Xiu Xiang was sure that she had gone crazy. She indulged in novels and her own imagination for so long that she had gone completely crazy. She bashed herself in the head several times, but she was still stuck in the same place. She was really inside the novel she had come to despise.
"I was clearly joking! Who would really want to live the life of a Demoness? Do you know how many enemies she made in the process of becoming the top Demoness?" she cried desperately in her own mind. Just thinking about her ultimate demise made her want to cry a river.
"Wake up, you piece of trash! Why are you still asleep? Senior Brother is looking for you!" screamed a voice from outside of the hut. Xiu Xiang had only managed to turn around when the door to the hut slammed open. A girl who seemed to be no more than fifteen, stormed inside and glared immensely at her.
"I can't believe I got forced to come wake you up! Who wants to see your filthy face so early in the morning!" she snapped. The girl's hair was tied into two buns. If it wasn't for the fact that the girl had the mouth of a dog, she would look quite pretty and dare Xiu Xiang say beautiful.
Xiu Xiang eyed her up and down. Her face scrunched up in disapproval. This attitude along with the same uniform could only mean that she was the sixth disciple of Master Feng Mian, Hua Zhi Ruo.
So young but so foul, she thought.
"What are you looking at?" Hua Zhi Ruo spat. She reached up to yank Xiu Xiang's hair but missed.
Xiu Xiang may have grown up in an orphanage, but it wasn't any ordinary orphanage either. It was a shaolin temple and to teach patience and virtue to the orphans, they were taught martial arts to calm one's mind. Xiu Xiang was already reaching thirty-five years old, but she still practiced it to this day. With the strange power circling in her, it made her reflexes become twice as fast. Dodging Hua Zhi Ruo's hand was as easy as blinking.
"What the...?" It was now Hua Zhi Ruo's turn to stare back at her in disbelief. "How did you? That's impossible!"
What was impossible? The fact that she was able to dodge her hand?
After thinking for a moment, Xiu Xiang realize what part of the novel she was in. Considering the fresh scar on her face and her back, she was supposed to have lost most of her cultivation. In other words, she didn't have long until the fateful day where she falls off the cliff and comes back as the demoness.
Nope. That was certainly not going to happen.
She had full knowledge of the future and all the characters in the book. She was going to change her fate. There was no way she was going to die young. She hasn't even hit her forties yet!
Completely ignoring the confused Hua Zhi Ruo, Xiu Xiang looked down at herself again. She must be only fifteen years of age, at the most. She had a year before she fell off the cliff to change her fate.
"Are you ignoring me, you trash?!" Hua Zhi Ruo screamed suddenly. Her palm glowed and a ball of energy erupted. Xiu Xiang didn't get the chance to remember what happened next when the ball of energy was thrust forward toward her. She jumped up and twirled in the air, missing it by an inch. The wall of her hut shattered into pieces.
Did she wanted to kill her?!
"Hey! That could've killed me!" Xiu Xiang roared as she landed back on her feet. Hua Zhi Ruo smirked as she placed a hand on her protruding hip.
"Hmph, nobody would care if you die, trash. If Senior Brother didn't have a use for you, I'd kill you on the spot. He wants to meet you in the bamboo grove! You better be there or else!" Hua Zhi Ruo hissed. She kicked the door aside and strolled out like she had won.
"Bamboo grove...?" Xiu Xiang thought for a moment and a lightbulb lit up in her mind. This was the part where the eldest disciple, Wang Yue wanted her to sneak into the west peak to steal Master Lin Hong's favorite disciple's martial arts manuscript. She does manage to steal it but ended up getting caught by a younger disciple on guard duty. Instead of telling the truth that she had been forced by Wang Yue, she kept quiet to keep Wang Yue from getting into trouble. She got punished heavily by Master Feng Mian and almost died.
She tested out her strength and found it quite weak and meager. If she were to defy Wang Yue, she'd probably face even worse consequences. Weighing the pros and cons of going to the bamboo grove, Xiu Xiang finally gave in and headed out the door.
The sun was setting and Xiu Xiang failed to find the bamboo grove.
"AHH! I should've asked for directions!" she cried while clutching her head with her hands. After much searching, she bumped into a group of disciples who instantly shot her angry looks.
"There she is! She dared to keep Senior Brother waiting! We'll show her!" one of the disciples screamed. Xiu Xiang didn't get the chance to escape. Despite being fast, her strength was quite crappy, and she was heavily injured. There was no way she could outrun or even beat up six people.
By the time, they dragged Xiu Xiang to the bamboo grove, her face was bleeding heavily and her eyes badly bruised. Her entire body ached twice as much and she could barely stand on her own two feet. The group threw her to the ground at Wang Yue's feet and spat out, "Senior Brother, we found her trying to escape. We taught her a lesson before bringing her to you."
From Xiu Xiang's bruised eyes, she could make out quite a handsome face. His smile was dazzling, and he gave off quite a leader vibe. Unfortunately, his eyes looked quite menacing.
With arms folded in front of him, he peered down at Xiu Xiang as if she was worth less than dirt. He let out a 'hmph' and smiled at his sibling disciples.
"Brothers and sisters. Why go through so much trouble? Remember, we still need her to do work for us but other than that, well done," he said in his most charming voice. The disciples all beamed brightly back at their Senior Brother as if they had just finished punishing the devil. He ushered them away so that it was just him and her. The moment they were alone, Wang Yue dropped to his knees to help Xiu Xiang up.
"Are you alright? I'm sorry. I should've came searching for you," he said weakly. Xiu Xiang wanted to laugh. The asshole could definitely act. It's no wonder the Demoness fell hard in love with him. Just having him touch her made her skin crawl. She felt repulsed and immediately flung his hands away. Her actions didn't bode well with him and his hand immediately shot up to slap her across the face. Xiu Xiang slammed to the ground with a thud and she suddenly wished she hadn't done so.
The bastard dared to hit a woman!
"You dare to reject my kindness? You should be thrilled that I'm even giving you the tiniest bit of attention, you whore!" he hissed.
Ah, there's the real Wang Yue.
Xiu Xiang let out a laugh as she struggled to stand up.
"You really are a narscisstic asshole, aren't you?" Xiu Xiang breathed. She had just gotten up to her knees when she felt a kick to her stomach. It seemed as if someone had sucked all the air out of her lungs as she tumbled backwards. Xiu Xiang curled into a ball as she gasped for air.
"What is this? Have you gone senile? You actually dare to talk back to this respected one?" Wang Yue whispered. She could hear the venom seeping off every word. She had no strength left to go against him as he yanked her harshly by the hair. Her head snapped back and through her bruised eyes, she saw him smile evilly down at her.
"I'll give you one chance to make up for your insult to me. Go to West Peak and steal the Fortifying Soul manuscript from Master Lin Hong's favorite disciple, Wei Xing. If you fail to bring it back to me, I'll make you wish you were dead a hundred times over," he hissed.