How could Shen Qingqiu not see through Mingyuan's petty little thoughts? It was nothing more than hearing Ning Ling-er call out so affectionately to 'A-Chuan', making that junior brother he already found an eyesore feel like a fishbone stuck in his throat. In the original novel, Shen Qingqiu had complained countless times about the baffling, high-concentration hatred these cannon fodder supporting characters held for the protagonist. Sadly, the plot inertia was astonishingly massive, and he had never seen it improve.
Ning Ling-er was young and simple-minded after all; she tilted her head and asked, "What fun things does Shixiong have? Hurry and take them out for me to see."
Mingyuan immediately put on a fawning smile, untied an emerald-green jade pendant from his waist, and held it out to her: "Shimei, my family sent someone to visit this time and brought quite a few high-quality, interesting trinkets. I thought this one was especially beautiful, so I specially brought it to give to you!"
Ning Ling-er reached out to take it, examining it carefully against the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves. Mingyuan asked eagerly, "How is it? Do you like it?"
Peeking up to this point, Shen Qingqiu suddenly snapped back to reality. This plot sequence!
Crap, he shouldn't have come here at all; this place was extremely dangerous!
But he couldn't entirely blame his poor memory. You expect someone who cursed the brain-dead author for writing trash daily to remember the opening plot of a stallion novel that serialized for four years with a timeline spanning two hundred years? He had forced himself to read it for twenty days just to finish it; he had long since forgotten that dog-blood opening segment, which existed purely for the sake of angst!
Sure enough, Ning Ling-er knew nothing about the quality or color of jade. She looked at it randomly for a while, then tossed the jade pendant back. The smile on Mingyuan's face instantly froze. Ning Ling-er wrinkled her nose and said casually, "What is this? The color is hideous. It's not even as good-looking as A-Chuan's."
At this, not only did Mingyuan's face turn iron-green, but even Luo Binghe, who had been consciously playing the part of air, trembled slightly and suddenly opened his eyes.
Mingyuan squeezed a few words out from between his teeth: "...Shidi also possesses an ancient jade Buddha artifact?"
Luo Binghe hesitated slightly. Before he could speak, Ning Ling-er rushed to answer, "Of course he does. He wears it around his neck all day, right against his skin. He treasures it so much he won't even let me look at it."
Even with Luo Binghe's composure, his expression changed at this moment. He subconsciously gripped the jade Buddha pendant hidden inside his collar.
Shen Qingqiu was also drunk on the intelligence of the many female supporting characters in this text.
When Ning Ling-er said this, she didn't consider the consequences at all. She had simply seen Luo Binghe wearing a jade Buddha pendant against his skin, never parting with it.
Girls always want to get their hands on their sweetheart's personal items, but Luo Binghe simply refused to give it up, dead or alive. Unwilling to let it go, she brought it up again.
Of course he wouldn't give it to you, okay!!! That was a treasure consecrated by Luo Binghe's washerwoman mother, who had scrimped and saved for most of her life to buy it for her son. It was the single shred of warmth that supported Luo Binghe through his dark childhood and accompanied him his whole life. Even during his most severe blackening phase later on, it was this jade pendant that allowed him to salvage a trace of remaining humanity. How could he just give it to someone as a trinket!
Mingyuan was both angry and jealous. Ultimately, the resentment in Ning Ling-er's words gained the upper hand. He stepped forward and shouted sternly, "Shidi Luo certainly puts on grand airs, refusing to let even Shimei Ning Ling-er look at your jade pendant. Carrying on like this, in the future when facing powerful enemies, will you refuse to even lend a hand?!"
Bullshit! What kind of damn connection is there between those two things!
Ning Ling-er hadn't expected it to turn out like this either; she stomped her foot in anxiety: "If he doesn't want to, then forget it. Shixiong, don't bully him!"
How could Luo Binghe currently stand a chance against Mingyuan? Coupled with a group of low-level disciples acting as Mingyuan's lackeys blocking the way, it wasn't long before the jade Buddha pendant fell from his neck into Mingyuan's hands. Mingyuan held it up to look, then suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Ning Ling-er asked strangely, "You... what are you laughing at?"
