“Also, brother Ke doesn’t need to worry too much. My little Packie here is still young and small, and its bark is worse than its bite. These few minor scratches will get better very quickly if you apply some simple balm on them, and they won’t leave any lasting scars. Most importantly, these injuries definitely won’t affect your charming and suave image at all.” Jun Xiaomo leisurely commented. In particular, the last statement made was clearly made up entirely of commendations, but it sounded more contemptuous and derisory than anything because of the way she had said it.
At this moment, Ke Xinwen’s eyes were burning with so much fury that they may well be b.a.l.l.s of flame.
The part that left the other disciples completely speechless was how that little packrat had promptly squeaked twice right after Jun Xiaomo stated all these things, as though it agreed and understood what Jun Xiaomo was saying.
Everyone: ……
Seeing how this owner and his pet echoing one another could really anger a person to death.
However, Jun Xiaomo could hardly be bothered about what the others thought. Among all who were present, she only concerned herself with what Ye Xiuwen thought.
Just this moment, Jun Xiaomo felt the back of her hand being gripped by something, then immediately after, a cool finger began writing something on the back of her hand.
Jun Xiaomo knew right away that the person who held and wrote on the back of her hand was her martial brother. By now, she had already had a fair amount of interaction with Ye Xiuwen and she should already be used to these kinds of interactions. But even so, her hand trembled slightly at Ye Xiuwen’s actions, she could not shake of the strange feelings in her heart.
In particular, the part of her hand that was held by her martial brother was left with a strange, lingering sensation of warmth.
Could it be that the incident in the river is causing me to be unable to face martial brother Ye normally? Jun Xiaomo felt like crying as she contemplated this possibility.
The little packrat that was still hiding in Jun Xiaomo’s clothes noticed her hesitance, and it lifted its head, looked directly and Jun Xiaomo and squeaked twice.
But Jun Xiaomo ignored it because she was still deep in her thoughts.
Immediately, the little packrat’s eyes flashed with an expression of deep displeasure, but all of this was completely overlooked by the distracted Jun Xiaomo.
And the reason for Jun Xiaomo’s distraction was the fact that Ye Xiuwen had written some words on the back of her hands twice before she finally understood what Ye Xiuwen was saying.
“Quit while you’re ahead.” This was Ye Xiuwen’s written advice to her.
Ye Xiuwen did not think that what Yao Mo had done so far was wrong in any way. However, he knew that Ke Xinwen was not as harmless and magnanimous as he appeared to be. Ye Xiuwen feared that if Yao Mo provoked and offended Ke Xinwen too much, Yao Mo might find himself the target of Ke Xinwen’s deranged vengeance.
After all, Ke Xinwen was hardly a magnanimous person to begin with. His “magnanimity” was only an appearance to fool others.
Jun Xiaomo also knew this. Therefore, she secretly nodded slightly to Ye Xiuwen, signaling that she was going to take his advice. Her cultivation was still rather low right now, and even with her formation arrays and talismans, she might not be able to escape from Ke Xinwen’s schemes without any losses.
Most importantly, she was not prepared to die just yet.
Having collected her thoughts, Jun Xiaomo poured out a cup of tea, walked over to Ke Xinwen and spoke to him with a much more earnest tone, “Actually, I might have said some things in a fit of anger earlier. The little packrat can’t be said to be entirely innocent either. After all, the fact that it did injure brother Ke is a reality. Therefore, I’ll take this chance to formally apologize to brother Ke.” As Jun Xiaomo said that, she finished the cup of tea in front of Ke Xiuwen, and diplomatically poured a cup of tea for Ke Xinwen as well.
“With tea as a subst.i.tute for alcohol, I hope that brother Ke will be able to accept my sincerest apologies.” Saying that, Jun Xiaomo offered the fresh cup of tea to Ke Xinwen.
However, Ke Xinwen stared coldly at the cup of tea in front of him, as though it had been laced with poison.
This was not unexpected either. After all, Ke Xinwen’s nose was still immensely swollen; how was he going to be able to accept Jun Xiaomo’s apology that easily?
But Jun Xiaomo continued to hold up the cup she offered to Ke Xinwen as she looked at him with determination in her eyes, awaiting his next move.
