Lie Yan leaned against the rough tree trunk, her chest heaving violently, both hands pressed tightly over her burning cheeks. Her pretty face, usually so spirited, was now red enough to drip blood.
What she had just witnessed had shaken her so deeply that even with her eyes closed, Mu Zimo's bewitching expressions and movements still echoed through her mind.
"Lie Yan!"
An urgent call came from behind her as Xuanyue pushed aside the bushes and caught up, panting.
Seeing Xuanyue, Lie Yan felt as though she had found someone to lean on, yet the scene she had just witnessed left her with a shame she could barely put into words.
She turned around, her gaze darting about. After stammering for a long while, she finally squeezed a complete sentence through her teeth. "Xuanyue, w-what exactly is going on? Zimo, how could she be with that man..."
Lie Yan bit her lip, unable to say the rest.
In her memory, Mu Zimo had always been gentle and dignified. How could she do something like that out in the open, in the wilderness, no less? And even seem to enjoy it?
Watching Lie Yan look as though her entire worldview had collapsed, a flicker of pain crossed Xuanyue's eyes.
She took a deep breath, stepped forward, and gripped Lie Yan's shoulders tightly with both hands. Her voice was dry and heavy with sorrow. "Lie Yan, don't blame Zimo, and don't misunderstand her. She did that... entirely to save me."
"Save you?" Lie Yan froze. Her embarrassed indignation instantly gave way to astonishment. "What does this have to do with saving you?"
"That Bai Qinchen is a complete madman, a demon!" Recalling everything that had happened that day, Xuanyue's eyes filled with tears. After that venomous curse, she looked up at Lie