Jun Xiaomo"s hatred towards Zhang Shuyue could be said to be so deep that they had already penetrated her marrows and bones. In fact, her hatred was as deep as the extent of the remorse and guilt weighing on her heart for Ye Xiuwen"s death in her previous life. If one were to say that her willfulness and headstrong behaviour had been one of the contributing factors leading to Ye Xiuwen"s death, then Zhang Shuyue"s betrayal would undoubtedly be the main cause of his death. Jun Xiaomo had experienced what it was like to have been betrayed by the ones she loved the most, and she could completely empathize with Ye Xiuwen"s dread and despondence in his previous life when he had similarly been sent to the depths of h.e.l.l by the person he loved wholeheartedly.Thus, Jun Xiaomo had resolved in her heart that she would never allow Zhang Shuyue the opportunity to get close to Ye Xiuwen as long as she remained by Ye Xiuwen"s side. Unfortunately, she had just discovered to her horror that three short days of her unconsciousness was all it took for Ye Xiuwen to once again chance upon Zhang Shuyue. To make matters worse, their relations.h.i.+p had appeared to already be on rather good terms.Ye Xiuwen was allowed to fall in love with anyone he liked – as long as it was not Zhang Shuyue. Had this lady not caused enough harm to Ye Xiuwen yet? Did she truly have to send him to the pits of h.e.l.l in this life as well?The more Jun Xiaomo thought, the more incensed she got. After striking out with the first whiplash, she immediately raised her whip again, preparing herself for the second whiplash.“Xiaomo, stop!” Ye Xiuwen dashed over in the nick of time and held back Jun Xiaomo"s hands.Jun Xiaomo struggled for a little while in vain, before turning back to Ye Xiuwen with gritted teeth as she cried out with indignation, “Martial brother Ye, why are you stopping me?!”“Then, tell me first – why are you attacking Miss Zhang?” Ye Xiuwen looked placidly at Jun Xiaomo as he asked with a calm tone of voice.“Because she deserves to die!” Jun Xiaomo exploded with rage. The rims of her eyes were now reddened and bloodshot.As he looked at Jun Xiaomo"s enraged and aggrieved expressions, Ye Xiuwen trembled, and a trace of unwillingness surfaced on his heart.He knew that his little martial sister was not an irrational person to begin with. Even though she would at times end up doing something infuriating and heart-wrenching that causes him to feel completely helpless, he knew that Jun Xiaomo would never beat or injure another for no good reason. Furthermore, he had already noticed how his little martial sister had directly called out Zhang Shuyue"s name. This implied that she already knew Zhang Shuyue from before. As to why Zhang Shuyue was unaware of who Jun Xiaomo was, this was a query to be resolved and addressed later on.That said, these grounds which Jun Xiaomo was using for her recovery and recuperation was provided for by Zhang Shuyue. Before he could understand the reason for her actions, Ye Xiuwen could not afford to allow Jun Xiaomo to continue attacking Zhang Shuyue. Thus, he had no choice but to step in and stop her attacks.Zhang Shuyue clutched at her injuries and stood at the side. She noticed that all Ye Xiuwen did was to hold Jun Xiaomo back, yet there was not a single bit of attention on her as the injured victim. In that instant, her heart surged with a trace of unwillingness.Did she not avoid Jun Xiaomo"s attack precisely so that she could stand between Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen in their relations.h.i.+p to begin with?Zhang Shuyue had fallen for Ye Xiuwen from the moment she laid eyes on him. He was handsome and suave, and possessed a cool and dignified disposition. Moreover, she could see that he was warm and conscientious when he looked after his little martial sister. There was not a single thing that Ye Xiuwen did which did not move Zhang Shuyue"s heart.At the beginning, she had thought that the relations.h.i.