After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: One Sword for One

My Senior Sister’s sword is double-edged and sharpened; our Master’s younger brother (Shishu) helped her obtain it when she was eleven years old.

Although it is usually used only for swordsmanship practice, it wouldn’t be a problem at all to run someone through with it.

Jiang Huaiyi never imagined that the retribution for their identity swap would come so quickly.

She gripped her teacup tightly, her mind racing at lightning speed, trying to think of a countermeasure.

How could she lie effectively enough to fool both of them?

Damn that Shen Wensi! Why hadn’t she told her beforehand what kind of person she used to be?

Because of that lack of information, she was now isolated and helpless, sitting here waiting for death.

While she thought anxiously, her legs under the table began to tap nervously.

Under Mu Ze’s cold cynicism and ridicule, she saw her Senior Sister’s face grow as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Jiang Huaiyi felt pea-sized drops of sweat slowly sliding down her neck. She recalled Shen Wensi’s cold face and her attitude of indifference toward everything.

Right then, she decided to use Shen Wensi’s method to give Mu Ze the cold shoulder.

An unprecedented look of cold alienation appeared on her face. She gave Mu Ze an extremely indifferent glance and didn’t say a word.

The torrent of words from the other woman suddenly got stuck in her throat after that glance; she didn’t know how to continue.

Shen Wensi’s original image was exactly like this; the title of “Sect Leader” could be said to be a derogatory nickname given to her by her fellow disciples.

Because she never participated in their gatherings, and while everyone else was a ghost cultivator, she alone was eccentric and unconventional. It was only natural for a non-conformist to be marginalized by a clannish sect.

Furthermore, the depth of her strength was unknown. There were always people who couldn’t stand her cold and indifferent nature and wanted to trip her up.

Treacherous types abound among ghost cultivators. Among fellow disciples, mutual attacks are commonplace, and there is no shortage of people who slander others for no reason.

Seeing that she didn’t retaliate no matter how much she was insulted, those who bullied her became even more numerous.

In their perception, someone who is wronged will definitely argue back, but Shen Wensi remained silent.

What did this show? It showed that what they said was true.

Over time, when the fellow disciples mentioned Shen Wensi, they used the derogatory nickname “Sect Leader.”

What Jiang Huaiyi didn’t know was that while she was wondering why the “weak” Shen Wensi had suddenly become powerful, in the eyes of others, this powerful person was still a weakling.

She had no idea that Mu Ze’s frustrated look was because she was choked into silence by this “weakling” who remained calm in the face of provocation.

What is the best way to deal with rumors?

Besides striking back hard, it is, of course, to ignore them completely, letting the other person experience the powerlessness of punching a bale of cotton.

Seeing Mu Ze jumping up and down shouting while Jiang Huaiyi remained completely unmoved, Chu Lianxue suspiciously withdrew her sword.

A person who could hang out with her Junior Sister shouldn’t be a bad person.

She had almost struck out just now, ready to split the person in two with one sword stroke.

Jiang Huaiyi ignored Mu Ze entirely and instead started chatting with her Senior Sister: “Sister, how did you get in here?”

Her smile was bright, and when she narrowed her eyes, two sweet dimples appeared on her cheeks.

One look and it was impossible to dislike her. Chu Lianxue bowed her head in embarrassment and habitually touched her sword; she felt guilty for her rash speculation.

“I don’t know either. I came in with this fellow. Recently, I went to work at a main family’s house in the north.”

As she spoke, she gave a cold laugh and squinted at Mu Ze: “After looking at a painting, I came in with this person.”

Mu Ze shot back, refusing to be outdone: “Do you think I wanted to come with you! You hypocritical Taoist!”

She had a somewhat gloomy face. If it were a quiet first meeting, one would certainly feel she was a person of deep scheming.

She was the complete opposite of a sunny person like Senior Sister, but her words made one wonder if she had been possessed.

Jiang Huaiyi sometimes wondered how the other woman had become a mortal enemy of her Senior Sister. Someone like her shouldn’t be able to survive two rounds at her Senior Sister’s hands.

Thinking this, Jiang Huaiyi gave Mu Ze a look of pity, which immediately made the other woman explode.

“What do you mean! What does that look mean!” The moment she stood up, she was pushed back down by Chu Lianxue.

Her sword had been drawn at some point and was now resting against Mu Ze’s neck.

The person who had been shouting just now was now as quiet as a quail, sitting obediently back in her seat.

To be arrogant at first and then humble—thinking about it made one want to laugh.

Jiang Huaiyi had always heard her Senior Sister mention this ghost cultivator but had never met her.

Seeing her now, she only felt that the relationship between the two was very subtle, as if one side was keeping the other in check. If it weren’t for Mu Ze glaring at her Senior Sister with suppressed anger, she would have had the illusion that her Senior Sister was intentionally going easy on her.

Once Mu Ze stopped speaking, Chu Lianxue continued her exchange with Jiang Huaiyi: “How did you all get in?”

“Also…” she suddenly lowered her voice and asked, “What on earth is my Junior Sister up to? Why is she acting like she doesn’t know me?”

Jiang Huaiyi felt a sourness in her heart, an indescribable feeling. Although she had been mentally prepared after seeing the attitudes of her Master’s brother and her Senior Sister back at the air-raid shelter, hearing her Senior Sister call someone else “Junior Sister” still made her feel extremely awkward.

“I can’t say for sure. Let’s observe first. We also came in because of an ancient painting.”

A fake of the Picture of the Heavenly Host of the Chao Yuan. The real painting had been stolen long ago. When the last collector of the year took it out of the bank, he publicly announced that the whereabouts of the collection were unknown.