Jun Xiaomo knew that given how Ke Xinwen loved appearing to be magnanimous in front of others, it was only going to be a matter of time before he accepted the cup of tea from her.
As expected, after Ke Xinwen had deliberated for a while, he managed to adjust the expressions on his face and eke out a smile before receiving the cup of tea from Jun Xiaomo. Then, he pretended to laugh heartily as he commented, “I’ve also been a little bit irresponsible in my speech earlier – I hope brother Yao doesn’t hold it against me. Your little pet is truly smart and spiritually aware!”
It’s so smart and aware that it even knows what “little b.a.s.t.a.r.d” means! Ke Xinwen gritted his teeth as he silently added in his heart.
Even so, the few martial brothers who were closer to Ke Xinwen stared at Jun Xiaomo with indignation as they wondered in awe how magnanimous their martial brother had to be if he could find it in him to forgive that person in front of their eyes right now.
Furthermore, because of how close they were to Ke Xinwen, they naturally felt aggrieved for him.
On the other hand, Jun Xiaomo was actually trying to suppress the laughter in her heart so much that she felt like she was going to suffer from an aneurysm. How could she not see the pretentiousness in Ke Xinwen’s “magnanimity” here?
In her heart, Jun Xiaomo hoped that Ke Xinwen would not succ.u.mb to his anger, or it would no longer be fun for her to get back at Ke Xinwen. Even though Jun Xiaomo stuck out her tongue at Ke Xinwen in her heart, her facial expressions remained completely sincere and apologetic.
Just this moment, Qin Lingyu, who had been watching the drama unfurl at the side, finally spoke up. He spoke with a cool and suave charm about him, “Alright, brother Yao is a friend that we’ve just met, and there’s no need to let this small incident affect our relations.h.i.+p. After all, having another friend is always better than having another enemy. Isn’t that right, brother Yao?”
On the surface, Qin Lingyu’s words seemed to be mediating the conflict. However, if one looked below the surface, it would be apparent that the very last statement consisted of a double entendre which was used to threaten Jun Xiaomo and warn her that if she did not appreciate the kindness extended to her right now, they would become enemies.
Jun Xiaomo silently gritted her teeth as she suddenly found this sc.u.mbag Qin Lingyu to be even more hateful – his threats were so skillful that they exceeded Ke Xinwen’s abilities by a magnitude of ten times or more!
Forget it. The current Jun Xiaomo was unable to deal with both Qin Lingyu and Ke Xinwen at the same time, and it would be wise to bide her time.
Once Jun Xiaomo made up her mind, she looked over at Qin Lingyu with a smile on her face as she responded, “Brother Qin is right. Having another friend is definitely better than having another enemy.”
After hearing Qin Lingyu’s words, the other disciples from Dawn Sect also stopped looking at Jun Xiaomo with hatred in their eyes, and they picked up their teacups and drank the tea that had already become lukewarm by now.
Qin Lingyu was the First-Seat Disciple of the Sect Leader of Dawn Sect after all, and his words naturally carried much more authority than anyone else present. Since he had already evinced an intention to stop pursuing this issue, then what more could the other disciples do?
Yet Ke Xinwen’s heart swelled with indignation once more as he felt that Qin Lingyu seemed to have come out above him yet again.
Yu Wanrou also heard Qin Lingyu words. After thinking about it, she looked up gently at Jun Xiaomo as she said softly, “Brother Yao, actually this entire incident started because of me. If not for the fact that I thought this little packrat was cute and wanted to take a closer look and cuddle it, you and brother Ke wouldn’t have had such a big argument.”
Jun Xiaomo immediately ridiculed her in her heart – I’m glad you know.
Ridiculing in her heart was one thing; but Jun Xiaomo had to be careful of what she expressed outwardly to others. She collected the frustrations in her heart before she flicked open her fan and said charmingly, “That’s where the beauty is wrong. In this incident, I was wrong, and the little packrat was wrong, but the beauty isn’t wrong. In fact, that my packrat’s willfulness had caused this beauty such sorrow is truly Yao Mo’s transgression.”
