The moment the livestream started, the chat flooded the screen.
【Your Strong One Has Arrived: Streamer! Streamer! I’ve been waiting for you forever!】
【Who Do You Think You Are: Now this is unusual. The Streamer is always punctual, yet today’s broadcast started a quarter of an hour early.】
【Big Sis, Step on Me: Holy crap! What kind of heavenly scene is this today? The male lead and Female Lead are actually in the same frame! Big Sis’s profile… I’d gladly let her kill me a thousand times!】
【Xiaoxiao: The Streamer started early just to show us this huge piece of gossip! Didn’t you notice? Those two are in the middle of a cold war right now. Their eyes are practically wrestling with each other. Waaah… what a fan-loving Streamer. I’m officially in love~】
The expedition had split cleanly into two distinct groups.
Standing motionless between them, Xie Zhengxing and her group instantly became the most conspicuous targets in the entire gathering.
Chu Moyun’s gaze landed on Xie Zhengxing.
A flash of disbelief flickered across his eyes.
So…
The early Qi Refinement disciple whom Elder Sun had “specially” inserted into the team…
Was actually Xie Zhengxing.
She had really managed to scheme her way into the Inner Sect?
Beside him, Luo Jingxin’s eyes were as red as water-soaked cherries.
Without drawing attention, she stole a glance at Chu Moyun.
When she saw that his eyes were practically glued to that newly promoted Junior Sister, her heart turned colder than an ice cellar.
She had already investigated everything.
The horse-faced girl she had encountered in the servants’ quarters that day was never the one who had cured Chu Moyun’s poison.
The real person…
Was Xie Zhengxing.
Everything that day had been a misunderstanding.
She had foolishly been waiting for him to lower his head and apologize.
But now it was obvious.
His heart was no longer with her.
Meeting Luo Jingxin’s gaze—a mixture of sorrow and envy—Xie Zhengxing’s mouth twitched.
What a pair of lunatics.
This plotline was too minor to have existed in the original novel.
It had probably been automatically created by the world after her entry into the Inner Sect produced a butterfly effect.
But now…
Xie Zhengxing felt as though the world’s storyline held nothing but malice toward her.
It seemed utterly determined to force her into becoming another prop in the male lead and Female Lead’s romantic drama.
She pinched the spot between her nose and upper lip.
Just to keep herself from fainting.
【Xiaoxiao: The Streamer’s disgusted little expression is so adorable.】
【Awake at 3 A.M.: Xingxing’s inner thoughts: “Seriously? I’m just an innocent gossip camera. You two can keep your melodrama to yourselves~”】
She pinched her philtrum even harder, afraid that this absurd development might knock her unconscious at any moment.
【Xiaoxiao: Hahahaha! That disgusted little expression is illegally cute!】
【Awake at 3 A.M.: Xingxing: Thanks, but no thanks! I’m just an innocent gossip camerawoman. Leave me out of your ridiculous romance!】
Chu Moyun and Luo Jingxin boarded the flying vessel together with the elite disciples.
The two silently chose seats as far apart as possible.
One sat as cold as ice.
The other looked as though tears might fall at any second.
The Shanghui Sect’s elite disciples clustered around them like stars surrounding the moon, eagerly serving tea, offering concern, and fussing over them nonstop.
Meanwhile, Xie Zhengxing’s group of five consciously kept to themselves.
They huddled together in one corner of the flying vessel, whispering among themselves.
Du Xinbao’s mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.
“My goodness! I can’t believe Senior Brother Chu and Senior Sister Luo are leading this mission!”
Wang Sui shrank his neck.
“…What’s wrong with those two? They look like they’ve had the biggest fight in history…”
Liu Wan lowered her voice.
“I heard that during his last expedition, Senior Brother Chu was afflicted with aphrodisiac poison. When he returned to the sect, he couldn’t hold on anymore and collapsed in the servants’ quarters. A female disciple saved him, and afterward he insisted on taking her as his Concubine. Senior Sister Luo was universally recognized as his future Dao Companion, so of course everything fell apart after that.”
Du Xinbao’s gossip-loving soul ignited instantly.
“Servants’ quarters? Which area? I’ve been busy preparing for the Outer Sect promotion tournament lately, so I completely missed this gossip!”
After thinking carefully, Liu Wan replied,
“I think… it was the servants’ quarters near Qingfeng Courtyard.”
Qingfeng Courtyard.
The other four people immediately turned in perfect synchronization.
Every pair of eyes locked onto Xie Zhengxing.
Du Xinbao poked her arm.
“Xingxing, didn’t you come from Qingfeng Courtyard? Do you know anything about this?”
All four pairs of eyes sparkled brightly.
Every single one clearly screamed:
Tell us the juicy details!
Keeping a perfectly straight face, Xie Zhengxing calmly answered with two words.
“I do.”
Then she pointed at herself.
“The servant everyone keeps saying cured his poison…
…was me.”
The four of them froze.
“…?!!!!”
Xie Zhengxing continued,
“Don’t get excited just yet. The important part is—I wasn’t the one who actually cured his poison. Something else did.”
She paused.
“The ‘loofah sponge.'”
“And later, the person who married him as his Concubine wasn’t me either. It was another female servant from our courtyard.”
A girl’s reputation was extremely important.
Xie Zhengxing felt obligated to make that perfectly clear.
