Chapter 116: Dealing With An Annoying Duo (Part 1)

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Dealing With An Annoying Duo (Part 1)

Along the pathway of Medicine Peak, Sui Sui was making his way toward Elder Shan Li’s residence when Chu Ran and the group accompanying her suddenly stepped into his path. They spread out naturally across the walkway, effectively blocking his way forward and leaving Sui Sui with little choice but to stop.

This time, however, there was a new face among the group—a young man who looked to be around Sui Sui’s age. He had the mischievous air typical of a teenager who was always looking for trouble, with a faint smirk playing at the corner of his lips, looking very irritating for Sui Sui’s eyes.

Sui Sui narrowed his eyes slightly and took another careful look at the young man.

Why did he feel like he had seen this person somewhere before?

It wasn’t until Chu Ran turned toward the young man and called out to him that Sui Sui finally realized who he was.

"Brother Jiang, this is the waste I told you about," Chu Ran said, pointing directly at Sui Sui. Her eyes were filled with undisguised hostility. "He’s the one who keeps bothering Senior Brother Yizhou. And now, he’s even shamelessly clinging to Elder Shan Li. I honestly don’t know what kind of tricks he’s been using to keep Elder Shan Li from kicking him out."

As she spoke, the disdain in her voice became increasingly obvious. She looked at Sui Sui as though he were an eyesore, clearly taking pleasure in finally having someone else present to support her accusations.

The moment Sui Sui heard the surname Jiang, a name immediately surfaced in his mind.

If he had identified him correctly, then this young man should be Jiang Huan—the grandson of Acting Sect Master Jiang.

And more importantly, he was the ungrateful brat who would later help pit Yizhou against the Wenjian Sect.

No wonder Sui Sui had felt that he looked familiar.

Now that he knew who he was, the resemblance suddenly seemed even more obvious. Jiang Huan had the same irritating air as his mother, Madam Jiang. Even their expressions seemed to carry that same sense of arrogance that made Sui Sui instinctively dislike them.

Just looking at the mother and son together was enough to make Sui Sui feel annoyed.

How could Sui Sui have forgotten?

In the original novel, Jiang Huan and Chu Ran had actually been quite close. One of the main reasons was that Jiang Huan had a crush on her.

He had even secretly told Madam Jiang that, if possible, he wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Chu Family. Unfortunately for him though, back then, Chu Ran already had her heart set on Yizhou, so Jiang Huan could only give up on the idea. He never tried to force her or interfere with her feelings. Instead, he quietly stepped aside, choosing to let the person he loved pursue her own happiness.

Because of this, Jiang Huan had always been portrayed as a loyal and considerate junior brother by the readers. Before Yizhou’s downfall, he had even been one of Yizhou’s many junior brothers who admired and looked up to him. Although Jiang Huan could be a little mischievous at times, he had always been known as kind-hearted in the earlier parts of the novel, becoming one of the well-loved characters.

That was also why some readers had even speculated that Jiang Huan’s betrayal of Yizhou in the first timeline might not have been entirely intentional or that he really didn’t mean it

They think that perhaps he had never truly hated Yizhou, after all, if Jiang Huan had genuinely resented his Senior Brother from then he probably would not have admired him so much before everything happened.

However, because of his mother’s influence and repeated accusation on Yizhou, add to the fact that he had just lost his golden core and was having a mental breakdown, he was easily persuaded by the words of other, anyway some reader thinks that it is a pity for their brotherhood and that maybe if there was a different circumstances then maybe it would not have gone that way.

However, Sui Sui had a different take on the matter.

Although the novel had never explicitly mentioned it, Sui Sui couldn’t help suspecting that Jiang Huan’s eventual hostility toward Yizhou might have been partly influenced by his own feelings toward Chu Ran.

After all, if Jiang Huan had truly harbored no initial resentment toward Yizhou at all, would he have been so easily persuaded to turn against his Senior Brother?

And if you think about it, If Yizhou were no longer around, wouldn’t that also mean Jiang Huan would have a better chance with Chu Ran?

It was not as though Sui Sui believed Jiang Huan had deliberately plotted against Yizhou from the beginning. But he couldn’t believe that the son Madam Jiang had personally raised would have absolutely no selfish thoughts of his own.

Perhaps there had been a small amount of resentment there from the beginning on Jiang Huan’s part, gradually growing, from idolization, to envy, to jealousy, then when he was given an opportunity to trample on Yizhou, he gladly took the chance.

That was only Sui Sui’s own speculation, of course.

But now that Sui Sui was standing face-to-face with Jiang Huan, he couldn’t help feeling that his guess might actually be closer to the truth than he had initially thought.

Because of the identities of the people involved, none of the surrounding disciples dared to interfere. Chu Ran was already a well-known figure on Medicine Peak, not only because of her talent in alchemy but also because she was the young miss of the Chu Family. As for Jiang Huan, some of the disciples had already recognized him as the grandson of the Acting Sect Master.

Neither of them was someone an ordinary disciple could afford to offend.

So, instead of stepping forward, the surrounding disciples simply stood to the side and watched. Some exchanged curious glances while others quietly whispered among themselves, clearly waiting to see how the confrontation would unfold.

From the way Chu Ran and her group had deliberately blocked Sui Sui’s path, it was obvious that they had expected exactly this reaction. They had probably chosen this particular place precisely because there were so many disciples around.

They wanted Sui Sui to lose face in front of everyone.

Jiang Huan glanced at Sui Sui from head to toe before a disdainful smile appeared on his face.

"Oh? Is that so?" he said, his tone carrying the arrogance of someone who clearly did not think much of the person standing before him. "A mere Qi Refining-stage waste actually dares to covet Senior Brother Yizhou? You even follow him around everywhere. Aren’t you embarrassed?"

The surrounding disciples immediately grew quieter.

Everyone’s attention shifted toward Sui Sui, waiting to see how he would respond.