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What was even more unexpected was that Tian Xianzi's personal disciple would suddenly push the door open and walk in.

It was well-known that this young lady had a perverse and overbearing personality, yet she had actually deigned to stand up for Pei Ji. What was this called? This was definitely love!

A lovestruck girl, frustrated in her sword path but finding success in romance, had developed a special affection for the stranger who defeated her. Not only did she chase him all the way to his residence, but she also didn't hesitate to reprimand the fellow disciples who had bullied him.

He had long heard that such favored daughters of heaven would develop a special affection for those who defeated them; it seemed the stories written in the scripts were indeed true.

Nie Zhi was both shocked and terrified, mentally constructing an entire tale of sect-based angst about Ning Ning's unrequited love for Pei Ji. However, as the heroine of the story, Ning Ning herself was completely oblivious to all of this.

She only felt that she was doomed.

She had promised the system she would complete her tasks properly, but the opening had been a total disaster, with the plot shattered beyond recognition.

This wouldn't do.

If you promise someone something, you must do it well. Even as a villainous supporting character, one must have professional ethics!

"I didn't come here specifically to help you."

The original owner had met Pei Ji, so she naturally couldn't use "mistaking him for someone else" as an excuse. Ning Ning gritted her teeth as she said this, her earlobes burning with a mix of regret and embarrassment.

Everything she said was the truth, yet to the ears of the others, it sounded like something entirely different.

Seeing the flush on the girl's pearly-white earlobes, Nie Zhi trembled.

She blushed while speaking and was in such a rush to distance herself from Pei Ji—one could tell she was a classic tsundere the moment she opened her mouth. If she didn't come here specifically to help him, why say those things to Shen Anqiao?

Pei Ji remained expressionless, while Nie Zhi looked thoughtful.

Ning Ning felt that the atmosphere was not quite right. Meeting the dark, lingeringly hostile eyes of the person in front of her, she added defiantly, "Listen well: the only reason I was defeated by you in the Grand Competition was because I used less than half of my strength. Don't get too cocky; I will defeat you sooner or later!"

These were the words the original owner had spoken in the book.

However, as soon as these words left her lips, Nie Zhi's expression turned into one of "so that's how it is."

He had originally thought that Ning Ning only took a fancy to Pei Ji after losing to him, but judging by this statement, this little ancestor had long since planted the roots of love for him.

To let that kid win the Grand Competition, she had actually only used fifty percent of her power—fifty percent! For the sake of love, she could even disregard the honor of Jianmen. What a spirit of sacrifice and devotion!

A personal disciple is truly a personal disciple; even her way of pursuing someone is so pure and refined.

If she were to find out that he had also bullied her sweetheart quite harshly...

Shen Anqiao, who was being pointed at by Pei Ji's sword, was already weeping with tears streaming down his face. Nie Zhi worried that he would follow in his footsteps, so he decided he had better leave this place of trouble while the two were busy flirting.

Thus, after a moment of thought, he lowered his voice and offered a fawning smile: "Pardon the intrusion, may I take my leave first?"

To please Ning Ning, he didn't forget to add: "The two of you are a match made in heaven, a perfect pair that truly makes one envious. If I stay here any longer, I fear I might disturb the two of you in deepening your affection."

He spoke with such vivid emotion, completely unaware that this was the greatest possible insult to the other person's professional competence. It was like tap-dancing on a landmine, yet he smiled as brightly as a chrysanthemum, looking ready to fly up into the sky and rub shoulders with the sun.

Ning Ning felt both angry and aggrieved.

Please, have some respect for her status as a vicious female supporting character. Who wants to build a relationship with the male lead?!

As a clever and beautiful girl who had read countless novels across male-oriented, female-oriented, and adult-oriented platforms, Ning Ning wasn't stupid. She immediately understood what Nie Zhi meant.

Her current actions were indeed easy to misunderstand. If she stubbornly resisted, she would likely only make things worse.

In the established plot, the original owner would turn and leave after insulting Pei Ji. The situation was awkward now, and she didn't want to linger, but in order to put an end to the male lead's unrealistic delusions, she added one last sentence before leaving: "I really don't like you!"

Pei Ji's expression as he looked at her...

Well, there was no expression on his face. He gave a faint glance with his narrow, phoenix-like eyes, his voice as cold as ice shards, still carrying the lingering embers of killing intent: "I never said you did."

Ning Ning choked.

Are you a dog, male lead? Would it kill you not to snap back like that?!

Now it had turned into her being the one who was delusional.

"And you two."

Pei Ji was a piece of hard iron; she wasn't stupid enough to kick it. She turned her gaze to the other two people present: "Don't you dare let your imaginations run wild!"

Nie Zhi wore an expression that screamed, Right, right, we all understand, the young miss just likes to play games, and nodded incessantly like a beckoning cat: "Yes, yes, absolutely no wild imaginations."

Ning Ning was about to be angered to death by him.

However, she couldn't defend herself. Gritting her teeth, she met Pei Ji's gaze and recited the final harsh line that the system forced her to say—the last words of the vicious female supporting character in the original work: "We will meet again. Just you wait."

Ning Ning: ...

Even she felt that after this whole performance, she had clearly become a tsundere young miss who was secretly in love with the male lead but too embarrassed to admit it!

In the context of the original text, words like "we will meet again" were indeed chilling, but coming from her...

Why did it feel like she couldn't wait to see her sweetheart again?!

Tortured by this misunderstanding to the point of suffocation, Ning Ning turned and left without hesitation. She didn't wave her sleeves or take a single cloud with her, leaving the three people in the disciple's quarters with their varied expressions.

Nie Zhi let out a dry laugh and glanced timidly at Pei Ji before him: "It seems she is deeply in love with you. Congratulations, congratulations."

The little ancestor was gone, leaving behind the mad-dog-like Pei Ji. He felt he was done for.

Back during the entrance examination, Pei Ji was just a poor kid with weak spiritual power and demonic bloodline remnants in his body. With no money, no influence, and no strength, he had become the perfect punching bag for him and Shen Anqiao.

The kid was something else, though. Even with his meager strength, every time he was beaten, he would fight back with his life, only to provoke even more violent beatings. No matter how badly he was injured, he had never once begged for mercy.

He was like a wolf pup that hadn't yet grown its claws, his eyes as crimson as blood.