Free Web NovelChapter 34: Chapter 34 This is Not My Real Face
Xue Yao’s smile froze. The world stopped moving for a moment.
Another little pup sniffled before nodding. "You look scary."
"Your hair is messy."
"Your face is dirty."
"You look like the witch near the black mountain."
"And you smell like... like a weasel."
Every sentence struck Xue Yao’s heart like an arrow. Never in her life had she been roasted by kids.
’Ugly? Me? Bai Xue Yao? The Bai Xue Yao who had been praised for her beauty since childhood? The Bai Xue Yao whose annoying twin brother used to complain that Heaven had given her too much of the family’s beauty and left him with nothing but bad luck?’
Her lips twitched violently.
Before she could explode, the brown-haired maid grabbed her wrist. "Enough. We don’t have time for this. The Alpha is waiting."
"Mirror." Xue Yao said suddenly.
The maid frowned. "What?"
"I need a mirror." She was on the edge of exploding with emotions.
The black-haired maid’s expression turned cold. "Human, did you not hear what she said? The Alpha is waiting."
"I heard you." Xue Yao’s gaze was still fixed on the crying pups. "But I need to know whether they are blind or whether something terrible happened to my face."
Everyone paused. They stared at her as if she had lost some nuts. Even the crying pups forgot to cry for a second.
Finally, the brown-haired maid took out a small bronze mirror from her storage pouch and shoved it toward Xue Yao. "Look quickly."
Xue Yao snatched it and lifted it confidently.
The next moment, a scream tore through the air. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
The nearby birds shot into the sky. The pups immediately hid behind their mothers again. Several wolf guards in the distance almost drew their weapons, thinking an enemy had attacked.
Xue Yao stared at the reflection in horror.
Her hair was no longer hair. It was a bird nest that had survived a storm, a fire, and possibly a beast stampede. There were dried leaves tangled in it, ash stuck to the ends, and one small twig shamelessly sitting near her ear as if it rented it for free.
Her face was smeared with soot, dust, dried blood, and rabbit grease. One cheek was darker than the other, and her clothes looked as if she had rolled through a battlefield before sleeping inside a chimney.
She slowly lowered the mirror. Then she raised it again. Then she lowered it.
Her soul nearly floated out of her body. "So..." Her voice trembled. "I have been walking around like this?"
No one answered.
Xue Yao slowly turned toward the maids, her eyes filled with grievance. "And none of you thought to tell me?"
The black-haired maid looked away. "We thought you looked like that."
Xue Yao almost spat blood. "You thought I naturally looked like burnt firewood?!"
The brown-haired maid coughed. "You were in prison... that could explain the smell."
’Was she rubbing salt on my wounds?’
"That is not an excuse!" Xue Yao cried inwardly as she covered her face. Her mind immediately replayed every person she had met in the past few days. Han Luo had seen her. Little Ancestor had seen her. Yun Kai had winked at her while she looked like this. The guards had eaten her food while she looked like this. Even Tian Lan had been floating beside her without saying a word.
"Tian Lan!" she shouted inwardly.
A pale blue fairy flickered beside her shoulder, and Tian Lan appeared with an innocent expression. [What?]
"You saw my face, didn’t you?" Xue Yao didn’t bother to hide the betrayal on her face.
[Yes.]
"And you didn’t tell me?"
Tian Lan blinked. [You were already ugly in the eyes of the beasts. I thought you knew.]
Xue Yao almost fainted from anger.
Before she could argue more, the brown-haired maid snatched the mirror back and grabbed her arm. "Enough. You can scream later. Right now, you need to bathe."
"Wait, I can walk by myself." Xue Yao tried to pull her arm free, but the black-haired maid had already grabbed her other side.
She turned back to the crowd. "This is not my real face... this is not the real me!"
The brown-haired maid leaned closer, her voice low and stern. "Human, listen carefully. The place we are taking you to is not somewhere you can act recklessly. You must keep up with us, do not wander, do not speak nonsense, and most importantly, do not offend the Alpha."
Xue Yao nodded absentmindedly.
’Ugly.’ The word was still ringing inside her head.
"You must not look directly into the Alpha’s eyes unless he permits it," the black-haired maid continued as they dragged her forward. "You must not touch anything in his chamber. You must not ask unnecessary questions. You must not smile foolishly, cry loudly, or make strange excuses."
Xue Yao nodded again.
’Ugly. Ugly? Me?’
The brown-haired maid frowned when she noticed Xue Yao’s empty expression. "Are you listening?"
"Hm?" Xue Yao blinked. "Yes."
"What did I just say?" the brown-haired maid asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in her tone.
"Don’t be ugly." Bai Xue Yao answered mindlessly.
"..."
"..."
The black-haired maid’s face darkened. "We said do not offend the Alpha."
"Oh." Xue Yao coughed awkwardly. "That too."
The two maids exchanged glances and suddenly felt that bringing this human to the Alpha might be more dangerous than they imagined. Maybe they might lose their heads...
The further they walked, the more Xue Yao’s thoughts spiralled.
She had been walking around looking like a homeless witch. "I’ve lost all my dignity..." she murmured under her breath.
The black-haired maid glanced at her. "You still have dignity?" The brown-haired maid couldn’t help twitching the corner of her mouth.
Xue Yao shot her a look. "Of course I do. It’s just temporarily buried beneath several layers of soot."
Not long after, the three of them stopped in front of a large wooden building. Warm steam drifted out through the open windows, carrying the faint fragrance of herbs and flowers. The brown-haired maid pushed the door open. "Go inside."
Xue Yao poked her head in cautiously. A large stone pool filled most of the room, its surface covered in rising mist. Several neatly folded pieces of clothing rested on a wooden bench nearby, while buckets of steaming water lined the walls. She turned back to the two maids. "You may leave now."
Neither of them moved.
Xue Yao blinked. "What are you still doing here? Go away... shoo." She said with irritation.
The black-haired maid answered matter-of-factly. "We are bathing you."
"...Me?"
"Yes."
Xue Yao immediately took two steps backwards, clutching her clothes tightly. "No, no, no. I can wash myself. Human privacy is very important."
"You have no say." The black-haired maid said, taking a step towards her.
Xue Yao’s eyelid twitched. "I appreciate your honesty, but I’d still like to decline."
The two maids exchanged a glance before calmly rolling up their sleeves.
