The system’s startled cry rang out in Ye Ran’s mind, making her instinctively step back several paces.
She hadn’t realized the power of the plot could be so terrifying. Even though she had already avoided the encounter that led to meeting the male lead, here she was running into him anyway.
Ye Ran’s standoffish reaction made Meng Xuan’s smile stiffen. But he quickly adjusted his expression and put on an even friendlier smile.
“Junior Sister, don’t be afraid. I’m a disciple under the sect leader. I’m not a bad person.”
“You misunderstand, Senior Brother. I’m not scared. I’m just surprised to run into you here.”
Ye Ran quickly composed herself and made up an excuse.
After all, she had only just met Meng Xuan. If she overreacted too much, it would inevitably raise suspicion.
Still, the sect leader didn’t have many disciples. Besides the universally recognized senior brother Lu Li, Meng Xuan was also fairly well-known within the sect.
So knowing his name wasn’t anything unusual.
“I see.”
Meng Xuan didn’t find this suspicious at all. His smile even gained a hint of pride.
“Which peak does Junior Sister belong to? What should I call you?”
“I’m Ye Ran, a disciple of Elder Li on Flowing Cloud Peak.”
Ye Ran had no intention of hiding her identity.
She and the male lead were disciples of the same sect. Even if they hadn’t met today, they would inevitably cross paths in the future.
Since she couldn’t avoid the plot point of meeting the male lead, then as long as she didn’t—unlike the original female lead—develop feelings for him or grow closer to him, she could still avoid becoming a cauldron.
Thinking this, Ye Ran quietly stepped back a few more paces.
But before she could find an excuse to leave, Meng Xuan spoke first.
“Junior Sister Ye, are you planning to return to the sect? How about I escort you back?”
“There’s no need to trouble yourself, Senior Brother. I—”
Before she could finish, the woman in the distance suddenly broke free from her restraints and charged toward the two of them.
Her long whip lashed out in the blink of an eye.
Just as the whip was about to strike Meng Xuan, a flash of sword light cut through the air, severing the whip. The fierce sword energy forced the woman back several steps.
“Senior Brother Lu!” Meng Xuan called out excitedly.
Lu Li glanced back at him, his gaze sweeping briefly over Ye Ran, who stood nearby.
Today, Lu Li was back to his usual self—his silver hair half-tied, his white robes impeccably fastened, the very image of a righteous sect leader.
It was as if the languid, dangerous Lu Li from that day had never existed.
Lu Li gave the two a slight nod, then immediately turned to deal with the Hehuan Sect woman.
Meng Xuan snapped back to attention and rushed forward to assist Lu Li.
Knowing her own limits, Ye Ran stayed put and waited for them to finish fighting.
But as her gaze shifted, she noticed a book lying on the ground where Lu Li had been standing moments ago.
Ye Ran walked over and picked it up. It appeared to be a cultivation manual.
She dusted it off, intending to return it to Lu Li after the fight. But just then, a gust of wind blew through, flipping the book open and clearly revealing its contents to her.
Ye Ran’s eyes went wide. Her hands trembled as she held the book.
This was a pornographic picture book disguised as a cultivation manual!
And the illustrations were incredibly detailed, making even Ye Ran—an experienced “veteran driver” who had seen plenty—blush furiously.
Ye Ran only managed a hurried glance before immediately snapping the book shut. But her heart continued to pound uncontrollably.
The great villain is actually this wild in private!
Well, considering he already had a thing for little whips, why was she surprised he looked at erotic drawings?
Ye Ran couldn’t help glancing toward where Lu Li was.
By now, Lu Li had recaptured the Hehuan Sect woman. He slowly withdrew his sword and added several more restrictive seals to her body.
Every movement he made radiated coldness and nobility. Even Ye Ran, who already knew his true nature, couldn’t imagine what he looked like privately flipping through such a book.
The contrast was just too stark.
“Junior Brother, escort her to the Hehuan Sect first.”
