Greed and Jealousy Arise from the Heart

The three people at the table were not surprised; clearly, they had long known she was awake. Xue Mu turned his head with a smirk, clicking his tongue. "Even if I, Xue, were a rake, I wouldn't spread my legs in a star shape and press myself against a wall for others to gawk at..."

Zhu Chenyao froze. She looked down and realized she was bound tightly with ropes. Not only was the posture shameful, but the bindings also accentuated her figure... Forget being a Saintess; this appearance was truly more wanton than the Joyous Union Sect!

Panic suddenly surged in her heart.

These were Demon Sect evildoers! Would they really maintain the decorum of a refined gentleman? She truly didn't know how many lecherous methods awaited her.

She looked toward Xue Qiangqiu for help. At the very least, she was a woman; surely she wouldn't watch a man wantonly humiliate another woman?

She was quickly disappointed. Xue Qiangqiu didn't even lift her eyelids. She held a draft written by Xue Mu, pondering it carefully, and said casually, "Her cultivation is already sealed. Do as you please; if anything happens, this sister will take the blame."

To expect mercy for an enemy from a notorious arch-demoness like Xue Qiangqiu—she was truly naive... Then, she saw Xue Mu rise from his seat with a smile and pace toward her. Zhu Chenyao shivered all over, truly on the verge of tears.

She didn't know why she had become so fragile. Her willpower, honed by martial arts since childhood, shouldn't have been this vulnerable. Perhaps it was the unprecedented sense of weakness caused by her sealed cultivation? Or perhaps... A vision of the little girl from the illusion array, with those eyes like the dark of night, suddenly flashed through her mind.

She shuddered again.

Xue Mu reached out, lifted her chin, and looked her up and down for a moment. This girl was truly beautiful, especially with that stubborn look in her eyes and her disheveled hair; it was quite a treat.

"No need to be nervous," he said with a smile. "Do you know who I am?"

Zhu Chenyao replied coldly, "The evildoer Xue Mu."

"No, no, no," Xue Mu chuckled. "In the pugilistic world, I am known as the Three-Good Scholar Xue. Do you know what those three 'goods' are?"

Zhu Chenyao: "..."

"Good breasts, good legs, and a good slender waist..." As Xue Mu spoke, he slowly moved his hand downward, brushing over her mountainous curves. "For instance, this 'good breast'—I quite like it."

Feeling his demonic hand brush over her, Zhu Chenyao felt goosebumps rise all over her body. An intense sense of shame flooded her, and she gritted her teeth in anger. "Evildoer, just kill me!"

"Why bother? I already said I like these things; how could I bear to destroy such a flower?" Xue Mu didn't continue to touch her, instead reaching out to brush the messy hair from her forehead. "Just answer a few questions, and I'll let you go. How about that?"

Even though she knew these words were completely untrustworthy, Zhu Chenyao couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. She bit her lower lip and didn't answer.

Seeing her reaction, a flash of amusement crossed Xue Mu's eyes. She wasn't a martyr, at least not as cold and arrogant as she appeared on the surface.

"What is your name?"

This was an easy topic to answer, unlikely to trigger resistance. After all, even if she gritted her teeth and refused to speak, Xue Mu could easily find out later. But Xue Mu knew that once a start was made, the psychological barrier this girl had forcibly erected would shatter bit by bit. It was human nature.

Zhu Chenyao indeed had no resistance to this question. After hesitating for a while while biting her lip, she finally answered honestly, "Zhu Chenyao."

"A disciple of the Seven Profound Valley?"

"Yes..."

"What rank of disciple? With your looks, perhaps you're a core successor?"

Zhu Chenyao bit her lower lip, her tone tinged with helplessness. "An inner-sect disciple."

Xue Mu scrutinized her expression and clicked his tongue. "The Seven Profound Valley doesn't know a gem when they see one. Then why did you want to kill me?"

A look of struggle flashed in Zhu Chenyao's eyes, and she closed her mouth again, refusing to answer.

Xue Mu smiled and moved his wandering hand back to her chest.

Zhu Chenyao shouted urgently, "Take your filthy hands off!"

Xue Mu said with a smile, "If you don't satisfy my curiosity, then naturally you should satisfy my other interests..."

Zhu Chenyao was both ashamed and angry, blurting out, "You are the key instigator of this righteous-demonic war, yet you insist on staying out of it..."

Xue Mu nodded, and quite reasonably, moved his hand away. "So, your master sent you?"

