***
Chu Yingfeng walked up the inn’s stairs.
The shopkeeper walked ahead of him, the two braids at her sides bouncing up and down. The black cat perched motionless atop her head, its tail swaying in time with her steps.
Chu Yingfeng’s eyes, dark and gleaming as lacquered stars, quietly watched that long, black tail, as though he were studying it with great concentration.
The inn was old. Every step on the stairs sent dust drifting down.
The guest room was just as worn and spartan. A wooden bed stood against the western wall, and aside from it, the room contained nothing more than a table and a stool. There was not even a teapot on the table. No one knew how long it had been since anyone had stayed here.
Chu Yingfeng did not care about such things. In truth, there were very few things he cared about at all.
He stood in the middle of the room, looking down at the shopkeeper without moving.
The shopkeeper picked up the cat from her head and set it on the table. The black, long-haired lion of a cat sat upright with perfect dignity, its eyes wide as copper bells and its tail beating incessantly against the tabletop.
Wu Guanyue: “Wuyun, do your best!”
Wuyun let out a suspicious noise. “Gwooo gurg?”
Wu Guanyue: “……”
Wu Guanyue looked doubtful. “…Is making a noise like that a bad sign?”
Wuyun: “Meow meow meow meow meow!”
Wuyun once again produced a voice brimming with fighting spirit! Suddenly, great clouds of white mist began billowing from its body, as though it were a pot of water coming to a boil.
Wu Guanyue turned and smiled at Chu Yingfeng, speaking in a honey-sweet voice. “All right, honored guest. We’re about to begin…”
Chu Yingfeng stared at her expressionlessly. He clearly saw a sly glimmer flash through her almond-shaped, round eyes…but he did nothing.
So it was about to begin?
He was actually rather curious to see how she intended to deal with him.
If he had guessed correctly, this dark mass of seaweed before him was actually a mirage beast.
Mirage beasts were descendants of dragons. Ancient texts said that when Nuwa led the gods to the Ninth Heaven, Zhulong, the progenitor of dragons, ascended with them. Without their dragon ancestor to preside over it, the Dragon Kingdom of Mount Zhong gradually declined and vanished over the course of several thousand years. The dragon’s descendants disappeared along with it. Nowadays, only two dragon bloodlines still left any trace of their existence: the jiaolong and the mirage beast.
Jiaolong loved to whip up wind and waves, while mirage beasts loved to create illusions.
It was said that when people sailed across the sea, they would sometimes glimpse distant immortal mountains. Travelers crossing deserts might occasionally see oases far away. Those illusory mountains and oases were the work of mirage beasts.
Once a person entered a mirage beast’s illusion, the beast would lure them into exhausting every last bit of spiritual energy in their body. In the end, they would die of exhaustion—and the refined spiritual energy processed through their spiritual core would become nourishment for the mirage beast’s cultivation.
There was no doubt that this was a dangerous and evil creature. Yet Chu Yingfeng made no move. He simply allowed the white mist to engulf him.
The inn before his eyes was…well, still an inn. Only now, a…water screen had appeared before him.
Images gradually emerged across the screen.
They were bizarre images—not lifelike in the slightest, nor vivid. The sky was represented by one enormous expanse of unchanging sky blue, while the bricks were depicted as a single unvarying strip of brown.
Even someone whose hands had been chopped off and who was forced to draw with their feet could have produced something better.
…Was this really a mirage created by a mirage beast? Did it not feel embarrassed?
Three elegant little characters slowly appeared on the water screen:
Cat Mario.
At the very edge of the brick path stood a…cat…standing upright on two legs.
This was…Cat Mario?
Chu Yingfeng coldly locked eyes with the ugly upright cat, inexplicably finding it irritating.
Cat Mario: (=？？ω？？=)
Wu Guanyue’s voice rang out at just the right moment. “Honored guest, try focusing your mind and infusing it with spiritual energy!”
Chu Yingfeng narrowed his eyes.
He did, in fact, try injecting a thin thread of spiritual energy into the water screen.
Suddenly, Cat Mario moved!
It turned out that he could use spiritual energy to control Cat Mario, making him move forward and jump.
This was indeed a novel experience for Chu Yingfeng. He had never seen anything like it before, and it made him pay slightly more attention.
