Chapter 176
Chapter 176 Slick Tongue, Cunning and Deceitful
Cheap old dad didn’t keep Xia Xinyan waiting for too long.
However, upon returning to the banquet, Xia Xinyan found that Ling Mo had vanished without a trace.
Her expression darkened.
Ling Mo couldn’t possibly have gone anywhere before she returned; the only possibility was that someone else had called him away.
The first suspect that popped into her mind was Summer Jincang.
After all, that guy had mentioned a countless number of times last night that he would take care of Ling Mo today.
No need to think hard to understand what that “taking care” meant.
After pondering for two seconds, she turned and slipped into a secluded corner, instantly transforming into a black cat and darting out to search for Ling Mo in the villa area.
It didn’t take much effort to find them.
Summer Jincang hadn’t intended to hide at all; his original idea was simply to teach Ling Mo a lesson, and it would be best if his sister could witness it—he wanted her to know that a useless person who couldn’t even hold his own against his cousin didn’t deserve to be her boyfriend.
So he had lured Ling Mo to the golf course behind the villa area. Xia Xinyan remembered that not many people played golf in this villa area, so this course was usually treated as a green lawn for strolling and sunbathing.
Today, the main venue for the banquet wasn’t here, so there weren’t many people around, and now everyone was gathered in a large circle in the middle of the course, but there wasn’t much sound.
If one were to observe these people closely, they would notice that their expressions were mostly shock and disbelief, with some even showing hints of admiration.
And at the center of the crowd were Ling Mo and Summer Jincang, who were sparring.
By the time Xia Xinyan changed back into her human form and approached, the two were still locked in fierce combat.
Their attack movements and speed were so sharp that normal people would struggle to keep up; as they exchanged blows, no one could tell who had the upper hand. The most overwhelming sensation was the intense visual impact of this sparring session.
It was practically a scene out of a martial arts movie.
Xia Xinyan even saw several people filming the match with their phones.
But after some thought, she didn’t stop them.
Let them film; since they had already failed to keep a low profile, they might as well not hide it anymore.
It was perfectly fine to let those people know how powerful Ling Mo had become.
This way, those guys wouldn’t find the opportunity to trip him up again.
Of course, the most important thing was that she could already see that Ling Mo had the advantage in this sparring match.
Although they were still locked in battle, Summer Jincang’s offense had gradually turned into passive defense, and he was starting to struggle to parry effectively, which made his eyes reveal a hint of astonishment.
It seemed he hadn’t expected to encounter a formidable opponent.
Watching the fight, Xia Xinyan couldn’t help but smirk.
Tsk, so this is Summer Jincang’s true level of ability at this point.
She could easily wipe the floor with that guy.
Too bad she didn’t have a reason to step in.
Ling Mo’s performance this time had been somewhat unexpected for her.
She had been so focused on their own growth that she hadn’t really paid attention to the strength of other powerful fighters at the same time; she had subconsciously projected those people’s peak strengths from their previous lives onto this one, which created a dissonance—like now, seeing Summer Jincang’s skills made her feel a sense of disdain.
Way too weak.
Hmm… So Ling Mo was really giving her some face.
No wonder she was so confident; all it took was a little guidance, and he could hold his own like nobody else.
If only she had a system in her past life; then she wouldn’t need to be reborn. She would’ve surely reached the peak of her life by now.
【……】
The somewhat upset Tianji expressed its dismay.
It didn’t want this either; after all, life is unpredictable, what could it do?
While Xia Xinyan observed from the sidelines, the battle between Ling Mo and Summer Jincang was gradually reaching its conclusion.
The match had exceeded everyone’s expectations for its brilliance, and the way it ended was just as surprising to all—
Just a moment ago, the two looked like they were inseparable; the next second, Ling Mo’s fist had already advanced towards Summer Jincang’s face, and the latter hadn’t managed to block it.
The duo’s movements froze at that moment, with Ling Mo’s fist just a centimeter from shattering Summer Jincang’s nasal bone, yet he didn’t advance further.
After all, it was only a sparring session; stopping at this point was sufficient.
It was the first time Xia Xinyan had seen Summer Jincang show such an incredulous expression.
Although it was just for a fleeting instant.
“I lost,” he took a step back and returned to his previously calm demeanor, “Not bad, not bad. Have you practiced before?”
Ling Mo was strong, stronger than he had anticipated.
In that moment, he really suspected that this guy might be one of the two anonymous individuals on the leaderboard.
If it was possible to learn combat skills from some reclusive expert or a wise old man living at the bottom of a cliff, how could he explain this guy’s physical prowess?
The Summer family naturally knew quite a number of secrets about “Realm of Divine Presence”—including the fact that the Game Pod could transform a player’s physical body in the real world to match that in the game world, and based on their experimental results, the physical body in reality was usually slightly weaker than in the game, due to a catch-up phase.
So judging from this, Ling Mo’s strength in the game had even surpassed his quite a bit; otherwise, he wouldn’t have ended up in a pitiful state during their earlier sparring.
Fortunately, even while defending, he looked quite impressive—at least he didn’t make anyone else suspicious.
That way, he could also explain it as a mere oversight during a game.
After all, sparring was essentially about making split-second decisions, right?
He was, at least, the most promising candidate to inherit the Summer family’s power next, so he couldn’t admit that his strength was below that of some unknown ruffian.
Thus, after brushing over that point nonchalantly, he shifted his focus to Ling Mo.
If this guy really had some strength in the game, then recruiting him wouldn’t be a bad idea.
As for revenge on the girls, there would be plenty of time for that later.
Ling Mo was unaware of his internal thoughts, nor would he be stupid enough to say too much: “Summer brother’s strength is also quite strong; my victory was merely luck… to be honest, I practiced some skills with an old man back at my hometown for a while.”
Summer Jincang: “…”
Could you stretch it a little more?
He had already had someone comb through all of this guy’s background last night. An old man? Did this guy really think this was a novel?
But knowing that Ling Mo was bluffing, he couldn’t just outright say that he had investigated the other’s background, so after a few seconds of silence, he still asked: “I wonder where that old man is now? I’m quite interested in this technique.”
It was completely unlike any current martial arts.
Hearing this, Ling Mo suddenly looked up at a 45-degree angle, his gaze filled with sorrow: “In heaven.”
Summer Jincang: “…”
After a beat, Ling Mo then looked back at him, politely smiling: “But if you want to learn this martial technique, brother Jingcang, I can also take on the role of a teacher.”
“… No need, I’ve heard you’re still in school—how can I have the heart to waste too much of your time?”
He was growing to dislike this Ling Mo more and more.
Slick tongue, cunning and deceitful.
His sister must have been fooled by him to fall for his tricks.
He must find a way to help his sister see through his true nature.
