Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Walking home, Yan Yu was still pondering and reminiscing when Chen Lingyun suddenly asked:

"Are there any formidable cultivators in Southeast Asia and Miti?"

"Yes," Yan Yu answered.

"Who specifically?" Chen Lingyun asked with a slight smile.

"Hard to say." Yan Yu shook his head.

"Let me guess," Chen Lingyun's smile became sweeter, "you're trying to say that those powerful cultivators everyone boasted about in the past life, in your eyes, were actually not worth a single blow, so it's hard to say which of them were formidable and which were not?"

Yan Yu: ..........

You understand everything already, why ask me?

What annoyed him most in his previous life was this woman's personality database. After being with you for a while, she would build a model of your personality in her mind, and she could generally guess what you would say to what you heard and how you would react to what happened; it was like mind reading, and especially irritating.

Of course, Chen Lingyun's ability seemed to be hereditary. Her father, Chen Tianming, could remember the complete resumes of all the county-level and above officials in Lu Country, including all those in office and retired. That was truly an astonishing feat.

Walking ahead, Yan Yu maintained a silent response. Chen Lingyun followed behind him, her voice filled with laughter:

"Why are you not speaking anymore? Or did I guess right? Hmm, if I guessed wrong, you would have immediately mocked me with your character, so I must have guessed right." Find your next read at empire

Yan Yu ignored her because he knew all too well that when this annoying woman got excited, a counterattack had to be a critical hit to be effective; ordinary verbal reprisals would only earn her pleased gaze of "You're angry, aren't you?"

"Are you angry?" Chen Lingyun sidled up to him and asked with a laugh.

Yan Yu remained silent.

"You're angry already?" Chen Lingyun continued to laugh.

Yan Yu kept up a dignified silence... Hm, why does this feel somewhat familiar?

No, this can't go on like this!

Yan Yu's mind began to race! The experiences of dealing with Chen Lingyun from two lifetimes converged in his mind, emerging, surging, exploding! He must counterattack! He would give Chen Lingyun no chance! A great Sigma male, he inherited the iron will of a Sigma man! He intended to obliterate that sweet smile off the despicable princess's beautiful face!

"You know," he suddenly stopped and showed a complex expression, and said pensively, "even in this life, she is indeed incomparable to you."

"What do you mean?" Chen Lingyun's smile seemed to freeze suddenly, and her voice turned sickly sweet, "Who are you talking about?"

"Forget it." Yan Yu shook his head and continued walking.

The sound of Chen Lingyun's footsteps resumed from behind him, no longer light and bouncy like a little deer, but now in the form of hurried, brisk steps.

"I'm really curious, who is this 'she' you are referring to?" she asked again, gently tugging at Yan Yu's sleeve from behind with a sweet voice.

This time her tone was much better controlled, no longer awkwardly high-pitched, as if trying to hide her anger as before.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Yan Yu replied, struggling to suppress the urge to burst out laughing, with a world-weary tone, "you two are incomparable."

"You're lying," Chen Lingyun narrowed her eyes, her voice quickly turning cold, "Did you fabricate a non-existent woman just to provoke my jealousy and annoy me?"

"If you say so."

"Playing mysterious, are you?"

"Would you believe me if I said so?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, that's good," Yan Yu said no more and continued walking in silence.

This made Chen Lingyun even more irked. Because the evidence was too scant, even though she could roughly tell that Yan Yu was probably just trying to annoy her, she could never completely rule out the possibility that "Yan Yu had someone else."

If it were someone else, they would let go if they couldn't understand something. But Chen Lingyun was, after all, more actively minded than most people; the less she could find an answer, the more she wanted to think about it, and the more she thought about it, the more it felt like a fishbone caught in her throat... What was more infuriating was that all of this was clearly Yan Yu's open scheme!

I know you tend to overthink, so I'm using that to irritate you. Ha-ha, what are you going to do, bite me?

Chen Lingyun suppressed her anger and began to think calmly.

If he truly fell for another woman... Wait, don't think about it too much, that's my mental weakness. I must find a way to counterattack, or else he'll totally get the better of me.

When they returned home, as soon as Yan Yu walked into the villa's lobby, Lin Ning poked her head out from the kitchen wearing an apron and called out:

"Back already? We made seaweed spare-rib soup and stir-fried water spinach. We're adding one more dish. What would you like to eat?"

"We have chicken wings and beef," Yan Jing said as she opened the refrigerator without looking back.

"Then let's have stir-fried beef strips," Yan Yu said offhandedly.

Ever since they cleared up the misunderstanding the night before, Sister Lin had finally regained her usual vigor and enthusiasm, even taking the initiative to cook.

