Danger!
Yu Mian's sixth sense warned that a bad answer might set a new record for the quickest death of a person transmigrated into a book!
Forced to lift her head, she gazed into those inscrutable, bottomless depths. The breathtaking beauty and immortal aura that had so impressed her at first sight had vanished completely.
How could Yu Mian not understand now?!
Perhaps she'd escaped the dragon's pool only to enter the tiger's den.
“Master… of… of course you're extraordinarily beautiful.”
With her chin firmly held, Yu Mian stammered out this dry compliment. The fist-sized heart in her chest raced as though trying to perform “Flight of the Bumblebee” as a solo.
In her previous life, being tongue-tied merely made people dislike her. Now, a poor choice of words might cost her life.
She closed her eyes and waited for her death sentence.
Instead, a faint chuckle brushed past her ear, accompanied by the woman's distinctive herbal fragrance, rich with the scent of plants. “Mian'er isn't bad-looking either.”
The fingers gripping her chin turned into a gentle caress, cold and silky against her skin. They slid from her throat, where she was swallowing uncontrollably, up to her chin before withdrawing.
Yu Mian's eyelids trembled. She dared not open them until the herbal fragrance receded. Only then did she lift her lids a fraction and find that the person before her had vanished without a trace.
Only afterward did she dare gasp for breath. The clothes across her back were soaked in cold sweat.
Was this really the Wayward Immortal Sect?
How could such an elder exist here? If she didn't remember the plot, she might have mistaken this place for the lair of some demonic sorceress.
She might have been better off apprenticing herself to Lu Wuqie. At least then she could have lived another three years, until the main storyline began.
At this rate, surviving three days would be a luxury.
Yu Mian climbed up from the white-jade paving stones and looked around. She stood in the forecourt of an enormous palace built against the mountain.
Its main gate was five or six meters tall, with broad vermilion doors on either side. When opened, the whole entrance would look almost square rather than the usual rectangle.
Above this magnificent gate hung a signboard made from some unknown wood. Three large characters had been written upon it with bold, sweeping brushstrokes: “Floating Jade Palace.”
The name, together with the Floating Jade Mountain that the demonic woman had mentioned, stirred a hazy sense of familiarity in Yu Mian's mind, but the memory remained as elusive as mist.
In any case, Floating Jade Mountain hadn't appeared in the early plot. For now, she was safe.
Yu Mian patted her knees, cautiously rolled up her trouser legs, and found scrapes as she'd expected. How had she arrived in the legendary cultivation world only to suffer such ordinary mortal injuries?
Oh. She was still a mortal.
Then it was fine. Or rather, she hadn't died yet.
She went to the vermilion doors and pushed with all her strength. They didn't budge. They might as well have been welded to the ground.
Aside from this immense, mist-wreathed palace, she was surrounded by forested mountains. From the dense woods came occasional whimpers and sharp cries of wild beasts and birds.
She wrapped her arms around herself and surveyed the area. Other than the palace, she had nowhere to go.
Yu Mian didn't give up. The doors were there; surely all she had to do was push them open. She gathered all her strength for another attempt!
The second effort was weaker.
By the third, she'd exhausted herself…
Leaning half her body against a vermilion door, Yu Mian pounded it with all her might. Why?!
She'd only had a few rather private hobbies. Why should such insignificant interests get her shipped into this terrifying world?!
“System!”
“Is there a System?!”
“Hey!!!”
“Did you forget to give me my special cheat ability?!”
Yu Mian called silently for the essential accessory of any transmigration story, clinging to a faint hope that some immortal, demon, or ghost might come to help her.
“System… are you there?” She leaned on the door and spoke gloomily, not daring to raise her voice in case it attracted wild animals from the mountains.
“Mian'er, were you waiting for your master?” That ghostlike voice rose behind her, right beside her ear. Yu Mian, half leaning and half pushing against the door, sprang upright.
During the half hour she'd spent alone beneath the vast, indifferent sky, she'd nearly broken down. Now even the wicked woman's voice sounded strangely reassuring.
Even if that very woman was the reason she'd ended up here.
“Master, where did you go?!” A little eager flattery entered Yu Mian's voice as she turned away from the door, only to discover that this rotten woman had changed her clothes during her brief absence?!
She now wore a dark-green, peacock-patterned, front-opening gown. Twelve long waist ornaments resembling peacock tail feathers brushed the ground, and the patterns across the cloth shimmered blue and violet whenever she moved. She was magnificent from head to toe.
She had time to change clothes but none to spare for a disciple who'd been left helpless, with no one answering her cries?!
As if she heard the reproach in Yu Mian's voice, Sheng Qing raised an eyebrow. Emotion colored her naturally cold and impassive features. With a lift of her right hand, she conjured a peacock-feather fan to cover half her face.
“I first went to the sect leader to obtain Mian'er's identity token and disciple robes. Mian'er won't hold that against me, will you?” She fanned herself twice. Her long, thick lashes fluttered like the feathers of the fan.
A beauty half hidden, whispering sweetly to you~
Yu Mian's grievance dissolved before such an exquisite sight.
Since resistance was impossible, she could only put up with it.
“Then, Master, my identity token and…” Yu Mian saw the danger: the woman's smile concealed a blade. Her survival instinct instantly changed her tone. “This disciple thanks Master for personally fetching my token and robes. I will remember the trouble you've taken for me with all my heart.”
“How thoughtful Mian'er is. Your master is truly gratified.” Sheng Qing brushed the peacock-feather fan over Yu Mian's peach-pink cheek, then tossed it to her.
“It's yours.”
Holding the radiant, multicolored fan, Yu Mian stood frozen. The workmanship was exquisite, and the handle was inscribed with a formation that made her even dizzier than the teleportation array. It seemed to be a magical artifact.
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And she'd just… given it to her so easily?
In *Fragrant Shadows, Damp with Desire*, magical artifacts could only be forged using blood, flesh, and souls, making them extraordinarily precious. That had made the scenes in which male leads gifted them to the heroine especially thrilling.
When Yu Mian remained rooted to the spot, Sheng Qing grabbed her and imprisoned her in front of her like a baby chick before effortlessly pushing open the vermilion doors.
The towering gates, several meters wide and as thick as a forearm, might as well have been made of paper. She took Yu Mian inside without the least exertion.
“What is it, Mian'er? Don't you like the Five-Colored Peacock Feather Fan?”
“Of course. A girl as pretty as our Mian'er deserves a Seven-Colored Peacock Feather Fan. Next time your master finds the Seven-Colored Peacock Clan, I'll make another one for you.” Sheng Qing smiled sweetly and stroked Yu Mian's tender cheek. Watching the girl's pale face gradually flush red, her eyes gleamed with amusement.
Yu Mian knew perfectly well what this rotten woman meant by “finding” the Seven-Colored Peacock Clan. To refine an artifact like this, along with an entire set of enchanted robes…
She'd probably have to slaughter the whole clan and select only the one or two most beautiful feathers from each peacock.
With a few lighthearted words from this woman, some Seven-Colored Peacock Clan hiding in a remote corner of the world had just been sentenced to a future catastrophe.
Yu Mian stiffened helplessly and forced herself to sound carefree. “Anything Master bestows on me must be wonderful. This disciple couldn't be more satisfied.”
She hugged the fan to her chest as if it were a treasure. She didn't dare wave it about casually as Sheng Qing had.
Who knew how many wronged peacock souls were trapped inside it!
Forgive my sins! Forgive my sins!
Take revenge on whoever wronged you. Settle your scores with your enemies. Just don't come after me!
