I put my arm around the strong man's slender waist

Chapter 16

Leng Baichun suddenly sighed, "I am the same age as Yan Shu. He was only six years old when he came to the sect. No matter who spoke to him, he acted as if he didn't hear them. No matter how you bullied him, he wouldn't say a word. He would just stare at you fiercely with his eyes open, like a wolf. At that time, I thought he was mute. It was only after the old sect leader asked him personally that he opened his mouth."

I can't imagine that flamboyant Yan Shu, who died so flamboyantly, becoming so taciturn...

Leng Baichun asked me, "Guess what Yan Shu's first words were?"

I shook my head and watched her furrow her brows as she said, "The old leader asked him if he was willing to join the Saluo Cult. He didn't answer. His first question was, 'If I follow you, will I no longer have to eat dead people?'... That sentence disgusted me for a long time. I don't know what kind of monster could say such a thing."

I didn't know what to say. The child Yan Shu and Leng Baichun were talking about couldn't be reconciled at all, and I couldn't imagine what would make a child of that age say such things.

"Are you sure you're talking about Yan Shu?" I honestly couldn't picture the stern and unsmiling Yan Shu...

Leng Baichun reminded me very seriously, "You'd better stay away from Yan Shu. He's not an ordinary person, and he's not someone you can handle."

I know he's incredibly perceptive... I never even considered getting close to him. I wish I could stay as far away from him as possible, but fate has forced me to this. What can I do?

I sighed. Whether Yan Shu deliberately orchestrated the capture of the young master by the people of Licheng or not, it's meaningless now.

"What do you plan to do?" Leng Baichun asked me.

I took a deep breath and laughed, "I've decided to break into Licheng Palace tonight!"

"Save them?"

"No... let's scout out the location first."

Seeing Leng Baichun's disdainful look, I said unhappily, "The most important thing when entering the martial world is to act cautiously. Rashly rescuing people is an act that harms both others and oneself."

Leng Baichun's "goodbye" expression made me feel uneasy. Just as I was about to ask her for advice, Brother Xiao Jiu pushed open the door and entered.

I had just opened my mouth to say hello when I saw the Alliance Leader following behind me, and my lips twitched.

The leader brought in the medicine, saying, "Miss Leng's medicine has just been brewed."

I quickly stepped forward to take it and placed it on the table, saying with a smile, "Let it cool down a bit before you drink it."

The alliance leader gave me a deep look, said nothing, and after a long while suddenly said, "Miss Su, would you like to accompany me for a walk?"

I smiled shyly, "Isn't that inappropriate... I'm a little sleepy, so sleepy."

The leader gave me another deep look. "I have something I'd like to say to Miss Su, it's about Young Master Ruan."

Hey, is this a temptation?

I smiled calmly at him, "Alliance Leader, let's talk about this another day. I'm really tired, and I also have to take care of Protector Leng. As for my young master... I won't trouble you with that."

I thought I had spoken humbly and politely, without a single fault, but the leader of the alliance frowned, stepped forward and grabbed my wrist, saying to Leng Baichun, "Excuse me, may I borrow Miss Su for a moment?"

Then, without saying a word, they dragged me out.

I struggled a few times but couldn't grab Xiao Jiu. He dragged me out of the room, stumbling all the way to his room, and slammed the door shut.

He turned to look at me intently and asked, "You heard my conversation with Shao Ting, didn't you?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I instinctively moved closer to the window. "Leader, let's talk this out..." Murder to silence someone is unacceptable...

My tone just now was indeed a bit harsh, and eavesdropping was certainly wrong, but it doesn't warrant suddenly turning hostile and threatening to kill me to silence me, does it?

"Lord Alliance Leader..." I reached the window, contemplating whether to jump out and escape, while forcing a smile, "I did accidentally overhear a little bit... but I swear it was really just a little bit!"

I glanced down, and oh my god... it's a bit too high.

The alliance leader glanced at me, his brow furrowing slightly. "You hate me that much?"

"How do you know?!" I hurriedly denied it. When had I ever shown that...?

"Then why do you always avoid me?" The alliance leader walked over slowly, frowning as he saw me take a slight step back. "It's as if you're always afraid of me..."

It's not just that it seems... it's that I was originally. Now that I am the demoness Su Xie, which of you righteous people wouldn't want to kill me on behalf of Heaven? And you're all dressed so well that it's impossible to guard against you. I can't afford to offend you, and I can't even avoid you!

