254: Chapter 255 Punishing the Green Tea Girl

When Lin Muyang's figure truly entered Gu Yuanyuan's field of vision, despite having rehearsed this meeting countless times in her mind and preparing herself psychologically, the tension and throbbing originating from the depths of her soul still flooded over her like a tide. She felt her heartbeat racing as if it were about to leap out of her chest, her palms sweated slightly, and even her fingertips felt a bit cold.

But she forcibly suppressed all her unease, constantly cheering herself up in her mind: This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! One couldn't find another man in the entire world more dazzling, powerful, and possessing more infinite potential than Lin Muyang! If she couldn't leave a deep impression on him today, or even establish a sliver of a connection, she feared she would never be able to look at any other man for the rest of her life—having seen a true god, who would ever fall for a mortal again?

In particular, when she saw Gu Shuanglin standing beside Lin Muyang, with a natural closeness and even occasional eye contact between them, a strong sense of resentment and jealousy bit at her heart like a venomous snake. Why? Why could Gu Shuanglin, a woman who could only summon small animals, gain Lin Muyang's favor? In terms of looks, she believed she didn't lose by a hair; in terms of figure, she was even more hot and confident; in terms of talent, she was the SS-rank Lightning Mage who had caused a sensation upon awakening!

Although her level had been overtaken by Gu Shuanglin now, that was because of the tilting of resources! If she had the resources Gu Shuanglin had... no, if she could climb onto Lin Muyang, what would that small level gap matter? She had to seize this opportunity; she absolutely could not lose to Gu Shuanglin!

She quickly reviewed the strategy she had agreed upon with her father before coming: using the pretext of delivering top-tier new tea to the tea-obsessed Senior to appear here would be perfectly reasonable and wouldn't seem forced. Then, she would 'accidentally' discover Lin Muyang was also there, express surprise and admiration, and bridge the distance.

The most crucial step—while serving the tea, she would pretend to have a slip of the hand and splash a little tea onto Lin Muyang. That way, she could naturally approach him with profound apologies, personally wipe it off for him, create an opportunity for physical contact, and use it as an excuse to offer compensation or help with cleaning, thereby gaining a pretext for subsequent contact. The plan seemed simple, even a bit cliché, but in her view, when dealing with men, especially young ones, sometimes the more direct and clumsy the method, the easier it was to lower their guard and trigger a protective or forgiving instinct.

“Gu Yuanyuan?” Gu Shuanglin looked at her cousin before her, whose makeup was exquisite and whose smile was overly sweet. Her face remained expressionless, and her voice was flat and waveless, betraying no emotion. Gu Shuanglin had always kept a respectful distance from this cousin, who had loved to compete with her and try to outdo her in everything since childhood.

During their student days, she compared grades, popularity, and would even flirt with and seduce boys who liked Gu Shuanglin, only to discard them like worn-out shoes once she succeeded, just to prove her charm. After their class awakening, although Gu Shuanglin held a steady lead in level thanks to the advantages of being a Summoner, and Gu Yuanyuan didn't dare be too outrageous on the surface, her private petty actions and sour remarks had never stopped. Her sudden appearance here now, dressed so meticulously, made her purpose self-evident. “Grandpa Senior is inside organizing tools; go straight in and find him,” Gu Shuanglin said, wanting to avoid further entanglement and directly issuing a guest-eviction order.

“Okay~ Thank you for the reminder, Sister Shuanglin.” Gu Yuanyuan acted as if she hadn't heard the distance in Gu Shuanglin's tone, her smile unchanging and her voice delicate. Just then, she seemed to suddenly notice the person beside Gu Shuanglin, her gaze naturally turning toward Lin Muyang.

Immediately, an expression of extreme surprise and admiration blossomed on her face. Her beautiful eyes widened instantly, filled with disbelief and excitement. Even her voice rose a bit due to the excitement, carrying a perfectly measured tremble: “Oh my god! You... could you be... Lin Muyang?! The Lord Lin Muyang who saved countless people single-handedly in the Bear Country and is revered by the whole world? I’m not dreaming, am I? You are my idol! I have always admired you so much!”

While expressing her admiration with words that were almost incoherent from excitement, she carried the tray. On the tray were six cups of freshly brewed tea, the steam curling with a fragrance that clearly indicated its high value. She moved toward Lin Muyang with somewhat flustered steps, as if she were overwhelmed by the surprise and didn't know what to do with herself.

