“How elusive.” Xiao Yun’s gaze towards Gu Xiqiao was filled with discontent. “So you’re finally satisfied playing around in N City?”
She had never seen a college student living as leisurely as Gu Xiqiao was currently. Even Wu Hongwen was busy with his club and the student council.
“What are you talking about? N City? That’s like ages ago, no?” Gu Xiqiao scanned the faces of the crew members around them.
Because of Gu Xiqiao’s unannounced appearance, Xiao Yun gave Xiao Le a look, telling her to not call Xiang Kun’s phone for now. This wasn’t a big deal; she didn’t want Gu Xiqiao to worry about her own concerns.
Xiao Yun passed a bottle of water provided by the crew members over to Gu Xiqiao.
“Why are you here today?” she asked.
She recalled Gu Xiqiao telling her that she would come to visit her a couple of days later.
“Well, I went to school today. Since your school’s pretty near mine, I figured I should pay you a short visit.” Gu Xiqiao twisted the bottle cap open and thanked Xiao Yun for her generosity before chugging the water down. Her mouth was parched after giving that lengthy speech on stage.
Xiao Yun nodded. She took what Gu Xiqiao said at face value. That was until she received a call from Wu Hongwen that night. It was only then that she realized Gu Xiqiao had muddied up the clear pond that was the international medical community. Renowned medical scholars from every corner of the globe were all rushing towards China in search of a new opportunity.
Gu Xiqiao downed the entire bottle of water in one go.
“Slow down. Is this the first sip of water you’ve ever taken in your life, jeez.” Xiao Yun looked down at her belly, scratching her head at where all that water went.
Gu Xiqiao recapped the bottle and began complaining. “I talked all morning and not a single soul passed me a bottle of water.”
That was because her audience had been thoroughly shocked by her speech.
“Little system, where’s her missing script?” Gu Xiqiao asked as she flawlessly dunked the bottle into a nearby bin.
By now, the system had more or less grown used to the intimidating aura permeating throughout the Imperial Capital; it was able to leave its original form in any given time now. It patrolled around the set for a while upon hearing Gu Xiqiao’s question before finally returning to give a report. “Beauty Qiao, it’s in a bag in the dressing room. I’ve just checked the owner of that bag. Seems like it belongs to—Peng Zixian?”
“Peng Zixian…” Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes and began thinking about her next move.
“Go fetch that script over.”
According to Xiao Yun, Peng Zixian was no commoner. She could expose Peng Zixian and her mischievous acts but no doubt, it would only serve to invite reprisals in the future. As Xiao Yun was happily working here, Gu Xiqiao did not hope to cause too much trouble for her friend.
After all, scheming rats like Peng Zixian were hard to avoid.
The system wanted to turn Gu Xiqiao’s order down but dared not do so. Could it get any lower than this? Being ordered to steal from someone else?! When was it designed to do such a lowly thing?
Still, it had no choice but to bow down to Gu Xiqiao’s intimidation.
Peng Zixian was in the middle of removing her makeup. Her bag was hung on one of the racks in the dressing room. None of the people in said room were able to detect the system. It flew right in front of their faces and proceeded to retrieve the script from Peng Zixian’s bag unnoticed.
The system placed the script in a trash can in front of Gu Xiqiao. With an emotionless expression, it said to Gu Xiqiao, “Praise me!”
Gu Xiqiao’s gaze remained fixated downwards. “Little system, I like you more this way!”
‘Half-assed response! 0/10 worst praise ever!’ thought the system to itself.
Ignoring the system’s protests, Gu Xiqiao wagged her finger at Xiao Le, gesturing for her to come over. Pointing down at the trash can, she said, “I remember Xiao Yun’s the female protagonist, no? Is this her script?”
Xiao Le did not expect to find the lost item here, especially after turning over the entire place while in search of Xiao Yun’s script. She nodded her head with an astonished facial expression. When did her script pop up here and why?
“Careful from now on.” Gu Xiqiao reminded her.
Xiao Yun was initially skeptical that her script had been found so quickly but she didn’t ask any more questions after seeing the deadpan look on Gu Xiqiao’s face.
