Sang Nian decided she needed to stage a rescue for this completely flipped-on-its-head plotline.
In a rush, she spilled everything that had just happened, laying out the details and vehemently emphasizing that she was the actual innocent victim who had been forcefully abducted.
Wen Buyu and the others exchanged glances.
“And who might this be?”
They gestured toward Xie Chenzhou, who had been leaning quietly against a tree the entire time without uttering a single word.
Sang Nian opened her mouth to introduce him, but her brain stalled for a second. Stuttering slightly, she managed:
“He’s… a friend of mine. He was kidnapped by this demon too.”
Xie Chenzhou raised a brow, but he didn’t contradict her.
After hearing her story, an awkward silence settled over the group.
Sang Nian broke into a cold sweat internally.
According to the original novel, the protagonist squad felt pure disgust the moment they laid eyes on the original owner, even regretting that they had bothered to save her in the first place.
Would they… actually believe her?
The moment the thought crossed her mind, she acutely felt a pair of eyes latching onto her. Lifting her gaze, she saw Chu Yao staring straight at her, eyes narrowed to slits.
Sang Nian swallowed hard. > “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Under her nervous gaze, Chu Yao slowly opened her mouth:
“Such effortless poise.”
Sang Nian: “?”
“Such an exquisite posture!” Su Xueyin clapped enthusiastically.
Sang Nian: “.”
“And such a robust, healthy physique.” Wen Buyu sighed in admiration, wringing his hands.
Sang Nian: “…”
Suddenly, she felt a little flattered.
The atmosphere brightened in an instant. Wen Buyu seemed to notice something, letting out an inquisitive “Oh?”, and offered a shy, bashful smile to the man in pink:
“Fancy meeting you again, brother.”
Hearing his voice, the man in pink forced his eyes open.
The second he caught sight of Wen Buyu’s face, he rolled his eyes straight back into his head and fainted on the spot.
Curious, Sang Nian asked, > “You two know each other?”
Wen Buyu explained:
“We happened to cross paths with this gentleman earlier, and we have him to thank for pointing us in the right direction. But for some reason, he suddenly went wild and tried to ambush me.”
Su Xueyin chimed in:
“Senior Brother barely exchanged a few moves with him before he bolted, claiming his mother was calling him home for dinner. He was in an awful rush.”
No wonder the poor kid had come back with a bruised face and a swollen nose—he’d already taken a thorough beating prior to this.
Sang Nian let out a long, heavy sigh.
“So, what do we do now?” Chu Yao asked. > “I’m certainly not carrying him while we travel. We might as well just kill him right here.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the man in pink on the ground let out a squeak and snapped awake, offering a sheepish grin:
“Actually… I can walk myself.”
Chu Yao’s willow-leaf brows arched in fury as she instantly drew her sword, ready to hack him to pieces:
“You lecherous scoundrel! How dare you kidnap an upstanding maiden—and the upstanding maiden’s good friend, an upstanding young man! I’m chopping you up right now!”
Just as she raised her blade, Su Xueyin expertly dove forward to cling to her thigh, shouting in a rapid-fire stream:
“Senior Sister, please calm down!”
“Hold on! I still have two things to say!” the man in pink yelled out.
Chu Yao sneered: > “A blockhead like you thinks you’re worthy of speaking to us? Go ******* yourself.”
Wen Buyu pinched the bridge of his nose: > “Junior Sister, how many times do I have to tell you? Manners.”
“Got it,” Chu Yao replied.
Then she planted a foot squarely on the man in pink’s face. > “What does your idiot self want to say?”
“First of all, I am not an idiot.”
“Second of all, I have never harmed a single person!”
The man in pink burst into loud, bitter tears:
“I was originally an innocent, pure-hearted octopus prince in the East China Sea! Because I’ve always longed for the land, I turned down a marriage alliance with a squid last month, snuck out of the ocean, and came ashore to find true love. Besides, I’m a very loyal demon—I only fancy these two right here, and I never intended to capture anyone else!”
“When you get right down to it, I just really appreciate good-looking people!”
At this, the octopus prince suddenly puffed out his chest, looking entirely righteous:
“I’m a fine catch of a fish, not after your money or your life. What’s wrong with a little appreciation for beauty?”
“Don’t you appreciate beauty?” he demanded of Chu Yao.
“Don’t you appreciate beauty?” he asked Wen Buyu.
“Don’t you appreciate beauty?” he turned to Su Xueyin.
“Don’t you—”
“Alright, you can skip asking the two of us,” Sang Nian interrupted, wiping away a nervous sweat of guilt.
This string of questioning was nothing short of earth-shattering.
A profound silence fell over the group.
Only Wen Buyu fell into deep, earnest contemplation. After a moment, he gave a quiet, subtle nod, as if having arrived at some profound resolution.
He helped the octopus prince up, considerately plucked a stray blade of grass from his hair, and then pulled a gleaming, freshly sharpened axe from his sleeve.
