Chapter 10: Ch 10 - Don't Let Your Imagination Go Wild
-Last update for today, We will add 6 more chapters tomorrow-
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Clang—!
The crisp sound of a sword strike echoed throughout the changing room.
Although the sword's edge was aimed directly at Yino, it ultimately struck the ceramic tile floor beside him.
In the critical moment, it was Yuyan's hand that grabbed Yino's collar, pulling him back to her side from under the sword.
"Zhong Yuhe, don't be foolish."
"Sir. Yino is the seventh young master of the Grand Tutor's Mansion. If you kill him tonight, all of us will be held responsible at the Grand Tutor's Mansion tomorrow."
Yuyan sighed, first lowering her gaze to look at Yino by her feet, then turning her cold, indifferent eyes to the man with the drawn sword.
Yuhe was still angry and wanted to argue, but the moment he met Yuyan's cold gaze, his furious heart was forced to calm down a bit.
No disciple of Wuji Sect dared to be unruly in front of Senior Sister Yuyan.
"But Senior Sister..."
"This thief, he peeped at you, your—!"
Yuhe lowered his head in humiliation, but his eyes looking at Yino were still filled with murderous intent.
Yino's face was somewhat difficult to keep straight.
He never dreamed that one day, the bootlicking senior brother who was supposed to target the protagonist in the future would now be jealous of him, a cannon fodder.
Was this reasonable?
In the original story, he and Yuhe were both brothers in misfortune, trampled under the protagonist's feet!
"He didn't see anything."
Yuyan closed her eyes in annoyance, unwilling to explain further.
But as her words fell, Yino, half-kneeling behind her, suddenly had a nosebleed.
Yuhe widened his eyes, pointing at Yino, his face showing even more anger and shame.
At the same time, Yuyan raised an eyebrow and looked back, her cold eyes showing confusion and a headache.
"It's not what you think, bro..."
He his hand to cover his nosebleed with his sleeve, facing everyone's suspicious gaze, his expression was hard to explain.
"I fell just now, hit my nose and got a nosebleed. I really didn't see anything."
He tried to explain seriously.
But the veins on Yuhe's forehead didn't subside at all.
Who would believe that?
Not just Yuhe, even Yuyan's gaze towards him now carried some suspicion.
"Senior Sister, we cultivators should be upright and righteous. We can't bow to the authority of the Grand Tutor's Mansion and swallow our anger!"
Yuhe advised, frustrated as if beating a dead horse.
It seemed that in his view, the senior sister had been harassed by Yino and was trying to smooth things over due to political pressure.
For a moment, Yuyan also felt a headache. This is why she hated the missions assigned by her master to go down the mountain, and why she usually didn't want to bring so many disciples with her when going out.
In the past, although she was bored on her own peak, at least she had peace and quiet to focus on cultivation and playing chess.
But once she came down the mountain, troublesome people and matters swarmed in.
"Zhong Yuhe, are you questioning me?"
Her patience finally reached its limit, and she glared at Yuhe with cold eyes.
The latter finally dared not speak, and the other disciples also lowered their heads in reflection.
"Rather than worrying about trivial matters that are not your concern..."
"Zhong Yuhe, how did you know Yino was here?"
As she said this, Yuyan narrowed her cold eyes, looking at Yuhe with some suspicion.
Yuhe was sweating profusely and honestly confessed: "Senior Sister, I had already retired for the night, but I heard a disciple knocking on the door, saying that the seventh young master was making a night raid on you and to quickly get up to catch the thief..."
"Who knocked on the door? Who reported this?"
"This... I was groggy from being woken up in the middle of the night. After hearing about this, I quickly put on my clothes and came to catch the thief."
"I'm asking you who reported this!"
"I don't know! At night, through the door and window, I only remember it was the shadow of a junior sister, probably about 165 cm tall."
This time, Yuhe clasped his hands and knelt on the ground, his eyes showing unprecedented sincerity.
Yuyan coldly stared at his face but ultimately couldn't detect any lie.
She looked back at Yino, as if consulting his opinion.
Yino had already stood up by now, having wiped away his nosebleed, and his expression was equally innocent as he shrugged at Yuyan.
"A Junior sister?"
Yuyan looked around, her gaze locking onto the only junior sister behind Yuhe who matched the height description.
That female disciple immediately knelt down, her face full of innocence and fear.
"Senior Sister! Jin'er doesn't know!"
