Mu Qing Ying's face turned pale, she tried resisting, but Mu Xiao forced her into his arms.
"What should I do?" Mu Qing Ying was confused. At that moment, she really didn't know what to think. She didn't have feelings for Mu Xiao, and she only considered him an assistant. But without Mu Xiao, she wouldn't be able to make imperial weapons and she'd lose face at the competition.
"How shameless." someone shouted at that moment. Mu Xiao suddenly flung himself away from Mu Qing Ying.
Mu Qing Ying was also startled, so she started running away. She looked around, but she didn't know who was talking.
"Qing Ying, who's that?" asked Mu Xiao, following her.
"I don't know." said Mu Qing Ying, shaking her head. The wind suddenly felt cold now. She looked at Mu Xiao and said, "Mu Xiao, I'll forget everything that happened tonight, and you can continue being my assistant. However, if you try to touch me again, I'll get angry and I'll drop out of the tournament after letting you go."
Mu Qing Ying wasn't stupid. She understood why Mu Xiao was acting that way. Someone had shouted, and it was her wake-up call. She knew that she couldn't sell her body to participate in the competition, she was more willing to give up if things were put that way.
Mu Xiao remained silent and lowered his head, but secretly he was furious. Who was ruining his plan this time?
"Lin Feng, it must have been Lin Feng." thought Mu Xiao. After thinking about it, he raised his head and said, "Miss Qing Ying, I understand, from now on I'll make sure such things won't happen again. I'll just stay with you and protect you."
Mu Xiao was now pretending to be a protector. He knew that no matter what he'd say, nothing would work, so a protector was still a better status than a guard.
"Go and have a rest. In the future, you can't come into my room without my permission." said Mu Qing Ying in a cold way.
"Roger, Miss." said Mu Xiao bowing. Then he went back to his room and closed the door. He felt like crying, but he was so angry that he couldn't do it. Lin Feng had ruined his dream of making his dream girl fall in love with him. It was either Lin Feng or Mu Lin Xue, however, the voice they had heard was a woman's voice.
Just like Mu Xiao had guessed, the voice he had heard was Lin Feng's. They hadn't gone too far, so Lin Feng and Lin Xue had heard them after they left.
Mu Qing Ying glanced around and then went back to her room. She didn't know who had shouted but she also thought that it might have been Lin Feng. She didn't understand why he was helping her though.
"Qing Ying is too naive and sensitive." whispered Mu Lin Xue, "You guessed right, Mu Xiao really is evil."
Lin Feng smiled but said nothing. He had gone through a lot in his life, so he understood people.
"You've probably done such things in the past too!" said Mu Lin Xue, laughing.
Lin Feng rolled his eyes and then smiled at her. "If you think so, I can do it to you too."
Mu Lin Xue smiled teasingly and said, "If you do that too me, I won't reject you like Qing Ying rejected Mu Xiao though."
"Eh?" Lin Feng smiled wryly. She was somewhat cold to other people, but she was kind and gentle to him, she even joked with him.
"But thank you." Mu Lin Xue said after she saw Lin Feng looking embarrassed.
Lin Feng shrugged, he didn't mind. He didn't like Mu Qing Ying but they weren't enemies either. If Mu Lin Xue hadn't cared about Mu Qing Ying, Lin Feng wouldn't have done anything for her. She was old enough to make her own decisions after all.
"Good thing she came back to her senses in the end, otherwise, nobody would have been able to help her." said Mu Lin Xue.
In the following days, Mu Xiao did his best to help Mu Qing Ying. They focused, and with more sweat, they made another imperial weapon. On the other-hand, Lin Feng and Mu Lin Xue didn't make any weapons, they just chatted, laughed, sunbathed, and slept.
Finally, it was the day of the tournament. Mu Lin Xue came out of her room, looking at Lin Feng who was lying down in the grass with his eyes closed. She smiled and said, "Lin Feng, the clan called everyone, so we have to go."
"I'm coming too?" asked Lin Feng. Even though he had spent a lot of time there, he had only stayed with Mu Qing Ying or Mu Lin Xue. He felt like a stranger in the Mu Clan.
"Of course, they're going to choose the people who will participate in the tournament. We're a team, so we have to go!" said Mu Lin Xue smiling.
Lin Feng smiled wryly and stood up. Once again, many people were going to pay attention to him. Mu Lin Xue had a higher status in the clan, so him appearing with her might cause some issues.
"I have no choice then." said Lin Feng indifferently.
"You almost never go out, instead you work so hard to help me." said Mu Lin Xue in a gentle way. Lin Feng's deployment spells were incredibly powerful, and he kept helping her without anyone else knowing. She almost felt guilty.
She knew that if she raised these concerns he'd just say, "I don't mind being discreet." So, she didn't say anything more, instead the two of them walked away with Mu Qing Ying and Mu Xiao behind them.
"Miss Lin Xue." said Mu Qing Ying. Mu Lin Xue turned around and smiled at Mu Qing Ying, "Qing Ying, you should come with us."
"Alright." Mu Qing Ying felt guilty because of what happened the other night. Even after that, Mu Lin Xue was still so nice to her.
"Miss Lin Xue, why is he…?" asked Mu Qing Ying, glancing at Lin Feng. Why was he coming with her?
"He's my assistant, of course he's coming with me." said Mu Lin Xue smiling. The tournament was going to start soon, so she no longer needed to keep it a secret. Before, she used to hide that fact because she feared someone from the clan would try to harm him. Though, if she had known how strong Lin Feng was from the beginning, she might have done everything differently.
"Your assistant?" Mu Qing Ying looked dumbstruck. Lin Feng was her assistant?
"Indeed." said Mu Lin Xue nodding. Mu Lin Xue was a genius in the clan, her fire, her deployment spells, her weapons, everything about her was incredible. Of course, nobody thought she was stupid, so her choosing Lin Feng must have meant that…? It meant that Mu Lin Xue was stronger with Lin Feng than by herself.
"How!" thought Mu Qing Ying. She was still under the impression that Lin Feng's deployment spells were very weak.
Mu Qing Ying glanced at Mu Xiao, but Mu Xiao avoided her gaze. He looked like child who knew he'd done something wrong but didn't want to admit it. She had the feeling that if she asked about it, it would affect their cooperation, and he couldn't do that to Mu Qing Ying before the tournament.
"How… Could Lin Feng's deployment spells be more powerful than Mu Xiao's? Then…" Mu Qing Ying's thoughts were chaotic. She felt like she had been fooled. On that day, Qing Ying had been pleasantly surprised by Mu Xiao, but maybe he had actually taken credit for Lin Feng's talisman?