Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist

Chapter 903: Liu Ruyan's Request

The Serpent Scale Soarer was not a grand vessel. It was a sleek, ten-foot-long artifact of black, shimmering scales, designed for speed and agility, not comfort. There were no cabins, no separate quarters, just a single, open deck where the four of them sat in close proximity, the wind of their passage whipping at their hair and robes. This enforced closeness created an atmosphere of intense, unavoidable intimacy, a crucible for the secrets and tensions that simmered between them.

They flew for hours in a relative silence, the only sound the rush of the wind and the faint, powerful hum of the artifact's spiritual core. Yue Lingshan sat close to Wang Jian, her hand resting on his knee, a quiet, possessive gesture. Chen Ying sat apart, a statue of icy indifference, though her sharp, intelligent eyes missed nothing.

And Liu Ruyan… Liu Ruyan was a storm of inner turmoil.

She had been quiet for the entire journey, her veiled face turned towards the passing landscape of rolling hills and dense forests. But her mind was not on the scenery. It was a chaotic tempest of fear, hope, and a dawning, terrifying resolve.

The communication talisman she had received from her master that morning had felt like a shard of ice in her heart. She replayed the message in her mind for the hundredth time.

'Ruyan,' her master Lianhua's beautiful, weary voice had echoed in her mind, 'Fu Yan has made his move. He has established his 'Alliance Hall' in Five Rivers City. The flow of disciples and resources to his banner is… significant. I am being isolated. The loyalists are afraid. Be careful, my child. The sect is no longer the safe home it once was.'

The message had filled her with a cold, desperate fear. Fear for her beloved master, and fear for herself. She knew that as the Sect Master's nominal disciple, she was a clear and obvious target for Elder Fu's ambitious, ruthless faction.

But then she would look at the man sitting just a few feet away from her. Wang Jian. He was her only hope. His power was monstrous, his mind was a labyrinth of brilliant, unpredictable strategies, and his presence was a comforting, terrifying anchor in the storm of her fear.

She had to ask. She had to place her faith, and the fate of her master, in his hands.

Finally, summoning every ounce of her courage, she turned from the railing, her gaze finding his.

"Senior Brother Wang…" she began, her voice a soft, trembling thread in the rushing wind.

Her words instantly broke the quiet spell. Yue Lingshan's head turned, her expression one of polite curiosity. Chen Ying's cold, assessing gaze flickered towards her. Wang Jian turned to face her fully, his expression calm and attentive.

"I… I have received troubling news from my teacher this morning," she said, her voice gaining a bit of strength. "Through a communication talisman."

Wang Jian's brow furrowed slightly. "Is everything alright, Junior Sister Liu?"

She shook her head, a gesture of profound sadness. "No, Senior Brother. It is not."

She took a deep, shuddering breath, and the story of her sect's fracture poured out of her. She spoke of Second Elder Fu Yan's triumphant establishment of his base in the great trade hub of Five Rivers City, a direct challenge to the Sect Master's authority.

"He is using his share of the… of the 'liberated' Star-Vein Iron as bait," she explained, her voice laced with a mixture of anger and despair. "He is promising wealth, power, and a share of the spoils to any disciple who joins his cause. The ambitious, the greedy, the impatient… they are flocking to his banner. He is… he is tearing our sect apart from within."

She described the atmosphere in the main sect, an atmosphere she had only heard about from her master's message, but one she could vividly imagine. "The loyalist elders are being pressured. Disciples are being forced to choose sides. My master, Sect Leader Lianhua, is being politically isolated, her authority eroding with each passing day. Elder Fu is creating his own sect, right under her very nose, and she is powerless to stop him without igniting a civil war."

The three of them listened in silence, the gravity of the situation clear.

'A schism,' Chen Ying thought, her mind cold and analytical. 'A brilliant, ruthless move. It weakens the Crimson Pill Sect immeasurably, turning their own strength against them. Master was right to ally with this woman. Her desperation makes her a perfect key to unlock the secrets, and perhaps even the treasures, of her sect.'

Yue Lingshan's reaction was one of pure, sisterly sympathy. She reached out, placing a comforting hand on Liu Ruyan's arm. "That is terrible, Sister Liu. To have your home torn apart by such greed…"

Liu Ruyan gave her a grateful, trembling smile. But her eyes, her desperate, pleading eyes, were fixed only on Wang Jian.

"After we have dealt with this Beast Tide," she said, her voice now a low, intense plea, "I must return to my sect. I must stand with my master. But I am afraid. Elder Fu's faction sees me as a loyalist to the Sect Master. I… I fear they may move against me, to make an example of me."

She leaned forward, her desperation making her bold. "I need your help, Jian," she whispered, the use of his intimate name a raw, unconscious slip that made Yue Lingshan's hand on her arm stiffen almost imperceptibly.

"I humbly request that you accompany me back," Liu Ruyan begged, her voice thick with emotion. "Your strength, your wisdom… it might be the only thing that can help my master navigate this crisis. Please."

A tense silence fell over the small deck of the Soarer. Yue Lingshan's mind was a confused whirl. She felt a deep sympathy for her friend's plight, but the thought of her Jian going alone into the heart of a rival, and now fractured, sect… it was terrifying.

Wang Jian's face was unreadable. He simply looked at Liu Ruyan, his dark eyes seeming to pierce through her veil, to see the very depths of her desperate soul. His mind, however, was a flurry of cold, excited calculation.

'An excellent opportunity,' he thought, his inner voice a purr of pure, predatory satisfaction. 'A divided sect is a weak sect. A beautiful, powerful, and now politically isolated Sect Leader… this is a gift from the heavens. By helping her, I can gain a powerful Core Formation ally, indebt her entire faction to me, and perhaps even gain legitimate access to the Crimson Pill Sect's legendary thousand-year-old herb gardens and their most profound pill recipes. The potential profits are… immense.'

