I take a look?”

Though Wang Haoran had been as careful as possible, forcibly pulling Tushan Yingyu out of her dantian had inevitably caused some discomfort.

So he offered to check.

Xu Ruochu immediately lifted her clothing, revealing her flat stomach, “Mm-hmm!”

“……Uh… actually, my cultivation is deep enough to check through your clothes with just my eyes.”

“But it really hurts here… it needs a closer inspection.”

“……”

Wang Haoran examined her dantian and found nothing wrong.

However, it was normal for her dantian to feel discomfort after being invaded and forcibly cleared of a foreign entity for the first time.

Releasing a gentle stream of true energy from his hand, he carefully infused it into Xu Ruochu’s dantian.

“Feeling better now?”

“No…”

Seeing Wang Haoran’s hand not touching her skin.

Biting her lip, Xu Ruochu used one hand to lift her clothing further and grabbed Wang Haoran’s hand with the other.

She pulled his palm directly onto her stomach.

“It really hurts… it really does…”

“So…”

Still looking down, her tears began to drip onto Wang Haoran’s hand.

“Haoran Brother…”

“Can you rub it for me… please…”

“……”

Before Wang Haoran could respond.

“Wow!”

“Something good is happening!”

The gossipy little fox, who had been fuming in his sleeve, poked her head out.

In a mocking tone, she loudly exclaimed—

Only to be smacked back into the sleeve by Wang Haoran.

…………

Meanwhile.

“Damn it, I didn’t expect such a ferocious beast to be hiding there!”

On a roadside path, Li Yuan was now covered in injuries.

To escape from the despicable Wang Haoran, he had taken a risky path through thorny trails to leave the bottom of the cliff after taking a hit.

But he hadn’t anticipated being ambushed by a powerful serpent-like beast along the way!

After a prolonged struggle, though he managed to slay the beast.

He himself was severely injured.

And that wasn’t all—

“When it rains, it pours… my luck is terrible…”

“That beast was venomous…”

Now suffering from both injuries and poison, Li Yuan began to feel dizzy, his vision blurring and shaking…

Before passing out, his mind was still racing:

“How does Wang Haoran know about the ‘protagonist’ and ‘lapdog villain’ roles… it’s impossible…”

“Damn it…”

“But Senior Tushan Yingyu is so strong… she should teach Wang Haoran a lesson…”

The only response came from his ever-loyal system, Xiaoxing:

〈Ah, yes, yes, yes!〉

***

Uncertain how long he had been unconscious, as Li Yuan’s condition worsened.

The sky had grown dim when someone finally passed by the remote path.

It was a luxurious caravan.

The lead scout quickly spotted Li Yuan lying on the ground.

“There’s someone lying on the road!”

He wanted to stop and check, but was immediately scolded by his companion.

“Mind your own business!”

“It’s getting dark, we need to hurry!”

—And rightly so, the world was not a peaceful place, and most people would ignore such situations.

After all, they didn’t know who the injured person was or why they were hurt.

Helping a stranger could easily drag them into unnecessary trouble.

“Why save someone unrelated to you?!”

Such reasoning often deterred people from getting involved.

However.

This logic didn’t apply to certain novel heroines or supporting female characters, who seemed to love finding injured male protagonists by the roadside.

After rescuing them, they would not only tenderly nurse them back to health but also escort them to the nearest town.

Of course, during this process, the heroine’s or supporting character’s rival would inevitably cause trouble.

Then the protagonist would step in, show off, and win her heart—

So, at this moment.

From the central carriage of the caravan, a gentle voice called out:

“Wait a moment!”

Though soft, the voice immediately halted all movement in the caravan.

Orders were absolute.

The curtain of the carriage was slowly lifted.

A graceful figure gazed out the window at the fallen Li Yuan.

After a few seconds, she seemed surprised—

“This…”

“Isn’t he Ning’s senior brother… Li Yuan?!”

The Holy Son of Piao Miao Holy Land! Why was he lying here so miserably in the wilderness?!

What on earth had happened?!

After a moment of thought.

Considering her connection with Shangguan Yunlan, and the fact that she would soon be visiting Piao Miao Holy Land to bring Ning home for the New Year.

The woman gestured and instructed her subordinates:

“Quickly, bring that man over!”