My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

"Well, you've grown up and think you're all grown up now!"

Ruan Chayan rolled up her sleeves and put her hands on her hips, saying, "What do you mean? Are you angry with me?"

When Ruan Chayan saw that Luo Hanying was accompanied by someone, she said in her mind: "Didn't we have a good talk the other day? I was waiting for you to tell me what your problem was."

I've been looking for you for two days now, even if I've done something wrong. What are you doing? What do you want to say...?

Because of Luo Hanying's words, Ruan Chayan's mind went blank for a moment—

Luo Hanying, holding the arm of the male cultivator beside her, said with disgust, "Didn't I tell you? I hate your character. Let's not talk anymore. I don't want to see you."

The male cultivator leaned against Luo Hanying and said, "You and Hanying have already talked things out, so why are you still looking for her?"

Luo Hanying quickly added, "There are so many things that make me angry. I get angry just looking at you. Please don't show your face in front of me."

Ruan Chayan stared intently at Luo Hanying's face. She suddenly remembered that Luo Hanying had told her some time ago that because Le Shu always bothered her, making it impossible for her to concentrate on studying the fourteenth-floor formation, she had lied to Le Shu and said that she had broken up with her.

Luo Hanying told Le Shu that the two of them had a fight and would never speak to each other again. Later, Le Shu indeed stopped bothering her as much.

Ruan Chayan suddenly felt a chill. She called out to Luo Hanying's retreating figure, "Didn't we put our differences to rest? Didn't we agree to go to Yunzhong Square to register together today?"

Luo Hanying paused as she stepped onto the spirit sword, her expression shifting rapidly before she said, "I've changed my mind now."

Ruan Chayan stood in front of Luo Hanying: "You have to tell me why you changed your mind."

She looked completely lost, her eyes brimming with tears: "Xiaoxue, you can't do this, you...you need to wake up."

Xiaoxue, please, please wake up.

Are you Xiaoxue? Or someone else? Why have you become so strange?

"What other reason could there be? Why is your cultivation level higher than mine? Why are you better than me in every way? Why should I have to be controlled by you?"

Luo Hanying said maliciously, "I have my own life now, can you please give me some private space?"

Don't you have any other friends? Why do you keep bothering me? Have I done something to offend you that makes me feel like a shadow following you around?

Looking at Luo Hanying's face and listening to her cold words, Ruan Chayan felt as if these words were sharp swords piercing her heart, even though she guessed that the person in front of her was not Luo Hanying.

Ruan Chayan choked up as she asked, "Are you going to participate in the arena competition by yourself and go to the Lanxi Secret Realm by yourself?"

Wouldn't it be better for two people to keep each other company?

"Han Ying, you still have me. What are you?" The male cultivator's smug face was extremely disgusting. "We will be companions for hundreds or thousands of years. You hypocritical person and your hypocritical friendship are incomparable!"

Ruan Chayan questioned Luo Hanying incredulously, "What does he mean? Who does he think he is?! How long have we known each other? How long have you known him?!"

"You don't actually want to become partners with this kind of scum, do you?!"

Luo Hanying calmed the angry male cultivator down with a few words, then glared at Ruan Chayan and roared, "No matter how long we've known each other, our relationship isn't as deep as the one between me and Brother Ke!"

"You really think we're some kind of good friends? If I hadn't been unable to protect myself before, I wouldn't be your lackey!"

Ke Qiwen struck out with a palm, forcing Ruan Chayan aside: "A good dog doesn't block the way! Don't delay our registration at Yunzhong Square!"

"That's right!" Luo Hanying echoed, and the two flew away on their swords, leaving Ruan Chayan behind.

Luo Hanying's consciousness looked at the distraught Ruan Chayan and asked in a sweet, coquettish voice, "Brother Ke, have you seen Ruan Chayan recently?"

Ke Qiwen said matter-of-factly, "Of course not. I don't go to Yuling Peak, and you don't let me go to Luanjin Pavilion to find you. You're the one who comes to find me. Where have I seen her?"

Luo Hanying pouted: "You don't care about her at all. You don't even know when she made up with Ruan Chayan."

"Oh my little darling," Ke Qiwen leaned closer to Luo Hanying, pitifully defending himself, "I'm busy cultivating and preparing for the arena competition all day long, how could I have time to care about your private affairs?"

Luo Hanying said coquettishly, "So what? I think you just don't care about her."

You have no idea when they started cultivating or when they left their cave.

Ke Qiwen was amused by Luo Hanying's unreasonable behavior, but he really liked her beautiful and charming nature and was willing to spoil her: "How come I didn't know? I heard that you became famous for your battle with that Ruan Chayan at Shansi Garden a few days ago."

If you ask me, your friend just wants you to be a good lackey, to have you do her bidding while she steals all the limelight, and hardly anyone notices you.

"Is that so?" Luo Hanying's expression changed, and she felt a sense of unease. "Tell me about it in detail."

*

As Ruan Chayan watched Luo Hanying leave without a second thought, the last thread in her mind snapped, and she squatted down and burst into tears.

It was hard to go unnoticed with such a commotion, so Xu Fengyu simply came out to strike up a conversation, wanting to see what kind of act Ruan Chayan and the other two were trying to put on.

"Fellow Daoist Ruan, what's wrong with you?"

Ruan Chayan looked up through teary eyes and saw Xu Fengyu's gaze on her face. She hurriedly wiped away her tears, but couldn't get them away: "I...I didn't...sob..."

Before Xu Fengyu could say anything, Ruan Chayan activated a silence array and threw it at their feet.

She choked back tears as she asked, "Is there any method in the cultivation world that can... can check if a person is still the same person?"

Xu Fengyu asked in astonishment, "Why are you asking this? Are you trying to say that Luo Hanying has been possessed?"

Ruan Chayan felt even worse after Xu Fengyu said that: "I don't know, I don't know either..."

But Xiaoxue is different now; she's not like Xiaoxue anymore…

Xu Fengyu gestured for Ruan Chayan to go to the Discipline Hall with her: "Come in with me and we'll talk slowly. Registration will last for three days, but Luo Hanying's matter is more important."

"Our Shiren Sect cannot tolerate such an outrageous act. Tell me clearly, and I will definitely report to the elders and find a way to help you."

Ruan Chayan barely managed to control her emotions and told Xu Fengyu the whole story, including her own ideas.

From Le Shu recommending the two of them to Luo Hanying repeatedly mentioning that others said she went out to meet people at night but she didn't remember it, to Le Shu's unusual behavior some time ago, and now Luo Hanying's change.

"Xiaoxue and I have never quarreled. We stay in our cave to cultivate every day, and our daily routine consists of exchanging messages and chatting."

With red eyes, Ruan Chayan said, "I just tested that person. I told her that Xiaoxue and I had made up, but that person said that she had changed her mind. But Xiaoxue and I have never had a single argument. She is not Luo Hanying. She could never be Luo Hanying."