Wen Xianyin came to the maple forest and ordered someone to carry away Yan Huirou, who had fainted from exhaustion.
Wen Xianyin looked at the Sect Master, a little confused.
Jiang Xidai was holding a handkerchief, dabbing at the cold sweat on her forehead. She was curled up wearily on the chaise lounge in the small pavilion in the maple forest, her expression unusually haggard, as if teaching Yan Huirou had also broken her.
She was indeed on the verge of breaking.
She had never been in so much pain for so long, and yet she had fought with Yan Huirou to the end.
She really wanted to strangle the female lead.
But she couldn’t.
“Sect Master, what’s wrong with you?”
Wen Xianyin said, “You don’t look to be in a good mood. Do you need to rest?”
Jiang Xidai closed her eyes, her long lashes pressing down, then suddenly opened them. “Wen Xianyin.”
“Disciple is here.”
“Bring Li Xinghe to me again.” Jiang Xidai turned over. “As soon as possible, I want to see him.” She twirled a strand of hair with a faint expression. “Or you can give me his current location, and I will go and meet him myself.”
“…Mm?” Speaking of Li Xinghe, Wen Xianyin was a little nervous. “Yes, disciple will go right away.”
Wen Xianyin had been uneasy ever since she had carelessly let Li Xinghe escape.
This was a good opportunity to make up for her mistake.
Li Xinghe was a disciple of Lanyue Pavilion. Lanyue Pavilion had been set on fire a few days ago and was still under repair. Li Xinghe should have already gone to the Haoran Sect to seek refuge with their Pavilion Lord.
Wen Xianyin was lucky this time, and her guess was not wrong.
The male lead had gone through all sorts of hardships, had barely survived the great fire of Lanyue Pavilion, and had begun a long journey of escape.
Finally, as he crossed mountains and saw the dawn of the Haoran Sect—
The boy was knocked out with a single blow from Wen Xianyin and was abducted back to the Shasheng Sect.
Then Li Xinghe woke up and saw Jiang Xidai.
His eyes went black again, and before he could faint—
How could Jiang Xidai allow him to faint? She gently raised her hand, and a palm as swift as lightning struck him, promptly waking him up.
Seeing his Dao heart was on the verge of collapse and he was about to curse, Wen Xianyin didn’t even need Sect Master Jiang to speak this time and directly stuffed a rag in his mouth.
“Not bad.” Jiang Xidai was very satisfied with her disciple. Her movements were getting faster and faster. This time, she had really brought this person back within a day.
When Sect Master Jiang was in a good mood, she was naturally not a stingy person with rewards. “Wen Xianyin, that chest of jewels left over from last time, I’ll give it to you. Go to the treasury and get it yourself.”
Senior Sister Wen was relieved and said respectfully, “Thank you for the reward, Sect Master. This time, I will definitely not let this person escape again—”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Jiang Xidai held out a hand to Wen Xianyin. “Discipline ruler.”
Wen Xianyin fumbled in her storage ring and found a discipline ruler. It was something she used to manage the disobedient disciples in the sect. She didn’t know what the Sect Master… wanted to do with it.
Jiang Xidai held the discipline ruler as if it were a sword and walked straight towards Li Xinghe.
“Mmph! Mmph…” The rag was bitten tightly. Li Xinghe glared at her angrily.
Perhaps Jiang Xidai felt it was no fun to hit a mute, so she slapped his cheek with the discipline ruler, forcing the rag out of his mouth. “What do you want to say?”
“Demoness, if you want to kill me, then kill me! Why do you keep torturing me?!”
Jiang Xidai smiled lightly. “I am a compassionate person and cannot bear to kill. Besides—”
“If I can’t hit her, can’t I hit you?”
Li Xinghe didn’t understand, but it wasn’t very important.
The compassionate Sect Master Jiang raised the discipline ruler. She didn’t use any cultivation, but it was as swift as lightning as it struck Li Xinghe. With a crack, he instantly spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent rolling, breaking a maple tree.
Jiang Xidai’s beautiful brows furrowed slightly. She hadn’t expected to be so strong even without using cultivation. It was a bit of a pity about her red maple.
Wen Xianyin saw her expression and suggested, “It would be more convenient for you to hang him up and whip him.”
For the sake of the plants, this suggestion was adopted.
