Chapter 74: The Seventy-Fourth Day of Slacking
When everyone left the Mirror World, they all snapped out of the manipulation they’d been under.
Naturally, the residents of Ping’an Town headed home, and the cultivators returned to their respective sects.
By the time Wen Ying stepped out of the Mirror World, only the group from the Xun Xian Sect who had come with her remained.
Wen Ying scanned the area, but there was no sign of Da Hei.
She still had the short flute in her sleeve.
But Da Hei had only said to play it if she needed help with matters in Ping’an Town.
Now that the business in Ping’an Town was over… if she played the flute again, would she be able to see him?
Just as Wen Ying was lost in thought, a man’s voice suddenly reached her ears.
“Miss… Miss Wen.”
It sounded a little familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it…
Wen Ying looked up and saw that the speaker was, surprisingly, Cao Ruobing.
Oh, right.
It was only then that Wen Ying belatedly remembered that in that version of Ping’an Town, there had been the “Second Female Lead in a Sweet Historical Romance” series of missions…
This time, she had focused all her attention on uncovering the truth behind Ping’an Town and had completely ignored those stupid missions, naturally forgetting all about them.
Could Cao Ruobing be here to ask about Sheng Qing’s whereabouts?
Wen Ying figured that neither Xiao Hei and Lu Xiaojie, who had rescued the townspeople, nor Da Hei and Lin Ruge, who had rescued the people from the stronghold, had likely saved Sheng Qing, who had clipped through the map and gotten herself stuck underground…
Wen Ying had indeed asked for their help in rescuing the townspeople, but rescuers are people, not gods. It was already a difficult task just to save those they could reach.
Who could have possibly predicted that Sheng Qing would run up a mountain to dig a pit, jump in, and glitch herself into the very earth?
“Miss Wen, back in Ping’an Town… I did many disrespectful things to you. I’m sorry.” To her surprise, Cao Ruobing gave Wen Ying a formal bow, apologizing with genuine sincerity. “Although I was being manipulated, a mistake is a mistake. If there is anything you need my help with, you can find me at Tianjian Ge. Please consider it a small token of my amends.”
Thinking back, aside from his prejudice during the steamed bun incident, he hadn’t really done much else.
Wen Ying accepted the apology, but she had no need for his help.
Tianjian Ge…
Tianjian Ge was full of sword cultivators, and eight out of ten male sword cultivators were clueless straight guys…
Wen Ying finally understood why Cao Ruobing had treated Sheng Qing to durian and stinky tofu that day, a move so disastrous it required on-the-spot emergency first aid after she threw up.
A classic straight-guy romance, indeed.
Cao Ruobing didn’t mention Sheng Qing at all.
Through mind-reading, Wen Ying pieced together the whole story.
Cao Ruobing had met Sheng Qing on his way to Ping’an Town to exterminate demons; it was safe to say they barely knew each other. But after integrating into Ping’an Town, he had inexplicably fallen “in love” with her. Now that he was clear-headed, Cao Ruobing could tell it wasn’t the puppet strings’ manipulation, but Sheng Qing’s. The puppet strings had only made him the county magistrate; the story of him falling in love with Sheng Qing was due to her controlling him with a soul-seduction technique.
Now that he was fully awake, how could he possibly still like that Sheng Qing!
If he hadn’t been unable to find her after they got out, Cao Ruobing would have definitely hunted Sheng Qing down to demand an explanation.
After speaking with Wen Ying, Cao Ruobing flew away on his sword.
As for Sheng Qing’s story, besides Sheng Qing herself, no one knew the truth. But now, with her having completely vanished along with the Mirror World, it was likely impossible to ever know what really happened.
Based on the previous incident where Sheng Qing had knocked out her own front teeth, Wen Ying could vaguely guess that Sheng Qing had likely exhausted almost all her true qi to control everyone and create for herself that identity of being adored by all in Ping’an Town.
Just like Hua Pi, she was someone who wanted to live in her own fantasy.
Cao Ruobing was the county magistrate, the highest-ranking person in the whole town, so naturally, he became her ideal partner. As for Wen Ying herself, she was probably just a hypothetical enemy, cast in that role to make Sheng Qing seem more pitiful and make everyone dote on her even more.
Wen Ying shrugged.
She never thought that the “sweet historical romance” she had endured more than fifty times would turn out to be such a sham.
So, getting to the bottom of things really was important.
In the previous fifty-odd times, she shouldn’t have just muddled through, blindly following the missions!
【”Second Female Lead in a Sweet Historical Romance” series of missions has ended early due to the female lead’s death. The previous final mission is canceled.】
This was a rare mission prompt that actually made Wen Ying quite happy.
Ending early meant a dozen or so missions were gone at once, saving her the trouble of this thing popping up and blocking her view twenty-odd times.
Wen Ying flicked away the prompt box, and just as she turned, she saw Shen Linfeng standing not far behind her.
His posture was obedient, and the gaze he directed at her was just as obedient.
But he had been watching her the whole time.
Wen Ying’s expression shifted slightly.
Now that everything about Ping’an Town was clear, the biggest mystery had become Shen Linfeng.
If the manipulated people in town would have their true qi drained, and ordinary people would turn into dried bones after their qi was drained, then Shen Linfeng… what exactly was his deal? Was he not being controlled? Or was he, in fact, not the ordinary person he appeared to be? If he wasn’t being controlled, why was he acting? If he wasn’t an ordinary person, why would he go to such great lengths to hide his cultivation, and hide it so perfectly?
Did it have anything to do with Xu Huang?
Or… did even Xu Huang not know about this?
After Ping’an Town returned to normal, Wen Ying’s group also set off to return to the Xun Xian Sect.
