The protagonist committed numerous evil deeds.

Chapter 21 Twilight Mountain Town 14

"I'm fine, but what about your injury?"

Wen Li's eyes held a mocking glint as she stared rather frivolously at Shen Yingsi's bandaged left shoulder. The wound should have healed almost completely, but as for the internal injuries, who knew if he was faking it?

"It seems Your Highness is seriously injured."

As Wen Li spoke, she walked into the courtyard and sat down on the stone chair opposite him.

"I'm sorry to have worried Miss Wen, it's just a minor injury." As he said this, a gust of wind blew by, and Shen Yingsi covered his mouth and coughed violently again.

Si Xiaxia felt heartbroken at his sickly beauty, but the thought of his dark transformation made her uneasy.

"Host, do you think his injuries were really inflicted by the wolf demon?"

"Of course, he brought this on himself."

"We have no evidence either; those are just your guesses."

After all, he was the protagonist she once loved, so even though Si Xiaxia had turned to the dark side, she couldn't help but protect him. Up until now, Shen Yingsi had always acted like a refined gentleman in front of them.

Shen Yingsi, sitting opposite, coughed intermittently, his whole body radiating weakness, making one feel pity for him.

"Your Highness, can you stop pretending? Aren't you tired of coughing like that?"

Upon hearing Wen Li's words, Si Xiaxia practically braced herself for death. How could the host be so blunt! It's better to see through things than to say them outright!

Upon hearing this, Shen Yingsi did not immediately stop coughing; instead, he coughed even more violently.

Wen Li watched coldly, thinking to herself, "Could it be that I guessed wrong? This cough is quite pitiful."

After a long while, Shen Yingsi looked at Wen Li with teary eyes and asked, "Miss Wen, may I ask what I have done wrong that has made you hate me so much since childhood?"

It seems he still remembers the feud they formed when they first met, even though he was a child.

Wen Li said naturally, "A'nan and I are close friends, so naturally I won't like the person he dislikes."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yingsi turned his gaze elsewhere, and Wen Li could not see his expression.

After a long while, she heard him say, "Miss Wen is truly a person of great loyalty and affection. If I had met you first, would you have become my close friend as well?"

Wen Li hadn't expected him to ask such a question. If it weren't for Shen Yannan, the two of them would never have crossed paths. Let alone the question of who met whom first.

"There is probably no one in the world who would not want to be Your Highness's best friend. How could Wen Li, who comes from a humble background, possibly be worthy of Your Highness?"

After Wen Li finished speaking, Shen Yingsi remained silent. He stopped coughing and quietly gazed at the surrounding tree branches, his expression unreadable.

Wen Li didn't care about Shen Yingsi's expression at the moment, but poured herself a bowl of tea and savored it.

This Qingshan is indeed wealthy; even the tea they use is top-quality Longjing.

One of them admired the scenery, while the other sipped tea; from afar, it seemed like a scene of tranquility and peace.

They fell silent, but Si Xiaxia's gossipy nature was ignited, and she couldn't help but strike up a conversation with her host.

"Host, do you like Shen Yannan?"

Si Xiaxia thought Wen Li would try to brush her off with some excuse, but Wen Li showed no shyness whatsoever and was very generous and open-minded.

Wen Li replied matter-of-factly, "Of course, otherwise why would I do so many bad things for him? Would I be so bored?"

Si Xiaxia was a little surprised, mainly because the host had been rather cold to Shen Yannan before, which made Si Xiaxia think that this was just a random romantic storyline written by the author.

"Then why didn't you two end up together in the original story?" Si Xiaxia asked curiously.

Wen Li lowered her head and sipped her tea, silently responding to Si Xiaxia in her mind: "It was a promise, I would help him ascend the throne, and he would help me reinvestigate the Jiang family case. But he went back on his word. So we had a falling out."

One person's strength is too small; only when Shen Yannan rises to a high position can she have a greater chance of overturning the verdict.

But she never imagined that Shen Yannan would go back on his word; this was the first time in her life that he would do so.

"So he doesn't like you?"

"How could that be? But I promised my mother that I wouldn't get married until the truth of the Jiang family's wrongful case is revealed. However, if I do get married, the man must move in with his wife's family, and the children must take the surname Jiang."

Hearing this, Si Xiaxia felt indignant; her host was so pitiful. Her mother wanted her to serve the Jiang family for the rest of her life.