Peng Zixian had just finished removing her makeup and changed into her own clothes. She saw Xiao Yun attentively memorizing her lines on the script immediately after stepping out of the dressing room. Xiao Yun’s next scene was scheduled to start at 1 pm. It wasn’t surprising to see an actress memorizing her lines before her scene, at least, in the eyes of the crew members around them.
And yet, Peng Zixian froze in her tracks after witnessing the scene. Wide-eyed, she stared at the script Xiao Yun was holding.
Before she could get a close look at the script, a figure popped up in front of her abruptly. Looking up, she came face-to-face with a bright and beautiful face.
“Miss Gu? I assume you’ve come to pay Xiao Yun a visit?” A smile unconsciously broke across Peng Zixian’s face.
Gu Xiqiao responded with a smile. “That’s right? Seems like you’re finished with your scenes?”
Her smile was bright and sunny and yet Peng Zixian felt an inexplicable fear swelling up in her unconscious mind. For some reason, she could sense that Gu Xiqiao was able to stare straight into her soul. But how was it possible? She had taken the extra step to remain as discreet as possible! Even her dear brother would not believe that she would do such a thing.
She felt a slight sense of relief when she remembered this.
“Yeah, I’ve completed all my scenes for today. If you’ll excuse me, Miss Gu.” Peng Zixian bowed slightly at Gu Xiqiao and left with her heels clacking at a brisk pace.
“Goodbye.” Gu Xiqiao rubbed her fingers together.
Peng Zixian and her manager were only a couple of steps away when suddenly—
Snap!
One of her beautifully crafted 9 centimeter-tall high heels suddenly snapped loudly into two parts, sending Peng Zixian head over heels. Everything happened in a split second; even her manager couldn’t register in time what had happened.
Peng Zixian was well-known in showbiz for being a well-refined noblewoman. At the very least, she was able to keep up that image in front of her fans, who gave her the nickname, “Miss Aristocrat”.
And now, she was sprawled out on the ground like a leaping frog, her hair in a total mess. The golden shot of her panties were on display for everyone to see as her legs were as far apart as they could go. To make matters worse, the sound of her fall had attracted the attention of the crew members around her. Their eyes were instantly filled with schadenfreude at the sight of Peng Zixian screwing up.
Why? Well, Peng Zixian enjoyed special treatment from the director of this web drama. No matter when she arrived on set, he would always hastily come up with some scenes for her to play in, putting every other actor on hold.
Xiao Yun had to wake up at 5 am every morning just to arrive here on time. Despite this, her scenes always had to be pushed back just for the sake of accommodating Peng Zixian. Every night, she had to slave away until 11 or 12 am before she was allowed back home. Many of her fellow co-workers were aware about this unjust phenomenon.
In comparison to the cool, stoic Xiao Yun, their dislike for Peng Zixian, who acted all high and mighty was far greater.
Seeing her in such a pitiful state was––so satisfying!
Peng Zixian could sense that she was being ridiculed from every direction. She was so filled with rage that her face was turning blue. She slapped away the director’s hand, who was offering to pick her up. With a hostile expression, she limped out of the main entrance. This was her first time being publicly humiliated like this!
“Moral of the story,” Gu Xiqiao said to Xiao Yun. “Pick better quality shoes to wear.”
Xiao Yun thought to herself, ‘Although I’m not as skilled in ancient martial arts as Yao Jiamu, didn’t I feel a surge of chi coming from her body just now?’
Still, she was clueless about Gu Xiqiao’s intentions for targeting Peng Zixian. Technically, this should be their first time meeting, no?
To her surprise, Gu Xiqiao waited patiently for Xiao Yun until it was nearly 11 pm when she was finally done with her scene.
While Xiao Yun was in the middle of her scene, Gu Xiqiao called Xiao Le, her assistant over. “Is it typical for her to work until so late at night?”
To be frank, she had already sensed Xiao Yun’s weakened mental strength just now. She knew a career in acting was no walk in the park. However, acting in a web drama should have been way easier as they did not have a fixed release date like a movie would. Even when Xiao Yun was working on ‘Empire Under Siege’, she was not as fatigued as she was right now!
Gu Xiqiao’s face darkened upon hearing the director’s order for a retake.
