Once Nan Mingzi left, Mei Ziqing walked over to Xue Mingzhao with a face full of guilt.
“Junior Sister Lin, this is all my fault.”
“If you hadn't tried to help me, you wouldn't have fallen, and you would have been able to save the keepsake your mother left you...”
Xue Mingzhao stared at her for a long while.
For a moment, she actually felt that Mei Ziqing and Suguang were somewhat similar.
One was a pushover, and the other was overly loyal.
If someone asked them for a blade of grass, they would probably tie themselves up and deliver themselves along with it.
“Senior Sister Mei.”
Xue Mingzhao's expression turned serious.
“If you say ‘it's all my fault’ one more time, I'm going to charge those fifty thousand spirit stones to your account.”
Startled, Mei Ziqing immediately shut her mouth.
She even raised her hand to make a zipping motion over her lips.
Xue Mingzhao glanced left and right, then pulled her into a corner and lowered her voice.
“The pill is real, and it really is high-grade.”
“But the part about it being a keepsake from my mother, an ancestral pill, and how I have to look at it every night before I sleep—that was all completely made up.”
Mei Ziqing: “...”
She stood in a daze for a long while before stammering, “Then, what about your mother refusing to let your grandfather eat it even when he passed away...”
“That part was just to build the atmosphere.”
“...”
Mei Ziqing's eyes widened. “Y-You extorted him?”
“How can you call it extortion?”
Xue Mingzhao corrected her in all seriousness, “The pill is thirty thousand, and mental distress is twenty thousand. The accounts are clear, and the price is fair.”
“Besides, if he hadn't blocked our way, hurled insults, and reached out to push me, he wouldn't have stepped on that pill.”
“Ultimately, he earned this fifty-thousand spirit stone bill fair and square through his own actions.”
The act she just put on was actually inspired by Jiang Yuran.
The exact same trick—Jiang Yuran used it to harm people, while she used it to generate income.
What was this called?
It was called putting one's knowledge to good use.
Xue Mingzhao looked at Mei Ziqing. “Now that you know the truth, are you going to tell Wu Yong?”
Mei Ziqing fell silent for a moment, then gently shook her head.
“No.”
Xue Mingzhao raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“He did want to push you, and the pill really was crushed by him.”
Mei Ziqing added in a low voice, “Besides, he has an uncle who is an elder. If we don't teach him a painful enough lesson, he might keep bullying other disciples in the future.”
Xue Mingzhao looked at her with some surprise.
It seemed this girl wasn't a hopeless case.
Her kindness hadn't reached the point of being unable to distinguish between good and evil.
Back when they were climbing the Heaven-Inquiring Ladder, Mei Ziqing had given her a bunch of Heart-Clearing Grass.
This girl was quite decent.
Xue Mingzhao remembered her kindness and naturally didn't want to see her get bullied like a fool.
She changed the subject. “Why did you carry so many clothes for them?”
“I... it was convenient.”
“Convenient?”
Xue Mingzhao pointed at the Affairs Hall, then pointed in the direction those people had left.
“Your ‘convenience’ almost had you carrying the entire Yuheng Peak on your shoulders.”
“But we are all fellow disciples...”
“So what if you're fellow disciples? Does being fellow disciples mean they can treat you like free labor?”
“Even a donkey knows to kick when it's tired. You're worse than a donkey.”
“...”
Xue Mingzhao sighed helplessly.
“Senior Sister Mei, being helpful is a good thing, but there has to be a limit to everything.”
“If you hadn't stood firm today and dropped all these clothes into a puddle, do you think they would remember how much you've helped them in the past, or would they immediately blame you for getting their clothes dirty?”
Mei Ziqing opened her mouth but didn't answer.
The behavior of those disciples just now had already provided the answer for her.
“They clearly knew you didn't have a storage bag, yet they kept stuffing things into your arms. When they saw you almost fall, not a single one of them came back to help you up.”
“Is that what you call convenient?”
“This is them taking advantage of you.”
Mei Ziqing lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously picking at her sleeves.
After a moment, she murmured in a low voice, “We've all just entered the sect, and we'll have to cultivate together for a long time in the future.”
