Huiye Shi lay flat on a stone desk in the garden of the Shiyu Compound with a bronze mirror in hand, sighing at the sight of her own reflection. "It's been days, but only a small bit of hair has grown back. How long will it take until I can finally meet people again? Waaah!" Crying was just a regular affair for her nowadays.
"It's time. Do you want me to apply the ointment for you?" Feiling gently asked.
"Of course! This secret hair growth ointment that I went through hell and back for had better work!"
Feiling ground a few tribulation herbs into paste, then rubbed them between her hands before applying it to Huiye Shi's scalp. As the herbs were green, it looked like a patch of grass was growing out of her head. Seeing how smooth and oily it was, Feiling couldn't help but chuckle.
"What’re you laughing at?!" Huiye Shi snapped.
"If you want to live well, you can't avoid getting some green on that head. Calm down," Feiling said, consoling her with a shoulder pat.
"You damn vixen! I will crush you one day!"
"Know your limits."
"Hmph!" Huiye Shi looked at the mirror again. "Damn, it's so green…."
She didn't even have tears left to squeeze out. She lay flat on the desk with her arms and legs raised toward the sky. "Why am I so unlucky nowadays? Ever since I met you, nothing good has happened to me."
After much complaining, she noticed that Feiling was still applying the ointment for her. "Thanks for putting up with me."
"Don't worry about it," Feiling said.
Huiye Shi didn't dare to leave in recent days and had even been saved by Feiling a few times. She was starting to feel rather regretful about what had happened back at the Flameyellow Continent. Nowadays, the two were more like friends.
After applying the ointment, Feiling was going to start cultivating again, yet lethal danger was approaching. She suddenly turned back and saw a savage-looking bloody light approaching them at rapid speed from outside the garden.
"What's that?!" Huiye Shi cried, leaping off the desk. The thing that came flying was really threatening, and the two of them wouldn’t be enough to fend it off. It looked like a blood dragon more than ten meters long. However, it was no living thing. Instead, it looked like a dragon-shaped chain divine artifact that had its own will. It targeted Huiye Shi and Feiling and homed in on them at high speed.
Feiling had already backed off a few steps, but her expression suddenly changed. If she were to run alone, she would make it. But she still went back and pulled Huiye Shi to her, causing her to slow down slightly. What she didn't expect was that the flaming dragon-shaped chain wasn't targeting Huiye Shi, but herself instead!
She quickly used Spaceshock Punch, but the chain wrapped around her hand and tugged sharply. With a sharp noise, the chain wrapped itself around her whole body and bound both her delicate hands. The sharp chains pierced into her skin and began to burn, causing her to shriek in pain. If it weren’t for her unique constitution, her body would have ended up charred beyond belief.
Faced with such power, even if she survived, it would feel horrible. Her face was getting rather pale as she struggled with all her might, to no avail. Enraged, her eyes gradually turned white. Then, markings that looked like patterns of walls surfaced on her skin and stopped the burning. Her expression changed to a gentle, yet terrifying one.
"This is Brother Jie's Moonsoul Blooddragon! How…." Huiye Shi immediately hurried to help free Feiling from the chains, only for her hand to be charred the moment she touched it. She felt tears welling up. "It hurts! What can I do?"
"Go look for him!" Feiling croaked in a hoarse voice.
"Alright, wait for me!"
Right as Huiye Shi turned around, the door was kicked in. The black-haired Huiyue Yin entered with her minions with a scornful look. "You won't be able to leave, Shishi. I heard you like delicacies. I brought something for you to try."
She held out a linen sack, within which croaks could be heard. When she opened it, many black frogs leapt out. They were ugly, fist-sized wildbeasts covered in venom and boils. "Take your time to enjoy it!"
The other girls behind Huiye Yin shuddered at the sight and could only look pitifully at Huiye Shi. They were rather sympathetic toward her, and didn't understand why Huiye Yin was bullying her.
Huiye Shi almost fainted at the sight of the blackblood frogs. Without parents to complain to, she was helpless. She immediately prostrated herself and said, "Sister Yin, I beg you… tell me how I offended you? I’ll definitely fix it!"
"You didn't. I just wanted to mess with someone without parents to fight back for them. Hehe," Huiye Yin said. Those words caused Huiye Shi to despair. Huiye Yin immediately ordered, "Press her down and stuff them into her mouth! Don't let her swallow them whole. Make her chew and enjoy it."
The other girls grimaced in disgust and hesitated.
"You're all useless. If not for me, you would've been bullied by the boys growing up! Sheesh, I'll do it myself!" She picked up a frog by the leg and approached Huiye Shi, who was helplessly struggling and squirming. "You useless bunch who can't even do something as simple as this, go kill that servant! She deserves it for always wanting to ruin my fun."
"Understood!" The minions felt that would be much easier to do, and a few of them charged straight toward Feiling.
Meanwhile, Huiye Yin, relying on her four-level superiority over Huiye Shi, lifted her up and proceeded to stuff the frog into the poor girl's mouth, regardless of her struggles and pleading. She turned back to see that one of her minions already thrust a sword toward Feiling. The servant girl would die with no doubt.
Never in her wildest imagination would Huiye Yin have even fathomed hearing a clink when the tip of the sword struck Feiling's throat. She looked blankly at her fair, jade-like skin that looked like a wall made from white jade. It was completely unscathed from the strike. What was worse was the mysterious power that suddenly began emanating from her. All of them shuddered for an instant, and a few who were trying to attack even took a few steps back.
Then Tianming rushed in through the entrance and saw Feiling being subdued and almost killed, as well as Huiye Shi being force fed frogs. His rage had been simmering from the bullying she had to endure lately and it reached its boiling point when he drew his sword.
"Waaah! Save us!" Huiye Shi cried as if seeing a ray of hope.
Feiling also seemed to change. Her body seemed to be automatically reacting moments before, but now the light in her eyes vanished. She had returned to normal right before almost exploding. Like usual, she had no memories of what had happened and didn't know her throat had almost been pierced through.
Huiye Yin and the rest thought it was merely an elaborate illusion. When Feiling was bound by the Moonsoul Blooddragon once more, Huiye Yin smiled and turned to Tianming. "Oh? So this is the new top genius of Huiyue City? You aren't even an ascendant, yet you let yourself be called that? How does it feel to see me bullying your woman?"
She spat on the ground like a ruffian and shook her head derisively. "You aren't even good enough to polish my brother's shoes! Know your place!"
Tianming had never called himself the top genius. Instead, he kept an even lower profile after defeating Huiyue Yu and was never seen doing anything else but cultivating. But now, it seemed that Huiye Yin's bullying streak had something to do with him. For her to go this far, even though he hadn’t done anything, showed the fundamental flaw in her character.
Even without her provocation, Tianming was already at a breaking point at the sight of Feiling's life being threatened. He looked at her teary eyes and struggling expression. She was definitely afraid of the threat of losing her life. Without a word, he summoned the dragonhide and held the Grand-Orient Sword close as he stepped menacingly toward them. Women or not, they were going to pay.
