Bai Qiangu Was Hit by Ying'er

By the time Ying’er reached Bai Qiangu, the aura emanating from her had already left Bai Qiangu’s entire body rigid and immobile.

It was a realm far beyond her own!

“You…” Bai Qiangu’s voice trembled. “You’ve been hiding your strength all this time… What exactly are you trying to do?”

Ying’er bent down and leaned close to Bai Qiangu’s ear, her voice so soft that only the two of them could hear it. “What am I trying to do? I’m not trying to do anything. I only want to stay by my husband’s side and live a peaceful life.”

“But why must you people provoke me?”

Her voice suddenly turned cold, like countless icy blades stabbing into Bai Qiangu’s heart. “What do you think you are? The Demonic Path Overlord? The ruler of a million demonic cultivators? In my eyes, you’re not even worthy of putting on my shoes.”

“If it weren’t for my husband, you would have died ten thousand times over by now.”

Bai Qiangu’s entire body went cold, as though she had fallen into an icy abyss.

She finally understood what kind of existence she had provoked.

This seemingly harmless maid was actually a hidden supreme expert!

Her strength was probably on par with Ye Jiuhuang’s.

Perhaps… even greater!

“Good. I’m glad you understand.” Ying’er smiled faintly and reached out to pat Bai Qiangu’s swollen cheek. “When my husband comes later, do you know what you should say?”

Bai Qiangu shuddered, terror filling her eyes.

“You… you want me to lie?”

“Lie?” Ying’er tilted her head, her smile innocent and pure. “What does ‘lie’ mean? There was merely a small misunderstanding between us, wasn’t there? Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, we’re as close as ever again. Isn’t that right?”

Her finger slid lightly across Bai Qiangu’s neck, leaving behind a faint line of blood. Her voice was gentle, yet filled with menace. “If you dare say one more word… I’ll show you what it truly means to wish you were dead.”

“You should know that I’m capable of it.”

Bai Qiangu’s entire body trembled violently, humiliation welling up in her eyes as tears.

She wanted to resist, but her body simply refused to obey her.

The terrifying aura radiating from Ying’er had completely suppressed her cultivation, leaving her unable to move even a finger.

She opened and closed her mouth several times. In the end, she lowered her head and rasped, “I… I understand.”

“Good girl.” Ying’er nodded in satisfaction and withdrew her aura.

The instant Ying’er did so, a white-robed figure appeared beside the Jadewater Pool.

Ye Xuan walked over.

He saw the cracks in the cliff, the sword marks covering the ground, Bai Qiangu’s swollen left cheek, and the blood at the corner of her mouth. He paused slightly.

“What happened to you?” Ye Xuan glanced at Bai Qiangu’s miserable condition, then at Ying’er, his face filled with surprise. “What happened here?”

Bai Qiangu shuddered and instinctively glanced at Ying’er.

The cold expression on Ying’er’s face had vanished without a trace the moment Ye Xuan appeared. She had once again become the pitiful, harmless little maid she appeared to be.

She hurried to Ye Xuan’s side and wrapped her arms around his. Her voice was soft and sweet. “Husband, it’s nothing. Sister Qiangu and I just had a little misunderstanding. It’s already been resolved.”

She turned to look at Bai Qiangu, a gentle smile on her face, though a frigid glint flashed through her eyes. “Isn’t that right, Sister Qiangu?”

Under her gaze, Bai Qiangu began trembling violently. She instinctively took two steps back, her voice quivering. “Y-Yes… That’s right… It was just a misunder… misunderstanding…”

Her voice shook, and her face was filled with terror.

Ye Xuan’s gaze lingered on Bai Qiangu for a moment before shifting to Ying’er beside him. An imperceptible flicker crossed his eyes.

He had noticed something.

The terrifying aura lingering in the air, the enormous depression in the cliff, the deep sword mark in the ground, Bai Qiangu’s swollen left cheek, and the fear in her eyes…

Everything indicated that a battle had just taken place.

A completely one-sided battle.

And clearly, Bai Qiangu had been the one who lost.