【Even Dogs Get Kicked While Passing By: HAHAHAHAHA! ‘Something else did’—the freaking loofah sponge! I’m dying!】
【Xiaoxiao: Incredible! They wanted gossip, and it turned out the gossip was literally sitting beside them! What a profit!】
【A Salted Fish: Help! Those four expressions went from eager curiosity to utter shock and finally complete mental shutdown. I could laugh about this for an entire year!】
In the end, it took Xie Zhengxing quite a while before Du Xinbao, Liu Wan, and the others finally accepted the existence of the legendary “loofah sponge.”
The flying vessel continued its journey.
Along the way, Chu Moyun looked toward Xie Zhengxing’s group more than once.
She had always carried herself with dignity.
She had never once approached him of her own accord.
So…
Was she deliberately playing hard to get?
Or did she genuinely have no interest in him?
Chu Moyun believed it had to be the former.
However…
Why were those strange friends of hers looking at him like that?
He frowned.
For some reason…
He felt as though their gazes kept drifting toward his lower body.
Mixed within them were inexplicable teasing…
…and something almost indecent.
His face immediately darkened.
Crossing his legs, he deliberately blocked their line of sight.
After that…
He never looked toward them again.
The flying vessel finally descended into Gulolin Realm.
A city of weathered green walls came into view.
As Xie Zhengxing stepped off the vessel, only one feeling filled her mind.
Noise.
Not the noise of bustling crowds.
Instead…
It was the cacophony echoing from every direction—including the twisted forests in the distance.
Countless inhuman sounds.
Creatures crawling.
Grinding their teeth.
Roaring.
Demonic beasts continued launching relentless assaults against the city.
Several defensive positions had already fallen.
The soldiers were desperately understaffed.
The entire city reeked of blood and scorched fur.
Corpses of civilians lay scattered everywhere.
The people suffered beyond measure.
Chu Moyun frowned deeply.
The lines of his profile tightened.
Luo Jingxin gazed toward the charred forest in the distance.
Her eyes reddened once again.
Whether she was grieving for the suffering people…
Or once more mourning her disastrous romance…
No one could tell.
【Awake at 3 A.M.: This reminds me of the war on my home planet. Whether a nation prospers or falls, it’s always the common people who suffer.】
【Exotic Beast Enthusiast: SO MANY DEMONIC BEASTS!!!!!! My eyes can’t even keep up! This is amazing today! Kill them! Kill them all!】
【Xiaoxiao: Beast Bro looks so fired up that he wants to jump into the battlefield himself.】
【Riding Grandma Across the Galaxy: Well, he’s the kind of guy who once posted both six-pack photos and cross-dressing selfies just because of demonic beasts.】
The elite disciples likewise felt grief as they surveyed Gulolin Realm.
“Let’s kill them.”
“Kill!”
“We came here to save the people.”
With that, they all raised their weapons and rushed into battle against the demonic beasts.
Wang Sui was visibly terrified.
Standing behind Wu Lishan, his legs trembled uncontrollably.
Liu Wan and Du Xinbao instinctively turned toward Xie Zhengxing.
Although Xie Zhengxing officially possessed the lowest cultivation among them…
All of them knew perfectly well.
She was actually the strongest person in their group.
Without thinking, they instinctively sought her guidance.
Xie Zhengxing said calmly,
“Don’t be afraid. Fight exactly as I instruct you.”
As she spoke, she brushed aside her hair.
At the same time, she activated the Quantum Sonar Surveillance Earring, directly receiving the energy-wave map generated by the device into her mind.
One stick of incense later…
She looked toward Du Xinbao.
“Xinbao, something’s underground near the western city wall. Deal with it before it gets inside.”
Du Xinbao nodded enthusiastically.
“Mission accepted!”
Xie Zhengxing continued,
“Wanwan, go to the northeastern corner. Stay farther away from the forest and find somewhere high. Watch whether any demonic beasts chase people out of the woods. If they do, alert the nearby Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, then withdraw and go help Xinbao.”
Liu Wan nodded.
“Understood.”
“Dashan, you’re strong and steady on your feet. In about fifteen minutes, a huge wave of demonic beasts will attack the city. Help the soldiers and the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters defend the main gate.”
Wu Lishan answered solemnly,
“Mm.”
Finally…
Her gaze fell upon Wang Sui’s pale face.
“Wang Sui, your job is to eliminate the scattered demonic beasts wandering inside the city.”
She patted his shoulder encouragingly.
“Don’t be afraid. You made it into the top fifteen, so your strength is absolutely good enough. Believe in yourself.”
Wang Sui had barely squeezed into the top fifteen.
His strength wasn’t weak.
His greatest problem was simply his lack of confidence.
But running away would never solve anything.
Eventually…
He had to learn to face it.
Xie Zhengxing had no intention of treating him differently.
At most, she simply assigned him a less stressful task.
“Move out!”
The four immediately acknowledged the order.
In an instant, they scattered in four different directions.
【Eaves: Reasonable assignment. The Streamer actually has a brain.】
【Who Do You Think You Are: Then what about you, Streamer? What are you planning to do?】
Xie Zhengxing answered with complete seriousness.
“As for me?”
“Naturally…”
“I’m going to fight alongside the male lead and Female Lead at the front lines of the demon extermination battlefield.”