Han Xuhan could clearly see the ntal haze in her eyes. He knelt before her fallen form, the infuriating smile of superiority still glued to his face.
"You've noticed sothing, haven't you, sister i? You've realized that the degree of familiarity I have with your fighting style goes way too far, huh?"
He admitted it! He really dared to admit it?!
Her face turned pale as the implications slowly took shape in her mind. Eyes wide, she heard him continue to speak in a lazy tone.
"Sister i, do you rember what drove you to sche against ? At least, what was the motive that you claid to have? Righteousness and a sense of justice, right?"
Han Xuhan snorted as if the two words invoked a pang of disgust in his heart. anwhile, her confusion only deepened.
What did that have to do with anything right now?
"You were born in a great family, Sister i; a family that has the status of an ancient clan, its influence rivalling flourishing kingdoms, from what I hear.
"I'm not sure what your upbringing might have been like, but I'm certain that you don't quite get how the world outside your family works."
Her gaze sharpened the mont he brought up her family into the discussion. Her background wasn't sothing her fellow disciples could randomly check.
What does this guy know?
Han Xuhan's smile widened slightly when he saw her serious look. He almost looked like a shark, canines becoming visible at the corners of his mouth.
"Let break it down to you, Sister i. Righteousness, sense of justice, and ddleso behavior can earn you fa and goodwill when you represent a great clan, overlooking the masses whose lives depend upon your decisions.
"But here, in the Crimson Snow Sect, you are just a disciple, one among hundreds. Here, that equation doesn't hold true at all."
Han Xuhan reached into his robe and pulled out a long, rolled-up sheet. Throwing it on her face, he stood up and gestured at her to take a look at it.
She straightened the sheet with shaking hands and saw a jumble of texts. Every sentence there was about her.
Starting from her real identity, her family's heritage in the world of cultivation, a fairly accurate assessnt of her cultivation level, records of her achievents before arriving in Crimson Snow Sect, her connections in the outer court, the techniques chosen and practiced by her as a disciple, who she practiced them with, her usual fighting tactics, moves that she rarely revealed, and even so speculations on her secret trump cards...
Everything that an enemy might need to know before confronting her had been written down on that single sheet. With it in hand, two-thirds of the disciples in the outer court could defeat her soundly.
The fog in her head cleared up. The biggest mystery was now laid bare before her.
No wonder her moves were seen through by an opponent so diocre!
He had probably been practicing how to deal with her specifically. The nurous techniques she had relied on to surprise him, to shock him, to trick him, he was deeply familiar with them all.
To him, my attempts must have looked as pitiful as a dying insect's desperate throes...
Miss i's face contorted into a mask of livid rage. The view seed to greatly amuse her wretched opponent.
"Oh, look at you! You must be quite angry at , right? But I did it all out of my goodwill towards you, my fellow disciple!"
"Goodwill? You?!" She spluttered.
This was a scene between a fallen heroine and a smug villain. She had accepted her defeat and listened to his arrogant monologue. But there was a limit to the things she could accept!
How shaless must this villain be to proudly announce that he had beaten her up to prove his goodwill?
"Of course," Han Xuhan said with a shrug.
"Do you think a simple defeat in a aningless duel is the worst outco I could lead you to? Hahahaha!
"Think about it, Sister i. What gave the advantage over you?"
She looked down at the sheet clutched in her palm. Han Xuhan nodded sagely.
"That's right. It was all the information I collected, the preparation I took based on the information, and the flawless execution of my plans during the duel. Right now, all of your anger is directed towards .
"But shouldn't most of it be directed at those who helped gather the information? Without their heartless betrayal, how could I, Han Xuhan, a rookie martial artist who has barely stepped onto the second phase, defeat you so soundly?"
The young lady's face turned pale. The thought had already occurred to her monts ago, but to hear it being highlighted so brazenly was another kind of blow.
"You ddle in the affairs of others and shout about righteousness all day. Have you considered that, without your family's elders protecting your interests, how others might retaliate against you? Not every villain would be so gentle as I am, Sister i!"
She wanted to refute him, but he gave her no opportunity, droning on.
"The kind of information I have on you... Who do you think it cos from? Hahaha! They're people you see every day.
"So of them you embrace as your martial siblings. So of them you respect as your senior disciples. So of them might even have the status of an Elder of this great sect!
"Why don't you take a guess at how, or why they might have sold you out, miss?"
Watching her lips moving soundlessly, Han Xuhan sighed.
"It's a simple answer. Interest. Nosy, righteous youths emboldened by the justice in their hearts shall always end up infringing on the interests of those whose hearts are ruled by malice, greed, and everything in between.
"You visit them to uphold the way of heaven, they shall reward you with the scent of hell.
"Your last, and perhaps the best mistake, was to take that attitude to my doors. Can you even fathom the number of spirit stones I am about to generate for the sect through my law lecture sche? Do you understand whose authority sanctioned my bold actions?
"Money and resources make the world spin. Behind you is Chen Yan, who is also motivated by money. Behind is an opportunity to make so much money that it can tempt anybody in this sect. So whose mouth can I not open? Whose heart can I not move?"
Han Xuhan started to walk back to his hut's door, turning his back on her pitiful appearance.
"Hence, the choice to open your eyes was purely out of my goodwill to you, Sister. Whether it has moved your heart, I don't know. I don't need to know, either way.
"I have lost to you once, and once is the most I ever lose."
She watched him disappear inside the hut and shut the door without looking back. The impact of the scene on her mind was not small.
But then, a thought occurred to her, freezing her boiling emotions.
Why the hell did he not explain why her vital energy failed to activate during their duel?
He hadn't even explained the abrupt weakness suffusing her limbs! That was certainly not normal for her!
As she jumped to her feet, she heard a suppressed shout of excitent coming from inside the hut.
"Tun Shi Tian, you were right! Shouting those lines really did feel cool! I was leaking so much aura!"
Miss i's eyes stung.
Do the answers even matter anymore?
To lose to such a shaless fellow, regardless of his ans, was an indelible mark of sha.
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