The crowd fell silent for a moment.
A few boys secretly marveled that a handsome man and a beautiful woman really were a feast for the eyes when they stood together.
But the girls erupted, sourness filling the air.
"Ah, Lin An is still too kind, junior."
A girl drew out her words, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Someone from a rich second-generation family like her should be humiliating us and trampling on our dignity. Rejecting him so gently only makes it even harder to let go."
"Exactly."
Another girl immediately chimed in, her voice shrill.
"Ouyang Zixin's family only has a little money. They can't even afford Soul Rings worth a few million. How could she support junior Lin An?"
"A boy's youth is precious. Is he supposed to suffer with her and even spend his own money on top of that?"
"With such a huge gap between them, she should know her place."
The voices rose and fell like a flock of sparrows chirping.
The girls made no effort to hide their bitterness.
They were afraid Ouyang Zixin might really win Lin An over.
Every word struck exactly where it hurt.
After all, only girls understood girls best.
Gu Yue stood beside Lin An, her face frighteningly grim.
She folded her arms across her chest, her violet eyes fixed coldly on Ouyang Zixin, her teeth clenched tight as she sent a telepathic message.
"Wifey... hurry up and reject her, and do it harshly!"
"Show these overreaching humans what despair looks like!"
She scoffed inwardly.
What sort of person did she think she was, daring to pursue my wife?
But then she remembered that Lin An had only added Ouyang Zixin as a friend, and her mood soured all over again.
Back when Gu Yue had added him, she'd practically snatched her way into his friend list, relying on sheer shamelessness.
But Ouyang Zixin...
She sized the other girl up carefully.
Her figure was more developed than Gu Yue's, her curves already taking shape, and her face looked more mature, carrying the budding charm of a young woman.
Does Wifey prefer someone more mature?
Gu Yue looked down at her own still-youthful figure and furrowed her brow in distress.
Lin An was just as speechless.
He reached out and pinched Gu Yue's cheek, his fingertips brushing against skin that was cool and smooth.
"Can you stop calling me that? Who's your wife?"
The frost on Gu Yue's face melted in an instant.
Wifey had pinched her cheek!
She wasn't angry at all. On the contrary, she smiled happily, the corners of her eyes curving into crescents.
She even felt that Lin An pinching her cheek was proof that he loved her.
If he didn't love her, why would he touch her?
"Wifey, you're just acting tsundere. I get it, I get it."
She said it with a cheeky grin, her voice full of smugness.
Lin An shot her a glance and couldn't be bothered to correct her again.
He turned to Ouyang Zixin, his smile fading as his expression became polite and distant.
"Sorry, senior. I already have someone I like."
"If I've done anything to give you the wrong impression, I'm sorry."
Heaven and earth could bear witness: he'd added Ouyang Zixin as a friend purely because he remembered that, in the original story, she was Tang Wulin's unattainable white moonlight.
He wanted to see if he could use this white moonlight to straighten Tang Wulin out after he'd already gone crooked.
He was straight.
As straight as they came.
But every time he cultivated with Tang Wulin, there was something off about the way that kid looked at him.
His face would turn as red as a boiled shrimp, leaving Lin An feeling like he had thorns in his back.
He knew Tang Wulin was straight too, but the kid stubbornly believed he was a girl.
What was he supposed to do?
It wasn't as if he could pull down his pants and prove it to him.
"The person you like... Is it her?"
Ouyang Zixin pointed at Gu Yue, her voice thick with jealousy.
"What does she have that I don't?"
Gu Yue immediately straightened her back, lifting her chin and curling her lips into a smug smile.
But Lin An's answer came quick and clear.
"No, not her."
Gu Yue's smile froze on her face.
Not her.
Then who could it be?
If it isn't Gu Yue, could it be me?
Tang Wulin was secretly delighted, but he immediately tamped down his feelings, his face once more taking on its honest, simple look.
Xie Xie simply pretended he hadn't seen a thing.
He just felt that their relationships were such a mess, he wanted no part of them.
Gu Yue felt as if someone had stabbed her straight through the heart.
No, wait.
He said he had someone he liked, and it wasn't me. Then it could only be—
She whipped her head around, catching the fleeting smile at the corner of Tang Wulin's mouth.
Boom.
A blaze of fury exploded in Gu Yue's mind.
Tang! Wulin!
She'd actually thought the kid looked honest, with those thick brows and all.
She never expected him to sneak in and steal her girl while her back was turned.
She glared at Tang Wulin, cold killing intent surging in her violet eyes.
For a moment, she thought she saw someone else in that honest face.
Was this your scheme too, Tang San?!
"I... I don't know anything..."
The killing intent in Gu Yue's eyes frightened Tang Wulin into taking a step back, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"Who is it?"
Ouyang Zixin pressed on through her sobs, her voice filled with desperate stubbornness.
"Tell me. At least then I can give up..."
Tang Wulin and Gu Yue immediately stopped arguing and held their breath, staring intently at Lin An.
The people in the corridor fell silent too.
The air seemed to freeze.
Someone so beautiful already had someone they liked?
Countless hearts broke in silence, their pieces scattered across the floor.
Lin An fell silent.
He couldn't exactly say that he liked himself, could he?
After staring at his own face every day, he'd grown immune to the beauty of most people in the world.
No matter how beautiful they were, could they really be more beautiful than him?
He'd even thought that if this face belonged to someone else, he'd sell everything he owned just to pursue them.
That was why he could, to some extent, understand Gu Yue's enthusiasm toward him.
A frail, stunningly beautiful noble young lady, with a noble air and a hint of fragility—who wouldn't want to push her down?
Understanding it was one thing.
That didn't mean he wanted to be pushed down.
Ouyang Zixin's heart sank completely.
She bit her lip hard, but the tears kept rolling down, one after another, splashing against the floor tiles and breaking into countless tiny droplets.
"Is it wrong for me to... like someone?"
Before she'd even finished speaking, the air in the corridor suddenly grew still.
An invisible pressure descended from above.
An unseen force parted the crowd, and everyone looked up as one—
A figure was slowly descending from midair.
She was a woman dressed in a moon-white qipao.
Her pinkish-purple hair fell to her waist, stirring gently in the breeze.
Through the slit of her qipao, her long, slender legs were faintly visible. She stood barefoot in midair.
Her toes touched the air, sending out ripples that couldn't be seen.
Her beauty was nearly flawless, her bearing noble and cool, with an innate air of sanctity.
Everyone held their breath.
So beautiful.
So breathtaking.
The woman before them was unquestionably one of the most beautiful in the world.
Her noble, elegant, and untouchable air of sanctity made even looking at her feel like sacrilege.
The only one who could possibly match her was Lin An.
Ouyang Zixin watched Shadow Brake walk toward her, her mind completely blank. She moved aside on instinct.
Then she came to her senses, burning with embarrassment and anger. She opened her mouth to demand an explanation, only for the woman to sweep her with an indifferent glance.
There was not a trace of emotion in that gaze—not even contempt.
Only utter, absolute indifference.
Ouyang Zixin instantly felt as if someone had seized her throat, and she couldn't utter a single word.
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