Nan Yao whipped her arm out in a flash, her fingernails lengthening rapidly as she thrust them with lethal precision straight toward Nan Yao!
“Duck!”
As Nan Yao twisted out of the way, Lu Jingwang’s warning rang out.
Her expression darkened as she stared intently at Lu Jingwang, who had rushed inside. Raising his palm, he manifested a thick, long icicle that plunged straight into the center of An Feiwan’s forehead.
“Gah!” The icicle struck An Feiwan dead center. With a sharp whistling sound, her head spun like a propeller, whirring swish-swish-swish back into its normal orientation. A second later, both her head and body collapsed off the sofa with a heavy thud.
“Are you alright?” Lu Jingwang turned around, the corners of his mouth curling upward as he asked.
Nan Yao kept her face stony. “What do you think?”
Lu Jingwang’s eyes crinkled slightly at the corners, and he couldn’t help breaking into a soft laugh. “Someone swallowed gunpowder today.”
Ignoring him, Nan Yao walked over to An Feiwan and inspected her. She had returned to normal, and there were no major injuries on her body.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill her.” Lu Jingwang lowered his eyes, gazing at An Feiwan on the floor with a touch of pity in his tone. “Though she doesn’t have much time left to live…”
“Not much time left?” A sinister gleam flickered in Nan Yao’s eyes. She stared directly at Lu Jingwang and sneered, “You sure have a lot of secrets.”
“As long as you ask, I’ll answer every single one.”
“…” Nan Yao let out a light huff at Lu Jingwang’s flawless, impenetrable smile. “Forget it.”
She slammed her bedroom door shut, her eyes dark and unreadable.
No one except her and Lu Jingwang knew about An Feiwan’s brief mutation. The others were still laughing and talking downstairs, enjoying the relaxed entertainment while exchanging flirtatious, probing banter.
An Feiwan seemed to have returned to normal as well, laughing and chatting brightly with everyone, as if nothing had happened. Only the two shallow puncture marks on her ankle remained as proof that her mutation had actually occurred.
“Hey, why are you always walking around with a scowl? Come on over and play.”
Wearing rubber-duck swimming trunks, Chu Jie grinned as he sauntered over to Nan Yao. Scanning her outfit, he clicked his tongue in wonder.
“You’re at a pool party and you still wrapped yourself up this tight? We’re all here to have fun, you know. Take a look at the other girls, then look at yourself. You’re clearly in the prime of your youth, so why insist on dressing like a rigid, overbearing headmaster?” Chu Jie exaggerated deliberately.
While the other female guests were all wearing sexy bikinis, she was the only one in a strap-sleeved minidress.
Compared to them, she was indeed on the conservative side.
Chu Jie bit his lower lip, staring at her chest with intense interest. “Though… the top part doesn’t look half bad, revealing a little something…”
“Get lost!” Nan Yao’s gaze turned icy, shooting a razor-sharp glare at him. “Stare at me again and see if I don’t gouge your eyeballs out to feed to the dogs.”
“Hey! Don’t be so ungrateful I’m looking out for you here,” Chu Jie said, raising an eyebrow with an insincere show of goodwill. “I’m just worried you won’t get any attention from the other male guests…”
“Get lost!” Nan Yao snatched up a metal platter of cold drinks off the table and hurled it straight at Chu Jie.
“Ouch! Stop, stop, stop hitting me! Fine, I’m leaving, okay?!”
“Heh, look at her acting like a complete shrew.” Peng Xin found it hilarious, covering her mouth with a laugh as she whispered to the girls next to her.
“I really don’t get what she’s so arrogant about,” An Feiwan pouted with displeasure. “Is she that desperate to make sure she doesn’t get popular when the show airs?”
Peng Xin wore a look of utter disdain. “Hmph, who knows what goes on in that donkey-kicked brain of hers.”
Su Xiao’ai listened and couldn’t help glancing at the two of them, offering a casual reminder: “We’re all girls here, so we should be helping each other out instead.”
Hearing this, An Feiwan instantly changed her tune. “Xiao’ai is right.”
What a spineless opportunist! Peng Xin gritted her teeth. Turning her head, she glared at Nan Yao, who was sitting with her eyes closed by the furthest pool, and a nasty idea suddenly sprang to mind.
She remembered that Nan Yao was terrified of water a total landlubber with zero swimming ability.
“By the way, Xiao’ai, do you think Jiang Ying is the Wolf Prince…”
“Nan Yao.”
Nan Yao remained completely unfazed, treating Peng Xin behind her as mere air.
“Acting so reckless… aren’t you afraid of getting blacklisted from the entire industry once the show wraps up? Even if you have a financial backer, even they won’t be able to save you when the time comes.”
When no response came, Peng Xin was so enraged by Nan Yao’s total indifference that her chest heaved up and down.
You brought this on yourself, Nan Yao! Don’t blame me for being ruthless…
Peng Xin made up her mind. She couldn’t very well pick a physical fight with her in front of everyone.
With that thought, she delivered a hard, decisive kick that sent Nan Yao plunging straight into the pool, fueled by all the resentment and frustration of being picked on by Nan Yao from start to finish!
