It turns out, they were the main characters.

The love lock had landed gently on Mu Zhian's wrist without her noticing.

Mu Zhian pretended not to notice, gazing at Bai Ruoxi, and whispered, "Ruoxi, at this moment, I only love you."

The love lock conveyed Mu Zhi'an's current feelings, and it was indeed true... Bai Ruoxi's peach blossom eyes glistened with tears as she silently gazed at Mu Zhi'an, seemingly lost in thought.

Taking the opportunity, Mu Zhian continued, "Ruoxi, why don't you go back to the Mu residence later?"

"I still need to deal with some external matters."

Bai Ruoxi asked, puzzled, "Didn't Senior Sister Lan already go out to explain?"

Mu Zhian shook his head and laughed, "Ye Yu's mudslinging has already been done. Even if Senior Sister, or even the high-ranking members of the major families in Tianxuan City, prove that you are not a demon cultivator, people will still gossip and even suspect that we have secretly colluded all along."

...although they did indeed conspire together.

Bai Ruoxi frowned slightly and said softly, "They don't trust the major families of Tianxuan City, do they not even trust the sect's assessment personnel?"

“Of course,” Mu Zhian said matter-of-factly. “People only believe what they see with their own eyes.”

"In the end, what they care about is not whether you are a demon cultivator or not; they just want to add some spice to their boring lives."

“Even if others have proven that I am just a cultivator, there will still be people who suspect that I am a demon cultivator?” Bai Ruoxi frowned.

"good."

Mu Zhian nodded, staring at her beautiful profile, and continued, "But if you have doubts, then so be it."

"If everyone wants seasoning, then I'll just give them some seasoning."

For the sake of Ye Lingxuan and Ye Qian, he didn't intend to make things too difficult for the Ye family.

However, Ye Yu seems to be a bit too idle... so idle that he can cause trouble for him every now and then.

Although it's not a big deal, being constantly bothered by flies can be a bit annoying.

We need to keep Ye Yu busy from now on.

……

Ye Mansion.

Ye Yu sat quietly cross-legged on the edge of the bed, seemingly calm, but in reality, when he closed his eyes, he would recall the scene in front of the teahouse earlier.

"Are you very dissatisfied?" An aged voice slowly sounded from within his body, causing Ye Yu to slowly open his eyes.

"Teacher, why didn't you let me expose Bai Ruoxi's true colors back then?" Ye Yu replied in a deep voice.

"Since Senior Sister Lan can use the Qi Observation Technique, if she were to use it on Bai Ruoxi in that situation, no matter how much Mu Zhi'an tries to deny it, the matter would be settled, wouldn't it?!"

The old man sighed softly: "If that sect's examiner is determined to protect Bai Ruoxi, even if she sees the demonic energy within Bai Ruoxi through her Qi Observation Technique... do you think she will answer truthfully?"

Ye Yu fell silent.

"You were too impulsive," the old man continued.

In the past, when Ye Yu's talent returned, he endured for a long time and worked hard to cultivate.

The old man once thought that Ye Yu must have a good character, after all, with such patience, his future achievements must be considerable.

However, ever since he met Mu Zhian, Ye Yu seems to have become increasingly impulsive.

Mu Zhian seemed to have become Ye Yu's inner demon. Whenever Ye Yu saw him, he would lose his mind.

That's understandable, considering that Ye Yu has lost all their encounters so far...

From genius to trash, then back to being a respected genius, and then having his mental defenses shattered time and time again by Mu Zhian... Luckily, Ye Yu has a pretty good mentality; a normal person would probably be depressed by now.

"In any case, you've already achieved your goal. Knowing when to stop is what makes a mature adult," the old man said slowly.

Ye Yu frowned and said in a low voice, "The elder just went outside the teahouse to personally refute this rumor... How have I achieved my goal?"

The old man chuckled and replied, "Simply refuting the rumors is far from enough. From the moment you said Bai Ruoxi was a demon cultivator, everything Mu Zhi'an did afterward was powerless to change the final outcome."

"No matter how hard they try to prove that Bai Ruoxi is not a demon cultivator, there will still be people who doubt her."

After a long period of stunned silence, Ye Yu murmured to himself, "So... I won this time?"

"That's true," the old man replied slowly. "Although the Ye family will pay a considerable price for this, you have indeed won this time. Mu Zhian is an extremely arrogant person, and he can't even protect the girl he likes, which will make him very frustrated."

"Therefore, what you need to do next is not to cause trouble for Mu Zhian, but to focus on your cultivation."

The underlying meaning of this statement is: Stop causing trouble and focus on your cultivation.

Ye Yu nodded slightly, his previously angry gaze gradually calming down. He felt much better and said:

"I will work hard in my cultivation, and then defeat Mu Zhi'an fairly and squarely in the sect assessment!"

The old man gave a faint "hmm," but sighed softly in his heart.

Because of Mu Zhian's matter, he hasn't even dared to sleep peacefully for a while, fearing that Ye Yu might accidentally fall into Mu Zhian's trap.

If he hadn't spoken up in time to stop Ye Yu today, his secret of being hidden inside Ye Yu's body would probably have been exposed.

