Chapter 44: The Everyone’s Favorite Heroine Comes Looking for Trouble

An inner sect disciple folded his arms, looked Ling Xi up and down, and frowned slightly. "What kind of sorcery did you use to give yourself a face that looks somewhat similar to Junior Sister Lin? Today, I will definitely uphold justice for Junior Sister Lin and tear off this fake face of yours."

As soon as he finished speaking, a hand aimed at Ling Xi's face and lashed out swiftly.

A golden shield materialized in front of the two, bursting with dazzling light. Spiritual energy rebounded from the shield with immense force, sending the disciple flying several meters away, almost crashing into the weeping Lin Rou.

Sui An bared his white teeth in a bright grin, held the Universe Shield in his left hand, brushed back the stray hair over his forehead with his right, and tilted his head to wink at Ling Xi.

"How is that? The upgraded Universe Shield—wasn't I super handsome when I used it?"

Lin Rou took quick, tiny steps over to the bounced-away disciple. Instead of helping him up, she looked at Ling Xi with a grievance-laden expression.

"Senior Sister Ling, even if you dislike me so much, you shouldn't hurt others. What did he do wrong? He was merely speaking a few words on my behalf."

Mimicking Wen Jue, Ling Xi rolled her eyes.

"Of course he did nothing wrong. So basically, he gets to try and scratch off my face, and I'm just supposed to stand there and let him do it? Besides, as you said yourself, he spoke a few words for you, and only then did we counterattack. Therefore, the root of the problem lies with you. If not for you, he could still be standing safely over there watching the show. So you really should look for the cause within yourself, alright? You ought to reflect deeply on whether you've spoken out of turn lately, and whether you can actually produce evidence when framing others."

With her absurd logic, Ling Xi managed to turn all the arrows back toward Lin Rou.

Lin Rou clenched her fists tightly, her teeth nearly grinding to dust.

What happened to the pure, obedient, and dull plot tool she was promised?!

She was actually left completely speechless by these retorts, and even found herself momentarily entertaining the thought of examining her own faults.

Furious though she was, Lin Rou forced herself to put on a sympathetic and understanding facade.

"Senior Sister Ling, I was just blinded by anger for a moment. I shouldn't have let so many people know about such a trivial matter. After all, Senior Sister Ling's nature is simply like this—it is all Rou'er's fault."

She wept as she spoke, rubbing her eyes until they were red, cleverly minimizing the issue while attacking Ling Xi's character.

Sui An, unable to comprehend these twists and turns, assumed the other party had finally realized her own wrongdoing.

"As long as you know it was your fault, just remember not to do it again next time. My junior sister has been running around all the way here without a meal, only to listen to your apologies and repentance. Since we're fellow disciples, if we don't forgive you, it'll just make us look petty."

Sui An took Ling Xi's hand, pushed Lin Rou aside, and tried to force his way through the crowd.

A blazing fire ignited in Lin Rou's eyes, and she abruptly stood up. Realizing her reaction was too extreme, she dug her nails into her palms to force her hands to stop trembling.

"Senior Brother, I know you dote on your junior sister, but you still shouldn't turn black into white and splash dirty water all over Rou'er like this," Lin Rou sobbed, biting her lower lip.

Sui An stared in utter bewilderment, convinced the girl had lost her mind. One moment she was confessing, and the next she was acting as though she had been wronged.

Ling Xi let out a yawn and spoke lazily, "Junior Sister, stop making thunder without any rain—bring out the evidence already. If you're any later, my Master will drag me back for dinner."

Her words served as a sudden wake-up call for Lin Rou.

A flash of triumph crossed Lin Rou's eyes as her trembling hand retrieved a projection stone from her spatial pouch.

Thank goodness the system had the foresight to record a projection after she had lost consciousness.

"Senior Sister, do we really have to go this far? I truly didn't want it to come to this," Lin Rou bit her lip, wearing an expression that suggested she was suffering entirely for Ling Xi's sake.

The surrounding disciples transformed into a chorus of NPCs, rushing to comfort Lin Rou.

"Junior Sister, you're simply too kind-hearted. A senior sister like that isn't worth keeping."