"Jin'er was also awakened from a dream, heard that a thief was making a night raid on you, and only then followed Senior Brother Yuhe to come here to catch the thief!"
The junior sister looked at Yuyan with teary eyes.
Yino recognized this junior sister's identity from the original story and quietly advised Yuyan beside her: "It's not her."
"..."
Although Yuyan didn't answer, her glance back showed that she took Yino's suggestion into consideration.
She closed her eyes, retracting her previous authority:
"Since this is just a farce, you may all withdraw for now. We'll discuss this matter later."
Yuyan's patience was limited, and all the disciples hurriedly stood up to leave.
Only Yuhe still couldn't let it go:
"Senior Sister, even if he didn't see anything, sneaking into your backyard late at night must have been with ill intentions..."
"Zhong Yuhe, you've finally said something useful."
Yuyan narrowed her cold eyes, rarely approving of Yuhe.
At the same time, she looked back at Yino, her eyes showing some playfulness and intrigue.
Yino knew she was going to use this opportunity to extort him again.
"So, this matter can't be left as it is. We can't let this lecherous scoundrel off lightly!"
Yuhe was still barking non-stop.
But Yino was already used to it.
In his previous life when he played Fallen Immortal, there wasn't even a romance storyline with the female protagonist, but this bootlicking senior brother still targeted him everywhere, acting as if he wouldn't allow Yuyan to talk to any man...
In the end, this clown was nothing more than a gold coin explosion for the protagonist.
Overall, Yuhe wasn't much better than Yino in the original story; they were both equally disposable cannon fodder.
So, Yino naturally wouldn't hold it against him.
He even felt some sympathy for Yuhe's anxious and flustered appearance, just like what the Pleasure Witch had whispered in Yino's ear — you and I are nothing but pitiful worms fooled by fate.
"Regarding hsi punishment, I will discuss it with the elders of the Grand Tutor's Mansion tomorrow."
"Zhong Yuhe, this doesn't concern you anymore. You may withdraw."
Yuyan made a cold summary at last. Yuhe wanted to say something more but could only lower his head and take his leave, angry but not daring to speak.
After everyone had left, Yino finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, miss Immortal, for helping me out of this situation."
He cupped his hands in salute, looking again at the black-haired immortal lady wrapped in a bathrobe, his eyes showing gratitude for being trusted.
Just like how Xinyao stood by his side regardless of others' cold looks, in Yino's view, Yuyan's rational analysis of the facts was enough to make him feel grateful.
"You don't need to thank me. Until the real culprit is caught, you still can't clear the suspicion of attempting to peep at me while bathing."
Yuyan closed her eyes, once again holding her sword in her arms.
"But miss Immortal, according to the laws of the Great Dragon Dynasty — innocent until proven guilty."
"You sneaking into the backyard and entering the changing room at night are solid evidence, not mere suspicion. Besides, who knows if you had other intentions?"
Yuyan raised an eyebrow, pretending to look at him playfully.
Yino knew he was in the wrong and could only comply with her, cupping his hands in apology: "Alright, alright, I owe you a favor. Thank you for your mercy."
As he lowered his head, looking at Yuyan's wet jade feet under her dress, the nosebleed he had just wiped clean inexplicably started flowing again.
For a moment, Yino felt awkward. As a man, he naturally didn't have the habit of carrying a handkerchief, so he could only raise his hand and wipe it briefly with his sleeve.
"To be honest, I'm not sure now if you really saw something you shouldn't have or not."
Yuyan raised her cold, lonely eyes, looking at Yino with both suspicion and helplessness.
But despite her disdain, she still casually took out a towel from behind her and handed it to Yino.
"Wipe it off, don't get blood all over the floor. It'll be even harder for me to explain later."
"Thank you..."
Yino took the towel and pressed it to his nose.
However, as he was wiping, he smelled a faint, delicate fragrance from the towel. Yino recognized this scent; it was the same as when he sat down to play chess with Yuyan last night...
*Bang!*
In the midst of his reverie, a sword scabbard descended from above, hitting Yino on the head.
He looked up, somewhat in pain, to find Yuyan looking at him with even more disdain, almost glaring at him with furrowed brows.
"You really are a pervert. It seems I didn't wrongly accuse you."
"To prevent you from letting your imagination run wild, I'll tell you — I've never used this towel. I only infused it with spiritual energy to cool it down for you to use as a cold compress because I saw your nosebleed was due to internal heat."