When Huang Shi heard these words coming from her mouth, he suddenly shivered, like he had just been sentenced to a punishment, as if her displeasure was one of the most horrible things a person could ever experience.
Fuck! What the hell is up with this girl!
Huang Shi started to scream internally; he had never felt this sort of way towards another person before, a sort of inferiority that stemmed from deep within his bones, not to mention feeling this way towards a woman.
I am Huang Shi, a proud transmigrator from Earth, a man with an all-powerful system that can grant heavenly physiques and all-powerful bloodlines! Which person, man or woman, dare say they are better than me?!
Huang Shi quickly calmed himself down, his eyes which had been shining gold turning back to obsidian as his beating heart started to relax. He bowed his head, now full of sincerity.
"I apologize for my disrespect. It was not my intention. It's just I have never seen my lady in these parts before, and I know because I am part of the Azure Dragon Sect, the ruler of this territory. A person of your stature and quite frankly powerful abilities would be a threat not just to me but to the sect as a whole, so I apologize for my scrutiny despite your help."
The woman seemed surprised to see him calm down as quickly as he did; no man or woman, for that matter, had been capable of doing that regardless of their stature in life.
Of course, that was only when she was hiding her true appearance, which only her mother and father knew. She knew her heaven-defying beauty could be used as a weapon; however, it was a weapon she was unwilling to use.
As her father had always reminded her: "Women all over the world are desired for their beauty, but when a woman is both beautiful and intelligent, she becomes a threat, a target to be killed, hence power is the only thing that is important in the cruel world of cultivation."
Seeing that the man before her didn't seem as intimidated as before, she became slightly interested as she got her smile back.
"No matter. I did not help you for nothing. I have heard of the third young master of the Azure Dragon Sect. They say he is a beast of a man, spending all of his wealth on wine and women and has no cultivation base to speak of…"
When Huang Shi heard her words, his mouth twitched. It seems his reputation as a waste had spread far and wide, even beyond Reshi City.
Damn you, previous Huang Shi! Even in death, you are causing me trouble.
Despite this, Huang Shi maintained his smile and once again bowed his head with sincerity, this time without any of his previous reservations and thoughts about her.
"Thank you so much for helping me heal my wounds. If it wasn't for you, even if I didn't die, my arm would be crippled."
The woman's eyes shone with a scintillating, piercing light, her thoughts a hidden mystery as she remained quiet for a long moment, simply measuring him before asking a question.
"If I'm correct, your name is Huang Shi?"
Huang Shi moved his body to stand back up, squaring his shoulders as he nodded his head.
"Yes, benefactor, my name is Huang Shi. May I be so presumptuous as to ask for your name?"
The woman tilted her head, thinking for a bit before speaking with a blunt, disarming plainness.
"Let's not make things difficult for the both of us, Huang Shi. I know you've already figured out that I'm hiding my true appearance from you. Although I don't know how you did it, you are the first person to do so in this little life of mine."
Huang Shi remained silent, keeping his face a mask of neutrality while waiting for her to continue.
"As for my identity, even if you've not figured it out yet, I'm sure you already have an idea in that head of yours... so why don't you take a guess?"
Huang Shi squinted his eyes, his expression hardening as he felt the weight of her gaze. He didn't know exactly what he was feeling—was it dread or curiosity?—but it was clear this girl was anything but simple. Aside from her clearly powerful cultivation base, she seemed incredibly sharp, perhaps even more intelligent than himself.
"Alright, since my benefactor wants me to take a guess, I'll be presumptuous and do as you said... are you Young Miss Bai, of the Eastern Prefecture's Great Bai Clan?"
The woman kept quiet for a bit, the silence stretching between them, before she gave another smile. This time, the expression wasn't sharp or intimidating; it was a smile of genuine, dangerous interest.
"You're right. My name is Bai Xinyue. And since you've guessed my identity so easily, why don't you take another guess and try to figure out why I'm here?"
Huang Shi's heart trembled violently within his chest. Even though he had already entertained the suspicion, he did not actually expect that he would be right on the money with his very first guess.
Shit, it's my damn fiancé. I told Mei'er that I wouldn't care about some random woman being engaged to me, but this woman is clearly not just some "random" person. She is a massive, terrifyingly powerful headache.
Even the system says she is the "Protagonist." What the fuck does that even mean?
Huang Shi once more felt the overwhelming urge to scream internally at the absurdity of his luck, but he clamped down on his emotions with an iron will. He did not want to embarrass himself in front of this woman any more than he already had, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.
Huang Shi breathed deep to steady his nerves, watching Bai Xinyue stand in calm silence as embers crackled around them.
"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice low. "It's obvious, you wanted to see me for yourself, check whether or not the rumors about me were true, if I really was a useless waste like everybody says I am. But I have a strange feeling, Lady Bai… that even if you did find out that I wasn't a waste, you would still have tried to find a way to end the engagement."