Cheng Jishi was clearly suspicious of the relationship between the man and Cold Smoke. He had invited the man to the gathering, yet asked Cold Smoke Lady to perform a dance. It seemed fitting enough for their respective statuses, but if there were even the slightest intimacy between them, such words were tantamount to slapping someone across the face.
A flash of greenish fury crossed Xue Zhi's elegant, refined face. She was angered.
Firstly, Cheng Jishi had twisted the meaning of her words; secondly, his manner was arrogant and overbearing. Clearly, he had not taken her, the leader of the Jade Ruler Society, seriously at all.
The Jade Ruler Society had been formed by the singers, courtesans, and performers of Ring Belt Lake to protect themselves. In the cultivation world, where the strong devoured the weak, they huddled together for warmth. Yet having fallen to selling songs and smiles, even united, their strength remained limited. Those like her, who served as concubines, were all exceptional women—proof enough of their true straits. As the saying went:
One must guard beforehand, yet cannot guard against it; pursue afterward, yet cannot catch it; even when present as it happens, one still cannot control it.
And now, it was this sort of situation again.
A man like Cheng Jishi showed her only superficial courtesy for the sake of her background. In his heart, he still did not think much of her. If this continued, what need was there for the Jade Ruler Society to exist? Was she, its leader, truly just a golden canary caged up for display?
With her Walking Void cultivation, Xue Zhi had attached herself to a Calamity Law Grandmaster, become his concubine, and still managed to show her face in public and build an undertaking of her own. Her scheming