Zhang Shuyue had noticed Ye Xiuwen from the moment that he had stepped out from the room. In fact, her gaze had been transfixed on the tightly shut door to the room all this while, and there was a deep sense of hatred and reluctance boiling within the depths of her eyes. She couldn't bear to think of what Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo might be doing within the room during this entire period of time.She could no longer tell whether her reluctance was a result of just how smitten she was with Ye Xiuwen, or simply her inability to get her way with Ye Xiuwen. However, what she was certain about was the fact that Jun Xiaomo had dished out on her an unprecedented, grave humiliation that she had never tasted before – n.o.body had ever dared to treat her like that!Zhang Shuyue looked at how Ye Xiuwen continued to press Zhou Zilong for answers, before turning her attention towards Zhou Zilong as she watched Zhou Zilong feebly cower in fear, completely unable to stand up for himself. Zhang Shuyue cursed Zhou Zilong in her heart for being so useless, and her mind began to contemplate various ways in which she could employ in order to extricate herself from her present predicament.At the very least, she could not afford to allow everyone present to discover anything amiss before her master arrives.With that goal in mind, Zhang Shuyue steadied her spirits and collected her thoughts. Then, suppressing the urge to tear everyone to shreds, she held Zhou Zilong's large, beefy hands as she interjected with tears in her eyes, “Brother Ye, don't blame Brother Zhou. He'd only lured you here after hearing what I'd said. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'd only wanted to speak to you in private to clear the air and find some closure to this chapter on my life. I'd never expected Sister Xiaomo to be so angry. I'm really sorry…wu-wu-wuu…”Zhou Zilong's hands trembled slightly when he felt Zhang Shuyue's soft hands gripping his right hand.Zhang Shuyue's hands were incredibly soft and weak, and this gave rise to an intense, all-consuming desire to protect her – to protect this lady that was in his arms right now.Thus, Zhou Zilong overlooked the fact the person standing before him was the older Martial Brother Ye Xiuwen whom he respected so much. Stiffening his neck and tightening his embrace around Zhang Shuyue, he glared at Ye Xiuwen, “That's right, Martial Brother Ye, all Miss Zhang wanted to do was merely to speak with you in private. She'd never harboured any ill intentions at all. How could Martial Sister Xiaomo inflict such grievous wounds on her? She's truly gone overboard this time.”Zhang Shuyue's earlier spiel was truly wily and crafty, and it could very easily create a misunderstanding with anyone who had heard it. What she had done was to accept responsibility for what she had done, but at the same time downplay and misrepresent the severity of why she had lured Ye Xiuwen over in the first place. This was carefully crafted so that everyone would believe that Zhang Shuyue was completely innocent, while heaping blame on Jun Xiaomo for going overboard and inflicting such grievous wounds on her.However, no matter how convincing her words were, Zhang Shuyue would never be able to pull a veil over Ye Xiuwen's head because he knew full well the entire truth of the matter. Ye Xiuwen glanced placidly at Zhang Shuyue, before calmly retorting, “If Miss Zhang's intentions were only to exchange a few words with me, was there really a need to fill the room with incense that would draw out the primal, carnal instinct of man? Was there really a need to dress yourself so skimpily in front of me?”Ye Xiuwen's simple statement here made several Heavenly Peak disciples reel in shock, instantly affecting their earlier a.s.sessment of Zhang Shuyue's character.They had been under a misunderstanding from the onset. They had thought that Zhang Shuyue was dressed this way because Jun Xiaomo had beat her up and then dealt with Zhang Shuyue in the most humiliating fas.h.i.