"She... she's Qin Yun," Chen Cheng immediately explained.
I turned to the woman.
A flash of fear crossed her face at first, but she quickly mustered her courage and walked over. "Senior Xia... I am indeed Qin Yun. It was because of me that Senior flew into a rage earlier. After I returned and heard what happened, I was left deeply uneasy, so I have been waiting here for you. I wanted to explain and apologize in person. I hope Senior will hear me out."
I looked her up and down. She was indeed as beautiful as a flower, with an extraordinary bearing. The blue fur cloak she wore set her apart from ordinary elite disciples.
"So you're the prodigy of the Qingle Academy? You're quite handsome, but why are you so cold in your actions? You obstructed the rescue effort so thoroughly—do you understand that human lives were at stake?" As I spoke, the air grew several degrees colder. My pressure made her feel as though she had fallen into the depths of winter; even her fur cloak seemed to have been worn for nothing.
Qin Yun gritted her teeth, then struggled to control her trembling. After gathering her thoughts, she said, "Senior Xia... it wasn't like that. I had only met Senior Sister Lin a few times. I saw her when I occasionally received outside mentors and students with the instructors of our academy... Because of that, she came to believe that we were familiar with each other. So when she happened to see the two academy students who trespassed inside nearly collide with me that day, she deliberately made things difficult for them. At the time, I had an urgent matter and needed to report back to my master, so I only told her not to make