The rivalry between Duze Honglian and Jiang Qing’e had started even before their time at the Astral Sage College.
Both of them were personal disciples of their respective house lords, and of the same age. As a result, they had always been compared to each other.
But Jiang Qing’e always came out victorious in every aspect.
For someone as proud as Duze Honglian, it was grating. Years of accumulation had made it a sore spot on her ego, and in her mind, Jiang Qing’e was her greatest rival.
Moreover, their houses were in conflict, and there were many points of friction between their houses, further curdling their relationship.
Nothing changed when they entered the Astral Sage College. Duze Honglian declared war on Jiang Qing’e on day one, but whether she liked it or not, the gap between the two never stopped widening.
That was perhaps the most crushing thing for Duze Honglian.
She was too proud to give up the fight against Jiang Qing’e, but now, faced with her own imminent demise to the corruption, her pride had finally cracked.
She was begging her greatest rival to save her.
It had taken all of her courage, and now the shame within her was burning as strongly as the wounds on her back. She closed her eyes and turned her face away.
Jiang Qing’e showed no emotion at Duze Honglian’s admission of defeat. She had personally never seen Duze Honglian as a rival—it had always been one-sided. Her own eyes had always been set higher.
“The corruption is too deep. I’m not sure if I can banish it,” Jiang Qing’e said softly. Duze Honglian stiffened in defiance. She made to shrug the other girl off, unwilling to keep begging her rival.
“But.
“I will try. If I don’t, you will become a puppet of the madness. Strengthened by it, you would be a great threat to us.”
Duze Honglian sank back down in despair.
“Both your squads must maintain your smiles in front of the Vile Smile Mirror. And check yourselves from head to toe for traces of smile marks. Then we will place you under supervision. You will not be allowed to wander, not until all suspicion has been cleared,” Jiang Qing’e said to the others, Ye Qiuding included.
The two squads looked rather unhappy about it. Jiang Qing’e was jailing them.
“It’s nothing personal. But you’ve had actual contact with the Heavenly Disaster Class, and Duze Honglian is deeply corrupted. We don’t know how clean you are. These are necessary measures that no one is immune from. Comply, or be subdued.”
A fierce Jiang Qing’e was a rare sight, and the two squads quickly obeyed.
They stood before the Vile Smile Mirror and smiled. Everyone was relieved when none of them lost control.
Everyone except Li Luo and Jiang Qing’e, who exchanged worried looks.
The mirror test often revealed superficial corruption. Which meant that they were possibly too corrupted to stumble at this test.
Still, that was just a guess. They could not bar them from entering the purified spot on that pessimistic guess alone. Plus, if they were left outside, the grinning demon would take control of them even more quickly.
They were allowed in.
“Qiu Bai, Tian Tian, arrange an escort and make sure they are closely guarded,” Jiang Qing’e said in a low voice.
They nodded and stepped forward.
“Can you still walk?” Jiang Qing’e asked the weakened Duze Honglian.
She angrily brushed Jiang Qing’e’s hand aside and started forward, but she stumbled after two steps, her body going limp.
Jiang Qing’e’s hand snaked out under her buckling knees, sweeping her up into her arms like a baby.
Wow.
It was a miraculous sight, the proudest challenger, Duze Honglian, the prickly flame, now gently cradled by the golden princess.
Drastic. Sensational.
Even Duze Honglian was flustered. “Jiang Qing’e,” she spluttered, “put me down right now!”
“Do you think we have time to waste? The grinning demon will arrive soon. When it triggers the seed of corruption within you, no one will be able to save you,” Jiang Qing’e snapped at her.
There was no one else Jiang Qing’e trusted to carry Duze Honglian, not when the corruption was so deep. Only her, with her natural resistance to corruption.
She moved wordlessly, carrying Duze Honglian to a stone room in a tower, where she laid Duze Honglian down on a bed of granite.
“On your belly.”
Duze Honglian complied, and then she heard a ripping sound as Jiang Qing’e tore her clothes away to reveal her back.
The sinister grin was still there.
Jiang Qing’e regarded it for a moment, then pulled out a bottle of purification dust, which was intended for reactivating purification towers.
She dashed the dust on the grin.
Phish!
Black smoke spurted out like water thrown on bubbling oil.
The reaction was violent, and Duze Honglian tensed from the pain, veins bulging on her hands as her fingers clawed against the stone. She fought for control against the agony.
Stubborn pride alone stopped her from crying out, and she gritted her teeth.
“Roar!”
The grinning face gurgled, and its mouth opened wider. Then it retched the purification dust back out.
Except now the dust was completely black, its purification power completely spent.
Cackling laughter taunted them.
“Purification dust is useless. It will consume my flesh and use it to negate it,” Duze Honglian said weakly.
“Which means the face is already joined to your flesh. I have to defeat it first and sever the link with your body before it can be banished. Otherwise, I’ll kill you in the process.”
“How can you possibly banish a Heavenly Disaster Class mark? Surely it’s beyond even your ninth-grade light resonance?”
“Indeed. So I will need an assistant.” Jiang Qing’e turned to the door. “Come in.”
A figure slipped in, and Duze Honglian raised her head to see that it was Li Luo.
If she had any strength at all, she would have screamed. Or perhaps burned him down to ashes. How could he just saunter in when she was half-naked on the bed?!
Her face reddened.
“Jiang Qing’e, you’re just having fun, aren’t you?!”
