Chengying: "Tsk, tsk."
"And get this—when I went to Changyue Peak, I just happened to find the Silver Silk Immortal Leaf that could cure you. I brought it back while I was at it."
Chengying: "Tsk, tsk."
Ning Ning nervously rubbed the tip of her nose. "Um, are you feeling any better?"
Pei Ji held back the splitting pain in his head and answered without changing his expression. "Mm. Thank you, Senior Sister."
He had always been blunt, never hiding what he thought. "I owe you for this. I'll repay you with everything I have."
Ning Ning immediately cut in. "No need!"
—If she became the male lead's benefactor, how was the plot supposed to continue? It had gone completely off the rails. The whole thing might as well collapse.
Chengying sighed. "I knew she'd say that. Ning Ning's such a fool. Why does she always do things in silence without asking for anything in return? She's so pitiful, it breaks my heart. Only the Bodhisattva knows how much I ache for her."
Pei Ji was getting annoyed by its incessant chatter. He looked away from Ning Ning's face and down at the ground, where he happened to catch sight of the hem of the young girl's skirt.
She wore the sect's usual uniform. Beneath the hem, he could make out the faint glimpse of her slender, fair ankles. It was a sight wholly at odds with his blood-soaked appearance. A breeze drifted by, lifting the light fabric.
A conspicuous tear gradually spread, reaching all the way to her knee—
Somewhere, Ning Ning had snagged her skirt and ripped it. The tear ran from the hem to her knee, and at a glance, her slender calves were visible.
Pei Ji pressed his lips together and looked away.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing