Bai Ling, who was about to step forward, was interrupted by a voice.
“Qiu Feng, forget it, don’t stoop to her level.” Bai Ling called out to Lin Qiufeng, who had already taken half a step forward.
Hearing Bai Ling say that, Lin Qiufeng snorted, pulled back her foot, and pouted at the other side.
“I’m not going to bother with you.”
Just when she was about to successfully provoke their anger, the interruption made Shui Lan’s mood hit rock bottom.
She already disliked Bai Ling, and this time her target was also Bai Ling.
Earlier, it was only because Lin Qiufeng was nagging beside her—so annoying—that Shui Lan didn’t want to listen to her nonsense and started arguing with her first.
Now that Bai Ling suddenly spoke up, Shui Lan, who was already aiming for Bai Ling, immediately turned her attention to her.
“What? Scared?” Shui Lan looked mocking, as if she was just waiting for Bai Ling to embarrass herself.
“Looks like she chickened out.
Doesn’t even dare to accept a challenge.
What a disgrace to our academy.” A short-haired girl behind Shui Lan spoke up.
Her name was Wang Xin.
“Yeah, exactly.” The others chimed in.
“It’s not that.
I just don’t think it’s worth making a big deal over someone like you.” Bai Ling was still calm and unbothered, showing little emotion.
“Heh, if you’re scared, just say so.
No need for all this.
Just come over and apologize to me, and we’ll call it even.
How about it?” In the end, she just wanted Bai Ling to make a fool of herself.
Qiao Shan, who was watching from the side, couldn’t sit still when someone wanted his goddess to apologize.
When Lin Qiufeng was arguing with her earlier, Qiao Shan was just watching for fun, but now that they were picking on his girl, if he could still hold back, he wouldn’t be a man.
“Who do you think you are? You think you can make Xiao Ling apologize? Know your place.” Qiao Shan shouted angrily.
Shui Lan ignored Qiao Shan’s outburst.
In her eyes, Bai Ling was the only one she needed to deal with.
“What? Hiding behind someone else is fun, huh? If you’re scared, just admit it.
I get it.” Shui Lan said with a smirk, as if she already had victory in her grasp.
Then she turned to the girls behind her.
“Am I right, girls? Hahaha!” She started laughing before anyone else.
The girls behind her burst out laughing too, clearly mocking.
“I don’t want to stoop to your level.
That would just make me look tasteless, and you’re not even worth my time.” Bai Ling wasn’t provoked.
The only thing that could anger her was someone crossing her bottom line.
If that didn’t happen, she wouldn’t bother.
Shui Lan could say whatever she wanted—it wasn’t going to hurt her.
“What did you say?” Shui Lan’s smile vanished, replaced by a face so dark it looked like it could drip water.
She hated being looked down on.
“Nothing.
Just saying you’re not worth my time.” Bai Ling looked completely indifferent, as if she was talking about something trivial.
Bai Ling had her reasons for saying this.
She wanted to see if the person who had been secretly following them since they left the academy would make a move.
She’d noticed him as soon as he started tailing them, but since he came from the academy and didn’t seem hostile, Bai Ling let him be.
It didn’t matter.
Now was a good chance to see if he’d do anything.
“Water Jet!” A magic circle appeared in front of Shui Lan, and she attacked Bai Ling without hesitation.
“???” Bai Ling was a bit surprised.
This girl actually dared to attack.
“Earth Shield!” “Fire Wall!” Qiao Shan and Xiao Er acted at the same time.
Qiao Shan did it because someone dared to attack his goddess—unforgivable.
Xiao Er did it because he was the shop assistant here, and if the shop got damaged because of his negligence, the boss would have his head.
Two people, two different reasons, but they blocked Shui Lan’s attack.
Looks like the person in the shadows wasn’t planning to step in.
“If you dare try anything again, don’t blame me for being rude.” Xiao Er’s face was dark.
The other side had ignored his earlier warning and still attacked.
Clearly, they didn’t take the Magic Mall seriously! “Hmph, I’ll let it go this time.
Next time you won’t be so lucky.
Let’s go.” Shui Lan knew that if the first strike failed, there wouldn’t be a second.
She left with her group after leaving a threat.
After they left, Lin Qiufeng was still fuming.
That bunch was shameless.
“Pah! Weren’t they all cocky just now? Why’d they run off? Useless!” Lin Qiufeng cursed, not caring about her image at all.
“Let it go.
People like that aren’t worth your time.
Getting mad at them just makes you suffer.
Why bother?” Bai Ling comforted her.
“They’re just nobodies.
Not worth it.” Qiao Shan added.
“Xiao Ling, you really know how to let things go!” Lin Qiufeng looked a little resentful.
“If a dog barks at you, are you going to bark back?” Bai Ling glanced sideways at Lin Qiufeng.
Lin Qiufeng was stunned by Bai Ling’s words.
She never expected the usually gentle and considerate Xiao Ling to say something so out of character.
But honestly, that was a pretty badass line.
“Uh… of course not!” Lin Qiufeng replied with a silly grin.
After hearing Bai Ling’s words, she seemed to have forgotten her earlier annoyance and was back to her goofy self.
“So, can we get back to business now?” Qiao Shan was still a bit annoyed, but after Bai Ling’s line, the bad mood was gone.
Xiao Er had also lost his earlier bravado.
He’d seen this kind of thing plenty of times, so he didn’t care much.
Troublemakers were nothing new to him.
“Alright, we’re good.
Here’s your sword, please take care of it!” Xiao Er immediately put on a smile when facing Bai Ling.
Anyone who could drop 1,000 gold coins without blinking was either a noble or from a powerful family.
Judging by their clothes, they were clearly from Yulin Academy, just like the group from earlier.
Students from Yulin Academy often came to the Magic Mall to shop, so Xiao Er recognized the academy uniform.
“Thanks.” Bai Ling took the Qinglian Sword and put it into her storage ring, thanking him.
Xiao Er was a bit shocked.
Anyone with a storage ring had to be someone important.
He didn’t expect such a young girl to have one.
Clearly, her background wasn’t weak.
If he could win her over, the boss would be thrilled! Thinking of this, Xiao Er looked at Bai Ling with a more flattering and respectful gaze.
“Let’s head back now.” Bai Ling had no interest in shopping anymore.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Lin Qiufeng didn’t want to stay either, still bothered by what happened.
As Bai Ling and her group left, Xiao Er put on a fawning smile and said, “Hope to see you three again soon!”
Once Bai Ling and the others disappeared at the end of the street, Xiao Er went back inside and headed straight to a room on the third floor.
He took a deep breath.
*Knock knock knock* “Come in!” A man’s voice came from inside.
Xiao Er opened the door and walked in with his head down.
The room was simply furnished: a table, a chair, and bookshelves all around, filled with all kinds of rare plants and herbs.
“Boss, I have something to report!” Xiao Er said respectfully.
“Speak!” The man sitting in the chair kept it simple, not willing to say a word more than necessary, as if every word was precious.
The waiter recounted what had just happened.
After listening, the man nodded in satisfaction and praised, “Not bad.”
“Thank you, boss!” The waiter was overjoyed.
“You know what to do?”
“I do!”
“Go, then!”
“Yes!”
