The Passionate Innocent Master

The Profound Heaven Sect had so many Core Formation disciples, so why did Solitary Light Peak have to send two? They couldn't keep plucking wool from the same sheep! Surely the supporting female character wasn't really a brick to be hauled wherever she was needed?

"If you're unwilling..."

Ning Xiang gazed at Lu Qingchen, her eyes sparkling.

He finished the rest of his sentence. "Why not help your master compile the True Dao Scripture?"

"...Junior Brother rarely ventures outside. I'm concerned he might meet with an accident, so I volunteer to protect him," Ning Xiang declared with righteous conviction. Yes, she was concerned about her junior brother, not trying to avoid doing academic work with Lu Qingchen!

To describe Ning Xiang's next three days as "a fate worse than death" would not have been an exaggeration.

She had no idea how many hairs she had lost or how many brain cells had died, but she finally ground out a paper of exactly ten thousand words. Not one word more!

Ning Xiang desperately wanted to slap the paper in Lu Qingchen's face and tell him with cold, regal disdain, "Man, here's what you wanted."

But she was a coward.

She was afraid that bastard Lu Qingchen would punish her by making her write another thirty thousand words.

Holding the paper in both hands, Ning Xiang respectfully presented it to Lu Qingchen.

Lu Qingchen didn't even lift his head, his eyes never leaving the book in his hands. "Tell me, how many words did you write yourself?"

"All of them... half... fine, I wrote the first fifty words and the concluding section. The rest draws on other people's views."

Lu Qingchen rolled up several sheets of paper. Watching his jade-like fingers, Ning Xiang squeezed her eyes shut in panic. "Master, surely you're not that angry?"

"Such courage," Lu Qingchen said softly.

Perhaps it was her imagination, but Ning Xiang actually thought she heard laughter in his voice, and even his eyes and brows seemed to soften like melting ice and snow.

Sure enough, after staying up for three nights, even her eyesight was failing her. She needed to go back and catch up on sleep.

When Ning Xiang went outside, the two cranes that had been catching little fish in the cold pool were so frightened their slender legs trembled. They huddled together, shaking.

Hmm... am I really that scary?

The cranes couldn't speak, but their actions answered Ning Xiang.

Ning Xiang thought, ...Sooner or later, I'll find a chance to roast you both!

After returning to Lingling Cottage, Ning Xiang was just about to activate the formation and enter hibernation mode when she heard a voice as noisy as a clucking old hen.

"Junior Sister Ning! Junior Sister Ning!"

Her buddy Pin Jiji poked his head in from outside.

Ning Xiang's head ached.

Rather than deal with this senior brother, she would have preferred to write another ten-thousand-word paper!

Senior Brother Pin, nicknamed "Eleven-Mouth," was a chatterbox who made himself at home with absolutely anyone.

Without waiting for Ning Xiang to invite him, he walked inside.

"Junior Sister Ning, you can rest easy while you're away from the mountain. I won't fail the task you entrusted to me."

Ning Xiang thought, What task?

Eleven-Mouth thumped his chest and promised, "I'll keep a close eye on True Lord Qingchen and make sure no female disciple gets near him. I guarantee there won't be so much as a female fly around Martial Uncle Lu."

"Why, thank you," Ning Xiang said listlessly.

Indeed, Ning Xiang had grown up in the Profound Heaven Sect. Although many people fawned over her because of her status, she also had plenty of friends.

In the original novel, if Ning Xiang was a tool for advancing the heroine's relationships with the male leads, then these friends were Ning Xiang's tools.

They helped Ning Xiang spy on Lu Qingchen and suppress and ostracize Jiang Miaomiao. In short, they jumped up and down stirring up trouble, all thoroughly one-dimensional villains.

Although they were cannon fodder just like Ning Xiang, she had her parents protecting her and at least survived until the middle-to-late stages of the story. These minor cannon fodder characters, however, were like chives, cut down the moment they sprouted.

Ning Xiang still remembered Eleven-Mouth's fate. Two years later, he would help her drug Lu Qingchen, then stand guard outside the door to stop anyone from interrupting her "fun."