Ahead of Cat Mario, several white balls were moving toward him. A number of platforms floated in midair as well. Although Chu Yingfeng was an ancient man who had never encountered a side-scrolling platform game, he possessed the intelligence of a normal human being, and thus reached his conclusions with ease.
The platforms could be used as footholds, while the white balls were his enemies. However, Cat Mario could only move forward and jump; he could not attack.
Chu Yingfeng possessed a strong desire to attack and disliked dodging whenever possible. So he tried jumping on one of the white balls. Sure enough, he stomped it to death.
…That felt good.
Chu Yingfeng proceeded comfortably, stomping three white balls along the way. He climbed onto one platform suspended in midair, then continued forward until he reached a green, pillar-shaped object.
Chu Yingfeng could not be bothered to figure out what it was and simply walked forward as usual.
…A white ghost suddenly shot out of the pillar and collided with him, killing him.
He returned to the starting point.
Chu Yingfeng narrowed his eyes.
So the green pillar was a trap.
Chu Yingfeng remained perfectly calm and started over.
After passing the trap, he found a broad, level road ahead. At the end of the road was a cliff, with an identical stretch of road on the other side.
Since Chu Yingfeng possessed the normal intelligence of a normal human being, he knew that he was supposed to jump here.
…That was it?
He was already beginning to feel bored.
Although this sort of “game” was certainly something he had never encountered before, he did not find it particularly interesting or difficult.
He guided Cat Mario forward and jumped at precisely the right moment—
…He died.
There was a hidden brick directly above the spot where he had jumped. His head struck it, sending him straight down into the ravine.
He returned to the starting point.
…So Cat Mario also had hidden traps like this.
Chu Yingfeng remained perfectly calm and started over.
This time, when he reached the same spot, he naturally did not make the same mistake. Since there might be hidden bricks above him, he would jump earlier and reveal them all in advance.
With that thought, Chu Yingfeng jumped again—
…He did not die.
—But some people may be alive in body while already dead inside.
He had guessed correctly: there were indeed more hidden bricks above him. Yet the moment he struck them, they spat out countless poisonous mushrooms, completely clogging the path ahead!
Chu Yingfeng: “……”
Chu Yingfeng: “…………”
…He died.
He returned to the starting point.
He felt the first stirrings of torment.
Veins bulged across Chu Yingfeng’s pale hands, twisted roots buried beneath frozen soil.
This time, Chu Yingfeng became truly serious.
***
Chu Yingfeng had become serious, but Wu Guanyue was the one who was shocked!
She had originally planned to take advantage of Chu Yingfeng’s attention being absorbed by Cat Mario and carefully investigate the side-quest area. But when she opened the quest interface, she accidentally opened the favorability interface instead.
And then she discovered that Chu Yingfeng’s favorability… had actually gone up by one heart!
Wu Guanyue: “???”
Wu Guanyue: “??????”
Question-mark bubbles kept popping above Wu Guanyue’s head.
Good heavens! How could anyone playing Cat Mario not only avoid losing their mind and flying into a rage, but also develop extra feelings for the person responsible for it?!
Wu Guanyue fell into deep thought…
Hmm…
Still, this increase in favorability did give Wu Guanyue a few other ideas.
If the player became friends with him, perhaps she could obtain more information from him and complete the side quest more effectively?
Not bad, not bad. This was indeed a viable method! Given how outstanding Chu Yingfeng’s character model was, players could reasonably assume that he was someone with whom an important relationship could be developed!
Just as she was thinking this, the sound of someone coming downstairs drifted over from the stairwell. It turned out to be Chu Yingfeng, carrying Wuyun downstairs.
Chu Yingfeng stared at Wu Guanyue with his pitch-black eyes. “It’s stuck.”
Wuyun lay limply across Chu Yingfeng’s shoulder, turning itself into a long feline scarf.
It weakly mewed, “Meow… ugh… meow…”
Wu Guanyue listened carefully to Wuyun’s explanation, then solemnly raised her head and explained to Chu Yingfeng, “Wuyun says it can’t eat another bite.”