“If I refuse to help with even such small matters, won't they think I'm hard to get along with?”
“They will.”
Mei Ziqing's body stiffened.
Xue Mingzhao continued, “Especially those who want to take advantage of you. They'll feel that you've suddenly become uncooperative.”
“But people who truly want to be your friends won't immediately turn against you just because you didn't carry a couple of clothes for them.”
“If someone dislikes you just because you refused them once, that's even better.”
Mei Ziqing looked up blankly. “Why is that better?”
“It means you have one less high-maintenance person to serve in the future.”
Mei Ziqing couldn't help but burst into laughter.
“Thank you, Junior Sister Lin. I understand now.”
“As long as you understand.”
A person's personality, built over so many years, couldn't be changed in just a few sentences.
Xue Mingzhao didn't expect Mei Ziqing to become decisive and tough overnight.
At the very least, she had to let her know that she was allowed to say no to others.
“I still have things to do, so I'll head out first.”
Xue Mingzhao waved her hand, turned around, and walked toward the Affairs Hall.
Mei Ziqing watched her retreating figure and said softly, “Junior Sister Lin, thank you.”
Xue Mingzhao didn't turn back, only waving her hand casually.
She still had three major things to plan out.
Get her sword.
Collect the fifty thousand spirit stones.
Make her escape.
Each one was more urgent than the last.
...
Chiyang Peak.
Nan Mingzi stuffed a bottle of high-grade pills into Su Ye's arms, then turned around and stuffed three bottles into Xue Mingzhao's arms.
Su Ye looked down at his own, then at Xue Mingzhao's.
“One bottle versus three bottles.”
“Master, your favoritism is so obvious it's practically spilling out.”
Nan Mingzi stroked his beard and laughed heartily. “Yue'er's other two bottles are for cleansing the marrow and strengthening the foundation. You have no use for them.”
There was no helping it.
Lin Yue only had three spiritual roots, so her cultivation speed would definitely not compare to her brother's.
If he wanted her to catch up to Su Ye as soon as possible, he could only feed her more pills and load her up with potent resources.
After all, they were taught by the same master. He couldn't have the brother already at Foundation Establishment while the sister was still stuck at the threshold of Qi Condensation.
Xue Mingzhao unceremoniously swept all three bottles of pills into her storage bag, her mouth not staying idle either.
“How is this favoritism? Master clearly has discerning eyes and is teaching according to his disciples' abilities.”
“In my hands, these three bottles of pills will surely produce the effect of twelve bottles. I will absolutely not let Master's painstaking efforts go to waste.”
Nan Mingzi beamed with joy upon hearing this.
“Yue'er is still the sensible one.”
Su Ye couldn't help but ask, “How are three bottles of pills going to produce the effect of twelve?”
Xue Mingzhao shot him a glance.
“Through Master's love and care.”
Su Ye: “...”
Flattery was one thing.
But she had actually managed to find such a refined and unconventional way to frame it.
In an excellent mood, Nan Mingzi pulled the two of them over to explain drawing Qi into the body, the circulation of spiritual energy, and the meridian cycles.
Xue Mingzhao had already learned all of this long ago.
At first, she could still nod in agreement, but gradually her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Her head began to bob, and she looked ready to perform a live demonstration of falling asleep on her knees.
To avoid falling fast asleep in front of her master on her very first day, Xue Mingzhao quickly spoke up, “Master, I would like to visit the Library Pavilion.”
Nan Mingzi was in the middle of a passionate explanation, so he felt a bit unsatisfied upon hearing this.
“Very well, reading more scriptures and records is highly beneficial.”
He stroked his beard and earnestly instructed, “However, you must remember that before reaching Foundation Establishment, you must absolutely not force your way onto the third floor.”
“There are restrictions on every floor of the Library Pavilion. If those with insufficient cultivation force their way in, they will be thrown back at best, and have their meridians damaged at worst.”
Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye nodded obediently.
“We will keep that in mind, Master.”
The two of them agreed with utmost sincerity.
Only then did Nan Mingzi feel reassured enough to let them go.
Rate on N.U.
