The atmosphere at the bottom of the pit was even more chilling than the lowest level of an ancient ice cave; it could freeze a living person into an ice sculpture and then smash them into dust.
The three people sat slumped in an extremely awkward triangle, as if separated by an invisible mountain of knives and a sea of fire.
Ling Qingxue had managed to tidy up her white clothes, which were still somewhat torn and wrinkled, but at least she was no longer barely clothed.
She sat upright with her back to the other two, like a lifeless ice statue, radiating a chilling aura that seemed to say, "Keep away, or you will die."
Her profile was taut, her lips pressed into a pale line, her eyes staring blankly at the pit wall, seemingly lost in thought. But the occasional flash of extreme shame, anger, and murderous intent in her eyes proved that she was far from being as calm as she appeared.
Night Enchantress, on the other hand, was much more carefree, or rather, she had given up entirely.
She simply leaned against the pit wall, too lazy to bother with her tattered black clothes, revealing large expanses of her alluring white skin. But her eyes held no seductive charm, only rage and a desire to destroy everything.
She glared fiercely at Ling Qingxue's back, and every now and then she would glance at Zhang Shaozhong with the same look she gave him as trash. Her teeth were grinding, and her chest was heaving violently. She was obviously very angry.
Zhang Shaozhong huddled in the corner furthest from them, trying his best to shrink himself into a ball and minimize his presence.
He felt like a poor little hamster caught between two prehistoric behemoths, about to be sliced into raw meat by the knives flying from their eyes at any moment.
This suffocating silence lasted for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
Finally, Ye Meier couldn't hold back any longer. She suddenly turned her head and shrieked at Ling Qingxue's back, cursing:
"What a hypocrite! Stop pretending to be dead! If you hadn't been chasing after me and insisted on making a move in this wretched valley, would that damn broken bottle have been triggered?!"
How could things have come to this?! What bad luck!
Ling Qingxue's back stiffened, and she slowly turned around, her beautiful, icy eyes flashing with a chilling light:
"You demonic witch, if you hadn't stolen my sect's most precious treasure, would I have chased you all this way? All sins originated from you! You are the root of all evil!"
Her voice wasn't loud, but each word was like an ice bead, capable of sending up chills when it hit the ground.
"Bah! What kind of bullshit treasure is that! That was originally something lost to our Holy Sect! Don't you understand the principle of returning it to its rightful owner?!"
Ye Meier retorted without backing down, so excited she almost stood up.
"But you! You claim to be from a prestigious sect, yet you're still incredibly ruthless. If it weren't for your sword shattering the jade bottle, would that aphrodisiac have exploded? Would it have benefited that..."
She suddenly pointed at Zhang Shaozhong.
"Do you think that little piece of trash would get away with it?!"
The flames of war suddenly spread to him, and Zhang Shaozhong was so frightened that he almost jumped up.
Ling Qingxue's icy gaze swept over instantly, her eyes filled with undisguised disgust and resentment.
Zhang Shaozhong felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly raised his hands, his face contorted in a mournful expression, and tried to explain and reconcile the situation:
"Two...two...two beauties...uh...big boss? Grandma?"
Calm down, everyone calm down... Now that things have come to this, shouldn't we calm down and think of a solution?
You see, this contract may be strange, but at least... at least it saved our lives, didn't it?
Otherwise I would have killed him just now... uh...
His voice trailed off as he spoke, because the two men's eyes were becoming increasingly frightening.
"Shut up!"
"Who gave you the right to speak here?!"
Ling Qingxue and Ye Meier shouted at each other almost simultaneously! Although they couldn't fight because of the contract, their imposing aura made Zhang Shaozhong almost unable to breathe.
"If you, an insignificant ant, hadn't inexplicably appeared here, how could... how could such a thing have happened!"
Ling Qingxue's tone was filled with unspeakable shame and indignation. Just thinking about how she had been taken advantage of by such an ordinary boy of unknown origin... made her wish she could gouge out her own eyes!
Night Enchantress went even further and started criticizing:
"Exactly! You look like a thief with shifty eyes, you're definitely not a good person! Tell me! Were you lying in wait here, hoping to take advantage of the situation?!"
"Someone as useless as you, capable of...at the same time...humph! You're an insult to me!"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Although she couldn't take action, her eyes seemed to want to devour Zhang Shao alive.
Zhang Shaozhong was truly wronged, even more so than Dou E; he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
"I was lying in wait? I was taking advantage of the situation? Boss! My ancestors! I was just passing by! I just graduated from university and came to Yunwu Mountain with my classmates. Suddenly it started raining heavily, and I slipped and fell down from there!"
I'm the victim here, okay?! What did I ever do to deserve this?!
"Tourism? University graduation? Cloud and mist mountain?"
Ling Qingxue frowned. These words were unfamiliar and strange to her; she simply didn't believe them.
"Nonsense! Full of lies!"
"Kid, at least make your story believable!"
Night Enchantress chuckled.
"With your meager skills, you dare to venture into the depths of Cloud Mist Mountain? You'd probably be eaten by monsters as soon as you entered!"
"I'm telling the truth!"
Zhang Shaozhong wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Our Cloud Mist Mountain is just a scenic area! We buy tickets to get in! Who knew your Cloud Mist Mountain would be so outrageous! There are even monsters there?!"
He felt like he was on a completely different wavelength from these two women.
"Hmph, all talk and no action."
Ling Qingxue clearly didn't believe him, convinced he was just making excuses, and turned her head away again, too lazy to even glance at this "lecher."
Ye Meier glared at him fiercely and spat:
"waste!"
Well, the explanation was completely ineffective; instead, it only made them more hated because of their "unknown origin" and "great advantage."
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