Step Back, I'm About to Start Operating

"So smooth...?"

When Zhang Lexuan heard this phrase, she felt a sense of dissonance.

In her impression, Ma Xiaotao was not such a... how should she put it... right, a lecherous person.

This did not sound like something that would come out of her mouth.

However, right now at Shrek Academy, everyone was discussing the incident at the Mimicry Cultivation Ground, leaving her no choice but to believe it.

Therefore, as Zhang Lexuan was on her way to Shrek Plaza today, she spotted Ma Xiaotao looking for something and suppressed the anger in her heart.

She walked up to her.

"Xiaotao, do you know my younger brother?"

Zhang Lexuan did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

[Task Issued: Interrogation from the lady of the house.]

[Please bluff your way through and distance yourself from this incident.]

[Reward: Keep your corpse intact.]

Keep... keep my corpse intact?

Is she testing me?

With the system's voice and Zhang Lexuan's voice appearing in her mind simultaneously, Ma Xiaotao immediately grasped the core of the situation.

The usually haughty expression on her face softened, and she looked at Zhang Lexuan with a smile:

"I do, Senior Sister. I met your brother at the Mimicry Cultivation Ground, but we haven't even spent half a day together, so I don't know him that well."

She revealed just the right amount of annoyance.

Zhang Lexuan caught this flicker of emotion, but she had learned the cause of the matter from the rumors spread by the academy students; one person might be wrong, but could so many people be wrong?

Ma Xiaotao felt a headache coming on. No wonder that brat Xuanyuan Sheng was a bit difficult to handle; it turned out to be a family trait.

In the Inner Courtyard Senior Sister before her, she saw the same shadow.

But this mission was the most terrifying event Ma Xiaotao had encountered, even worse than her Evil Fire outbreaks. It was extremely dangerous, and the reward was simply keeping her corpse intact.

Doesn't that mean she's going to die either way?

[Xiaotao, you can leave without worry. After you are gone.]

[I will find a girl even more magnificent and beautiful than you to inherit the neighbor's brother, Xuanyuan Sheng, so you don't have to worry about him having no one to look after him after you leave.]

"You bastard!"

"What?"

Zhang Lexuan looked at Ma Xiaotao with unfriendly eyes. Did she just hear some unpleasant vocabulary?

Seeing the murderous look on the Senior Sister's face, Ma Xiaotao laughed sheepishly: "I was talking about those people who spread lies."

She hurriedly chatted with the system in her mind.

"You bastard, what kind of talk is that? Inheriting my legacy? Can't you wish your host something good for once?"

[Ding, according to my judgment, your probability of successfully escaping from Zhang Lexuan's hands is 99%.]

99%? That's quite high, isn't it? It seems you just want me to leave.

[No, the judgment result is that there is a 99% chance of leaving this world by accident, and you will go very peacefully.]

After hearing this, Ma Xiaotao felt a chill in her heart. It's that terrifying? It seems that the usual Senior Sister still has a terrifying side that others don't know about.

But after careful consideration, she revealed the same seductive expression she had used to deal with Xuanyuan Sheng that day.

Who said she was going to run?

Haven't you heard a saying?

The simplest way to overcome fear is to face it directly. Running away cannot solve problems; it will only turn you into the problem.

[Oh, care to elaborate?]

"Stand back... I'm about to start my performance."

Ma Xiaotao smiled confidently, then reached out and grabbed Zhang Lexuan's arm, mimicking the intimate gesture Xiao Xiao often used.

"Sister Lexuan, you really don't know about some things, do you?"

This look of surprise completely threw the angry Zhang Lexuan off balance.

"Wha... what things?"

Even her voice became much softer.

Ma Xiaotao looked earnestly into Zhang Lexuan's phoenix eyes, paused for a moment, and said: "Sister Lexuan, your brother is really handsome!"

Is this a confession? This must be a confession.

Zhang Lexuan did not expect Ma Xiaotao to be so brazen, not only saying that Xiao Sheng was "smooth."

Thinking of this, her earlobes turned red. Smooth... no, what exactly is Xiao Sheng smooth at?

Shyness is one thing, but interrogating the person holding her hand is quite another.

Ma Xiaotao continued, "So, Sister Lexuan, are you aware that Xuanyuan Sheng has been confessed to by many girls?"

Zhang Lexuan nodded, feeling a headache coming on, though it was clear there was nothing she could do about such matters.

"I did this for your sake, Sister Lexuan!"

This sincere cry pulled Zhang Lexuan out of her thoughts, as she truly heard the sincerity in that voice.

"For my sake? You said such shameless things in public, and you actually dare to claim it was for me?"

Clearly, Zhang Lexuan was not so easily fooled, and she directly questioned Ma Xiaotao.

"But think about it, Sister Lexuan, my actions this time have made many people with ulterior motives think twice."

Ma Xiaotao kept guiding Zhang Lexuan's train of thought; the head senior sister was usually clever, but whenever it came to matters involving Xuanyuan Sheng, her judgment seemed to shut down.

It was precisely because of this that Ma Xiaotao had room to maneuver.

"That day at the Mimicry Cultivation Ground, I saw Xuanyuan Sheng being forcibly kissed; your brother had a large lipstick mark left on his face by some female student who came out of nowhere."

Hearing Ma Xiaotao's words, Zhang Lexuan nodded; she had indeed seen that faint red lipstick mark on her brother's face that day.

Seeing Zhang Lexuan agree with her, Ma Xiaotao put on an expression of self-sacrifice, as if she were doing it all for her, and said:

"Just think, if you aren't paying attention for even a moment, your brother gets forcibly kissed by someone else, and there's still a long time ahead..."

Ma Xiaotao changed how she referred to him directly, knowing that the other woman had already been led down the path she had laid out.

In her mind, Xuanyuan Sheng was currently in a miserable state.

It was all because of the various female hooligans he encountered whenever she wasn't around.

"So, the words I said in the Mimicry Hall were truly for your sake, Head Senior Sister."

"You know me, Head Senior Sister. If I really had designs on your brother, he would have been dragged to my bed to warm the sheets long ago; there's no way I would have let him leave."

Zhang Lexuan had also heard about the flaws in Ma Xiaotao's martial soul; if the other woman truly had evil intentions, Xiao Sheng might have really been reduced to a tool to suppress her Evil Fire, and he wouldn't have been able to leave so easily.

She really was looking out for Xiao Sheng's best interests.

Under Ma Xiaotao's smooth talking, Zhang Lexuan's anger gradually dissipated, and she even expressed her gratitude to Ma Xiaotao for the indirect role she played in protecting her brother.

"So, Sister, that's how you became friends with Sister Xiaotao?"

Beside Shrek Plaza, a group of people stood as Zhang Lexuan introduced the newcomer, Ma Xiaotao, to Xuanyuan Sheng and Xiao Xiao.

But Xuanyuan Sheng felt it was somewhat absurd; although he knew that the bonds between girls could sometimes develop in strange ways.

He just never imagined it would be this strange.