A world without glitz
"Last? System, don't tell me I got last place because I didn't put out the fire. But I set the fire! You see, in the final analysis, it was because I set the fire that she was able to put it out. This is called causality, understand?"
"To put it bluntly, you are still the arsonist. I, the host, have already told you to bear the consequences yourself. Don't come to me to complain. It's useless."
"That's great! I've done things so drastically that I can't even enter the gate of Taixu Sect. I've already said that I have good intentions. Look at how much they love me, just like stocks. Without my intervention, the price would have skyrocketed."
No, no, no. Seeing everyone's stunned expressions, Chen Ye could only suppress his anxiety. "The Immortal Sect's leader eliminates the Demon Sect's Saint for the sake of the people. This plot is quite reasonable and exciting, isn't it?" Chen Ye squeezed Qi Yiwen's hand tightly, their palms mingling with sweat. She could sense his hesitation. In such a situation, as the person with the most weight of words, he remained silent. What was he hiding?
Chen Ye couldn't understand it. She only knew that since he said he liked someone, his actions should match his words.
Qi Yiwen had originally planned to fight it out, but now that the other person's identity was exposed, he wouldn't be able to explain himself to that person if a fight broke out. Many concerns held him back. The sticky sensation on his palm made him feel someone's strong need.
"Qi Yiwen killed him."
Chen Ye originally wanted to add fuel to the fire. She spoke these words right next to his ear. Her voice was neither loud nor soft, but every word echoed in his mind.
Perhaps it was the sight that brought back memories, as those murderous words were surprisingly similar to the gentle exhortation from a previous life. In a previous life, Qi Yiwen had also intended to kill Meimei, a punishment for a madman who had become a demon because of unrequited love.
It's just that the person she's facing in this life didn't have unrequited love, nor did he become a demon over a single thought. She had only exposed her identity to save the day, that was all. He was a man who couldn't control himself once a fight started. If Ye Ye hadn't risked her life to awaken his consciousness in her previous life, Mei Mei would have been crushed to ashes long ago.
After regaining consciousness, he felt that the dark room in front of him had dissipated, and Meimei, covered in blood, was lying limp on the ground, still breathing, and kept saying sorry and sparing her life.
Chen Ye just held him tightly, refusing to let go for a long time. Her oval face was buried in his hair, and she kept saying sorry, but he was clearly the one who should be saying sorry.
He mistakenly thought that Chen Ye was holding him tightly because he thought he was dead, so after regaining consciousness, he whispered in comfort, "Ye Ye, I'm fine."
"Don't kill her. This is all my fault. Please don't kill her. I beg you. She is the heroine of this world. It was my selfishness that turned her into a demon."
In her previous life, Chen Ye disregarded the system's warning against attempting to compete for the female lead's role, as this would only allow the plot to veer erratically from her own vision. The consequences of this were nothing more than Meimei's demonic rise and Qi Yiwen's schizophrenic madness. It was clearly her own fault, yet others bore the consequences. Was it because she wasn't from this world that retribution wouldn't fall upon her?
In his previous life, Chen Ye knelt on the ground, tearfully begging Qi Yiwen to spare Meimei. However, in this life, she stood behind him, expressionlessly saying "Kill her" three times.
These contrasting words stirred a storm in Qi Yiwen's mind. Memories of past and present lives surged into his mind like a tide, intertwining and colliding with each other, leaving his thoughts in a state of chaos.
He slowly turned his head and stared at the woman beside him who was so familiar to him. Her face was the same, her smile was the same, even her tone of voice was the same as before. But why did she say such cruel words?
Qi Yiwen couldn't help but start to wonder, can people really change? Or is she not herself at all?
"Ye Ye, I can't kill her now. I'm sorry I can't listen to you." Qi Yiwen's voice was low and hoarse, revealing an unspeakable pain.
Chen Ye's doubts deepened when she heard this. She widened her eyes and looked at Qi Yiwen in disbelief. Could this man really have two different faces in front of two women?
Facing Qi Yiwen's slowly reaching hand, Chen Ye instinctively recoiled. The moment her eyes met Qi Yiwen's, she seemed to see the strangeness and alienation in his eyes.
"The Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect set fire to the mountain. Are you cultivators just going to sit back and watch?" Chen Ye took a deep breath to keep her voice calm, but her heart was already in turmoil.
Qi Yiwen looked at the woman in front of her, her heart filled with disappointment. Her eyes, which should have been as clear as water, were now shrouded in a layer of mist, and behind that mist, she actually hid such a sinister ambition.
He desperately waved away the mist, hoping to see her true face through it and find the innocent and kind-hearted girl from her previous life. However, he didn't realize that he was gradually being submerged and lost in the mist.
At that moment, Chen Ye suddenly made her move. She grabbed a sword from her sandalwood box and thrust it at Meimei without hesitation. Meimei felt a wave of sadness at the sight. Although her identity had been exposed, she couldn't bear to fight these people, nor did she want to fight Chen Ye. Given her strength, she was simply trying to scare her.
At this moment, she had only one thought in her mind, which was to find Taixu, take him away, escape from Taixu Sect, and fulfill her master's wish.
Every sword move in Chen Ye's hand was taught by Meimei herself. Therefore, Meimei only needed to turn slightly to easily dodge Chen Ye's attacks.
However, what made Meimei feel helpless was that there was a group of people following her like little dogs. She had no intention of dealing with them at all and just wanted to turn around and leave as soon as possible.
But just as she was about to turn around, she found that Qi Yiwen had appeared in front of her at some point, blocking her way and protecting her tightly behind him.
"She didn't set the fire." Qi Yiwen's voice sounded in Meimei's ears with a hint of firmness.
The spectators, watching the drama unfold, should understand the situation. Everyone knows the arsonists are none other than these two women. Sect Master Qi guarantees it wasn't the Demon Sect Saint, so it could only be this little white flower pretending to be a victim.
Chen Ye's seemingly imposing demeanor ultimately landed her on the gray wall, the center of everyone's attention. Countless unfamiliar gazes roamed over her, and she silently retreated, trying to blend in with the crowd. She watched helplessly as the male protagonist unhesitatingly stood up to defend the female protagonist, while the people around her seemed intimidated by his prestige and fell silent.
Everyone turned their attention away from Chen Ye and shifted it to the opposing side. The crowd of onlookers simply followed the crowd, their wavering response echoing the distant dogtails growing between the bricks.
Chen Ye pondered inwardly, feeling she couldn't give in so easily. So, she pinched her throat, deliberately making her voice deeper, trying to conceal her true identity. Then, she asked loudly, "Then tell me, who set this demonic fire from the Demon Sect?" She still had a glimmer of hope, hoping to divert the attention of the onlookers and fully utilize the power of public opinion.
However, before she finished her words, she suddenly raised her eyes and met Qi Yiwen's sharp gaze. Qi Yiwen's face was as gloomy as water, and his eyes revealed an undisguised threat. He said word by word: "Do you really want me to say it?"
Chen Ye's heart tightened as she realized she might have aroused Qi Yiwen's suspicion. But she didn't want to give up, so she pretended to be calm.
"Let me do the talking." At this moment, Meimei took a step forward from behind Qi Yiwen, as if wanting to interrupt.
Seeing this, Chen Ye knew she couldn't let Meimei speak, or her plan would be exposed. So, she acted decisively and quickly shifted the topic to Meimei's identity, saying loudly, "The Demon Sect's Saintess has committed countless evil deeds. Everyone has heard of this! Now, this wicked person stands before you. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to punish evil and promote good!"
Chen Ye had never seen such a talkative Meimei. Shouldn't her character be taciturn? Or shouldn't the male lead be like that too?
"You set the demon fire. The tinder is in your sandalwood box. My notoriety is all because I took the blame for it. You've been the one who truly enjoyed torturing people since we were little. Just because you've lost your memory, can you shift the blame onto me? And the burns on your body? How could the demon fire stop once it touched your skin? You weren't burned by the demon fire at all." Meimei had been holding these words in for a long time, but now she was speaking to Qi Yiwen because she knew these people wouldn't care about her reputation. At least in front of him, she wanted to maintain a shred of dignity.
"Where's the evidence? Where's the evidence that I killed people for fun? As for the tinderbox you mentioned, look carefully, this is the sandalwood box." Chen Ye slammed it against the gray wall. The exquisite sandalwood box shattered instantly, but there was nothing inside, no tinderbox, no sesame cake. It was just a box.
"Here's the evidence." Everyone was stunned by the conversation, but they were all drawn in by the outsider's words. Jingbai heard the fire at Yue Lao Temple was out and rushed to see if his name had been cleared. He didn't expect to see a madwoman and a bitch fighting each other. This time, he vowed to stand by his side.