If it comes to that, I'm afraid that even without Mu Zhian's intervention, many enemies will come looking for him.

It seems we need to speed things up and spare no effort to get Ye Yu to the Refining Spirit Realm as soon as possible.

……

In front of the dueling platform.

The crowd here has grown larger and larger without anyone noticing. Just now, the Ye family elder brought Ye Yu out to explain the matter and also proved that Bai Ruoxi was not a demon cultivator.

Lan Mulian, who came out later, also confirmed that what the Ye family elder said was true.

However, just as Mu Zhian guessed, humans are creatures who love to "gossip," and many of them still remain skeptical and want to see the person involved speak out in person.

However, even if Mu Zhian or Bai Ruoxi personally testified, it was useless. Once the mud was thrown out, it could not be taken back.

"What exactly are Young Master Mu and Miss Bai doing in the teahouse? The examiner and the high-ranking members of various families have already left. Why are they still inside?" someone suddenly asked.

"Could it be that they're cleaning up the clues at the scene to hide some truth...?"

"It shouldn't be that bad... If we can't trust the families in Tianxuan City, does that mean we can't even trust that sect's assessment person?"

"No matter how powerful the Mu family is, could they possibly bribe that fairy?"

"That's hard to say..." The man stopped talking immediately after saying that.

Questioning a disciple of the Liangyi Sect in public is a very dangerous thing.

As Ye Lingxuan listened to the murmurs and chatter, her delicate brows furrowed unconsciously.

"These people are so annoying. They've already confirmed that Sister Ruoxi isn't a demon cultivator, and they're still discussing it," Ye Qian muttered under her breath.

"The mudslinging against Ye Yu has already been done, and no matter what we do, people will always talk about it. There's nothing we can do about it," Ye Lingxuan said softly.

"But don't worry, they'll only gossip at most."

"The sect assessment will begin in two days, and this matter will be over."

It seems like Mu Zhian won this time, but if Bai Ruoxi is also included, Mu Zhian did not win.

Of course, Ye Yu didn't win either.

However, this is probably the situation Ye Yu wanted to see.

After all, even though it hasn't been confirmed that Bai Ruoxi is a demon cultivator, people will still discuss her.

During this period, the most discussed topic in Tianxuan City was probably whether Miss Bai was a "demon cultivator".

Previously, Bai Ruoxi was praised to the skies by most people, but now, as long as there is even the slightest negative news about her, people will belittle her to the point of being devastated.

There are many, many people like this in any era.

"Young Master Mu is out!"

Suddenly someone shouted, and everyone looked up to see a tall, handsome young man walking out of the teahouse.

As for Bai Ruoxi... she had already left on a flying sword.

Noticing that everyone's eyes were on him, Mu Zhian cupped his hands and said, "I'm sorry to have made you all laugh today. Young Master Ye has had some grudges with Miss Ruoxi before, and it seems that he is holding a grudge, which is why he spoke ill of her."

"So, the story that Miss Bai is a demon cultivator was just something Ye Yu made up?" someone in the crowd asked with a hint of doubt.

Mu Zhian shook his head and said, "Bai Ruoxi is not a demon cultivator, but whether demon cultivators actually exist or not, I don't know."

These words caused an uproar in the crowd.

This means that there are indeed demon cultivators in Tianxuan City...

Most people believe this statement because there was a demon cultivator in Tianxuan City before, and it was only through the joint efforts of several major forces that he was destroyed.

Even if a second demon cultivator were to appear now, no one would be surprised.

Mu Zhian glanced at everyone and said, "Just now, when Senior Sister Lan was about to use the Qi Observation Technique, Ye Yu stopped her. After that, he admitted to slandering Miss Bai as a demon cultivator."

"As for the reason, I'm not quite sure."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd fell silent, everyone's mind replaying Mu Zhian's words.

If I remember correctly, the Liangyi Sect's Qi Observation Technique can see other people's spiritual energy, and even tell if someone is lying...

Why did Ye Yu admit to slandering Bai Ruoxi when Lan Mulian was about to use the Qi Observation Technique?

He simply uttered a sentence, but it sparked a frenzy of speculation among people.

Mu Zhian withdrew his gaze, cupped his hands in greeting to them, and stepped down from the stage.

He knew these people wouldn't believe his side of the story.

However, after these words were spoken, people would no longer focus entirely on Bai Ruoxi.

Because the person who just said that was Mu Zhian, the eldest son of the Mu family in Tianxuan City.

What Mu Zhian says, whether true or false, will spark heated discussions.

Having Ye Yu help Bai Ruoxi divert people's attention is enough.

In modern times, the headline would probably be something like this: A plot twist! Ye Yu, who reported Bai Ruoxi as a demon cultivator, is himself suspected of being a demon cultivator?!

It'll be trending on social media in no time.

Mu Zhian came to the Ye sisters.

Huang Manting, who was beside the two, had already disappeared, presumably having gone back with Master Huang earlier.

After all, given what had happened, Huang Manting naturally wanted to know what had occurred in the teahouse.