The loud splash of falling water drew everyone’s attention instantly.
Like a startled rabbit, Peng Xin had already scampered under a sun umbrella, putting on an act of being startled by the sudden noise.
Nan Yao fell into the water in a split second, enveloped by the cool chill of the swimming pool.
Her face remained devoid of expression from beginning to end, but a dense, lethal coldness flickered deep in her eyes.
Swinging her arms and kicking her legs, Nan Yao was just about to swim toward the surface when a pair of scorching hands suddenly grabbed her tightly around the waist.
Who?!
She lashed out violently in an instant, driving her elbow back without a moment’s hesitation! Amid her attack, she caught a glimpse of her assailant from the corner of her eye it was Lu Jingwang.
Let go!
Nan Yao threatened him with a glare, staring fiercely at Lu Jingwang. She put her full weight into the elbow strike, only for it to be blocked by a water barrier. She tried to force the man to let go through her dark, murderous gaze alone.
Lu Jingwang was completely unmoved, acting as though he couldn’t feel the threat radiating from this thorny girl. His hot, firm hands kept a tight hold on her slender waist, pulling her upward toward the surface.
Splash!
The two broke through the water together. Lu Jingwang hooked his hands under Nan Yao’s arms, hoisting her up out of the pool and placing her securely on the deck.
Su Xiao’ai was green with envy. “Total boyfriend energy! I love it~”
Slap!
“Holy shit!” The very next second, Su Xiao’ai gasped in utter shock, her mouth agape at Nan Yao’s actions. “What is going on?!”
Nan Yao slapped Lu Jingwang across the face. What kind of wild plot twist was this?!
“I told you to let go.”
Nan Yao stared down coldly at Lu Jingwang, whose head had been snapped to the side by the slap, emphasizing her words in a low voice.
“That’s completely unreasonable,” Lu Jingwang said, pressing his tongue against his burning cheek as he looked at her with a bewildered expression. “You didn’t say anything.”
“Heh.” Nan Yao let out a cold, sharp laugh. “Don’t touch me again!”
She abruptly stood up and marched straight toward Peng Xin.
The cold, ruthless girl carried a lethal aura in her eyes, making Peng Xin shiver. Instinctively, she took a step back to run.
“What do you think you’re… Aaaaah!!”
Nan Yao grabbed Peng Xin by the hair with practiced speed, raising her hand to land a series of crisp, heavy slaps across her fair, delicate face.
Peng Xin’s face swelled up instantly in a blotchy red, the burning pain forcing tears to spill out of her eyes in a steady stream.
“Nan Yao, I swear I’ll make you pay for this!”
“Still don’t get it?” Nan Yao raised an eyebrow, her expression filled with cold detachment. “Then get in the water and sober up!”
“Ah! Nan Yao! Don’t—!”
Nan Yao planted a kick into Peng Xin, sending her flying backward into the pool, arms and legs sprawling in midair.
Plop! A massive spray of water erupted in all directions. The male and female guests who had been splashing around were left completely dumbfounded, none of them expecting Nan Yao to lash out so relentlessly without the slightest hesitation.
“Nan Yao, I’ll never forgive you!”
“I’m the one who shouldn’t forgive you.” Nan Yao reached out, clamping her hand onto Peng Xin’s jaw. Her cold voice carried a touch of genuine confusion. “Why can’t you just keep your hands to yourself for once?”
“It’s all your fault! If you’re so tough, why don’t you ask anyone here? Who doesn’t know you’re a terrible person? Who doesn’t know you’ve been sabotaging me, stealing my resources, bad-mouthing me, cursing me, and humiliating me ever since I debuted?!”
“Nan Yao, I hate your guts!”
Without realizing it, Peng Xin was already weeping uncontrollably, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Nan Yao reached out and wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes. “Suit yourself. I don’t care.”
She patted Peng Xin’s cheek, the corners of her lips curling into a nonchalant, self-assured smile.
Feeling utterly humiliated, Peng Xin slapped Nan Yao’s hand away and glared at her savagely. “Stop pretending to be so kind and fake! I know exactly what your true face looks like!”
“Tsk, celebrities sure have a lot of messy drama,” Su Xiao’ai complained under her breath. “It would’ve been better with an all-amateur cast…”
“As far as amateurs go, you’re the only qualified one here, Xiao’ai. None of the others deserve the title.”
Liu Xing blinked rapidly, leaning in close like he had stumbled upon juicy gossip. “Jiang, you didn’t fall for Xiao’ai, did you?”
“What, I can’t?” Jiang Ying threw a haughty glare at Liu Xing. “Out of everyone here, Su Xiao’ai is the only one worth looking at. Just look at Nan Yao she’s practically a wild tigress! An Feiwan is a two-faced gossip, and Peng Xin is a complete bitch. Not a single good one among them.”
Liu Xing was left stunned by the blunt outburst, marveling inwardly at how bold big celebrities were. Meanwhile, he walked on eggshells every single day, unable to utter a single word of complaint in front of his manager.