Xiao Jinsheng said with a knowing look, "No wonder you two, husband and wife, are both targeting me."
"First, there's Bai Yan pretending to care if my beast-husband is injured, anxiously trying to get him medicine, and criticizing me in various ways."
"Then there's you, Jin Ao, coming to persuade my beast-husband to divorce me."
"So you had it all planned out from the start, hoping that Su Ye and I would divorce, and then you'd pull him into your big family, huh?"
"Others say 'a friend's wife is not to be cheated on,' but you're 'sending your own wife to a friend.' Truly admirable."
Bai Yan's eyes flickered, and she looked at Jin Ao with a hint of surprise, eagerly awaiting his reply. Jin Ao, however, was so furious his hair seemed to stand on end. He tightly held Bai Yan, looking defensively at Su Ye and Xiao Jinsheng. "Crazy talk, crazy woman! Xiao Yan and I have a great relationship!"
"Su Ye, I'm warning you, a friend's wife is not to be cheated on," Jin Ao glared at Su Ye vigilantly. "I won't interfere in your affairs anymore, and don't you dare think about entering my home."
"Are you sick?" Su Ye couldn't take it anymore. He shouldn't have opened the gate. What kind of lunatic had he gotten stuck with now?
Jin Ao was genuinely afraid that Bai Yan would be swayed by Xiao Jinsheng's words. He quickly pulled her and walked back home. Xiao Jinsheng urgently called out to them, "Take your stuff with you! My house isn't a recycling center!"
"I'd rather feed it to dogs than give it to you!" Jin Ao angrily returned to pick up the basket. Xiao Jinsheng then took the pomelo leaves in her hand and began to slap them on Su Ye. "Is this your zodiac year of bad luck or something? What kind of bad mojo have you picked up today?"
"There are more pomelo leaves; you can use them to bathe later to get rid of the bad luck."
Bai Yan and Jin Ao, who hadn't walked far, both turned back simultaneously, glaring at Xiao Jinsheng. Jin Ao was even more annoyed. "No wonder you and she always argued before. What a vicious woman!"
"Jinsheng... she's actually quite nice, just a bit of a pampered young lady. After all, she grew up with me, and I'm used to it," Bai Yan tried to salvage Xiao Jinsheng's reputation.
Hearing this, Jin Ao's impression of Xiao Jinsheng worsened. "Did she bully you since childhood?" he asked nervously.
"Not really, she's just a bit overbearing, she didn't deliberately bully me," Bai Yan explained.
Jin Ao's gaze darkened, gritting his teeth in anger at Xiao Jinsheng. "You stay away from her from now on. She's a vicious woman, a crazy person. She's so cruel to her own beast-husbands; she wouldn't appreciate your kindness in caring for her."
"Okay, I'll listen to Jin Ao," Bai Yan said hesitantly, yet her expression showed she chose to trust Jin Ao. Jin Ao was very pleased with Bai Yan's trust. He pulled Bai Yan home, and on the way, added, "It seems the neighbors haven't been home these past few days; they must have gone on a mission to the west of the Misty Continent."
"I saw Su Ye has already risen from 5-star to 6-star."
"And that vicious female, Xiao Jinsheng, her mental energy actually reached 3-star," Jin Ao said, full of disdain when speaking of Xiao Jinsheng. Bai Yan, however, stood frozen. She hesitated, "Jinsheng's mental energy reached 3-star? Wasn't she always 1-star?"
"It's probably because she went on a mission to the west of the Misty Continent this time and found cultivation resources," Jin Ao replied. Jin Ao originally wanted to mention that Su Ye's talent was good, and his strength hadn't increased in the past six months solely because of that vicious woman Xiao Jinsheng, lacking resources to level up. If he could undertake missions normally, with Su Ye's talent, leveling up would be easy. But Xiao Jinsheng's words still echoed in his mind, and he also became wary of Su Ye. He was a little anxious that if Su Ye really divorced Xiao Jinsheng, Bai Yan might become curious about Su Ye because of his praise for him, and bring him home.
"Xiao Yan, why did you get medicine for Su Ye?" Jin Ao asked suspiciously, looking at Bai Yan. Bai Yan's heart tightened, and she smiled, "I wanted to bring some fruit for Jinsheng and explain the misunderstanding about the car crash today."