In romance novels, only the heroine was entitled to tumble into bed with the male lead. The original novel followed that tradition too, so Jiang Miaomiao came rushing over, sword in hand, looking cool and formidable, and killed Eleven-Mouth, a core formation middle stage cannon fodder character, with her Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation.

Of course, thanks to her heroine's halo and the male leads' protection, Jiang Miaomiao emerged entirely unscathed despite killing a Core Formation cultivator.

Ning Xiang gave Eleven-Mouth a sympathetic look.

Baffled, he said guilelessly, "We grew up together. I've even seen you in split-crotch pants, so why stand on ceremony with your senior brother? Speaking of which, Junior Sister Ning, why don't you find someone else to like? I reckon winning Martial Uncle Lu over is just too difficult."

"Of course, I'm not telling you to give up. You could practice on someone else first..."

Ning Xiang was speechless.

Senior Brother Pin, you really do say the most astonishing things. Aren't you the one who transmigrated here?

Ning Xiang could only bow before him.

Eleven-Mouth kept her there for another long ramble, all of it sect gossip. He knew even more gossip than Ning Xiang did!

Ning Xiang thought, Boohoo, I'm out of the loop.

After finally seeing Eleven-Mouth off, Ning Xiang was utterly drained. She was just about to activate the formation when Yu Tingchao, that little black lotus, arrived riding the Calm Tide Sword.

"Senior Sister, I solved the Eight-Layer Rubik's Cube you gave me!" The young boy smiled, his eyes curving into crescents, seemingly waiting for Ning Xiang to praise him.

Ning Xiang thought, A miscalculation. I should have given him a seventeen-layer Rubik's Cube. That would at least have kept him occupied for a while.

Yu Tingchao folded his arms across his chest. "Don't think you can brush me off with the same trick again."

"Ahem, why would your senior sister brush you off? You're going to the Thousand Calamities Valley for training next month. Shouldn't you prepare some more talismans, pills, and such?" Ning Xiang changed the subject.

"I haven't finished getting everything yet. I was just about to go down the mountain to buy a few things. Why don't you come out with me, Senior Sister?"

Inwardly, Ning Xiang refused. Going shopping with the male lead was naturally the heroine's exclusive privilege. Even if Jiang Miaomiao wasn't around, she couldn't just add extra scenes for herself!

"No, no. Master assigned me quite a lot of coursework. I really can't spare the time."

"I see..." Yu Tingchao mused.

"Mm-hmm. How about another day? I'll go down the mountain with you another day." Ning Xiang wrote Yu Tingchao a verbal check.

He said with some regret, "Another day is fine. I'm not in a hurry anyway. Why don't I keep you company while you do your coursework? There are quite a few things I don't understand either, and I'd like to ask for your guidance."

With that, Yu Tingchao walked inside without the slightest ceremony.

Ning Xiang suddenly longed to go to Chengfeng Courtyard, bring the ugly bird back, and have the ugly bird beat Yu Tingchao out of the house.

Once inside, Yu Tingchao casually picked up the storybook Ning Xiang had left facedown on the desk. He had barely glimpsed the cover when she snatched it away in a panic. "This, this isn't worth reading."

"Really?" Yu Tingchao leaned closer to study Ning Xiang and said unhurriedly, "But Senior Sister, I already saw half the title. It looks quite interesting."

Ning Xiang wore an expression of profound dismay. "I've already read it for you. The title is just a gimmick. It's terribly vulgar, and I'm afraid it would sully your eyes."

"Why does that handwriting look like yours? Could it be something you wrote, Senior Sister?"

Ning Xiang clutched the book tightly and firmly denied it. "No!" Yet her fierce exterior concealed a timid heart. She couldn't even look Yu Tingchao in the eye, her gaze darting away constantly.

Yu Tingchao wore an ambiguous smile, but he didn't press her for answers. Only then did Ning Xiang breathe a sigh of relief and pat the book in her hands.

I'll never tell you this is your senior sister's latest masterpiece, The Passionate Innocent Master!

Ning Xiang thought with no small amount of pride!