LAVW – Chapter 14 The Vine Ring

Li Qingqian had never expected that Long Ye would call her out only to demand his belongings back—nothing else.

No words of sentiment, no lingering emotions. Just pure business.

Was this really the same Long Ye she knew? The one who had never been stingy with her, who had always given whatever she wanted without hesitation?

But no matter how much a young man could give, it was never enough for Li Qingqian, whose ambitions had outgrown his means.

She was utterly bewildered. How could someone change this much?

Unless… unless Long Ye had been pretending all along. Had he just acted like he cared, while actually hiding this selfish, stingy side?

Feeling deceived, anger flashed in her watery eyes as she glared at him. “The betrothal gifts have already been returned to your family—fivefold.” The Li family had even sent additional compensation.

Shi Qian spread his tiny paws with righteous indignation. “Squeak squeak.”

Your family got the money. What does that have to do with us?

Neither Shi Qian nor Long Ye had ever received any of it. It was Long Ye’s family who agreed to the annulment, so naturally, the gifts went into their pockets. Even if Long Ye had obediently stayed home, all that awaited him was punishment—kneeling in the ancestral hall. The gifts would never have been his to claim.

“You know full well that sending the compensation to my family means I’ll never see any of it,” Long Ye sighed internally.

When he had wanted to give the spirit ginseng to Uncle Li, he had only sent a message instead of handing it over directly. Because he knew—once something was given away, it could easily change hands or even vanish entirely.

Both their families had this issue. It was even worse for Long Ye, who had a so-called grandfather to deal with.

Long Ye had always said that Li Qingqian was smart. She knew exactly what she was doing when she had her family send people to negotiate with his clan instead of him directly. That way, she ensured Long Ye wouldn’t receive a single thing—while also cutting ties with him cleanly.

Li Qingqian fell silent. Lowering her head, she bit her lip.

“You wanted my family to keep me locked up so I wouldn’t interfere with your new life, didn’t you?” Long Ye exposed her plan bluntly.

“…Take it!”

Li Qingqian snapped. She reached into her robes and pulled out a small pouch. Opening it, she revealed a handful of spirit stones.

Among the dozen or so low-grade spirit stones, there were even two mid-grade ones.

It wasn’t as much as the original engagement gifts Long Ye’s father had prepared, but it was still a significant amount—nearly half of it. Not a small sum.

Long Ye thought it was good enough.

Shi Qian, however, didn’t recognize the mid-grade spirit stones—after all, demonic beasts had no use for them.

Instead, Shi Qian extended his soft little paw and pointed at a ring on Li Qingqian’s finger.

It was a delicate vine-shaped ring, adorned with two small, intricate leaves that emitted a faint spiritual glow. While it wasn’t an authentic Treasure-Seeking Mouse, Shi Qian could tell with his naked eyes—it was likely a storage item.

Li Qingqian’s expression instantly changed. She glanced at Shi Qian with sharp suspicion. “This ring is off-limits. It was a gift.”

Shi Qian thought to himself: That makes it even more valuable.

He turned to Long Ye and squeaked excitedly, “Squeak squeak!”

That’s the one! It’s a storage space—who knows what treasures might be inside?

Shi Qian trusted the Treasure-Seeking Mouse’s instincts without question. Besides, Li Qingqian’s reaction confirmed his suspicions—she cared a lot about that ring.

Her anger, bright and unmistakable, stirred a cold sharpness in Long Ye’s eyes.

It was a gift from another man—given while their engagement was still in effect. She had betrayed him.

Long Ye stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and held out his hand—not to support her like before, but to demand what was his.

Almost all of Li Qingqian’s possessions were inside that ring. There was no way she’d hand it over.

Looking at Long Ye’s dark expression, she realized her earlier words had backfired.

Li Qingqian took a step back. “I’ll give you more spirit stones, okay? Just let me keep the ring.”

At the same time, her gaze flickered around her surroundings. She regretted coming alone.

She couldn’t beat Long Ye, couldn’t outrun him—she was only at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Stage.

But this place was eerily desolate. Other than a row of willow trees by the riverbank, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. The nearest buildings were a fair distance away, and the harbor was even further from the residential area.

Just then, she saw it.

