As soon as Liu Qi spoke, the atmosphere grew tense once again.
His slender fingers tapped on the counter, the jade surface emitting a crisp sound. "The direct disciples of the Sword Heart Sect have wasted my time for no reason. Shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
Qu Chen furrowed his brows and was about to speak, but Cang Dongqing beat him to it. She bit her lower lip, her eyes shimmering with tears. "Fellow Daoist Liu, you've misunderstood. This is all my fault, I... I just..." Before she could finish, her body swayed slightly as if she were about to collapse.
"Junior Sister!" Qu Chen hurriedly supported her and turned to glare at Liu Qi. "Must you be so aggressive? My junior sister is weak; she cannot handle such..."
Cang Dongqing, held in his arms, felt a flash of coldness in her eyes. she knew very well that Liu Qi's impression of her was already quite poor. The only way forward now was to retreat to advance—to apologize proactively, with Qu Chen acting as the aggressor while she played the victim. This might at least recover a bit of her damaged image.
"No, Third Senior Brother, don't say that about Fellow Daoist Liu. It was my own impulsiveness. I only wanted to maintain the dignity of our Sword Heart Sect and didn't want the other disciples to compromise their integrity for the sake of spirit stones. I... I..." As she spoke, her breathing became rapid.
Watching this, Li Nanzhu laughed inwardly. As expected of the heroine, her skill at feigning weakness was indeed perfected to the highest degree.
She feigned concern, saying, "Oh dear, what’s wrong with Fellow Daoist Cang? Could it be that your spiritual energy isn't flowing smoothly? Do you want me to take a look?" She made a move to step forward.
"No need!" Qu Chen stood warily in front of Cang Dongqing, blocking her. "We appreciate Fellow Daoist Li's kindness."
"Senior Brother..." Cang Dongqing weakly tugged at Qu Chen's sleeve. "It's all my fault. I've brought shame to the sect..."
This performance caused many of the surrounding cultivators to show expressions of sympathy. Someone whispered, "That girl had good intentions, why make things so difficult for her?"
"Indeed, it's rare to see someone so dedicated to maintaining their sect's dignity and upholding the integrity of a sword cultivator."
The slight dissatisfaction Qu Chen had felt after being deceived by Cang Dongqing vanished instantly because of this performance. His junior sister hadn't actually said much else earlier; he had simply misunderstood her. How could he possibly be upset with her?
Just as he was wallowing in regret, Liu Qi rolled his eyes nearby.
"If your Sword Heart Sect truly cared about integrity, you wouldn't be buying things on credit," Liu Qi said, completely unmoved. "I heard the Sword Heart Sect praised you as some kind of legendary genius. I thought you'd be someone impressive, but you’re about to faint after just a few words? And people like you call yourselves sword cultivators?"
Upon hearing this, even if Cang Dongqing's face looked terrible, she had to force herself to stay standing. Otherwise, the reputation of a genius girl she had cultivated would truly be ruined here.
"You spoke so easily about giving the rooms away for free. Did you even ask your fellow disciples behind you if they were willing?"
Cang Dongqing hurriedly turned to look at her fellow disciples, but they all avoided her eyes with uncomfortable expressions.
As a direct disciple, perhaps she never had to worry about whether she had enough spirit stones, but for these ordinary inner sect disciples, what use was 'face' when they were being asked to pay four times the rent? It would have been one thing if it was just the quadruple price, but the other party had offered to give the rooms away for free—so what were they supposed to do?
"I... I know it’s not easy for everyone, but when we are away from home, we should look out for one another. I will compensate them later!"
The other disciples opened their mouths as if to say something, but when Qu Chen’s gaze swept over them, they were forced to remain silent.
"Compromise?" Liu Qi seemed to have finally run out of patience for Cang Dongqing. "Using your fellow disciples' rooms to gain favors and then using the sect's resources to compensate them later—Fellow Daoist Cang, that’s a very profitable deal you’ve got there."
