I don't want to be trained by my senior sister!

The wind outside the hall seemed a bit cooler.

Fang Xuan took a deep breath, preparing to grit his teeth and take a step forward.

Just then, another soft, delicate voice rang out not far behind him.

"Junior brother...?"

Fang Xuan paused, his brows furrowing.

That voice belonged to Shen Qingqing, the standard "green tea" character from the original story, the junior sister who rose to power by absorbing Ning Qian's blood.

He turned around and looked at the person who had come in, his face expressionless.

Shen Qingqing stood there, dressed in a light green dress, looking as delicate as a willow in the breeze.

His eyes and brows feigned surprise.

Her gaze swept over Fang Xuan, lingering particularly long on his handsome face.

This new junior brother is quite good-looking...

I've heard he's quite talented. If I could be won over by her like the other senior brothers and become one of her admirers, that would be a wonderful thing.

Thinking to himself, he wore a worried and self-reproachful expression as his gaze swept over Ning Qian's tightly closed palace doors:

"Junior brother... what are you doing here?" She frowned slightly, as if puzzled. "This... is Senior Sister Ning Qian's residence. Senior Sister is probably not in a good mood right now, and she's not feeling well either. We shouldn't disturb her peace."

Fang Xuan didn't want to talk to her.

The villains in female-oriented angst novels are always so blatantly and vulgarly evil that they make people feel physically uncomfortable.

Looking at Shen Qingqing's feigned innocent face, he plotted to find an opportunity to kill her.

This should really boost Ning Qian's favorability, right?

I just don't know if taking action now will have any uncontrollable impact on the so-called "plot development"...

A little troublesome.

Seeing that Fang Xuan was just looking at her without saying a word, and his eyes were somewhat cold.

Shen Qingqing was also somewhat displeased, but she maintained a gentle demeanor on the surface.

She sighed softly and began her performance:

"Junior brother, are you here to see your senior sister too? Senior sister... she truly embodies righteousness, sacrificing so much for the sect."

She raised her hand and gently pressed non-existent tears with her sleeve. "It's all my fault for getting this strange illness. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to trouble you, Senior Sister..."

Fang Xuan was annoyed. Why was this woman so noisy? She was interfering with his work.

He was too lazy to play along with her and interrupted her directly:

"If you're sick, get treatment."

After saying that, he turned around and tried to continue walking towards the palace gate.

Shen Qingqing was stunned by his blunt remark.

This reaction is wrong!

Normally, when a man hears her "blaming herself" like this, shouldn't he step forward and gently comfort her, saying that she didn't do it on purpose and that it was all Ning Qian's duty to do?

Unwilling to give up, she quickly took another half step forward, her voice still trembling with tears:

"It's...it's Qingqing's poor health that caused Senior Sister's illness..."

The system tasks were annoying enough, but then there was this persistent, chattering fly on top of that, and Fang Xuan couldn't take it anymore.

He stopped and turned to look at Shen Qingqing: "You've ruined your mother."

Concise and to the point, direct output.

"......" Shen Qingqing froze completely, almost losing the pitiful look on her face.

She stared wide-eyed at Fang Xuan in disbelief.

How could he be so vulgar?!

She took a deep breath, trying to suppress her anger.

She lowered her eyes and began to resort to her usual tactic of playing the victim, her voice choked with sobs:

"It's also Qingqing's fault for being a jinx; she's been motherless since childhood and has no one to teach her. If only..."

"All this talk is just to tell me your mother is dead."

"Okay, now I know your mother is dead."

Fang Xuan interrupted her again.

In that time, he could probably have completed a round of "training" with Ning Qian.

"???"

Shen Qingqing's chest heaved violently; she was truly enraged this time, her face alternating between pale and flushed.

She gripped her sleeve tightly, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

That Fang Xuan! He's completely impervious to reason! Utterly vulgar!

She originally wanted to use this as an excuse to see Ning Qian's current miserable state and then kick her while she was at it.

But now, she doesn't want to stay here for even a second longer!

Anyway, it was her master who sent her to "check out the situation," and she didn't want to see Ning Qian's face in the first place!

"Since... since Junior Brother has something to attend to, then Qingqing will not disturb you any longer."

She gritted her teeth and said those words, then turned and walked away quickly, her back view filled with anger.

Watching Shen Qingqing's angry departure, Fang Xuan rubbed his temples in frustration.

The plot doesn't matter; Shen Qingqing's existence always disgusts him, so he should get rid of her as soon as possible.

Without further hesitation, he turned and walked to the tightly closed palace door.

He raised his hand and tapped the door a few times with his fingers.

There was silence inside for a moment, so long that Fang Xuan almost thought Ning Qian had fainted or simply didn't want to pay attention to anyone.

Then, an extremely weak voice, tinged with obvious wariness, slowly drifted out from inside the door:

".......who?"

The sound was very soft, as if it might stop at any moment.

Fang Xuan cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound friendly:

"Senior sister, it's me, Fang Xuan, the newly initiated disciple."

Another silence fell over the room.

Fang Xuan could imagine what was happening inside—

Ning Qian must have been forcing herself to stay awake despite her injuries, listening intently to the sounds outside the door.

Having just experienced betrayal and the pain of having her bones ripped out, she will not easily trust anyone.

He waited patiently.

Inside the hall, Ning Qian was indeed as Fang Xuan had predicted.

She curled up on the cold bed, her whole body aching as if it had been crushed.

Especially where her spiritual bone had been dug out of her back, she felt waves of excruciating pain, as if her heart was being torn apart, causing her to break out in a cold sweat and her consciousness to become somewhat blurred.

Shen Qingqing's voice came from outside the door first.

Immediately following was a clear, unfamiliar male voice, seemingly... that he had a conflict with Shen Qingqing? His words were quite impolite.

This surprised her somewhat.

Then, the male voice arrived at her door, introducing himself as... the new junior brother? Fang Xuan?

She had a vague impression of the name; it seemed to be a newly accepted disciple of her master a few days ago, with exceptional talent.

Ning Qian gritted her teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and struggled to sit up.

She didn't want to appear too embarrassed in front of outsiders, especially this "junior brother" whose identity was unknown.

With trembling hands, she grabbed a few scattered bandages and haphazardly wrapped them around the wounds on her chest and back.

A series of sharp pains instantly covered her forehead in a fine layer of cold sweat.

But she bit her lower lip hard until she tasted blood, barely managing to maintain a sliver of consciousness.

Then, with great difficulty, he put on the white disciple's robe, covering the bandages that were still stained with blood...

.......

Fang Xuan waited quietly outside the door, without urging him.

After a while.

A soft "creak" sounded.

The palace door was slowly pulled open from the inside, leaving a crack.

The moonlight, like water, flowed in and illuminated the figure standing behind the door.

"Junior brother, is something the matter?"