Chapter 8: Flogging Pei Zhi with Twenty Disciplinary Whips

Chapter 8: Flogging Pei Zhi with Twenty Disciplinary Whips

Xue Youtan naturally had no idea what Pei Zhi was thinking at the moment; all he wanted right now was to chow down.

He'd been up till the wee hours transferring spiritual energy to Pei Zhi, and hadn't even gotten a wink of sleep before being dragged out to teach. Now he was both hungry and exhausted, and just wanted to grab some grub and sneak back to his room.

As for why he needed to use the word "sneak," well, it was kinda embarrassing to admit.

The Altar Masters of Cangya Mountain had long since achieved bi gu—skipping grains and living on pure qi alone. The original Xue Youtan was no exception, of course. But the original was the original, and he was him. After slaving away as a corporate drone in the 21st century for years, he'd finally transmigrated into a cultivation novel, only to be told to live on air and skip meals?

How could that be acceptable? Not letting a man eat was like killing his parents—unbearable, absolutely unbearable.

Xue Youtan remembered that the kitchen had recently hired a chef whose pastries were a feast for the eyes and nose.

So now that no one was around, it wasn't too much to sneak in and snag a few pastries, was it?

With that thought, he had already crept into the kitchen and started looking for food.

And that's how Xue Youtan had been spending his days for a while now.

It wasn't that he was lazy—he was just the most idle person on the whole mountain. Aside from having to teach for an hour on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the rest of the time, the disciples trained on their own and didn't need him at all. The big stuff was handled by Sect Leader Feng Mingjue, and the small stuff was taken care of by Yueli, leaving him with nothing to do.

So he had no choice but to mooch around the kitchen for food.

Just as he was stuffing his face, a disciple from the mountain gate came running in all flustered.

"Quick, quick, boil some hot water—someone fell into the cold pool!"

Xue Youtan swallowed his mouthful and glanced at the newcomer. It looked like one of Second Altar Master Yueli's disciples, a guy named Ling Feng. His martial arts were so-so, but he'd picked up some medical skills from Yueli and was a named NPC in the story.

The cook grabbed Ling Feng and asked, curious, "Who fell in?"

"Master Xue's disciple," Ling Feng said urgently, pouring water from the bucket into the pot and adding more firewood to the stove before going on, "Xiao Yiheng somehow got into a fight with that new beast-eared junior brother at the training ground, and then one of them ended up in the water. When they fished him out, he was barely breathing. Luckily, my master happened to pass by and sent me here to boil water to save him."

Hmm, this plot sounded kinda familiar. Which chapter was this in the danmei novel?

Xue Youtan tilted his head, thought for three seconds, and then his eyes went wide.

Training ground + Xiao Yiheng + Pei Zhi—put those keywords together, and wasn't this the "Cold Pool Incident" plot?

In the original novel, Feng Mingjue casually praised Pei Zhi as a promising cultivation talent, and when Xiao Yiheng overheard it, he got all butthurt and challenged Pei Zhi to a fight at the training ground. He'd meant to push Pei Zhi into the water, but ended up falling in himself and getting seriously sick, so he lied and said Pei Zhi had pushed him on purpose. Pei Zhi had only recently joined Cangya Mountain and, being cold and tight-lipped, wasn't exactly popular with his fellow disciples. Falsely accused by Xiao Yiheng, he couldn't clear his name and got punished by Xue Youtan with twenty disciplinary whips before being tossed into the Deadwood Forest to feed the wolves.

And the main story kicked off right after the "Cold Pool Incident."

Ah, so the plot of that cheesy novel he'd been reading, *Senior's Split Personality*, was finally about to kick off?

The second male lead was going to get soul-transmigrated and start seducing the male lead, successfully bending the stud novel into a danmei one?

Just thinking about it gave him a little tingle of excitement.

"Ding—"

At that moment, the system's notification chimed right on cue in his head.

"Congratulations, host, on triggering the main quest: Cold Pool Reveals True Feelings. Please proceed to the training ground to carry out the punishment on Pei Zhi to ensure the smooth progression of the plot. Quest reward: 100 points, 500 prestige value."

What the hell was "Cold Pool Reveals True Feelings"? If you can't come up with good quest titles, then don't force it! His job was to go whip someone, whip someone, whip someone—not to play matchmaker and hook up the male lead with the second male lead!

Besides, with one lash from him, there'd be no true feelings revealed—someone would straight-up die, that was for sure.

In the original novel, the whip Xue Youtan used on Pei Zhi had barbs, and with spiritual power behind it, it scraped off a whole layer of skin.

That kind of punishment was way too violent and bloody—not something a good socialist youth like him could do. Anyway, the system hadn't specified how to punish, so he might as well go with something gentler. How about just slapping the male lead upside the head and then tossing him into the Deadwood Forest? That way, the male lead could still recover fully and tame his mount in the Deadwood Forest, and he could finish the main quest while keeping his sorry ass alive.

Just as he was thinking this, the system notification sounded a second time in his mind:

"Note: This quest requires a fixed punishment method. Please complete the task of flogging Pei Zhi with twenty disciplinary whips within the specified time. Exceeding the time limit will be considered a quest failure, and upon failure, double the reward points will be deducted. Please be mindful of the passing time. Current quest countdown: 2 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes."

Did the system have to drop quests with such a dramatic pause? He had every reason to suspect that Brother System had been monitoring his thoughts and tacked on this mandatory rule as an afterthought.

But fine, mandatory was mandatory—but what was the deal with deducting double points on failure?

He had just completed two quests and only gained 80 points. This one deduction of 200 would wipe him out to zero and leave him at negative 120—enough to obliterate him twice over.

"2484, am I that much of an eyesore to you while I'm alive?"

Hiding in the kitchen cabinet, Xue Youtan was angry, but afraid Ling Feng might hear him, he kept his shouted voice very low.

That outburst contained no acting—just pure emotion.

But all he got in return was a single line from Brother System: "Good luck."

I wish you good luck, you bastard!

By the time Xue Youtan arrived at the training ground, a crowd had gathered around Xiao Yiheng, with the lead junior sister crying and sobbing.

Clearly, the confrontation between the male lead and Xiao Yiheng was already over—Xiao Yiheng had fallen into the cold pool and successfully framed Pei Zhi.

Xue Youtan put on a stern face and was just pondering how to open with a scolding that would carry enough authority when the junior sister came wailing toward him, "Master, Senior Brother, he... wuwuwu, Senior Brother, he..."

Ling Yue was the only female disciple under Xue Youtan's tutelage. She had left the mountain two days ago to visit home and had only returned today. So this was the first time this incarnation of Xue Youtan had seen her.

As part of the stud male lead's harem, Ling Yue's beauty naturally went without saying—she was what you'd call "clear water producing lotus, suspected to be frost on the ground."

"Don't misuse ancient poetry if you don't know it—it just makes you look uneducated."

Brother System was getting more talkative by the day.

Oh, you're so cultured, sure, you're the cultured one.

Xue Youtan suppressed his urge to bicker with the system, reached out, and patted Ling Yue's head. "I've come precisely for this matter. Don't cry—I will definitely seek justice for your senior brother."

"Huh?" Ling Yue stopped her tears and let out a puzzled nasal sound. She was about to explain further when she heard Xue Youtan bellow at Pei Zhi.

"How dare you harm a fellow disciple and push your senior brother into the water! Disgraceful disciple, kneel down at once!"

Instantly, the entire training ground fell silent as the grave.