Under the other’s terrified gaze, he raised the axe, offered a gentle smile, and spoke in a tone that remained utterly polite and bashful:
“You make a fair point, but to prevent your wandering eye from causing any catastrophic trouble in the future, I think it’s best today if I simply remove this root of all your troubles.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt much. My axe is very sharp.”
The octopus demon: “…”
Without a single moment of hesitation, he spun around and bolted, two long streams of hot tears spraying into the wind as his scream practically tore his throat open:
“I won’t do it anymore! I really won’t do it anymore! I’m going back to the ocean tomorrow—no, today!! The land is way too terrifying, I am never coming ashore again for the rest of my life!!!!!”
Sang Nian, standing a few paces behind: …..
The general vibe of this protagonist squad seemed a bit different from how it was described in the book.
According to the original novel, the female lead Su Xueyin was as cold and aloof as an immortal; the male lead Wen Buyu was gentle, weak, and scholarly; and the second female lead Chu Yao was soft, fluffy, and cute.
Yet right now…
She looked at Wen Buyu, who was covered in bulging muscles as he chased the octopus demon down with an axe.
Ah yes, gentle, weak, and scholarly.
She looked over at Chu Yao, whose every other word was censored as she flew into a blind rage at the slightest provocation.
Ah yes, soft, fluffy, and cute.
Finally, she glanced at Su Xueyin, who was expertly executing a bare-handed blade catch while clinging onto Chu Yao’s thigh.
Ah yes, cold and aloof as an immortal.
Sang Nian felt terribly conflicted.
How should she put this character setting?
The entire cast had completely derailed.
Though, if you looked at it from another angle, how was this not a shining manifestation of true team spirit?
“Niannian!”
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out beside her ear.
The winds and clouds shifted abruptly in an instant, and a massive patch of dark clouds came hurtling across the sky. Looking closer, it was actually a large contingent of cultivators flying on spiritual swords.
Down on the ground, countless armored soldiers surged forward, led at the very front by City Lord Sang himself.
The display of force was so overwhelming that Wen Buyu got distracted for a split second. Seizing the opening, the octopus demon violently twisted his body, leaped right into a nearby stream, and vanished with the rushing current.
City Lord Sang gave his subordinates a subtle look, and a team immediately peeled off to give chase.
He strode right up to Sang Nian, gripped her shoulders, and looked her up and down. Seeing that she was disheveled but otherwise completely unharmed, he let out a long, heavy breath of relief, his eyes swimming with deep distress:
“You’ve suffered.”
Sang Nian quickly hid her scraped hand and shook her head with a well-behaved smile: > “Brother, I’m fine.”
City Lord Sang’s gaze shifted to Xie Chenzhou, his face turning as dark as water:
“Is this how you protect Niannian?”
The corners of Xie Chenzhou’s mouth pressed into a hard, straight line, remaining completely silent.
This attitude only stoked City Lord Sang’s fury even higher as he raised a hand: > “You—”
“Brother!”
Sang Nian lunged forward to wrap her arms tightly around his sleeve.
“Look at these young heroes!”
She frantically changed the subject, steering the conversation straight toward Wen Buyu and the others:
“They just happened to be passing by and beat up the monster for us! We have to properly thank them!”
With outsiders present, City Lord Sang managed to swallow his anger, his expression softening a fraction:
“Many thanks to the young heroes for saving my little sister. If you don’t mind, please come back to the estate for a cup of wine before you continue on your way.”
Wen Buyu cupped his fists:
“Thank you for the City Lord’s kind offer, but such a small matter isn’t worth mentioning. The wine won’t be necessary, we still have a journey to—”
Before his final syllable could even finish fading out, he had already been hoisted straight into a luxurious carriage.
Wen Buyu blinked, a look of utter bewilderment flashing across his face.
Nearby, Chu Yao was sprawled out across a plush daybed in a starfish position:
“Senior Brother, let’s just go back with them. I’ve been wandering in those woods for three days and three nights, I honestly don’t have the strength to walk another step.”
Su Xueyin was busy massaging her legs, chiming in repeatedly in agreement:
“Senior Sister is right, we really should take a moment to rest and regroup.”
Unable to argue with them, Wen Buyu had no choice but to compromise. He glanced around the surroundings and asked with a curious tilt of his head:
“Where are Young Master Xie and Miss Sang? Aren’t they getting in?”
Outside the carriage.
Sang Nian pulled City Lord Sang off to the side.
“Brother, the only reason I managed to escape safe and sound this time was thanks to Xie Chenzhou. He’s not at all what you think—he helped me out a lot, and I’m really grateful to him,” she said earnestly.
City Lord Sang remained unimpressed: > “That was his basic duty.”
Sang Nian pressed on: > “Anyway, you are not allowed to make things difficult for him or give him attitude from now on, understand?”
City Lord Sang sensed something was amiss: > “What on earth is going on here?”
Sang Nian was left speechless, choking on her own words.
What else could be going on?
Xie Chenzhou is the kind of guy who would literally throw away his own brain if you gave him the chance!