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Chapter 20: The Created Sentinel

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: The Created Sentinel

After Li Lingyu finished speaking, someone grabbed Li Yaru by the waist and slung her over their shoulder.

Li Yaru’s face flushed red as she beat at the man named Si Xun, trying to break free from his grasp.

But he had a firm grip on her waist and didn’t budge an inch.

"Li Yaru, you know what kind of training Si Xun has undergone. Don’t waste your energy."

Li Lingyu stepped forward with a smile, but when he leaned into Li Yaru’s ear, his tone turned icy.

"Just a reminder for you, word is already out. You’ve been kicked out by Lu Jingyu."

Li Yaru stopped struggling, her eyes filling with despair.

"The Li Family spent a fortune to mold you into an A level Sentinel and get you by Lu Jingyu’s side, not for you to infuriate him. You’d better think long and hard about how you’re going to explain yourself to the Family Head!"

"Let’s go! Escort Miss Li home!" Li Lingyu straightened up and shouted, then immediately led his entourage away.

Her expression dazed, Li Yaru allowed herself to be taken away, resigned to her fate.

Li Yaru!

As one of the few female Sentinels—an A level one at that—everyone assumed she was uniquely gifted. But only a select few knew the truth: her status had been artificially manufactured.

The Li Family had poured immense resources into creating her and planting her in the Heiyu Alliance, all for the sake of Lu Jingyu.

As a major family in Zone 9, the Li Family had always sought to recruit high-level Sentinels, hoping to one day relocate the entire family to Central City.

Through a combination of threats and incentives, they had managed to recruit quite a few people—until Lu Jingyu appeared.

An SSS level sentinel. Lu Jingyu alone was worth more than all the others combined.

The Li Family tried to approach Lu Jingyu, but he wasn’t tempted by wealth or fame, giving them no opening whatsoever.

But the Li Family never gave up and continued to monitor his movements.

After much deliberation, the Li Family decided to employ a honey trap.

However, they discovered from past experience that Lu Jingyu was indifferent to guides.

The Li Family Head had a wildly unconventional idea: he would create a high-level female Sentinel.

He planned to use this surprise tactic to win over Lu Jingyu.

And so, Li Yaru came into being.

At first, Li Yaru actually lived up to expectations. After being placed in the Heiyu Alliance, she managed to catch Lu Jingyu’s attention through her own means and successfully joined his team.

It was precisely because of this success that Li Yaru began to lose her sense of self, convinced that she would be the Li Family’s greatest contributor.

As a result, she began to look down on the younger members of her own family, earning the resentment of many.

Li Lingyu, a younger relative from her own branch of the family, was one such person.

Li Lingyu mocked her relentlessly on the way, but Li Yaru was in no state to care.

After bringing her before the Family Head, Li Lingyu withdrew.

Li Yaru slumped to the floor, her body shaking uncontrollably. She didn’t dare lift her head to look at Li Gengnian.

Li Gengnian slowly walked over to her and gently lifted her chin.

"Yaruo, what on earth happened? Weren’t you doing so well before?"

Li Gengnian’s words were earnest, his expression tinged with concern. To any observer, he looked the part of a benevolent elder.

But as Li Yaru looked at him, she only trembled more violently.

SLAP!

The next second, a hand struck Li Yaru across the face, sending her sprawling to the ground.

A mouthful of blood sprayed out, trickling from the corner of her lips.

"Spare me, Family Head... I... It’s all Xu Qingsui’s fault! It was all that woman!"

The slap finally pried her mouth open. Not knowing what to say, she latched onto the first thing that came to mind: Xu Qingsui.

Li Gengnian’s brows tightened. "Xu Qingsui?"

"She’s the woman Lu Jingyu brought back. I don’t know where this guide popped up from, but it’s all her fault. She seduced Lu Jingyu! Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been much longer before I won him over for sure."

"What exactly happened?"

Li Yaru hurriedly told Li Gengnian when Xu Qingsui had appeared, how she had followed them into the dungeon, and how they had cleared it.

However, she embellished the story with her own details, painting Xu Qingsui as a manipulative woman who would stop at nothing to seduce Lu Jingyu.

After listening to her, Li Gengnian’s frown eased slightly. "An A level Guide! This Xu Qingsui is quite capable. If we could get her to join the Li Family..."

"You can’t, Family Head!" Li Yaru’s eyes widened as she cut Li Gengnian off.

She needed Xu Qingsui to take the fall for her, and she still planned to snatch Lu Jingyu back. She absolutely could not let the Family Head set his sights on Xu Qingsui.

"Family Head, I suspect Xu Qingsui was likely sent by another family to seduce Lu Jingyu. If we try to recruit her, we might just end up pushing Lu Jingyu into the arms of our rivals."

Li Gengnian nodded. That was indeed a possibility.

"Then what do you plan to do? You’ve already made a complete mess of things. Can you still fix this?"

Li Yaru knew how ruthless Li Gengnian could be. Without even considering if she still had a chance, she agreed at once.

"Please give me one more chance, Family Head. Just let me get back to Lu Jingyu’s side. I’ll get rid of Xu Qingsui and ensure our plan proceeds smoothly."

Having Li Yaru successfully infiltrate Lu Jingyu’s circle had been the Li Family’s biggest breakthrough in years.

With no better option at the moment, Li Gengnian could only continue to place his hopes in her.

"Fine. I’ll give you one more chance. But remember this: if you screw up again, you won’t need to come see me. From that day on, the Li Family records will no longer have your name."

Li Yaru shivered, then slowly bowed until her forehead touched the floor.

’This time, I have to succeed!’

Because on the Li Family’s registry, names weren’t simply removed. They were marked in red for burial.

Even after absorbing the Linglang Grass, it took a full night for Xu Qingsui to recover from completely exhausting her spiritual power.

As she slowly drifted back to consciousness, a tall, slender figure came into view.

’Lu Jingyu?’

’Why is he here? And where am I?’

Looking around, Xu Qingsui vaguely remembered what had happened.

She looked over at Lu Jingyu and saw that he had fallen asleep, sitting propped up against the wall.

’Has he been here with me the whole time?’

Her heart stirred, and Xu Qingsui pushed herself into a sitting position.

"You’re awake? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

The moment she moved, Lu Jingyu opened his eyes and helped her sit up.

Xu Qingsui shook her head. "Have you been here with me the whole time?"

"It’s the least I could do. You’ve saved me so many times, and you exhausted your spiritual power just to help us clear the dungeon."

Lu Jingyu didn’t answer the question directly, and his evasive explanation made him seem a bit flustered.

"Thank you!"

Still, Xu Qingsui voiced her gratitude.

With the topic concluded, the two of them suddenly fell into an awkward silence.

Lu Jingyu was a man of few words to begin with, so Xu Qingsui decided to examine her dungeon-clear rewards.

’Where are my mission rewards?’

[The dungeon-clear rewards are distributed to each person directly. Since the host was unconscious, I have already collected the rewards and placed them in your Storage Space. You may inspect them yourself later.]

’I have a Storage Space, too? Where is it?’