Bratty Little Hu Liena

Because he had finally realized what a clown he had been in the past, and that the love he had treasured so dearly was actually something he could have obtained easily, given his circumstances...

For example, it was like a young master whose frugality-minded parents had concealed the family's background. He sincerely pursued the prettiest girl in class, only for some high-ranking thug to swindle her away with a few tens of thousands of coins and some trashy tricks—then he turned around and discovered that he was actually the behind-the-scenes owner and financial backer of the gang that thug belonged to...

Yan's defenses shattered by a billion points.

He leaped from one extreme to another.

If the young master had switched from "true love conquers all" to "money above all, women are like clothes,"

then Yan had gone from "true love conquers all" to "I want to become a Titled Douluo; women are nothing but a nuisance."

Fortunately, You Chen corrected him in time. Otherwise, Yan would have completely turned into a cultivation lunatic instead of becoming who he was today.

The current Yan had completely graduated from being a simp, but he was not a cultivation maniac either. The difference was that he no longer yearned madly for love as he once had. He now treated Hu Liena like an ordinary childhood friend, with feelings not much different from those he had for Xie Yue.

Even You Chen felt a little afraid in retrospect, and decided that he would never again use such mind-affecting methods on children whose mental development was not yet complete.

He had originally thought he was merely making Yan think a little more. Who could have known that perhaps the original Yan had been so simple-minded that he had never thought about anything at all? Once You Chen awakened his potential for thought, he began thinking just a billion points more...

All of this made You Chen acknowledge their bond. Later, when Yan asked to become his disciple, he accepted Yan as his personal disciple without refusing.

At this moment, although Hu Liena was Yan's childhood friend, he still chose to stand by You Chen's side and angrily rebuked Hu Liena for baselessly questioning his teacher.

Seeing Yan glaring furiously at her, Hu Liena pouted slightly, feeling faintly indignant.

For a long time, Hu Liena had not noticed Yan's change.

It was only after Yan gradually stopped clinging to her that she instead found herself feeling refreshed and at ease for quite a while.

It was not until one day, when she asked—ordered—Yan to buy something for her in Spirit City, only for him to refuse because he needed to seek guidance from his teacher, that she finally realized something was wrong.

Although she had never liked Yan from beginning to end, seeing Yan, who had once obeyed her every word, no longer willing to be her errand boy naturally left Hu Liena extremely displeased.

She even seized an opportunity afterward to have a huge fight with Yan.

Yet she waited and waited, but Yan never turned around and apologized to her.

Later, Xie Yue could no longer stand watching and forcibly dragged her over to apologize to Yan!

From then on, a rift appeared in their relationship.

Huh? As for some plot where a simp stopped simping, causing her to start caring about him instead, before developing into some "chasing-her-husband-to-the-crematorium" drama or romantic comedy?

That did not exist. After all, Yan looked completely ordinary, and he was covered in muscles too. He was absolutely not her type!

In the eyes of outsiders, meanwhile, Yan and Hu Liena gradually developed a relationship like that of a "tolerant older brother" and a "rebellious little sister."

If childhood friends were not romantically involved, then in a sense, their relationship was similar to that of siblings without blood ties.

And because of Hu Liena's spoiled and willful behavior during their interactions, her reputation had noticeably declined compared to when Yan had been a simp.

Naturally, that was because Yan no longer took the blame for Hu Liena.

But could Hu Liena accept such a change?

Even ordinary people might understand it rationally while struggling to accept it emotionally, let alone someone like Hu Liena, whose emotions completely overwhelmed her reason.

Yan's doubts and rebuke only intensified Hu Liena's rebellious streak.

Are you saying Teacher Bibi Dong is wrong?

She very much wanted to use the righteous banner of "the Pope above all" to refute Yan.

Just imagining that scene made Hu Liena feel as though her tailbone were going numb and perking up.

The feeling was like that of a five- or six-year-old little brat who had clearly done something bad, yet obtained an imperial sword called "parents," forcing older brothers and sisters over a decade older to bow their heads and admit fault for the baseless crime of "bullying their little sister."

But even Hu Liena knew that saying such words could very likely cause trouble for her teacher.

Because when Bibi Dong had privately badmouthed You Chen to her, she had said that You Chen was extremely calculating. Many people had been deceived by his gentle facade. Even if she, the Pope, pointed out that You Chen harbored evil intentions, the vast majority would probably refuse to believe it.

Hu Liena gritted her teeth, her eyes shifting as she put her little brain to work. "Fine, I admit that saying he poisoned the candy was a bit of an overreaction. But... I'm only an eleven-year-old child. Facing a Soul Ancestor who's close to becoming a Soul King, what's wrong with being a little cautious!?"

"Uh... Nothing's wrong? Is there nothing wrong?"

Yan was hit by Hu Liena's logic assault. With his brain, although he instinctively felt there was something wrong with her argument, even if his pig brain overheated, he could not figure out exactly how to refute her.

But in truth, the biggest problem with Hu Liena's words was that she had assumed from the start that You Chen might harm them. Yet the question was... why? What interest did he have? There was nothing.

It was all merely Hu Liena's subjective fantasy of being victimized.

A little thought made it obvious: You Chen would have to be insane to attack Hu Liena, the Pope's favored disciple, in his own home.

But You Chen knew that refuting her would be meaningless anyway. In his previous life, he had seen plenty of women who made unreasonable scenes like this. The moment one chose to argue with such a person was the moment one fell into their trap, no different from losing.

As a renowned theory master, personally debating an eleven-year-old girl—even if that girl was the Pope's disciple—would be far beneath his dignity.

So he merely began steeping tea in silence, even pouring a cup for Xie Yue, who stood to the side with a guilty look on his face.

Only then did he speak in an even tone. "Hu Liena, regarding your unauthorized intrusion into my residence, the harm caused to my servants, and the disruption of the banquet I was hosting... Ge Ruisi will report all these losses to the Finance Department afterward. In the end, it will probably be your beloved Pope teacher who approves the expenses, right?"

"Gulp!"

Hu Liena immediately stopped arguing with Yan and glared viciously at You Chen. "You Chen, I've heard all about it! You're about to leave Spirit City, yet you invited so many people to gather here at this time. You must be secretly uniting your evil followers, so that after you leave Spirit City, they can coordinate with you from within and without to do something shameful! What I did was a righteous and noble act!"

She paused and swallowed. "Teacher will definitely understand me!"