This move by Jun Xiaomo was modelled after the aristocratic princes from her previous life. When she was escaping for her life, she had also met with several people who had not recognized her ident.i.ty as the Lady Demoness. Among these people, some aristocratic princes even openly teased her with ‘beauty-this’ and ‘beauty-that’, causing her to feel so upset that she wished she could just take an open swipe at them and knock them all the way to Java Island.
Jun Xiaomo was not aware of how others would normally act in front of “beauties” like Yu Wanrou, and how one should respond. Therefore, she could only learn from her own experience and model her behaviour after some of these old aristocratic princes.
What Jun Xiaomo did not expect was that this turned out to be more effective than she thought. She could see how Yu Wanrou’s face immediately flushed red again, saying, “Brother Yao is teasing me. With such a sweet tongue, I bet brother Yao must have a lot of suitors chasing after him.”
Jun Xiaomo: …… Don’t I know it?
Jun Xiaomo instinctively raised her fan slightly to obscure her twitching lips once again, as she thought that Yu Wanrou’s responses today seemed to challenge what she knew of Yu Wanrou in the first place.
In fact, what Jun Xiaomo did not know was that her Alteration Talisman was drawn so well that her present appearances could be considered above average, even among all the good-looking people in the cultivation world –
A sixteen years-old young man, cherry-red lips and pearlescent-white teeth, suave and charming appearances replete with cherry blossom eyes that were filled with a deep, profound gaze. These were all attributes that could easily charm a young lady and make her fall in love. Above all that, Jun Xiaomo’s upbringing had imbued her with a dignified air like an aristocratic prince. Therefore, when Yao Mo raised his eyebrows earlier and hooked his lips in a charming smile, his looks momentarily left Yu Wanrou flushed with embarra.s.sment.
The final appearance from an Alteration Talisman was affected by a number of factors, including the user’s own appearances, the quality of the Alteration Talisman, and the grade of the Alteration Talisman. If the Alteration Talisman’s grade is too low, even if the user was a handsome man or a beautiful lady, the end result would still very well be that of an ugly appearance.
Jun Xiaomo had been extremely concerned with the Alteration Talisman losing their effects prematurely, and she prepared these talismans with the utmost care. She drew each stroke of the brush extremely conscientiously and meticulously; she imbued the talismans with a considerable amount of spiritual energy, and she even used talisman paper of a high quality. Furthermore, even though Jun Xiaomo had not reached the age of maturity, her tender looks could nevertheless be considered quite good-looking.
Therefore, under the confluence of all these factors, Jun Xiaomo’s present appearance was extremely charming and suave. If one overlooked Yao Mo’s earlier imposing disposition and sharp tongue, and focused on how Yao Mo was sitting there in a dignified manner, waving his fan leisurely with a warm smile on his face, Yao Mo’s deep gaze at any lady right now would immediately cause sparks to fly and charm that lady so much so that she cannot help but think that “he likes me”.
The most important point was that many female cultivators swooned over male cultivators with unique personalities, a sweet tongue, and a slightly “bad boy” personality.
Yu Wanrou was not a faithful person. It was quite evident from the harem of male cultivators she had under her skirt in her previous life that she enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded and fawned over by throngs of male cultivators. Therefore, when Yao Mo kept calling her a beauty, she could not help but begin to feel moved by Yao Mo.
Despite Yao Mo’s low cultivation, the fact that he was able to rescue Ye Xiuwen meant that his abilities were more than meets the eye. Yu Wanrou’s bit down on her lower lip as these thoughts crossed her mind, and a gleam flashed across her eyes.
Jun Xiaomo never thought that Yu Wanrou would actually make her male persona one of her targets of pursuit. At present, she only wanted to know whether she would be able to live to see the next day –
As Yu Wanrou’s words left her mouth, Jun Xiaomo immediately received two threatening gazes staring daggers at him.
The first gaze was from Qin Lingyu, whose gaze was like the cold gaze of a deadly, poisonous snake waiting to strike; while the second gaze came from Ke Xinwen, whose fiery gaze looked like he wanted Jun Xiaomo to spontaneously combust and die.
Haha! Who would have thought that I would be lucky enough to experience this amalgamation of ice and fire!
Indeed, Jun Xiaomo and Yu Wanrou were not fated to be with each other. Despite her changed persona right now, Yu Wanrou still somehow managed to implicate and heap hostility on her.