A world without glitz
"Oh my! I'm looking for a monster! Just now, I chased a garishly dressed monster. It ran and ran, and then, as soon as I turned around, it disappeared!" Chen Ye casually lowered her hands from behind her, spreading them out like a child trying to play innocent after being caught stealing candy. Hey, she just successfully disrupted the hero and heroine's first meeting.
Looking back, she realized her support had hit a snag. As for who would be the best match for the female protagonist, Meimei, the Demon Cult Saint, Chen Ye was still considering the still-unseen Master. She thought he might be the perfect choice for the second male lead, but overall, she was deciding to wait and see.
Xiao Xinshui still felt pretty good about himself, convinced his tracking skills were impressive, but to others, he looked like a clown flailing about on stage. He took those panicked, small steps, hiding in a nearby corner. Even if Chen Ye tried to ignore him, it was hard. Chen Ye couldn't help but mentally complain to the system, "System, is this the second male lead? I'm not rooting for this couple. I can't handle this!" Chen Ye's years of matchmaking experience showed that Xiao Xinshui and Meimei were completely unrelated, their relationships separated by the vast distances between them. As long as Xiao Xinshui didn't harass them, there was little chance of success. While Meimei and Qi Yiwen were hopeless, they couldn't rely on such a useless person.
"In this world, besides the protagonist, everyone else plays supporting roles. Supporting roles don't have rankings, so I'm unsure who the second male lead will be. Remember, you have to fight for your role!" Chen Ye's ears were callused by the system's notification tone. After listening to it so often, she could even hum the tune. This system was truly the most talkative and nagging bot in history, like a chatterbox.
"Boss, please go back to the inn first. I'll go take care of that little bastard following you!" Chen Ye casually brushed her hair from her forehead, a mysteriously confident smile plastered on her face, like a female warrior about to save the world. She pulled Meimei behind her and then walked towards Xiao Xinshui with a heroic and confident manner, as if she could defeat that little bastard in the next second.
Meimei didn't know where the fearless expression that she had suddenly emerged from came from. She could naturally handle the problem of the follower behind her. The key question was what exactly were these hidden rules? Hidden things always have to take the lead. The huge Bodhi in Meimei's hand had long been polished by her. Just now, as she walked along, she could hear the shouts of the small vendors on the street and the bursts of playful sounds coming from the high-walled courtyards. She had followed her master for many years, but she had never heard her master mention that the illusions created by Shui Jing could be so realistic. There were two reasons for this. First, Qi Yiwen's spiritual power was unfathomable; second, this place was not an illusion created by Shui Jing at all.
Meimei roughly realized that this was the real Luoan Town, but there was something strange about this Luoan Town.
Town folks love to join in the fun, especially those gentlemen and ladies who spend their days leisurely at home, sipping tea and admiring flowers. Look, they've all come rushing in, surrounding Linlin's little streetside shop, which doesn't even have a second floor, so tightly, three layers inside and three layers outside, so dense that not even water can get in.
At this moment, the old lady of the Gu family, dressed in the most dazzling attire and adorned with golden beads, made a dazzling appearance! She twisted and turned like a nimble little snake, squeezing through the crowd and finally rushing to the front of the store sign.
The masters and mistresses hurried forward to take a look. Oh, there was a woman lying on the threshold. She was quite pretty, and her whole body was covered in jewels and precious stones. Look at her skin, white and tender, like a freshly peeled egg, her eyebrows were thin and curved, and her lips were as red as cherries. Even with her eyes closed, she exuded a sense of superiority and nobility, as if she looked down on everyone. Look at her gold-plated brocade robe embroidered with phoenixes, and the precious gems on the edge of the robe, each one brighter than the other, like little stars. These were all high-quality goods from Linlin's store!
The place was surrounded by people like an iron barrel, but strangely, no one knew the woman lying on the ground. The waiter hurriedly called Jingbai from the second floor to the first floor door, and the atmosphere was as if the place was on fire.
Jingbai knew the woman, who had just bought a piece of clothing from the store. Although he didn't know her name, judging from the way she entered the store, she looked like a wealthy woman, or at least someone who liked to pretend. The piece she was wearing was a top-quality item - a brocade robe with gilded phoenix embroidery. He had seen people trying to scam people, but he had never seen anyone scam his small tailor shop. "Will wearing clothes kill me? Don't scam me!" Although Jingbai was a man, his voice was shrill, and his shouting was particularly unpleasant. The sound of fingernails scratching against a gray wall was noisy, echoing the crowd. No one's voice is naturally like this, let alone he was a Deep Sea Spring guest. He was afraid that he had not taken care of his voice and had fallen to such a state. After he finished speaking, he kicked the woman on the threshold with his boot, signaling her to stop pretending.
The woman was caught off guard by a relentless kick. The immense force sent her tumbling backwards from the threshold, and as everyone watched, she tumbled down the steps. Forced to turn over, the blood beneath her quickly revealed her true form. The crimson trail snaked along the threshold, finally dripping onto the feet of Meimei, who had just arrived to witness the excitement.
Seeing this, the surrounding masters and mistresses hurriedly retreated, consciously keeping at least ten meters away from the gradually dying body, as if the slightest carelessness would bring them bad luck. They were keen to watch the lively scene, but they absolutely did not want to intervene in such a potentially fatal incident. The crowd suddenly became noisy, shouting, "Someone's dead! The virgin girl was kicked to death by the boss!"