Regarding the events in Ping’an Town, Lan Xiaoming and Feng Sixuan were completely clueless. The two of them had just spent a long time being… uh, fiancés, in a state of utter confusion. That’s right, in their setting, their two families lived next door, and they had been engaged since childhood. As a result, an awkward silence hung between Lan Xiaoming and Feng Sixuan for the rest of the journey. He was a background male lead, after all. Adding some plot to forcibly increase their interaction was understandable.
Li Xiangyue didn’t say anything the whole way either, but when she occasionally looked at Wen Ying, her gaze was incredibly complex. There seemed to be a hint of awkwardness, a hint of shyness, and a hint of profound meaning.
As for Xiao Hei, after saving the people, he had turned back into his cat form and was trotting along behind Wen Ying.
After they were rescued, Feng Sixuan, Lan Xiaoming, and Li Xiangyue had also asked Lu Xiaojie how he managed to save them ahead of time. But in reality, even Lu Xiaojie himself wasn’t very clear about the situation in Ping’an Town. He talked for a long time but couldn’t really explain anything. Naturally, Lu Xiaojie didn’t mention a word about the fact that it was Wen Ying who had given the order. As long as Senior Sister Wen didn’t bring it up herself, Lu Xiaojie would never let it slip!
Only Li Xiangyue showed a thoughtful expression while Lu Xiaojie was stammering. Wen Ying’s sudden visit, asking about some “Auntie Wu”… she had been a fool back then, but she wasn’t now.
In any case, although Lu Xiaojie didn’t explain anything, the group knew that the demon in Ping’an Town must have been eliminated for everything to return to normal. Even though they weren’t the ones who eliminated the demon, they could still report back to the sect.
As Wen Ying’s group of five returned to the sect, the other group of five happened to be returning as well.
Seeing the smiles on Wen Meng and Long Musheng’s faces, it was clear their mission had gone very smoothly. Fu Shuangxue, as usual, had a slightly cold expression and remained silent. One couldn’t say he was happy, but he wasn’t upset either.
As for Xu Huang and Murong Mo… they were clearly a married couple, yet they were walking far apart, one in front and one behind. Murong Mo’s expression wasn’t good, and he seemed to be deliberately avoiding Xu Huang, walking at the very back to put distance between them.
And Xu Huang’s gaze had also changed from before.
Especially the look she gave Wen Ying.
If before, Xu Huang’s gaze towards Wen Ying was like looking at a useful tool, now it was pure hatred and viciousness.
What had happened was self-evident.
It must have been that after the garbage-dump-Sadako incident, the consequences of Xu Huang’s own actions had continued to ferment, leading to the current situation.
Wen Ying shrugged.
She felt quite innocent; she really hadn’t done anything.
But…
Judging from Xu Huang’s current gaze, it was likely that one day in the future, she might actually do something.
Wen Ying’s group of five reported everything truthfully to Xu Mofeng, including the fact that they had done nothing and the demon had been eliminated by someone else. Xu Mofeng didn’t blame the five of them, just nodded with a serious expression, indicating he understood.
Of course, Xu Mofeng shouldn’t have blamed them.
—Not blowing up on the spot and only cursing them out in his head was the last ounce of effort Xu Mofeng could muster.
And the curses in Xu Mofeng’s heart were actually quite nasty.
Something along the lines of, “Which goddamn bastard destroyed such a huge piece of fat meat for this old man!”
Wen Ying couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
He was clearly furious to death in his heart, yet he had to pretend to be calm on the surface, even feigning kindness and amiability. What to do, Wen Ying just found this look of impotent rage so amusing. This was so much more interesting than those boring comeback stories.
“Wen Ying, do you have something to say?” Xu Mofeng was already fuming inside, and now hearing Wen Ying’s laughter, no matter the reason, his tone wasn’t going to be very pleasant.
“No,” Wen Ying shook her head. “I just want to laugh, I have nothing to say.”
“Then why are you laughing?” Xu Mofeng frowned. “Do I look very funny today?” His tone became even worse. “And what are you hiding in your sleeve?”
If Wen Ying hadn’t laughed, Xu Mofeng wouldn’t have even noticed her sleeve. It looked like a cylindrical object. The other four hadn’t brought anything extra back from Ping’an Town, only Wen Ying… Although Xu Mofeng felt that with Wen Ying’s abilities, she couldn’t possibly be the bastard who had ruined his carefully laid plan, but maybe she knew something others didn’t?
“In my sleeve?” Wen Ying looked at her sleeve curiously.
She had a lot of things in her sleeve, but none that Xu Mofeng should be able to see. But when Wen Ying looked down, she understood what Xu Mofeng was referring to.
It was the sketch she had drawn for Hua Pi and her husband.
Because it was a drawing of Xu Mofeng, Wen Ying had found it too distasteful to put in her pocket dimension, which would defile the space, so she had casually stuffed it back into her actual sleeve. Coincidentally, Wen Ying didn’t know how to dispose of this piece of trash. Littering was immoral. Now that Xu Mofeng wanted it himself, she might as well give it to him.
So, Wen Ying pulled the scroll from her sleeve and handed it to Xu Mofeng. “You mean, this?”
Seeing Wen Ying’s cooperative attitude, Xu Mofeng’s expression finally softened a little. He calmly took the painting from Wen Ying and slowly unrolled it—
This…
The person in the painting was, surprisingly, himself.
Xu Mofeng had heard that some women would secretly keep portraits of men, and some would even giggle foolishly at the man for no reason. The reason was generally…
But he was the Sect Master of the Xun Xian Sect, and also Wen Ying’s elder…
Amidst his disbelief, a blush gradually crept onto Xu Mofeng’s old face.
Wen Ying was forced to listen to Xu Mofeng’s inner thoughts, and only wanted to say two words—
Save! Me!
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