Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 252 - 171: Another Addition to the Team

Chapter 252: Chapter 171: Another Addition to the Team

"I... I was just concerned about Brother Jiang, it’s been quiet here for a while..."

The soft voice of the girl was followed by her cute head peeking out from the trees.

Her expression slightly embarrassed, she wasn’t lying, as just moments ago there was quite a commotion with Daoist skills booming and weapons clanging, but suddenly it all quieted down.

At that time, she thought the battle was over, and after waiting in vain for Jiang Feng, she quietly sneaked over after hiding Qiao Yuan.

It must be said that this girl had quite the courage; daring to come rescue someone while only at the sixth level of Qi Refinement, Jiang didn’t blame her, after all, he and Chen Shan had merely exchanged a silent puzzle, and speaking with a clever person is always effortless.

He was reluctant to reveal his identity, even after twenty days in these mountains he had never truly used his Sword Qi, letting no one detect anything unusual, as he was pursuing fairness.

He wanted to know if without relying on his senior sister, if in fair competition, did he have the qualifications to be her disciple?

Thus, the goal he set for himself was never simply to be admitted, but to be the first, to surpass everyone, to prove that Liu Tangxi was not mistaken about him.

Chen Shan also guessed the idea of his Master Liu.

Perhaps Master Liu wanted to show all the Peak Masters and elders through this outstanding disciple that revitalizing Swordmaster Peak was not a joke, and also to prove her teaching capability.

Without a doubt, Jiang Feng was the most persuasive card in her hand.

The two quickly left the scene side by side.

The surroundings were already getting noisy, it would be problematic if they didn’t leave now, but Jiang Feng was careful enough to take away Qiao Yuan’s Magic Treasure before leaving.

Rushing all the way, although accidentally spotted by Miss Lin, she would definitely not guess the silent puzzle the two played, of this Mr. Jiang was still very confident...

"Since Brother Jiang belongs to Purple Cloud Palace, why did he choose to wander in the mountains for a month, taking the toughest route? Is it because he worried about the gossip from the outside world?"

"..."

Alright, his confidence was gone.

With a long sigh upward, he never expected to be seen through by a young girl who was not yet fully grown, but thinking about it, this girl might become his confidant in the future, at least she would understand what he means when he feels like pouring out his troubles.

"Sort of, but I am not a disciple of Purple Cloud Palace, it’s just by chance someone taught me skills and let me join the competition, hence I must follow the proper path."

"If I still couldn’t enter after being taught, I guess I wouldn’t have the face to join Purple Cloud Palace. Besides, I am not afraid of gossip, but others might not be, right?"

"Alright girl, forget about what happened just now, but don’t forget our agreement today."

With a strong "mm", she naturally wouldn’t forget the agreement, wherever Jiang Feng went, she would follow, as long as he didn’t mind her.

Soon they reached a crevice between rocks.

The woman sitting in the crevice, like startled, quickly retreated a few steps and huddled in the corner, even her voice trembling.

"Is... is that Young Master Jiang?"

"It’s me, don’t panic. I wonder, Miss Qiao Yuan, if it’s convenient right now, if not I can start the fire later."

He dropped the collected wood in his hands, his calm voice imparting a sense of security.

"Qiao... sister, do you need me to come over and help?"

She forcefully swallowed the words "auntie."

This was directly mentioned by Jiang Feng on the road to Lin Jiangxian, although knowing you are young, do not call someone auntie casually, it’s impolite!

It’s not that he was worried Qiao Yuan would be unhappy or anything, but feared this young tyrant might get used to it, then when bringing her to Swordmaster Peak, calling his own senior sister "auntie"...

Thinking of this he couldn’t help but shiver.

This girl would likely be fine, but he definitely would be in trouble, so he promptly strictly forbade it, completely sealing the word "auntie"!

"No need, I have already dressed up, thank you both for helping with the fire, and also for today’s rescue, Young Master Jiang and... Miss Lin."

After pondering a moment, she recalled the young girl seemed to be surnamed Lin, her tone carrying a bit of an apology.

When Lin Jiangxian found her initially, she had thoughtlessly refused, but unexpectedly today it was them who came to her rescue.

Warm flames appeared.

Now it was deep winter, the weather harsh, although there has been snowfall these days, to provide the sect participants a suitable competitive environment, an elder had used the sect’s Array power to keep the snow in the air from falling down.

But this does not mean the climate was fitting, on the contrary, in some parts of the mountain it was so cold that even the drops turned to ice, and many birds and animals had entered hibernation.

In the confined space, three faces appeared around the flames, the slight warmth allowing Jiang Feng to see the woman curled up in the corner.

The rough long robe could barely cover the woman’s graceful figure, her fleshy long legs still exposed, after all, since Lin Jiangxian was slender, her clothes definitely weren’t too big, only covering part of the body.

However, one could still see that some of the exposed skin still bore many bruises, and her expression was unnatural, showing that this incident had likely left her with a significant psychological trauma.

Her face betrayed bits of pain. Jiang Feng noticed that Qiao Yuan was covering her abdomen with one hand, her wrist joints looking odd, and even her Spiritual Energy barely gathered.