+on by stripping her of her clothes.Truth be told, they were not willing to believe that Jun Xiaomo was such a type of person. That said, Zhang Shuyue's acting had been far too convincing, and they had completely bought her pretensions of innocence. It was for this very reason that everyone had begun to sympathize with her.But now that an eye-witness had provided a countervailing account of the matter, everyone immediately knew in their hearts that they had misunderstood their Little Martial Sister. They should have known better – even though their Little Martial Sister was at times unruly and willful, she was by and large a principled lady, and she would never resort to something as low as that.Zhang Shuyue immediately grew anxious. As she secretly sent a message to her master, asking her to make haste, she wore a puffy-eyed expression and softly pleaded with Ye Xiuwen, “Brother Ye, I know that you like Sister Xiaomo and you're willing to speak up to defend her. However, you can't lie through your teeth like that! Since when have I ever seduced you? Would I, Zhang Shuyue, stoop so low to be no more than a cheap s.l.u.t?!”As she drew near the end of her spiel, she began to cover her face and bawl uncontrollably.With that, several Heavenly Peak disciples began to grow hesitant once more – especially Zhou Zilong. After all, he had always firmly believed in Zhang Shuyue's character. Thus, Zhang Shuyue's tears immediately softened his heart once more.That said, most of the Heavenly Peak disciples consciously continued to side with Ye Xiuwen because they knew just how much Ye Xiuwen stood by his principles. At the very least, he would never, over his dead body, slander an innocent person for his own personal gains.Thus, they knew that if Ye Xiuwen could bring himself to say that Zhang Shuyue had drugged him with intense, pa.s.sion-inducing incense, then that must be the case. Otherwise, there was no reason for Jun Xiaomo to have gotten so infuriated either.Zhou Zilong struggled in his heart once more, before lifting his head and addressing Ye Xiuwen, “Martial Brother Ye, I…I think that even if Miss Zhang has done something wrong, there's still no reason for Martial Sister Xiaomo to treat Miss Zhang in such a harsh manner.”He no longer knew who to believe. Thus, he settled for taking the middle ground, hoping to gain a compromise between the two.Just as Ye Xiuwen was about to respond to Zhou Zilong, the door to the room suddenly flew open, and a fully-clothed Jun Xiaomo strode out of the room pridefully.Everyone lifted their heads and looked at Jun Xiaomo. Anyone with eyes would be able to tell that something was different about her.It wasn't something tangible. Rather, she simply appeared more charming right now. It was as though she had just matured from an innocent, young girl to a woman with lady-like charms. Her smile now possessed a form of sharp incisiveness to it, and there was also a blissful air of springtime about her.Somewhat mesmerized by Jun Xiaomo's new look, several Heavenly Peak disciples couldn't help but cough dryly as they fought to suppress the awkwardness in their hearts.After all, their Martial Brother Ye was still in their midst, and they would be wise to act with a little bit more propriety.Jun Xiaomo found her way to Ye Xiuwen's side and glanced at Zhang Shuyue as she lay helplessly in Zhou Zilong's embrace. Then, she turned her attention to Zhou Zilong, “Martial Brother Zhou, do you think that everything that Miss Zhang has done can be simply forgiven like that? Then, if she ended up bearing Martial Brother Ye's child, do I have to suppress the infuriation and indignation in my heart and give them my blessings just like that?”“No, I only…” Zhou Zilong made a feeble attempt at a refutation.“You just think that I've been a little bit too heavy-handed, isn't it? But, let's say it was you, and you had returned home one day only to find a wild, l.u.s.tful man lying in bed locked in a deep, intimate embrace with your wife. Would you not be overwhelmed with anger and do anything you can to beat him up and cast him out, or would you simply brandish your fist at him and not do a single thing?”Men could never agree to being made a cuckold. Yet, despite how much the prospects of being made a cuckold were met with disapprobation, few had ever paused to consider what women thought about sharing a man with others as well – were they simply to suffer in silence and swallow their anger with magnanimity?If the third-wheeling man could never be forgiven, then what about a third-wheeling woman? On what basis could a person justifiably argue that beating up a third-wheeling man was fine, whereas beating up a third-wheeling woman was simply being too heavy-handed? Was this not tantamount to having double standards?Zhou Zilong immediately grew fl.u.s.tered. He opened his mouth, desperately finding the words to refute her, but the only words he found were a feeble response, “But…but Miss Zhang is a lady.”