"Junior Brother." Fei Qingsu reached out to steady Li Xirui, who was on the verge of collapsing.
In the original plot, the third male lead was a fool and his money, who would only abandon the female lead once he discovered she had defected to the enemy. Fei Qingsu believed this man was still worth saving.
"Senior Brother, I..." Li Xirui looked up at the Eldest Senior Brother, whose refined features made him look like a deity.
Since Li Xirui had joined the sect, the Eldest Senior Brother had been like an elder to him; whenever he encountered bottlenecks in his cultivation, he had always turned to him for guidance. At some point, however, he had begun to view his Eldest Senior Brother as a romantic rival. When he learned that the Junior Sister favored him, he had even secretly delighted in the fact that he had surpassed the Eldest Senior Brother.
"Junior Brother, are you alright? Love is the most painful of all things, but with me here, I promise you won’t be treated unjustly."
As Li Xirui looked at Fei Qingsu, his words felt like a refreshing rain soothing his soul. He realized he had been wrong. The Eldest Senior Brother had always been gentle and kind. He shouldn’t have harbored negative feelings toward him just because of the Junior Sister.
"Look at you, Junior Brother, you’ve grown so thin. Is it because you’ve run out of spirit stones? I have plenty here..." Fei Qingsu lied through his teeth.
Feeling the Eldest Senior Brother’s genuine concern, Li Xirui was even more moved. It was often said that cultivators were cold-blooded—and Li Xirui had certainly seen enough evidence of that—but the Eldest Senior Brother was the only one who remained truly sincere.
"Junior Brother, did you spend all your spirit stones on the Junior Sister? How many did you give her?" Fei Qingsu asked with an expression of righteous indignation.
"Thirty... thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones."
"Junior Sister, who finds it easy to earn money? The monthly allowance for our inner sect disciples is enough to sustain our cultivation; how could you spend someone else’s spirit stones so recklessly?" Fei Qingsu frowned, his tone stern as he looked at Gu Tiantian.
Gu Tiantian stared at Fei Qingsu, her eyes wide with shock and a hint of injury. "Eldest Senior Brother, he gave them to me of his own free will. What did I do wrong? What has gotten into you lately? You’ve changed—you wouldn't have spoken to me like this before. You’re so cold now."
As she spoke, her eyes gradually reddened, tears welling up and threatening to spill over.
Watching Gu Tiantian’s pathetic act, Fei Qingsu felt nothing but coldness. It was a classic move for a female protagonist: first deflect responsibility, then turn the tables. The core of her strategy was to refuse to listen to reason and insist that everything was everyone else's fault.
"Junior Sister, I haven't changed. I only want you to understand that spirit stones are not easily come by. We should cherish every single one and use them to improve our strength. Besides, Junior Brother, was it truly your own wish to give them to her?"
Gu Tiantian shot a surreptitious glare at Li Xirui. *It’s all his fault. If he hadn't shown up, the Eldest Senior Brother would never be acting like this.*
Li Xirui caught that look. He had originally intended to leave things with a shred of dignity, but that glance changed his mind.
"You clearly told me you had feelings for me. I only kept giving you those things because I considered you my future dao companion." It was in that moment that Li Xirui felt he finally saw Gu Tiantian clearly. The thread that had been controlling him like a puppet snapped.
[Female protagonist halo reduced by 20%.]
Hearing Li Xirui’s words, Gu Tiantian could no longer hold back her tears. She choked out, "But... but I just like those things! I didn't force you to buy them for me. Besides, you were the one pursuing me; isn't it only natural for you to give me gifts?"
The female protagonist was moving the goalposts again.
"So, Junior Sister, if you didn't have feelings for Junior Brother Li, why did you intentionally lead him on to spend his money? Why did you deceive him? Have you forgotten the vows you took when you entered this sect?" Fei Qingsu delivered three lethal questions in succession.
"Eldest Senior Brother, I didn't mean to."
Just crocodile tears.
"I’m sorry, Senior Brother Li. I was wrong. Can you forgive me?" Seeing the Eldest Senior Brother ignoring her, Gu Tiantian quickly shifted her focus to Li Xirui.
"No," Li Xirui replied, shaking his head.
