Act 17

*I just edited a part where XiFeng kicked Liang Qi's head in the prev chap in case you read it beforehand.

Two girls walked along the hallways, one with a demon-like expression, whilst the other with a curious one. Lian Ji was tempted to ask Yue XiFeng on what the hell she just witnessed, but of course, she didn't have enough balls too, as opposed to the latter's who were made of steel.

Lian Ji knew well of the temperament of this friend of hers, hence she was afraid of asking her to elaborate on the relationship she had with the man.

She knew very well that her friend was pissed. Very very pissed, yet subtly delighted?

Though Yue XiFeng had a horrible personality to everyone around her, excluding her of course, it didn't change the fact that she was an admirable and strong woman. Along with the fact that she was an older sister figure to her, resulting in Lian Ji developing the ability to subtly read her expressions.

A dark smile meant she didn't want to be bothered. A lazy half-smirk meant she wanted to kick someone in the groin. A deep grin meant that she wanted to beat someone up, and the list goes on.

But there was one expression she couldn't properly decipher.

A no smile. Indifferent face, no smile at all, nada. However, it wasn't the usual indifference. It was one where a menacing air accompanied it.

And that is her current state.

Still, she foolishly couldn't resist the urge, as her gaze shifted back and forth from the hallway they walked and the demon beside her, evidently displaying her curiosity for all to see.

Regardless, though she knew, Yue XiFeng simply remained indifferent, blasting an eerie grin to the girl beside her, with it having a deeper meaning, otherwise deciphered as,

'Shut up.'

And thus, Lian Ji obediently followed, forcibly quenching her endless thirst for answers as her fear of Yue XiFeng overtook it.

***

Inside her mind, numerous scenarios of her beating him up emerged as she fumed with passionate rage. Walking towards the nearest drinking fountain, she quickly gurgled the water up before spitting it all out in disgust.

Even though their lips didn't touch, she still felt disturbed, disgusted, and propelled by it as the satisfaction from kicking his head wasn't enough to overwhelm it.

Just the mere thought of an intimate smooch caused her skin to crawl in displeasure, as she had long no longer wished for it.

All the more reason why she refused to elaborate on it to Lian Ji. She didn't want her to get involved with the bastard in any way possible, as she didn't want the bastard to collude with Lian Ji, knowing well of the latter's personality.

Sure, she was detached and cold, but her experience in this life caused the firm ice to shatter just a teeny tiny bit. But it only shattered for Lian Ji and her current father, not one person more.

In actuality, she simply didn't want to associate with the man as the two formerly respected one another, not once overstepping each other's boundaries.

But that instead backlashed to her wellbeing, decimating the hope she held for him, the candle she tried to get him to light. The hope of being loved and cared to by the man she loved.

Heh. Look at what that naive thought leads to.

Upon the thought, regret pierced through deep, as a knife plunged deep in her heart, nearly impossible for the man who stuck it in to pull it out again. With it only piercing deeper and deeper.

However, it never changed the fact that she was once not... like this. In a time where everything looked bright, listening to the whispers of her parents was all she had to hear and do.

Back then, she was a puppet that was loved by the meisters behind her. They used her as a pawn, just not a disposable one. A puppet with cared for strings and a beautiful wooden shell, that knew nothing of the truth surrounding her, nothing of the sad reality she lived in, empty of the true personality she was borne with.

She was twisted from the start, unknown of her actual identity. Yet she grew to embrace the dilapidated whispers they embedded in her, acknowledging them as her own entity.

But little did they know, the words and knowledge they purposefully carved to her being would end up resulting in their own passing.

indeed, what they brought up wasn't an obedient and cunning puppet, but the buds of a future devil in the making.

Along with the fact that the person they hoped to lift their pedestal, would end up being the one who snaps their livelihood completely.

In the end, a place dyed with crimson red was where they end. Up to the sky, all they could see was the smile of the demon who fooled all of them.

The demon who eventually realized who she meant to be, along with who they really were along with what the murmurs really meant.

Needles pierced through her delicate heart, trickling her soft fingers with droplets of blood, silent wails reverberated through the night, leaving a single girl to disappear without the light. Curtains of darkness enveloped her soul, leaving it without a single glimmer to behold.

The small girl only laughed in manic, as she realized her soul was in a panic.

Yet the man she was to meet never appeared, leaving her to fend for her own poor soul, leaving none to heal it.

At this point, she realized, that everything she lived in was a fabricated lie. Her dust-covered eyes cleared within seconds as she gazed up to the light of the bright moon shining in the sky.

Once again, laughter echoed throughout the crimson night, as the sword on her fell to a clang, lying motionless on the ground below it.

With bloodied eyes, she cursed out a name she once said with a longing gaze,

"...Well done, Li Nian."

With tears flowing out her delicate eyes.

At this point, she gave up on everything, fully becoming the demon everyone aspired her to be.

Without a single concern towards the person who went through desperate measures to stop it.

At this moment, the rumors filled with lies would soon turn into a twisted reality.

And they all only had themselves to blame for it.