A feeling of being saved surged in her heart. Zhu Chenyao panted heavily, not wanting to provoke this evildoer further over such trivial matters, and answered weakly, "I came on my own."

Xue Mu was taken aback. "I say, miss, I haven't offended you, have I?"

Zhu Chenyao stared at him coldly. "An evildoer like you deserves to be killed by everyone!"

"Tsk... Why be so self-righteous?" Xue Mu tapped his own temple. "Let me guess... Mu Jianli broke the Joyous Union Sect with her sword, stealing the limelight. Some people weren't convinced and wanted to prove they could also achieve merit—and even more critical merit at that, right?"

A flash of panic crossed Zhu Chenyao's eyes, but she still snorted coldly, "A petty person judging a gentleman's heart."

"You're a gentleman? You're a woman, and a very beautiful one at that..." Xue Mu pointed smilingly toward the corner. "Those three losers are your admirers, aren't they?"

Zhu Chenyao followed his finger and looked over. Her three companions were lying stiffly in the corner, dead or alive, she couldn't tell. She gritted her teeth and remained silent.

"With your beauty, there are naturally countless admirers inside and outside the sect. A favored daughter of heaven, admired by all," Xue Mu said with a grin. "But then there's Mu Jianli. People subconsciously compare you, and—oops, this girl, aside from being pretty, just can't compare to Mu Jianli... The gazes of admiration and worship all followed Mu Jianli, and our Miss Chenyao felt unwilling."

Zhu Chenyao's heart thundered.

Truth be told, these things Xue Mu said were things she hadn't even carefully considered herself. Driven by natural jealousy and the desire to be the center of attention, she had subconsciously developed a sense of rivalry with Mu Jianli, but in reality, she hadn't formed such a clear thought process in her own heart.

But as Xue Mu's words drilled into her ears one by one, they felt like heavy hammers, smashing into the depths of her heart, nakedly peeling away the deepest jealousy hidden beneath the facade of "standing together."

Her gaze was somewhat dazed. She didn't speak for a long time; in fact, she didn't know how to answer, her heart in utter chaos.

Seeing her remain silent, Xue Mu's large hand moved downward again. "Not talking again? That's not good..."

The shame pierced her heart. Zhu Chenyao could no longer care about the guilt of being seen through, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Yes! I am jealous of Mu Jianli! So what!"

The atmosphere fell silent.

Even Xue Qingqiu, who had been too lazy to glance this way from the table, couldn't help but turn her head to look at her.

Although she let Xue Mu mess around as he pleased, she knew very well in her heart that while he was somewhat lecherous, he was by no means a depraved villain. That he had acted so out of character this time meant he must have had his reasons. Sure enough, it had indeed produced results.

Meng Lan also sized up Zhu Chenyao with a half-smile, finally speaking her first words: "It's nothing special; it's only natural."

Xue Mu also nodded with a smile: "Only natural."

For some reason, hearing the two of them say this caused a sense of gratitude to well up in Zhu Chenyao's heart. She knew this gratitude was truly twisted, and as a wave of weakness washed over her, sweat began to pour out in beads.

Xue Mu leaned in close, whispering into her ear: "If it were me, and some other man in the Star Moon Sect captured the attention of the sisters, I would also find a way to suppress him... Perhaps I would be even more direct than you; I would want to kill him. It is truly only natural, so why does the young lady feel it is so hard to speak of?"

Is... is that so? Chenyao panted, slowly seeming to grow accustomed to it, though she still struggled in a low voice: "I... I have told the truth. You, you must keep your word and not humiliate me."

"The young lady is naturally beautiful and should be pursued by all the men in the world. Look at me, even though I am surrounded by flowers, am I not still unable to restrain myself when it comes to you?"

Zhu Chenyao stared at the ceiling with unfocused eyes as Xue Mu's whispers continued: "As a captive, you must know that it is impossible to leave without paying a price, so why struggle? I understand your desire to get ahead, and I will not spread word of this afterward. Outsiders will never know, and when you return, you will still be the pure and unsullied Saintess."

As she listened, Zhu Chenyao's rigid body slowly softened. After a long while, she whispered: "You promise... you will definitely let me go?"

As she spoke, her gaze darted flusteredly toward Xue Qingqiu and Meng Lan, her face flushing red as blood. She knew that this sentence was equivalent to consent, and the aura of the saintess, fairy, and ice queen she had maintained her entire life had vanished without a trace.