Ning Shuang gave a bitter smile: "It's already miserable to leave home and go out to cultivate, so it's really not easy to find a close friend."

She looked at the dazed Ningyu, her eyes filled with endless tenderness. "Although she is naive to the point of being foolish, in today's world, isn't naivety a rare quality?"

Qinghe: "Yes, sometimes being too smart is not a good thing, and being too naive is not a bad thing either. Having a pure heart is the most important thing."

The somber words dissipated in the drizzling rain, and the three lonely figures quickly disappeared into the boundless night.

After a long while, a black shadow emerged from a dark alley. It was thin and short, and the person was tightly clutching a black cloak, trying to shrink itself inside. Only a pair of small eyes were visible.

Zhou Xiaotong vigilantly observed her surroundings, keeping a close eye on the slightest movement until the sound disappeared.

Only when there were no pedestrians left on the street did she emerge from the alleyway and walk briskly in one direction, close to the wall.

The cold, damp air made it difficult for her to breathe, but she endured it until she left the town and arrived at a secluded cave not far from the town, where she took off her cloak and revealed her pale face.

She looked behind her and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one had followed her.

The cave was not eroded by the rain, and the dry grass on the ground was still fluffy. Zhou Xiaotong sat lazily on it to rest, propping her head up and looking at the sparse stars in the sky.

This cave was her little haven for releasing her emotions. She first discovered it by chance when she was chasing a wild rabbit.

Perhaps it was a habitat for wild animals, or perhaps it was a cave dug by a rogue cultivator to practice in the mountains, but in any case, it now belongs to her.

The cave walls are covered with scratches, including insults and slashed portraits—all her work. Whenever she was bullied at Fusheng Pavilion or disliked someone, she would come here to vent her anger, trying to find pleasure in releasing her rage during this brief outburst.

She looked around the stone wall until her gaze settled on one spot.

After staring at it for a moment, she suddenly stood up, picked up a stone, and slashed at the portrait on the wall.

"You slut! You slut! You dare bully me! I'll smear your face! You bitch...you bitch!"

The sharp, piercing sound echoed throughout the cave, particularly eerie in the dark, cold, rainy night.

The portrait of Lingyun, which was originally painted on the wall with pits and bumps, is now covered with scratches and is no longer recognizable. Some of the scratches have turned yellow and old, indicating that the portrait has been there for a long time.

"Senior Sister Lingyun? Bah!" She revealed a vicious and sinister smile: "I'll smear your face and see if you still dare to bully me. You probably won't even dare to go out and face people!"

She raised her hand and drew another line: "You'll have trouble getting married if you're disfigured! I'll make sure you never get married! You'll be an ugly monster for the rest of your life!"

After that, there was another ear-piercing scratching sound.

After a long while, Zhou Xiaotong stopped, panting heavily, and it took her a long time to calm down.

Zhou Xiaotong sat back down on the hay, looking up at the cave ceiling. All the anger that had been building up over the past few days had been released, and she felt incredibly relieved.

She gently closed her eyes and rested for a while. Then, as if remembering something, she got up and walked to a corner. She dug through the soil with both hands and took out a beautifully carved wooden box.

She had stolen it from a senior student. She remembered how the senior student threw a huge tantrum when she discovered the box was missing, completely unlike her usual gentle and kind self. She watched her ugly behavior with cold eyes, secretly laughing to herself.

She had broken the lock on the box. Inside were a few hairpins and a few boxes of rouge, all worthless items, some stolen and some found.

Zhou Xiaotong glanced at the items with disdain and scoffed, "You usually guard them like treasures, but they're just junk. People wouldn't even want them if you gave them away for free!"

Despite her dislike for them, Zhou Xiaotong never threw them away, carefully placing them aside.

Inside the innermost part was a small bronze mirror. Zhou Xiaotong hesitated for a moment, but still picked it up.

She never used to look in the mirror because her appearance was indeed ordinary, the kind that you couldn't even spot in a crowd.

She looked at herself in the bronze mirror, touched her rough skin, and felt a surge of anger.

Why wasn't she blessed with good looks? Why are those seemingly gentle and unapproachable people, who are actually vulgar and pretentious, hundreds of times more beautiful than her? Why? She was unwilling to accept it!

The face in the mirror became more and more distorted. Zhou Xiaotong suddenly raised her hand, and the bronze mirror smashed against the wall, shattering into countless pieces.

The fragments reflected countless faces of Zhou Xiaotong, appearing eerily and unpredictably in the dimly lit cave.

Zhou Xiaotong glanced coldly at the fragments on the ground, but another figure appeared in her mind.

Aloof and solitary, she is as exquisitely beautiful as a lotus flower on a snow-capped mountain.

Zhou Xiaotong murmured, "So beautiful, with an ethereal air, I wish I had her face..."

Strangely enough, she never thought Ji Yue was pretty before. Even though Ji Yue had a nice face, she gave off a fake and pretentious feeling. She even thought that arrogant and domineering Ling Yun was much prettier than Ji Yue.

But for some reason, ever since I witnessed Ji Yue forcing Ling Yun to retreat, I've been drawn to her aura and unconsciously followed her.

That was the first time she mustered the courage to express her feelings to someone, but unfortunately it ended in failure.

She still remembers the way Ji Yue looked at her back then—calm, sharp, as if she could see right through her little thoughts. She felt completely naked in front of Ji Yue, with no secrets whatsoever.

She couldn't let others see through her, so she fled in panic, preserving her secret but losing the chance to regain her dignity.

She thought that if she hadn't run away back then, she would definitely be diligently cultivating under Senior Sister Jiyue now, and even if Lingyun came to bully her again, she would have Senior Sister Jiyue's protection.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

If you fail once, there's no second chance.

Looking at the broken pieces on the ground, Zhou Xiaotong felt a mix of emotions. After a long while, she reached out and picked up the pieces one by one, putting them into the box.

"ah!"

The shards cut my finger, and blood gushed out, a drop sliding onto a round bead inside the box.

The bead was wrapped in a net-like bag. The blood seeped into the bead, and it instantly lit up with golden light, broke through the net, and sprang into Zhou Xiaotong's body.

Zhou Xiaotong was so frightened by the sudden turn of events that she fell to the ground. She looked at the box in horror; the net bag that had been torn by the beads was still inside.

She kept backing away, clutching her head and crying out, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

However, the golden light quickly disappeared, and the cave returned to darkness.

Zhou Xiaotong stood up abruptly after a long pause, her hands trembling as she buried the box in the ground, put on her cloak, and quickly left the cave.