The Turn of the Tables

‘What did it matter if he was a hooligan?’

‘What did it matter if he was shameless?’

‘What did it matter if he stood on the moral high ground?’

‘All he had to do was shift the topic, wasn’t it?’

‘He would simply redirect the focus from how he had disregarded a life, leaving Wei Qing severely wounded.’

No explanations were needed, nor any consideration for future actions; as long as he acted this way, someone was guaranteed to be unable to remain composed.

‘Slinging accusations? Who couldn’t do that?’

Lu Ping’an felt a sudden, untimely chill, like a frost that abruptly descended in late autumn, instantly enveloping her upper body.

The chill carried the scent of the plaza’s dust, and, more acutely, the tangible sting of countless gazes.

Her body, her senses, reacted even before her mind could fully grasp what was happening.

Time stretched, elongated by the sheer magnitude of her shock.

A faint current of air brushed against her exposed skin, like the delicate scrape of an icy needle.

Lu Ping’an’s pupils constricted violently, shrinking into two minuscule points of extreme terror.

Slowly, stiffly, she lowered her head.

The garments, once symbols of the sect’s decorum and her own dignity, had now been reduced to savage, ragged scraps, barely clinging to her shoulders and wrapped loosely around her waist.

Vast expanses of pale skin—her neck, arms, back, and even the thin inner layer of her clothing, completely drenched in sweat and clinging tightly to her ample curves—were now starkly exposed to the scorching midday sun, laid bare before… the hundreds of silent, scrutinizing gazes across the entire plaza.

The distinct, almost transparent damp marks clinging to her skin no longer outlined hidden curves, but rather etched a glaring badge of shame.

“Pfft—”

Lu Ping’an’s mind went utterly blank, followed immediately by a roar powerful enough to shatter her very soul!

It was as if ten thousand bolts of thunder had detonated within her skull, obliterating the last vestiges of her sanity.

She distinctly felt her blood reverse its flow in an instant, surging to her head, only to be incinerated by an extreme, scorching heat the very next second, leaving behind only the excruciating agony of ice and fire intertwined, a pain sharp enough to tear through her very being.

Her cheeks, the tips of her ears, and all her exposed skin flared into a scalding, blinding crimson within fractions of a second, as if she were being roasted alive over an open flame!

Her breath… hitched instantaneously!

The air in her lungs seemed to be instantly ripped away by an unseen, tearing claw, her throat clamped shut by an invisible, colossal hand.

Not even a faint whimper could escape, leaving only the silent, suffocating gasps of a person struggling for breath.

Her chest heaved violently, each desperate attempt to inhale feeling like sharp shards of ice piercing and lacerating her heart and lungs.

The slow-motion nightmare finally concluded, as reality slammed down with a hundredfold speed and a thousandfold cruelty.

“Er… ah…” Fragmented monosyllables finally tore free from her almost ruptured throat, not human sounds, but more like the pained cries of a dying beast.

Immediately afterward, an unparalleled sense of shame, mingled with volcanic rage, the despair of being utterly crushed, and the immense panic of her failed plan, all these extreme emotions were utterly ignited by that tearing sound, sweeping through Lu Ping’an’s entire being with a force capable of overturning her very self!

The words “Ah—!!! Lin Wan’er!!! You, you vile, shameless beast!!” had yet to burst from Lu Ping’an’s throat when a voice, even sharper and more shrill than hers, preempted her, tearing through the frozen silence of the plaza!

“Ah—!!!!! You, you vile, shameless beast!!! Is that what you were trying to say about me?!”

Lin Mo’s shriek was so piercingly high-pitched it warped, carrying an absolute madness that erupted like rusted iron scraping violently against silk brocade.

Lu Ping’an was utterly stunned, her mind a chaotic mess.

‘This… weren’t these my lines to curse with? I was the one publicly humiliated, my clothes torn! Why… why did you shout it first?!’

“Truly despicable, shameless, and vulgar!” Lin Mo immediately followed with another accusation, his voice trembling with agitation, yet every word was crystal clear.

‘I’m the one who was stripped, Lin Mo! You’re biting back and calling me despicable, shameless, and vulgar?!? Absurdity and chaos, like an icy tide, once again crashed over Lu Ping’an’s consciousness.’