The corners of Ye Xuan’s mouth curled into a meaningful smile.

Looking at Bai Qiangu, he asked in a warm voice tinged with amusement, “A misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding could the two of you possibly have?”

Bai Qiangu opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say.

She looked toward Ying’er. Ying’er was watching her with a bright smile, but in Bai Qiangu’s eyes, that smile looked like the grin of a demon.

She shuddered and hurriedly shook her head. “N-Nothing… It really was just a misunderstanding… I-I fell by accident…”

“You fell?” Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow and pointed toward the enormous depression in the cliff. “From there? And that’s how you ended up like this?”

Bai Qiangu’s face instantly flushed crimson. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to hide in. Clenching her teeth, she rasped, “Y-Yes… I wasn’t careful…”

Ye Xuan gave her a long, deep look but did not press the matter.

He turned to Ying’er, reached out, and gently pinched her cheek. His voice was tender. “What about you? Are you all right?”

Ying’er shook her head, her face filled with innocent delight. “I’m fine. Sister Qiangu is very kind to me. We only raised our voices a little while talking. We didn’t fight.”

Ye Xuan nearly burst out laughing when he heard that.

They hadn’t fought?

Had Bai Qiangu’s swollen, pig-like face been caused by a bee sting?

He knew exactly what had happened, yet pretended not to notice a thing.

Smiling, he patted Ying’er on the head. His tone was indulgent. “Since that’s the case, good. The two of you are both at my side, so you should get along. Don’t make me worry.”

Ying’er nodded vigorously, her voice sweet. “Don’t worry, Husband. Sister Qiangu and I will certainly get along.”

She turned toward Bai Qiangu, the smile on her face growing even gentler. “Isn’t that right, Sister Qiangu?”

When Bai Qiangu saw the fleeting chill in her eyes, her entire body jolted. She hurriedly nodded like a pecking chicken. “Yes, yes, yes… We’ll definitely get along… Definitely…”

Ye Xuan smiled and said nothing more. He wrapped an arm around Ying’er’s slender waist and turned toward the Sword God Palace.

Bai Qiangu remained where she was, watching Ye Xuan and Ying’er’s retreating figures. Her body was still trembling faintly.

Her left cheek was swollen high, and blood continued to drip from the corner of her mouth. She reached up to touch her swollen cheek, then grimaced in pain.

From childhood to adulthood, no one had ever struck her like this.

She was the Master of the Wuji Demon Sect, Bai Qiangu, whose very name had once struck fear into countless hearts. Yet she had been slapped by a mere maid—and had not even dared to fight back!

Even more terrifying was the fact that she had not possessed the ability to fight back at all!

“Who in the world is she…?”

Bai Qiangu murmured to herself, her eyes filled with fear.

An existence with such terrifying strength was actually willing to serve as a lowly concubine, spending every day pretending to be weak and pitiful while playing the pig to eat the tiger at Ye Xuan’s side…

What could she possibly be after?

Bai Qiangu couldn’t figure it out.

But she knew one thing: from now on, she absolutely could not provoke Ying’er again.

This seemingly harmless maid was actually an existence countless times more terrifying than she was!

Bai Qiangu took a deep breath and circulated her demonic qi, slowly reducing the swelling on her face. She took a bronze mirror from her storage pouch and examined herself in it, her expression growing even darker.

Five bright red finger marks were clearly stamped across her fair cheek, and they would not fade anytime soon.

She gritted her teeth, then cast a concealment spell over her face, hiding the marks from view.

After straightening her disheveled robes, she took another deep breath and headed toward the Sword God Palace.

Along the way, she encountered quite a few disciples of the Sword God Palace. When they saw her, they all bowed and greeted her, their eyes filled with awe.

Bai Qiangu kept her expression composed and returned each greeting with a nod, as though nothing had happened.

Yet beneath her sleeves, her hands were clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood.

Her heart was filled with resentment and humiliation. But more than anything else, she was afraid.

Afraid of Ying’er.

It was the first time in her life that she had felt such profound fear toward another person.