This slap fanned Fan Shuyun until stars burst before his eyes, his nose gushing blood, both ears stuffed as if with a hundred buzzing bees.
Feng Fuyue and Cao Xianliu both started in shock and stepped forward to block her. “What are you doing?!”
Fan Shuyun flew into a rage. “Have you gone mad?!”
In terms of cultivation, all three far surpassed her, yet Liu Qiao’e neither retreated nor dodged. She merely sneered coldly, and in an instant, her hand whipped back with another resounding slap.
“This old lady is beating you! You dare tell your granny to scram?”
Fan Shuyun seethed with shock and fury. “You dare? Are you tired of living?!”
Liu Qiao’e sneered. “Fine, then kill me right here. Your granny stands here with her neck stretched out for you, you dog-raised little bastard.
“Do you dare?!”
Fan Shuyun clutched his face, red and white blotches stark upon it.
Killing Liu Qiao’e would have been no harder for him than pinching an ant to death.
The problem was, he truly did not dare.
Everyone knew the Immaculate Old Mother ruled her subordinates with ruthless severity, forbidding sect disciples from killing one another.
Brawling was allowed; murder was not.
In the first place, this matter stemmed from the three of them acting improperly, so with guilt weighing on their hearts, they were momentarily struck dumb, not knowing what to do.
But to suffer such a great humiliation—how could he swallow it?!
That formerly handsome face had swollen into half a pig’s head. Fan Shuyun raised his sleeve to wipe the blood from his face and nearly ground his silver teeth to bits.
Feng Fuyue cursed, “You—you, mad bitch! A whore no man would touch even if you spread your legs!”
Liu Qiao’e cursed even more viciously, “I’ll fuck—your dad first, fuck—your mom!”
Feng Fuyue: “You!!!”
As the four quarreled endlessly, a cold, indifferent voice suddenly sounded from behind the trunk of the weeping crabapple tree.
“Killing among fellow sect members is forbidden within Joyous Union Palace.”
That voice carried a haughty arrogance that kept others at a thousand miles’ distance. With the words, a snow-white figure abruptly emerged from behind the tree trunk.
A girl with her cloud-like hair pinned high appeared, her expression aloof as she approached step by step from behind the flowering tree.
“All of you shouting and fighting here—do you not know the sect rules of the palace?”
The girl possessed a pair of limpid autumnal eyes like sheared water, yet they were as cold as frosty moonlight. Her willow brows were faintly furrowed, gathering an indelible trace of melancholy. As she walked, her bearing was dignified and upright, her slender neck slightly raised, lofty and unattainable.
Her words stung the ears, but upon hearing her and seeing her appear, Fan Shuyun did not grow angry. Instead, he started in great surprise and revealed a trace of agitation. “Miss Bai?! When did you arrive here?”
The girl said nothing, merely watching coldly with her eyes. Her countenance was so refined it was a rare beauty seldom seen in the mortal world.
Even in the Joyous Union Sect, where beauties abounded like clouds, she was so striking that no one could tear their gaze away. With such a beauty before them, no matter how much anger burned in one’s heart, it could not be vented now. Fan Shuyun felt this way. So did Feng Fuyue and Cao Xianliu. The three men stared blankly in unison, their expressions softening somewhat, unable to utter another harsh word.
Only after a pause did the girl slowly speak. “I, too, was entrusted by another.”
“Liu Qiao’e.” She turned to Liu Qiao’e, a hint of disgust flickering in her brows and eyes. “Senior Sister Li asked me to pass on a message. She has business with you and hopes you can return to Floating Cloud Valley as soon as possible.”
Among the five present, aside from Fan, Cao, and Feng, only Liu Qiao’e’s expression soured the moment this girl appeared.
Upon hearing her speak, her face darkened even further.
Liu Qiao’e recognized her too—it was none other than Bai Mengli, whom Fan Shuyun had just mentioned.
Fan Shuyun’s overtures toward her had all been to toy with her, but Bai Mengli was the true object of his secret infatuation lately.
Liu Qiao’e disliked Bai Mengli, even hated her.
She and Bai Mengli had entered Joyous Union Palace in the same year and had been assigned to the same disciple quarters, making their relationship closer than with other disciples.
Though Liu Qiao’e’s temperament was sharp and harsh, as a newcomer back then, she naturally wanted to get along well with her roommate. Unexpectedly, Bai Mengli had been stingy with even a glance from the very start.
