How Could I Put Up With This? (Please Add to Favorites! Please Vote! Please Invest!)

Chapter 46: How Could I Put Up With This? ... (Please Add to Favorites! Please Vote! Please Invest!)

Huh?

City Lord Duanmu furrowed his brow slightly. The gesture made Pei Ling instinctively hold his breath and reach for the hilt at his waist.

Fortunately, the City Lord's brow soon smoothed. He said slowly, "That makes sense. You came all this way; you can't return empty-handed... How about this? You juniors ran into trouble on my turf, after all. In that case, I'll take care of this mission for you."

Then he instructed his attendants, "Look after Young Friend Pei well."

Before the words had even left his mouth, he vanished like a passing breeze.

Only the time it took to brew a cup of tea later, the City Lord returned and tossed two blood-soaked demon beasts down in front of Pei Ling. "Young Friend Pei, the one on the left is a Peach Blossom Demon, and the one on the right is a Purple-Eyed Sable. Check them and make sure they're right."

Pei Ling swallowed and forced a smile. "City Lord, I'm only a new disciple at Qi Refining Layer 4. I don't know anything..."

"It's all right, it's all right." The City Lord beamed. "Just use your nameplate to verify them. If they're wrong, I'll make another trip."

Pei Ling was a hundred thousand times unwilling, but under the gaze of this Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he had no choice but to steel himself and take out his nameplate.

But once he had it out, he had no idea what to do.

"Young Friend, take some of the demon beasts' blood and smear it on the nameplate. You'll find out whether they're the ones required for the mission," City Lord Duanmu reminded him, having seen his confusion.

But after Pei Ling smeared the blood of both demon beasts onto the nameplate, it showed no reaction!

Delighted, he hurriedly said, "City Lord, it seems there's been a mistake. I wouldn't dare trouble you to make another trip. I'll go myself!"

"How could that be?" City Lord Duanmu was taken aback. He'd only asked Pei Ling to check as a formality. As the City Lord of Luoshan City, he knew the demon beasts in the surrounding area better than anyone.

There was no way he could have caught the wrong ones, even with his eyes closed.

At that thought, he furrowed his brow and pondered briefly. Then he suddenly realized something. "Young Friend Pei, did you perhaps never accept the mission?"

"Accept the mission?" Pei Ling asked blankly. "How do you accept a mission? Senior Brother Chen kept saying I'd be going with Senior Sister Chen, and that the mission was to deliver a letter to you and deal with the Peach Blossom Demon?"

City Lord Duanmu sighed. "Just as I thought! Young Friend Pei, you've only just joined the sect, so it's no wonder you don't know. Sacred Sect missions must be accepted in person at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department using your nameplate. Only then can you claim the reward. If you came all this way without doing anything, it won't count when you return unless you make a special trip to the General Affairs Hall."

At this, he looked puzzled. "Young Friend Chen and the others seemed to treat you well, and you showed them great respect. They were seasoned at going on missions, so why didn't they remind you?"

Why?

Because those bastards came out here to take my life. Why would they bother with all that?

Pei Ling knew perfectly well, but went along with City Lord Duanmu's lead and asked blankly, "Yes, why is that?"

"Perhaps they were in too much of a hurry to refine the Soul Summoning Banner," City Lord Duanmu said with a smile. "After all, refining one is costly, and it takes many living souls and lots of flesh and blood. Even with talented young cultivators like you, it would take at least dozens to ensure the banner became a high-grade Talisman Tool... Maybe that's why they hurried out to do their mission without taking the time to explain everything to you."

"Anyway, it won't be much trouble to complete the paperwork when you get back."

"Now that Young Friend Chen and the others are gone, you can just make a trip to the General Affairs Hall yourself."

"...I see." Pei Ling thought it over. His face successively showed shock, astonishment, contemplation, dawning realization, anger, relief, and melancholy, while his voice quickly sank. "Thank you for enlightening me, City Lord!"

City Lord Duanmu smiled amiably. "We're both members of the Sacred Sect. We're all one family, so there's no need to stand on ceremony."

