Li Yunxian threw the long whip in her hand toward Duan Rong’s relatives, who were still glaring at her angrily, then walked toward the two classmates.
The two classmates looked half surprised, half dazed, only snapping back to reality when Li Yunxian reached their side.
“Is it over?” the two asked her.
Li Yunxian saw their faces still tinged with panic and replied softly, “Yeah, it’s over.”
Hearing this, they finally seemed to recover from the nightmare, their bodies going limp as if half their strength had drained away.
They grabbed Li Yunxian’s arm. “You scared me to death.” Their voices choked with sobs, which soon turned into outright crying.
“Wuwuwu!! I’m so useless!! I’m never playing again. I’m going to seriously cultivate…”
“Me too. How could he do that… I couldn’t even protect Qi Yao…”
“He really thought that just planting spirit materials would get him accepted as an apprentice, and wouldn’t go to the task center to find someone to plant them for him.”
“He’s just lazy!”
“That’s too much!!”
Li Yunxian, hanging on to one person, wore a helpless smile. She could only nod and say “uh-huh,” “yeah,” “right, right” while listening to the two wailing and accusing.
Knowing they were scared out of their wits, she slowly led them back to the villa area, had someone seat them in the living room, and gave them two cups of hot water. Only then did their emotions settle.
Their faces were now marked with worry.
“Yunxian, is Qi Yao okay?”
Qi Yao had many injuries, and not just to her skin.
“It’s fine. I was seriously hurt before too. After coming to the academy, I recovered quickly.” Li Yunxian gave them a firm answer.
“Professor Chen is a powerful Fenshen-stage expert. He has plenty of methods. Qi Yao will probably be plump and healthy again in a few days.”
Hearing this, the two couldn’t help but laugh, and the atmosphere lightened immediately.
But it wasn’t just Qi Yao who had problems. Li Yunxian did as well.
“You beat Duan Rong up that badly. That Nascent Soul professor won’t actually come looking for trouble, will he?”
Li Yunxian shrugged. “If he were really capable, Duan Rong wouldn’t have ended up like that.”
“Besides…” Li Yunxian lounged on the sofa like a salted fish, “I’m protecting Qi Yao this much, she’ll have to protect me in return, right?”
“If that Nascent Soul guy comes after me, I’ll have Qi Yao call Professor Chen.”
“Trouble him once, I’ll trouble him once.”
“We’ve got a Fenshen big shot backing us. What is there to be afraid of!”
“Qi Yao might be shy, but I’m not.”
“If she won’t do it, I’ll threaten that stinky Qi Yao, twist her this way and that…” Li Yunxian flailed her hands in the air as if twisting someone into a pretzel.
The two classmates couldn’t hold it any longer and burst out laughing. “Okay, we’ll help you beat her up then!”
Seeing them finally cheer up, Li Yunxian breathed a sigh of relief.
Comforting two young girls was harder than fighting Duan Rong.
Then they couldn’t help but ask about Hua Shunyu, the teaching assistant. What was the real story?
Li Yunxian looked completely innocent. “It’s… just a substitute teaching gig.”
“I told you from the start I was subbing classes.”
The two girls:
Who could have guessed it would be this kind of substitute teaching!!!
“Wah!! I wanted to sign up for classes this semester, but now there are none…” One collapsed on the spot.
“No! I even strongly recommended you go to class that day… not a loss…” The other also collapsed.
On the sofa in the living room, there were now three salted fishes.
Suddenly someone laughed, and the laughter quickly became contagious.
The three of them laughed together.
***
After seeing the two off, Li Yunxian logged back into Ten Thousand Things and was immediately bombarded with messages.
Almost everyone she’d added as a friend sent her messages asking what had happened in real life.
Li Yunxian replied briefly and to the point in a group message:
— Nothing’s wrong, just a friend needed me to support her.
Everyone expressed skepticism.
Supporting her? For several hours?
Li Yunxian curled her lips.
Supporting for a few minutes, comforting for an hour or two, that’s totally normal.
But Li Yunxian wasn’t keen on revealing too much about her world, so she simply sent everyone a list along with the contract templates she’d previously agreed on with Zhao Longhua and Sheng Yu.
This was the contract they’d collectively discussed at the City East Gate — all sorts of Four Arts requirements.
To bury one gossip, you have to throw out an even bigger one.
Li Yunxian didn’t want anyone monopolizing things, so… everyone should see which agencies they want to represent.
Those who accept the contract terms can queue up at the trading market a week later and bring their production and sales plans to meet her!
This stirred up a huge commotion.
Everyone had thought that the needs discussed at the city gate would ultimately go to Zhao Longhua or Sheng Yu.
But…
Everyone instantly forgot why they’d even cared about Li Yunxian at first.
They all knew that Zhao Longhua, a small merchant, had started rising quietly over the past month since hooking up with Li Yunxian.
And offline, the Sheng Family’s spirit medicines were already well-known throughout Qingxing, everyone carrying one or two bottles.
Who wouldn’t want to be the next Zhao Longhua or the Sheng Family?
Soon Li Yunxian received several more rapid messages.
She ignored those trying to curry favor and instead sent out small random red packets from her game account’s leftover currency, attaching a message:
— Too many messages to reply to. If you can, please help spread the word! [bow][fist]
Instantly, more messages popped up.
Li Yunxian scanned through and saw one message:
“Boss Xiao Li, people from Miaoying heard about this. Can their members participate?”
Without hesitation, Li Yunxian replied, “Of course, no restrictions.”
The Miaoying Guild members relaxed upon receiving this.
They looked at their own guild members, excluding those who looked like walking corpses just back from the City East Gate, those who had lost all meaning in life.
Finally, their gazes landed on one person.
He stood tall and straight, broad-shouldered but narrow-backed, with muscles flowing in just the right way.
His face was handsome, with clear, bright black eyes that were pleasing to look at.
“Xiao He,” someone reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. “This Boss Xiao Li really doesn’t seem to favor Changguang. We can still be friends with her.”
“We can’t fall behind Changguang.”
Ying Wenhe, confused, said “Huh?”
Then he heard what the others were whispering behind him.
“You’re the best-looking guy in our guild, so this job’s on you!”
Ying Wenhe:
He literally jumped in place, disbelief all over his face.
Everyone knew exactly what that meant.
“No way! I can’t seduce anyone! I’ve never even been in a relationship!!”
Seeing his reaction, the Miaoying Guild members laughed heartily, shouting:
“This job needs someone like you who’s never dated.”
“Didn’t you all see what Boss Xiao Li said in her suggestions? You can tell she’s experienced.”
“People like her are most likely to like someone like Xiao He — innocent and naive, who can see through things at a glance, a pure white flower~”
Ying Wenhe:
This is bad! The sky is falling!