Lu Li’s voice carried over from not far away.
Ye Ran didn’t know what came over her. A sudden wave of guilt washed through her, and she instinctively hid the book behind her back.
What she hadn’t expected was for Lu Li to glance her way at that very moment.
The instant their eyes met, a wave of “caught red-handed” guilt washed over her.
It wasn’t until Lu Li looked away that Ye Ran realized—it was his book she was holding. There was no reason for her to feel guilty.
But just as she was about to pull the book out from behind her back, Meng Xuan looked over as well.
“Senior Brother, why not let the junior disciples escort her? I’ll return to the sect with you to report this matter to Master.”
As he spoke, Meng Xuan’s gaze kept drifting toward Ye Ran. Clearly, his true intentions lay elsewhere.
Ye Ran understood exactly what Meng Xuan was hinting at.
He obviously still wanted to escort her back.
She hadn’t expected the male lead to take an interest in her after just their first meeting.
This was not a good sign.
“This woman is exceptionally cunning. She requires your personal escort, Junior Brother. I’ll leave it to you.”
Lu Li’s tone, while still gentle and polite, now carried an unmistakable air of finality—as if no refusal would be entertained.
“Yes, Senior Brother. Rest assured, I will successfully escort this woman to the Hehuan Sect.”
Though Meng Xuan wasn’t thrilled about it, he couldn’t go against Lu Li’s decision.
A hint of disappointment flickered across his eyes before he and the other disciples left, escorting the Hehuan Sect woman away.
For a moment, only Ye Ran and Lu Li remained.
Ye Ran looked at the tall figure not far away and suddenly felt that the book in her hands had become blisteringly hot to hold.
[System, what should I do now? Should I just give the book back to him?]
[System, say something!]
Ye Ran frantically called out to the system in her mind, but just like a few days ago, the system gave no response at all.
As she stood there anxiously, Lu Li had already begun walking toward her. He stopped at his usual distance—two steps away.
“What a coincidence, little sister is here as well.”
A gentle smile played on Lu Li’s lips. He looked every bit the refined, courteous gentleman, no different from usual.
But when Ye Ran met those smiling eyes, she caught a flicker of darkness within them.
“Y-Yes… I came here to gather Drunken Immortal Fruit. I didn’t expect to run into Senior Brother. What a coincidence, indeed.”
Ye Ran’s smile was a bit stiff.
“I see.”
Lu Li’s smile deepened slightly, and his gaze swept casually over the hand Ye Ran had hidden behind her back.
Noticing his look, Ye Ran knew she could no longer hide it. She steeled herself and thrust the book out toward Lu Li.
“Senior Brother, I found this cultivation manual on the ground just now. Did you drop it?”
Ye Ran had no choice but to pretend she didn’t know it was a pornographic picture book. Otherwise, given how perverted the villain was, he might invite her to look at it together with him—just for the fun of it.
Lu Li’s gaze swept over the book before returning to Ye Ran.
His dark eyes radiated a sense of pressure that made Ye Ran uncomfortable. She thought she saw a flicker of suspicion in his gaze, but when she looked more closely, she couldn’t detect so much as a ripple.
Ye Ran’s probing stare was simply too intense. Within moments, Lu Li caught it.
But before she could look away, Lu Li reached out and took the book from her hand.
“Thank you, little sister.”
Lu Li’s expression was calm, his tone steady. Under Ye Ran’s watchful gaze, he placed the book into his storage pouch.
Ye Ran stared blankly at his actions, but inside, a storm was already raging.
She had initially suspected that this erotic picture book might not belong to Lu Li. But now, seeing his reaction, she finally gave up all hope.
The great villain really is a pervert to the very core!
Ye Ran’s heartbeat gradually quickened. All she wanted now was to get far away from Lu Li.
But before she could make a move, Lu Li’s voice came again.
“What’s wrong, little sister?”
“N-Nothing… I just noticed it’s getting late, and I want to get back soon.”
