Luo Binghe had suffered quite a few punches and kicks, but suddenly it was Ming Fan who staggered backward. Luo Binghe looked up. Fresh blood dripped from his forehead past his eyes, but he hadn’t expected to see Ming Fan stretching out his own hand, his palm also covered in blood.
Ming Fan stared in disbelief. “You dare to use a knife?”
Due to its fierceness, Ning Yingying hadn’t risked coming close to their fight, but now she hurried to throw herself between the two. “No, no, A-Luo didn’t use a knife. It wasn’t him!”
Luo Binghe also had no idea what had happened. He closed his mouth tightly and tried to clean the blood from his face.
“Did you see clearly? Was he holding a knife?” Ming Fan interrogated the other disciples as blood seeped out of his back—like he’d been cut with the edge of a sword.
The disciples looked around at each other in complete disarray, some shaking their heads, some nodding.
Ming Fan was a spoiled and pampered young master, and he had never suffered this level of physical pain. The sight of his own hand covered with blood sent panic surging through his heart. The puzzling thing was that there was no evidence of a weapon either on the ground or on Luo Binghe’s slender person. It couldn’t have vanished into thin air, right?
Shen Qingqiu held his breath. His vision suddenly flashed red, and a huge line of floating text popped up before him in a blood red as eye-catching as it was bone-chilling.
【 Violation: OOC. B-Points -10. Current B-Points: 90. 】
Shen Qingqiu released his breath, relieved. He’d been prepared for a deduction in the realm of fifty, or even to lose everything. Only ten was much better than he’d thought. He’d take the loss for now. There would be future chances to earn those points back.
Then, shortly after he let out that breath, Ming Fan pointed to Luo Binghe and yelled, “Get him!”
Shen Qingqiu nearly vomited a mouthful of blood straight from his chest.
The gang of disciples heard the order and tackled Luo Binghe. Shen Qingqiu unconsciously tore off a nearby handful of leaves and sent them all singing through the air.
He regretted it as soon as they left his hand.
The fuck am I doing? No matter what happens, Luo Binghe is the magnificent male lead. It’s not like he’s never been ganged up on before. Like they could beat him to death! Like hell you need to worry, self!
He might have gotten away with the first interference, but now? Fantastic, even an idiot would notice something was off!
Numerous disciples were splattered with blood. They anxiously gathered around Ming Fan, no longer daring to gang up on Luo Binghe.
“Shixiong! What’s going on?!”
“Shixiong, I’ve also been cut!”
Ming Fan’s face was green and white. Only after a long moment did he yell out. “Go!”
Leading his group of lackeys, all covering their backs and holding their arms, he frantically withdrew. They truly came like the wind and left like it too.
Only Ning Yingying remained, standing there dumbly for a while. Then she shouted, “A-Luo, were you the one who sent them running just now?”
Luo Binghe shook his head, expression gloomy. He stood up, straightening with difficulty. Then he bent down again with a tense look, searching the ground for something, turning over fallen leaves, dry twigs, and mud this way and that, over and over again.
Shen Qingqiu knew what he was looking for. Naturally, it was that jade pendant, which had been lost in the confusion.
He saw it, clear as day. Before fighting, Ming Fan had swung out his arm, and as he did, the pendant’s red string had snagged on a branch high above their heads. But Shen Qingqiu couldn’t point that out.
Also, just after he’d sent the leaves flying, he’d heard that heart-shattering System scream.
【 Violation: OOC. B-Points -10 x 6. Current B-Points: 30. 】
In an instant, he’d fallen below a passing grade!
So one leaf equals ten points? Don’t use such simple, crude arithmetic!
Ning Yingying didn’t dare speak. After all, she had caused this entire affair. If not for her big mouth, Luo Binghe would never have suffered a beating—and on top of that, he’d lost his pendant for no good reason. She swiftly began to help Luo Binghe search.
They of course remained empty-handed, even as it became dark.
Luo Binghe stood dumbly in place, staring at the mess of the ground. They had overturned every speck of dirt in sight, but still they hadn’t found it.
“A-Luo, if we can’t find it, let’s just let it be,” said Ning Yingying, a little frightened to see him so dazed and out of his mind. She took his hand. “I’m sorry, I’ll buy you another one later, all right?”
Luo Binghe paid her no heed. He slowly withdrew his hand and walked toward the forest’s edge, head lowered. Ning Yingying hurried after him.
Shen Qingqiu was truly impressed with himself. These two children had searched for an entire afternoon, and he’d actually gone and watched the whole time… How could he explain that to himself, other than to say that he had too much fucking time on his hands?
He waited until they’d gone a good distance, then finally emerged from his hiding place. He raised his head and looked about, then tapped his foot on the ground. In that moment, he experienced what it meant to have “a body as light as a swallow,” and with great ease, he rose and plucked that jade pendant from where it was caught on a branch.
In truth, Shen Qingqiu wanted to secretly return it to Luo Binghe, but he was now familiar with this System’s rules. That would definitely count as a violation. He didn’t have any B-Points to squander.
After some thought, Shen Qingqiu decided to keep it for the time being.
Maybe later, this jade pendant would be of great use. For example, perhaps during a critical moment, when his fate hung by a thread, he could bargain it in exchange for his life? Shen Qingqiu gave this possibility serious consideration.
Right then, a line of green text with a pronounced 3D effect jumped into view.
【 Congratulations! Obtained key item: Fake Jade Guanyin x 1. For changing the storyline, Shen Qingqiu IQ +100. Current B-Points: 130. Please continue to work hard! 】
All the points that had just been deducted were not only restored, he even got more!
On top of that, given the influence this jade Guanyin had on Luo Binghe, it was definitely a high-level item, and it could be used preserve his life! What a happy surprise!
A rush of satisfaction flowed through Shen Qingqiu, cleansing him of the gloom that had set in while he crouched in the dark for a whole afternoon. At this moment, even the System’s eminently punchable, Google Translate-like voice was melodious beyond compare.
Meanwhile, outside the forest, Luo Binghe had already left the back of the mountain, and he slowly unclenched his fist.
Lying in his palm was a whole green leaf. Its edges were sharp and stained with blood.