I leaned against the window frame and said with a forced smile, "Alliance Leader, good and evil cannot coexist... I think that if you spend too much time with me, people will inevitably gossip about you, which will damage your reputation, won't it?"

He took a step closer. "Don't you understand?"

"I..." Understand what? Forced into a corner and utterly confused, I cautiously asked him, "What...should I understand?"

He took another step closer, leaning down to trap me by the window frame, his breath pressing down on me as he asked, "Why did you save me at the Demonic Sect's Heavenly Pool that day?"

Forced...

"Why did you save me in the forbidden area again?"

Accident……

"Why did you even fall out with the demonic cult priest for my sake, and even take poison yourself?"

Heaven and earth bear witness! This was purely accidental, I was forced into it, I had absolutely no choice!

He pressed on, "Given these repeated acts of saving my life, you must tell me, what are your feelings towards me...?"

Suddenly someone pushed the door open and called out, "Cousin..."

Before I could even finish saying "brother," I saw my little cousin swing her sword at me!

Chapter 20, Part 19

Heaven and earth bear witness, the sun and moon are my witnesses, I am truly innocent!

The alliance leader shielded me as I dodged to the side, then grabbed my little cousin's wrist and shouted, "Get out!"

The little cousin stared at the leader with her red, watery eyes. Her delicate body trembled, and tears rolled down her cheeks like pearls, gliding over her pointed chin. "Cousin...you actually yelled at me for this vixen..." He glared at her like a knife and raised his hand to slap her.

Before I could even react, I received a resounding slap across the face, which immediately stung.

She gritted her teeth in hatred, "You little bitch!"

My temper flared up instantly.

"Get out!" The alliance leader shouted again with a gloomy face. He tightened his fingers slightly, and Gu Biyun cried out in pain as the sword in her hand clattered to the ground.

Gu Biyun's tears welled up and burst forth. Her delicate, slender fingers trembled as she pointed at me, blurting out, "Cousin! What kind of evil spell has this vixen cast on you! You actually did this for her... for her..."

The fire in my heart surged to my head, and I couldn't help but push away the alliance leader, slapping away Gu Biyun's hand that was pointing at me, and said coldly, "Please get your facts straight before you throw a tantrum. What do you mean by 'for me'? How could it be for me? I have absolutely no relation to your alliance leader cousin! Don't think that just because you think he's a treasure that everyone in the world is fighting over!"

“You…” Gu Biyun was taken aback when I spoke, and was momentarily speechless with anger.

I said firmly, "What's wrong with me? Miss Gu underestimates me, Su Xie. Although I have a bad reputation, I'm not so desperate as to be indiscriminate. To put it bluntly, he is not as handsome as Yan Shu, he is as powerful as the young master, and he is not as gentle and considerate as Chang Huan. I don't know where Miss Gu got the misunderstanding that I have taken a liking to him?"

Gu Biyun stared at me in astonishment, while the Alliance Leader's tightly pursed lips turned white.

I was completely baffled by that slap. What had I done to deserve this? My cheek burned with pain, and I was furious. I blurted out something without thinking, not caring whether the leader of the alliance could save face, and shouted angrily, "Get out of the way!"

Gu Biyun stood in front of me, and the Alliance Leader stood to my side, neither moving an inch. I tried to push the Alliance Leader aside to leave, but he blocked my way with his arm, opening his mouth to speak, "Su Xie..."

Knowing I couldn't stay any longer, and still seething with anger, I grabbed the window frame, gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and jumped...

"Su Xie!" I heard the Alliance Leader's exclamation dissipate in the cold wind. Su Xie had excellent martial arts skills. I tried to adjust my internal energy and leaped slightly before landing. My ankle went numb, and I staggered and fell to the ground. I was lucky to escape with no injuries except for the soreness in my ankle.

I looked up and saw Ruan Bicheng's hair, which was being blown about by the wind through the window frame. I gritted my teeth and stood up. I had been utterly defeated by him once, and I had acted foolishly for him once. I would never do it again, never.

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I stopped at a teahouse, my feet aching so badly I was wincing. I ordered a bowl of tea and sat down to rest. I couldn't help but sigh, thinking how a waste it was to have such great martial arts skills as Su Xie but not know how to use them.

The innkeeper poured me some tea and looked at me warmly, saying, "Are you also here in Licheng to participate in the princess selection?"

A princess contest? My eyes lit up. I looked around and sure enough, there were quite a few girls of different styles coming and going. I asked the shopkeeper, "Is the Prince of Licheng choosing a princess?"

