Chapter 7

Shen Yao Xing, who had finally returned to the inn, felt utterly unlucky. The burning pain on her face seemed to constantly remind her of her disfigurement.

“Ouch!” Shen Yao Xing winced and pulled back her hand, complaining to Meng Xin Yi who was treating her wounds: “Can’t you be gentler? You’re making the wound split open again!”

Meng Xin Yi held her hand, responding verbally while gently pinching a bit of blood. She examined it under the candlelight, frowning slightly: “How is this blood clotting in a lump? Wasn’t it just injured?”

Shen Yao Xing gritted her teeth and pulled her hand back, blowing on the wound, very dissatisfied: “How would I know what’s going on? That sword edge felt like an ice block, just touching it froze my hand.”

It was truly bizarre. It looked like an ordinary sword, but when touched, it felt like being in the middle of a glacier. She had heard of something called sword qi before, but didn’t know it could affect people to this extent. It was too fantastical.

“You…” Meng Xin Yi looked at her, hesitating to speak.

“If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t be so wishy-washy. Hurry up and apply the medicine after you’re done talking.” Shen Yao Xing picked up a small bronze mirror and examined her face from different angles, growing more anxious as she looked: “Do you think my face can be saved? It won’t leave a scar, right?”

Although she had been in this world for a long time, and the women here were used to being rough and didn’t care about having scars on their faces, she cared! The desire to be beautiful couldn’t be erased. If this really left a scar, she would have an irreconcilable grudge against that young master!

Shen Yao Xing narrowed her eyes, thinking darkly that if she ever got the chance and he fell into her hands… hmph, she would definitely gouge out his face!

“The one who injured you… was it that Ming Yue young master?” Meng Xin Yi asked tentatively.

“That’s right!” Shen Yao Xing gnashed her teeth, her fierce expression suggesting that if that person were here, she would immediately pounce on him and tear his face to shreds.

“No wonder.” Meng Xin Yi grabbed her hand, carefully applying medicine to the wound, then wrapping it with long strips of cloth. After finishing one hand, she grabbed the other and repeated the process.

Her gaze slowly moved to Shen Yao Xing’s resentful face, and Meng Xin Yi’s lips curled slightly: “That Ming Yue young master is not easy to deal with. As the second-in-command of the Chang Sheng Pavilion, his appearance is secondary. Being ruthless and merciless is also how people in the jianghu evaluate him. However… most people covet his face, often forgetting what kind of person he really is.”

Just like a beast skilled at disguise, waiting for prey to willingly deliver themselves, only to tear them to pieces in the end.

Her words led Shen Yao Xing to a conclusion: apparently, the term “beauty with the heart of a snake and scorpion” could be used not only to describe women but also men. In any case, all beautiful things were poisonous.

“What’s the deal with the sword in his hand? It feels colder than ice when touched.” Shen Yao Xing asked about her confusion.

“That’s Floating Snow. It’s forged from thousand-year-old cold ice stone from the peak of Kunlun Mountain. It can cut through iron like mud and has tremendous power. I’ve heard it can also recognize its master. Anyone else who touches it will be frozen.”

Shen Yao Xing listened, completely dumbfounded. She scratched her neck hesitantly and spoke: “Is it really… that mystical?”

This world was already strange enough, but these words made her realize she was still too naive.

Meng Xin Yi lifted her hand in response to her question: “Isn’t this how you were injured?”

Shen Yao Xing raised both of her bandaged hands, wiggled her fingers, and nodded in satisfaction. Then she pointed at her face: “This is the most important part, it absolutely cannot leave a scar!”

Meng Xin Yi chuckled lightly and took out another medicine bottle from the medicine box.

A cool sensation spread over the wound, calming her previously agitated heart. Taking advantage of the moment, Shen Yao Xing asked about tonight’s events.

The medicine-applying motion paused, and Meng Xin Yi’s eyes darkened slightly: “The Four Directions Society’s elaborate plan this time really is related to the Chang Sheng Pavilion, but I couldn’t hear the specific reasons.”

“It seems…” Meng Xin Yi narrowed her eyes: “It’s also inextricably linked to the imperial court.”

The imperial court?

Just mentioning these two words gave Shen Yao Xing a headache: “Aren’t they supposed to mind their own business? Why would the imperial court get involved in these matters?”

Jianghu people were not bound by laws, and she had run away precisely to enjoy this freedom.

Meng Xin Yi shook her head, she wasn’t clear about what was going on either: “Anyway, this deerskin map cannot fall into the hands of the Chang Sheng Pavilion.”

……

Two days passed quickly, and people excitedly rushed into the venue as if they could pick up money, afraid of falling behind, desperately squeezing in.

Shen Yao Xing and her companion remained on the tree at the periphery. Before she could jump up to find a good position, she caught sight of a petite figure squeezing through the crowd and running towards them.

“Hey, isn’t that the little young master?” Meng Xin Yi said interestingly.

As she spoke, the person had already run up to them. Lin Luo Sheng’s fair face was slightly flushed from the sun, his eyes large and round, as if freshly washed, sparkling: “I was just about to go look for you to come together, but I couldn’t find you anywhere after searching around.”

Meng Xin Yi, flamboyantly carrying a folding fan today, opened it with a “swoosh” and placed it on her chest, smiling at the young man: “Doesn’t Young Master Lin have a competition? Why come looking for us?”