To this day, Liu Qiao’e still could not fathom why someone like Bai Mengli had joined Joyous Union Palace.
Bai Mengli loathed everyone and everything in the palace, and naturally, that included Liu Qiao’e.
She went about daily with furrowed brows and a sullen demeanor. Liu Qiao’e, seeing her beauty and talent, had initially harbored thoughts of attaching herself to her. Who knew she would be pointedly scorned to her face as a fawning sycophant, a flatterer, hypocritical at heart, and petty in conduct.
That alone might have been bearable.
But living under the same roof, comparisons were inevitable.
Bai Mengli was beautiful, possessing peerless allure. Though aloof in temperament, from the moment she entered the palace, she drew the ardent pursuit of countless male disciples.
This only made Liu Qiao’e’s features seem uglier and more unbearable by contrast. Worse, to curry favor with Bai Mengli, some went out of their way to trample her for no reason. Though they shared a room, Liu Qiao’e felt like a wretched rat skulking in Bai Mengli’s presence.
Liu Qiao’e flew into a rage.
What? Did rats have no dignity?
For this reason, she secretly resolved herself.
She would cultivate diligently, biding her time in silence until she astonished the world, trampling both Bai Mengli and all her suitors beneath her feet.
Alas, her aspirations were beautiful, but reality was cruel.
With her ugly appearance, after three years in the palace, she remained untouched. Along the way, she had carefully selected a few dual cultivation partners and was bashfully awaiting consummation.
Who knew that the moment these men laid eyes on Bai Mengli, their gazes glued to her, and they turned into her simpering lackeys without a backward glance.
Liu Qiao’e fumed with rage but was helpless.
Perhaps Bai Mengli had seen through her petty dark thoughts, for one day, she actually took the initiative to summon a senior brother on whom Liu Qiao’e harbored secret affections.
With even greater disgust, she tossed out, “I’m not interested in the men of Joyous Union Palace. From now on, don’t treat me as your imaginary rival.”
These words struck Liu Qiao’e as the greatest insult. Her face instantly paled, her lips trembled violently, and hatred blazed in her heart.
That senior brother, realizing his date was Liu Qiao’e, naturally grumbled incessantly.
Liu Qiao’e gave him no quarter either. After the two brawled, she stormed off.
To fulfill her wish of trampling Bai Mengli underfoot, she slept barely an hour a day, training through the three volatilities of summer and the three nines of winter, enduring every hardship—yet achieved nothing.
Meanwhile, Bai Mengli’s beauty brought her endless pills, dao books, and magic artifacts piling up like little mountains, though Liu Qiao’e had never heard of her dual cultivating with anyone.
Liu Qiao’e loathed her, hated her to the bone.
What business from Senior Sister Li? Liu Qiao’e sneered inwardly—most likely Li Qingcheng admired Fan Shuyun and had sent Bai Mengli specifically to scout intelligence! Li Qingcheng held some status in the outer sect; Bai Mengli had no choice but to obey.
She despised Bai Mengli’s holier-than-thou attitude most of all.
Sure enough, seeing her unmoved, Bai Mengli’s brows furrowed tighter. “Liu Qiao’e?”
Having put on such an amorous display these past days, exposing her ugly side, and now caught red-handed by Bai Mengli, Liu Qiao’e burned with shame and fury. She wished she could slaughter all of them. “What the hell is Li Qingcheng to order me around?! If you want to be her Li Qingcheng’s dog, go ahead—just don’t drag your granny into it! Get lost!”
Bai Mengli choked with anger. “You!”
“Utterly unreasonable!”
To see such a fine beauty wronged before her eyes, and the culprit so grotesque and crude—it was simply outrageous.
Infuriating.
Fan Shuyun finally reached his limit. “That’s not what she means—what is it then? Miss Bai, don’t fear her!
“Today, we few will surely teach her a proper lesson for you!”
New grudge atop old, and fearing Liu Qiao’e might blurt out their unspeakable wager before Bai Mengli.
The moment Fan Shuyun spoke, heedless of Bai Mengli’s attempts to stop him, he joined Feng Fuyue and Cao Xianliu in surrounding Liu Qiao’e.
Bai Mengli: “Stop!”
Her constitution had never been strong. This shout came out exceedingly feeble. With the others’ rage boiling over, who could hear it clearly?
Fan Shuyun had resolved to give Liu Qiao’e a thorough thrashing to vent. The three’s cultivation far exceeded hers; two fists could not match four limbs. Though Liu Qiao’e resisted fiercely, in a mere instant, she was beaten black and blue.