"You didn't know, young lady?" The shopkeeper was surprised, clearly thinking I was too out of touch. "It's our Licheng's little prince who's choosing a queen, look." He pointed to a notice posted on the city wall not far away and said, "The imperial edict has been posted for some time now."

Oh, it's the Little Prince.

I thanked them, left some money for the tea, and limped off to look at the imperial edict. I overheard the innkeeper sighing regretfully behind me, "What a pity, such a beautiful young lady, yet she's a cripple..."

A crowd of idle people had gathered in front of the imperial edict. I finally managed to squeeze in, only to find that I didn't recognize a single character on the edict...

This King of Licheng is really something. Does he discriminate against people from the Central Plains? At least add a note about the Central Plains. We have a lot of beauties in the Central Plains.

I nudged the arm of the man next to me and politely asked, "Sir, may I ask what the notice says?"

The brave man turned around in the crowd, and I suddenly felt the world brighten up; tears welled up in my eyes.

"girl!"

The familiar address softened my heart. The valiant man before me was none other than Chang Huan, whom I had gone to great lengths to save.

His handsome face showed a mixture of surprise and delight. The iron chain on his wrist was wrapped with cloth, and he was holding a bag of roasted chestnuts in his hand. "You really are here!"

I was so excited that I hugged him tightly and exclaimed, "I've missed you so much!"

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Changhuan helped me to the teahouse we had been in before, asked for a private room, and ordered a basin of hot water. While applying hot water to my feet, he told me in detail what had happened to the Demonic Sect after I left.

It turns out that after I left, Ruan Lianhua found Yan Shu and said she wanted to come to the Central Plains to find me. Yan Shu was already thinking about how to persuade him to come after me so that I could take the opportunity to make a move. The two of them hit it off immediately and left a letter for the Left Protector that night, saying that they had run away and their return date was unknown.

Ruan Lianhua was quite considerate and brought Chang Huan along as well. The group arrived in Licheng and stopped. Yan Shu guessed that we would rest in Licheng, so they found an inn to stay at.

Later, Ruan Lianhua was in high spirits and asked Yan Shu to show him the local customs and culture of Licheng. On the city wall, they saw the imperial edict for selecting concubines. Ruan Lianhua was very surprised and insisted on going to see it, but Yan Shu refused. Then, there was a scene below the city wall where several members of the Demonic Sect forcibly abducted the ignorant young master. Lu Mingxiu, an innocent child, happened to see this and immediately stood up for him without saying a word...

I was quite saddened after hearing this. I had thought that Ruan Lianhua had argued with Yan Shu to save me, and I had even imagined the scene of the argument. In the end, it turned out that she was just there to join in the fun! This reality was a huge blow to me.

I peeled a chestnut and stuffed it in my mouth to vent my anger, then mumbled, "Why haven't I seen you before?"

Chang Huan gently wrapped my ankle with a hot cloth and said, "I was ordered to buy roasted chestnuts for the young master. When I returned, the priest had already gone back to the inn, so I missed you, miss."

I sincerely despise Ruan Lianhua.

Chang Huan tucked a stray hair behind her ear, rubbing the bruise as she looked up at me and asked, "Does it hurt?"

Mei, I held the roasted chestnuts and looked at him with a happy heart. I peeled a chestnut and put it to his mouth.

He was slightly taken aback, his pale face gradually flushed red, and he lowered his head and said, "Chang Huan dares not."

"It's gorgeous!" I was instantly delighted and laughed, "What do you mean by 'dare' or 'don't'? You don't need to treat me the way you treated Su Xie before."

He looked up, his wisps of hair brushing against his slender white neck—a pleasing sight indeed. I handed it to him again, and he moved his Adam's apple, about to open his mouth, when, coincidentally, the door was pushed open.

Someone laughed loudly at the door, and my hand trembled so much that the chestnut fell into the basin.

"Little Su Xie, instead of going to save the young master, you're flirting here?" Yan Shu, as if out of nowhere, strolled in, waving a gold-flecked purple bone fan with an extremely flamboyant air.

Chang Huan hurriedly stood up, knelt down and bowed, saying, "High Priest."

Yan Shu glanced at him lightly and laughed, "I was wondering why it took you so long to buy a bag of chestnuts. I thought you'd been wiped out by those Central Plains people."

Chang Huan didn't dare to look up, and I couldn't help but say, "Priest, you must be quite free, to run into you by such a coincidence."

Yan Shu sat down next to me, glanced at me sideways, and said, "I came here specifically to catch them in the act."