Jingbai was obviously frightened by the scene before him. With the help of the servant, he walked down the stairs slowly and unsteadily. Quanke's pale fingertips were still stained with gold powder from the fabric, and the soles of his boots embroidered with wave patterns flashed a cold light in the sunlight when he kicked someone. His shrill voice was like a blunt knife scratching glass, startling the swifts perched under the eaves. When the corpse rolled over, the gill patterns faintly appearing behind his ears opened and closed rapidly, revealing his inner panic. He looked at the girl's originally white face, which was gradually stained by the blood that kept flowing from her lips. Jingbai reached out with a trembling hand to feel the girl's breath, and then he confirmed that this person was dead.
Jingbai dragged the servant beside him and hurriedly hid in the shimmering room, under the gaze of everyone. The half-closed door seemed so flimsy at the moment, unable to block anything. Jingbai was filled with confusion and bewilderment. He simply couldn't understand how this person had died after just stepping over the threshold? It was clear that she had just finished trying on clothes.
"Hey, this boss looks new! Could he be a playboy, playing with girls' feelings everywhere? This is definitely a murder of passion!"
"Hey, maybe this woman stole the boss's clothes, and the two of them had an argument, and the boss kicked the woman to death in a rage!" All kinds of speculations and doubts were like flies, buzzing in Jingbai's ears.
Well, who made him a spring customer? He was so sensitive to such teasing noises. Jingbai was so annoyed, like an ant on a hot pot. But he thought quickly and asked the waiter to bring a basin of water. He buried his head in the clear water with a "plop", and hey, the only sound in his ears was the "gurgling" sound of the water. In just a moment, the tangled depression in his heart calmed down. Jingbai originally wanted to escape to the nearby pool, but this escape seemed even more difficult to explain.
"Eldest sister!" The young woman pushed through the crowd like a knife splitting bamboo joints, the jade hairpin in her hair gleaming with a cold light as she moved. The mandarin duck handkerchief covering the body was embroidered with the crooked character "็ซน" (bamboo) in one corner, its stitches still entangled with uncut red thread. Her throat trembled as she called out "Eldest sister," as if she were holding a mouthful of shattered ice that she couldn't swallow. Everyone looked closely, and the young woman's appearance did bear a resemblance to the deceased. The clamor of discussion gradually died down, leaving only the two sisters at the scene.
Shen Qingzhu slowly pulled a delicate, double-edged handkerchief from her sleeve. With steady yet anxious movements, she attempted to wipe the blood from the corpse. However, the blood continued to flow, and no matter how frantically she wiped it, it wouldn't stop. She took a deep breath, swallowing her fear and grief, before mustering the courage to test the body's breath. After confirming her elder sister was dead, she gently placed the double-edged handkerchief over the deceased's face.
Shen Qingzhu straightened her back and shouted loudly and firmly, "Come out! My elder sister is Shen Qingmei, the eldest daughter of the Jiangnan Shen family. You are a murderer! Come out!" At first, Shen Qingzhu just banged on the half-closed wooden door with both hands, trying to reason with the person inside. But the servant behind the door hid behind it, determined not to let her get close.
Seeing that reasoning wouldn't solve the problem, Shen Qingzhu remained calm. She calmly opened her bag and pulled out a talisman her father had purchased at great expense. Holding the talisman in both hands, she chanted, "Rolling dust obscures the sun and moon, and the sound of explosions shakes the heartstrings. Break."
The heavy wooden door burst open, and the servants blocking the entrance collapsed beneath Shen Qingzhu's dress like felled trees. Shen Qingzhu carried a bamboo sword. For cultivators, carrying a sword is supposed to protect them from the dangers of the immortal path. However, at this moment, the bamboo sword, unsheathed, struck directly at its target without question. This action was somewhat ruthless and overbearing, a move that seemed to strike first and then ask for permission.
Jingbai stood still, not dodging. He was acutely aware that the fierce sword attack wasn't meant to kill him, but he couldn't put his finger on the complex meaning behind it. "I'll teach you." The gentle, familiar female voice rang in Shen Qingzhu's ears again. At this moment, Meimei didn't choose to block the fatal sword attack for this old acquaintance. She simply took Shen Qingzhu's right hand under the pretext of teaching, then swiftly leaned forward, turned around, and after gathering strength, thrust her sword forward again towards Jingbai. This time, the tip of the sword was even closer to Jingbai, even blowing the hair by his ear.
Jingbai remained calm as Shen Qingzhu's sword pointed directly between his eyes, not even attempting to dodge. He sensed she was a mere child, not to be feared. Furthermore, his lack of fear stemmed from a lack of guilt, undeterred by ghosts knocking on his door or debt collectors. However, when he caught sight of the woman in red behind Shen Qingzhu, he quickly crouched, his hands covering his head, in obedient surrender. This submissive demeanor, so different from his usual ruthless, murderous image, was truly moving.
"Benefactor, why is it you?"
"Meimei, why is it you?"
Shen Qingzhu and Jingbai said almost the same words at almost the same time, but one was frightened and pale, while the other tried his best to hide his joy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