Realizing she had lost her composure, Ye Ran quickly pulled herself together.
“Then let’s go.” Lu Li had already turned and begun walking ahead.
The meaning was unmistakable—he was going back with Ye Ran.
Seeing that she hadn’t followed, he even stopped and glanced back.
Ye Ran didn’t know the way back herself, and traces of demonic energy still lingered in the area. If she went alone, she might very well run into danger.
After weighing her options, she had no choice but to follow behind Lu Li.
Along the way, Ye Ran occasionally looked up to secretly study Lu Li’s back.
She simply couldn’t understand how she had ended up on the great villain’s radar. In the original plot, the great villain was clearly only interested in killing.
Just as Ye Ran was lost in thought, Lu Li suddenly stopped ahead.
“Senior Brother, why did you sto—”
Ye Ran barely managed to stop herself in time and looked at Lu Li in confusion. But before she could finish her question, she noticed the demonic energy around them had suddenly grown thick.
It was like a layer of black fog shrouding the area, slowly converging on the two of them.
This was definitely not normal.
This mass of demonic energy seemed almost sentient. The moment they noticed it, it immediately accelerated, rushing toward them.
One tendril of demonic energy instantly shot straight at Ye Ran.
“Careful.”
Before Ye Ran could react, a cool sensation seized her wrist. In the next moment, Lu Li had pulled her behind him and shattered the incoming demonic energy.
But more and more demonic energy followed.
Lu Li gripped Ye Ran’s wrist, and as he turned to swing his sword, any demonic energy that approached them instantly vanished.
“Stay close to me.”
Lu Li glanced back at Ye Ran, who quickly nodded.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother.”
As she spoke, Ye Ran’s gaze unconsciously fell to the hand around her wrist.
Just as Lu Li had told her to stay close, he tightened his grip. Even if she wanted to fall behind, she couldn’t.
As her mind wandered, Lu Li had already used his sword energy to carve out an exit.
Before the demonic energy could reform, he pulled Ye Ran through and out of the encirclement.
Strangely enough, the moment the two of them broke free, the demonic energy behind them seemed to hit a barrier. It immediately stopped spreading and gradually faded away until it vanished completely.
“What just happened?”
A trace of confusion flickered across Ye Ran’s eyes. She couldn’t help looking around.
“Could something nearby be preventing the demonic energy from getting close?”
At that thought, Ye Ran breathed a small sigh of relief. She was about to pull her wrist free from Lu Li’s grasp when he suddenly tightened his hold, and the aura around him turned sharp.
“We took the bait.”
As soon as he spoke, a formation lit up beneath their feet.
The formation was massive in scope. Even though Lu Li had tried to pull Ye Ran away the moment it appeared, they still couldn’t escape it.
The moment the formation fully materialized, a barrier rose up before them.
Ye Ran wanted to see if she could break the barrier, but she found that circulating her spiritual energy had become extremely difficult.
“Don’t bother trying. This formation suppresses cultivation.”
As she was about to try again, Lu Li’s voice reached her.
When she looked up, Ye Ran noticed that Lu Li had already let go of her wrist. But what puzzled her was that Lu Li looked utterly calm, as if he had already given up on resisting.
“In this formation, the higher your cultivation, the more you’re restricted. Trying to break it by force will result in backlash.”
Lu Li saw the question in Ye Ran’s mind and explained before she could ask.
“Then what do we do now?”
If they couldn’t break the formation, did that mean they would have to stay here?
“The demonic energy earlier was just a diversion—its purpose was to drive us into this formation. But aside from suppressing cultivation, this formation has no other dangers. We’ll be able to leave after it lifts tomorrow.”
As he spoke, Lu Li had already turned to look for a place to rest.
Hearing this, Ye Ran finally let her guard down.
But just as she was about to follow him, a serious problem suddenly dawned on her.
The formation wouldn’t lift until tomorrow. Didn’t that mean she would be alone with the great villain the entire time?
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