At the time, the Evil Eye Tyrant had focused most of its attention on Meng Hongchen.
Yet in the face of the ferocious assault of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, Meng Hongchen had not suffered any substantial harm.
Of course, most of the credit went to the protective Class 9 Soul Tool on her body.
But even with a Class 9 Soul Tool, sustaining and activating it for such a long time was by no means easy.
Xiao Hongchen was a very direct example.
After exhausting every means at his disposal, he had only managed to fire a single Class 9 Soul Guidance Cannon shot—and even that shot had been greatly weakened.
And Ye Luochen had seen something else at the time.
Thick icy mist had spread around Meng Hongchen.
Within the range covered by the icy mist, all vegetation withered away.
That definitely could not have been the effect of a Soul Tool.
Meng Hongchen's mastery of her martial soul was undoubtedly extraordinary. She was likely far superior to her talented elder brother, whose reputation was renowned throughout the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.
It was just that her personality was truly somewhat unreliable.
Thinking of this, Ye Luochen could not help asking:
"Do you have some grudge against your brother? Did he bully you when you were little? Why do you always like provoking him?"
Hearing this, Meng Hongchen smiled and shook her head.
"I simply think it's fun. Don't you think it's fun?"
"When he's putting on the biggest show, when everyone's eyes are gathered on him, you go up and smack him down with a slap. It's incredibly satisfying!"
As she spoke, the smile on Meng Hongchen's face gradually faded.
"My brother would never bully me. He couldn't bear to. All these years, he's always stood in front of me. Whenever someone bullied me, he was the one who stood up for me."
"Someone actually bullied you?" Ye Luochen raised an eyebrow.
Setting Meng Hongchen's strength aside, just looking at her background—
The granddaughter of Mingde Hall's master.
Forget the academy; even across the entire Sun Moon Empire, how many people could surpass her in terms of background?
Meng Hongchen did not seem surprised by Ye Luochen's confusion. She merely nodded and said:
"Yes, and there were many of them. Of course, it wasn't what you're thinking—things like hitting or insulting me. They didn't dare, and they couldn't beat or insult me anyway.
That was the lowest-level, easiest kind of trouble to solve. But the problem wasn't there."
"Ever since I could remember, the people around me have always been polite and courteous toward me."
"But that was all on the surface. Behind my back, I heard far too many awful words—words that could even be called vicious."
"They flattered me in front of others, then cursed me behind my back."
"It sounds absurd, doesn't it? In truth, I never understood why it was like that either."
"Yes, I'm the granddaughter of Mingde Hall's master, but did I ever use that identity to oppress anyone?
"Yes, my martial soul is special and carries a poison attribute, but did I ever use it to poison those around me?"
"I, Meng Hongchen, can say with a clear conscience that I never did. Yet this two-faced behavior kept playing out again and again."
"At the academy, I could go anywhere without obstruction, but nowhere truly had a place for me. I couldn't join even a single circle."
Meng Hongchen's voice was exceptionally calm. No sorrow or joy could be heard in it, as if she were merely recounting something utterly ordinary.
Yet Ye Luochen could sense a deep helplessness in her words.
Because he understood it far too well.
He had experienced far too much in his previous life.
If you earned two thousand a month, then your neighbors, relatives, and friends would most likely get along with you very well. Quite a few might even offer you advice and tell you how to earn more.
If you earned twenty thousand a month, then the attitudes of your neighbors, relatives, and friends would probably worsen considerably. Of course, the superficial harmony generally would not be affected too much.
But what if you earned two hundred thousand a month?
You would inevitably endure the malice of those around you.
It sounded absurd, but reality was exactly that absurd.
Human nature was exactly that absurd.
To put it plainly, it was nothing more than jealousy at work.
The only people who could avoid this were those in the same social class as you, or a higher one.
But where could Meng Hongchen find such people?
In terms of background, talent, or strength, what student in the academy could stand shoulder to shoulder with her?
There simply was no one.
Under such circumstances, she could only stand at the top, alone enduring the unceasing malice from those around her.
Beside him, Meng Hongchen continued:
"So my brother stepped forward. He stood before me with an even more overbearing and arrogant attitude.
He looked down on everyone without the slightest concealment, constantly emphasizing to everyone that I was not one of them."
"And as siblings, the two of us would inevitably be compared.
With him playing the arrogant, ill-mannered genius, as long as I acted a little gentler, I would gradually win people's favor."
"He used such a clumsy method to protect me behind him."
Ye Luochen was somewhat surprised by this.
He truly had not expected that there was such a deep reason behind Xiao Hongchen's usual arrogance.
Just as Meng Hongchen had said, this method was extremely clumsy.
But Ye Luochen had to admit that this clumsy method was actually very effective.
With Xiao Hongchen drawing all the hatred, people's opinions of Meng Hongchen would naturally improve somewhat.
Because comparisons were inevitable.
"And yet you still provoke your brother every day?" Ye Luochen asked again, unable to understand.
Her earlier explanation that she simply found it fun had clearly not convinced him.
Especially now that he knew so much, how could Meng Hongchen possibly keep doing this merely because she thought it was fun?
"Hehehe, it really is fun. Don't you think so?"
Meng Hongchen chuckled.
But the smile lasted only a moment before her expression turned serious again.
"Because I don't want him to do this."
"He thinks that standing in front of me and bearing the malice around us for me is enough, but I've personally felt that malice. I know how hard it is to endure."
"My brother is only a few minutes older than me. It's not as if he's years older. We're the same age—if I can't endure it, does that mean he can just because it falls on him?"
"I told him many times that he didn't need to do this for me, but he insisted that I would have an easier time this way."
"I couldn't outargue him, so I could only use my hands. Whenever he started playing the villain, I hit him."
Ye Luochen was speechless for a moment.
He did not know what to say.
This had originally been a deeply moving story of sibling devotion.
The brother had tried his best to protect his sister, while the sister cared for her brother and did not want him to suffer grievances for her.
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