Chu Yingfeng: “…………”
Chu Yingfeng: “………………”
Oh… Mirage beasts grew their cultivation by absorbing the pure spiritual energy of others. This particular mirage beast was still very young, so it couldn’t absorb very much.
Chu Yingfeng stared at Wuyun.
Wuyun, having eaten itself sick, was draped over him and dry-heaving.
Chu Yingfeng: “…………”
Chu Yingfeng: “…………Extend the room.”
He took a silver ingot from inside his robe and slowly placed it on the counter.
Wu Guanyue slowly tucked the silver ingot into her pocket, then slowly took a golden potentilla flower from her robes and held it out to him.
Chu Yingfeng: “…………”
Chu Yingfeng neither moved nor accepted it. He simply stared at her expressionlessly.
…Did he not like it?
Of course, that was perfectly normal. Golden potentilla was merely the most ordinary flower one could pick up by the roadside, while Chu Yingfeng was an important NPC in a side quest—and, according to the game’s overall setting, he was also a legendary figure.
To win over someone as remarkable as him, one naturally had to identify his preferences and cater to his tastes!
So then… what did Chu Yingfeng like?
Everything left a trace. Since the game had provided a way to raise favorability, there had to be clues hidden somewhere!
Wu Guanyue furrowed her brows. Her brilliant mind rapidly went over every detail since Chu Yingfeng’s first appearance. The biggest clue was—
He liked Cat Mario!
Just what kind of normal person liked Cat Mario?
Just what kind of normal person would have their sanity tormented by Cat Mario and then actually gain favorability afterward?
All the clues pointed to the same answer!
There was only one truth—
He was a masochist! Chu Yingfeng was a masochist!!
Then it was obvious what kind of gift would raise his favorability!
Wu Guanyue’s gaze suddenly sharpened. She dashed into the backyard and snatched up the whip used to beat the donkey.
【[Wu Guanyue] has given [Ordinary Whip] to [Chu Yingfeng]. May your friendship last forever!】
Chu Yingfeng: “…………?”
A question mark appeared above Chu Yingfeng’s head.
He lowered his head and stared expressionlessly at the whip. Then he suddenly reached out and took it, giving it a casual flick.
The long whip cracked through the air with a mighty gust, striking like a venomous dragon bursting from its lair!
On a table not far behind him stood a candle, its flame trembling and dancing. Chu Yingfeng swept the whip sideways. The tip brushed across the flame, which suddenly grew brighter and steadier.
It turned out that he had used the whip to snap off the candle’s overgrown wick.
It was easy enough to use the force generated by a weapon to blow out a flame. It was not particularly difficult to use pure spiritual energy to snuff out the wick, either. But Chu Yingfeng had not used even the slightest trace of spiritual energy. With nothing but astonishing control and eyesight, he had used the whip as a pair of scissors to trim the excessively long wick inside the flame.
Many cultivators, after entering the Dao and learning to wield the power of the heavens and earth, came to believe that overwhelming force could solve every problem. They no longer valued the basic skills of martial artists…
Chu Yingfeng, however, clearly was not one of them.
He placed the whip on the counter and said slowly, “Flexible weapons are much harder to control than rigid ones. If you wish to master this art, you might practice like this.”
Then he casually lifted Wuyun, who was still dry-heaving around his neck, and placed it on the counter before turning around and walking away at an unhurried pace.
Wu Guanyue: O-O
Wu Guanyue stared blankly at the bright, steady flame.
She propped her chin in both hands and lay across the counter, seemingly lost in thought.
***
The next day, Wuyun had recovered from its indigestion.
Wu Guanyue grabbed Wuyun and stretched it like a strand of dough.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Wuyun seemed to be able to stretch a little farther than before…
Wuyun: “Meow! Rrow!”
Wuyun sounded delighted, its tail spinning like a propeller.
Chu Yingfeng was still in his room. He would probably be asking Wuyun to keep him company again soon. Naturally, Wu Guanyue wasn’t about to miss such a perfect opportunity to raise his favorability.
First, she would organize the information she currently had!
Wu Guanyue pulled out her business journal and began writing and scribbling in it.
So when Wenren Ying entered through the door, he saw Wu Guanyue muttering to herself.