"It's just being generous at the expense of others," Li Nanzhu added from the side. "If you’re truly so generous, why not give your own room to Fellow Daoist Liu? And don't give us that talk about being in poor health. Among those on the path of cultivation, who could possibly be in poor health?"
"I..." Cang Dongqing was once again silenced by Li Nanzhu, forced to barely maintain the last shred of her dignity.
"My room can naturally be given to Fellow Daoist Liu," she said, taking out the room token representing Heaven No. 5 Room and making a motion to hand it to Liu Qi.
Cang Dongqing had calculated well; given Liu Qi's personality, he certainly wouldn't take her room now. By offering it, she could prove that she wasn't someone who usurped her fellow disciples' resources.
Just as she expected, the others' expressions softened when they saw her produce her room token. But before she could feel smug, the token was snatched from her hand.
"You!"
Cang Dongqing finally failed to maintain her gentle mask. "Li Nanzhu! This was a gift for Fellow Daoist Liu, how could you!"
Li Nanzhu simply brandished the room token, ignoring her. "Fellow Daoist Liu, since she was kind enough to give up this room, there’s no reason not to accept it, right?"
Liu Qi pursed his lips, his face full of disdain. He was about to refuse when Li Nanzhu continued.
"My senior brother really wants to trade with you. Since she has already gifted this room token to you, you can dispose of it however you wish, right? Wouldn't you agree, Fellow Daoist Cang?"
"Yes... Yes..." Cang Dongqing could only swallow her rage. How could she take back words she had already spoken?
"It just so happens that after my senior brother trades his room to you, he won't have a place to stay. Why don't you give this room to my seventh senior brother? That way, you won't waste Fellow Daoist Cang's kindness, and you can live comfortably. What do you think?"
Liu Qi's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected someone as young as Li Nanzhu to be so interesting. Catching a glimpse of Cang Dongqing's distorted expression out of the corner of his eye, he felt much more refreshed.
"Let's do that. This..."
"My name is Duan Xianxing!"
"Fellow Daoist Duan, this Heaven No. 5 Room is yours. I'll still pay for the previous room!" He stuffed the bag of spirit stones he hadn't managed to give away earlier back into Duan Xianxing's hands.
"Fellow Daoist Liu is too kind! Hahaha, hahaha!"
Seeing Duan Xianxing laughing foolishly while clutching the bag of spirit stones, Liu Qi became even more certain of his theory: how could someone who simply loved spirit stones be a bad person?
"Senior Brother, stop laughing. Shouldn't you hurry up and thank Fellow Daoist Cang?" Li Nanzhu nudged Duan Xianxing. He then cupped his hands with a smile. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Cang."
"No... problem..." The words were forced out through Cang Dongqing's gritted teeth. She watched as the situation she had carefully designed was completely derailed. She couldn't lash out in front of so many people, yet the gazes of everyone present felt like needles in her back. Now, she only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
But before she could leave, Duan Xianxing's voice reached her ears once more.
"Junior Sister, I think I really did misjudge Fellow Daoist Cang last time." Hearing this, Cang Dongqing's steps paused. If she could win Duan Xianxing's favor and steal him away from Li Nanzhu's side, that would be good.
But Duan Xianxing's next sentence shattered her delusions.
"I shouldn't have said she looked like someone from the Hehuan Sect when she cries. The disciples of the Hehuan Sect look much better than her when they cry. I can't lie to such a generous person who gave me a room!"
Cang Dongqing finally couldn't hold her expression anymore. She burst into tears with a wail and sprinted out of the inn.
"Junior Sister!" Qu Chen gave the innocent-looking Duan Xianxing a fierce glare before quickly chasing after her.
Seeing that the show was over, the rest of the crowd began to disperse in small groups.
"What's wrong with her? Why did she run away?" Li Nanzhu looked at the utterly confused Duan Xianxing and finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. Was her seventh senior brother a natural counter to green tea girls?
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