The Abused-Novel Female Lead Holds a Mad Brush - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep
As for the elders and disciples observing in front of the Water-Moon Mirror, they naturally fared no better.
Xihe Sect had always been refined and elegant, with its disciples being exceptionally particular and never easily losing their composure in front of others. Thus, even at this very moment, they were trying their absolute best to hold back their emotions.
In particular, a few disciples standing close together inexplicably began to compete with one another.
Even if their faces were contorted into the shape of ‘The Scream’, they would absolutely not be the first unrefined person to burst out laughing!
(T/N: It references Edvard Munch’s 1893 painting The Scream
)
This was the final stubborn pride of the Xihe Sect disciples!
The system scanned the crowd’s reactions, a strange sense of pride (?) rising in its heart.
Perhaps because it had been traumatized so many times, it had developed a certain level of immunity; now, a mere couple of sentences could hardly land a blow on it anymore!
It, System 999, was no longer the System 999 of the past!
However, whether it was an illusion or not, System 999 felt as though when its scan swept past the elders of Xihe Sect, something seemed to have locked its gaze onto it as well?
Unaware of her system grandson’s currently horrified inner thoughts, Yu Jiaxue—having opened the topic—faced the probing questions like a cold, unfeeling Party A tasked with dealing with Party B’s tearful complaints: the more she talked nonsense, the smoother she became.
“They crashed into my hands on their own.”
“Right, they brought it entirely upon themselves; it has nothing to do with me.”
“If we really must name a reason…”
Yu Jiaxue paused for a few seconds. She leaned in toward Chi Luzhi mysteriously, the corners of her lips curving slightly to form an arch of wicked, wild, and unruly dominance, her confident smile practically radiating light.
“Actually, it’s because I thought they were pretty, so I wanted to pop over and hit on them, Khehehehehehe—”
Chi Luzhi, who watched her well-behaved junior sister transform her face before her very eyes: “…”
Du Shuangxiao, who attempted to eavesdrop but was suddenly traumatized: “…”
Du Piaopiao, who had just built up her psychological resolve to step in and help: “…”
Everyone inside and outside the Water-Moon Mirror: “…”
Please! Stop laughing!
Everyone wore a mask of pure agony.
It could be foreseen that for some time to come, they would probably be unable to enter meditative tranquility!
Close eyes.
Khehehehehehe—
Open eyes.
Stop—
Close eyes.
Khehehehehehehehehehe—
After hearing that iconic laugh, the disciples present no longer had the bandwidth to think about anything else. Their previously contorted expressions instantly broke composure, and coughing fits from choking on their own spittle broke out one after another.
Help!
How could such a demonic laugh exist in this world?!
For a moment, a rare silence fell in front of the Water-Moon Mirror, with everyone feeling endangered.
Leaning back on his Peak Master seat with his eyes closed in a pseudo-nap, Xuanyuanzi, the Peak Master of Chilun Peak, opened his eyelids once more and sighed, saying, “Exceedingly good.”
The aged voice was not loud, audible only to the few elders nearby.
Sect Master Xihe-jun nodded imperceptibly, saying with a beaming smile, “Though this child’s actions seem wild and unbridled on the surface, upon careful thought, she actually possesses a rare, untainted heart of pure innocence.”
Xihe-jun saw it clearly: Yu Jiaxue’s several replies seemed wild and laughable, yet by fooling around and derailing the conversation, she managed to brush past the issue without overplaying her hand.
She did not use it to parade herself under the banner of “benevolence and morality,” nor did she intend to use it to seek fame.
Xihe-jun rubbed the handle of the horsetail whisk in his hand a few times and looked toward the chief disciple of his senior brother on his left. With his eyes rolling a few times, he said kindly, “What does Xuezhu think of this matter?”
Shen Xuezhu had originally turned his head to speak to a disciple beside him. Hearing Xihe-jun’s question, he temporarily paused his words, turned to Xihe-jun, and shook his head with a faint smile.
“This disciple thinks that perhaps there is no need to overthink it.”
Shen Xuezhu looked toward that figure in front of the Water-Moon Mirror, the faint smile at the corners of his lips deepening, visibly in an exceptionally good mood.
“This little cultivator perhaps simply wanted to do it, so she did it. Everything was merely following her heart, without so many shackles and misgivings.”
When Shen Xuezhu spoke, his cadence was habitually unhurried, his voice clear and cold, carrying a frost-like chill by nature. Yet at this moment, the laughter hidden within was something anyone could hear.
Everything merely following her heart?
Xihe-jun was lost in thought.
Others might not know, but he understood it clear as day.
Shen Xuezhu was nominally the head disciple of his senior brother, Daoist Qingyunzi, and the “Senior Brother” feared and respected by everyone in Xihe Sect.
But in truth, when it came to cultivation base, Shen Xuezhu was not beneath the two of them at all.
One could even say that Shen Xuezhu in his prime could fight two against one without the slightest effort.
As the Jiuyou True Monarch who had once guarded the Nether Ghost Realm, the reason Shen Xuezhu usually didn’t make a move was simply because the Heavenly Mandate Curse he bore was causing trouble.
Back then, he and Qingyunzi had interfered with the opportunities of the Heavenly Dao, forcibly rescuing the Demon Lord and delaying the world-ending calamity that was about to erupt between the human and demon races. This enraged the Heavenly Dao, bringing down heavenly punishment.