As he was thinking this, he suddenly heard Chen Lingyun from behind, asking with a laugh:

"I still can't guess, Yan Yu. So who exactly is the girl you mentioned, the one even I can't match up to?"

Yan Yu: ???

Lin Ning was about to turn her attention back to watching the pot when she heard this and was suddenly taken aback, her expression stunned.

Su Yunjin had just come down from the second floor, squinting at Yan Yu with a smile that was not quite a smile.

Yan Jing was even more dumbfounded as he turned around, with a look of "Wow, big brother, you actually have gossip,"... I mean, do you need to be that surprised?

The only one who didn't react was Zhao Yuanzhen in the living room. The Demonic Sect Enchantress was sitting on the couch watching a variety show on TV, emitting a heartless giggle, probably having not heard what Chen Lingyun had said at all.

Under everyone's focused gaze, Yan Yu for a moment actually had no solution—especially for Lin Ning, who had already been feeling gloomy for a long time. Another false alarm might really give her a case of "fragile heart syndrome"—so in order not to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings among everyone, he quickly made a wise decision. With a candid laugh, he explained,

"Nah, I was just joking with Ling Yun."

"Tsk!" The girls immediately felt like they had been deceived and went back to their own business.

Yan Yu turned back to look at Chen Lingyun, only to see her revealing a sly triumphant smile again, saying leisurely,

"So it was a joke, huh."

"Smart move," Yan Yu said with a sneer.

"Your move isn't bad either."

"Flattered."

As they looked at each other with a competitive gaze, they suddenly felt an odd sensation of meeting a worthy opponent, encountering a capable peer, a sense of mutual appreciation, as if they were equals.

Fortunately, this strange feeling didn't last long, for Lin Ning soon stuck her head out and called,

"Captain, come quickly and help me cut the carrots!"

"Ask Yun Jin to cut them for you," response from Yan Yu was almost instinctual.

"I'm cleaning!" Su Yunjin's voice came from the inner room.

"Then..." Yan Yu was about to name Chen Lingyun or Zhao Yuanzhen, only to be pushed into the kitchen by Yan Jing who had run up behind him,

"Don't be lazy, big brother! It's your duty to cook with Sister Lin!"

"What do you mean by my 'duty'?!" Although Yan Yu saw his sister's intention at a glance, which was to create a chance for him and Lin Ning to be alone, did you ask if I need your help?

Even if we were to be alone together, it should be her actively creating opportunities, trying her utmost to spend time alone with me!

"Stop daydreaming and start cutting." As soon as Yan Yu entered the kitchen, Lin Ning handed him a knife without a word and brought him to the cutting board, "It's julienne, not slices, okay?"

"Fine," grumbled Yan Yu impatiently.

After a while, Lin Ning leaned over to take a look and was instantly horrified:

"Why are these cuts all crooked? The thickness is uneven too!"

"Just say whether this is julienned carrot or not," Yan Yu argued defensively.

"Oh my!" Lin Ning, exasperated, stomped her feet and simply came over to grab his hands, teaching him hand-to-hand, "Watch closely, press down with your left hand, curl up the four fingers, stick to the knife, cutting as you move like this... Got it?"

"Didn't get it," said Yan Yu.

"I'll show you one more time!" Lin Ning continued holding his hand, patiently saying, "You need to learn properly."

Sister Lin's hands, true to a Sword Immortal's hands, didn't need to directly wield a sword, but had to frequently cast/use sword techniques, thus her fingers were exceptionally nimble, and the skin of her palms was delicate and warm, feeling soft and comfortable to the touch.

"Got it this time?" She operated once more and asked Yan Yu.

"The brain gets it," Yan Yu admitted candidly, "but the hands don't."

"How can you still not get it?" Lin Ning, growing impatient, hands on hips, suddenly asked suspiciously, "Are you pretending not to know on purpose?"

"You must be joking," Yan Yu immediately showed a mocking expression, saying disdainfully, "Learning knife skills after being taught a few times? Who do you think I am, the culinary genius Yan Yu?"

"That makes sense," Lin Ning suddenly realized as well. If someone had never cooked before, perhaps it wasn't that they hadn't grasped the correct technique, but that they lacked the proficiency to handle the knife.

"Alright, then I'm off." Yan Yu was about to turn around and leave but was pulled back by Lin Ning.

"Hold on. My soup is almost done; you taste it and tell me if it's salty enough."

"Can't you taste it yourself?"

"If the captain's tongue can't talk sense, then at least it should be good for something else."

Goodness, Sister Lin's mood has improved, and her offensive has gotten stronger, huh.