“I…” Lin Luo Sheng bit his lip lightly, his gaze drifting to the young woman behind her. Seeing the small piece of linen on the young woman’s face, he nervously asked: “What… what happened to your face?”

Shen Yao Xing touched the linen on her face and shook her head lightly: “It’s nothing.”

Actually, the wound on her face didn’t need to be covered, but she kept looking at herself in the mirror, and every time she did, she felt distressed. So she simply had Meng Xin Yi cover it up. Out of sight, out of mind.

Lin Luo Sheng fiddled with the long whip at his waist, his pink cheeks slightly puffed out.

“You…”

The young woman’s hesitant voice made him suddenly look up, his deer-like eyes shining brightly under the sun. That expectant gaze made Shen Yao Xing almost afraid to speak.

“I mean…” Shen Yao Xing swallowed, raising her hand to point towards the arena: “Are you really going up there later?”

Lin Luo Sheng followed the young woman’s gesture towards the arena and nodded vigorously.

“……” Shen Yao Xing didn’t know whether she should remind him to have some self-awareness. With his amateur skills, wouldn’t he be skinned and dismembered?

The competition horn sounded, and Lin Luo Sheng bid them farewell before rushing into the crowd.

Meng Xin Yi fanned herself while watching the departing figure, her gaze turning ambiguously towards Shen Yao Xing: “Looks like that little young master has some feelings for you.”

Shen Yao Xing gave her a sideways glance. She had absolutely no interest in children.

This competition arena was a large ring. Ten people would be matched by drawing lots, number one against number two, the winner then facing the person who drew number three, and so on, until the last person standing on the arena would be the victor.

It was essentially an elimination tournament, just a bit more brutal.

From afar, Shen Yao Xing didn’t know which position the little boy had drawn, but the first person to go up was obviously the most unfortunate one, having consumed a large amount of energy upfront, making it increasingly difficult to fight as the competition progressed.

Shen Yao Xing took out a peach from her pocket, wiped it on her sleeve, and casually swept her gaze around, landing on Jiang Ming Yue sitting high up in the pavilion. The peach was instantly crushed by her five fingers, her teeth grinding audibly.

Jiang Ming Yue, far away in the pavilion, seemed to sense this particularly strong gaze. His cold eyes turned slightly, sweeping coolly in her direction. The two gazed at each other from afar, but whether he didn’t recognize her or simply didn’t consider her worth noticing, his gaze lingered for no more than two seconds before indifferently moving away.

As if she were just one among many coveting him.

Shen Yao Xing took a deep breath, barely resisting the urge to go and slice his face.

The competition had already begun. The person who drew the first position was a woman who appeared relatively frail, dressed in plain clothes, with somewhat of a scholar’s air about her. Her opponent was the complete opposite, so fat she was three times her size, with every movement causing her entire body to jiggle.

The spectators below even started laughing out loud.

“Like a fat pig, how did she win to get into this final?”

“Must have used some underhanded tricks. Look, there’s even one back there who hasn’t grown any hair yet.”

“Look at that appearance, who knows if they’ve even come of age. Instead of staying at home serving women properly, they come here to show their faces, truly shameless!”

“Hehe… looks so delicate and tender, wonder what it would feel like to press them down…”

Some filthy words elicited raucous laughter. As martial artists naturally have better hearing than ordinary people, Lin Luo Sheng over there certainly heard it. He lowered his head, his hand gripping the whip ever tighter.

Up in the tree, Shen Yao Xing spat out the peach pit in her mouth, forcefully flicking it towards the woman with the filthy mouth. It hit her exposed neck perfectly. The woman suddenly covered her neck, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out.

Everyone’s attention was on the competition, so no one noticed her discomfort.

“You seem quite protective of that little young master,” Meng Xin Yi said languidly, fanning herself.

Shen Yao Xing didn’t say anything, just feeling that what that woman had just said, some men had also said before. Tsk, whether directed at men or women, it made her feel extremely disgusted.

At this moment, the arena fight was in full swing. The fat woman, who was originally thought to be unable to last more than a few moves, displayed her surprising “strength”. That body of fat was impervious to blades and spears, and could even reflect the force received back. The frail woman had no way to attack effectively, and after repeatedly attacking and exhausting her energy, she was grabbed by the foot by the fat woman and thrown off the arena like a rag, her head smashing into the ground, her fate uncertain.

Everyone was shocked, not expecting this fat woman to be a meat shield! After a moment of silence in the crowd, even more intense shouting erupted. No one spared any attention for the person lying on the ground like a lump of dead meat.

The fat woman on the arena shook her fat proudly, the white flesh jiggling, making even Shen Yao Xing feel nauseated.

The subsequent matches were unexpected. The fat woman consecutively won against three more people, until that woman carrying an axe on her back appeared. With bulging arm muscles and a face full of world-destroying ferocity, she was the type of person you’d avoid on the street.

One was pure offense, the other pure defense. As soon as she stepped onto the arena, her fists, larger than sandbags, swung with air currents. Without a word, she smashed directly into that white mass of flesh. The plump belly was like a giant rock hitting a river surface, causing a splash of water and ripples. But it didn’t end there. Countless giant rocks frantically smashed into the water surface, giving no time for reaction, only stopping when it was a bloody mess.

This reminded Shen Yao Xing of the scene of making meatballs, pounding the meat into paste and then kneading it into little round balls.

Suddenly, she felt her entire being was not well.