And the vast majority of that punishment had been borne by Shen Xuezhu alone.
Xihe-jun didn’t know much, but he also understood that being pierced through by the Soul-Refining Chains descended from heaven and locked at the bottom of Wangshu Peak’s cliff was hardly an enjoyable affair.
The Soul-Refining Chains, as the name implied, were things that refined and extracted soul spirits. Had it not been for Shen Xuezhu—swap in anyone else, let alone surviving a century, a year or half a year would be enough for an ordinary cultivator to have their soul shattered into scattered ashes.
Even Xihe-jun himself wouldn’t dare claim he could keep his original heart unchanged under the Soul-Refining Chains for ten years without going mad and falling into the endless hell, let alone a hundred years.
Now that he could condense most of his true form, could it be that the Soul-Refining Chains had loosened?
As expected of the last Jiuyou True Monarch!
For a time, Xihe-jun felt admiration in his heart, mixed with a hint of regret, completely forgetting his previous thoughts on how to recruit Yu Jiaxue into his lineage.
Daoist Ninggui’s brows raised slightly upon hearing this, and she specially transmitted her voice, saying, “It seems my martial nephew fancies this little cultivator quite a bit?”
As a veteran of Xihe Sect, she naturally knew Shen Xuezhu’s identity as well; calling him “martial nephew” at this moment inevitably carried a teasing tone.
Shen Xuezhu wasn’t annoyed at being exposed.
Curving his eyes, he replied, saying, “Those who fancy her are likely not limited to myself.”
For instance, Zhu Xingchui, one of the inner disciples of Wangshu Peak.
Always cold and reticent, yet after merely a fleeting glimpse on the Hongmeng Scroll, he had suddenly blurted out a sentence earlier.
“I want her to be my junior sister.”
Yu Yinglian was also very satisfied with Yu Jiaxue in his heart, but born with a rebellious streak, he just had to cheekily add, saying, “But our master isn’t here, so who can take the authority to accept an extra person?”
“No matter,” Zhu Xingchui looked at him, saying seriously, “If there are too many people, we can just kick you out.”
Shen Xuezhu couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.
Yu Yinglian: “…”
Dammit, he shouldn’t have opened his mouth to add that extra line!
Not just them—even Daoist Yiyao, who had firmly believed Yu Jiaxue was merely putting on a grandstand to curry favor, was taken aback upon hearing what Yu Jiaxue said just now.
He had originally been convinced that Yu Jiaxue was a crafty, grandstanding slacker and had been waiting for her to reveal her true colors.
Yet even after the Hongmeng Scroll ended, he hadn’t seen Yu Jiaxue use saving people to threaten anyone or boost her own fame.
Daoist Yiyao felt somewhat conflicted inside.
His chief disciple, Yu Guanghao, bore the title of “Poison Jade Young Master” precisely because he often used numerous means to secure victory in competitions.
Daoist Yiyao appreciated the decisiveness of his chief disciple, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be moved by a pure, untainted heart.
However…
Why did the three words “Yu Jiaxue” always feel so familiar to him?
Daoist Yiyao knitted his brows, pulling out the letter from Elder Zhang of the Wushang Sword Sect from earlier.
Recently, the most sensational event in the cultivation world was that the Disciplinary Hall of the Wushang Sword Sect had been completely destroyed by a thief.
There were numerous rumors surrounding this matter, which had evolved into multiple versions after several iterations.
Just as the mortal saying went, “Laymen watch the show while experts watch the doorway,” compared to those tabloid rumors, the formidable big shots in the cultivation world were clearly paying more attention to several other matters.
First: Wushang Sword Sect had always claimed to be the “Number One Sect of the Nine Provinces.”
Could its outer defensive arrays really be so negligent as to let someone exploit a loophole?
If it wasn’t done from the outside, then trouble was brewed from within.
Second: What on earth was inside that Disciplinary Hall?
Now that rumors in the cultivation world had shifted back and forth several times, Daoist Yiyao naturally wouldn’t believe rumors like “If you wish to practice this sword, you must first eat poop.”
Even though that rumor sounded shockingly real.
Yet Daoist Yiyao still firmly believed that there had to be another reason!
For instance, on the day of the incident, someone claimed to have seen white birds that almost blotted out the sky and sun.
Such birds were unheard of, terrifying several disciples so badly they couldn’t react for half a day.
In legends, didn’t the currently flourishing Yu family possess the bloodline of the ancient Honghu Jade Crane?
Daoist Yiyao cast a few glances at Yu Yinglian, the expression in his eyes shifting several times.
Yu Guanghao noticed Daoist Yiyao’s gaze.
He was the chief disciple of Poshuang Peak; the reason he wasn’t present earlier was precisely to prepare for the second stage.
“Master, rest assured,” Yu Guanghao stood respectfully behind Daoist Yiyao to his side, lowering his voice, saying, “The second stage is guarded by this disciple; I will never let her pass easily.”
Yu Guanghao felt that Du Shuangxiao and Chi Luzhi in the first stage were far too merciful.
Were it swapped for him, the Poison Jade Young Master, he would never make such a mistake.
Daoist Yiyao nodded slightly.
At the same time, a solemn voice echoed from within the Water-Moon Mirror.
The second stage, Floating Life Dream, had begun.