Mingyuan tossed the jade pendant back into Ning Ling-er's hands and said smugly, "I thought it was some rare treasure, the way he was guarding it so desperately. Guess what, Shimei? It's a fake. Hahahaha..."
Ning Ling-er looked confused: "A fake? It's false?"
Luo Binghe's fists slowly clenched. Dark currents surged in the depths of his eyes as he said, word by word, "Give it back."
Shen Qingqiu's fingers also twitched slightly.
He was naturally aware that the jade Buddha pendant was fake, and it was one of Luo Binghe's greatest trigger points for rage.
Back then, his washerwoman mother had scrimped and saved to buy this jade, but due to her limited experience, she was swindled into buying a fake at a high price. She was heartbroken afterward, and her health deteriorated. This was undoubtedly a knot in Luo Binghe's heart that could never be untied. This was the one thing Luo Binghe could never tolerate!
As a bystander, Shen Qingqiu really wanted to rush out, beat Mingyuan to a pulp, snatch the jade pendant back, and return it to Luo Binghe.
Moreover, doing so might prevent Mingyuan from completely offending Luo Binghe, allowing him to pick up a cheap life in the future.
Mingyuan picked up the jade pendant from Ning Ling-er's hand again, looking disgusted. "If I have to return it, I'll return it. Probably just some cheap goods bought from a street stall. I was afraid it would dirty Shimei's hands." Though he said this, he showed no intention of returning it.
Luo Binghe's face was taut. Suddenly, he threw both fists out, striking the low-level disciples holding him.
When a person is enraged, their fists and feet often lack discipline, driven only by a chaotic surge of anger. At first, he intimidated those few low-level disciples, but they quickly realized he was actually weak. Mingyuan shouted from above, "What are you standing there for? Daring to raise a hand against a Shixiong—teach him what seniority and hierarchy mean!" The crowd immediately regained their courage and swarmed Luo Binghe, beating him severely.
Ning Ling-er was stunned and screamed, "Shixiong! How can you do this! Tell them to stop, or else... or else I'll never speak to you again!"
Mingyuan panicked: "Shimei, don't be angry, I'll tell them to stop hitting the kid..." Before he could finish speaking, he lost his focus. Luo Binghe broke free from the group of flailing limbs and lunged forward, landing a punch right on Mingyuan's nose.
With a miserable shriek, two streams of blood immediately flowed from Mingyuan's nostrils.
Ning Ling-er had been on the verge of tears, but seeing this, she couldn't help but burst out laughing with a "pfft."
Shen Qingqiu: ...Sister, do you like A-Chuan or are you trying to harm him!
Originally, Mingyuan might have let Luo Binghe go, but now that he had made a fool of himself in front of his crush, there was no way he could let it slide!
Seeing the two tangled in a fight, no matter how talented Luo Binghe was, he was young and hadn't practiced orthodox scriptures yet. He was clearly taking a one-sided beating, yet he grit his teeth without making a sound. Shen Qingqiu subconsciously wanted to intervene, but the system blared a life-threatening alarm: 【Severe character collapse! Severe character collapse! Severe character collapse! Important things must be said three times! 'Shen Qingqiu' should choose to stand idly by in this situation!】
Shen Qingqiu didn't know the consequences of violating the rules and didn't dare take the risk rashly. In his anxiety, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a compromise.
The Ling Xiao Mountain Sect had a minor spell called "Flying Flower Plucking Leaf." It seemed useless, merely pretty and interesting. In the original novel, it was described that Luo Binghe used it to easily win the heart of a female supporting character. Shen Qingqiu had been frantically cramming various secret manuals recently and had seen records of this minor spell.
He plucked a leaf at random and poured a bit of spiritual energy into it. The first time he poured too much, and the leaf couldn't withstand it, instantly shattering into pieces. He succeeded on the second try. Holding it between his fingertips, he blew gently, then flicked his hand to send it flying. The leaf shot toward Mingyuan like a flying knife