A shadow—a dark, ghostly figure—flashed beneath the distant willow trees.

Long Ye, seeing how much she valued the ring, felt his heart twist in pain once more.

He had nothing. No storage space, no spirit stones, no powerful cultivation.

All he had done was run around tirelessly when Uncle Li was injured, climbing Nine Heavens Peak to search for medicine, risking his life hunting demonic beasts, and delivering gifts year after year… stupidly, faithfully, without fail.

His gaze turned cold as his emotions churned. A faint red tinge glowed in his eyes.

At that moment, Shi Qian suddenly caught a strange scent.

It wasn’t the usual “treasure” scent—but it was similar. It drifted faintly from behind them.

Shi Qian’s instincts flared.

He grabbed Long Ye’s robe and yanked him forward, darting to hide behind Li Qingqian.

The instant they vanished—

BOOM!

A powerful, wind-carving claw slashed through the air, its force exploding like thunder.

RUMBLE—

A massive hole was torn into the ground right where Long Ye had stood. Dust and dirt erupted into the air, covering Li Qingqian in a thick layer of ash—even her mouth and nose weren’t spared.

Cold sweat drenched Long Ye’s back.

He spun around—and saw his attacker.

It was his uncle—Long Chengyang.

Shi Qian’s eyes widened.

What the hell?!

How was Long Chengyang here?!

In the original storyline, Long Ye only learned about his broken engagement days later. He had escaped his family’s grasp, gone looking for Li Qingqian—only to be captured by Long Chengyang, who then beat him half to death when he resisted.

But this time, Shi Qian had taken Long Ye away early. Long Ye had even chosen the most isolated location possible—yet somehow, Long Chengyang still caught up?!

Long Chengyang retracted his hand, his face ashen as he looked at Long Ye cowering behind a woman.

“Long Ye, get back here. Now.”

Last night, there had been an incident outside the Li residence. The Long family’s spies had quickly noticed and suspected Long Ye was involved.

Fearing that he might cause trouble, the Long family had dispatched even more people to find him today.

Long Chengyang had been injured and wasn’t assigned to the search. But feeling restless, he had gone out for a walk—only to stumble upon Long Ye.

“Resorting to blackmailing women now? Impressive.”

With a sneer, Long Chengyang swung his arm. A dragon claw formed from pure spiritual energy shot forward, aiming to pull Li Qingqian aside—so he could deal with Long Ye.

But Shi Qian was faster.

He pointed at Li Qingqian and squeaked: “Squeak squeak!”

Take her hostage!

So, in an instant—

Long Ye’s hand and Long Chengyang’s spiritual dragon claw both grabbed Li Qingqian’s arm at the same time, pulling in opposite directions.

She was trapped.

A wolf in front, a tiger behind.

Li Qingqian had never experienced something like this before. She was terrified, too frightened to even scream. Her arms ached terribly, and sweat began to bead on her pale face.

For a split second, Long Ye hesitated.

But he quickly forced it down.

That first attack from Long Chengyang—he hadn’t just been trying to drag Long Ye home.

It could have seriously injured him—or even killed him before his next advancement.

The tug-of-war continued. Li Qingqian’s face twisted in pain.

Long Chengyang gritted his teeth and let go. “Long Ye, let her go. Her arm is about to break!”

Li Qingqian whimpered in pain, her arm now completely numb.

Long Ye wasn’t stupid. But subconsciously, he loosened his grip just a bit.

Long Chengyang seized the opportunity—yanked Li Qingqian away—and Long Ye was too late to react.

At the same time, Shi Qian tumbled to the ground—clutching his newly acquired vine ring.

He rolled like a ball before coming to a stop.

For a moment, he felt utterly vulnerable.

Just a second ago, his little paws were empty—and it made him feel so unsafe.

Luckily, Li Qingqian’s ring hand had been in Long Ye’s grasp, so he had snatched it up.

Now, he finally had something to hold onto.

But somehow—

He still didn’t feel safe at all.

Long Ye was dirt-poor. His only weapons were regular, mortal-grade ones.

But why was Li Qingqian’s storage ring filled with useless trinkets and spirit stones?

Did none of you cultivation-world people carry actual weapons when traveling?!

_{T/N: Everything happened too fast here.}