Then, about two or three steps away from Lin Muyang, her feet suddenly stumbled. A short cry of alarm escaped her lips as her body pitched forward uncontrollably. The tray in her hands was also thrust forward violently. Looking at the trajectory, the scalding tea was about to splash right onto Lin Muyang’s chest!

However, from beginning to end, Lin Muyang’s expression didn't change in the slightest; even his gaze didn't flicker once. He merely gave Gu Yuanyuan a calm, indifferent glance with those eyes that were deep as the starry sky and seemed capable of seeing through everything.

He didn't make any obvious movement, didn't even raise a hand or step back.

At the very instant Gu Yuanyuan was about to fall and the tea was about to spill, an invisible, gentle yet irresistible force appeared out of thin air. Like a precision mechanical arm, it instantly stabilized her leaning body and caught the tilting tray. Gu Yuanyuan felt as if she had crashed into a soft yet elastic wall of air. Her downward momentum and fall came to a dead stop. Even the tea cups on the tray only wobbled slightly, the tea rippling with faint waves, but not a single drop spilled.

Gu Yuanyuan was first startled, then a complex mix of disappointment and secret joy surged within her. The disappointment was that the most crucial step of her plan had failed, losing her the chance for close contact and an apology. The secret joy was that Lin Muyang had helped her! This at least showed he had noticed her, and he didn't seem to dislike her 'accident'? Perhaps he even had a tiny bit of interest in her? Otherwise, given his status, why bother with an accidental stranger like her?

She even began to fantasize: Did Lin Muyang see her outstanding beauty and feel pity, which was why he moved to save her? Next, she could take the opportunity to fall into his arms, or at least have him personally help her up, and then—zero-distance contact! She could almost smell the clean, crisp scent on Lin Muyang...

However, this secret joy and fantasy lasted for less than a second.

Because she quickly sensed something was wrong. The sensation from the force holding her body and the tray was not the warmth and softness of a human body, but a cold, hard, and even slightly rough feeling? Moreover, there seemed to be a faint, indescribable scent, like ancient bones or the dust of a tomb?

Confused and uneasy, she slightly opened her eyes, which had been closed in 'panic,' and looked toward the source of the force—at her waist and beneath the arm holding the tray.

“AHHH—!!!”

A short, sharp scream filled with extreme terror erupted from Gu Yuanyuan’s throat, only to be halfway choked off by sheer fright, turning into a strange, broken-voiced wheeze.

The long, powerful arm of Lin Muyang she had envisioned, or his warm and solid embrace, had not appeared at all!

Currently holding her body steady so she wouldn't fall, and using another bony palm to firmly support the tea tray, was none other than a tall, pale, and skeletal Skeleton Warrior! Those hollow eye sockets were facing her face, just dozens of centimeters away, with two points of flickering, cold blue soul-fire within them, as if silently mocking her wishful thinking and clumsy performance.

The Skeleton Warrior's bones gleamed with a ghastly white luster under the sun. Faint black energy seemed to swirl around its joints, and a cold breath of death blew in her face, instantly making her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. Her scalp tingled, and every hair on her body stood on end!

Fear almost suffocated her, and her mind went blank. But what made her collapse even more was: where did this skeleton come from? Was it summoned by Lin Muyang? Isn't Lin Muyang a Summoner? Can a Summoner summon skeletons? Although there seemed to be similar summoning schools, this skeleton appeared too eerily and suddenly! And why did Lin Muyang use a skeleton to support her? Had he seen through her trick and was using this method to humiliate and warn her?

After the extreme fear came uncontrollable shame and anger. But Gu Yuanyuan wasn't a completely brainless bimbo after all; she forcibly suppressed her nearly out-of-control emotions and the urge to immediately release a lightning spell to shatter this skeleton. She realized that this skeleton was likely Lin Muyang’s doing! If she attacked the skeleton, it would be equivalent to attacking Lin Muyang! She couldn't afford the consequences!

She had to apologize immediately, explain it was an accident, and salvage her image! She squeezed out an expression that looked worse than crying, trying to appear 'pitiful after a fright,' and her lips trembled as she prepared to speak: “Sor... sorry, Lord Lin Muyang, I...”

However, before she could finish her sentence.

That silent Skeleton Warrior, with the bony palm holding the tea tray, very slightly but with very clear intent, tilted at a small angle to one side.

Splash—!

All six cups of scalding, premium-scented Snow-Peak Cloud Mist tea, not a drop left, were precisely and unerringly splashed down from the tray, drenching Gu Yuanyuan’s meticulously styled hair, her exquisitely made-up face, and her expensive dress!

