Chapter 179: Exposed Relationship

Chapter 179: Exposed Relationship

"Mr. Ji." Before Ji Xinghuo could speak, Shi Renzhong smiled and said, "Now you're really going to be famous."

Ji Xinghuo's eyes flickered, "Does the Martial King know me?"

"Martial King is just a nickname given by fans. I can't afford such familiarity in private. I prefer it if my friends just call me Renzhong." Shi Renzhong quickly shook his head and explained, "I asked the club to inquire about your name from the stadium's ticketing department. I hope you don't mind."

"I see." Ji Xinghuo nodded in realization.

In fact, he had already guessed as much.

The competition tickets were sold under real names, and those with ill intentions could easily find his information through the ticketing channels. It wouldn't take long before his identity was exposed.

However, as the Red Cloud Swordsman, his appearance would definitely not be circulated online, so it wouldn't affect his life too much.

"I'm Ji Xinghuo," he introduced himself, looking at Shi Renzhong and Yu Meiling. "Thank you both for your help today. I owe you a favor."

"You're too kind, Xinghuo," Shi Renzhong said sincerely. "We are all citizens of the country. When someone attempts to commit a crime in public, it is my responsibility, both as a public figure and a private individual, to do my best to stop the perpetrator."

Yu Meiling remained indifferent and said, "It's only natural."

Ji Xinghuo glanced at her. This woman, once known as one of the "Incomparable Twin Beauties" alongside Zhao Manying, possessed top-notch looks and a captivating figure.

Her hair, dyed a fiery red, complemented her captivating aura. Standing at almost 1.7 meters tall, she exuded a bewitching charm, enhanced by her powerful spiritual energy. She was indeed a rare beauty, and with her strength and fame, she would undoubtedly be the center of attention wherever she went.

However, comparisons are odious.

In the private room was another woman who outshone her, surpassing her in every aspect, be it appearance, figure, or strength.

With Zhao Manying's presence, Yu Meiling seemed to fade into the background.

The two women stood on opposite sides of the room, with the others positioned between them, whether intentionally or not.

Ji Xinghuo's gaze fell on Zhao Manying, and their eyes met for a fleeting moment.

He could sense her concern for him, but they couldn't display their relationship openly, so he subtly averted his eyes.

"Nevertheless, thank you both," Ji Xinghuo said as he took out his phone. "Here's my contact information."

Shi Renzhong readily added him.

However, Yu Meiling showed no interest and bluntly refused, "That's unnecessary."

Ji Xinghuo was taken aback for a moment before he noticed her expression. She was maintaining a clear distance from him, evidently assuming that he was trying to use this opportunity to enter the circle of competing espers, connect with the renowned Martial King, or perhaps even pursue her.

As for why she had lent him a hand earlier, it was certainly not out of a sense of justice or responsibility, but rather out of necessity.

Among those within the protective shield, only two people had the ability to help him—Shi Renzhong and her.

In front of countless spectators, Shi Renzhong had rushed forward without hesitation to stop the Eccentric Genius. If Yu Meiling had chosen to remain hidden and done nothing, although it wasn't her obligation, she would undoubtedly have faced moral condemnation afterward, and public opinion would have turned against her.

In the private room, the other competing espers could tell what Yu Meiling was thinking, and they weren't surprised. They knew her personality well.

Anyone else would have felt embarrassed in this situation.

However, Ji Xinghuo didn't think it was a big deal. Regardless of Yu Meiling's intentions, she had still helped him in action, and he chose to focus on the deed rather than her underlying motives.

"Everyone, I'll take my leave now," he said as he put away his phone and turned to go.

"Xinghuo," a voice called out, stopping him in his tracks.

With his back to the others in the room, Ji Xinghuo's face showed a helpless expression, and he sighed inwardly. After all, Zhao Manying was still a woman.

He turned around and asked, "Manying? Is something the matter?"

Manying?

Several of the competing espers immediately sensed that something was amiss. They had already been surprised when Zhao Manying called out to Ji Xinghuo, and now, with him addressing her so intimately, they began to wonder if the two of them knew each other.

"What time will you be home? Should I wait for you?" Zhao Manying asked softly.

The faces of everyone present changed drastically.

That sentence carried too much information!

"Captain, are you two...?" Qi Feng, a member of the Dising Empire team, exclaimed in shock, his eyes darting between Zhao Manying and Ji Xinghuo as if he had discovered some great secret. He seemed unable to believe what he was hearing.

The others also stared intently at Ji Xinghuo.

