Chapter 93: Giving the Two of Them Something

“Yes, yes, alright. I’ll change it, I’ll change it! Young Master Lian, please be careful, don’t let that whip hit me,” Jin Manjue surrendered.

He once again pulled a booklet from the bookshelf and asked earnestly, “How would the two of you like it changed?”

Yun Huizhou stepped over and flipped the Handsome Men Ranking to the page containing his own introduction.

Yun Huizhou: Chief Disciple of the South Island Lord of Drunken Dream Island.

First place in the Newcomer Tournament of the Martial Arts Assembly. Skilled with the saber.

Maintains a close relationship with his Junior Brother.

He pointed at the sentence “Maintains a close relationship with his Junior Brother” and the line in Lian Li’s entry that read “Maintains a close relationship with his Senior Brother,” and said, “Delete these two sentences.”

This time, Jin Manjue did not agree immediately. Instead, he asked, “Are the two of you not close? Forgive my poor eyesight, but I truly couldn’t tell. Or perhaps the two of you simply don’t want others to know how close you are?”

As he spoke, he seemed to think of something, and his gaze toward Lian Li and Yun Huizhou became very strange.

Yun Huizhou didn’t understand what that look meant, but it made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, enough to give him goosebumps.

Lian Li, however, understood Jin Manjue’s look instantly—this man’s mind had gone down a crooked path.

Lian Li reached out and smacked Jin Manjue on the head.

“Young Master Lian, why did you hit me?” Jin Manjue asked aggrievedly.

“To smack the weird thoughts out of your head!” Lian Li said, feeling a bit ashamed and annoyed.

Lian Li’s reaction made Yun Huizhou realize what Jin Manjue’s look implied—that their relationship was something illicit, and they didn’t want others to know.

Once he realized this, Yun Huizhou also gave Jin Manjue a heavy blow.

His strike was much heavier than Lian Li’s, leaving Jin Manjue’s head ringing.

Then, he threw an arm around Lian Li’s shoulder and declared, “Ours is the purest brotherhood between fellow disciples.”

After saying this, he turned to look at Lian Li and gave a nod. “Right?”

Lian Li replied, “Right!”

Jin Manjue’s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Finally, he let out a long sigh and said, “Fine then. How do you want it changed? Should I write that the relationship between the fellow disciples is terrible, and you treat each other like enemies?”

“But I’ve only been in contact with you two for a short while, and I can’t see any sign of discord. I’m afraid if I change it to that, the public won’t be convinced.”

“Are the two of you truly certain you want me to change the introduction to that?”

Lian Li sensed that Jin Manjue was twisting his words and immediately said, “Didn’t I tell you to just delete the sentence? Why are you talking so much nonsense?”

But Jin Manjue continued at his own pace, “Deleting it isn’t a problem, but think about it. Previously, both of your introductions mentioned a close relationship. If that sentence is suddenly deleted right after the Jianghu Anecdotes was published, wouldn’t that invite even more speculation?”

Lian Li wanted to argue, but he felt Jin Manjue had a point. It would look a bit like they were protesting too much.

Just as he was frowning and wondering how to solve this, he heard Yun Huizhou say, “Then change the part about him liking men. Clear his name.”

Jin Manjue didn’t object this time. He picked up his brush and changed it to “likes women.”

Lian Li stared at the sentence Jin Manjue had written: “Likes women; maintains a close relationship with his Senior Brother.”

He didn’t know if it was the influence of Young Master Wang, the Jianghu Anecdotes, or Jin Manjue’s strange look from earlier.

The more he looked at the sentence, the more it felt off.

It made it look as though he liked women, yet he loved his Senior Brother even more, breaking through his own physical and mental shackles.

It looked even more gay.

Thus, he reached out and said, “Wait a minute!”

Jin Manjue, who was finishing his stroke, and Yun Huizhou, who was nodding in satisfaction, both turned to look at him.

Jin Manjue’s eyes were filled with exhaustion, but under the threat of physical force, he could only maintain a forced smile.

Yun Huizhou didn’t care if the man was tired or not; wasn’t this whole mess his fault to begin with?

Since Lian Li was unsatisfied, they would keep changing it until he was.

So, he asked Lian Li, “What’s wrong? Is there something else to change?”

Lian Li pointed at the phrase “likes women” and said, “I don’t want this sentence.”

The moment he said this, he met Yun Huizhou’s shocked gaze.

“Lian Li, you…” Yun Huizhou slowly opened his mouth, letting out those three words. His eyes were filled with suspicion and uncertainty, though his arm remained around Lian Li, not letting go.

“That’s not it, hey!” Lian Li denied it, yet he didn’t notice the slight flicker of irritation in his heart as the words left his mouth.

If he were to look deeper into that irritation right now, he would realize that this emotion appeared every time he didn’t want to lie but felt forced to.

At this moment, Jin Manjue didn’t give Lian Li a chance to think. He wore an “I knew it” expression. “Young Master Lian, I truly didn’t misjudge you…”

“Shut up!” Lian Li pointed at Jin Manjue. It was hard to tell if his expression was one of anger or embarrassment, but his entire face was flushed red.

Yun Huizhou also quickly turned to Jin Manjue, nodding and echoing Lian Li, “Ah, right, right, right! You, shut up! You’re not allowed to talk about my Junior Brother like that.”

After saying this, as if to show his support for Lian Li—or perhaps to unconsciously cover something up—he pulled Lian Li even closer, hugging him tightly. “It’s all your fault for writing nonsense, causing my Junior Brother to be harassed by that Young Master Wang.”

Jin Manjue looked at them silently and said gloomily, “Then how do the two of you want it changed now?”

Yun Huizhou looked back at Lian Li. “How should we change it? You tell him.”

Lian Li opened his mouth but didn’t know how to change it. It felt like no matter how he changed it, it would be wrong, yet any change seemed possible.

Seeing his hesitation, Yun Huizhou thought for a moment and said to Jin Manjue, “Then just delete the sentence about liking men entirely.”

After speaking to Jin Manjue, he asked Lian Li, “What do you think?”

Lian Li nodded. He had realized by now that no matter how it was changed, people who wanted to imagine things would still do so.

He specifically singled out Jin Manjue for criticism in his mind—it was all this guy’s fault for his wild imagination and writing!

Seeing that Lian Li had agreed but still looked disgruntled, Yun Huizhou said to Jin Manjue, “Because of this matter, you’ve caused my Junior Brother a great deal of trouble. Don’t you have anything to offer as a gesture of apology?”

“I have a treasure chest. the two of you may take it,” Jin Manjue said.

Yun Huizhou glanced at the treasure chest, which was only the size of a palm, and said, “Just one tiny treasure chest?”

Seeing Yun Huizhou’s dissatisfaction, Jin Manjue rubbed his chin and said, “Don’t look down on it just because it’s small. Besides this chest, I have a casket containing my personal treasures. Although they aren’t extremely valuable, they are quite rare and exquisite. Why don’t I give that to the two of you as well?”

“What’s inside?” Yun Huizhou asked.

Jin Manjue smiled and replied, “You’ll know once you open it after you return. It will be a surprise for the two of you.”

Yun Huizhou stared at Jin Manjue for a while. Seeing the man’s sincere smile and figuring he wouldn’t dare play any tricks, he agreed.