Qin Zhao had never taken Bai Shengyi seriously.
The young girl was soft-hearted, timid, and incredibly easy to fool. He had always managed to have her wrapped around his finger, obtaining numerous benefits from her.
Although he and Sun Mingyu had a falling out previously, Qin Zhao believed it was all Sun Mingyu's fault. Now that Sun Mingyu was dead, Bai Shengyi must have gotten over her anger. However, Bai Shengyi still targeted Bai Murong out of jealousy.
Jealous of what?
As Bai Murong had said, it was surely jealousy of his attention towards Bai Murong and Sun Yun.
Qin Zhao thought this indicated that Bai Shengyi still had feelings for him. If he put in a little effort, perhaps he could even enter the inner sect by relying on Bai Shengyi.
However, as an outer disciple, he rarely had the chance to move freely within the inner sect. He had "bled heavily" this time to come here.
"A'yi, I know I was blinded by Sun Mingyu before, and I'm sorry. But I know I was wrong. Since you have feelings for me, rest assured, even if you remain blind, I won't abandon you. I will... "
Before Qin Zhao could finish, Bai Shengyi's fists clenched, and she unceremoniously swung them.
"Bang!"
Qin Zhao was sent flying backward onto the ground.
"A'yi, hit me as much as you want. This is the sin I must atone for. I know you're angry, I won't blame you."
Qin Zhao climbed up resiliently, gazing at Bai Shengyi with affectionate eyes. He had dressed up specifically for today, knowing that the young girl liked his gentle and elegant demeanor the most.
Unbeknownst to him, a large bruise marred his left eye. His expression was utterly repulsive.
Bai Shengyi laughed in anger. "Hit me as much as I want?"
Qin Zhao hesitated, but then heard Bai Shengyi's dismissive snort. He immediately grew anxious. "Hit me as much as you want, A'yi, as long as it will calm you down."
"Alright." Bai Shengyi strode forward, her hands moving left and right, delivering two swift slaps. "Slap, slap."
Qin Zhao was dazed by the blows.
Before he could react, Bai Shengyi grabbed his collar, dislocated his shoulder with lightning speed, pinned him to the ground, and proceeded to beat him mercilessly!
"You disgusting hag! I've wanted to beat you for a long time! The academy has thousands of paths, and you chose to come before me. Not beating you would be an insult to heaven!"
"Crack, crack..."
Qin Zhao was beaten until he was dizzy, trembling from the pain, and almost fainted. "Don't... don't hit me anymore, ah!"
Bai Shengyi's blows intensified.
Half an hour later, Bai Shengyi looked at her handiwork with satisfaction, disdainfully letting him go. "Qin Zhao, even if I'm blind, I'm a blind woman you can't afford to reach. Understand? What are you?"
Trash! Unrecyclable waste!
Qin Zhao was stunned, able only to watch as Bai Shengyi clapped her hands and left.
He shakily got up, intending to chase after Bai Shengyi, but tripped over a vine. His left foot landed on his right, and with a "thump," he fell onto his backside.
"Ah!"
Qin Zhao's face turned from green to pale, then from pale to black.
His nether regions burned with a searing pain, a wounded chrysanthemum...
On the ground, a layer of round, spiky balls had appeared at some point. The cold, glinting tips of the spikes seemed to mock his misguided affections.
"This junior sister, don't you think you've gone too far?"
Bai Shengyi played with a spiked ball in her hand. This was an advanced version of her recently learned spirit-transforming creatures, allowing her to manifest tangible objects with offensive capabilities using wood spiritual energy. However, the sharp, piercing spikes in her hands felt like docile soft fur, not pricking her at all, and were quite amusing.
"This junior sister, I'm talking to you. How can you, a woman, lack the gentleness and kindness that women should have?"
Bai Shengyi smiled. Were there still people in this world who meddled so much?
She looked at the person who had walked swiftly in front of her and sneered, "Are you his father, mother, or lover?"
"Oh, I didn't expect senior brother to have such tastes." Bai Shengyi appraised him up and down, playfully saying, "Since senior brother is so concerned and worried about him, why don't you send him for treatment immediately? You still have the leisure to spout nonsense here?"
Jin Lingfeng's proper face almost cracked. As if contaminated by some pathogen, he avoided her gaze and said, "Junior sister, don't spout nonsense! Who likes men! I don't even know him!"
He, who had always prided himself on self-restraint and propriety, wished he could cleanse his ears!
How could he, a grown man, possibly have a man as a partner!
Simply... simply shameless!
Jin Lingfeng was so exasperated that the muscles on his face were trembling. He didn't want to discuss the matter further and changed the subject. "I see you're new here, so I'm reminding you that private brawling violates academy discipline."
Bai Shengyi had no intention of making enemies. She made her point and didn't press the matter further.
She replied with a smile, "What private brawling? I'm merely fulfilling his wish to be 'beaten'."
Jin Lingfeng, being stubbornly old-fashioned, detested people who were opportunistic. Upon hearing this, he retorted instinctively, "But isn't that person your friend? How can you be so ruthless to a friend?"
"Who told you he was my friend? An enemy with a mental disorder who comes to you asking to be beaten, would you refuse?"
Bai Shengyi clicked her tongue. "Senior brother, I didn't expect there to be such a good person like you in the cultivation world. Truly rare!"
Jin Lingfeng always felt that Bai Shengyi's words sounded like mockery, yet she was indeed praising him. He furrowed his brows tightly, watching Bai Shengyi leave.
"Your Highness, you are here. Senior Brother Lingyun just returned from the Cliff of Contemplation today and asked me to invite you for a gathering."
A woman dressed in plain white clothes exclaimed softly, "This person is... Bai Shengyi?"
"Junior Sister Jiang, you know her?" Jin Lingfeng frowned deeply.
Jiang Ruomei's gaze flickered, and then she smiled. "Yes, Senior Brother Lingyun appreciates her quite a bit. However, her actions are rather bold. If she offends Your Highness, I hope Your Highness will not hold it against her."
"Hmph!" Jin Lingfeng let out a light reprimand. "Her actions are reckless, her attire is flamboyant, she's crude! Ill-mannered! She lacks the chastity, gentleness, and amiability that women should have. Junior Sister Jiang, you should interact with her less."
Although Jiang Ruomei had deliberately chosen an outfit that day that Jin Lingfeng might like, hearing Jin Lingfeng's judgment as an old-fashioned pedant, even though it was directed at someone she disliked, a strong sense of discomfort welled up within her.
Who decreed that women must be chaste and gentle?
"Junior Sister Jiang?" Jin Lingfeng frowned, displeased. "I'm talking to you, why are you zoning out?"
Jiang Ruomei snapped back to attention and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I was just worried about Senior Brother Lingyun."
"What happened to Elder Brother?"
"It seems that because of this incident, Elder Yunying has some reservations about him and my brother as well. So, these past few days, Elder Yunying has been busy with the newcomers at the Artifact Refining Peak. Senior Brother Lingfeng finally came out, and she didn't even come to see him."
Jin Lingfeng heard this and said indignantly, "How can she do that? Isn't Elder Brother her disciple? How can a master neglect her disciple and focus on others? No, I must go and see him today."
Jiang Ruomei, having achieved her goal, quickly followed. However, she was thinking that she would have to inquire about Bai Shengyi's whereabouts when she had time. If Jin Lingyun suffered so much and came out without anyone else to substitute for her, she would surely come to torment her again.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ruomei shook her head repeatedly.