Chapter 300

Chapter 300: So Shameless

Xia Ming Xia kept a cold face, as if she heard none of the whispers around her. After she finished treating the last horse, she stood up to leave.

Someone muttered first: “So shameless.”

A middle-aged woman with a pearl headdress spat as she spoke: “So shameless. Look at how thick her skin is. After all that, she still dares to strut around outside. Luckily my family canceled the engagement with hers long ago, or my son would never know how many times he’d be cheated on!”

Xia Ming Xia said nothing and walked toward the exit with her head down. She had explained herself many times, but no one believed her. She was tired of it. She sat upright and acted upright; what she had not done was what she had not done. People who trusted her needed no explanation. People who did not, she could not persuade.

Yu Zhi Yi watched the young woman who hid shame and anger behind a calm face, and it felt like looking at her past self. She spoke in a clear, airy voice that made the crowd fall quiet: “I am curious.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at the onlookers and said calmly: “This miss is wrapped in a strong power of merit. That means she is kind, and she has healed many lives. A person like this has upright conduct and sound character. So why do you all hate her so much?”

Jiang Liu Bin had long heard of the unconventional miss of the Xia family but had never met her. He brought her over today only because he saw the medicine case in her hand. He never guessed she was the infamous girl everyone gossiped about. When he heard the whispers, he regretted it at once, afraid his sister would dislike her. He did not expect his sister to say instead that the girl shone with merit.

The big-hearted boy quickly forgot how he had almost died earlier and asked with curiosity: “Sister, what does merit light look like?”

Yu Zhi Yi laughed softly and teased him: “It is golden light. What do you think it looks like?”

Jiang Liu Yun, unhappy that this guy had stolen his sister’s attention, cut in: “Is it as bright as the sun?”

Yu Zhi Yi glanced at Xia Ming Xia. The miss who had been cold and blank a moment ago now looked a bit uneasy. Yu Zhi Yi smiled kindly at her and answered: “Not that bright. To reach the sun’s level, she would have to save tens of thousands. She has not saved that many, but she has saved a few hundred people and quite a number of animals.”

Jiang Liu Yun thought it over and asked: “Saving animals also brings merit?”

Yu Zhi Yi nodded: “All beings have spirit. Of course it counts.”

The earlier woman realized the speaker was the second miss of the Jiang Clan. She felt unwilling, but once she saw the two Jiang young masters taking their cues from Yu Zhi Yi, she did not dare to keep arguing.

Chen Xin Yue watched coldly, then spoke at the right moment: “Sister, I am very curious. What does the merit light look like? Can you let us see it too?” She put on a kind, understanding look and added: “Miss Xia is a good person, but people have not understood what she’s done. If you let us see it, it might help clear her name.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at her and said mildly: “To ‘clear’ implies she is dirty first. This miss is open and upright. She needs no clearing. I think what you mean is to return her innocence.”

Chen Xin Yue clenched her fists, then forced a just-right embarrassed smile: “I’m sorry, sister. I chose the wrong words.”

Yu Zhi Yi let it drop and scanned the faces around them. Because of Chen Xin Yue’s remark, the crowd’s interest rose. She knew that if they did not see this so-called merit light today, they would keep cursing Xia Ming Xia-and add her into the curses as well. She did not fear being scolded, but she had come to support this girl.

She asked the crowd: “Do you truly want to see?”

Many people still looked confused. “What merit light? What is that supposed to be?” They were people of the Martial World, not folk from a world of immortals.

Chen Xin Yue seemed to know what they were thinking and smiled as she explained: “My sister is skilled in the Mystic Arts, so she can see things ordinary people cannot.”

Jiang Liu Yun agreed strongly: “She warned us just now that danger was ahead and told us to stop. Otherwise we would have fallen with Pang Yi Qi and his supporters when that sudden sinkhole opened.”

From the stands, most had only seen Jiang Liu Bin’s group stop for no reason. Soon after, Pang Yi Qi and his followers fell into a pit that cracked open out of nowhere. Now they learned that Jiang Liu Bin’s group had stopped because Second Miss Jiang halted them.

The onlookers stared at Yu Zhi Yi with growing curiosity: “Is it really that amazing?”

Jiang Liu Bin tilted his head proudly and said: “Of course. My sister is amazing!”

Someone muttered in doubt: “If she’s that amazing, why didn’t she save Pang Yi Qi and the rest?”

Li Chang Huai flicked his folding fan and said lazily: “Good words cannot persuade a doomed ghost. Second Miss Jiang warned them already, but they refused to listen. What, should she lead by example and jump in first to show them?”

“Cough, cough…” The doubter coughed in embarrassment and stopped showing his lack of sense.

Yu Zhi Yi gave Li Chang Huai a glance, and he promptly shut his fan and smiled obediently. She looked away and asked once more: “Do you truly want to see the merit light?”

Before anyone else could answer, Chen Xin Yue said quickly: “We truly want to see, sister. Please grant our wish.”

Yu Zhi Yi gave her a meaningful look and said: “I will open your Heavenly Eye. Then you will see not only the gold around Miss Xia, but also the colors around everyone else. Are you sure you want to see?”

Chen Xin Yue’s face changed. What did that mean? She suddenly felt the woman was digging a trap for her. Other colors?

Before Chen Xin Yue could speak, Jiang Liu Yun blurted out with bright eyes: “I want to see, sister! I want to see!”

Chen Xin Yue tried to stop it, but Yu Zhi Yi gave no chance. She took out a talisman with quick hands. Without a fire striker, the talisman paper traced a curve through the air and burst into flame on its own.

Everyone was dazzled by the sight. As the thin smoke drifted before their eyes, the scene seemed to shift. The racetrack was still the racetrack, but the people around them suddenly looked very different.

Xia Ming Xia stared in shock. The Second Miss Jiang who had spoken for her was wrapped in an intense golden glow. For a moment Xia Ming Xia could not tell which was brighter, the sun or her.

Then she looked at the middle-aged woman who had mocked her and frowned: [So dark.]