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The scalding tea seeped through her thin clothing, stinging her skin. Expensive tea leaves clung to her hair and face, and the tea liquid streamed down her cheeks and neck, drenching her from head to toe. Her carefully applied makeup was instantly ruined; her hair plastered wetly against her scalp and cheeks, and her dress clung tightly to her body, outlining a pathetic figure. She froze in place, like a peacock caught in a downpour, feathers disheveled, not a trace of her former alluring charm remaining.

"My apologies." A cold, calm, emotionless, and even slightly indifferent female voice sounded from beside Lin Muyang. Everyone looked toward the source and saw the Necromancer girl, Jialiya, who had been standing quietly behind Lin Muyang, had at some point slightly raised her slender, pale fingers, a wisp of nearly invisible gray mist swirling around her fingertips. Her ice-blue eyes calmly watched the wretched Gu Yuanyuan, her tone as flat as if she were commenting on the bad weather: "A skeleton's hands are all bone; the joints aren't very flexible, so it's a bit unsteady with things. I didn't scare you, did I?"

The words sounded like an apology, but paired with her expressionless face, her flat tone, and the impossibly accidental scene before them, anyone could hear the undisguised mockery and coldness within.

Gu Yuanyuan was completely stunned, her mind blank. That skeleton did it on purpose! It was absolutely on purpose! It was controlled by that silver-haired, impossibly beautiful, icy girl! Was she standing up for Lin Muyang? Or did she just dislike her? The scalding tea and the cold sense of humiliation intertwined, making her tremble with rage. Her face flushed red and then paled; the image she had carefully maintained completely collapsed.

"Ah... no, it's fine... I was just careless..." Gu Yuanyuan forced the words through her teeth, her face feeling hot—she didn't know if it was from the scalding tea or from shame and anger. She subconsciously looked at Lin Muyang, hoping to see even the slightest hint of pity, apology, or at least a look of amusement on his face. However, Lin Muyang's gaze didn't even linger on her for a second, as if she were just an insignificant little episode that had dirtied the floor.

What made Gu Yuanyuan feel even more suffocated was that she only now truly saw Jialiya's appearance. Her attention had been entirely on Lin Muyang before, but looking closely now, the girl's face was so exquisitely perfect it didn't seem mortal. Her long silver hair was like a waterfall of ice and snow, her ice-blue eyes as deep as polar cold pools, her skin translucent and fair, her slender figure possessing a mysterious sense of power. That cold, aloof temperament, as if she were untainted by dust yet commanded death, instantly reduced Gu Yuanyuan, who prided herself on her beauty, to dust! Compared to her, even Gu Shuanglin seemed to lack a bit of this unique and lethal attraction. An indescribable sense of frustration and jealousy grew wildly in her heart like poisonous weeds.

Before Gu Yuanyuan could recover from this double blow, an even more terrifying scene unfolded.

Jialiya didn't even spare her a second glance; she simply raised that slender hand—the one that had just controlled the skeleton—casually and elegantly, and made a slight beckoning gesture toward the sky above the courtyard.

The next second, the winds and clouds shifted!

The previously clear sky suddenly gathered dark clouds, the temperature plummeted, and a bone-chilling cold permeated the air, with tiny ice crystals even condensing in the atmosphere. An ancient, desolate dragon's roar, filled with endless majesty and deathly silence, seemed to come from the depths of the underworld, resounding through the heavens!

Immediately after, under the terrified gaze of Gu Yuanyuan and some Gu clan members in the distance who had been alarmed, the outline of a behemoth rapidly condensed and appeared in the low-hanging clouds!

What a terrifying existence it was! Over fifty meters in length, its entire body was composed of grim white bones, each bone thick and robust, gleaming with a cold, metallic luster. In the eye sockets of the skeletal dragon burned two raging, ice-blue soul fires, each over a meter in diameter, looking down upon the earth with cold ruthlessness.

Jialiya moved her will slightly. The bone dragon, hovering in the low sky like an embodiment of death and winter, lowered its head and cast its gaze of ice-blue soul fire toward the tiny, soaked, terrified human female below.

"No... don't..." Gu Yuanyuan finally realized something, and boundless fear gripped her heart. She wanted to scream, wanted to run, wanted to cast a magic shield, but it was all too late.

The bone dragon didn't even make an obvious attack; it simply, ever so slightly, breathed a "breath" laced with ice-blue frost toward her direction.

Whoosh—!

