The Abused-Novel Female Lead Holds a Mad Brush - Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep
Snapping back to his senses, Xuan Yeyang was incandescent with rage, the fury in his chest flaring up like a prairie fire.
Although he had secured the top spot, Xuan Yeyang’s current state was far from ideal.
The young master Xuan—who usually dressed in luxurious clothes and possessed a handsome, dashing demeanor—now had his inner garments soaked through with sweat, the golden crown atop his head tilted askew, and the light-gold tassel bead string worn at his waist tangled together, looking far from refined.
At the same time, his hair was somewhat disheveled, with several loose strands plastered tightly to the side of his face by cold sweat.
To Xuan Yeyang, the trial of the Hongmeng Scroll just now hadn’t merely been a test of movement techniques and mind-state; instead, it had felt more like a duel of speed and passion.
Testing his speed, forcing him to become passionate.
After all, anyone being chased from behind by a crowd of corpse-like creatures would unleash the greatest energy of their life to sprint forward, wouldn’t they?!
Without having walked in another’s shoes, do not urge them to be kind.
Xuan Yeyang declared that those who had never experienced such hardship could never understand it.
At first, he could still comfort himself with “When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person…”
However, after being angered by Yu Jiaxue time and time again, the string in his mind called “reason” snapped repeatedly, and right now, it snapped completely.
A thin layer of flush covered the fair skin on his face, twisting even his usual cold and arrogant expression.
Xuan Yeyang grew even more enraged, his voice raising by quite a bit!
“Woman, you dare play with me?!”
Who in the Xuan family had ever dared to treat him like this back in the day?
Were it not for the fact that they were still in the middle of the trial with people standing nearby to restrain him, Xuan Yeyang would definitely give this ignorant woman a piece of his mind!
“Alright then.”
Yu Jiaxue set down her crystal cup and let out a regretful sigh, saying, “Being able to hear this line is fine too.”
Xuan Yeyang, saying, “?!”
Belatedly, he realized that he seemed to have repeated a phrase nearly identical to what he said earlier?!
Dammit, this woman was truly insidious, crafty, and despicable—
“However, there is one point I agree with.”
Withdrawing her regretful gaze, Yu Jiaxue looked at Xuan Yeyang seriously, saying, “Brother Aotian, you truly are impressive for getting first place in this round. As for other hypothetical scenarios, none of them matter; I fell short compared to you in this round.”
Yu Jiaxue was very open-minded.
Losing was losing, and there was nothing to deny.
As for whether she helped people or reached out a hand, those things shouldn’t be counted into the equation.
Hearing Yu Jiaxue put it this way, Xuan Yeyang—who had been fuming with rage—stuck mid-sentence, the sharp rebukes stuck in his throat.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t hurl insults, but rather that he surprisingly discovered his anger had dissipated by a great deal.
Heh, this woman certainly has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Xuan Yeyang let out an awkward, reluctant humph.
Still, she shouldn’t think that just because she said this, he would forgive—
“—Who the hell is Brother Aotian?!”
Xuan Yeyang snapped back to reality, roaring, “My name is Xuan Yeyang!”
“Alright, alright, got it, got it,” Yu Jiaxue perfunctorily said, “Your name is Xuan Yeyang? Pretty nice name, Brother Aotian.”
Xuan Yeyang, saying, “…”
Everyone in front of the Water-Moon Mirror, saying, “…”
Yu Jiaxue’s perfunctory manner was so painfully familiar that it even gave Liu Ruxiu a thrill of panic.
He cautiously darted a glance at his master, only to discover mournfully that Xuanyuanzi—who should have fallen fast asleep by now—was currently opening his eyes wide, staring at the water screen with bright intensity.
“What a good child,” Xuanyuanzi praised, saying, “Her temperament is so easygoing and unrestrained; she’s extremely suitable for my Chilun Peak!”
Liu Ruxiu tried hard to remind him, saying, “You previously were still…”
Still asking your disciple what kind of ghost creature she was?
“Previously? Unimportant, totally unimportant.”
Xuanyuanzi waved his large hand and closed his eyes once more, as if talking to himself, saying, “What matters is that this child’s heart is pure, her temperament is easygoing and loves to smile, her limbs are flexible… Mmm, looking at it for now, this little girl is very suitable to walk my path of a medical cultivator…”
Easygoing and loves to smile?
Flexible limbs?
Liu Ruxiu’s vision went dark.
Having one casual, perfunctory master was already enough.