Spells rained down alongside fists and feet.
Ordinary girls, especially Joyous Union Palace disciples in combat, took great care with their appearances, fearing to ruin their faces. Liu Qiao’e ignored this. Gritting her teeth, she twisted her body amid the downpour of attacks, struggling and dodging.
Even taking a gut punch herself, she repaid with a heavy fist. When her limbs were restrained, she resorted to her silver teeth to bite, tear, and rip. Blood streamed from her nose, but she paid it no mind.
Bai Mengli’s face was unsightly, yet she prided herself on her refinement. For her to wade in and pull apart the brawling four was utterly impossible.
Even before slapping Fan Shuyun, Liu Qiao’e had prepared herself for a beating from the three.
But so what?
Just because she might get beaten, should she swallow this insult?
As long as they did not take her life, even if she ended up bedridden, Liu Qiao’e would land a few heavy blows in return.
The moment the slap rang out, Mu Daoying happened to pass near Heavenly Fragrance Garden. The next second, the woman’s stream of filthy curses washed over his ears like flowing water.
Even Mu Daoying started slightly at the sight.
Born into a scholarly clan with strict family traditions, and after joining Jade Clarity Temple, its disciples all upheld the dao with propriety. Never had he witnessed such crude insults slandering one’s ancestors.
He was exceedingly perceptive. Though passing by midway, from the scattered curses under the tree, he quickly pieced together the whole story.
It turned out these male disciples had made a wager first, insulting and toying with her.
Though Mu Daoying disapproved of Joyous Union Palace’s ways and held no fondness for its disciples, seeing these men bully the weak in broad daylight under the sun, he could not help furrowing his brows, a faint discomfort stirring in his heart.
Just then, a strikingly beautiful woman in white emerged from behind the tree.
The situation shifted again.
The female disciple from before had clashed verbally, only to be surrounded and pummeled by the men.
Yet that female disciple was tough, covered in blood but biting down hard, resisting to the last corner.
In the struggle, half her ugly, pockmarked face flashed by, and Mu Daoying started again, a touch of pity added as he prepared to intervene.
Chen Yuro beside him seemed to read his intent and chuckled lightly. “Immortal Mu truly is a man of integrity and backbone.”
After all, with his spirit aperture sealed, he was a prisoner on others’ turf.
Mu Daoying closed his eyes briefly, suppressing his aversion. “This Daoying did not realize your esteemed sect would stand by and watch its disciples bully the weak.”
Chen Yuro smiled. “I knew Immortal had a kind heart, but I didn’t expect that kindness to extend even to pitying us Joyous Union Palace disciples.”
“No matter what, she is still one of our Joyous Union Palace disciples—our own affair. Isn’t Immortal Mu’s hand reaching a bit too far? Or—does Immortal consider himself one of Joyous Union Palace’s disciples now, knowing he’s imprisoned?”
Mu Daoying was in no way provoked by her words. He merely said calmly, “Whether womb-born or egg-born, all are sentient beings. This humble one acts without regard for factions or origins, only seeking what is right by conscience.”
“What a ‘right by conscience’!” Chen Yuro praised. “Excellent! Our Palace Lord truly did not misjudge you!”
She shot a glance at the attendant disciple beside her.
The disciple understood and immediately headed toward the tree, clearly to intervene in the right and wrong.
Mu Daoying felt slightly relieved and turned to Chen Yuro, saying clearly, “Many thanks to Fellow Daoist Chen for your understanding.”
Chen Yuro merely smiled. “In this Eastern Florescence Realm, with three thousand sects great and small, they all can’t stand our Joyous Union Palace’s ways, branding us as Demonic Sect evildoers.
“But our Joyous Union Palace neither oppresses the common folk nor slaughters innocents. It’s merely the union of yin and yang between men and women, fitting the heavenly dao perfectly. And all by mutual consent. Immortal Mu, aren’t we innocent?”
Mu Daoying fell silent, offering no rebuttal.
Chen Yuro did not mind. She smiled and continued, “Our Immaculate Old Mother is not as evil and brutal as the outside world claims. We invited Immortal Mu today only as a guest.”
Chen Yuro spoke; Mu Daoying merely listened, his expression unchanging. Only at the end did he speak. “Right and wrong abound; this humble one will discern them myself. Fellow Daoist Chen, lead the way.”