Chapter 773: Unlucky Gu Xin'er

The young woman was none other than Gu Xin'er, who had successfully infiltrated the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. She revealed her true appearance and used her real name, "Gu Xin'er." After all, her name and appearance had never been publicly displayed before. To outsiders, she had always worn a Peking Opera mask and used only the surname "Gu." No one would have guessed that she was the Vice Master of Jiangshan Yipin Tower, a powerful Nascent Soul realm expert.

She feigned a cultivation level of seventh-stage Core Formation, easily earning the favor of several Vice Pavilion Masters. Immediately, she became a disciple of Chen Zhengdao, making her Liu Qingxian's junior sister.

After her apprenticeship, she couldn't wait a moment longer. She eagerly followed Jiang Fan's footsteps to the underground world, where she quickly befriended Liu Qingxian and Xia Chaoge. Everything proceeded as planned.

Having successfully approached Jiang Fan, she smiled and moved closer to him, saying, "You must be Senior Brother Jiang Fan?""Your Junior Sister Gu Xin'er greets you, Senior Brother."

Internally, she sneered. *You scoundrel! We finally meet again! You'd never dream I'd infiltrate your side, would you? What will you think when you first meet your adorable junior sister?*

"Five Thunder Righteous Heaven Palm!"

A furious shout suddenly rang out. Gu Xin'er was startled to see Jiang Fan's hand, previously behind his back, suddenly enveloped in lightning. Without warning, he struck her, and the powerful electrical force sent her flying instantly. Her beautiful clothes were scorched black, and streaks of blood appeared on her exposed skin. To maintain her disguise as a disciple, she had deliberately suppressed her cultivation. Coupled with the sudden sneak attack, how could she withstand it? Immediately, her throat felt a metallic sweetness, and a trickle of blood escaped her lips. She was stunned.

*What happened? Why did you hit me for no reason? Has my identity been exposed? But I only said two sentences!*

What bewildered her even more was that Ren Guhong and Wu Manyue also made their moves in succession. They believed that any shadowy entity, especially one brazen enough to approach them, must be purified on the spot!

However, just as the two were about to strike, Jiang Fan's expression froze, and he shouted, "Wait!"

Seeing the striking crimson blood at the corner of Gu Xin'er's mouth, his heart sank. He quickly stepped forward, helped her up, and said sheepishly, "My apologies, I mistook you for a female ghost."

Shadowy entities cannot bleed. This adorable young woman was truly a new disciple! He had just beaten her up at their first meeting. What a mess...

*What? You mistook me for a female ghost?* Gu Xin'er looked at her charred clothes and her blackened face. Her blood pressure soared with anger! She wasn't a ghost, yet she had been beaten into a ghastly state! *This scoundrel must have done it on purpose!* The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, almost unable to resist delivering a fatal blow to end it all.

Ren Guhong and Wu Manyue quickly retracted their hands, their faces filled with astonishment. *This... this was actually a person? And such an adorable and beautiful junior sister!* Seeing Gu Xin'er's pathetic state, both quickly put away their talismans and magic treasures, pretending to look elsewhere as if nothing had happened.

Jiang Fan, feeling guilty, looked at Gu Xin'er, who was glaring fiercely back at him. "Ahem, Senior Brother Ren, Senior Sister Wu," he coughed. "It's all your fault for insisting that Junior Sister Gu was a female ghost. You two should quickly apologize to her."

*Shameless!* Gu Xin'er fumed inwardly. He was the one who hit her, yet he wanted to blame others? She had never seen anyone so brazen. The more she thought, the angrier she got. Forgiving Jiang Fan just like that would be letting him off too lightly. After some thought, she hesitated, then gritted her teeth. She stumbled, clutching her head. "I'm so dizzy... Senior Sister Liu, please take me back to see Master. Just tell him someone hit me." With that, she collapsed into Liu Qingxian's arms.

Liu Qingxian chided, "Xiao Fan, you... you should confirm things before attacking! And with such a heavy hand, too. How are we going to explain this to Vice Pavilion Master Chen?"

Jiang Fan touched his nose. The new disciple was beaten like this on her first day. It would be strange if Chen Zhengdao wasn't angry. He could only try to appease Gu Xin'er, coughing lightly. "Junior Sister Gu, I'll give you two Rejuvenation Pills. One for your immediate recovery, and one as compensation."

Gu Xin'er shed tears of grievance, her eyes brimming as she whimpered, "I don't want them! I'm going to report you!"

This was trouble. Just as Jiang Fan found the situation tricky, Gu Xin'er's eyes darted, and she said, "Unless you let me join Zero, then I'll forgive you."

Join their team? Jiang Fan frowned slightly. There were indeed three vacant spots at the moment. However, was Gu Xin'er suitable? Her background and strength were unknown.

"Wuwuwu, Senior Sister Liu, please take me back quickly. I'm in so much pain, I feel like I'm going to collapse!" Gu Xin'er sobbed.

Liu Qingxian anxiously asked, "Xiao Fan, what are you still hesitating about?"

Jiang Fan had a headache. He said, "Alright, I'll allow you to join. But if your performance isn't up to par, you'll be removed at any time."

Gu Xin'er immediately stopped wailing. Wiping away her tears on Liu Qingxian's shoulder, her adorable tear-stained face instantly broke into a smile. "Thank you, Senior Brother Jiang." Inside, she was laughing heartily.

*Master, did you see that? I've successfully gotten close to Jiang Fan! From now on, for any missions, I'll be by his side. Once I find an opportunity, I'll strike!*

The remnant soul in the hairpin smiled contentedly. It was genuinely pleased: "Excellent, truly excellent. You've finally learned a bit of his shamelessness. The old you would never stoop to feigning illness or crying for benefits." It now seemed that encouraging Gu Xin'er to sharpen her skills by Jiang Fan's side was a very wise decision. Look at this. After only one day of interaction, she had already learned some of Jiang Fan's brazenness and gained some benefits.

Gu Xin'er's small face flushed. "Who... who said I learned his shamelessness? I'm nothing like him. I... I'm simply resourceful!"

The hairpin's remnant soul nodded, "I understand. Because Jiang Fan thinks the same way." Who in this world would ever think themselves shameless?

Gu Xin'er's lips were slightly pursed, her cheeks burning hot. Inside, she was filled with shame and anger: *You scoundrel. You've defiled me! After only one day as your junior sister, you've led me down this path. I must kill you as soon as possible!*

Seeing Gu Xin'er "recover" on the spot, Jiang Fan was speechless. He said, "Let's leave this place quickly." The underground world was about to close. The group immediately headed for the teleportation array, ascending layer by layer.

Soon after, they finally returned to the Teleportation Hall. You Yunzi scanned the group, nodding. "Very good, no one was injured. You are the last group of disciples to emerge, and most of you are new disciples. We thought something might have happened to you down there."

Jiang Fan's heart stirred. If they were the last group of disciples, then only one group of people had yet to emerge from the underground world, right? The monks from White Horse Temple.

Buzz—

Suddenly, the teleportation array beneath their feet began to rotate again, forcibly pushing everyone standing on it outside the formation.

A glint flashed in You Yunzi's eyes. "Those monks are about to come out. I wonder if they found what they were looking for this time."

Jiang Fan was surprised. "They're looking for something? Aren't they supposed to be capturing hellish creatures from the tenth level?"

You Yunzi explained, "Capturing hellish creatures is just a secondary objective. For years, White Horse Temple has periodically sent groups of monks here to search for a mysterious ancient scripture."