“Twenty years east of the river, twenty years west of the river, don’t bully a poor young man… If I one day…”
Smack!
Before “one day” was finished, he was sent flying back with a casual slap of the discipline ruler from Jiang Xidai, from his left cheek to his right.
Wen Xianyin stood quietly to the side, watching as the Sect Master broke two discipline rulers and had probably struck him a hundred times. She roughly understood why the Sect Master was using a discipline ruler. After all, if she used her life-bound magic weapon, this person would die after a few hundred hits.
She respectfully took out a fourth spare one from her storage ring and was about to hand it to Jiang Xidai.
Jiang Xidai threw the broken piece of wood on the ground and gently rotated her wrist. “Forget it. He’s fainted again. It’s really no fun. Throw him out. Don’t pollute my territory.”
Wen Xianyin opened her mouth. “…Yes.”
So she just wanted to catch this person and give him a beating.
After venting her anger like this, the frustration Jiang Xidai had felt towards Yan Huirou was swept away, and her mood was finally relieved.
This was a pretty good method.
She decided that from now on, whenever she was hurt by Yan Huirou, she would catch Li Xinghe and give him a beating. Anyway, he wouldn’t rebound that what-cha-ma-call-it “buff,” he would only curse something like “twenty years east of the river, twenty years west of the river.” Jiang Xidai felt that every strike was satisfying and smooth, and exceptionally comfortable. She just had to be careful to leave him with a breath.
The system would also remind her of these things, so she didn’t need to worry too much.
The in-a-good-mood Sect Master Jiang curled up in the pavilion again, leaning against the chaise lounge, but her wrist was a little sore. She rubbed the base of her palm for a long time and checked the male lead’s favorability by the way.
The favorability had indeed dropped another notch, but it was already a life-and-death feud, so it didn’t make much difference.
But every time she asked the system about Yan Huirou’s favorability, she was always cautious. After all, it was so high that Jiang Xidai always felt it was a little strange.
Fortunately, there was no change at the moment.
It was still only at the level of “Oath of the Golden Orchid.”
Host, please pay attention to the progress of the main quest, the system reminded her, then dutifully displayed the “not very familiar” favorability between the male and female leads.
Jiang Xidai hummed faintly. She closed her eyes, thought for a moment, and then instructed Wen Xianyin, “Wait.”
“What is it, Sect Master?”
Wen Xianyin had just tied up Li Xinghe and was preparing to throw him out.
“Don’t throw him out.”
The Sect Master’s lazy voice came from the pavilion. “Throw this person back to the door of Yan Huirou’s room.”
“Oh, right. Bring some lychees over. They’re quite good.”
The sky was already dark, and the moon was high in the sky.
When Yan Huirou woke up, she found herself lying in bed. If it weren’t for the lingering pain all over her body, she would have thought it was all a dream.
She slowly got out of bed. Before she could even touch her window, she suddenly heard a thud outside.
It seemed that something heavy had fallen from the eaves.
If it weren’t for the fact that Bright Moon Pavilion was as exquisite as new, Yan Huirou would have suspected that a tile had fallen off due to disrepair.
She lifted the curtain and looked down.
By the salt-like moonlight, she saw some blood.
A young man of about her age had fallen under her window in a strange posture.
Yan Huirou took another look at his face.
Hmm?
She recognized him.
It was—Li Xinghe?
Li Xinghe had just regained consciousness. He shivered and suddenly jumped up like a startled fish, looking around. It was clear that Jiang Xidai had left an indelible shadow on him.
But when his wary and panicked gaze fell on Yan Huirou, he slowly calmed down. “Why is it you? Where’s that demoness?”
Yan Huirou said in confusion, “Shouldn’t you be at Lanyue Pavilion? Why are you here?”
“Damn it,” Li Xinghe said angrily. “It’s all because of that demoness!”
Yan Huirou was stunned by his shouting. She didn’t know what she had said wrong and couldn’t help but lower the curtain a little.
Li Xinghe’s chest heaved. He struggled but found that he was still tied up. He turned his gaze to the young woman by the window and said hurriedly, “Miss, miss, please be kind and help me untie these ropes. My cultivation was all used up in protecting my body. I really can’t break free now.”
Yan Huirou frowned and didn’t move.
