The moment Bai Xinyue heard Huang Shi's words, the air around them seemed to freeze. Her face suddenly twitched, and her smug, winning smile vanished, replaced by a dark grimace that promised trouble.
Her obsidian eyes narrowed, flashing with a sharp, silvery-white light that looked like cold starlight.
"Did you perhaps just insinuate that I am ugly?"
Huang Shi gulped inwardly, trying to force himself to ignore the budding fear that was inside of his chest. He tried to continue acting tough as he instead gave a carefree smile with and spoke with a hint of sarcasm.
"Aigh, Young Lady Bai, of course not. Who doesn't know of the famed beauty of the Young Miss of the Eastern Prefecture's Bai Clan!"
Bai Xinyue's face became even colder as a powerful spiritual energy pressure once again erupted from her body. In fact, her emotions were in such turmoil and her anger was so apparent that it was not just her emotions that had started to turn cold—it was the literal area around them.
Fuck... is it just me, or did the temperature drop by a few damn degrees!
Huang Shi had started to regret the words he had spoken. In fact, he subtly felt that he had just made a huge mistake by provoking her in this aspect.
Of course, what Huang Shi didn't know was that her appearance truly was a bit of a sore spot for Bai Xinyue. Ever since she learned how to hide her appearance when she was young, nobody but her parents knew what she truly looked like.
This meant that despite people either being intimidated by her because of her presence or becoming infatuated with her the moment they laid eyes on her, those feelings truly had nothing to do with how she looked; it was more because of the special nature of her constitution.
In fact, when she first met Huang Shi, the moment he overcame his fear of her, she totally expected him to fall head-over-heels for her because of the way her constitution worked.
This meant that it was truly a first for her that a man, of all things, was able to control himself and even act like such a scoundrel in her presence.
Huang Shi, who had already started to sweat bullets, opened his mouth to speak as he started to backtrack, suddenly feeling fear for his life.
"Uhh, Young Lady Bai! That was a joke! Of course I know you're hiding your true appearance. It's just, you know, you said that you've been hiding how you look ever since you were a child and that only your parents know how you truly look. How would you even know if you were actually beautiful? Isn't it normal for me to have some doubts?"
WHOOSH
A sudden, unnatural silence passed through the air as Bai Xinyue, who was already struggling to control her emotions, suddenly burst. Cracks finally showed in her expression; in fact, he could have sworn that she had just gritted her teeth.
Fuck, fuck, fuck... why the fuck did I say that? This woman can kill me with a snap of her fingers. Why the hell did I just do that?
However, all of a sudden, the coldness in the air disappeared along with the spiritual energy pressure, and the surroundings suddenly became calm, like nothing had ever happened.
The moment Huang Shi saw Bai Xinyue's expression, his guard instantly went up nearly a hundredfold. A cold sweat broke out across his neck. He was so terrified that he seriously contemplated just taking his chances and running away as fast as his legs could carry him.
Shit, shit, shit… should I run? I should just run, right? But can I even outrun her? FUCK!
Thankfully for him, it was Bai Xinyue who broke the silence first, giving him a slight reprieve from the panic clawing at his throat.
She sighed deeply and placed her hand on her forehead as if she were dealing with a massive headache.
When she finally looked back at him and spoke, her voice was quiet, yet the words made his guard rise a thousandfold. It felt as though he had been shoved into the heart of a glacier.
"Maybe I truly am not as beautiful as I say, and maybe I am just arrogant beyond measure. But Huang Shi, this is a warning from me to you: the next time you try to provoke someone like that, make sure that your fist is at least a little bit bigger. Otherwise, you're probably going to lose your little life."
Huang Shi remained silent. Her warning hit him like a physical blow. It was both a piece of personal advice and a deep humiliation—a literal slap in the face to his pride. He couldn't help but remember his past life on Earth.
Back then, if you played around with someone like this, the worst that could happen was a fistfight on the street. The chances of dying were zero because the law existed to keep you alive. But here, life was cheap, and power was everything.
Seeing that her words had struck a nerve, she suddenly gave a smile. It was a very simple, seemingly beautiful smile that made his heart tremble. His pulse quickened until his heart was beating like a drum smashing against his ribs.
She began to walk straight toward him, her footsteps light and graceful. She stopped just a few inches from his face, so close he could smell a faint, heavenly scent lingering around her. She stayed there, looking him up and down for a long moment, making him feel like an ant under a microscope.
Then, she reached out and took hold of his crumbled, lightning-scorched sleeves. She began fixing the fabric, smoothing it out with care while looking him directly in the eyes with a gentle, haunting smile.
"One of these days, you will see how I look, and you will understand what I mean. When that fateful day comes, I hope that our relationship can still stay the same."