“Chu Yingfeng… doesn’t like… golden potentilla…”
Wenren Ying: “…………”
Wenren Ying: “………………”
A long string of ellipses appeared above Wenren Ying’s head.
Yesterday, Wu Guanyue had picked the lock and entered Wenren Ying’s home to give him a gift. Wenren Ying had tactfully expressed that such enthusiasm—resembling a home invasion—was really quite unnecessary…
As a result, Wu Guanyue had left looking utterly dejected…
She had left…
She had really left…
Wenren Ying: “…………”
For some inexplicable reason, Wenren Ying felt a little guilty.
Why did his conscience feel guilty? There hadn’t been a single thing wrong with what he had said, had there?
And yet he simply couldn’t let the matter go…
To put it bluntly, he suspected that Little Shopkeeper Wu probably wasn’t human.
He had already realized that Little Shopkeeper Wu was actually quite clever. She reacted quickly, and when dealing with enemies, she was decisive. Some of her methods were difficult to evaluate…
But those methods had undeniably produced excellent results…
At the same time, she was almost completely ignorant of worldly affairs and lacked even the most basic common sense. As a result, she often appeared rather dazed.
So… she probably didn’t understand that she couldn’t pick the lock and enter someone else’s home… right?
That was what Wenren Ying told himself, but the more he thought about it, the more he suspected that he had been too harsh.
That was why he had come to the inn first thing this morning to check on Wu Guanyue.
But the moment he arrived, he saw Little Shopkeeper Wu wearing her usual serious expression, writing and drawing in her little notebook. And what she was writing about was… someone else’s preferences.
Chu Yingfeng… He knew that name. A disciple of the Xuantian Sect, who had recently come to Mount Mei. Could it be that he had stayed at Little Shopkeeper Wu’s inn last night?
Wenren Ying strode through the doorway, the wind stirred up by his cloak making quite a racket.
But Wu Guanyue was still scribbling away furiously, as if she hadn't heard a single thing.
"Chu Yingfeng... likes playing... Syobon Action... the more you play, the more his favorability goes up... is that true?"
Wenren Ying: "............"
One of Wenren Ying's hands rested on the counter, and two of his fingers tapped it gently.
Wu Guanyue lifted her head, glanced at him, and said, "Ah! Wenren Ge!"
Wenren Ying couldn't help but laugh. The moment he smiled, the overly sharp, cold line along his jaw instantly softened.
But right after that, Wu Guanyue ignored him again, burying her head in her writing once more.
"Chu Yingfeng... seems to... really like... whips..."
Wenren Ying: "............"
Wenren Ying: "............??!"
What kind of wild, inappropriate remark was that?!
Wasn't Chu Yingfeng the personal closed-door disciple of Elder Renhua? Since when did the Xuan Tian Sect's atmosphere become so depraved?!
What on earth did Chu Yingfeng come over to do last night! Little Shopkeeper Wu doesn't have much common sense to begin with, he can't let that brat corrupt her!
The brows under Wenren Ying's wide-brimmed hat furrowed, and even the line of his jaw turned unapproachable and frosty again.
Wenren Ying coughed twice and spoke up, "Little Shopkeeper Wu, this..."
Wu Guanyue, already familiar with the process, switched the shop's operation mode to automatic management.
Wu Guanyue said, "Wenren Ge, I'm really busy right now. If you want something to eat, go get it yourself in the kitchen!"
Then she went back to her deep, focused thinking.
Wenren Ying: "............"
Wenren Ying adjusted his wide-brimmed hat down a little.
That was his unconscious habit every time he didn't know what to say...
He looked at the extremely earnest Wu Guanyue, wanting to speak yet holding back, holding back yet wanting to speak again. Finally he let out a long sigh, resigned himself to his fate, and headed to the backyard to find something to eat.
He had been to the inn's backyard plenty of times before.
He walked familiarly into the kitchen. The fire in the bake kiln was still burning, and a warm baking aroma drifted out from inside. What was being baked today wasn't flatbread.
Wenren Ying waited patiently for a while, then used the fire tongs to take all the items out one by one and set them on the chopping board.
The things baking in the kiln today weren't flatbread, but round, plump... um, steamed buns?
