Nan Ji tried his best to play dumb, asking the eleven people before him.
"Oh, where are the Three Pure Ones, fellow Daoists?"
The man at the head spoke and asked Nan Ji.
"My master, senior uncle, and junior uncle are in seclusion and cannot receive visitors. I hope you will forgive us."
Nan Ji cupped his hands to the eleven of them.
The lead man did not seem to mind. He waved a hand. "It doesn't matter. It's fine if they aren't here."
One of the men, whose entire body burned with flames, spoke bluntly. "Big Brother, why waste so many words with him? Just make him hand her over."
The lead man thought that made sense and said, "Then please..."
Nan Ji saw that there was no way to keep it hidden any longer.
Fine. A man must bear responsibility for his own actions.
So Nan Ji directly interrupted, "You... you came for her?"
"You brat, hurry up and send her out to come with us!" the fiery man said viciously.
"As long as she comes out, we won't remain on your Xuanqing Peak!" said another man surrounded by flowing water.
Actually, Nan Ji was only so nervous because he had a guilty conscience. Otherwise, judging from these people's traits, he could have guessed that they were the Ancestral Witches.
But there were very few "normal" people in the Great Desolation, so Nan Ji merely took them for subordinates of the Queen Mother of the West.
"Handing her over is impossible!"
Seeing how hot-tempered they were, Nan Ji responded just as forcefully.
He had been humiliated before Di Jun and Tai Yi because the gap in cultivation between them had been far too great at the time.
But now, he had both his senior uncle Laozi's Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda and his own Soul Slaying Staff, while his cultivation had already reached the mid-stage Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
Besides, his senior uncle, master, and junior uncle were right behind him. He could not just surrender without a fight.
"Good brat!"
After hearing that, Zhurong immediately swung his sandbag-sized fist at Nan Ji's face.
"Rise!"
Nan Ji reacted swiftly. Seeing Zhurong's fist coming at him, he hurriedly summoned the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda.
Bang!
Zhurong's incoming fist slammed hard into the Mysterious Yellow Qi descending from the pagoda.
Yet Nan Ji inside remained completely unharmed.
Nan Ji was delighted at the sight. As expected, sometimes a treasure was greater than cultivation.
Then another thought came to him. In the future, Junior Uncle will rely on the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation to withstand the Four Saints. Now I, Nan Ji, can rely on the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda to withstand eleven people.
When Zhurong saw that even his strike had failed to harm a junior, his old face immediately reddened.
"Get out here!"
As he spoke, Zhurong swung his sandbag-sized fists, punching at Nan Ji again and again.
His fists fell like raindrops, but Nan Ji remained completely unscathed beneath the protection of the Mysterious Yellow Qi.
"What kind of man hides in a turtle shell? Come out and fight me if you have the guts!"
Sweat dripped from Zhurong's forehead as he cursed in dissatisfaction.
"Fine!"
Although Nan Ji knew he was in the wrong, he also knew that if he did not fight back today, these people would never leave.
It was hard to imagine what would happen if Duo Duo were taken away.
So Nan Ji summoned his Soul Slaying Staff. With the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda over his head, he gripped the staff in both hands and smashed it viciously toward Zhurong. "Take a blow from me!"
Seeing this, Zhurong hurriedly raised an arm to block.
Smack!
A bloody red mark appeared on Zhurong's thick arm where Nan Ji had struck him.
"What are you all standing around for? Come help!"
Feeling a sharp pain in his arm, Zhurong shouted at the ten Ancestral Witches behind him.
Nan Ji was fearless like a newborn calf before a tiger. Seeing that the Soul Slaying Staff could injure Zhurong and thinking that it would further corrode his soul, he laughed loudly. "That's all you've got!"
As he spoke, Nan Ji rapidly lashed Zhurong again and again with his Soul Slaying Staff.
Before long, Zhurong was covered in bloody welts.
The other Ancestral Witches had not wanted to gang up on Nan Ji, but after exchanging glances, they still joined the battle.
With all eleven Ancestral Witches joining in, Nan Ji suddenly felt countless fists raining down upon him.
"Ow..."
"Fuck..."
At that moment, Nan Ji felt as if their fists were falling like a torrential downpour, and some of them were even kicking him.
Although the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda covered him, it left him with no chance to retaliate.
After being beaten for quite some time, Nan Ji's mana finally could no longer support the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda.
Buzz—
With a mournful cry, the pagoda shrank to the size of a palm and flew back into Nan Ji's body.
"Hey!"
"Stop! Stop right now! Don't hit me!"
But why would the eleven Ancestral Witches care? They continued beating Nan Ji.
Still, this was the Three Pure Ones' Xuanqing Peak. They only wanted to retrieve Houtu and had no intention of killing him.
But they did not stop either. Fists and feet flew everywhere, battering his arms and legs.
"Ow, don't—don't hit my face!"
"Ow..."
Previously, with the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda protecting him, the light shield it formed had been struck until it was on the verge of collapse.
But now, Nan Ji was surrounded by eleven Ancestral Witches and beaten so badly that he could not move at all.
After being beaten for a long time, Nan Ji glared with his panda eyes and asked in confusion, "Wait... w-wait a second. Why hasn't the Soul Slaying Staff corroded your souls?"
"You brat, your mouth is too filthy. Brothers, beat him!"
Ancestral Witches?
At that moment, anger surged in Nan Ji's heart. He shouted, "Then why are you Ancestral Witches working for the Queen Mother of the West? Have you no shame?"
The Ancestral Witches immediately stopped and looked at one another.
Gonggong was the first to ask, "Who... who is working for that woman?"
Nan Ji finally caught his breath. He rolled over, faced the sky, and gasped deeply. "I never thought those who respected neither Heaven nor Earth but only Pangu would do something like this! You've disgraced Pangu completely."
Nan Ji had truly been beaten badly.
The key was that all eleven Ancestral Witches had attacked together. Even Di Jun and Tai Yi had never received such treatment.
So he said whatever was the most vicious.
Zhurong looked at Nan Ji's words but could not make sense of them.
He reached out, grabbed Nan Ji, and lifted him up like a chick. "What do you mean, brat?"
At that moment, Duo Duo—who was Houtu—appeared. She said, "What are you doing? How could you treat my brother like this?"
Nan Ji had already resigned himself to his fate, but who would have thought Duo Duo would jump out on her own?
Nan Ji rolled over, grabbed Gonggong and Zhurong by their feet, and cried to Houtu, "Duo Duo, you stole the Ren Water Immortal Peach! These are Ancestral Witches sent by the Queen Mother of the West to capture you!"
"Run! Run!"
Although Nan Ji's eyes had been beaten into panda eyes, two of his teeth had been knocked out, and his whole body was covered in red and purple bruises without a single uninjured spot.
In Houtu's eyes, however, Nan Ji was shining brightly.
When the eleven Ancestral Witches saw Houtu appear, they all stopped.
"Little Sister!"
"Little Sister!"
As they spoke, the eleven Ancestral Witches rushed toward Houtu.
Nan Ji struggled to hold them back, but failed.
He did not even know which Ancestral Witch stepped on him in the process.
"I thought the Three Pure Ones had locked you up!" Zhurong said as he ran before Houtu, reaching out to pat her head.
But Houtu glanced at him disdainfully and dodged away.
Nan Ji was dumbfounded by the sight.
What was going on?
How had Duo Duo become the Ancestral Witches' little sister?
The little sister of eleven Ancestral Witches—didn't that make her an Ancestral Witch?
The youngest Ancestral Witch... wasn't that Houtu, the Ancestral Witch who transformed herself into the cycle of reincarnation!
It was... Duo Duo!
Before you continue