If another junior sister who loved to climb and smile joined them, Chilun Peak really wouldn’t be able to handle it!
Liu Ruxiu was filled with bitterness, yet he failed to notice that after hearing Xuanyuanzi’s words, many peak masters and elders of the medium peaks around them exchanged subtle, casual glances with one another, their eyes burning with eagerness.
Even Daoist Ninggui in the front row exchanged a glance with Sect Master Xihe-jun. Immediately after, the osmanthus tree soul-mark behind her fluttered, and one of the osmanthus flowers drifted down gracefully, floating around before silently dissipating into thin air before touching the ground.
In front of the Water-Moon Mirror.
Chi Luzhi covertly pinched the osmanthus flower that had suddenly appeared beside her hand.
“Both little cultivators are open-minded and pure at heart; it seems my actions just now were somewhat redundant,” Chi Luzhi said with broad-minded elegance, saying, “I hereby offer my apologies to the two of you.”
No matter how one put it, Yu Jiaxue and Xuan Yeyang were both juniors, and since they were still in the middle of a trial, how could Chi Luzhi truly be allowed to offer them an apology?
No matter how slow Xuan Yeyang’s brain worked, he could still realize that Chi Luzhi’s words earlier weren’t meant to stir up trouble, but rather acted as a vessel for the people behind the Water-Moon Mirror to ask the two of them questions through her.
Speaking of which…
Xuan Yeyang cast a glance at Yu Jiaxue, feeling somewhat annoyed.
He knew his own temper; had it not been for Yu Jiaxue fooling around and derailing the topic just now, he would never have let this issue drop so easily.
He owed this woman another favor.
“However, Little Cultivator Yu doesn’t seem to have answered my question from earlier,” Chi Luzhi said, blinking at Yu Jiaxue, saying, “You helped others just now, causing yourself to be delayed. Do you have any regrets?”
Yu Jiaxue blinked back, not missing the trace of laughter in Chi Luzhi’s eyes.
The moment Chi Luzhi’s words fell, almost all the disciples shifted their gazes over.
Having waited all this time, almost all the disciples on the Hongmeng Scroll had made their way up.
Being stared at by so many people at once, Pei Tianming asked himself—forget about speaking, if he didn’t collapse on the ground trembling and shouting “Have mercy, heroes!” he could already be considered unyielding.
Let alone answering such a sharp question.
Pei Tianming couldn’t resist whispering to the person beside him, saying, “Why stare at one person and make things difficult for her? It shouldn’t be like this…”
The moment the words left his mouth, Pei Tianming cursed his bad luck in secret.
He originally thought no one would dare take up his remark, who knew a weak voice from beside him would answer, saying, “…I think so too.”
Du Shuangxiao, who had remained silent all this time, had his eyes flicker slightly as he covertly glanced toward where Pei Tianming was standing, only to discover that quite a few people were actually nodding slightly in agreement.
The disciple who took up Pei Tianming’s remark happened to be his own sister, Du Piaopiao.
Du Shuangxiao knitted his brows slightly, feeling quite astonished inside.
He had never imagined that his sister—who was usually shy and reserved at home—actually possessed such a rebellious side?
“This isn’t a matter of having regrets or not—”
Before the fragmented chatter could grow louder, a voice drowned out the crowd.
As the focal point of everyone’s gazes, Yu Jiaxue wasn’t afraid in the slightest.
She threw her head back to finish her seventh cup of Osmanthus Fall in one gulp, only then raising her crystal cup to declare with righteous severity.
“The issue lies in the fact that I didn’t help anyone at all!”
“Everything just now was their own doing; they brought it entirely upon themselves, and none of their actions have anything to do with me!”
…?
Chi Luzhi’s gentle smile froze on her lips.
Beside her, Du Shuangxiao’s hand shook, spilling out most of his Osmanthus Fall.
Behind them, Xuan Yeyang—who had been eavesdropping secretly—was choked into breathlessness, letting out a series of earth-shattering coughs, taking quite a while to regain his composure.
Even Pei Tianming and Du Piaopiao—who had been filled with righteous indignation and intended to step in to help—were rendered speechlessly dumbfounded.
Both in front of and behind the Water-Moon Mirror, an absolute, dead silence fell over the scene, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
It wasn’t that they didn’t believe Yu Jiaxue’s words, but rather—
Why on earth could someone phrase a tremendously good deed to sound like a villain’s manifesto straight out of a storybook!!!