No, they didn't quite look like steamed buns. They were much bigger than regular steamed buns, with cuts sliced into their surfaces with a knife. Right now their crusts were crispy and hot, giving off a warm, original wheat aroma that made people's hearts feel light just looking at them.
Of course they weren't steamed buns. This was Wu Guanyue's new recipe - kiln-baked bread!
Kiln-baked bread was a simple, rustic kind of bread. It didn't have an extremely moist texture, but when eaten hot, the crust was crispy while the inside was soft.
These past few days, Wu Guanyue had also bought milk from Li Dalang. Using milk together with the tail of the Spiral-Propeller Wuyun, she successfully got a new ingredient - butter!
Here, it was apparently called "cooked ghee".
Combining cooked ghee with wild garlic gave her garlic-flavored cooked ghee - and it was exactly because she got this ingredient that Wu Guanyue thought of making bread.
Kiln-baked bread paired with garlic butter, that couldn't possibly taste any better~~
Right now, Wenren Ying had figured out this way of eating all on his own. He cut open a bread and spread the garlic-flavored cooked ghee evenly over it...
Wu Guanyue pushed the door open with a clatter. Very naturally, she picked up the garlic cooked ghee bread on the chopping board, all the while talking to herself.
"Will Chu Yingfeng like this..."
Wenren Ying: "............"
Wenren Ying: ".................."
Wenren Ying's figure suddenly shifted. Wu Guanyue only felt the saponin fragrance from his cloak brush past her, and the next instant, the plate in her hands was in Wenren Ying's grasp.
Wenren Ying wore a faint, amused smile as he said, "Little Shopkeeper Wu, is this for the guest upstairs? Let me deliver it for you."
Wu Guanyue looked up at him.
Wenren Ying was very tall. Standing in front of her like this, Wu Guanyue felt like she was entirely in his shadow. His broad, solid back blocked most of the sunlight streaming in from outside. Even though it was daytime, it gave her a feeling of being in dim, soft light.
Wu Guanyue: —ω—
A very tolerant look suddenly appeared on Wu Guanyue's face.
"Wenren Ge, don't be silly," she said in a very mature, grown-up tone. "Don't fight me for favorability points."
Right after that, she stood on tiptoe to take the small garlic cooked ghee bread back, and walked away humming a cheerful little tune.
Wenren Ying: "............"
Wenren Ying: "...Hey, Little Shopkeeper Wu."
Wenren Ying paused for a moment, but eventually lifted his feet and followed Wu Guanyue upstairs to take a look at that guy named Chu Yingfeng.
...His main reason was that he didn't want some disreputable person to lead the common-sense-deficient Little Shopkeeper Wu astray.
Chu Yingfeng was sitting cross-legged, meditating and doing his breathing exercises. As he breathed in and out, a wave of steaming hot... garlic flavor drifted into his lungs.
Chu Yingfeng: "............"
Chu Yingfeng slowly opened his eyes.
Wu Guanyue was looking at him with bright, sparkling eyes, holding the garlic cooked ghee bread right under his nose.
A knife-wielding man in a wide-brimmed hat, his arms crossed over his blade, was leaning against the doorframe, silently observing... nobody knew exactly what he was observing.
[How do you ask Chu Yingfeng for information?]
[A. Greet him]
[B. Give him delicious food]
[C. Ask for the intel directly]
The player chooses all three options A, B and C!
Wu Guanyue said full of energy, "Good morning, guest sir!"
Chu Yingfeng: "............"
Wu Guanyue said sweetly, "This is for you, eat it, don't stand on ceremony!"
Chu Yingfeng: "............"
Wu Guanyue asked very concernedly, "About the person we talked about last time that I wanted to find information on, do you have any more intel you can tell me, guest sir?"
Chu Yingfeng: ".................."
Wu Guanyue: "?"
No reaction?
Then try using a special communication skill - the sandwich method of communication?
Wu Guanyue said, "Good morning, guest sir! About the person we talked about last time that I wanted to find information on, do you have any more intel you can tell me... this is for you, eat it, don't stand on ceremony!"
Wu Guanyue: (^▽^*)
Wenren Ying: "............ Pfft."
Wenren Ying thought Little Shopkeeper Wu was so cute... uh, this look of hers where she sort of knew how the world worked was really especially adorable.
