The immortals scattered in a great rush.
Meng Mingde wanted to stop them, but no one paid him any heed.
Ever since Meng Anli had been promised to the Crown Prince, he had never been treated like this.
How did that damned Lu Zhiyuan know about this?
There had been no wars among the Six Realms, so he must have had plenty of idle time. When had he learned of it? And how many immortals had he told?
Would his Shiwan be harmed?
Meng Mingde hurriedly contacted Meng Shiwan through the Communication Mirror.
A response came quickly, accompanied by soft, sobbing cries.
Meng Mingde's heart shattered at the sound. "Good daughter, stop crying. Who bullied you? Father will vent your anger for you."
Meng Xiuchen's voice sounded. "I'm sorry, Father. Meng Anli caused a scene during the entrance test, saying we dug out her inner core and exposed Wanwan's origins. I blame myself for failing to protect Wanwan."
"You unfilial daughter!"
Meng Mingde roared in fury and hurriedly flew home. "How could she be so vicious? How will Wanwan ever gain a foothold in the Seven Realms after this? I had meant to spare her life..."
Meng Shiwan said between sniffles, "It isn't Sister's fault. Perhaps she is only angry that I received all of your love."
"Good daughter, don't speak for her. She would do something like this merely out of anger—wouldn't she become a Demon Lord who wreaks havoc across the Seven Realms in the future? Today, I will uphold justice for Heaven. Meng Xiuchen."
"Here."
"Make her kowtow to Shiwan and apologize. Give her thirty disciplinary-whip strokes, then lock her in the dark prison!"
"She... hasn't returned yet."
"She has truly rebelled against Heaven!" Meng Mingde flew into the house. Seeing Meng Shiwan's tear-reddened eyes, he gathered her into his arms with aching tenderness. "Don't worry. Father will definitely seek justice for you."
"Father, I'm so scared." Meng Shiwan clung to his back. "Will I be thrown into the mortal world and bullied again? Will I never see you and my brothers again?"
"No, no. You are Father's daughter. Who would dare throw you away?"
He coaxed Meng Shiwan for quite some time.
Gradually, Meng Shiwan stopped crying in his arms and fell asleep.
He carefully carried her to the bed. When he came out, his face was cold and grim as he instructed Meng Xiuchen, "Your eldest and second brothers are not home right now. You must fulfill your duty to protect your sister. Go find Meng Anli and capture her. Bring her back to apologize to Shiwan and receive her punishment."
"Yes." Meng Xiuchen withdrew indignantly.
Meng Mingde went to the treasury, selected several treasures, and headed for the residence of the Censor Immortal Official.
This matter absolutely could not be reported to the Heavenly Emperor. It would only wound Wanwan a second time.
*
Inside the academy dormitory, Meng Anli's cracked lips rapidly healed, gleaming with a moist sheen. Her chapped cheeks also returned to normal, while dust was squeezed out onto the surface of her skin.
Her lashes trembled. When she opened her eyes, her already shimmering peach-blossom eyes rippled even more like water. One blink was enough to snare the soul.
Lu Yao was caught by her gaze and stared blankly. "You...?"
"Hm?" Meng Anli lifted her eyes and looked at her in confusion.
"Don't look at me like that!"
Lu Yao sucked in a cold breath, hurriedly covered her face with her hands, twisted shyly, and let out a foolish little giggle.
Meng Anli understood even less. Worried, she reached out to take her hand. "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"No, no. You're just too beautiful."
"Beautiful?" Meng Anli touched her face, and dust came fluttering down.
This counted as beautiful?
"But speaking of which," Lu Yao said, lowering the hand covering her face but still not daring to look at her, "you still couldn't activate the Huan Dan Grass?"
"That's not it." Meng Anli found the question strange. "I've already formed a core."
"Really?" Lu Yao pulled over her hand, intending to check her pulse, only to find that Meng Anli's wrist was even softer than before and felt wonderfully nice to touch. Unable to resist, she gave it a squeeze.
Then she giggled again.
Meng Anli: "?"
Lu Yao coughed lightly and continued taking her pulse. "You really have formed an inner core, and it's water-elemental. No wonder your whole body is so frighteningly dewy. But doesn't it hurt? I didn't even see you frown."
"It really didn't hurt."
"Then the records in the books are wrong. We need to correct them."
"No." Meng Anli stopped her. "Perhaps that Great Deity named Yuan Tuo helped me."
"Yuan Tuo? A Great Deity?" Lu Yao's attention was immediately drawn elsewhere. "Quick, tell me what happened when you went to the North Sea this time."
"I feel sticky all over. I'll tell you while I wash up."
"Alright!"
The two went to the eastern washroom on their floor to fetch water, then poured it into the bathing tub in the inner room.
Considerately, Lu Yao heated the water for her with fire. Then she squatted outside the folding screen and listened as Meng Anli spoke.
"Wow—so that means you even met the legendary Great Emperor Dangmo?"
"Yes." Meng Anli came out while drying her hair.
Lu Yao instinctively looked up, and the moment she saw her, she froze again.
Her features had already been flawless. Now, her skin was luminous as snow and clear as water, while the steam had tinted her cheeks with a faint flush.
"You're truly going to steal my soul away."
"You're exaggerating." Meng Anli reproached her in a coquettish tone.
Lu Yao clutched her chest and collapsed to the floor. "Too beautiful. You're leaving no way for the rest of us to survive."
Meng Anli bent down to help her up, gently pinching her cheek. "I like a face like yours even more."
"Not as much as yours. Let me pinch it."
Lu Yao lightly pinched her cheek and sighed in contentment. "Sure enough, it's even nicer to pinch than it looks."
The two laughed and played as they went to pour out the bathwater, when Meng Anli suddenly heard her own name.
She leaned out and looked downstairs. Meng Xiuchen was negotiating with the dorm matron.
"Meng Anli is my sister. Why can't I go up and find her?"
The dorm matron planted her hands on her hips. "Girls live in this building, and it is already nighttime. You are a man, so naturally you cannot go upstairs. If you ruin these girls' reputations, can you bear the responsibility?"
"There aren't many girls living here now, are there? After all, classes won't officially begin for another seven days."
"Even if there were only one, you still could not go up. She is your sister, so why don't you contact her through the Communication Mirror?"
Meng Xiuchen said, "I..."
The dorm matron waved him away. "Go on, go on. Take one more step forward, and I'll treat you as a lecher and beat you."
Meng Xiuchen sullenly retreated two steps, then suddenly threw back his head and shouted, "Meng Anli, if you have the guts, come out here!"
"Hey!" The dorm matron was infuriated. She grabbed a feather duster and began striking him with it.
A girl leaned out by a window and shouted, "Matron, he's awful! He dug out Meng Anli's inner core!"
"Yes, don't let him in!"
"There's such a thing?" The matron's eyes widened. The feather duster enlarged, then came crashing fiercely down on Meng Xiuchen's head.
Meng Xiuchen fled in disgrace.
Lu Yao cursed, "Pah! How ugly. How did I ever like someone like him?"
"It was my fault." Meng Anli linked arms with her. "I kept telling you how wonderful my brothers were, so you couldn't see clearly."
"It's alright." Lu Yao patted her hand. "It isn't too late to see clearly now. We'll be on guard against them. Naturally, we won't let them take advantage of us again."
Meng Anli lowered her eyes. In her previous life, they had suffered tremendous losses.
In this life, she would make them repay every debt, one by one.
The moment she returned to her room, she began cultivating.
Lu Yao also felt humiliated that she had been unable to defeat Meng Xiuchen today, so she quietly sat in meditation and cultivated.
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