You Look Ugly!

The alley was deep and secluded, as if countless secrets lurked beneath every smooth, gleaming bluestone slab.

Behind the vermilion-painted gate stood a courtyard that looked somewhat rundown.

In the middle of the courtyard sat a stone mill, with an iron bucket placed atop the millstone.

The bucket was filled with ice—one whole bucket, packed to the brim.

The ice was scorched beneath the blazing sun, sending great billows of cold air outward.

A man dressed in black sat meditating beside it. Smoke swirled around his body, and sweat poured down his forehead. He looked as though he were sitting in a sauna.

His hands flickered through the air, his ten fingers rapidly forming dozens of complicated, bizarre seals.

Whoosh—

A blinding white light erupted!

A pitch-black, bottomless hole suddenly appeared atop the bluestone floor.

Dark, sinister energy poured from the hole. One glance was enough to make anyone tremble from head to toe, as if it were a passage of death leading straight to the Asura Hell.

There was a brief silence. Then came a rustling, scraping sound.

A crow crawled out of the black hole and lunged toward the man in black.

More crows flew out, converging on the man in black.

They swarmed around him in a dense mass, opening their beaks to devour the dark energy radiating from his body.

Caw, caw, caw—

Countless crows had countless beaks, and those countless beaks kept opening and closing. The sight sent a chill down the spine.

When the crows dispersed, the black smoke vanished. The man in black finally revealed his true appearance.

He poured the ice and icy water from the bucket over his head. His body hissed loudly, as though it were a blazing furnace and the ice and water had been poured onto its flames, only to be scorched and vaporized.

Only then was the light-infused energy on the crows truly driven out.

Since time immemorial, light and darkness had been difficult to reconcile. The crows followed a sinister, evil path, and even the birds he raised had been refined from filthy substances. When he was injured, the Cui family's young lady's bodyguard had used Myriad Homes' Living Buddha. It was orthodox Buddhist martial arts, an advanced exorcism technique of the Buddhist sect.

When the light energy entered his body, Black Charcoal had been gravely wounded and fled.

He had slipped into this alley and killed a widow who had lived alone for many years. The courtyard had then become his place to recuperate.

Every trade had its specialty, and Black Charcoal had always been very confident in his craft.

He was a proud man, an arrogant and spoiled assassin.

But when his foolproof plan failed, it was tantamount to receiving a slap in the face in broad daylight—

He could imagine how the bloodthirsty, murderous people in the Assassin's Guild would mock and ridicule him when news of his failure reached their ears.

"Unforgivable." Black Charcoal struck out with one palm, and the stone mill, weighing more than a thousand jin, snapped into several pieces with a crack.

During his recovery, Black Charcoal carefully recalled the events of that day.

When he sensed the Cui family's Bright Moon leaving the school gates, he had already ambushed them in the Beast-Faced Pavilion. Sure enough, his gamble had paid off. Cui Xiaoxin really had walked toward the Beast-Faced Pavilion with her classmate.

Just as he had expected, the Cui family's guards had not followed them inside. Instead, they had stood watch at the pavilion entrance, warily observing the guests coming and going.

When the Cui family's guard failed to enter, he knew that his ambush had a ninety-nine percent chance of success. The only reason there had been a one-percent possibility of failure was that Cui Xiaoxin might transform into a Starry-Sky cultivator in a single second.

But was that possible?

Cui Xiaoxin indeed had failed to transform, and she indeed was not a Starry-Sky cultivator.

A princess had to maintain her elegance. She could not transform at the drop of a hat. But the useless boy beside her had transformed.

Otherwise, why had he been able to catch Cherry Blossom Fall with such pinpoint accuracy every single time?

Why had his punch sent him flying even after he had unleashed the ultimate killing move One Qi Cleaves Mount Hua?

What else could that have been if not a transformation?

So, when all was said and done, the chief culprit behind this failure was that Black Charcoal boy.

"I'm going to kill him." Black Charcoal thought viciously.

With his right hand, he took a coin from his pocket and placed it in his left hand.

"This is my payment," Black Charcoal said to himself. He did not do business that earned him nothing.

Flap, flap—

A black bird flew into the courtyard, beating its wings.

Black Charcoal beckoned, and the black bird landed in his palm.

He untied a bamboo tube from the bird's leg, then pulled a slip of paper from inside it.

The slip was small, and it contained very little.

Black Charcoal quickly finished reading it.

He gently rubbed the slip between two fingers, and it immediately caught fire.

"Li Mu Yang." Black Charcoal growled the name, his eyes brimming with killing intent. "The name suits you perfectly. You're already a lamb waiting for the slaughter."