There was no violent hurricane, no deafening roar. Only a cold current, condensed to the extreme and cold enough to freeze the soul, swept over like an invisible glacier, instantly engulfing Gu Yuanyuan and the ten-meter radius around her!

Gu Yuanyuan couldn't even react; she only felt her vision filled with endless ice-blue. The next moment, a bone-chilling cold that seemed capable of freezing even her thoughts instantly permeated every inch of her skin, muscles, bones, and even her soul! She remained in her terrified, turning-to-run posture as thick, crystalline ice instantly condensed on her body, and this ice spread and thickened inward at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In just two or three breaths, a lifelike humanoid ice sculpture over two meters tall stood in her place. Inside the ice, Gu Yuanyuan's wide eyes still held the remnants of her final terror and disbelief; the tea on her face mixed with her ruined makeup was frozen into comical icicles, and her soaked clothes clung to her body, also frozen into hard blocks of ice.

She was completely encased in ice. Although her consciousness remained, she could clearly feel the horror and despair of being imprisoned by absolute cold, unable to even blink! She desperately tried to mobilize the lightning magic within her, but her magic circuits seemed frozen too, operating with extreme difficulty and slowness, completely unable to break through this rock-hard mysterious ice seal in a short time.

Lin Muyang hadn't frowned once from start to finish, nor had he said a single word for Gu Yuanyuan. It was as if what had happened before them was just a trivial matter, or perhaps a minor, deserved punishment for an unruly child.

He didn't even spare the ice sculpture another glance, as if what was sealed inside wasn't a person, but insignificant trash. He naturally reached out and gently took Gu Shuanglin's small hand, which was slightly cool from nervousness. Gu Shuanglin was stunned for a moment, then felt the warmth and firmness from his palm. Her cheeks flushed slightly, but her heart was filled with a sense of security and a touch of sweetness. She didn't struggle, letting Lin Muyang hold it.

"Let's go." Lin Muyang said lightly, his voice calm and ripple-free.

Then, amidst Gu Shuanglin's soft exclamation, he pulled her hand, applied a slight force with his feet, and the two leaped up lightly as if weightless, landing steadily on the broad back of the bone dragon hovering in mid-air, which radiated a terrifying chill. The dragon's back, composed of white bones, was cold and hard, yet exceptionally stable.

Seeing this, a faint, almost invisible look of satisfaction flashed in Jialiya's ice-blue eyes. She gently took the hand of Gu Xiaoyu, who was watching in a daze with her mouth in an 'O' shape, and with a tap of her foot, an invisible force of death lifted them, and they also floated lightly onto the dragon's back, landing behind Lin Muyang. The angel Vivian, needing no reminder, had already folded her wings and obediently drifted down to the other side of Lin Muyang.

Receiving its master's will, the bone dragon slightly adjusted its massive white-bone body, and its huge, skeletal dragon wings flapped violently!

Boom!

There was no violent air shockwave, but an even stronger chill, accompanied by fine ice crystals, spread in all directions. Carrying the five, the giant dragon soared into the sky, its speed as fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a black dot, disappearing into the high-altitude clouds, leaving behind only the spreading cold and the humanoid ice sculpture that looked exceptionally glaring and comical amidst the ice.

Inside the ice sculpture, Gu Yuanyuan's consciousness struggled in the boundless cold and darkness. Boundless fear, shame, and a sense of humiliation from being completely ignored gnawed at her soul like poisonous insects. Especially when Lin Muyang left without even glancing at her, yet so naturally took Gu Shuanglin's hand... the stark contrast made her almost mad with jealousy and hatred.

"Gu Shuanglin!!! It must be her! It must be this bitch who spoke ill of me in front of Lin Muyang! Sowing discord! Otherwise, how could Lin Muyang treat me like this?!" She screamed madly and silently in her heart, transferring all her resentment onto Gu Shuanglin. She completely forgot that she was the one who had harbored malicious intent and schemes, and she selectively ignored Lin Muyang's all-seeing gaze and Jialiya's ruthless strike. She only knew that her carefully planned encounter had become a complete farce and humiliation, and she blamed it all on Gu Shuanglin.

What she didn't know was that if it weren't for her surname Gu, and if it weren't for the relationship between Gu Shuanglin, the Gu Group, and Senior, given Lin Muyang's character and Jialiya's methods, based on just that little scheme and calculation of hers, she would have long since met a fate far worse than being frozen into an ice sculpture. To have been able to play tricks in front of Lin Muyang and still remain unharmed was already a tremendous stroke of luck.