Chapter 22: The Cruel Beauty; Carrot and the Stick! |
[VILFIC's Crib]
Carrot and Stick means reward and punishment. It's a method used to train pets. When they do well you give them the carrot (reward) that they like, and when they do bad you give them the stick (punishment) that they dislike. This way, you can condition someone to behave exactly as you like.
Su Qingge was a smart and rational woman, so now that she had decided to follow Gu Changge, there was no way she would have anymore to do with Ye Chen.
There was absolutely no doubt about this!
As a woman, Yan Ji could easily guess Su Qingge's thoughts. If she were in Su Qingge's shoes, she would do the same. And it was precisely because of this that she couldn't help but sigh.
Why did Little Chen have to be so hostile to Young Lord Gu?
"Qingge, you are lying to me, right? You are joking with me, right?!"
An elegant scent filled the hall, but Ye Chen couldn't enjoy it. His head buzzed and ached, and he couldn't help but clutch his forehead. He couldn't believe that Su Qingge, the cold and aloof maiden, would say such words with her own tongue.
"I have only said the truth, and it's up to you whether you believe my words or not. Also, please don't come to pester me in the future! If Young Lord Gu saw us together by chance, I am afraid I will have to provide him an explanation…"
She had said what she had to say, so if Ye Chen didn't stop his obsession with her, then she would need to take some extreme measures.
"It must be Gu Changge…he must have used some sorcery to muddle your mind! He comes from the legendary Upper Realm, so he definitely knows such methods…"
Ye Chen suddenly growled in a loud voice. His eyes turned bloodshot and he glared at Su Qingge, looking like a beast that stared at its prey.
"Calm down, Little Chen! Or you will suffer from Qi deviation!"
Yan Ji saw Ye Chen's unstable state of mind from inside the ring, and immediately used her Qi to spread waves of coolness through his body to calm him down.
"I don't believe this…"
Ye Chen groaned. Why was the goddess he admired now acting like this?
Su Qingge's face turned cold, too. She unsheathed her long sword and prepared to attack.
[Thump! Thump! Thump!]
At this moment, someone suddenly knocked the door of the hall, and a chuckle sounded, "Is Holy Maiden Qingge present here?"
Gu Changge stood at the door with a peculiar smile, dressed in a black dress that accentuated his handsome features, and gave him a sinister-yet-charming attractiveness.
It was high time he joined in on the show. After all, he couldn't put all the burden on Su Qingge alone, right?
Hearing the voice of his old acquaintance, Gu Changge, Ye Chen's expression also changed drastically as deep hatred and a murderous intent replaced his previous face full of disbelief.
"Little Chen, leave immediately!"
Yan Ji's expression changed to, and she urged him to leave.
Although Gu Changge had said he wouldn't make things difficult for her, they were now fugitives who had escaped from their imprisonment.
If he used this reason to deal with them, they would have nothing to refute him with!
The sudden knock from the outside stunned Su Qingge, and doubts surfaced in her mind. Why had Young Lord Gu come to find her right at this time?
No! With his unfathomable strength, he might have arrived long ago, but decided not to show up. Perhaps, this was a test from him!
[Puff…]
Attack!
That was Su Qingge's simple idea.
The immense might of the Transcendent Realm surged, and a cold, sharp sword light horribly pierced through the void in front of her. In the next moment, it drew blood!
"Urgh…"
Ye Chen screamed out and momentarily stopped in his tracks. He was about to escape when he was almost stabbed in the heart by Su Qingge's cruel sword.
Had it not been for his powerful combat instinct, he wouldn't have been able to shift himself by a step to prevent the sword from piercing his heart.
"Not good…"
"This little girl is a bit cruel!"
Yan Ji never expected Su Qingge to be so ruthless and determined, so much so that she directly aimed at Ye Chen's life. Fortunately, her remnant spirit was in a good state, so he hurriedly swept Ye Chen away using her powers, and directly fled through a window.
"What happened?"
Gu Changge seemed to be a little confused and surprised when he heard the sudden disturbance, and immediately pushed open the hall's door to walk in.
"Young Lord Gu…" Su Qingge looked back at Gu Changge with a calm expression and said, "Qingge has disappointed you."
She naturally knew that Gu Changge was merely pretending. From the beginning to the end, he must have hid in the secret to watch this farce.
A cold chill ran down her spine.
One mistake in your performance, and you would fall down a bottomless abyss of despair. What's more? She didn't even know that Gu Changge was hiding in the dark all this time. He saw everything she said and did.
He was a truly terrible man!
"No, you haven't disappointed me."
Gu Changge said with a smile that appeared full of happiness.
"Really?"
Su Qingge couldn't believe his words. She had tried to kill Ye Chen just now, but he somehow evaded her attack. She was worried that Gu Changge would blame her for being merciful to him.
"Naturally, what I said is the truth!"
Gu Changge replied with a smile, again. If killing Ye Chen was so easy, he wouldn't be having such a headache right now!
"The next time you meet, there will probably be a blood feud between you and Ye Chen. Do you regret it?"
Su Qingge shook her head and replied, "I already expected this day to come when I chose to be with Young Lord Gu!"
"Good."
Gu Changge nodded with his unabated smile.
[VILFIC: unabated → without any reduction in intensity or strength. If I see some new word, I will add their meaning in a note like this so you don't have to search. If you see some new word that's hard to understand on the first read, let me know in the comments.]
Su Qingge's relationship with Ye Chen was completely destroyed now, and they could even be said to be life and death enemies.
He doesn't have to be as harsh on her anymore.
The so-called ‘carrot and stick' could truly make someone surrender.
What's more? Su Qingge was also blessed with great fortune that was far beyond ordinary people, so her future achievements wouldn't be low either.
Gu Changge naturally wanted Su Qingge on his side so he could use her well. After all, he no longer had to fear getting struck by a Fortune Backlash.
"Don't worry, I wasn't testing you this time — I already had complete trust in you from the beginning until the end. I merely wanted to watch a good scene!"
Gu Changge said with a chuckle, and with just the right amount of gentleness, he pulled her in his embrace.
The sudden change stunned Su Qingge, and she didn't know what to do as she stood rooted to her spot. Her delicate body trembled, and she blinked her flawless, gem-like eyes in confusion.
It was the first time she had been this close to a man. And to compound the effect, the man was none other than Gu Changge, the cold and intimidating monster she couldn't see through.
Su Qingge had never expected to hear such gentle words from Gu Changge, so the sudden tenderness immediately threw her heart into chaos.
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