Chapter 18: It’s Fine, Participation Matters

Chapter 18: It's Fine, Showing Up Is What Matters

Sensing the fluctuation in Xue Youtan's emotions, Liguang, which had been flying smoothly, began to wobble. The fatty grabbed Xue Youtan's robes in fright and let out a piercing shriek.

Xue Youtan thought his eardrums were about to burst, so he just banked a turn, flew Liguang back, and landed inside the main hall.

Yueli had just finished treating the wound on Pei Zhi's face. As he completed his work and looked up, he saw Xue Youtan had come back and was now standing in front of him.

"Hm?" Yueli let out a questioning grunt, slightly raising his eyes. "What, scared you can't handle it and want me to come along?"

Xue Youtan nodded, then shook his head. "I really can't handle it alone, but I'm not bringing you—I'm bringing him!"

Xue Youtan pointed at Pei Zhi, which made both Yueli and Pei Zhi frown.

Seeing Yueli's lips part, clearly about to curse, Xue Youtan quickly threw out the excuse he'd concocted in three seconds to silence him.

"This demon-extermination is a good opportunity. I want to bring a few newly initiated disciples along for training. First, to broaden their horizons, and second, to prepare for the Top Disciple selection at the end of the month."

This sounded perfectly reasonable, gracious, and selfless—even Feng Mingjue found himself nodding. "Youtan is indeed thoughtful. But Pei Zhi's this banged up—probably not fit for travel."

"No worries, showing up is what matters."

The male lead could just lie there the whole time for all he cared—as long as he participated, the protagonist's satisfaction meter would stay maxed. As for the whole demon-catching thing, he never expected these Qi Refining Stage disciples to be of any real help anyway.

He'd finally realized there was no dodging Pei Zhi anymore. Might as well drag him along to grind out some prestige points.

With that thought, Xue Youtan turned his gaze to Pei Zhi. "Do you want to go?"

The question was kind of pointless—regardless of whether Pei Zhi answered yes or no, he'd end up in the dungeon anyway. But there's a difference between being dragged and going willingly—gotta at least go through the motions.

Pei Zhi squinted. He'd barely been silent for three seconds when Xue Youtan's Liguang was already out of its sheath, hovering right at his feet.

The message was pretty obvious.

Pei Zhi wasn't dumb. He knew Xue Youtan wasn't really asking, so he gave a nod. The word "yes" had just left his mouth when Xue Youtan lunged over, snatched him around the waist, and hollered at Yueli, "Then we're off. Before we go, can I beg a little treasure off Master Yue? I've got a whole crew to haul around, Jiangnan's far, and sword flying is cold and a pain."

"What?" Yueli crossed his arms, eyeing him like a thief.

"Temporal Slash."

The Third Master of Cangya Mountain had stayed on top all these years—not just because he was strong, but also thanks to his badass life-bound skills.

Like Feng Mingjue's Cloud Palm, his own Liguang, and Yueli's Kongshang.

Kongshang, same as Liguang, was a life-bound sword. But Liguang's main job was protecting its master—anyone coming at him with murderous intent would get smacked by Liguang, which is why it was always going off. Kongshang was different—one swing of that badass sword could rip open a time-space door and teleport you straight to your destination.

But Yueli was cold and cheap by nature. In his past life, he'd known Yueli forever and only got to see Temporal Slash's long-range teleport once—right before he croaked, and he'd kicked the bucket before even stepping through. Now that he suddenly remembered, he just threw it out there.

He hadn't really expected Yueli to say yes. Xue Youtan was about to just shut up and sword-fly down to Jiangnan after his little jab, but who knew—by the time he'd rounded up the crew at the mountain gate, Yueli had actually ripped open a time-space door for him.

Even Feng Mingjue, standing off to the side, was so shocked his beard twitched a few times. He watched Xue Youtan bounce along happily, dragging the disciples through the Temporal Slash and disappearing from the mountain gate, before turning his gaze to Yueli.

"Yueli, aren't you playing favorites a bit too much with that Youtan kid?" Feng Mingjue pouted. "Last time, Abbess Mei of Mount Mei offered five thousand taels for me to beg you for one slash, and you turned her down. But now Youtan just mentions it once, and you're all too eager to rip one open for him?"

Feng Mingjue's eyes and face both screamed "you're sus," but Yueli didn't even glance at him.

Yueli just casually did some finger-counting. "Yeah, that's a bit of a loss. Guess when he gets back, I'll have to figure out how much slave labor he owes me to cover those five thousand taels."

Feng Mingjue: "..."

Temporal Slash was like a freaking portal—blink and you're at the front door of Fatty Yuan Changsheng's estate.

Having tasted the sweetness of cheating, Xue Youtan got even more jealous and bitter toward Yueli. If he didn't know the sword was soul-bound and useless to steal, he'd have swiped it eight hundred times by now.

The group was still reeling from the portal shock, frozen at the gates of Yuan Manor. The next second, a man in loud, flashy clothes came barreling over, making a beeline for Yuan Changsheng's belt. "Boss Yuan, you're finally back! If you'd stayed away any longer, this place would've gone to hell!"

"I've only been away two days—what the hell happened?"

"Concubine Thirteen is dead."

"Thirteen?" Yuan Changsheng froze for three seconds, then his face went cold. "Didn't I tell you Thirteen would be the next target for sure, and to have your best people guard her? How the hell did you still let her die?"

"Couldn't guard her worth a damn. Me and a bunch of top guards didn't even dare blink, but she still kicked it." The steward's tone shifted here. "But don't worry, Boss Yuan. I've already hired a monk to do the funeral rites for Concubine Thirteen. She should be at peace knowing that."

The moment he finished, banging and drumming started up inside the estate. With all that racket, you'd think it was a party, not a funeral—or worse, a grave-sweeping ceremony.

Xue Youtan frowned and stepped through the doorway first. The steward, seeing a stranger blow past his master, was about to throw a fit when Yuan Changsheng snatched him and held him back. "The Heavenly Master goes first—what are you butting in for?"

"A Heavenly Master?" The steward paused, then it clicked. "Oh, so this is the Heavenly Master you went all the way to Cangya Mountain to get! Wow, the Heavenly Master's a woman!"

"Watch it!" Xiao Yiheng immediately snapped back at the steward. "You're the woman—your whole family's women. My master's got an iron spine, can lift mountains, has a back like a tiger and waist like a bear, forged from steel—what's feminine about him?"

Xue Youtan nearly ate it on the steps when he heard that.

Those tough-guy words coming out of Xiao Yiheng's mouth didn't make him look one bit more imposing—instead, it just made everyone focus on that "feminine" part.

Saying he looks like a woman is arguable, but calling him girly...

This useless teammate—thanks a lot, really.

"Snrk—" A soft snicker came from beside him. Xue Youtan turned his head toward the sound, just in time to see Pei Zhi's lips twitch up slightly, a bit of warmth spreading over his pale face.