Chapter 181: Su Xingmian
***
“This can’t be real, you’re lying to me, right?”
The girl asked with a sob in her voice, full of disbelief.
She never had many friends to begin with. Apart from her most beloved younger sister, only Xiao Huo was willing to actively approach her, help her, and become a rare light in her dark life.
But now, Lin Muyu suddenly told her that this person who had actively befriended her and treated her so well had done it all to covet her movement technique secret art.
Those seemingly genuine acts of help were nothing but carefully orchestrated performances, and even… even using the safety of her most cherished sister to achieve his goal.
How could she accept this?
Lin Muyu spread her hands with a somewhat helpless expression.
“As everyone knows, the images recorded by recording stones cannot be faked. Besides, Xiao Huo went to crash a wedding today. You would’ve found out about his actions sooner or later.”
Of course, “cannot be faked” was only true for now.
Once “Artificial Intelligence Xiaotao” finished researching the technology to alter recording stone footage, from then on, whatever she wanted the recording stones to say would be entirely up to her.
“Sister! I told you that Xiao person had bad intentions!”
Suddenly, a crisp but somewhat weak voice came from behind the cabinet. Following that, a petite figure slowly emerged.
The girl appeared to be about 10 years old, with a maturity on her face that didn’t match her age. When she looked at Su Xinghe, her eyes were full of stubbornness.
Lin Muyu turned toward the voice, and the moment her gaze fell on the girl’s face, she couldn’t help but freeze slightly.
It was a face of breathtaking beauty.
Clearly wearing no makeup or embellishment whatsoever, yet beautiful like a fairy carefully sculpted by heaven itself. Every contour, every inch of skin exuded natural refinement, as pure and clean as crystal.
In terms of pure beauty alone, this girl was even half a degree more stunning than Su Wanqing, the female lead who was the ceiling of beauty.
However, in terms of aura, Su Wanqing still had the edge.
The girl before her was permeated with a sickly air, her face pale like beautiful crystal that could shatter at any moment.
Yet even with such heavy sickness, that stunning beauty wasn’t diminished in the slightest. Instead, it added a touch of pitiable fragility that made even Lin Muyu unconsciously stare in a daze.
“Mianmian, didn’t I tell you to hide properly?”
Seeing Lin Muyu staring blankly at her younger sister, the girl’s heart suddenly tightened. As if suddenly thinking of something terrible, she became anxious.
She quickly stepped forward, firmly blocking her younger sister’s front, looking at Lin Muyu with eyes full of vigilance, her voice involuntarily trembling.
“You, you can come at me for anything! Mianmian has a weak constitution, she can’t withstand any trouble!”
“?”
Lin Muyu was stunned for a moment. It took a couple of mental turns before she understood Su Xinghe’s meaning, then said speechlessly.
“I already told you, I’m not that kind of person! It’s just that your sister is really too beautiful, I couldn’t help but look a couple more times. I really don’t have any other intentions.”
“Really?”
Su Xinghe asked doubtfully, the vigilance in her eyes not diminished in the slightest.
Actually, from the moment they met, Lin Muyu’s various actions had left a deep impression on her.
Her sixth sense kept faintly reminding her that Lin Muyu seemed more interested in the same sex.
“Of course it’s true!”
Lin Muyu explained helplessly.
“If I really wanted to do something, I would have done it already. With your level of strength, how could you possibly stop me?”
With these two half-grown kids, if she really took a liking to them, she could just directly take them into Xiaotao’s space. They wouldn’t even be able to run away, why would she need to waste words here?
“Alright…”
Su Xinghe thought it over carefully and felt that what Lin Muyu said made sense. Her tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and she then chose to believe her.
“By the way, I haven’t asked your names yet.”
Lin Muyu took the initiative to speak, first revealing her own identity to show sincerity.
“My name is Lin Muyu, I’m a cultivator from Qinglan Sect.”
“Qinglan Sect…”
Upon hearing this, Su Xinghe’s eyes showed a trace of longing.