—

"Little bird says good morning, good morning, why are you carrying a bomb pack? I'm off to blow up the school, the teacher doesn't know, I'll run the moment I light it—" Li Sinian hummed as she pushed open the courtyard gate. The sight of the courtyard in complete disarray startled her badly, and she shouted, "Li Mu Yang! Li Mu Yang—"

Li Mu Yang came out from the inner room and asked, "What's wrong?"

"What happened to the table in the courtyard?" Li Sinian pointed at the lapis lazuli table, which had several corners missing. "How did a perfectly good table end up like this?"

"I don't know either." Li Mu Yang went outside and pretended to inspect the scene. "How did this happen? Could the table have been struck by lightning?"

"How could that be?" Li Sinian said irritably. "How could a perfectly good table have been struck by lightning?"

"If a perfectly good person can be struck by lightning, why not a table?" Li Mu Yang retorted.

Li Sinian's eyes widened. She stared at Li Mu Yang for a while before asking, "You really don't know?"

Li Mu Yang grinned. "All right, all right, I'll confess. I broke it by bending it with my hands— I was lying on the table writing, and I don't know what happened—"

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Li Sinian interrupted his explanation. "I'd sooner believe it was struck by lightning."

"..."

Of course, Li Sinian did not care about a table. She glanced around and asked, "Big Sister Xiao Xin didn't come today?"

"She didn't." Li Mu Yang smiled. He was unwilling to tell his sister that Yan Xiangma had come, or else he would only cause the girl needless worry.

She was already in her second year of high school, and her studies were extremely demanding. Although her grades were excellent, Li Mu Yang did not want her to bear the burdens that belonged to this age. "Xiao Xin said yesterday that she wouldn't come today. She was going to the temple with her elders to burn incense."

Li Sinian rolled her dark eyes and said, "We should go make a wish for you, too—"

"I don't believe in that." Li Mu Yang refused. "If burning incense and praying to Buddha could get someone into university, would anyone still fail the entrance exams?"

"I'm not asking for that—" Li Sinian rolled her eyes. "You won't get in no matter what. Even Buddha can't help you with that."

"Then what are you asking for?"

"I'm asking for Big Sister Xiao Xin to fail too. That way, you'll both fail together, share the same fate, and return to school to repeat the year together. Then the three of us will attend the same school and the same class, study with all our might, and a year later, the three of us will all pass the imperial examination, enter Xifeng University hand in hand, and become a celebrated story in Jiangnan City. Don't you think that would be wonderful?"

Li Mu Yang walked over, pinched Li Sinian's tender little cheek, and looked at her with concern. "Li Sinian, are you sick?"

"You're the one who's sick." Li Sinian slapped away her brother's misbehaving hand. "I thought about it seriously today. If you want to be with Big Sister Xiao Xin, then either you have to get into Xifeng University, or Big Sister Xiao Xin has to fail and study with you again—"

"Then we'll be able to be together?"

"No." Li Sinian shook her head. "But at least you'll have a chance to compete with someone. Right?"

"..."

The words were cruel, but Li Mu Yang knew that Li Sinian had spoken the truth.

If he could not perform beyond his usual level in this examination, then he and Cui Xiaoxin would be separated by distance in the future, without even the chance to compete with anyone—

"I don't necessarily have to pursue Cui Xiaoxin." Li Mu Yang stubbornly said. "I'm still young, anyway. No one can say what will happen in the future. Maybe I'll find someone even better."

"Bro—"

"What?"

"You look ugly."

"I know. Did you have to put it so bluntly?"

"But not every girl is as blind as Big Sister Xiao Xin."

"..."

—

Cui Xiaoxin put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and said, "Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, please take your time eating. I'm heading out."

Uncle Yan put down the newspaper in his hands and looked at Cui Xiaoxin. "Xiao Xin, you're full already? The Literary Examination is coming up soon. You need to pay attention to your diet."

"I've finished eating. Thank you for your concern, Uncle." Cui Xiaoxin bowed in thanks.

"Xiao Xin, where are you going?" her aunt asked. "Are you going to tutor that classmate of yours again? The examinations are coming up. You can't help someone else at the expense of your own grades. Our family doesn't need that, of course, but people outside will still comment on whether your grades are good or bad. You know how many eyes will be watching you when you return to Tiandu this time."

"Aunt, don't worry. I'm prepared." Cui Xiaoxin's expression was gentle yet resolute as she looked at her aunt. "Whether it's the examination or Tiandu."

Yan Xiangma chuckled. "Stop worrying needlessly. Don't you trust our Xiao Xin? Xiao Xin, Xiao Xin—she's more careful and cautious than anyone."

After Cui Xiaoxin left, Uncle Yan turned a sharp gaze on Yan Xiangma and asked, "Which classmate is so fortunate as to have Xiao Xin tutor him personally?"