“So does this mean that all ladies have to be forgiven? If a lady does something wrong, is she exempted from paying the price? Besides, I'd only left her outside to cool her head for a moment. I didn't do anything else to her, did I? The injuries on her body only appear to be serious, but they're not life-threatening by any means. She'll recover in a few days. Martial Brother Zhou, do you have to be so overprotective of her? Are you her martial brother, or are you my martial brother?” Jun Xiaomo heaped a barrage of questions on Zhou Zilong, leaving him completely speechless and flabbergasted.At this moment, Ye Xiuwen patted Jun Xiaomo's shoulder, signaling to her to cool off, before he addressed Zhou Zilong as well, “Martial Brother Zhou, Xiaomo is right. If not for the fact that she'd arrived in the nick of time, Zhang Shuyue would have succeeded in her schemes. I can responsibly say that she drugs that she had used on me were no simple aphrodisiac, and they're not something that can be controlled so easily. I can forgive any and all of her other transgressions, but this is something completely unforgivable. It's good that Miss Zhang suffers the consequences of her actions now. Otherwise, she might be led astray in her ways.”With Ye Xiuwen's supplementation, Zhou Zilong finally began to be convinced of Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo's reasoning.That said, he was still unwilling to believe that Zhang Shuyue was this sort of person. After all, she had even thrown herself in harm's way just to rescue them some time ago. Furthermore, when they went out to procure herbs and tonics for Jun Xiaomo, Zhang Shuyue had voluntarily tagged along with the crew as well.How could such a kindhearted person possibly harbour such ill intentions within her heart?Jun Xiaomo sighed with some measure of resignation. She knew that Zhou Zilong only knew matters pertaining to cultivation, and he was completely oblivious to the complexities of a person's heart, much less possess the ability to peel through the layers of pretension to see Zhang Shuyue's true nature.Forget it. We'll take things one step at a time. I just hope that Martial Brother Zhou won't end up suffering the same fate that Martial Brother Ye did in the past.As she thought about this, she glared at Zhang Shuyue once more. Then, after a moment's deliberation, she waved her sleeves and removed both talismans on her body.With that, Zhang Shuyue could move her limbs freely once more.“Zhang Shuyue, on account for Martial Brother Zhou's pleading, I'll let you off the hook just this once. I sincerely hope you don't betray his good intentions and use Martial Brother Zhou for more vile plans of yours. You'd best wise up to your actions.” Jun Xiaomo coldly cautioned Zhang Shuyue. Then, she turned to Ye Xiuwen and tugged gently at his sleeves, “Martial Brother, let's go. It's getting late, and we should return and retire for the night.”Ye Xiuwen nodded his head. But in the very next moment, he furrowed his brows, “Didn't I tell you earlier to rest for some time before coming out?”Jun Xiaomo had been thoroughly tormented by the ordeal with Ye Xiuwen, and there were still traces of his scent on her body. Thus, it was hardly prudent for her to be out and about like that.Some of the Heavenly Peak disciples also understood the implications in Ye Xiuwen's enigmatic words, and they coughed awkwardly as they inched further away from Jun Xiaomo.It couldn't be helped. As soon as they had dealt with the incident with Zhang Shuyue, they immediately discovered the faint, peculiar scent coming from Jun Xiaomo's body. This scent made their faces completely flushed with shame.Jun Xiaomo's face turned red as a tomato – far more than any of the other disciples around right now. She glared back at Ye Xiuwen and barked, “Isn't it because of you?!” As she finished speaking, she tugged at Ye Xiuwen's sleeves once more as she coughed dryly, “We'd best leave this place quickly. We can save any talk for later on.”Bemused, Ye Xiuwen patted Jun Xiaomo's head as he agreed, “Alright.”The other Heavenly Peak disciples couldn't stand looking at the couple any longer. Even their teeth were beginning to ache from just how sweet the couple were acting. Gooseb.u.mps were already creeping up all over their bodies…Zhang Shuyue also witnessed the sight unfolding before her eyes. She lowered her head, and a vicious gleam flashed across her eyes.Just then, something in her Interspatial Ring glowed brightly, and she retrieved it to take a glance. In the very next moment, the ashen expression in her face completely dissipated, and a wicked smile crept up the corner of her lips –The message was from her master, Xiang Guqing, informing her that they were picking up the pace right now, and that they would be arriving in just one day's time.Let's see how Master deals with you then! Zhang Shuyue glared at Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo's backs, eagerly antic.i.p.ating joy of vengeance that awaited her.
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