Chapter 90

Zheng Weiqi went to the academy with a heart full of anxiety to participate in the literary trial.

Before leaving, she bowed repeatedly to Meng Jue, Pei Ji, and Ning Ning, almost lighting incense for these three to try to share in the joy of being at the top of the class.

Ning Ning comforted her gently, “Senior Sister, don’t worry. Heaven rewards the diligent. You’ve been studying hard recently, so the literary trial will surely go smoothly.”

Pei Ji, not good at conversation, struggled for a while before managing to say, “Senior Sister, keep it up.”

The little white dragon,Lin Xin, who returned home to visit relatives, solemnly took out a prayer charm from his arms and handed it to her. On the surface of the charm woven with golden thread, there was a solemnly written “pass” character.

“Senior Sister, I heard that you are participating in the literary trial, so I specially found this from the Dragon Palace.”

Lin Xin said, “The inner layer of this prayer charm is woven with dragon silk, embedded with dragon scales and dragon breath, which may help a little.”

Even the prayer charm was made with such great effort. It seems that this person is still extravagant in the Dragon Palace, so it’s no wonder that after joining the Xuanxu Sword Sect, he became so poor.

“The knowledge you have been remembering these days, just don’t forget it.”

Meng Jue had lost count of how many times he had watched her go to the academy for exams. His tone and demeanor were no different from usual chatting.

“From the looks of Junior Sister, did you stay up all night studying again last night?”

Zheng Weiqi herself was very nervous, with no thoughts of giving up or self-pity. She made a determined gesture like, “The wind is bleak and the waters are cold; a hero goes and never returns.”

As the wind blew, her long hair fluttered, and even her breathing carried a hint of uneasiness, trembling continuously. “If I fail this literary trial, I won’t have the heart to participate in the Ten Methods Assembly again. You don’t know, those bastards from Wanjian Sect always bring it up every time they see me. Now even the son of the Lord of Luan City knows that I fail the exam every year!”

Luan City is where the Ten Methods Assembly is held.

Meng Jue briefly scrutinized her, catching sight of the heavy, dark circles under Zheng Weiqi’s eyes. He couldn’t help but be surprised, as if she had turned into a different person.

“Were you still reciting books last night?”

Zheng Weiqi replied in a muffled voice, “I read the Swordsmanship General Theory all night.”

Meng Jue raised an eyebrow and asked, “Did you understand it?”

“No.”

She looked up at the sky with a dead gray face, her eyes blurred.

“I’ve come to terms with it.”

So Senior Sister went to the academy with a bunch of blessings and luck, while the others were busy with their own affairs, only waiting for the literary trial to end tomorrow to check the results.

The rest either practiced swordsmanship or rested. Ning ning, as the only vicious female supporting role around the protagonist group, was naturally a different kind of spark—

The system that had been dormant for a long time came out again, this time targeting Wen Hemian.

According to the original text, last time the original protagonist went to Qingxu Valley to pretend to pay respects and learn martial arts, but unexpectedly, Wen Hemian saw through her ulterior motives. Not only did he not pay much attention, but he also openly showed disgust.

The original owner, a young lady who had been pampered, couldn’t tolerate such humiliation. Unable to achieve her goal through straightforward means, she decided to play it sneaky.

The original text described it like this:

〔He’s just a useless waste of space, yet so cold and distant towards me. Ning ning was furious, between gritted teeth, suddenly coming up with a plan.

Qingxu Valley is rarely visited by people, but the tracks of spirit beasts are easy to find. Now that Wen Hemian is weak and powerless, as long as she catches a wild beast that bites everywhere, she can easily gain his trust by helping him when he’s in distress.〕

Cruel and scheming enough, it’s no wonder she’s the number one annoying villain in the original text, like an indestructible cockroach, repeatedly defeated yet never giving up, never returning from the road of self-destruction.

—Although this time, it didn’t succeed, which is in line with the routine that the villains’ schemes never succeed in all the heroic novels.

The timing of the spirit beast’s appearance was so clever that she, being a troublesome spirit who never missed an opportunity, happened to appear heroically at the scene.

Wen Hemian wasn’t stupid. With just a little thought, he could understand that it was all her little trick.

Although Ning Ning already knew the bleak outcome, she still had to come to Qingxu Valley due to the authority of the system.

After all, she was, at best, just a worker. Once the boss was dissatisfied, let alone her salary, even her borrowed life would be hard to preserve.

Throughout history, Party A has always been the boss.

Qingxu Valley was nourished by spiritual energy, with spring-like seasons all year round. Looking around, it was full of romantic scenery, with apricot rain, pear clouds, and the songs of orioles and swallows, and the mountains seemed to be burning with green flowers.

Upon entering the valley, the shadows under the canopy of trees were still thin, and both the branches and the ground were covered with white and yellow flowers. Against the backdrop of lush greenery, it looked as if thousands of stars had fallen among them.

Even if there were spirit beasts living here, they were all delicate little creatures.

Ning Ning wasn’t foolish enough to scare people with wild rabbit or cat spirits. Otherwise, this play shouldn’t have been “vicious female supporting character being wicked and seeking death,” but rather should be renamed: enthusiastic student visiting a lonely elderly person with pets, with the quiet courtyard echoing with heartwarming laughter.

Just thinking about it made one’s scalp tingle.

She deliberately took a secluded path to avoid running into Wen Hemian unexpectedly.

The further she went, the denser the thickets in Qingxu Valley became, until the sun was completely blocked by the verdant branches and leaves, with only a few faint halos of light leaking in from the cracks.

All around was silent and deserted, quietly desolate. Walking among them, one could always feel a faint chill, as if an invisible hand was clinging to one’s back.

Ning Ning was outgoing by nature, but after a while, she felt lonely and bored. As for Wen Hemian, who had been living alone in the valley for so long, it was hard to imagine what kind of life he led every day.

Unfortunately, now that someone who could accompany him had finally arrived, they were constantly causing trouble with ulterior motives.

Ning Ning sighed silently in her heart, focusing on observing the movements around her. At this moment, the sunlight was hidden, and the sound of footsteps suddenly passed by, bringing a very faint sound.

The wild grass behind her swayed slightly.

The spirit beasts in the valley absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, and over time, they also had abundant spiritual power. The further one went, the higher the rank of the spirit beasts.

Although the plot requires that Wen Hemian be attacked, she is after all an outstanding Communist Youth League member who grew up under the Five Star Red flag. She still has some compassion and does not want to let him be bitten and bruised like in the original work.