[Warning! Detected: Favorability with important figure Yuan Yingqi has dropped by 1 point!]
[Current Favorability: 26]
[Warning! Favorability continues to drop!]
[Current Favorability: 18]
Yun Xiaotang's eyes snapped open, her face instantly turning pale as paper. "What's going on?! How could Yuan Yingqi's favorability…"
Even as fear filled her gaze, the system notifications kept rolling in:
[Current Favorability: 5]
[Current Favorability: 3]
[Warning! Favorability about to fall below the critical threshold!]
"No… stop! Don't!" She cried out, her voice carrying raw panic she'd never felt before.
Just when she thought it was about to hit zero, the plunge halted.
[Current Favorability: 1]
[Critical – Neutral.]
Her body went limp, cold sweat soaking through her clothes. She trembled as she opened her system panel, staring in shock at that glaring number.
"One… point?" She muttered, her voice trembling with disbelief. "There's only one point left?"
That number sat exactly at the line between neutral and hostile. One point lower and it would've flipped to open enmity!
Her chest tightened. She couldn't stop herself from cursing under her breath. "That idiot Yuan Yingqi! I worked my ass off to grind his favorability all this time, and now it's gone overnight!"
That single point left probably only lingered because they were fellow disciples from a major sect, the last shred of courtesy barely holding.
"System, what the hell happened? Why did Yuan Yingqi's favorability suddenly nosedive?" she demanded.
[System cannot confirm the exact cause. Recommendation: host should reflect on her recent actions.]
[Warning: If favorability drops below 0 into the negative, 2000 points will be deducted as punishment.]
Yun Xiaotang ground her teeth, furious.
This damned system always played dumb at critical moments, and worse, it had the nerve to throw shade at her!
But she forced herself to calm down. Getting angry now was pointless. She had to figure out the cause, fast. There were only a few reasons that could tank Yuan Yingqi's favorability so badly: sect interests, cultivation resources, or his personal safety.
"Could it be that he found out about the Chaos Aura earlier?" She frowned but quickly shook her head. "No way. That thing leaves no trace. He can't possibly have evidence."
Then her face changed. "Wait… don't tell me it's about the Purple Cloud Ginseng?"
"Stupid man!" she cursed bitterly. "I blew up that ginseng to stop that demon clan, not because I wanted to! And now he's pissed at me because he didn't get the spiritual herb?!"
Her mind replayed the fight with the black-robed figure. Protective artifact shards had scattered everywhere. There was no time to clean them up. Yuan Yingqi must've seen them and figured out she'd been there. Regret flashed in her eyes.
If not for that demonic cultivator, she would've already had the Purple Cloud Ginseng. None of this mess would've been tied to her. Instead, she'd lost a pile of treasures and was now getting dragged through the mud.
"…But maybe this isn't all bad." Her mind whirred. "At least it proves Yuan Yingqi still doesn't know about that mysterious man. If I explain it was to stop a demon cultivator, maybe there's still room to fix this…"
She quickly pulled out a jade slip to send a message. Just as she was about to contact Yuan Yingqi, the slip vibrated violently.
She frowned and opened it. The sender was another Hehuan Sect squad that hadn't entered the valley. The urgent message made her pupils shrink.
[Young Sect Master! It's bad!]
[All the disciples inside the valley have been rounded up by other sects! They're forbidden from sending any messages out!]
[Yuan Yingqi personally gave the order, saying you stole the Purple Cloud Ginseng and fled. Now every sect is hunting you!]
Her hand shook so hard the jade slip nearly slipped from her fingers. She scrolled quickly through the follow-up.
[The demon clan is searching for you too. They want their Purple Cloud Ginseng back!]
[Please hide well and don't get caught. We disciples are being hunted down too!]
Yun Xiaotang's entire body trembled with rage. The jade slip almost shattered in her grip. "Stole? My ass! I didn't take anything! How the hell did they decide I was the one who stole the Purple Cloud Ginseng?!"
She swallowed her fury and fired back a message to that squad. "What happened? Why did everyone decide it was me?"
Luckily, those disciples hadn't been caught yet and soon replied:
[Young Sect Master! Yuan Yingqi and the other sect leaders all said they saw a black-robed person using our Hehuan Sect techniques!]
[That person tore open a talisman to escape, but before vanishing, their robe revealed the edge of a Hehuan Sect uniform!]
[Yuan Yingqi swore that was our sect's unique technique, impossible for outsiders to imitate!]
The words made Yun Xiaotang's heart seize. Her jade slip nearly slipped from her hand.
"Black-robed figure? Hehuan Sect techniques?" she muttered, her face growing paler by the second. "Could it be that demon cultivator…? No, that's impossible!"
The more she thought, the less sense it made.
That mysterious figure's beast-soul techniques were drenched in demonic aura. They were clearly demonic methods. How could they also use Hehuan Sect's exclusive arts? Even if they disguised themselves, the disguise wouldn't be flawless.
"No… this doesn't add up." Her breath grew heavy, her chest tightening. "How could a demon cultivator master Hehuan Sect arts? It makes no sense!"
As for doubting Yuan Yingqi and the others were lying to frame her?
She dismissed it immediately. If they wanted to frame someone, why pick her, their supposed ally?
Besides, the system's favorability readings couldn't be faked. Yuan Yingqi must've truly witnessed the technique. Otherwise, there's no way the numbers would've plummeted so violently.
Her heart went cold.
Was that figure even a demon cultivator to begin with?
The thought hit her like ice water.
She realized her assumption about his identity had always been one-sided. The black-robed figure had never once admitted to being part of the demon clan.
And just because someone could control beast souls, did that really prove they were from the demon race?
The idea made her shiver. If that mysterious man wasn't a demon cultivator… then who the hell was he? Why did he know both beast-soul techniques and Hehuan Sect arts?
And worse, since he could mimic her well enough to frame her for stealing the Purple Cloud Ginseng, it meant he understood her habits and actions inside out.
Her blood ran cold.
It felt like she'd walked straight into a carefully woven web, every step planned out by the other side. But now she had no choice but to stay calm. Panicking would only make her stumble faster.
The black-robed man's identity didn't matter right now. Survival did.
She knew her current situation all too well. Everyone believed she'd stolen the Purple Cloud Ginseng. If she showed herself, she'd be hunted immediately. Any attempt to explain would be dismissed as lies. Whoever stole the herb would deny it to their last breath.
Worse yet, her defensive treasures were nearly exhausted.
The fight with the black-robed man had burned through too many lifesaving tools. If she ran into another siege now, her odds of surviving were grim.
The secret realm wouldn't close for more than ten days. She needed to find somewhere safe to lay low and plan her next move.
Packing her belongings, Yun Xiaotang suppressed her aura to the extreme, pulled out a precious Invisibility Talisman, and pressed it to her chest. Her figure flickered and vanished as she carefully slipped out of the cave.