He cursed his own foolishness internally. Why had he been so infatuated with someone as base as Gu Tiantian? There were plenty of kind-hearted sisters in the sect—some of whom he had known for a long time—so why had he fallen for a Junior Sister who had just arrived and possessed such poor character?
"Debts must be repaid; it is only right. Junior Sister, you should return my money," Li Xirui said sternly.
"I..." Gu Tiantian had not expected Li Xirui to be so lacking in grace, wanting back the spirit stones he had already given. She looked toward Fei Qingsu, her eyes pleading for help.
"Junior Sister, I believe Junior Brother's request is reasonable. If you don't have enough spirit stones—" Fei Qingsu paused.
Gu Tiantian felt a glimmer of hope. *Could the Eldest Senior Brother be planning to pay them back for me?* Her heart hammered in her chest.
"Junior Sister, you can pledge the precious magical treasures in your cave dwelling to him. As the Eldest Senior Brother, I will supervise him to ensure you pay back every last one of those spirit stones."
Gu Tiantian nearly vomited blood. *What a stingy, miserly man!* He wouldn't even help her pay the debt. *What a cheapskate. How is he even fit to be an Eldest Senior Brother?*
Fei Qingsu continued to twist the knife while maintaining a face of upright justice. "Rest assured, Junior Sister. With me here, you won't have to pay back a single spirit stone more—or less—than what is owed."
Gu Tiantian thought, *I suppose I should thank you for that.*
"Eldest Senior Brother, I will repay him. But I don't seem to have any precious treasures. My background is humble; deceiving Senior Brother Li was an unintentional mistake. Perhaps I am just too young and do not fully understand love, so I didn't mean to hurt my senior brother."
She was back to making excuses and playing the victim. Gu Tiantian was trying every trick in the book to delay payment.
"It is alright, Junior Sister. I understand that your eye for treasure is untrained," Fei Qingsu said understandingly, as a circular compass appeared in his hand. "This tool, known as the Treasure Seeker, can automatically detect nearby precious artifacts."
Fei Qingsu knew for a fact that Gu Tiantian had already stolen many things from his original self.
"Then I’ll trouble you, Senior Brother. I think you have some misunderstandings about me. I come from a poor background, I'm not clever, and my cultivation speed is slow. Compared to brilliant, shining senior brothers and sisters, I am as insignificant as an ant. How could someone like me have the good fortune to possess many treasures?" Gu Tiantian kept up her facade.
She thought of the treasures she had taken from Fei Qingsu’s dwelling. They were hidden away, and though she should have been afraid, she felt a strange certainty: the Eldest Senior Brother would never find them. She didn't realize that this feeling was a gift from the Heavenly Dao.
[The female protagonist feels untouchable. The Heavenly Dao is interfering again. Host, the Treasure Seeker might not be able to find the artifacts. If the female protagonist isn't caught stealing by the second male lead before she meets the male lead, the plot will be greatly affected.] The System calculated rapidly.
Fei Qingsu’s thoughts aligned with the System’s. However, while she had the Heavenly Dao, he had a System.
[Can you scan for those treasures?]
[Host, I can.]
*Excellent.* A reliable system was better than anything.
"Junior Sister, I’m beginning now," Fei Qingsu said, holding the compass.
Gu Tiantian remained calm. *The Eldest Senior Brother will never find them.* Her intuition was sharp. Sure enough, the compass remained lifeless.
Gu Tiantian was ecstatic. She suppressed the corners of her mouth that were dying to curl upward, already imagining how she would rebuke Fei Qingsu in a moment.
Fei Qingsu lowered his eyelids. It was time for the System to act.
[The 'Nishang Feather Garment' is located 20 meters underground at the four o'clock position.]
Following the System's prompt, Fei Qingsu made the compass react, a golden beam of light shooting out toward the hidden item.
[The 'Phoenixless Necklace' is in the second drawer 45 meters away at the three o'clock position.]
...
The System reported continuously, and the golden beam of light kept firing. Gu Tiantian’s expression changed, and her body stiffened.
*Did the Eldest Senior Brother find them? No... no! This shouldn't be happening! Where did I go wrong?*
System: *Hi there, it's me.*