"Who knew Su Ye would open the door. I saw Jinsheng wasn't coming out, so I asked Su Ye to take the fruit inside for Jinsheng."
"But Su Ye suddenly told me his hand was injured and he couldn't carry it. I don't know why he said that."
"I thought about how Jinsheng treats him badly, and then I thought that if it were you who was injured, I would definitely feel heartache."
"And didn't you mention before that you and Su Ye knew each other since childhood? I thought he was your friend, so I planned to come back and tell you to take him medicine. Who knew Jinsheng came out again and spoke to me so nastily." By the end of her explanation, Bai Yan was wiping tears, unable to hold back her sobbing any longer.
"You're just too kind. Don't bother with the neighbors' messy affairs anymore," Jin Ao said with disgust.
"Mm, I'll listen to Jin Ao," Bai Yan whimpered. Bai Yan buried her face in Jin Ao's embrace, but in her heart, she was calling out another name.
**[System, didn't you say Xiao Jinsheng's mental energy would be 1-star until she died?]**
A mechanical voice sounded in Bai Yan's mind.
**System:** **[Apparently, she slept with a beast-husband.]**
**[But wouldn't that deviate from the plot?]**
**System:** **[In the plot, Xiao Jinsheng's beast-husbands will die with her. Don't you also deviate from the plot by wanting Xiao Jinsheng to divorce her beast-husbands and then accepting those beast-husbands yourself?]**
At this, Bai Yan also got angry. She said, **[You told me her beast-husbands all had good talent and that it would be a shame for them to die. I'm also doing this to improve my strength.]**
**[Jin Ao said her mental energy is 3-star now, so she's slept with two of them already?]**
**System:** **[One.]**
**[One? How is that possible!]** Bai Yan was shocked. When she was with her own beast-husband, even one only went from 1-star to 2-star.
**System:** **[I told you, her beast-husband has good talent.]**
The system's words were cold and emotionless. Bai Yan, however, complained, **[You also said they have good talent, so is it wrong for me to want to change their death outcome? With high talent, they can also live well with me, and I wouldn't hit or scold them like Xiao Jinsheng.]**
**System:** **[Whatever, do as you please.]**
Bai Yan started to guess again: **[Which one did she sleep with? Can you find out?]**
**System:** **[Please wait.]**
A moment later, the system returned with the answer.
**System:** **[Que Zelian.]**
**[How could it be him?]** Bai Yan's eyes flashed with displeasure. **[I remember Xiao Jinsheng's relationship with Que Zelian was the most strained. Why would it be him?]**
And Que Zelian was the one she had the most hope for among Xiao Jinsheng's five beast-husbands. He had high talent, and even under Xiao Jinsheng's oppression, his strength was 5-star. Xiao Jinsheng's mental energy directly jumping over 2-star to 3-star further proved Que Zelian's good talent and also proved that her initial judgment was excellent. But thinking that Que Zelian had already been taken by Xiao Jinsheng, even if she took over, the effect wouldn't be as good as the first time. Bai Yan suddenly felt as disgusted as if she had eaten excrement. She tightly gripped the object in her hand, her heart also growing anxious. Xiao Jinsheng was acting abnormally now, so waiting for Xiao Jinsheng to divorce her beast-husbands was impossible. If she dragged it on any longer, she might not even get a taste of the soup, let alone improve her mental energy.
"Xiao Yan, what's wrong? Did that vicious female Xiao Jinsheng scare you?" Jin Ao's concerned voice sounded above Bai Yan's head. Bai Yan's mind withdrew from the system, and she realized that in her excitement, her nails had been digging into Jin Ao's arm. She quickly released her hand, lowering her head in guilt. "Jin Ao, I didn't mean to."
"I just… hearing what Jinsheng said today, I feel so sad."
"I don't understand. Even if she's domineering, I've always been kind to her since childhood, and I've always treated her like a sister. Why is she so harsh to me?"
"Xiao Yan, she's just vicious herself. She's not worth your sadness," Jin Ao consoled.
"Thank you, Jin Ao. It's a good thing you're by my side, otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to bear it," Bai Yan said sorrowfully.