“Isn’t it simply because I refused to be with you? You actually disregard the injuries of a fellow disciple, a friend! And now you jump out to accuse me? I may not like men, but I never said I liked women!” Lin Mo pressed forward, his voice hoarse with exertion, his eyes filled with the rage of being “wronged” and the annoyance of being “harassed.”

“This is the Xuan Nv Sect, a pure land for cultivation! It’s not a place for you to pursue romance or exact personal revenge!”

“Last night, I personally rejected you!” Lin Mo abruptly pointed at Lu Ping’an, as if to pierce her hypocritical mask.

“And today, you use this arena to attack me! First, you morally blackmail me, slandering me for harming a fellow disciple! Now, your best friend, Wei Qing, has been taken away by Host Yun, her fate unknown, yet you abandon her and eagerly jump up to cling to me?! All just to get revenge for my refusal?!”

“When your friend Wei Qing was wielding her sword, aiming lethal blows to kill me, where were you? Why didn’t you dare utter a single word?! Only after Wei Qing was severely wounded and collapsed did you jump out, feigning grief and indignation, demanding justice, and hypocritically accusing me of being too heavy-handed?! This is clearly ‘personal revenge under the guise of public duty’! Can all your talk of righteousness and morality truly conceal your wolfish ambitions?!”

Lin Mo’s words, like a barrage of cannon fire, laden with biting sarcasm and a mad, oppressive force, slammed violently into Lu Ping’an’s face.

Utterly bewildered by this sudden psychological assault, her lips trembled, yet she couldn’t utter a single word.

In terms of sheer force, Lin Mo’s shrill scream had already ripped through the plaza; in terms of volume, his frantic roar suffocated Lu Ping’an’s accusations, leaving her breathless.

It was she who had been publicly stripped of her outer garments, her entire body exposed to hundreds of scorching gazes, and the shame had long since ground her into dust.

Yet Lin Mo’s counter-attack left her mind utterly blank, as if she had been struck by a powerful blow, capable only of stammering, unable to form any coherent rebuttal.

“Just because I possess strength,” Lin Mo’s voice abruptly rose, his eyes glinting with blatant mockery, “I should have meekly stood there and let Wei Qing hack me to death?! What kind of nonsensical logic is that?!”

“Oh, right—” He suddenly pointed at Lu Ping’an’s exposed chest, his fingertip inching towards her damp inner garment.

His words were sharp, like tempered steel.

“Since your pectoral muscles are more impressive than mine, shouldn’t it be ‘fair’ for me to touch them until I’ve had my fill? Hmm?”

Lu Ping’an’s consciousness stalled in utter absurdity.

‘What kind of twisted, heretical logic was this?! Lin Mo’s reasoning was like a ball of mud, yet it stuck firmly, completely clouding her thoughts!’

“Aren’t you just trying to invoke that whole ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ nonsense?” Lin Mo relentlessly pressed closer, his words cutting like knives. “Aren’t you trying to accuse me: ‘Since you’re so strong, why didn’t you let Wei Qing fight to her heart’s content? Why did you have to strike so heavily? Why couldn’t you just subdue her?!'”

“…Yes!” Lu Ping’an finally retorted three or four seconds after Lin Mo’s words fell.

“That’s right!”

“Then, since your chest is so large, it’s only right for someone with a small chest like me to touch it, isn’t it?”

“…” Lu Ping’an gnashed her teeth.

At this moment, shame and glaring thoughts were suppressed; she was unable to think effectively, almost instinctively blurting out, “Then… touch me! But then you’ll have to take responsibility for Wei Qing!”

“Naturally.”

Having said this, Lin Mo immediately extended his hand, reaching towards Lu Ping’an.

‘How to stop this farce? Simple, just make the person behind the scenes come out and stop it themselves. For Qiu Yue, whose possessiveness was practically perverse, if he were to actually touch her, it certainly wouldn’t sit well with her. Yes! This was to dismantle Qiu Yue’s scheme! It wasn’t because he lusted after beauty!’

A resolute gaze accompanied a steady hand, slowly ascending towards its peak!

But—

“Slap!”

A small hand, timely and forceful, stopped him with a grip that threatened to crush Lin Mo’s wrist.

“Personal Disciple Lin, might I interject a word of fairness?”

Qiu Yue’s veins bulged, her fury, visibly escalating, on the verge of eruption.