After I Got Pregnant With The Hero’S Baby, I Ran Away With The Ball. Chapter 19

“Is it really alright to just leave her be?”

Wei Lin placed a piece, surveying the board. He seemed to be subtly moving toward a victory against Duan Xi.

Duan Xi was currently only concerned with their game of Go. As for Zhao Ninger, she was completely outside his scope of consideration.

Wei Lin’s last move was exquisite. If Duan Xi made a single misstep, it would be a complete loss.

While observing where the piece landed, Duan Xi responded nonchalantly, “Having Tian Yi’s people watch her is enough. She and those spies won’t be able to stir up much trouble.”

On the board, a white piece landed without hesitation inside the black pieces’ encirclement. It should have been a dead end, but because it resonated with other white pieces, it resulted in a draw.

Wei Lin glanced at the board and chuckled softly, “That confident?”

Duan Xi smiled too. “I never bet on a game I’m going to lose.”

Wei Lin smiled, saying nothing. He began collecting the black pieces one by one. Duan Xi raised an eyebrow. “Not playing anymore?”

With that interruption, his interest in the game had waned considerably. He shook his head. “I don’t feel like it anymore.”

Duan Xi helped him collect the pieces, then asked, “Then what do you want to do?”

Wei Lin thought for a moment. Besides playing Go and reading, there didn’t seem to be anything else he could do.

He sighed. “When can I go out for a walk?”

It had been nearly a month since he last left.

He was naturally somewhat of a homebody, but being cooped up in the same place every day, repeating the same monotonous life, would drive anyone crazy after a while.

Duan Xi was startled, seemingly not expecting Wei Lin to make such a request.

He thought that keeping someone who was once a favored son of heaven like Wei Lin, caged like a canary, must be incredibly difficult for him.

Duan Xi frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, “Not now. Once the matter with Zhao Ninger is resolved, perhaps I can take you out.”

Wei Lin knew he couldn’t go out now; he was just asking casually. He hadn’t expected Duan Xi to agree so quickly.

Wei Lin rested his chin on his hand, his fingertips lightly tapping the chessboard. “Then I’ll wait.”

He remembered Chu Jingyun, whom he hadn’t seen for several days, and couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “Right, what did you send Chu Jingyun to do? I haven’t seen him for days.”

Duan Xi’s eyes flickered slightly, and he curved his lips into a smile. “Why are you so concerned about him?”

Wei Lin didn’t notice the strange look in his eyes. He merely shrugged. “It just occurred to me, so I asked. If it’s something secretive, you don’t have to tell me.”

Duan Xi said, “My Martial Uncle sent a message back a few days ago. He found a spiritual medicine in an ancient secret realm that can replace the Bodhi Root and the Spirit Cleansing Fruit. However, that secret realm is quite dangerous, so I sent Chu Jingyun to assist him.”

Duan Xi’s Martial Uncle was the Medicine Sage. If he said other spiritual medicines could be used as substitutes, then they certainly could.

Once the spiritual medicines for the pill formula were gathered, it meant that Wei Lin’s Cultivation Deviation could be completely cured.

Duan Xi would also no longer be blackmailed by his father over the Bodhi Root and Spirit Cleansing Fruit, forcing this stalemate to continue.

The matter of his Cultivation Deviation was no longer a secret. Those who secretly wanted to deal with him, since they could uncover the news that Duan Xi was hiding him in Heaven Gate, must also know that Duan Xi planned to cure him.

He feared that Wen Yu and those spiritual medicines would not arrive safely at Heaven Gate so easily.

On the other side, Zhao Ninger took her maid out to find Elder White Ape. Halfway there, she suddenly turned back with her maid.

She wasn’t so foolish as to search openly. If the people of Heaven Gate discovered that Elder White Ape was helping her, wouldn’t that clearly indicate that Elder White Ape was involved with Taiheng Sect?

She instructed her maid to find a way to send a message to Elder White Ape, asking him to come find her when no one was around.

She didn’t know what method the maid used, but Zhao Ninger waited two days. Finally, at midnight on the third night, she heard a knock on the window.

A look of delight crossed her face. She pulled back the curtain and peered out. However, outside the window was only an ordinary macaque with no spiritual intelligence.

“Why is it just a monkey?”

She pouted in disappointment, about to pull the curtain shut, when she saw the macaque clutching a small slip of paper in one hand, stubbornly shoving it toward her face.

Zhao Ninger had little affection for demon beasts, especially this dusty macaque, which looked dirty.

“Couldn’t he have found a cleaner, better-looking monkey? How disgusting.”

Her face was full of disdain. She used two fingers to pinch the note out of the macaque’s hand.

Once she took the note, the macaque’s mission was complete. It jumped off the windowsill and darted into the jungle without hesitation.

Zhao Ninger held the note but had no intention of opening it herself. She walked directly to the small side room outside her chamber and, as if tossing a hot potato, threw it in front of her maid, commanding haughtily, “You open it and see what Elder White Ape said.”

The maid was abruptly woken up, her mind still fuzzy. Zhao Ninger saw this and impatiently snapped, “I told you to hurry up!”

The maid’s shoulders trembled. She fumbled to open the note.