Finally, Xiao Yun’s last scene of the day came to an end. Whilst Xiao Yun was in the dressing room, changing clothes, Gu Xiqiao slowly snuck up on the director. On her way there, many of the friendly film crew and extras smiled and waved at her enthusiastically.
That’s right. In just a single afternoon, Gu Xiqiao had already won the hearts and minds of these people. Her popularity had already surged ahead of Xiao Yun’s. She was an attractive girl and her personality was bubbly and lovable. With just a snap of her fingers, she left them dumbfounded by how perfect she was.
“Director, I believe Xiao Yun’s acting was perfectly on point. Why did you have her repeat the scene nine whole times?” Gu Xiqiao asked in a genuinely curious tone.
Alarmed, the director spun around to face Gu Xiqiao. Upon closer inspection, she didn’t appear like she belonged to this industry. And so, he waved his hand in the air. “What do you know?! Xiao Yun’s facial expressions are problematic. Although this is technically a web drama, the quality of my production is firmly on par with cinema blockbusters! I might be strict with her but it’s for her own good! Else she’d come under fire of the diehard fans!”
His voice sounded impatient. He had just caught wind a few days ago that Peng Zixian was no ordinary actress. And it just so happened that she was assigned to his project. That, coupled with Tang Qingqiu’s sudden proposition to join forces solidified his suspicion that she was a powerful person. It was certainly a rare occasion for the Young Master Tang to visit such a small production team. As such, he paid extra attention whenever Peng Zixian was concerned.
As a director, his observational skill was perfectly described by the word ‘meticulous’. He had already sensed Peng Zixian’s contempt towards Xiao Yun ever since her arrival.
As a newcomer with no solid background, it didn’t take the director much effort to suppress her. Xiao Yun was forced to swallow her dissatisfaction, which allowed the director to step further over the line. The self-proclaimed boss was feeling more and more pissed off, seeing the blondie questioning him.
Still, Gu Xiqiao was even more pissed off at him!
Even Cheng Zhou found nothing wrong with Xiao Yun! The audacity of this scum to order her friend to repeat the scene nine times! Gu Xiqiao laughed coldly.
What kind of a sh*tshow had Xiang Kun forced Xiao Yun into accepting?! She rubbed her fingers across her phone. Since Xiao Yun was still busy removing her makeup, she decided to give Xiang Kun a call.
“Miss Gu?” Xiang Kun sounded surprised when he answered her call.
Gu Xiqiao did not skip the formalities. “Where have you been recently, Brother Kun?”
Xiang Kun went silent as he peered down at the beads on his wrist. Thinking that she probably was also from the ancient martial arts world, he replied, “I’m in the ancient martial arts world. Seems like we’re going through a major change here.”
Gu Xiqiao sounded like she had only called to ask where he was, and then ended the call abruptly, which left Xiang Kun puzzled.
“What happened?” asked Tang Qingqiu who was standing beside him.
Xiang Kun’s face was as clueless as he was. “I don’t know. But I’m surprised that she and Xiao Yun are still on set at this hour… I have to call up my old friend. I didn’t expect a web drama to have such a tightly-packed schedule.”
Just as he finished his sentence, Tang Qingqiu left with a key in his hand.
“Hey! Why are you leaving now?! How should I explain this to Grandpa Tang?!” Xiang Kun yelled as Tang Qingqiu’s back slowly receded into the distance. “… how odd.”
The filming site of the web drama Xiao Yun was playing in was situated rather close to A University. It could be considered a high-end studio, with an all-natural setting. The only issue with this place was its limited parking space. Cars could only be parked on the opposite side of the street.
Gu Xiqiao did not drive here today. She hitched a ride on the car that Xiao Yun was provided with by her company.
Unfortunately, her car decided that today was a good day to die. It’s engine would not start no matter how much they tried.
“How unlucky can I be?!” Xiao Yun’s jaw was agape. “You know what? Let’s take a taxi home, Er Qiao.”
This place wasn’t as developed as the central business district; taxis were few and far between in such a location. They had to resort to hailing a ride through an app.
[Host, a wire in the engine compartment has been disconnected. It’s fairly easy to reconnect it.]
The system’s voice echoed through her mind.