Previously, she had indeed been tortured by those three people. To avoid a second scare, the young man only handed over the Qiankun Bag with the "Qiao" character and the Star Compass to Lin Jiangxian, then gave a meaningful glance.

The young lady understood and immediately took these items, which clearly stunned Qiao Yuan, causing her surprise.

Clearly, she had no understanding of Jiang Feng’s strength since she had been dragged away by Lin Jiangxian while someone else unleashed the Demolishing Demon Frost Palm.

"Miss Qiao, those three men have been executed. An elder brother from the Purple Cloud Palace noticed the anomaly and came immediately to assist. He instructed me to return these items to you. He said that it was his own lack of supervision that allowed the miscreants to commit evil, and he assured that such incidents will not happen again, also asking me to apologize on his behalf. I hope Miss Qiao can forgive this."

All credit was pushed onto Brother Chen, but it was this speech that truly calmed Qiao Yuan down. She gratefully accepted the Qiankun Bag and the Magic Treasure, her eyes revealing a bit of nostalgia.

For her, these two items were clearly more important than anything else. Her face hesitated for a moment, then she opened the Qiankun Bag using Divine Sense and voluntarily pushed it forward.

"Young Master Jiang, Miss Lin, now that I am in this state, moving forward will be a struggle. You both saved my life today, and I do not know how to repay you. I still have twenty tokens here; perhaps you could take them."

This was somewhat unexpected yet expected.

Lin Jiangxian clearly panicked, didn’t take the Qiankun Bag, but instead stepped back and ended up sitting on the ground, helplessly looking towards Jiang Feng, truly at a loss as to what to do.

While the latter helplessly shook his head, it seemed that the backstab didn’t just injure her physically, but also shattered her confidence.

"Miss Qiao, victory is within reach, why not continue to try?"

"I..." Her expression was somewhat dim, but she softly said: "My Dan Mansion is damaged, and I fear it will be difficult to regain combat strength in a short period. Staying in the mountains makes every step hard; perhaps it’s better to give up early."

"That’s just a matter of recuperating for a few days. If you already have twenty tokens, then you are capable of entering the top hundred. Isn’t it a pity to give up now?"

"I understand, it’s just..."

She nodded, but Qiao Yuan’s complexion still didn’t look great, one hand still covering her abdomen. Those three people truly didn’t hold back in subduing her.

Still hesitant, Jiang Feng chose not to reveal his and Chen Shan’s arrangement, as doing so would strip the examination of its original meaning. Going up the mountain with such an attitude,

even if Chen Shan allowed her entry as compensation, she would still have no status within the sect.

He didn’t want to see this; he didn’t want to be that quack who remedies the symptoms but not the cause.

"Miss Qiao, do you still remember our discussion back at the tea house?"

Lifting her head.

Her somewhat vacant expression regained some color, and Jiang Feng took out a thick coat from his Qiankun Bag and handed it to Lin Jiangxian, signaling her to help drape it over her, given the severe cold and Qiao Yuan’s inability to gather Spiritual Energy.

Both her thighs and parts of her arms were still exposed, which really wasn’t very proper. Miss Lin thoughtfully helped to cover her up completely.

She also carefully lifted Qiao Yuan’s injured wrist, constantly infusing her own Spiritual Energy to hasten recovery and nurture the body.

"I once said not to worry too much about the number of tokens, nor about climbing the Mountain Gate."

"Entering the Mountain Gate in such a way, you’d still just be considered ordinary in the eyes of the sect, just another outstanding person among the ordinary."

"There are many strange and varied ways to join a sect, the most important of which is to demonstrate your own strength, to show your unique side. Now that you’re in such a desperate situation, why not fight for it at this moment?"

"All of our actions are under their watch; how could those responsible for monitoring not know of the great disaster you have encountered?"

"But they didn’t directly send you down the mountain, can you guess why? Doesn’t this prove that they still regard you as a talent, still believe you have the qualifications to enter the sect?"

"If not for that, after the death of those three villains, you should have been escorted down the mountain personally by Brother Chen Shan. Is this not true?"

"If you can climb the Mountain Gate in such dire circumstances, even if for other reasons your token count does not rank you high, it will definitely make them rate you highly."

This statement awakens someone as if from a dream.

Her somewhat vacant eyes regained clarity, and even her forehead broke out in a few beads of cold sweat.

Yes, what Jiang Feng said was correct, the entire mountain had countless Sect Disciples watching, and with a Brother also personally dealing with those three thugs, everything that happened was in their sight.

They were willing to give her a chance, and yet I was about to give up this opportunity, how... how could I be so foolish.

"Listening to Young Master’s words is like receiving a timely rain, but, I do not know if Young Master Jiang is willing to take on this burden, giving me some time to recover..."

Her tone was hesitant, and she understood that troubling others was tough to voice out, but Jiang Feng simply smiled graciously.

"Sometimes having a mid-grade Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the team can add a lot of deterrence, especially if that cultivator wields a Magic Treasure, which ordinary people will hardly dare to approach."

Although he didn’t answer directly, Jiang Feng had already given his answer.

A smile finally appeared on her face, and despite feeling unwell, she still struggled to stand up and bowed deeply.

"Young Master Jiang, Miss Lin, I appreciate your care for the remaining eight days."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.