Yu Meiling couldn't help but size up Ji Xinghuo from head to toe, as if trying to see right through him. A fake smile appeared on her face as she said, "Zhao Manying, so he's your boyfriend?"

"What does it have to do with you?" Zhao Manying coldly hmphed, tacitly acknowledging the statement.

The room fell silent.

Yu Meiling pouted but couldn't help but keep glancing at Ji Xinghuo, her eyes flickering with unreadable thoughts.

The men, on the other hand, wore very expressive faces.

They had all initially felt goodwill towards Ji Xinghuo, admiring his ability to slay a legend. Now, however, their expressions were a mix of envy, jealousy, and even a hint of hostility.

Shi Renzhong maintained his smile, though it looked a little forced as he said, "Mr. Ji is the luckiest man in the world, and everyone is envious of him."

"Thank you," Ji Xinghuo nodded.

"I found it!" A competing esper from the Skywalker team suddenly held up his phone and exclaimed, "I knew the name Ji Xinghuo sounded familiar. I searched for it, and indeed, he only climbed the Tower a few months ago, but he's ranked at the very bottom."

Shi Renzhong glanced at the information on the phone and shook his head with a laugh. "Who would've thought that the first and last person on the Tower would be a couple?"

"Is being last on the Tower even worth bragging about?"

Yu Meiling scoffed, feeling disdainful. All the competing espers in the room were ranked within the top 1000 of the Tower.

In her opinion, the only commendable aspects of Ji Xinghuo were his decent defense and marksmanship. Other than that, she believed he was nothing special, and that he had only managed to kill the legendary eccentric genius because of his electric flying sword. Without that sword, she was confident she could easily handle him.

Zhao Manying let out a cold laugh and glared at Yu Meiling. "What are you acting so superior for? You're only ranked fifteenth on the Tower."

Upon hearing this, everyone except Ji Xinghuo felt insulted.

Their rankings on the Tower were even lower than Yu Meiling's.

However, each of them had been defeated by Zhao Manying, so even if they wanted to refute her, they couldn't find the words.

Yu Meiling fell silent, her face turning gloomy as she left the room.

Shi Renzhong suddenly looked curious and said tentatively, "Mr. Ji's strength is definitely not limited to being last on the Tower. I wonder if we could have a chance to spar?" He glanced at the Purple Electric Sword on Ji Xinghuo's back and added, "Of course, if Mr. Ji were to use that electric flying sword, I'd admit defeat."

Apart from Shi Renzhong, several other competing espers also looked eager to test their skills.

Ji Xinghuo had been about to refuse directly.

However, he saw the anticipation in Zhao Manying's eyes and realized that she had intentionally announced their relationship in front of everyone as a way to uphold his reputation and prevent others from looking down on him.

Even though this wasn't what he wanted, since she had already made her intentions clear, he decided to play along.

At the very least, he didn't want others to think that Zhao Manying had found herself a useless boyfriend who didn't even have the courage to accept others' challenges.

"I'm ready whenever you are," Ji Xinghuo agreed.

He had a suspicion, or rather, an intuition, that the Emperor Star Club was likely involved in the day's events.

Although the Qin Stadium had several clubs using it as their home field, including those from different league levels, the Emperor Star was the most well-known and had the most robust financial resources and capabilities. The club's backer, the Shi Ying Group, also owned a portion of the stadium's shares.

How could the eccentric genius have thought that he could safely escape after killing him within the shield?

How had the android entered the stadium?

And what about the hidden mental hacker? Even if they had truly controlled the stadium's management, how could they have arranged the assassination so quickly?

The biggest loophole in the entire incident was the tickets.

The five tickets for Zhao Manying's family had been internal tickets she had given him, and they had been registered under their real names a couple of days ago.

Now that the Sword Bureau had cleaned out the internal traitors, it would be much harder for enemies to get their hands on his itinerary. Thus, the information from the opening ceremony tickets became the only leak.

Ji Xinghuo had several suspects in mind.

The first was Zhao Manying, since she had given him the tickets and invited him to the event.

However, he quickly dismissed this idea.

If Zhao Manying had wanted to harm him, she wouldn't have chosen such a public event as the opening ceremony. She had plenty of other opportunities.

The next suspects were the Emperor Star Club and Shi Renzhong.

As the owner of the Emperor Star Club and someone who had been pursuing Zhao Manying for years, Shi Renzhong might have been secretly tracking her movements and could have even known about Ji Xinghuo's existence. Zhao Manying taking internal tickets from the club wouldn't have escaped his notice. Even if she hadn't personally gone to the club but had sent her private team to get the tickets through a middleman, he could have easily accessed that information.

Of course, it was also possible that it was all an act.

Ji Xinghuo couldn't be sure, so when he saw Shi Renzhong, he came up to the private room under the pretext of expressing his gratitude and used this opportunity to get close to the man.

However, he hadn't anticipated that Zhao Manying would expose their relationship due to a dispute between women.

Nevertheless, this wouldn't affect the overall situation.

Shi Renzhong was unaware of Ji Xinghuo's thoughts, and a smile curved his lips as he said confidently, "Then it's settled. Shall we set a date?"

"Next week, then." Ji Xinghuo glanced at him. "Let's wait until your injuries have healed."

"My injuries are fine," Shi Renzhong said, indicating that his wounds weren't severe and that he had mostly recovered. Still, he agreed to the sparring session for the following week.

Ji Xinghuo reminded him, "This is a private spar, and I don't want it to become a public spectacle or be used for publicity or live-streaming."

"Of course," Shi Renzhong readily agreed.

Ji Xinghuo didn't say anything further and left the private room with Zhao Manying.

When they were far enough away, Zhao Manying lowered her voice and asked, "Are you angry? Our relationship was bound to be exposed sooner or later; we can't hide it forever."

"Forever?" Ji Xinghuo smiled. "I thought it was just for a hundred days."

Zhao Manying's expression froze.

She had almost forgotten about the agreement to be a couple for only a hundred days, and she tightened her grip on Ji Xinghuo's arm. With a charming smile, she asked, "You wouldn't really be able to let me go, would you?"

"We'll see when the time comes," Ji Xinghuo replied, avoiding a direct answer.

Their relationship was not even half a month old, and they were still far from the hundred-day mark.

Both of them tacitly agreed to drop the topic.

As they walked down a corridor, Zhao Manying suddenly pressed the "Stealth Ring" on Ji Xinghuo's finger, activating its soundproofing effect and enveloping them in silence.

Her face was solemn as she said, "This is the second time you've been attacked. Although I shouldn't pry, I think this incident may be related to the Emperor Star Club."

Ji Xinghuo was surprised. "Why do you say that?"

"The tickets," Zhao Manying said, revealing the key point.

"Actually, I've long suspected that Shi Renzhong sent someone to tail me," she said, her face cold. "He's a man with strong possessiveness and a typical performative personality. Others may not see through his true character, but I've seen right through him, and that's why I keep my distance."

"So you rejected his pursuit?" Ji Xinghuo asked.

"That's only one of the reasons," Zhao Manying shook her head. Suddenly, she looked directly into Ji Xinghuo's eyes and asked earnestly, "Xinghuo, can I truly trust you?"

Ji Xinghuo remained silent for a few seconds.

He met Zhao Manying's gaze, as if trying to see into her soul, and nodded. "Yes."

Although it was just one word, it carried a weight of a thousand pounds.

Zhao Manying heard the sincerity and firmness in his voice, and she took a deep breath before saying in a low voice, "I have a grudge against the Shi family. Even if Shi Renzhong were a perfect man, I could never accept his pursuit." She saw that Ji Xinghuo's expression remained calm and continued, "Aren't you surprised?"

"A little, but I had a guess," Ji Xinghuo replied. "Is your target for revenge Shi Hongyi?"

"How did you know?" Zhao Manying was completely shocked.

"It's just a guess," Ji Xinghuo explained. "During the award ceremony before the competition, your mood was off after Shi Hongyi went on stage. I noticed it, but others might not have. After all, we've spent these days together, and I understand you quite well now."

Zhao Manying bit her lip. "I thought I had concealed it well."

"What's your grudge against the Shi family?" Ji Xinghuo asked.

"Shi Hongyi killed my father," Zhao Manying said casually, her face calm, but Ji Xinghuo could sense the weight of her words.

Ji Xinghuo recalled that her father's name was Zhao Ke, and he had died in an accident eight years ago.

So it wasn't an accident after all.

"My father used to be a high-ranking executive in the Shi Ying Group and worked in the Star Exploration Department under the group for over thirty years. Then one day, we received a notice from the company that he had died in an attack by a monster in the Starry Realm," Zhao Manying said slowly. "At first, we believed it was true, but a few months later, I received a message my father had left behind, and that's when I learned the truth."

"He was killed by the group, and they made it look like an accident."

"It was because of an Eclipse Species."

At this point, Zhao Manying leaned in close, her lips brushing Ji Xinghuo's ear as she whispered, "It was a Sun Eclipse Species."

Ji Xinghuo's eyes widened in surprise.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end