Gu Xiqiao glanced at Xiao Yun, who was scrolling through the app, looking for an empty ride. She initially wanted to pop open the engine cover and reconnect said wire but then changed her mind last minute. “No need for that, Xiao Yun.”
“Huh?” Xiao Yun put down her phone and looked up with a confused expression.
“Let’s go hitchhiking.” Gu Xiqiao raised her hand to wave at a passing Mercedes Benz.
The car was already slowing down when the duo entered the driver’s view. Then, as the driver’s window came rolling down, a handsome, familiar face popped out. “It’s pretty late, Miss Gu. I’m surprised to find you still out and about at this hour.”
It was Tang Qingqiu.
“Mr. Tang, Xiao Yun’s car is busted. Would you be so kind as to send her back to her apartment?” asked Gu Xiqiao politely.
With a stern expression, Tang Qingqiu replied, “Why of course.”
“Great. You should get going then.” Gu Xiqiao looked back at Xiao Yun, who remained frozen in her tracks. “Brother Jiang’s coming in a jiffy. You should leave with Mr. Tang, your apartment’s part of his route anyways.”
Watching as the car drove away slowly, the smile on Gu Xiqiao’s face faded. “Little system, you said there were surveillances around here?”
“That’s right, Beauty Qiao. I’ve detected a couple of surveillance devices planted around Xiao Yun’s car. Seems like they were deliberately left to observe Xiao Yun’s actions. Would you like me to jam her signal?” asked the system who floated in front of her face.
“Jam her signal?” Gu Xiqiao rubbed her chin. “Nah, let her be.”
Gu Xiqiao would have to spare her if she was stopped.
And so, the next few days were rather normal for Xiao Yun. She was allowed to leave by seven or eight in the evening.
Until the third day.
Tonight, everyone was forced to stay on set until two in the morning.
“Sister Yun, why do I feel so gloomy?” Both of them had never been forced to work past midnight before. From all the work, Xiao Yun started to feel a tingling numbness spreading from her arm.
“It’s alright.” Xiao Yun had only blinked once when Gu Xiqiao suddenly appeared by her car. She was momentarily taken aback. Why was she here? She hurried over. “Er Qiao–”
Before she could start speaking, both of her eyes closed shut and onto the ground she collapsed.
Within the pitch-dark room, a low, hoarse voice announced, “Young mistress, I have brought them over.”
Slowly, the person spun around on her chair. Her soft voice pierced the silence. “Why are there three people?”
“I was afraid that these two would alert others about this, so I brought them here.”
Click!
The lights in the room came on. Surprise surprise, the woman seated across the room was none other than Peng Zixian!
“You have done well, Peng Da. Now, get out.” Peng Zixian was satisfied with this bodyguard of hers. He was selected by her beloved big brother due to his superhuman abilities. The reason why she picked him for the job was due to rumours about Xiao Yun being incredibly powerful.
Over the past few years, countless poor souls who had crossed Peng Zixian were silenced by Peng Da, her trusty bodyguard.
There were three individuals in the room. Peng Zixian slowly walked over to Xiao Yun’s side and kicked the chair she was tied to, over. Despite being unconscious, her beauty was unmistakable. The dagger she held tightly in her hand glimmered underneath the ceiling lights.
An evil look surfaced on Peng Zixian’s face when she raised the arm that was holding the pointy dagger.
Right before she plunged the dagger down into Xiao Yun’s body though, her hand froze up mid-air. Peng Zixian was stunned. Xiao Yun, who she thought was supposed to be unconscious opened her eyes. That look in her eyes was so dark that it frightened even the murderous Peng Zixian.
“This isn’t funny, not one bit, little system.” Seeing Xiao Yun, who was feigning being unconscious, wake up, she too got back on her feet.
The system spirit, who had just finished scouting out the place, flew back into the room. “Seems like fun to me, Miss Gu. There’s a bunch of bodyguards outside. You can fight your way through this.”
Peng Zixian was wide-eyed upon realizing that these three had successfully deceived her. Xiao Yun had a vice-like grip, clamping down on her wrist. No matter how hard she struggled, she failed to break through her deathgrip.
“Miss Peng, I don’t recall ever having a feud with you.” Xiao Yun loosened her grip. Because of how weak her stance was, she fell flat onto her back the moment that happened.
