Qing Xia’s originally smiling face gradually darkened with each of Lin Mubai’s words. Her face turned black as she pressed her lips tightly together, breathing repeatedly to suppress her anger. Finally, she spoke word by word in a low voice: “Who did you say has low bloodline and is illiterate? Who did you say behaves crudely and lacks dignity and virtue? Who did you say is a dead person?”

“Miss, Miss, I didn’t mean it that way, Xiangju…”

With a dull thud, Qing Xia struck Lin Mubai’s head hard with a Mountain-Opening Palm technique. The scholar cried out miserably. Before he could react, Qing Xia grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and drove her knee forward, striking Lin Mubai’s leg and forcing him to the ground. This neat grappling technique, something Qing Xia had practiced thousands of times in actual combat, was overkill when used on this scholar who possessed no martial arts skills.

In the next second, Scholar Lin was already sprawled on the ground in an awkward position. Qing Xia angrily knelt on his back and said in a low voice: “Stay still! Stop constantly paying respects to everything – even the living get worshipped to death by you. Also, don’t fantasize that I’ll marry you. Don’t think that just because you’re foolish, I have to indulge you in everything!”

“I…”

“I don’t want to hear you speak right now!” Qing Xia shouted angrily, delivering a hard kick to Lin Mubai’s buttocks before springing to her feet and rushing out of the tent in a few quick strides.

“Miss Xiangju!” Lin Mubai scrambled up from the ground in embarrassment, almost crawling out the door as he called into the empty night: “Where are you going? In a few days it’ll be the Southern Border Shaman Festival! You’re wandering the mortal realm – be careful!”

The night was thick, all things silent. Qing Xia hid in a corner, watching Lin Mubai’s foolish figure, feeling so frustrated she could go mad.

She never wanted to encounter this pervert again.

Qing Xia said this to herself in her heart, then turned and walked toward her own tent.

After all that commotion in the middle of the night, she still hadn’t found that bead. Fortunately, aside from encountering Scholar Lin, there had been other gains, or Qing Xia really would have coughed up blood and died.

Huffily walking to the table, she poured a cup of tea and tilted her head back to gulp it down, finally calming the anger in her heart somewhat.

She had never been someone who wore her emotions on her face. After so many years in intelligence work, she had long since developed thick skin and an iron constitution, always carrying dozens of different masks in her pocket, ready to put on when facing different people. But she hadn’t expected that scholar to truly have the potential to anger people to death. Speaking of it, she had been too confident in herself, thinking that scholar was truly won over by her charm.

“Sigh, if only all ancient people were this stupid.” Qing Xia sighed quietly, unable to prevent Chu Li’s fox-like narrow eyes from floating into her mind, along with Qin Zhiyan’s effortless scheming that had thrown Southern Chu into turmoil.

Forget it, forget it. Qing Xia shook her head. Someone like Lin Mubai was probably a once-in-a-millennium specimen, and she just happened to encounter him.

Taking off her outer robe and cotton boots, Qing Xia washed up simply, changed into a soft, light silk shirt, let down her hair, and prepared for sleep. The young woman in the mirror had fair skin and beautiful features. As Qing Xia passed by the mirror, she paused slightly, realizing that at some point, her discomfort with looking in mirrors had disappeared. It seemed she really was like an indestructible cockroach, able to quickly adapt to any predicament.

Just think of it as a very long mission, Qing Xia hypnotized herself once again. At least the people here treated her fairly well. Before her death, she had heard rumors that Li Yang was dragging out an assignment that would likely have fallen to her if she hadn’t died – reportedly possibly going undercover as a prostitute in Costa Rica. She had never received such a high-difficulty assignment before her death. Though her current environment was rather bizarre, she had food and drink and at least basic human respect, which was surely better than becoming a prostitute.

Thinking this way, Qing Xia walked to her bed. It was already very late – dawn would come in another two hours. Qing Xia yawned, drowsiness overwhelming her as she lifted the covers and crawled in.

The bedding was warm and cozy. Qing Xia stretched her limbs comfortably but suddenly touched a solid body.

An ambush!

Her drowsy eyes snapped wide open. In almost 0.01 seconds, the petite woman who had been ready to sleep suddenly threw off the covers and sprang up. Her jet-black hair traced a beautiful arc in the air, her white nightgown perfectly wrapping around Qing Xia’s beautiful curves, making her movements appear even more decisive and sharp. She drew the dagger bound to her calf, grabbed the other person’s arm with a swift grappling technique, bent it backward, wrapped her legs around them with bent knees, pressed against their lower back, instantly grabbed their hair, and placed the dagger at their throat – thus cleanly and efficiently completing a perfect capture and killing move.

All these movements happened in an instant. Qing Xia’s reaction speed was incredibly fast. Her eyes sharp and fierce as she gripped the person’s hair, she demanded in a short, murderous voice: “Who are you!”