+p between Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo were that of mere martial siblings. Thus, she had willingly allowed Ye Xiuwen to bring Jun Xiaomo to this place to recover and recuperate from her injuries. In this regard, she had never expected to see Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo locked in a tight embrace like they did earlier.She had learnt over the last few days of interaction with Ye Xiuwen just how much he did not like others getting close to him. Zhang Shuyue was not upset by this. In fact, she thought that this was for the better.After all, if someone like Ye Xiuwen fell in love with her, he would most likely be completely loyal and devoted to her, right?Furthermore, Zhang Shuyue was confident in her abilities to make Ye Xiuwen fall for her.Unfortunately, her confidence was completely torn asunder when she noticed the interactions between Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo – it was obvious that Ye Xiuwen had someone else in his heart right now.Was their relations.h.i.+p really just between that of a martial brother and a martial sister? Anyone with eyes would be able to tell for themselves that the relations.h.i.+p between Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo was something extraordinary. After all, Zhang Shuyue had never seen Ye Xiuwen gaze at someone with such soft, indulgent eyes.As for Jun Xiaomo, it was clear that she possessed similar feelings for Ye Xiuwen as well. That said, the only silver lining for Zhang Shuyue was that Jun Xiaomo was still unsure of the nature and extent of her own feelings towards Ye Xiuwen.This caused Zhang Shuyue to feel incredibly indignant and defeated. It had to be mentioned that there was no lack of suitors by her side to begin with. However, she had never encountered any suitor who had moved her heart before, and it was for this single reason that she had not reciprocated anyone"s feelings to date. Who could have thought that the very first person who managed to moved her heart was also someone as oblivious and deadpan as a block of wood?!She was unwilling to let this go just like that. Thus, she resolved in her heart that she was going to s.n.a.t.c.h Ye Xiuwen from right under Jun Xiaomo"s nose. She was going to capitalize on the fact that they had not made their feelings known to each other just yet!Zhang Shuyue looked at the impa.s.se between Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen with a gleam in her eyes. Clutching her wound, Zhang Shuyue weakly made her way towards Ye Xiuwen"s side and tugged at his sleeves, “Brother Ye, don"t blame sister Xiaomo anymore. She"s still young, and it"s understandable that her actions are brash and reckless.”Jun Xiaomo was enraged at Zhang Shuyue"s pretenses. She wrested her hand free from Ye Xiuwen"s grip and immediately sent another whiplash flying towards Zhang Shuyue as she bellowed, “Who allowed you to touch martial brother Ye?!”“Enough! Xiaomo!” Ye Xiuwen waved his sleeves and sent a wind blade out, intercepting Jun Xiaomo"s whiplash.The whiplash struck the floor, etching a deep mark into the ground.Jun Xiaomo gritted her teeth and glared at Ye Xiuwen, “You"re really going to take her side?”Faced with Jun Xiaomo"s accusatory stare, Ye Xiuwen found his heart wrenching with pangs of pain. He softened his tone of voice and asked, “Xiaomo, tell me why you"re so affronted by Miss Zhang? Can you at least tell me the reason, please?”Yet Jun Xiaomo simply turned her head away and grew taciturn.How was she going to explain it all? Was she going to say that Zhang Shuyue had killed him in her previous life, so she was h.e.l.l bent on getting revenge in this life?Who would believe her even if she explained it like that? And even if she said this, she was almost certain that Ye Xiuwen would accuse her of being ridiculous and absurd.Ye Xiuwen"s eyes darkened – It"s this feeling again. It"s the same feeling that had arisen and persisted since a long time ago. Jun Xiaomo simply locks away all her most important secrets in the depths of her heart, and n.o.body is allowed to get anywhere close to them.He knew that Jun Xiaomo had some things hidden in the depths of her heart that she was unwilling to share with anyone. If Jun Xiaomo were unwilling to talk about it, he would respect her decision and not press the issue at all.That said, he felt incredibly helpless as a result of Jun Xiaomo"s behaviour.Just like right now – Zhang Shuyue was the one who had provided them with a place that bolstered one"s rate of recovery. If he allowed his little martial sister to continue harming Zhang Shuyue, would that not make them a group of people that repaid kindness with evil?Ye Xiuwen sighed