Chen Ye remembered that he and Jingbai had no particular entanglement. He and they were not on the same side, so where did the evidence come from? "System, did I reveal any memories?"
"You will bear the consequences yourself." The system did not speak, but simply transformed the six words into large flower characters and mapped them on the white sky.
"It was you who sent Meimei to kidnap me from the lake, and then imprisoned me in your room, where I had fun every night. There is a plum blossom mark on your lower back." Jingbai said it simply but did not miss any of the most important details.
"Plum Blossom Mark?" Qi Yiwen knew the truth of this story, and seeing Jingbai seemed to be about to express her suffering, he quickly placed a silencing spell on Jingbai to protect the reputation of this body. She was no longer herself at this point, Qi Yiwen had seen through it all, but with just a little change, she could be herself again.
Xi Xi and Xiao Xinyin, charging ahead, watched a spectacle unfold between two women and one man. However, upon realizing their mistake, they quickly restrained Chen Ye, who was leaning against the wall. "So, system, you've written my memories into Meimei's story profile. What a brilliant plan! I'm the evil woman who committed so many evil deeds, the most powerful connection in this Immortal Cultivation Conference. My father is the Demon Lord, haha." Chen Ye was truly at a loss for words. Every word of the PDF was before her eyes. Revelry every night! The Plum Blossom Mark! She numbly allowed Xi Xi and Xiao Xinyin to detain her.
Xiao Xinyin saw that the barrier surrounding Luo'an Town had dissipated after the rankings were announced. He hurried to Yue Lao Temple. Although he missed the first half of the action, he was fortunate to have caught up at the crucial moment. Someone suddenly asked, "Master Qi, can a demon cultivator cultivate spirituality? Can she become your disciple?" Everyone looked to see Xia Xiwen, who had hurriedly arrived. She was unwilling to accept that she wasn't even in the top three, and that the evil Demon Sect Saint had snatched her place.
"I don't think the Immortal Cultivation Conference has ever stipulated that demonic cultivators are not allowed to participate. The Immortal Sect and the Demon Sect have maintained peace and friendly exchanges for thousands of years, so there shouldn't be any problem." Qi Yiwen certainly wanted to have a good exchange with this fellow disciple. He could tell that Meimei in this life was not the same person as in her previous life. So, she wasn't that annoying after all, and there was nothing wrong with fellow disciples defending each other.
"Meimei's true identity is revealed, and she becomes Qi Yiwen's personal disciple. Story progress is 80%, and love ratio is 80%."
"Oh, you've messed yourself up." Chen Ye blurted out all the words she had originally intended to communicate with the system's brainwaves. She knew these people had already considered her a lunatic, so what if she went a little crazier? She could just mess up the world. A broken system wouldn't do anything anyway. "You love-brained heroine, if I hadn't exposed your identity and set you on fire, how could you have gotten first place? Have I gained anything from this? Meimei, tell me, if I hadn't revealed your identity, would you have slept with this guy after a few more meetings? Have you forgotten why you came here? Do you really think you're here to become a disciple? Don't you know who your master is?"
Chen Ye was still being controlled by the two, but he didn't stop the words from coming out. "We've only met twice and you've fallen in love. Are you kidding me? Are you really innocent? Are you going to count the people you killed to become the Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect as mine? How can you just clear your name? You were clearly in cahoots with me, but you really think you can clean up the mess."
"Stop talking." Qi Yiwen didn't want to hear such foul language uttered from this familiar face again. He simply drew a plum blossom tree to surround Chen Ye. Xi Xi and Xiao Xinyin tactfully withdrew, watching the figure in their hands gradually rise into the air, surrounded by thousands of plum blossoms and letting out a heartbreaking cry.
Curses mingled with earth-shaking cries, like plum blossoms slicing at Chen Ye's face, each one deeper and more ruthless than the last. Ultimately, she bore the infamy of this character.
Chen Ye knew, of course, that the reason for this torture was simply to avenge the heroine. Isn't that the purpose of the tool-man hero's existence? His identity was his greatest value. Chen Ye certainly didn't expect the first person to plead for her would be the worthless Xiao Xinshui. "She's not a bad person. Can't you just listen to her explanation?" He was stopped outside the plum blossom circle by his sister. This roar, Chen Ye thought he and her were deeply in love!
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