That was one of the top sects in the cultivation world. People who could enter there surely wouldn’t be as despicable as Xiao Huo, right?
Thinking this way, her wariness decreased a bit more.
“My name is Su Xinghe, and she’s my younger sister, Su Xingmian.”
Su Xinghe paused, still adding uneasily.
“She’s been sick since childhood and has a particularly weak constitution. You absolutely must not have any designs on her!”
“…”
Lin Muyu rolled her eyes speechlessly.
She had just casually teased them a bit when they first met, hadn’t she?
Why did it feel like Su Xinghe had already labeled her as some lecherous woman coveting young girls?
“Sick?”
Then, she caught the keyword, her eyes moving slightly.
“Can you let me take a look?”
From her earlier exchange with Xiao Huo, she understood that Su Xingmian’s weakness probably wasn’t an ordinary illness, but more like some kind of special constitution problem.
As soon as these words came out, Su Xinghe’s barely relaxed vigilance immediately heightened again, her eyes full of wariness.
“Are you also trying to use Mianmian to get my movement technique?”
“I’m not trying to be rude, but your double standard is way too obvious, isn’t it?”
Lin Muyu was somewhat annoyed at being suspected.
“Why do you trust Xiao Huo so much but are constantly vigilant toward me? Setting aside the fact that your movement technique is completely useless to me, which technique in my Qinglan Sect isn’t better than your movement technique?”
She really found it absurd. In front of Xiao Huo, Su Xinghe was just a naive sweetheart without much defensive awareness.
But when it came to her, her IQ suddenly came online.
“I’m sorry…”
Su Xinghe felt somewhat embarrassed at being called out, her voice lowering.
“It’s mainly because Xiao Huo deceived me. I really don’t dare to easily trust others now.”
After saying this, she hesitated for a few seconds but still slowly moved aside, indicating that Lin Muyu could examine Su Xingmian’s condition.
She was very clear in her heart that with Lin Muyu’s strength, if she really wanted to force the issue, she couldn’t stop her at all.
“That’s more like it.”
Lin Muyu nodded with satisfaction, stepped forward, and carefully observed Su Xingmian.
Su Xingmian was truly beautiful, but that beauty was wrapped in too much weak energy.
She looked at Lin Muyu cautiously. This demeanor was like an exquisite yet extremely fragile glass doll, as if a casual bump would shatter her, making even Lin Muyu feel somewhat tender-hearted.
However, Lin Muyu herself didn’t understand medicine. The so-called examination right now was actually using her Insight ability.
As long as Xiaotao had previously read through books or materials introducing similar conditions, she might actually be able to find out the root of this illness.
【Character: Su Xingmian】
【Age: ? (Estimated to be in her prime youth)】
【Current State: Extremely weak, life force slowly dissipating】
【Source of Weakness: After analysis, estimated to be Red Beauty Life-Devouring Physique】
【Constitution Analysis: Those born with this innate constitution will naturally possess peerless beauty far exceeding ordinary people, but their lifespan will be as fleeting as an epiphyllum bloom. According to existing data statistics, 99% of patients do not live past 18 years old】
【System Notification: Searching database, analyzing feasible treatment methods for this condition…】
On the other side, Xiaotao, who was buried in studying how to alter recording stone footage technology in the space, suddenly felt part of her mental capacity being drawn away. The already not-so-light mental load instantly increased by several degrees.
“Sigh…”
Xiaotao couldn’t help but sigh, rubbing her swollen temples.
“I originally followed Master to see the outside world, so how did I end up so busy now?”
She glanced at Xiaomu, who was still sleeping soundly beside her, and suddenly her eyes focused as she silently calculated in her heart.
“Looks like I need to find a way to urge Master to quickly break through to the Golden Core stage… Once Master advances, Xiaomu won’t be able to slack off anymore. Otherwise, if it’s just me who’s exhausted, that’s way too unfair!”