with resignation, stretched out his hand and tousled Jun Xiaomo"s hair as he remarked, “You"ve just regained consciousness, and it wouldn"t be good if you got too agitated and harmed your body as a result. Let"s talk about any issues later, alright? This is Miss Zhang"s place after all. You shouldn"t hurt the owner of this place no matter what.”Ye Xiuwen"s warm, persuasive spiel caused a sour, astringent feeling to course through Jun Xiaomo"s nose, and her heart began to feel aggrieved once more.What was she going to do if Ye Xiuwen truly fell in love with Zhang Shuyue again? The matters of her previous life had not come to pa.s.s in her present life, and there was simply no basis for her to reasonably argue against such a behaviour. Was she going to just force her martial brother to relive her own memories?Ye Xiuwen noticed that Jun Xiaomo appeared to have calmed down substantially, so he turned back to Zhang Shuyue and apologized, “Miss Zhang, I"m really sorry. I apologize on my martial sister"s behalf. Here are some recovery pills. Please have them now.”As Ye Xiuwen spoke, he retrieved a third-grade recovery pill and handed it over to Zhang Shuyue.Even though Jun Xiaomo"s earlier whiplash looked incredibly vicious, it was not backed with much strength or energy to begin with. After all, she had just regained consciousness from her grievous injuries. Given Zhang Shuyue"s present cultivation base, the horrific-looking injuries she had just sustained were in fact hardly serious at all.Having experienced countless battles and injuries himself, how could Ye Xiuwen be unable to a.s.sess this much for himself? He knew that as long as Zhang Shuyue consumed the recovery pill that he had just handed over to her, she would be fully recovered in no more than half a day"s worth of time.On the other hand, Zhang Shuyue was completely incensed by this. She had expected Ye Xiuwen to step up and console her, not to speak and apologize for his little martial sister instead.Even though the recovery pill was more than enough to nurse her back to full health, she found a swathe of indignation lodged at her throat right now.Ye Xiuwen"s att.i.tude towards Jun Xiaomo and Zhang Shuyue made it extremely clear who he was closer to. It made Zhang Shuyue feel as though she had been dangling a juicy bait in an attempt to gain an advantage, only to lose the bait and end up being worse off than she had been at the start.She received the recovery pill that Ye Xiuwen handed to her and returned him with a warm, genial smile. At the same time, she secretly gnashed her teeth and exclaimed in her heart – No! I"ve got to come up with something else!After consuming the recovery pill, Zhang Shuyue looked back at Ye Xiuwen and muttered with a soft voice, “Brother Ye, I"ve truly never crossed paths with sister Xiaomo prior to this, so I think there must be some form of misunderstanding between us two. But given that sister Xiaomo has just regained consciousness, perhaps this might not be the best time to discuss these heavy-going matters. How about this, brother Ye, let"s go cook something that is nouris.h.i.+ng for sister Xiaomo, and she can get some rest here in the meantime?”“I don"t need anything you"re going to make for me! Who knows what kind of ingredients you"re going to use?!” Jun Xiaomo barked back at her.“Xiaomo!” Ye Xiuwen furrowed his brows. His tone of voice had grown harsher, and he once again displayed his disposition as an older martial brother.Jun Xiaomo"s heart trembled slightly. The scenes of her previous life flashed before her eyes once more – every time a dispute arose between her and Zhang Shuyue in her previous life, Ye Xiuwen would always end up siding with Zhang Shuyue, not her.That said, back in her previous life, she had been unable to see Zhang Shuyue"s true character while all of that was happening. At that time, the only thing on her mind was simply the thought that n.o.body else apart from herself should have her martial brother Ye"s attention. After all, Ye Xiuwen was the only strand of hope that she could cling onto, and she was afraid that Zhang Shuyue"s appearance would make Ye Xiuwen distance himself from her.In her present life, even though she no longer had the same kind of reliance on Ye Xiuwen, she similarly did not want Ye Xiuwen to suffer the same fate as he did in her previous