She looked up the moment she heard Xiao Yun’s words. “No feud? We’re born to be enemies!” Peng Zixian cackled as she struggled back onto her feet. “Xiao Yun! As long as you remain in the Imperial Capital, you will never escape my grip! Come in Peng Da!”
Enemies? Xiao Yun’s jaw almost dropped to the ground. She had never seen such a crazy woman before. When had they become enemies?!
Could it be due to her being picked as the protagonist of this web drama? But if Peng Zixian wanted to play as the protagonist, she could just pressure the director into choosing her with little to no effort, right?
Xiao Yun scratched her head at this problem.
Peng Zixian’s eyes were toxic, looking at the innocent Xiao Yun. “Why do you get his attention by doing so little?! I can stand in front of him and he won’t even spare me a single glimpse! What else do you have going for you apart from your face?!”
“Him?” Xiao Yun located the keyword in a matter of seconds.
Peng Zixian had no intentions of answering her question as Peng Da had already burst into the room. Peng Zixian slowly backed off. Standing in her nine centimeter-high heels, she was slightly taller than Xiao Yun, who was wearing flat-bottomed shoes. Her voice sounded hysterical when she screeched, “Since you’ve woken up, that’s even better! I want you to see using your own eyes, see the fame, wealth and your own friends slowly distance themselves from you! I’ll ruin your image! I’ll let him see your true colors! See if he’d still accept you after that!”
Xiao Yun could feel the pressure from Peng Da the moment he stepped into the room. Still, she was even more surprised by Peng Zixian.
Peng Zixian, who was well-mannered every second of the day had now seemingly lost her rational mind completely.
“Bring her to me Peng Da!” It was Peng Da’s turn to move now.
Peng Da nodded to his mistress’ command before approaching Xiao Yun. With each step, she could feel his aura growing more intense. Xiao Yun looked up at him with dread in her eyes. She had experienced the same aura back when she sparred with Yao Jiamu.
“Tsk.” Suddenly, a figure appeared behind Peng Da’s back. He swiftly spun around to find himself staring at a pair of bright eyes.
“You’re a pretty brave one aren’t you? Using ancient martial arts against me and all.” Chi expanded from the tip of her fingers as she said that.
Suddenly, it felt to Peng Da as if a heavy mountain was pressing down on his shoulders. With fear in his eyes, he yelled at Peng Zixian, “Go! Young mistress! Run!”
He had gotten a taste of what’s to come from this young girl standing before him. Peng Da was considered by many as a first-rate master back in the ancient martial arts world. And yet, this girl was still able to immobilize him. No doubt, she must be an ancient martial artist herself! He had never felt so vulnerable, even when facing off with that brat back in the ancient martial arts world! This could only mean one thing! She was stronger than that girl from before!
Peng Da’s heart sank when he arrived at this conclusion. Peng Zixian had made a grave mistake, crossing such a person!
Up until now, Peng Da remained largely invincible against his opponents. He was Peng Zixian’s ultimate weapon. Seeing her weapon being put out of service so easily, Peng Zixian shuffled backwards out of fear. Gu Xiqiao picked up the dagger that fell out of her hand. Now towering over her, she asked, “What were you planning to do against Xiao Yun?”
Peng Zixian’s fingers started trembling. This was also her first time being confronted like this. These past few days have been crappy for her and her schemes. Due to this, the resentment in her heart had slowly built up. Still, her trump card was not Peng Da—it was her identity, her family. Glaring back at Gu Xiqiao, she proudly proclaimed, “I am a member of the Peng family! You can’t touch me!”
She was the descendant of their country’s founding fathers. Nearly everyone in her family had high-ranking positions in either the military or in the government. Because of their grasp over the country’s military, the head of her family was regarded by many as a powerful warlord in the Imperial Capital.
“The Peng family?” Gu Xiqiao raised her eyebrows. “Very well, I’ll let you off this time.” Let’s see if your family comes grovelling at my feet for forgiveness, or choose inevitable death!
“Don’t you regret this!” yelled Peng Zixian as she ran out of the room.
In her mind was a set of instructions that was, go home! Find Big Brother! And tell him about the humiliation she had suffered today! Then, these two would finally know what the meaning ‘hell on earth’ was!