He let the silence stretch for a moment longer, enjoying the weight of the three women's gazes, the feeling of their fates hanging on his every word.

Then, he smiled, a warm, reassuring smile that instantly eased the crushing tension in Liu Ruyan's heart.

"Of course, Junior Sister Liu," he said, his voice calm and steady. "We are allies. I will help you."

The relief that washed over Liu Ruyan was so profound it was a physical force, making her slump slightly. "Thank you, Jian," she whispered, tears of gratitude welling in her eyes. "Thank you."

But the moment those words of agreement left Wang Jian's lips, another, more powerful voice cut through the air.

"Then I am coming with you."

It was Yue Lingshan. She had stood up, her hand leaving Liu Ruyan's arm, her expression a mask of fierce, unyielding determination. Her gaze was locked on Wang Jian, her beautiful eyes blazing with a protective fire.

"I will not let you go into the heart of an enemy sect alone, Jian!" she declared, her voice firm, leaving no room for argument.

The atmosphere on the Soarer, which had just begun to relax, instantly became a hundred times more tense. Liu Ruyan looked from Yue Lingshan's fierce, determined face to Wang Jian's calm one, her heart sinking. Chen Ying, who had remained a silent observer, watched the unfolding drama with a cold, detached interest, like a scholar observing the mating rituals of two powerful, dangerous beasts.

Wang Jian looked at Yue Lingshan, his expression unreadable. For a moment, she thought she saw a flicker of annoyance in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a look of gentle, paternal concern.

He stood, taking a step towards her, his movements calm and deliberate.

"Lingshan, my love," he said, his voice soft, a stark contrast to her passionate declaration. "You cannot."

"I can, and I will!" she retorted, her chin held high. "I am a Deacon of the sect. I am your partner. My place is by your side, especially when you are walking into danger."

"And it is because you are my partner, because I cherish you above all else, that you must not come," he said, his voice still gentle, but with an underlying current of unshakeable authority. He took her hands in his, his grip firm and warm.

"Think logically, Lingshan," he urged, his gaze intense. "Think like the brilliant array master you are. My mission there will not be one of open conquest. It will require stealth, subtlety, perhaps even a quick, silent escape. My personal escape arts, the ones that allow me to move unseen, are designed for a single person."

He painted a grim, terrifyingly plausible picture for her. "Imagine we are discovered. Imagine we are cornered by Elder Fu and his Core Formation allies. I can merge with the shadows and slip away. I can use a forbidden blood essence art to vanish in a burst of speed. But what of you? They would capture you, Lingshan. And the moment they did, they would have the perfect weapon to use against me. Your presence, my love, would not be a help; it would become the cage that traps me."

His words were a series of cold, hard, logical blows that systematically dismantled her emotional, protective stance. She wanted to argue, to scream that her strength was enough, but her mind, the mind that he himself had helped to sharpen, could find no flaw in his brutal logic. He was right. In a mission of pure infiltration and escape, she would be a liability.

Seeing the hurt, the fear, and the dawning, reluctant understanding in her eyes, he softened his tone, his thumbs gently stroking the backs of her hands.

"This is not about your strength," he said, his voice a low, reassuring murmur. "You are incredibly powerful. More powerful every day. If this were a battle, if we were to march on the Crimson Pill Sect with an army at our backs, I would want no one else but you by my side, your arrays my impenetrable shield."

He leaned in, his forehead resting against hers. "But this is a mission of spies and shadows, of politics and poison. It is far too risky, and you are far too precious to me to risk in such a game. I can navigate those treacherous waters alone with much greater ease."

He pulled back slightly, looking deep into her eyes, making a solemn vow. "Stay in our valley. Cultivate. Master your new arrays. Grow stronger, for me. And I promise you, I will send you a communication talisman every single day, without fail, to let you know that I am safe. Trust me in this, Lingshan. Please."

His logic was a fortress. His reassurance was a balm. Torn between her fierce, desperate desire to protect him and her complete, absolute trust in his wisdom, Yue Lingshan felt her resolve crumble.

Tears welled in her beautiful eyes, tears of frustration, of fear, and of a deep, aching love. She finally gave a small, almost imperceptible nod, her throat too tight to speak.

She had agreed. The promise of their first long separation, a chasm of unknown length and danger, now hung heavily, silently, between them.

She pulled her hands from his and turned away, walking to the edge of the Soarer to stare blindly at the passing clouds, hiding the tears that now streamed freely down her face.

It was in that moment, with Yue Lingshan's back turned, that Wang Jian's gaze shifted, his eyes finding Liu Ruyan's. The gentle, loving expression on his face vanished, replaced by something else entirely. Something darker, more mischievous, more predatory.

He gave her a slow, deliberate wink.

And then, with an audacious, leisurely slowness, he licked his lips.

The gesture was silent. It was fleeting. But its meaning was as clear and as shocking as a shout in a library.

'When we are alone… you are mine.'

A jolt of pure, electric shock, a bolt of lightning that was equal parts terror and a wild, uncontrollable excitement, shot through Liu Ruyan's entire body. Her heart, which had been aching with sympathy for Yue Lingshan, now hammered against her ribs for a completely different reason.

Her face, hidden behind the thin protection of her veil, flushed a deep, burning, and utterly shameful crimson. She gasped, a tiny, almost inaudible sound, and quickly looked down at her hands, her mind a dizzying, chaotic whirl of guilt, fear, and a forbidden, all-consuming thrill.

The Serpent Scale Soarer flew on, a silent, dark streak against the vast, indifferent sky, carrying its complex, dangerous cargo of love, lust, jealousy, and ambition ever southward, towards the roaring, chaotic promise of the Beast Tide.