The handwriting was somewhat messy and difficult to decipher. The maid carefully distinguished the characters for a while, then read out loud, word by word, “Star… Picking Valley.”

Zhao Ninger uttered a confused “Hmm?” “Isn’t Star Picking Valley just a barren little basin? That little slut is living there?”

Didn’t they say Duan Xi was extremely fond of him? With Duan Xi’s personality, how could he bear to put the person he liked in such a desolate place?

“But Elder White Ape’s information shouldn’t be wrong,” the maid scratched her head. Although it seemed impossible, they didn’t seem to have any other option but to trust Elder White Ape.

Zhao Ninger was skeptical. “We can only go and see first.”

She said she would go look, but she didn’t act immediately.

She knew that Duan Xi must have hidden many spies around Star Picking Valley. If she went rashly, she might not even catch a glimpse of what that little slut looked like, let alone teach him a lesson.

Moreover, she hadn’t seen Duan Xi for several days, meaning he was most likely spending time with that little slut.

Zhao Ninger thought it over and decided that if she showed up herself, she definitely wouldn’t be able to handle that scoundrel, especially since Duan Xi was clearly protecting him. It was uncertain who would suffer then. It would be better to escalate the matter directly. With her father’s status and strength, no matter how much Duan Xi liked that scoundrel, he couldn’t possibly offend her father for his sake.

Deciding to act immediately, Zhao Ninger sent a message to her father, claiming she had suffered many cold shoulders and humiliations here. Her doting father immediately replied that he would come right away to seek justice for her.

Her father was a Tribulation Stage Grand Elder. Although Taiheng Sect and Heaven Gate were far apart, it only took him an hour to arrive when traveling at full speed.

When her father stood before her, the grievances she had suffered these past few days poured out like an uncontrollable flood.

“My Ninger has suffered.”

Zhao Heng felt his precious daughter looked haggard at first glance, and his heart ached terribly.

Zhao Ninger’s eyes were misty with tears. She threw herself into Zhao Heng’s arms, loudly weeping about how Duan Xi had neglected and bullied her, while not forgetting to viciously denounce Wei Lin.

“Outrageous!” Zhao Heng was shaking with anger. He patted his daughter’s back soothingly, gently coaxing her, “Father will go find that brat Duan Xi right now and make him apologize to you personally.”

“And he must kill that scoundrel, or I won’t be satisfied,” Zhao Ninger hated Wei Lin the most. How could she let her father overlook him?

A scoundrel who threatened her position as the Heaven Gate Master’s wife must die!

In the courtyard, Wei Lin, who was idly watering the spent begonia flowers, suddenly sneezed.

He rubbed his slightly sore nose, feeling a strange sensation, as if someone was secretly plotting against him.

Duan Xi, sitting nearby drinking tea, cast a concerned look his way. “Did you catch a cold again?”

Wei Lin shook his head. “No.”

He put down the watering can and walked over to sit beside Duan Xi, who had already thoughtfully brewed him a cup of hot tea.

It was almost the end of October, and the weather was getting increasingly cold. Although he was dressed warmly, he had been exposed to the autumn wind while watering, and he did feel a bit chilly.

He unceremoniously picked up the hot tea. After drinking it, his body warmed up slightly. Duan Xi propped his hand up, resting his chin on it, and watched his profile with amusement.

Wei Lin felt awkward under the scrutiny and couldn’t help but say, “You spend all day with me in this small courtyard. Don’t you have other things to attend to?”

Didn’t he find this kind of life boring?

Duan Xi curled his lips playfully, about to say he had nothing to do, when he suddenly felt a powerful and oppressive aura crushing down from above Heaven Gate.

He dropped the playful smile and said seriously, “Trouble has arrived.”

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the elusive Tian Yi appeared beside them.

“Gate Master, Elder Zhao Heng of the Taiheng Sect has arrived.”

“I know.”

He seemed completely unsurprised, as if he had anticipated this.

“I guessed she would eventually bring her father into this. Besides her father, she has no other capabilities.”

Earlier, when he learned that Zhao Ninger knew where Wei Lin lived, he might have thought highly of her if she had genuinely figured out a way to get him to leave. But now, it seemed that even after all these years, she hadn’t improved at all.

He stood up and said to Wei Lin, “Stay here. I’ll be back soon.”

Wei Lin nodded knowingly. “Go ahead.”

Tian Yi waited nearby for instructions. Seeing this, he stepped forward and asked, “Should this subordinate remain here?”

Duan Xi was about to tell him to stay, but Wei Lin said, “No need to stay. Nothing will happen here. Zhao Heng is not easy to deal with. It’s always better to have one more useful person by your side.”

Duan Xi considered this and finally agreed. But he was still worried, so he instructed, “Star Picking Valley has a defensive array. Even if Zhao Heng comes, he won’t easily get in. As long as you don’t go out, no one can harm you.”

“I know. Hurry up and go.”

Wei Lin dismissed him calmly. He wasn’t unreasonable. In his current state, running out would only cause trouble and wouldn’t help anything.

Duan Xi looked like he wanted to say more, but ultimately left with Tian Yi.

Only when the two figures disappeared from sight did Wei Lin wave toward the tree.

“They’re gone. You can come out now.”