Chapter 31: I’ll Give You a Chance to Explain

Chapter 31: Giving You a Chance to Explain

Xue Youtan was left speechless.

At this point, there was no way to clear his name.

But it didn't matter anyway—he hadn't been trying to win the male lead's favor, so misunderstandings were no big deal.

What mattered now was catching Nightfang and having it form a blood pact with Pei Zhi in public to complete this main storyline mission before anything else could go wrong.

But the mission said "in public," and Feng Mingjue hadn't made any move yet—he wasn't sure whether the old man had activated the projection.

Xue Youtan grabbed Nightfang from his feet, made a hand seal with his right hand, and was about to release a few Spirit Butterflies to confirm, but the butterflies had barely fluttered their wings before they were sliced to pieces by a sword aura of malevolent energy. The next second, a cold breeze brushed past him, and a pitch-black sword came slashing toward his neck.

The one holding the sword hilt was already behind him.

Such speed!

Xue Youtan was stunned by Pei Zhi's cheat-like teleportation speed. He tilted his head slightly, just barely dodging the strike, but the sword aura still grazed the skin of his neck, leaving a thin line of blood.

Damn, this is Qi Refining—wait, no—he's already advanced to Foundation Establishment. Is this what a Foundation Establishment cultivator should be capable of? Even for a protagonist, this cheat is way too broken.

"Well, he cultivates dual spiritual veins, so he's bound to be a bit stronger," System Sister chimed in in a matter-of-fact tone.

A bit stronger? Seriously?!

Seeing that his strike had been dodged, Pei Zhi leaped into the air, and his sword instantly split into five blades.

Oh crap, he's about to unleash a big move! He'd already witnessed how devastating that move could be.

Xue Youtan instinctively formed a hand seal to block, but to his surprise, Pei Zhi didn't attack. Instead, the black swords hovered in midair beside him.

"I'll give you a chance. Explain."

Pei Zhi's voice was in the middle of changing, hovering between boyish and mature. Speaking in a low, strained tone now, his voice sounded hard and cold—nothing like his usual youthful timbre.

As if he'd been possessed.

Xue Youtan raised an eyebrow. Explain what? Explain why he'd been cursing, or explain how his Cultivation Technique had been restored?

Xue Youtan felt that neither question was easy to answer. He couldn't exactly say, "I know you've got a cheat, and cursing your mom is what triggers it."

He was certain that if he said that out loud, those five swords Pei Zhi had conjured would be stuck in his body in an instant.

"Ow-wow—" Nightfang, still clutched in his arms, let out an impatient howl, its once-clear eyes gradually growing cloudy. If he didn't form the pact soon, this thing would revert to the rampaging beast that had been going berserk on everything in sight.

He couldn't delay any longer. Xue Youtan steeled himself, said nothing, and pushed off the ground with his toes. His snow-white figure leaped into the air, and the nine-section whip he swung wrapped around Pei Zhi's waist, dragging him and his swords toward him.

Pei Zhi's eyes were bloodshot, malevolent energy swirling around him. He struggled twice but couldn't break free before he saw Xue Youtan's Liguang transform into a dagger and slash across his palm. Blood immediately welled up from the wound.

Xue Youtan quickly pried open Nightfang's mouth and brought it to Pei Zhi's palm.

Just as the pact was about to succeed and the main mission was about to be completed, Feng Mingjue's long-distance voice transmission suddenly rang in his ear: "Youtan, the Mirror of Scenes at Cangya Mountain broke long ago—can't use it. Hang tight, we're already on our way."

Spirit Butterfly transmissions had a delay, and by the time the words reached his ears, Xue Youtan simultaneously sensed Feng Mingjue and Yueli bursting into the Withered Wood Forest.

Damn, the Mirror of Scenes projection was broken—so it hadn't recorded Pei Zhi subduing Nightfang at all? Then would forming the pact right now even count as "in public"?

Xue Youtan hesitated on this question for only half a second, not daring to nitpick over wording when his life was on the line. He immediately leaned in, pressed his mouth to Pei Zhi's palm, and lapped up the drop of blood that was about to fall with his tongue.

The gesture was utterly humiliating. Even as a veteran who'd lived multiple lifetimes, Xue Youtan's ears burned red.

=͟͟͞͞(꒪⌓꒪*) His old face! His legendary image as the aloof, proud master—all crumbling with that single lick.

He seriously suspected 2484 had orchestrated all these coincidences just to embarrass him.

At least no one else had witnessed it.

"You—!" Pei Zhi was startled by Xue Youtan's sudden action, his violently struggling body freezing midair, and he didn't dare move for a long moment.

Only after feeling Xue Youtan's tongue leave his skin did he glance at his palm. The wound that had been slashed open was already healed smooth by Xue Youtan. Even the surging malevolent energy around him had been suppressed, his bloodshot eyes clearing.

"Mas... Master?" Pei Zhi called out, the black aura around him dispersing as his body lost control of the hovering Art and fell.

Xue Youtan steadied him as they landed. Just as he was about to speak, the air rippled around them, and Feng Mingjue and Yueli appeared beside him.

"Patriarch, Uncle Yue!" Pei Zhi steadied himself and clasped his fists in a respectful bow to the two, but they didn't even glance at him—they went straight to Xue Youtan.

"You're injured? Something in the Withered Wood Forest actually managed to hurt you?" Yueli's tone was odd—hard to tell if it was surprise or concern. Then he glanced at Pei Zhi. "Since you were with your master, do you know how he got hurt?"

Pei Zhi said nothing, only lowering his head slightly and clenching his sleeve.

Though he didn't know why his power had surged earlier, he remembered the scene clearly—Xue Youtan had been blasted by his sword aura and coughed up blood, then chased and attacked by him. If Xue Youtan pinned a charge of attempted master-killing on him now, he'd have no way to defend himself and would surely be expelled from Cangya Mountain.

"Cough, cough, cough—as expected of Master Yue, one look and you understand it all," Xue Youtan took over the conversation. "Last time when I was forcing out poison in the cold pool, a few wisps of cold energy disrupted my spiritual flow. Thanks to Pei Zhi appearing in time to subdue Nightfang, I managed to escape danger."

Yueli clearly didn't believe him, his slender fingers pressing against Xue Youtan's wrist.

"Nightfang?" Reminded by Xue Youtan, Feng Mingjue finally remembered the beast. He looked around and asked, "Where is Nightfang?"

Xue Youtan pointed at the little dog by Pei Zhi's feet. Under Feng Mingjue and Yueli's astonished gazes, Nightfang trotted over to Pei Zhi and rubbed against his pant leg. "Master~"

Hadn't the pact not even been formed yet? Why was this kid already calling him master?

Could it be that his timely lick had still let a bit of blood drip into Nightfang's mouth, and the two had formed the pact early?

What was going on—he'd lost all his face, and the mission had failed anyway?

As Xue Youtan fretted, Nightfang barked twice more at Pei Zhi, then vanished into Pei Zhi's divine sense, disappearing from the spot.

"It—it—it actually acknowledged you as its master!" Feng Mingjue stammered in disbelief.