Li Xinghe pleaded, “If she comes, I’m afraid I won’t be able to live. You saw it, that demoness stabbed me so many times last time, and this time she beat me half to death! I just want to live—I really am—”
The curtain fell.
Li Xinghe’s heart sank.
Unexpectedly, after a while, Yan Huirou came out from the side door, holding a pair of scissors in her hand.
She squatted down and cut the ropes on the man’s back. The ropes were a bit thick, and Yan Huirou’s strength was light, so she cut a little slowly.
Li Xinghe let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, thanks.”
While Yan Huirou was lowering her head to cut the ropes, Li Xinghe boldly sized up the beautiful young woman before him.
By the faint moonlight, he could see that she was pure and gentle, with a touching youthful charm.
The first time he had seen her in front of the Shasheng Sect, she had been very unforgettable.
Later, whether intentionally or not, this girl had helped him out of trouble several times. Li Xinghe’s heart warmed, and he couldn’t help but think a little more.
“I am a stranger to you. It is very rude of you to keep staring at me.”
Out of the blue, Yan Huirou’s voice suddenly sounded.
Li Xinghe said, “Cough, sorry. I just think you look familiar, very much like an old friend. Speaking of which, you and I are quite fated, both having fallen into this den of demons… I wonder why you fell into the hands of that demoness?”
The last piece of rope fell. Yan Huirou held the scissors and stood up, tidying her clothes. “You should go. Don’t come back again.”
Li Xinghe stood up with a flip. Because of his injuries, he was still a little unsteady.
Seeing that Yan Huirou was silent and had suddenly become a little cold, he was a little confused.
But Li Xinghe sized up Yan Huirou a few more times and couldn’t help but think of the rumors he had heard outside the door. Jiang Xidai’s preferences were really unusual.
Li Xinghe’s heart suddenly tensed. He looked at Yan Huirou’s beautiful face and the silk and satin of the Shasheng Sect that she was wearing.
This—
He then understood.
“I’ve heard that the demoness of the demonic sect is cruel by nature. She has a beautiful face, but no man dares to have her. Later, her temperament became perverted, and she is very fond of women, often torturing those maids for fun…”
Seeing that Yan Huirou was also like this, Li Xinghe couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity. “Miss, you saved me. I will definitely repay you in the future. But there’s no time like the present. Why don’t you just run away with me now while no one is around, so you don’t have to suffer that old witch’s bullying anymore!”
“Why are you saying these things without any proof?”
Li Xinghe was still speaking with righteous indignation, even leaning a little closer, but he was unexpectedly pushed hard on the shoulder by the woman in front of him.
He widened his eyes and took a half step back.
“Heard?” Yan Huirou’s voice suddenly rose a little. She frowned and said, “Have you ever seen her like this? How long have you known her? How much do you know about the whole story? Why does the world so easily follow the crowd and throw baseless dirt on another person?”
“Sect Master Jiang is not that kind of person.”
Yan Huirou said, “She saved me several times and even taught me how to cultivate. How could such a person be as you say, even if she is not a good person?”
Li Xinghe opened his mouth in surprise, seemingly not understanding why the young woman in front of him was suddenly so agitated. “Are you saying this because you’re afraid of her? Miss, don’t misunderstand. I’m not spreading rumors. You know about that matter between Jiang Xidai and our Pavilion Lord, right? That’s true. That demoness is just very strange. I, Li Xinghe, have not spoken a single false word!”
Unexpectedly, Yan Huirou’s eyes welled up with tears. “She and Pavilion Lord Zhan… let me ask you, what is wrong with loving someone?”
Li Xinghe didn’t know what to say for a moment. Things didn’t seem to be as he had imagined. It was hard to say whether the young woman in front of him was stranger, or that female demon was stranger.
“Forget it.” Yan Huirou lowered her eyelashes. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I saved you only because I didn’t want to see her commit another sin and take a life in vain. Besides, Sect Master Jiang threw you here. I don’t know what she meant, but she probably spared your life.”
“If you remember my life-saving grace, just count it on Sect Master Jiang’s head.”
Li Xinghe took a few steps back and almost tripped over a rope.
He should thank Jiang Xidai?
Too absurd.
Unreasonable, it’s simply too absurd.
The male lead stumbled a few steps, turned, and fled into the mountains.
