Chapter 59 Resentment

"Senior Brother Qitian! Elder Jingyun is simply biased against women! In truth, we women are fully capable of saving people too..."

At the front of a large crowd, a young woman stood out despite wearing the same white robe as the rest. She smiled sweetly at Qitian and spoke.

This girl was Luo Yinmei, an inner-gate disciple of Wudang Academy whom Qitian had crossed paths with previously. Having entered the academy alongside him, she had long harbored a crush on him, and today she had brought a large group of girls to help him with the rescue mission.

"I intended for you to come alone to assist me with the rescue. I never expected you to bring so many people, and all of them girls with weak cultivation!"

Qitian arched an eyebrow, his tone brimming with utter self-assurance. As the personal disciple of the sect master and a practitioner of immense strength, he certainly had the capital to be arrogant.

"I!..."

Luo Yinmei's pupils trembled slightly as she looked at Qitian. Gazing at that confident yet somewhat domineering face, a warm, tingling sensation rippled through her heart, melting her very soul.

Despite the seemingly reproachful tone, she felt not a single ounce of resentment in her heart.

"I only mentioned it to my sisters, but somehow others overheard us!..."

Luo Yinmei shifted her gaze, looking toward Qitian as he began to walk away, and explained herself. She had no idea these girls would become so fanatical, tailing her all the way here and proving impossible to shake off.

As the leading figure among the students of Wudang Academy, Qitian possessed striking good looks—a face capable of making even women envious. Furthermore, as the personal disciple of the sect master, his appearance, background, and martial arts prowess checked every single box for the ideal partner sought by young women living in this apocalyptic era.

"All of you, disperse! Your strength is insufficient; going along will only create chaos!"

Qitian strode into the crowd, his robes fluttering in the wind with an indescribable dominance. The girls gathered outside the Hall of Penalties involuntarily parted to clear a path for him.

Luo Yinmei's gaze lingered on Qitian, her wide, watery eyes filled with a nameless emotion. She waited for a long time, but no reply ever came. Standing motionlessly like a waiting-woman stone, she watched as Qitian walked farther and farther away. She did not give chase, knowing that even if she did, he would only push her away because she had acted on her own accord and brought so many people here.

***

"Luo Yinmei claimed that Senior Brother Qitian needed help rescuing people, which is why we rushed over in such a panic, only for him to say our cultivation is too low and we're unworthy!"

"Hmph! You can't trust a single word Luo Yinmei says! Now look, she hasn't even been able to stay by Senior Brother Qitian's side either!"

"Serves her right. We went through all the trouble to rush here, only to get... to get hoodwinked, and then told by Qitian that our strength is pathetic... Sigh!"

Outside the Hall of Penalties, two girls wore furious expressions. Glaring at Luo Yinmei, a surge of anger welled up within them.

"Let's go back and practice our martial arts! At least we won't be mocked like this in the future!"

"Yeah!"

Although the whispering and murmuring among the girls rose and fell in a chaotic wave, Luo Yinmei's hearing was exceptionally sharp, and she caught every word. These people had come of their own accord upon hearing her words, yet now they were shifting the blame entirely onto her.

"Helpless..."

Luo Yinmei clenched her fists, biting her lip as a trace of anger flushed across her delicate face. Ultimately, due to her aloof and indifferent nature, she held her tongue and refrained from scolding them.

Just because she didn't curse them out, however, didn't mean the person beside her wouldn't!

"You lot are worse than dogs eating excrement, completely devoid of manners! You sneaked over yourselves, failed to tag along with Senior Brother Qitian, and now you blame Yinmei for tricking you. What on earth is wrong with your brains?!"

The person standing beside Luo Yinmei was of a similar height, around eighteen years of age. She wore her hair long and tied into twin tails. With large, watery eyes and a mischievous, sprite-like charm that made her immensely endearing, she grew furious upon hearing her dear friend being gossiped about by so many, and lashed out in a fit of anger.

In Wudang Academy, only inner-gate disciples were qualified to wear white robes, while outer-gate disciples who had not yet reached the Xiantian realm all wore blue attire. The vast majority of the crowd still wore blue, as inner-gate disciples were exceedingly rare, and those few generally did not concern themselves with attaching themselves to Qitian. If a task was truly difficult, they would be formally notified; if no word reached them, naturally they would not show up.

The target of her outburst was none other than the two white-robed girls who had spoken the loudest just moments before.

"Why are you cursing people out? I was merely venting a few grievances, what gives you the right to act like this?!"

***

"That's right! Qianling, just because you're the daughter of a peak master from the Yuxu Palace, does that mean you can throw your weight around this much? Are you just allowed to hurl insults at people whenever you please?"

Everyone who entered the inner gate was a person of pride. Even though they stood before the daughter of a Yuxu Palace master, whose authority was immense, they hadn't cursed anyone, harmed anyone, or caused a disturbance. Even if they faced the Yuxu Palace peak master, there was no valid reason to arbitrarily punish them!

"Exactly!"

"That's right!"

Those surrounding them chimed in with agreement. They, too, harbored anger in their hearts, but out of fear for the other party's superior strength, they could only voice their complaints in hushed tones.

"In any case, none of you have any business gossiping about Luo Yinmei behind her back!"

Hearing their logical arguments and the supportive murmurs of the surrounding crowd, Qianling momentarily choked on her words, yet stubbornly dug her heels in to save face.

"Stop making a fuss! Besides, we were just complaining a bit, it's not like it's going to cost us chunks of flesh!"

Luo Yinmei gently tugged at Qianling's sleeve, unable to bear watching her flush crimson while fiercely defending her.

"How about we make a wager?"

"What kind of wager?"

Hearing Luo Yinmei speak, Qianling ignored the others, took a step forward, and asked with an indignant expression.

"Let's have a duel. If you lose, you must take responsibility for your insults, apologize to us, and make Luo Yinmei run up to Qitian and declare herself a worthless wretch!"

[...]