In the crowd, a woman in red fell to the ground.
Her clothes had been torn to shreds, barely wrapping around her body to cover her wretched state.
Her face was swollen and red from several slaps.
She tightly clutched the torn fabric at her chest with one hand, while frantically covering her face with the other.
Her hair was tightly gripped by the woman, having been forcefully dragged for quite a distance.
"Come and see! This shameless slut! A prostitute selling her body, only knowing how to seduce men. Today I finally caught her!"
Hongxiao just kept her head down tightly, letting her messy hair cover her face.
She had known that the New Moon Archery Competition would take three days, and was well aware that Chai Xiaomi's group came for this, and that Xiaoman was also participating. Therefore, she deliberately waited until the fourth day to enter the city.
However, she accidentally heard that something had happened at the Falling Star Plateau and it ended early. Feeling uneasy, she transformed into human form to gather some news.
Even though she had covered her face with a light veil, she was recognized by the man whose essence she had absorbed a few days ago at the bamboo hut in the outskirts.
She originally didn't want to pay attention, but the man pestered her relentlessly.
As luck would have it, the man's wife caught them red-handed and immediately came forward to confront her.
The man insisted that she was a prostitute working in the wilderness, and the woman instantly flew into a rage.
Her husband ran off to the Phantom Music Pavilion every few days. She couldn't do anything about the courtesans there, as they had thugs for protection. But if it was a lone woman in this trade, she felt no need to hold back.
All her pent-up resentment and hatred were completely unleashed upon the frail figure before her.
But just as another slap was about to land, it was blocked by a slender young man.
Xiaoman's vision was blurred. He could only see a curled-up red silhouette on the ground, hazy but somehow indescribably familiar.
He stepped sideways to block the red silhouette almost instinctively.
The woman couldn't pull back in time, and the slap landed heavily on the side of his face. He didn't evade it at all.
Seeing the young man's terrifyingly scarred face, the woman was startled.
Just now, from outside the crowd, Xiaoman had already heard the whole story clearly.
His chest felt as if it were burning, and an nameless anger flared up:
"Times are hard, and women already have narrow paths to survive."
"Madam, as you humiliate this girl here today, have you ever thought that if she were born into a wealthy family with a father and brothers to rely on, and if this world allowed her to make a clean living, why would she need to be a prostitute and suffer such humiliation?"
"Since you are so angry, why don't you slap your own husband as well? If he hadn't gone looking for her, how would today's incident have happened? If you only vent your anger on someone weaker, is this justice?"
The young man stood in the midst of the noise, his figure slender and aloof, like a green bamboo in the mist.
His voice was mild, yet it cut like a thin blade.
The moment she heard this voice, Hongxiao's curled-up body trembled violently.
She didn't even dare to lift her head.
Like a child who had done something wrong.
Xiaoman, I'm sorry... I did something bad again.
She only wanted to absorb a little essence to barely maintain her human form, otherwise her years of cultivation would be in vain.
If she turned back into an ordinary fox...
She would never... never remember him again...
The woman was rendered speechless by his words, her face turning pale and green.
Her man finally felt in the wrong. He sheepishly stepped forward to grab his wife, scolding in a hushed voice, "Haven't you embarrassed us enough? If you weren't so fierce and shrewish all day, would I have to go out looking for comfort?"
The woman stiffened all over, her eyes suddenly turning red. When she married him back then, she used to be gentle and soft too.
If it weren't for the fact that she had to grit her teeth and bear everything in this family, how could the years have worn her down to this state?
Seeing that the woman was no longer speaking, Xiaoman turned sideways, wanting to shield the trembling red silhouette on the ground.
After going blind, his hearing had become exceptionally sharp. The malicious jeers from the crowd earlier, shouts of "Tear it open more" and "Let everyone see," pierced his ears like needles.
Even though he couldn't see, he knew how wretched and miserable the woman curled up on the ground must be right now.
Sensing Xiaoman's approaching presence, Hongxiao trembled even more violently.
Even though she knew he was blind, she still didn't want her broken state to fall into his eyes, not even as a blurry outline.
She couldn't help but pray in her heart.
Begging him not to come over.
When she was being beaten and torn at by the woman earlier, she hadn't shed a single tear, but now her eyes burned uncontrollably.
If she revealed her true form in front of everyone, it would surely be a dead end.
But at this moment, she would rather be beaten to death as a monster than let him face such an unbearable version of herself.
Hongxiao closed her eyes, just as she was about to risk everything and transform into a fox.
A light, sweet scent of jasmine suddenly drifted near, coming to her side.
Immediately after, a soft shadow enveloped her from above, securely protecting her under a safe cover.
A warm embrace gently wrapped around her trembling body.
Hongxiao heard the person say, "Don't cry, Hongxiao. Look, I won this chess game, you are surrounded by me."
Her voice carried a light warmth, just like when she picked up a smooth Go stone and said, "I'm going to make a move now."
"Xiaomi..."
Thank goodness, it seems everyone is fine at the Falling Star Plateau.
Her anxious heart could finally settle down.
Seeing that the man was about to drag the woman away, Chai Xiaomi raised her voice and stopped them: "Wait!"
"You hit my friend, and you think you can just walk away?"
She carefully wrapped Hongxiao in her clothes before standing up and walking over to the woman.
Seeing that it was a young girl, the woman sneered, "What, you want to hit me back? Hanging around with such a lowly tramp, you're probably also—"
Before she could finish her sentence, the woman suddenly raised her hand and uncontrollably slapped her own mouth.
Once, twice.
Then she turned around and slapped her husband across the face.
The man instantly flew into a humiliating rage. Having lost face in public, he struck back and they started brawling with each other.
The crowd of onlookers stirred, their attention completely drawn to the fighting couple.
Chai Xiaomi turned her head.
Behind her, Wu Li was leaning against a wall not far away, effortlessly holding a watermelon with one hand. He looked exactly like a sports major college student who had just finished a game and was waiting for someone by the court with a basketball.
There was no need to guess; the sudden "self-slapping" just now was definitely his doing.
The sunlight fell on his shoulders, outlining his tall and smooth silhouette.
Seeing her look over, he raised his eyebrows slightly, a barely noticeable hint of smugness rippling in his eyes.
His face seemed to clearly display three big words: Praise me now.
Chai Xiaomi's heart suddenly swayed gently, like a swing pushed by the spring breeze.
She leaned down to help Hongxiao up from the ground and whispered in her ear, "While no one is looking, quickly turn back into a fox."
Hongxiao trembled all over, looking at her in disbelief.
Chai Xiaomi curved her eyes into a smile, her voice very soft: "I found out a long time ago when we were playing chess. I secretly looked at your true form using the True Form Mirror."
"It's a fiery red little fox, so pretty."
