The Arrogant Little Witch

Lin Jiang, who had watched the whole scene from beneath the shade of a nearby tree, secretly praised her in his heart:

"Damn, she really is the little witch of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! That temper lives up to its reputation!"

Lin Jiang's gaze followed the cyan figure speeding away with great interest.

He noticed that Ning Rongrong did not continue running laps along the designated route. Instead, at a fork in the road, she turned without hesitation and headed in the direction opposite Shrek Academy—

Suotuo City, striding briskly away!

There was not the slightest trace of the heaviness of "running laps" in those light steps.

"Oh? Skipping class?"

Lin Jiang raised his brows high, a glint of amusement flashing in his eyes.

This little witch truly was not one to behave herself. In her eyes, Flander's punishment was probably no more significant than a fart.

"Interesting. I'll follow her and take a look."

Without further hesitation, he kept a measured distance behind Ning Rongrong, silently trailing her like the most patient hunter.

The lingering rays of the setting sun stretched the shadows along the country road, coating the dirt path in a suggestive golden-red glow.

Ning Rongrong stomped along indignantly. The gravel and potholes beneath her feet made walking in her exquisite soft-soled leather boots extremely unpleasant.

Her mind was filled with dissatisfaction toward Flander and this lousy academy, and she paid no attention to where she was stepping.

"Ow!"

A protruding stubborn rock caught the tip of her shoe with perfect precision!

Ning Rongrong cried out as she instantly lost her balance and pitched forward!

Thud!

Dust flew everywhere.

"Cough, cough! Ptooey, ptooey!"

Ning Rongrong lay sprawled on the ground in a miserable state. Her carefully arranged hair bun had come undone, and several strands of hair clung to her mud-stained forehead.

The hem and cuffs of her expensive cyan dress were also visibly smeared with dirt.

Supporting herself on the ground, she sat up and looked at her filthy hands and dress. A surge of anger shot straight to her head, and the young lady's temper erupted at once:

"What kind of awful road is this?! It's dirty and full of rocks! Even the most remote side estate of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has roads paved with the finest bluestone slabs—smooth, level, and spotless! This godforsaken place is simply unfit for people to live in!"

She tried to stand, but a piercing pain shot through her right ankle. She hissed and fell back down, her little face scrunching up in pain as her eyes reddened slightly.

Grievance, anger, and disgust for this "backwater place" tangled together inside her.

Just then, a steady set of footsteps approached from afar.

Ning Rongrong looked up warily and saw a youth in coarse cloth clothes walking down the path. He looked like someone from a nearby village.

He had a tall, straight build, and his features appeared sharply defined beneath the sunset, carrying a rather heroic air. It was just that his attire was far too ordinary—one could even call it shabby.

Lin Jiang had seen Ning Rongrong fall long ago. Now, pretending to be merely passing by, he walked a few steps closer and calmly turned his gaze toward her.

Ning Rongrong looked Lin Jiang over from head to toe.

Hmm, his face was quite pleasant to look at. He was far better than that sleazy Oscar from the academy and that pig-faced Tang San.

His body also looked sturdy and strong.

Though he dressed like a country bumpkin, he was barely passable.

She quickly calculated in her heart: her ankle was sprained, and walking to Suotuo City by herself would be too painful and too slow. Hadn't this free "transportation" just arrived?

He was just some country boy anyway. A little money would be enough to send him on his way.

She lifted her chin slightly, carrying the innate arrogance of the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and ordered him in a natural, imperious tone:

"Hey! You there, boy! Come here!"

She extended a slender finger and pointed it at Lin Jiang from afar.

"My ankle is sprained. I can't walk anymore. You, carry me to Suotuo City!"

"Don't worry, I won't shortchange you. This young lady will reward you with spirit coins!"

Her tone made it sound as though she were bestowing an enormous favor upon him.

Lin Jiang stopped walking, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

Is she talking to me? That commanding tone... Does she really think she's some princess and everyone else is her servant?

Not only did he not immediately step forward, he crossed his arms and looked leisurely at Ning Rongrong sitting on the ground, asking in an even tone:

"Why should I carry you?"

There was none of the fear or fawning one might expect from a country boy facing a noble young lady in his eyes—only a faint, nearly imperceptible chill.

Ning Rongrong choked on his response. In her past experience, as long as she spoke, even the noble sons of the Heaven Dou Empire would rush to curry favor with her.

Yet this crude country boy actually dared to question her? He even dared to refuse?

A flame of offended anger surged up. Her delicate face flushed faintly with rage, and her voice rose several degrees, brimming with cutting superiority:

"Why? Being able to carry this young lady is a blessing you cultivated for eight lifetimes!"

"It's an honor that only comes when smoke rises from the ancestral graves of mud-legged country folk like you! If I hadn't come to this lousy Shrek Academy to study, people like you would spend your entire lives digging for food in the dirt and wouldn't even be qualified to look at me! Do you understand?!"

Lin Jiang's pupils contracted slightly as a cold fury rose from the depths of his heart.

Heh, the little witch's true nature is showing in full! The eldest daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has this kind of upbringing? She treats commoners like grass and dirt. Her father really ought to hear this!

When Ning Rongrong saw Lin Jiang fall silent, she assumed that he had been intimidated by her status and bearing, making her even more smug.

As though she had remembered something, a contemptuous, charitable smile curled across her lips. Slowly, she took a glittering silver coin from an exquisite purse at her waist.

Pinching it between two fingers, she waved it beneath the setting sun, where it shone with an enticing gleam.

"Here, have you ever seen a silver spirit coin, country bumpkin? This should be enough to feed and support your entire family for a month, right?"

"As long as you obediently carry this young lady to Suotuo City, it'll be yours! Well? That's a good deal, isn't it?"

She waved the silver spirit coin, looking at him as if he were a beggar who had never seen the world.

"Damn it!"

The last shred of Lin Jiang's patience was thoroughly ignited!

His fury churned like molten lava! This was beyond what anyone could endure!

This was no longer mere spoiled arrogance—it was naked humiliation of his dignity!

She treated him like livestock that could be ordered about at will and dismissed with money?

And she had even insulted his origins, along with every ordinary person like him?

Lin Jiang's gaze sharpened as he swiftly swept his eyes over the surroundings.

The setting sun dyed the earth golden-red, and the winding country road stretched into the distance.

Other than the rustling of the wind through the crops, there was no other sound—there was not a soul in sight!

Good! The time and place were perfect!

At the same time, he had long since prepared a way to prevent Ning Rongrong from retaliating afterward!

The faintly calm expression he had deliberately maintained vanished completely, replaced by an icy and dangerous aura.

Step by steady step, he walked toward Ning Rongrong, who was still sitting on the ground, waving the silver spirit coin with the expression of someone saying, "This young lady is doing you a favor."