"Junior Sister, she treated you like that, yet you're still looking out for her. I honestly don't know what to say to you."

"I've seen plenty of people like her. It's just that everyone spoiled her too much and inflated her ego, which is why she repeatedly climbs over your head."

...

Thousands of people spoke, yet they all sang the same tune in their denigration of Ling Xi.

"What the hell! You guys are seriously ticking me off. Talking about my junior sister right in front of me—I'm going to hire some muscle... I'm going to—"

Ling Xi quickly jumped up and clamped her hand over Sui An's mouth. "Senior Brother, let's look at the evidence first. Acting like this just makes us look like we're losing our minds out of guilt."

Lin Rou's hand shook like she had Parkinson's. A wisp of spiritual power sparked from her fingertips, and the projection stone burst into a brilliant white light, projecting a recorded scene outward from the dark stone.

In the projection, Chu Xinghe was seen offering to help Lin Rou safeguard her spiritual herbs. Right up to the very end of the recording, it was still just the two of them gathering spiritual herbs together; Ling Xi never appeared in the frame at all.

Lin Rou's eyes widened in disbelief as she frantically called out to the system in her mind.

[System, what is going on?! Didn't you say Ling Xi looted my spiritual herbs? Why is it that good-for-nothing Chu Xinghe instead?!]

Faced with Lin Rou's interrogation, a buzzing electrical sound droned on repeatedly before finally glitching out.

[Based on data analysis, those were indeed Ling Xi's spiritual herbs. As for why Chu Xinghe was the one accompanying you the entire time, this system cannot ascertain. Please analyze the situation yourself, Host.]

Lin Rou's face turned from pale to red, and from red to blue, until she finally let out an involuntary scream.

"It must be you! Ling Xi, you definitely tampered with this! Both Senior Brother and Master dote on me, and you're jealous! Yes, that has to be it!"

She certainly had the guts to do it, but Ling Xi would never admit to it.

Since Lin Rou had tormented the original owner for so long, and she herself had been inhabiting this shell for quite a while—and might very well have to keep using it in the future—she figured she might as well help the original host out a little.

She didn't like owing favors.

Ling Xi rubbed her eyes as well. "It was one thing when Junior Sister kept slapping me with all sorts of inexplicable accusations in the past, but now that I didn't even dare stay at Tranquility Peak and became a disciple under Peak Master Luo, why won't Junior Sister just let me go?"

She rubbed the fair corners of her eyes until they turned red. Her shoulders trembled more violently than a cafeteria worker dishing out food, and her voice quivered with a sob. Seizing a moment when no one was paying attention, Ling Xi pinched her own thigh hard, instantly bringing forth a gush of real tears.

After stepping out, Qian Chongxue had gone straight to the martial arts arena to watch the junior disciples practice their swords, offering pointers from time to time.

Upon receiving the transmission talisman from his master, he had rushed over without stopping.

The sight that greeted him was a massive crowd gathered in a circle, whispering among themselves.

Hearing Ling Xi's voice, he hurriedly pushed his way through the crowd and squeezed inside.

Remembering how Ling Xi had put on a cheerful front during their spar a few days ago, Qian Chongxue tightened his fists as he walked up to her.

She was someone busy from dawn till dusk with barely a moment to spare; where would she ever find the leisure time to frame others?

Besides, he had witnessed Ling Xi's character firsthand. When she only had a few pills to ward off the cold, she had still been willing to share them with two total strangers like him and his junior brother. How could someone like that harbor any malicious intent?

"Junior Sister, there must be some misunderstanding here. Junior Sister Ling would never do such a thing."

His tone sounded as gentle as a spring breeze, yet it was resolute and brooked no argument.

It offered both parties a graceful way out while silently defending Ling Xi.

In the past, having listened to too many of Lin Rou's sweet words, he had thought the girl quite cute whenever he saw her. But now, watching her make a scene out of nothing and casually splash dirty water on others, he only felt disgust.

As the Senior Brother of the sect, no matter how much he detested someone, he couldn't just fall out with them on the spot. He had to maintain the demeanor of a gentleman and keep the scales as balanced as possible.

"Hold on, I have my doubts!"

A cold voice echoed from not far away.