"Mudan, sweetheart! Are you ready to pay up?" The door-busting culprit hummed frivolously with a foot still in midair.
He wore the same pale-blue robe as Mudan. His hair was pulled lazily into a long ponytail. Loose, black strands danced around his slender face, giving him a mischievous look. With vibrant eyes, a cheeky smile played at his lips.
Xinyu wanted to kick his pretty face. How dare he ruin her precious meat!
"Hah! I don't have to pay you anything, fool!" Mudan stood up and replied coolly, not in the least bit bothered about the food as Xinyu was.
At last, he had finally come! It was time to knock some sense into that dense head of his!
"Aww, that's not fair. We made a bet!" The young man frowned indignantly. "You said that if one of us didn't bring a candidate for the qualification exams this year, then they would owe the other a favor! I've already chosen my candidate, so you have to marry me!"
An arrogant smile pulled at Mudan's peony-tinted lips.
"Very funny, Jiafeng. I've already chosen a candidate too, so there will be no marriage!" She retorted and crossed her arms proudly across her chest.
Xinyu's eyes sparked with realization.
"Ahah! So Mudan did have an ulterior motive after all!" Xinyu mused to herself. "She was using me to avoid a marriage with this meat murderer! I was right all along! Of course, no one would be so friendly as to offer a free ride to their esteemed sect." She wanted to give herself a pat on the back. Her intuition was always right!
However, Xinyu would bear no grudges. If she were Mudan, she wouldn't want to marry such an uncultured man either. He didn't even apologize for ruining her precious meat! How rude!
Mudan felt a little embarrassed when she saw Xinyu's look of realization.
Indeed, she had ulterior motives when she pleaded Xinyu to leave with her—it was all because of this bet! Mudan had no words of defense. She had searched long and far these past few days to find a suitable candidate. Sadly, no one was good enough. Just when she was gonna return to the sect in defeat, Xinyu caught her eyes.
Fortunately, that stupid Dou Luyi was at Shuijing City creating a ruckus. What a coincidence! It let her see such a great talent and provided her with an opportunity to approach Xinyu. She was her last hope in avoiding this marriage-obsessed man!
Although she couldn't sense any Qing energy from her, Mudan could tell that Xinyu was not one to mess with after witnessing her in battle. She even confirmed it with Long Yi, her father's personal bodyguard; and he was an expert-level cultivator, the fifth level of cultivation! According to him, Xinyu's martial arts were indeed spectacular. One could only wonder how good Xinyu would be if she released her Qing energy.
Jiafeng was oblivious to their internal thoughts as he continued talking.
"A candidate? Where is he then?" Jiafeng glanced over the room. His vibrant eyes looked for anything that could possibly be this candidate. Finally, his gaze rested on Xinyu.
"You mean this little girl?" He laughed as if it was the most ridiculous thought to have crossed his mind. "You think this little girl can pass the entrance exams and become a disciple at our White Cloud Sect? Sweetheart, are you so desperate that you had to resort to choosing a child? How old is she? Twelve? Thirteen?"
Although his words were ridiculing, his laugh was very charming. With just one glance at that pretty face with that charming laugh, girls would be fawning all over him. Even Mudan wasn't fully immune to his good looks when he laughed. A tinge of pink flushed her already-rosy complexion.
"Hey, don't underestimate my candidate, Jiafeng. I've seen her fight before. She moves like the river that courses through a valley without ever having to exert any external force upon her enemies," Mudan defended.
Jiafeng wasn't convinced though. He eyed Xinyu incredulously and walked towards her with a hand on his chiseled chin, a hint of mockery in his gaze. "Really now?"
Curious about this candidate, Jiafeng reached a hand over to examine Xinyu.
Xinyu sent Jiafeng a death glare and knocked away his hand before it could come any closer.
By this point, she was getting irritated. Usually, she would not be bothered if someone looked down on her, but her mood was already soured. Her precious meat looked so sad upon the rubbish on the ground!
Reaching for the jade flute in her sleeve, she swung it ferociously.
Surprise showed on Jiafeng's pretty face as he jumped back at the attack. Xinyu didn't give him time to catch his breath and lunged forward with a strike of the jade flute again.
"So fast!" Jiafeng thought and quickly unsheathed the long sword on his slender waist; he barely blocked the attack. "She moves like a river coursing through a valley without exerting any external force? What a joke! Every strike she makes is akin to a tiger's bite! Unyielding and fierce!"
Jiafeng clicked his tongue; his sword-like brows furrowed.
Mudan was even more surprised. When Xinyu was fighting Dou Luyi at Shuijing City, she was always on the defense. She was never this aggressive! What made her go on the offense?
Jiafeng quickly gathered his wits and finally counterattacked Xinyu's powerful attacks with a graceful underarm sweep of his long sword. It glided effortlessly in the air as the lanterns' flickering lights sheened upon its smooth surface.
Xinyu slipped to the side to dodge the strike but was a tad too slow as the sword sliced off a lock of her umber hair. The blade barely missed her face. Had she been just a bit slower, her face would have been disfigured.
"Despicable!" Xinyu spat in her mind. Does he not know how valuable a girl's face was? Yet, he dared to aim at her face! Xinyu was never one to care for her appearance, but to blatantly aim for a girl's face? Utterly despicable! Another thing to add to this meat murderer's list of crimes!
Xinyu swung the jade flute again, and the farce continued.
After a few more exchanges, Jiafeng started to admire this little girl. He had to admit, Xinyu was quite skilled. Despite using a jade flute as a weapon, she held and wielded it like a true swordsman. Although her fighting style was a bit strange, she was able to fight head-to-head with him, and he was known as a swordsman prodigy throughout the Mortal Realm! Even among the immortals!
The clashing of metal on jade resounded in the room. It was only when the two were holding their weapons upon each other's throats that the fighting ceased.
Xinyu frowned. She looked like an indignant child.
Unlike that useless bug at Shuijing City, this meat murderer was on a whole other level! She wouldn't be able to beat him easily unless they planned to kill each other. Unfortunately, she wasn't planning on dying or dirtying her hands with blood tonight.
"Quite a feisty one, huh?" Jiafeng cracked a handsome smile. This time it wasn't full of mockery or ridicule; it was a genuine smile filled with mirth that lit up the room. "Some skills you got there, little girl."
Xinyu was not impressed. Her frown only deepened.
Mudan watched in bewilderment on the side.
Although her swordsmanship wasn't particularly weak, Mudan could never win against Jiafeng in a battle of swords. She had practiced since she was a child, but her swordsmanship wasn't something to gawk at. Yet, there Xinyu was, fighting on par with Jiafeng in a battle of swords! And she was still so young! What a gem she has picked up!
Mudan felt a sense of pride rise in her chest.
"What did I tell you? You shouldn't underestimate her!" She scoffed and straightened her back proudly.
"Indeed, it was my mistake," Jiafeng chuckled at the sight of his bride-to-be. How cute she was, puffing her chest in delight as if it was her child who had accomplished great things.
His vibrant eyes turned back to Xinyu's childish face. "What's your name, little girl? Who's your master?"
"Apologize," Xinyu mumbled.
"Hm? What was that?" Jiafeng asked earnestly.
"Apologize!" Xinyu raised her voice.
Jiafeng and Mudan were speechless. Apologize for what?
"You meat murderer! Are you blind? Do you not see that beautiful piece of grilled chicken laying so sadly on the floor?!" Xinyu yelled when Jiafeng was still oblivious to his crime.