Sort of knew how the world worked... uh... sort of knew how the world worked...
He couldn't help laughing, his muscles relaxing, his expression full of joyful cheer.
Wu Guanyue turned around, looked at Wenren Ying with a strange, quizzical expression, then showed that tolerant look again and shook her head in a very mature way.
Chu Yingfeng: ".................."
Even though this was the guest room he had paid for, for some reason he felt like he was the one who was totally out of place here...
Wenren Ying smiled and said, "Guest sir, this is a new dish our Shopkeeper Wu just invented. It is incredibly delicious, why not give it a try?"
Wu Guanyue's eyes suddenly widened a little, glistening as she looked at Wenren Ying.
Wenren Ying smiled back at her, showing his white, neat teeth.
Chu Yingfeng: ".................."
[Chu Yingfeng's favorability towards Wu Guanyue has decreased!]
[Chu Yingfeng's favorability towards Wenren Ying has decreased!]
Wu Guanyue: "............"
Why did the favorability suddenly drop all of a sudden?
Men's hearts are as unfathomable as the bottom of the sea...
Oh well, she could think of ways to raise it slowly later.
Wu Guanyue sighed, put her hands behind her back, and left.
Before she left, she made sure to tuck the garlicky crispy bread roll into Wenren Ying's hands.
As for Wenren Ying, he did not seem to mind at all that this was something she had given to someone else only to be rejected. He took a bite straight away, and ended up scalding his tongue.
The two of them left Chu Yingfeng's room one after the other.
When they got downstairs, Wenren Ying's expression turned serious. "Who is that kid looking for?"
Wu Guanyue whipped her head around so fast her two braids flew into the air. "He's looking for Daoist Master Songfeng... That's why winning Chu Yingfeng over is so important. Don't go messing things up, Big Brother Wenren!"
Oh... so that was why Little Shopkeeper Wu cared so much about Chu Yingfeng's preferences all this time? It was only because he was tracking down Daoist Master Songfeng's whereabouts?
Wenren Ying couldn't help but chuckle to himself again.
Hearing that the disciples of the Azure Sky Sect were investigating Daoist Master Songfeng did not make Wenren Ying the slightest bit nervous.
He just stroked his chin and said, "Don't worry. I'll handle this matter. That Seven Treasures Pine Seedling in your backyard, I have a top-tier concealment treasure that I can use on it... But I don't feel at ease with Chu Yingfeng staying here at your place. How about this, I'll move in for the next couple of days. You still have empty rooms at the inn, right?"
Hearing those last words, Wu Guanyue lifted her head and looked at Wenren Ying thoughtfully.
Big Brother Wenren Ying was as composed as could be, acting perfectly proper, not a single hint of other ulterior motives in sight.
Meanwhile, back in Chu Yingfeng's room, Wuyun was squatting on the wooden table of the guest room, its eyes wide as copper bells, staring at Chu Yingfeng with a perfectly dignified expression.
Great, today's round of Cat Mario has officially started.
[Chu Yingfeng's affection for Wuyun has increased!]
***
Wu Guanyue and Wenren Ying were flirting, Chu Yingfeng was playing games, and Wuyun was absorbing pure spiritual energy... Everyone had a bright, wonderful future ahead of them!
But She Wenjie did not think the same way.
The She clan of Meishan was a renowned immortal clan in the region, and She Wenjie was the grandnephew of Verdant Cloud Adept. His grandfather and Verdant Cloud Adept were blood brothers.
Within the Green Cloud Cave Heaven, he had always lived a life of total indulgence. All those so-called "geniuses" and "prodigies" all had to fawn over him to curry favor. She Wenjie knew perfectly well that some of them did not actually want to smile and kowtow to him.
But so what? No matter how unwilling they were in their hearts, didn't they still trail after him like dogs, tongues lolling out? Even if they tried to run away, their own families would drag them right back just so he could have his fun!
How could a person who had lived such a comfortable, free-wheeling life as She Wenjie possibly swallow such a humiliating insult?
In broad daylight, that lowly girl had stuffed a handful of that... ugh, filthy stuff all over his hand!
