CHAPTER 200: CHAPTER 200: MERIT

He looked sullenly at Lin Xiaoyan and Xuan Shiwu. His face immediately broke into a smile.

"Don’t worry, I’ll have someone take down these videos immediately. This matter won’t affect you at all," the deputy director promised.

Xuan Shiwu shrugged, "Alright, but I hope we don’t get pelted with rotten eggs when we go out tomorrow!"

"Absolutely not!" the deputy director assured.

He instructed the captain and Xu Na to host the two, and immediately went out to find someone to remove the videos online.

At this moment, He Qi’an also saw the video, watching Lin Xiaoyan desperately holding onto Xu Na, not noticing his own leg getting scratched on the ground...

He Qi’an watched Lin Xiaoyan’s knee scraping as she was dragged, his gaze fierce, and he immediately called to have the online videos removed.

In less than twenty minutes, every video about Lin Xiaoyan and Xu Na disappeared completely from the internet.

Lin Xiaoyan and Xuan Shiwu were taken back to the hotel by the police, and at the hotel entrance, the deputy director and Xu Na expressed their gratitude once again to Lin Xiaoyan and Xuan Shiwu.

They urged them to enjoy their time in the Southern Province and to contact them directly if any issues arise.

The people in the hotel lobby watched this scene at the entrance, glancing at each other, exchanging looks.

They had all seen tonight’s video and realized that the two girls in the video were staying at their hotel.

They were initially planning to comment online that the two girls were staying at their hotel, but in a blink of an eye, all the videos were gone!

Not only couldn’t they find them, but even their browsing history turned up nothing.

Plus, the videos posted by official accounts had also disappeared.

Seeing this, they felt unnerved, speculating whether those two girls had strong backgrounds, and then witnessed the scene at the entrance.

Lin Xiaoyan and Xuan Shiwu bid farewell to the deputy director and the others, and entered the hotel.

Lin Xiaoyan carried the iodine swabs and other items Xu Na bought after getting off the car earlier.

Ignoring the staff’s gaze, Lin Xiaoyan and Xuan Shiwu went straight to the elevator.

The two returned to their room, simultaneously letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

Xuan Shiwu looked at Lin Xiaoyan and chuckled, "Thank you, Xiao Yan."

"Hmm?" Lin Xiaoyan looked at Xuan Shiwu with confusion.

Xuan Shiwu said excitedly, "Because you saved Xu Na, I also hitched onto a bit of merit!!!"

This was the second time Lin Xiaoyan heard of "merit."

She guessed what it was, given the novels she had read over the years weren’t in vain.

However, seeing Xuan Shiwu so excited, her heart was full of questions.

Lin Xiaoyan asked aloud.

Xuan Shiwu sighed and took out his phone, "Let’s not talk about that for now. We didn’t get to eat at that place tonight, so let’s order some takeaway, and I’ll take you there tomorrow!"

"Alright."

Xuan Shiwu quickly ordered two takeouts, then started to explain to Lin Xiaoyan about the current state of the Xuan Sect in this era.

"Actually, a hundred years ago, things weren’t like this, back then the natural order wasn’t so..."

Xuan Shiwu thought for a moment and finally came up with a word, "Ruthless!"

Lin Xiaoyan was surprised, "Ruthless?"

"Yes!" Xuan Shiwu nodded firmly.

"You don’t know, a hundred years ago, there were countless people in the Xuan Sect, but for some reason, overnight, many among the Xuan Sect suddenly went missing.

Since then, not only has Taoist skill faced a discontinuity, but spiritual energy has also been scarce, as if the heavens suddenly became harsh towards those who practice Taoism.

At first, no one paid attention to these changes. But as time passed, more and more people discovered their cultivation stopped progressing, and even got entangled with numerous causes and effects...

At first, those people didn’t care about these causes and effects, but then they found out once someone is entangled in them, no matter what method is used, it can’t be resolved.

Even more so, the cause and effect follow the soul until death..."

Lin Xiaoyan listened, flabbergasted, "That serious, huh!"

Xuan Shiwu raised his brows, "Serious? It’s simply terribly cruel!

They don’t leave us any chance to survive!!!"

"So, we don’t casually enter the world, we don’t casually help people... Alas, just like today’s event, sometimes we see it but act like we haven’t. Though it sounds a bit cold, we also need to survive and live!"

Lin Xiaoyan listened and remained silent, unable to judge their actions; everyone has their own choices.

Xuan Shiwu continued, "However, once people of the Xuan Sect walk in this world, they will inevitably get entangled with some cause and effect, even if we desperately avoid it.

But this thing is like a chain, constantly binding us.

At that point, we discovered that merit can offset cause and effect!

That’s why when we saw you have so much merit, we were practically drooling with envy!"

"So that’s how it is..." Lin Xiaoyan understood.

Xuan Shiwu enthusiastically said, "Merit not only can offset cause and effect but has other uses!

With merit, cultivation progresses with half the effort, not to mention greatly increasing the success rate during tribulation!

Moreover..."

It wasn’t until the delivery arrived that Xuan Shiwu stopped.

In just twenty minutes, Lin Xiaoyan learned a lot about the Xuan Sect.

At the same time, her worldview was somewhat overturned...

So, there really were people who achieved transcendence!

Lin Xiaoyan thought as she ate.

She looked at Xuan Shiwu, who was sending messages, and felt like asking Shiwu, now that she had merit, would she still go to hell after she died...

After death, could these merits make her time in the Underworld more comfortable...

In the end, Lin Xiaoyan didn’t ask, fearing that knowing too much about the afterlife would affect her future life.

After their meal, Lin Xiaoyan received a call from He Qi’an.

"Hey, where are you now?"

Lin Xiaoyan sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the black night outside, and replied, "At the hotel."

"Which hotel?"

Lin Xiaoyan: ???

"Why do you... ask that?" Lin Xiaoyan felt a bit nervous and joked, "You’re not in the Southern Province, are you? Hahaha..."

"Yes, I just got off the plane, I’m coming to see you now."

He Qi’an’s calm voice came through the phone, and Lin Xiaoyan’s heart started racing upon hearing he had really come to the Southern Province.

"No way... You’re... you’re coming to the Southern Province for what? On a business trip?" Lin Xiaoyan didn’t think he was coming just for her.

After she spoke, there was a long silence on the other end, long enough for Lin Xiaoyan to feel so awkward she could dig a three-bedroom apartment with her toes!

"Where are you?"

Lin Xiaoyan heard He Qi’an’s question, instinctively didn’t want to answer, feeling extremely anxious, but fearing overthinking, she provided the hotel’s location.

He Qi’an simply said "okay" and hung up the phone.

Lin Xiaoyan stared at her phone, feeling extremely tense, thinking he probably didn’t come specifically for her...

He...

Lin Xiaoyan’s thoughts spun wildly, forcing herself to stay calm, not to overthink or presume too much!