If she hadn’t known about this a while ago and specifically looked up information, she really might not have been able to recall so much.

Evil paintings circulated among the people. She now felt that the time the painting was stolen should have been earlier, or someone had specifically taken it to copy, creating so many duplicates to bring in so many people. The one they had brought out should be the lead.

Once it appeared in the world, the other formations were all activated, and everyone who possessed these fakes was sucked in at the same time.

However, according to the nature of collectors, this kind of painting shouldn’t appear only among those in the same trade.

Sure enough, she heard a young person’s voice crying out in panic at the right moment.

“What are you all doing? What kind of movie is being filmed? I said I’m not an extra! Where is the production manager? Let me out!”

Song Rong had tears on her face. Her clothing was a bit better than that of a village girl; her trendy light yellow button-up jacket looked a bit old, but it suited her perfectly.

She had been listening here for a while, and the more she heard, the more something felt wrong. She simply protested on the spot.

Gods and ghosts—the more she heard, the more terrifying it became. One moment she was fine, and the next she woke up to find herself in a town.

She had thought it was a prank by some friends, but over time she realized her phone was gone.

She didn’t know anyone here. After being brought into this mansion and staying for a while, she truly couldn’t hold it back anymore.

There was a moment of silence around her, and then whispering began.

She realized things had gotten worse. Those people hadn’t noticed her at all just now, but now they were all casting their gazes toward her.

There was blatant malice in their eyes, which couldn’t help but make her think of the novels that had just become popular.

It was as if she had traveled to some strange place.

Song Rong felt increasingly afraid and began to regret her reckless move just now.

The people here seemed to know something. If she could have calmed down and continued to eavesdrop for information, she might not be the center of attention now.

Now everyone knew she was someone who understood nothing.

She was breaking out in a cold sweat from her own imagination. Her body was stiff, and she didn’t dare make another move under the burning gazes of the crowd.

Suddenly, a voice came from nearby: “Little girl, come over to our side. We know what’s going on and will tell you.”

Song Rong turned her head stiffly toward the source of the voice. She saw several burly men sitting there.

Their clothes were wrinkled beyond recognition and covered in mud, and their feet looked as if they had just been pulled out of a mud pile.

Their faces were dark, and their hands were very rough, with thick layers of mud under their fingernails as if they hadn’t been washed in a long time.

The bald man leading them was very conspicuous, looking fierce and very difficult to deal with.

Song Rong instinctively resisted and took two steps back. She was just a girl, and that table of people clearly looked like a gang.

She didn’t want to provoke them, and she didn’t dare to. She regretted her impulse even more.

Her hand, clenched into a fist under her sleeve, couldn’t stop trembling. She gritted her teeth and shook her head, her feet not moving an inch.

The five men at that table changed their expressions. The leader’s expression was even more unsightly; he clearly didn’t like people rejecting him.

With a thud, he stood up and slammed his teacup onto the table. The noise startled Song Rong.

The person at the same table immediately stood up, pointed at Song Rong, and roared: “You bitch, don’t refuse a polite offer! Our boss asking you to come over is a compliment to you; he wants to protect you. Don’t be ungrateful.”

Song Rong looked at the several people in front of her, her mind going almost blank with a boom.

She was a college student who had only graduated recently and had never experienced such a scene.

She had no choice but to look around at the people for help, but those present were just sitting in their places drinking tea, without the slightest intention of intervening.

Some people even turned around to watch the show, with no thought of helping her at all.

However, several women cast sympathetic glances, but only for a moment. They looked at her, then at that table of people, and in the end, didn’t speak up.

Seeing that the people here were all standing by with their hands folded, those men felt even more triumphant. A yellow-haired young man at the same table stood up and walked toward her.

He revealed a wretched smile: “Come on, little girl. You still don’t know what kind of place this is. Come over and we’ll tell you.”

Seeing that absolutely no one around would help her, Song Rong had no choice but to turn around quickly, wanting to grab a nearby chair.

Unfortunately, the solid wood chair was not only large but also very heavy. She could only barely lift it and was completely unable to smash it against that person.

In desperation, she had to run toward the door she had just entered through, but unexpectedly, the door was locked.

She pulled it a few times but couldn’t open it at all. Everyone around her had an attitude of “it’s none of my business.”

Even some of the older men made a few tsk-tsk sounds to show their disapproval, but there were no other sounds after that.

Song Rong was cornered against the wall by two of the bald man’s accomplices and felt a sense of despair.

She didn’t know why, but the world had changed completely after she woke up.

She didn’t dare think about what would happen if she were caught by this gang.

In her terror, her gaze became determined. In a society ruled by law, the worst that could happen was to go down with these two; someone would eventually discover the truth of her murder.

Just as the hands of the two were about to touch Song Rong, a soft female voice suddenly came from behind.

“Could you two please not do this?”

Just as those two men stood up, Jiang Huaiyi finished her last sip of tea and held down her Senior Sister’s hand as it reached for her sword.

Under Mu Ze’s shocked gaze, she borrowed her Senior Sister’s sword, picked it up, and walked toward the location of the three people.

Her expression was very calm. Someone meeting her for the first time would only feel she was approachable.

Thus, they would overlook the sharpness within her.

The two turned their heads impatiently and saw the quiet and gentle young girl behind them; the smiles on their faces grew even more lecherous.

They shifted their reaching hands and extended them toward Jiang Huaiyi instead.

Jiang Huaiyi didn’t dodge or close her eyes. She revealed a smile. She was afraid of ghosts, but she was never intimidated by living people.

The sword in her hand thrust forward quickly twice. Along with two deafening screams, the two men clutched their crotches and knelt down under the shocked gazes of the crowd.

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