By the time cultivators reached the Foundation Establishment stage, their bodies could refine and absorb all foreign substances they consumed, leaving no residue behind. She Wenjie could not even remember the last time he had encountered something so gross and unclean!
How dare she? How dare she do that to him!
The incident had happened in the side alley of the Laiyue Inn, and there had not been many witnesses, but the burning humiliation was impossible for She Wenjie to brush off. That very same night, he beat Zhao Kexin within an inch of his life, and sent his men out to track down that lowly girl.
He had not realized he had made such a big commotion, and just a moment ago, his older brother She Wenxiu had called him over and given him a severe scolding.
"The Lotus Grand Competition is a major event for our Green Cloud Cave Heaven. Stay out of trouble and don't stir up any unnecessary chaos!"
Those words made She Wenjie so furious his insides felt like they were on fire.
A major event for Green Cloud Cave Heaven? That was just She Wenxiu's major event!
She Wenxiu, whose dao name was Master Chongxu, was the top disciple under Verdant Cloud Adept. This year's Lotus Grand Competition was being organized entirely by him.
The Azure Sky Sect's grand competition was going to be held next year, and all the major cave heavens would be sending their selected disciples to compete in duels there. She Wenxiu was running the Lotus Grand Competition at such a critical juncture, and he could not afford to make even the smallest mistake.
What's more, the Azure Sky Sect was sending people to attend this Lotus Grand Competition too.
She Wenxiu sounded all high and mighty with his words, but he just wanted to show off in front of the Azure Sky Sect's representatives, and was calling She Wenjie a useless troublemaker who would ruin his plans!
But even though She Wenjie saw right through what his brother was thinking, he did not dare say it out loud... much less go against him.
After he left She Wenxiu's place, She Wenjie flew into a terrible rage. All the rich, spoiled sycophants around him hung their heads, not daring to utter a single word.
His face twisted with fury, he had his men drag Zhao Kexin over and whip him with a horsewhip right in his own private courtyard.
But even as Zhao Kexin wailed and begged for mercy, his anger did not subside even a little bit.
Just then, a servant came scrambling over to report that they had finished their investigation.
That lowly girl's name was Wu Guanyue.
She ran some shabby little inn in the city, and all her guests were lowly nobodies who weren't even fit to shine his shoes.
Hmph...
That audacious girl who had stuffed filthy gunk all over his hand? He was going to strip her naked and throw her into a pen full of Huo Dou beasts!
No... first, he would stew that cat of hers into cat soup right in front of her, and then throw her to the beasts.
Zhao Kexin was still wailing. He was hanging from the ceiling like a squirming worm.
She Wenjie said irritably, "Alright, alright. Let him down."
Zhao Kexin was tossed onto the ground, his whole body covered in blood. He twitched and trembled, his face soaked through, no one could tell if it was tears or sweat.
She Wenjie smirked. "Look at the state of you... Go, strip him naked and throw him into the Cold Jade Pond to wash up. Don't let him climb out before it gets dark."
One of the spoiled rich followers immediately chimed in. "You hear that, Kexin? She Wenjie wants you to get nice and clean... Go on, get in there!"
Zhao Kexin thrashed around frantically in the Cold Jade Pond, but every time he managed to grab onto the edge of the bank, someone would kick him right back in. The crowd cackled and jeered as they watched his sorry state, not stopping to think that prolonged exposure to the water of the Cold Jade Pond would give people a deadly cold poison.
But why would they ever bother themselves with such trivial matters?
Their whole lives had been spent doing whatever they pleased. The Dao and the laws were things they could trample under their feet... in fact, if anyone actually abided by the Dao and the laws, they would just dismiss that person as a lowly commoner.
They, the upper class, lived off of special privileges.
If they didn't run wild and act unscrupulously, how else could they show off how noble they were?
It didn't matter if Zhao Kexin died today or ended up disabled. They didn't care at all, because there would always be someone to clean up their mess for them. They would never face any consequences.
Wu Guanyue was no different.
She was just some nobody who ran a shabby inn. If she died today, or was maimed, who on earth would dare stand up for her?
A ferocious, bone-chilling grin spread across She Wenjie's face.
The new chapter is up! Thank you all so much for the support, I'll be holding a giveaway for everyone in the next couple of days~
