Evan Chu's face flushed red and then turned pale under Rhea Yang's words; for a moment, he had no idea how to explain himself.
After Rhea finished speaking, tears welled up in her eyes, her voice trembling slightly as she cried. The fact that her body had been seen by a man she barely knew was something she simply couldn't accept.
Now there were only two choices: either Evan Chu would have to marry her in the future, or she would kill him. Rhea immediately chose the latter.
The Yang clan was a powerful family, well-known throughout the Heavenly Dragon Kingdom. Their honor could not be tarnished. Rhea raised her longsword angrily and shouted:
"Evan Chu, I never thought you'd be such a shameless scoundrel. Today, I'll make you pay for your actions!"
At that moment, Evan Chu felt so wronged—he was even more innocent than Dou E from the old tale. "Rhea, don't be impulsive! Listen to me! I swear I didn't do it on purpose!"
"I don't care, I don't care! Prepare to die!" Rhea's longsword slashed out, sending a blade of sword energy toward Evan Chu without the slightest hesitation.
"Hey! You're actually trying to kill me!" Evan Chu dodged frantically, barely escaping injury.
Seeing that she hadn't hurt Evan Chu, Rhea prepared to attack again. Evan shouted, "Hey! Little miss, if you're going to beat or kill me, at least let me finish explaining! I'm innocent, I—"
Rhea's anger didn't subside in the slightest. "Fine, since you looked after me along the way, I'll let you say your last words. If I can help with anything, I'll try, but don't think you can talk your way out of this!"
Evan Chu was utterly speechless. This silly girl was beautiful, but how could she be so stubborn? After a few breaths, he finally said, "Rhea, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it. You have to believe me!"
"Do you... do you know what this means for me?" Rhea choked out between sobs.
"Why did you scream just now? Did you know I thought you were in danger, so I rushed over? Who knew you were perfectly fine? But I was honestly stunned when I saw your real face. Don't worry, I really didn't see anything else."
Evan Chu mustered his courage and said it all in one breath—how she took it was up to her.
Rhea was about to lose her mind hearing Evan's words. She stopped crying, both angry and amused, and said:
"What else did you want to see? My whole body? I screamed because a few little fish were swimming under my feet, tickling me so much I couldn't help it. What did you think was happening?"
"Little fish?" Evan Chu was so frustrated by her explanation that he almost spat blood. Because of a few fish, he'd been branded a pervert—he couldn't even begin to defend himself!
"Now that everything's clear, this is the fate you deserve. How do you want to die?" Rhea asked, though the anger in her eyes had faded a bit.
Evan Chu could see it clearly—this silly girl probably believed him now. Rhea really was a beauty, even surpassing Roxanne Lin and Jenny Sima, but her temper was truly hard to handle.
"Come on, big sis! You were still wearing clothes, even if not much, it wasn't completely exposed. I'm still young, haven't even had a wife yet, and I really don't want to die. If you think I truly went too far, how about I marry you in the future?"
"Marry me? Heh, if you can reach the Heaven Martial Realm before you turn twenty, then you can marry me. Do you think you can pull that off?" At this point, Rhea seemed to have given up on killing Evan Chu.
Seeing the situation shift, Evan Chu asked, "Why does it have to be before twenty? Is this a Yang Gate rule?"
Noticing Evan Chu's aggrieved expression, Rhea gave a bitter smile.
"I really don't know how to explain it to you. You're the first man to ever see my real face. According to Yang Gate rules, you have to marry into the clan."
But with your talent, there's no way you'd stay in Yang Gate forever. So the only option is for you to reach the Heaven Martial Realm before twenty and then come to propose. No one will be able to stop you then."
Evan Chu's mind was a swirl of emotions. He already had Roxanne Lin as his fiancée, his relationship with Jenny Sima was settled, and there was Lily Tang as well—all three were stunning beauties. Was his luck with women just too good, or did he simply attract beauties wherever he went?
Now, with Rhea Yang added, that made four. If all four got along, it would be a blessing, but if jealousy broke out, he'd be in deep trouble. Rhea probably knew about his situation with the other three, but that was a problem for the future. For now, he had to deal with the current mess first.
"What if another guy under twenty comes to Yang Gate to propose?" This seemed important to Evan Chu—if he agreed to her terms but someone beat him to it, he'd lose his chance. With a beauty like Rhea Yang, he certainly didn't mind having one more.
"Yang Gate has its rules. If a Yang girl doesn't want to stay in the clan, we'll hold a martial contest for marriage before she turns twenty."
Anyone who wants to participate must be at least eighth-layer Earth Martial Realm. If a third-layer Heaven Martial Realm contender shows up, the clan will choose him directly.
Only if several Heaven Martial Realm experts show up will there be a contest. Reaching Heaven Martial before twenty is as rare as phoenix feathers, but eighth-layer Earth Martial is much more common.
With your family background, you wouldn't qualify to participate—even if you reach eighth-layer Earth Martial. Do you understand?" Rhea sounded helpless. Having her marriage dictated by her clan was a kind of misfortune, a kind of pain.
"I get it. Don't worry, I'll definitely reach the Heaven Martial Realm. Three years should be enough." Evan Chu spoke with absolute confidence—if he couldn't break through in three years, he'd truly be useless.
"I hope you don't disappoint me!" With that, Rhea pulled a thin human-skin mask from her storage belt, turned away from Evan Chu, and put it on.
When she turned back around, her peerless beauty had vanished—she looked just like she did before.
"Your disguise technique is really impressive! I can't see a single flaw."
"Well, you saw through it anyway. Evan Chu, you're really hard to figure out—sometimes so mysterious. Want me to disguise you too? Lots of people in the ordinary class know you. It'll make things easier."
"Sure! That's exactly what I was thinking!" Evan Chu laughed.
Rhea's disguise skills were truly top-notch. In no time, Evan Chu looked like a completely different person. Even if Roxanne Lin or Jenny Sima walked up to him, they might not recognize him.
Just then, three figures came running toward Evan Chu and Rhea from several li away. "Rhea, those three are definitely up to something. Looks like we've got more people to kill."
"I'm in a terrible mood right now—really itching to kill someone. Since I can't kill you, I'll just take it out on them!" Rhea said coldly, staring at the distant figures.
"If you want to vent, I'll join you. But let's be careful." Evan Chu was also curious about the trio's strength—their speed suggested they were strong. Maybe they were from the elite class at Hailong Academy.
The three quickly arrived before Evan Chu and Rhea. Two were young men, one a woman, all older than Evan and Rhea. Their gazes were sharp as they sized up the pair.
"What brings you here in such a hurry?" Evan Chu asked calmly.
The trio saw that Evan Chu and Rhea, though young, looked perfectly calm and confident. For a moment, they couldn't figure out their backgrounds and didn't dare act rashly. On their way here, they'd already seen the corpses of Hailong Academy students.
There were at least ten bodies. Evan Chu and Rhea were likely the killers—anyone who could slaughter ten people clearly wasn't weak...
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