He pointed to the two demon beasts before them. "Young Friend Pei, you should take them back to the sect soon. Don't forget to report the whole matter to the Deacon Hall as soon as you return, then go to the General Affairs Hall to complete the paperwork."

"City Lord." Pei Ling really didn't want to return just then and face the families of Li Siguan and the other two. He hesitated, then steeled himself and politely refused again. "Thank you for taking care of this, but... Although Senior Brother Chen died in the jaws of a beast, the other senior brothers and sisters... might still be outside the city. Since we came out together, shouldn't we wait for them a little longer? Maybe we'll hear from them tomorrow or the day after, or in a few days?"

City Lord Duanmu fell silent.

Pei Ling forced himself to stay calm. "If I'd be imposing too much on you, City Lord, I can go stay at an inn..."

"What are you talking about?" City Lord Duanmu suddenly laughed, cutting him off. "I told you, we're all one family. Why would you stay at an inn when the City Lord's Mansion has such a spacious guest courtyard? I was just thinking that I'd overlooked something. How about this: I'll give the order shortly for Luoshan City's guard squad to search outside the city. If they find your companions injured or in danger, they can lend a hand. What do you think?"

At that point, Pei Ling could only thank him profusely. "What have we done to deserve meeting such a generous and kind-hearted elder of the sect?"

Damn it, had the old bastard caught on to my hint and sent the guard squad out to silence them overnight?

Half a day later, that suspicion was confirmed. At dusk, Pei Ling, who had spent a long while fretting in the guest courtyard, was summoned to the main hall again.

The moment he entered, he saw City Lord Duanmu looking stricken, and his heart leaped into his throat.

Sure enough, the old bastard choked back a sob and said, "Please accept my condolences, Young Friend Pei. The guard squad just brought back some severed limbs. After the coroner identified them and the steward confirmed their identities, it seems the other young friends, apart from Young Friend Chen, are all..."

Pei Ling's face instantly crumpled with grief. How was he supposed to keep squatting in Luoshan City now?

"Young Friend, the dead are gone. You must take care of yourself!" Seeing how devastated he looked, City Lord Duanmu secretly praised the young man's acting and quickly joined in with words of comfort. "You and Young Friend Chen were close. I'm sure their spirits in heaven wouldn't want to see you so heartbroken... Oh, besides the severed limbs, we also found some of their belongings at the scene. You can keep them as mementos."

"No, no!" Pei Ling jolted out of his grief, waving his hands so fast they blurred. "City Lord, please calm down! My cultivation is weak, and my character is lowly. How could I be worthy of keeping my senior brothers' and sisters' belongings? You must keep those things, City Lord! If you refuse, you'll be looking down on us Qi Refining cultivators!"

City Lord Duanmu smiled warmly. "There's no need for that, Young Friend. Those things may be ordinary, but they belonged to your senior brothers and sisters. In every respect, they should be handed over to you."

Seeing that he was still stressing how "ordinary" the things were, Pei Ling remained wary and firmly refused to accept them. In the end, City Lord Duanmu had someone bring them in. On a blackwood tray decorated with gold, there was nothing but a pile of battered junk. The only things of any value were three Qi and Blood Pills in a small porcelain bottle and five Low-grade Spirit Stones.

...That old bastard was ridiculously stingy!

"So be it..." Pei Ling cursed inwardly. Putting everything else aside, Chen Huan had casually given him a Qi and Blood Pill on the Yin Corpse Cloud. How could the belongings of five people amount to this pitiful pile of junk?

The old bastard had not only taken the most valuable item, the Soul Summoning Banner, but also swallowed up everything else of value, leaving him nothing but scraps!

Absolutely outrageous!

How could I put up with this?!

That was what he thought, but without the slightest hesitation, he said, "Allow me to speak, City Lord. The Human-Faced Spider was vicious by nature. If not for your righteous loyalty, we would have met utter ruin on this journey! As the saying goes, our parents gave us life, but you, City Lord, pulled us from fire and water. I will never forget this kindness and grace!"