“Cough, cough, cough…”

A series of stifled coughing sounds immediately rang out. Qing Xia paused and looked carefully.

She saw Chu Li wearing a moon-white cotton robe, his handsome face flushed red, his hair disheveled in her grip, coughing loudly without any dignity.

“Oh my! How is it you!” Qing Xia cried out softly, quickly releasing her hold on Chu Li. Her face rapidly arranged itself into a careful, apologetic smile as she half-knelt on the bed, straightening his disheveled clothing and hair that looked like chicken feathers. “Why didn’t you make a sound when you arrived?”

“Hmph!” Chu Li’s face was dark as he looked angrily at the woman before him, his eyes almost shooting flames. In less than three days since seeing her, he couldn’t count how many beatings he’d received. Even with Chu Li’s tragic childhood and bleak past that had forged superhuman resilience and stubborn endurance, he still couldn’t help but rage. Would it always be like this in the future, getting beaten up by her for no reason at all times?

“Barbaric woman!” Chu Li shouted angrily.

Qing Xia knew her reaction had been excessive and didn’t argue back, continuing to straighten his clothes.

“No upbringing at all! Simply unreasonable!”

Understanding the petty psychology of men losing face, Qing Xia resolved to continue enduring.

“Crude behavior, bold beyond measure – how can someone like you even count as a woman?”

“Hey! That’s enough!” Unable to endure any longer, Qing Xia stood up and shouted down at him: “Did I invite you here? Who asked you to sneak into my room and sleep in my bed? You got beaten because you brought it on yourself!”

Chu Li’s eyes instantly turned red as he also stood up. His tall frame was half a head taller than Qing Xia’s. Glaring and unreasonably arguing: “I am Southern Chu’s Emperor! The entire realm belongs to me, these tents are all mine! I can sleep wherever I want – you don’t need to meddle!”

“I’m meddling?” Qing Xia craned her neck up, glaring angrily at the tall Chu Li: “Are you not thinking clearly? You come to someone else’s room in the middle of the night and think you’re being reasonable?”

“I am the current Son of Heaven! My words are reason!”

“Hey! Chu! I’m warning you not to be too arrogant!” Qing Xia raised her eyebrows and shouted angrily.

Chu Li looked smug with the self-important expression of a big bad wolf: “As ruler of a nation, I naturally have the capital to be arrogant!”

“I see you’re well-fed and asking for a beating!”

Chu Li raised his sword-like eyebrows and shouted: “Zhuang Qingxia! I’m telling you – before, I saw you were a woman and didn’t deign to fight you. Don’t think a little color gives you the right to open a dye shop, and truly believe I’m easy to bully!”

“Fine then!” Qing Xia stepped back and assumed a fighting stance, shouting: “Then come at me!”

Chu Li paused. The scene from two days ago of being beaten by Qing Xia until he rolled on the ground and was finally thrown in a snowbank floated back into his mind. Facing the petite woman before him, he glared and huffed for a long time, but finally just snorted angrily and turned to leave with a flourish of his sleeves.

“Such character!” Qing Xia snorted disdainfully and turned to dive into the warm bed.

Chu Li obviously heard Qing Xia’s words. His body shook with rage, trembling with anger. The curtain moved as the furious Southern Chu Emperor stormed out. Qing Xia stretched leisurely and thought to herself: “What an idiot!”

As soon as the words left her lips, a cold wind suddenly rushed in. Qing Xia turned around in alarm to see Chu Li striding back in with a dark expression.

“What are you coming back for?”

“Why should I be driven away by your anger?” Chu Li looked sideways and snorted coldly: “This is my territory. I want to sleep here tonight.”

“Fine.” Tonight was truly an unlucky day. Qing Xia slowly let out a long breath and said in a low voice: “You brought this on yourself – don’t blame me!”

“If you dare make a move, I’ll call the Black Guards in to tie you up and hang you on the cart shafts outside.” Chu Li lounged casually on the warm bed in his light robe, saying lightly.

Qing Xia was furious, frowning as she shouted: “You spineless man! Using numbers to bully the few?”

Chu Li looked sideways and raised his eyebrows slightly without speaking, but his expression clearly said: I’m bullying you – what can you do about it?

“Fine! Chu Li, you’re ruthless enough!” Qing Xia snorted angrily and flopped down on the bed aggressively, pulling all the blankets to herself, turning her back to Chu Li and refusing to pay any more attention to this perverted man.

What sympathy and pity, what Southern Border war – this lady is leaving tomorrow morning and will never again suffer this indignity here!

But behind her, Chu Li was in high spirits, a smile flashing across his face as he lay down close to Qing Xia. Presumably having done this many times and grown skilled at it, he deftly lifted the covers and rolled into the bedding.