life.But how could she go about broaching the subject to Ye Xiuwen? Something like that had not even occurred, so where was she going to go about finding evidence to show that Zhang Shuyue"s character wasn"t all that it appeared to be?Would history repeat itself again? Would Ye Xiuwen once again perish under Zhang Shuyue"s blade?The rims of Jun Xiaomo"s eyes reddened as she lowered her head softly, “Sorry, I"d been too rash earlier. Please leave me be for a while. I"d like a moment of silence.”Ye Xiuwen grimaced as he looked at Jun Xiaomo"s pale face and ink-black hair, and his eyes grew deep and abstruse.As the atmosphere in the room grew thick and tense, Ye Xiuwen lifted his hand and patted Jun Xiaomo"s shoulder once more as he spoke with a low voice, “Then have a good rest, Xiaomo. Don"t think too much about it. We can talk about things once you"re better.”“Mm.” Jun Xiaomo responded softly with her head still hung low.A victorious gleam flashed past Zhang Shuyue"s eyes, and she continued to play along to her pretense as she uttered to Ye Xiuwen, “Sigh, everything"s my fault. Had I known this would happen, I wouldn"t have come here and aggravated sister Xiaomo. Brother Ye, we"d best make some soup for sister Xiaomo to nourish her body. Perhaps she"s reacted with an outburst because her body is unwell. Once she"s fully recovered, her spirits will be better as well.”Even though Zhang Shuyue was claiming to be at fault, it was evident that she was implicitly pus.h.i.+ng all the blame to Jun Xiaomo"s willful and brash behaviour.However, Ye Xiuwen simply responded placidly, “There"s no need. I"ll send Miss Zhang back to have a rest as well. Our martial brothers have already gone out to buy some things.”After all, when all was said and done, Jun Xiaomo had been the perpetrator who had injured Zhang Shuyue. As the oldest martial brother among all of them, there was no way Ye Xiuwen could sit by idly and treat Zhang Shuyue with discourtesy.“That"s fine as well. Then, sister Xiaomo, have a good rest. I"ll come visit you again when you"re in better spirits later.” Zhang Shuyue bade Jun Xiaomo farewell with a soft, warm voice.Yet, Jun Xiaomo simply turned her head away, evidently unwilling to respond to her.At the same time, Zhang Shuyue mocked Jun Xiaomo in her heart for being foolish. Zhang Shuyue was confident that she had thoroughly gained an advantage over Jun Xiaomo after the entire incident that had just occurred.After all, the juxtaposition between Jun Xiaomo"s rotten temperament and her own warm and conscientious should undoubtedly win Ye Xiuwen over to her side in no time!Just like that, Ye Xiuwen took her leave together with Zhang Shuyue. As soon as Ye Xiuwen stepped out of her room, Jun Xiaomo forcefully slammed shut the door to her room – BANG!Ye Xiuwen turned around to look at the tightly shut door, and his eyes grew sullen and abstruse.“Sigh, little girls like that love throwing tantrums after all. Brother Ye, you don"t have to be too worried. A little bit of coaxing and cajoling will bring her spirits back up once more.” Zhang Shuyue chuckled lightheartedly as she gave some unsolicited advice.That said, Ye Xiuwen barely entertained Zhang Shuyue"s efforts at a conversation, and he responded curtly and simply, “Let"s go, Mis Zhang. I"ll send you back.”Even though Zhang Shuyue noticed that Ye Xiuwen appeared cold and expressionless at this moment, she did not feel discouraged in the slightest. She knew that Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo were martial siblings for a long time now, and the relations.h.i.+p and feelings between the two of them was not something that had been built up over the span of just a single day. Thus, it would take much more than a single incident to dismantle the foundations of their relations.h.i.+p as well.It was only with patience that she would be able to slowly whittle away at Ye Xiuwen"s heart and earn his affection.On the other side, Jun Xiaomo leaned against the door with her head hung low as she eavesdropped on the conversations between Ye Xiuwen and Zhang Shuyue.As their footsteps drew further away from her door, Jun Xiaomo"s head continued to hang low, drooping and listless.After some time, a glistening bead of tear rolled off her cheek, disappearing into her clothes.
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