Jealousy churned like molten lava in her chest, its scorching breath threatening to burst forth at any moment.
And the hand that Lin Qianqian held had long since been soaked in cold sweat, the clammy sensation filling her with utter disgust.
She had originally thought that Lin Qianqian would, as always, obediently let herself be manipulated.
After all, in this world, only she—Sun Yanran—was the one who understood their Master best, the woman most worthy of him.
But…
Lin Qianqian’s behavior today had made her feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.
In the past, she only needed to drop the slightest hint.
Lin Qianqian would immediately understand her meaning and obediently return to her room, using that thick, ghastly white powder to cover up her so-called “peerless beauty.”
Because only then could her own delicate features stand out, could she shine more brightly before their Master.
But today…
Lin Qianqian merely held her hand in silence, not saying a word?
Her eyes were still as clear as a spring—this made her feel waves of panic.
In those eyes…
There was none of the past timidity?
None of the past obedience toward her?
Only a calm she could not understand, and something else—disdain?
Her heart seized with anxiety. She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging flames of jealousy, and shifted her tone, attempting to seize control of the situation with her usual gentleness.
She had intended to coax with feigned tenderness:
“Little Junior Sister, what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you speaking?
Don’t you usually love dressing up the most? Why haven’t you even applied that thick powder today?
Don’t you want Master to pay more attention to you, to like you more?
How about this—let’s hurry back to your room, and your Senior Sister will help you redo your makeup, alright?”
Yet when the words reached her lips, they suddenly poured out like an uncontrollable flood, transforming into something entirely different.
She violently wrenched her hand free from Lin Qianqian’s grasp and shrieked:
“Lin Qianqian, you little slut, you’ve gotten bold, haven’t you? You dare not answer me?
You dare come out to see people without powder, bare-faced?
Do you want me to drag you into your room and force that thick, ghost-like powder onto your face?
Or…
Should I just take a dagger and slash that face of yours—the one that disgusts me just to look at—and ruin it completely.
So that you’ll be an ugly freak for the rest of your life—will that make you obedient and sensible?”
The moment these vicious words fell, the entire Ink Cloud Hall, inside and out, seemed to fall into a dead silence.
Murong Mo, who was in seclusion cultivating within the Ink Cloud Hall, was so startled that he immediately stopped cultivating, his eyes snapping open, a flicker of disbelief flashing through them.
That voice he had just heard cursing…
That voice filled with malice, venom, and resentment—how could it sound so much like his second disciple, Yanran?
No, impossible!
His second disciple Yanran was his most beloved disciple.
She was gentle and virtuous, understanding and considerate, caring deeply for her senior and junior brothers and sisters—how could she possibly say such vicious words?
It must have been that he accidentally suffered a deviation during cultivation, experiencing auditory hallucinations, hearing wrong!
Or perhaps, he had been angered by Lin Qianqian’s heartless words about severing the master-disciple relationship!
Outside the bedchamber, beneath the corridor.
Zhou Jin stood frozen in place, his handsome face written all over with shock and disbelief.
He had just learned from an inner sect disciple…
That woman of peerless beauty and ethereal grace, like a celestial maiden descended from the nine heavens—was she actually his little junior sister, Lin Qianqian, who covered her face with thick makeup every day?
This news struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, completely overturning his understanding of Lin Qianqian.
He had always thought that his little junior sister was just an ordinary-looking girl who applied thick layers of makeup every day and used every possible method to climb into their master’s bed, annoying him endlessly.
She had even made him feel disgusted, and he had never taken her seriously.
But now, he had witnessed with his own eyes her peerless features beneath the bare face—how could he not be shocked?
However…
Before he could recover from this immense shock—
A sharp, piercing roar exploded in his ears like a thunderclap from flat ground.
Immediately after, he heard the vicious words that Sun Yanran had shouted out.
Zhou Jin.
Had he heard wrong?
This…
Was this still the second junior sister he knew—Sun Yanran?
The second junior sister, who had always been known for her gentleness and sensibility, could actually say such vicious, such vulgar words?
And she was using them to curse their little junior sister?
And also…
The little junior sister covering her face every day with a thick layer of ghastly white powder—was actually the work of the second junior sister?
Why would she do this?
Was it simply because she was jealous of the little junior sister’s beauty?
Outside Ink Cloud Hall, a crowd of inner sect disciples all stood frozen in place, stunned, looking at each other in dismay.
As if under a immobilization spell…
What?
What had they just seen and heard?
Their second senior sister, who had always been known for her gentleness and understanding, had actually cursed Lin Qianqian?
And with such vicious, such unbearable words?
This…
Was this still the second senior sister they knew?
For a moment, all kinds of speculation, doubt, shock, and fear…
Spread through the hearts of the disciples, like a plague, rapidly eroding everyone’s mind.
The entire Ink Cloud Hall was shrouded in a strange atmosphere, and a storm seemed to be brewing.