"So you haven't seen each other since you broke up?"

"I saw Shen Yingsi on the day he ascended to immortality, but who knew he would end up in such a miserable state."

After that unpleasant parting, they each had too many things to do. They were also too afraid that this dead end was a dead end, so they dared not make any promises to each other.

Si Xiaxia suddenly found it quite captivating. This novel world is truly unique; even the love story between the villain and the wicked female supporting character is so compelling. Childhood sweethearts, supporting each other, and ultimately committing suicide together!

"So, do you still like him now?"

We are still friends.

Si Xiaxia was full of enthusiasm, but Wen Li only said this indifferently: "Do you like it?" Actually, she didn't know what "liking" meant.

But it's alright, this isn't something she should be thinking about. After all, she has no right to think about these things until the Jiang family's wrongful conviction is resolved.

"Miss Wen."

Shen Yingsi's gentle voice pulled Wen Li back to reality, and she looked at him.

Shen Yingsi remained as gentle and refined as ever, his eyes smiling. This smile made Wen Li's heart flutter for a moment.

"how?"

"I was wondering if Miss Wen could call me Xianzhi from now on. This is my courtesy name, and no one has called me that before."

Wen Li asked subconsciously, "Xianzhi, why choose such a name? Your Highness has no need to envy anyone in your life."

Shen Yingsi looked up at the sky and chuckled: "My uncle said that everyone envies the Crown Prince of Jin, and everyone envies the Shen family for having a son."

Indeed, he is the chosen one, the darling of Heaven. Who in this world can he envy? He can only be envied by others.

"As luck would have it, I also have a given name. My mother was afraid she wouldn't live to see me grow up, so she gave it to me early on. It's called Xunzhi. But I don't like it."

Xunzhi was her courtesy name, and also the name of her cousin. Jiang Xunzhi, the eldest son of the Jiang family in their generation, died at the young age of nine. The Jiang family line ended.

And in the future, she will also be called Jiang Xunzhi.

"Host, I noticed that both of your characters have the character '之' in them. But I don't remember when the male lead's character was mentioned in this book."

Wen Li's mind went blank for a moment. Si Xiaxia's words sent a chill down her spine. When had the male lead's courtesy name ever been mentioned in the novel? Wasn't it at his coming-of-age ceremony?

A man undergoes a coming-of-age ceremony at twenty, receiving a courtesy name; Shen Yingsi is only nineteen. His uncle gave him the courtesy name, and the two Zhao brothers are currently in Guigu. What was Shen Yingsi's coming-of-age ceremony like in the novel? Wen Li's mind went completely blank for a moment, unable to recall anything.

"Si Xiaxia, check the details of Shen Yingsi's coming-of-age ceremony in the novel."

Si Xiaxia, not understanding, could only do as instructed: "Host, in the novel, after Shen Yingsi and Wen Mingzhu's group arrived at Ghost Valley, they had to stay in Ghost Valley to hold His Highness's coming-of-age ceremony because they couldn't make it back to the capital. It was at that time that His Highness transformed into his demon form in public."

"Read me the passage from the novel about Shen Yingsi's coming-of-age ceremony." Wen Li suddenly became a little nervous, her nails digging into her flesh, forcing herself to quickly sort out her thoughts.

Si Xiaxia was also a little nervous. She quickly flipped through the pages and exclaimed, "Found it!"

"Read quickly."

Si Xiaxia's voice echoed in his mind: "Xie Wanzhou personally crowned Shen Yingsi three times, and all the guests watched this solemn and serious scene with rapt attention. Everyone envies the Crown Prince of Jin, and everyone envies the Shen family for having a son." Xie Wanzhou's words penetrated Shen Yingsi's ears. He tried to maintain a calm facade, but in reality, he was almost at his breaking point. Shen Yingsi felt as if the spiritual power and demonic energy within his body were about to tear him apart inch by inch. He tried to circulate his spiritual power to suppress the demonic energy while forcing himself to stay focused and not lose his mind. However, the demonic poison had already invaded his internal organs, and his consciousness gradually blurred. He heard the screams of the guests. He was about to lose control; he had to quickly destroy his cultivation, otherwise he would harm even more people. Shen Yingsi began to use his spiritual power to attack the demonic core that appeared out of thin air, and also attracted the demonic energy within his body to attack his spiritual root. In his blurry state, he seemed to see his uncle, Xie Wanzhou, picking up a sword to strike him.