Doesn't She Think She's Done Anything Wrong?

After hearing Xiao Yu's voice, Bai Yue's exhausted expression suddenly twisted into hatred.

She was a clever woman. Naturally, she could guess what Xiao Yu had been doing outside all this time.

"You bastard... you bastard!! I'll make you die... I'll make you die!!!"

"I, Bai Yue, swear... even if I become a ghost, I won't let you off! Just you wait!"

"I curse you to die a miserable death! I curse you!!!"

Rather than getting angry, Xiao Yu was delighted. Resting his chin on his hand, he said teasingly, "Talking to you is still more interesting. What a fiery temper!"

"Now this is interesting, Sect Master Bai~"

"No... I'm a little puzzled too. You've been here for so long, and you don't think you've done anything wrong at all? You really believe that?"

Bai Yue once again let out a hysterical roar. "What did I do wrong!!!"

"If someone is determined to accuse you, they will never lack a pretext! You know perfectly well what you were plotting! Do you dare say you didn't have crooked thoughts from the very beginning?"

"Hmph? All men in the world are cut from the same cloth. Not a single one of them is any good!"

"Just wait until I, Bai Yue, escape! Otherwise, I'll tear you to ten thousand pieces! Tear you to ten thousand pieces—!!!"

"I'll slice the flesh from your body piece by piece! Slice it off!!!"

Xiao Yu shook his head helplessly.

It seemed reasoning with her was impossible. This woman had lived for over two hundred years; her way of thinking had likely long since solidified.

Could a Golden Core Stage cultivator even recognize her own mistakes?

That probably would not be easy.

Looking at Bai Yue's ferocious face, Xiao Yu subconsciously swallowed. "If I'm not mistaken, in your eyes and your disciple's eyes, I'm not even worth one dog from your righteous sects?"

"Saving you was ill-intentioned. Taking you away was ill-intentioned. But when you harmed me, you were slaying demons and defending the Dao!?"

"Heh, so all matters are decided by you righteous sects, is that it? I'd like to see just how hard your mouth is..."

The next morning.

Xiao Yu's cultivation had already risen to Qi Refining, First Layer!

Just as Xiao Yu was pondering, the trial chamber suddenly rang out: [Good morning, villainesses. The second day's trial has begun!]

At this point, he could clearly feel the spiritual power flowing through his body. Though it was very faint, he could now use magical artifacts!

Arriving in the outer courtyard, he picked up the inferior-grade magical artifacts he had obtained earlier—the Eagle Claw Saber and the Jade Maiden Gourd—and began testing them.

Under the control of his spiritual power, the Eagle Claw Saber moved around his body like a living creature.

Then it slashed toward a distant boulder, leaving sharp, ringing blade marks.

Xiao Yu reached out and grabbed it, using his spiritual power to control the Eagle Claw Saber and carry himself forward.

The Divine Movement Art activated beneath his feet.

Xiao Yu unconsciously frowned as he watched the spiritual power ripple like rosy clouds, then launched another attack.

Holding the saber horizontally toward the sky, he instantly swung out a half-meter-long blade aura.

"Is this the enhancement brought by the Elysian Union Art... Why does it carry a sweet fragrance..."

After speaking, Xiao Yu swung again. Blade aura surged forth, and a short tree in the distance split apart on the spot.

"It has destructive power, but I don't know whether it has any other effects. I'll see later..."

As he spoke, Xiao Yu took out the Jade Maiden Gourd again.

Feeling the incomparably cool aura above it, an idea stirred in his mind.

He simply tried concentrating and extending his divine sense outward.

The instant his divine sense touched the Jade Maiden Gourd, he sensed the presence of living people.

"There are still living people inside the gourd..."

Xiao Yu's eyes widened expectantly, and he hurriedly used his divine sense to inspect the situation within the gourd.

The inside looked like an incinerator.

Very soon, he spotted several women inside.

They were huddled together in the middle of the gourd, gathered in a circle as they resisted the flames around them.

Some of the women had already been burned.

But after watching for a long while without the Villainess System giving any prompt, he hesitated.

Were the four women inside good people?

Wait, why were three of them mortals...

Xiao Yu's eyes widened in confusion.

Only the woman dressed in red was a Qi Refining, Third Layer cultivator.

The red-robed female cultivator was desperately shielding those mortal women, her lips white.

Behind her, a twenty-year-old girl cried in despair. "Mother... I'm so scared. I want to go home... I'll never go up the mountain again... sob, sob, sob!"

Xiao Yu looked at the women again.

The leading red-robed female cultivator was rather delicate in appearance, though she was somewhat inferior to Bai Yue.

Yet her face held a resilience and righteousness that Bai Yue lacked.

There was even a trace of youthful innocence on her face.

Of the other three mortals, two seemed to be a mother and daughter.

The remaining mortal woman had an especially outstanding temperament and looked somewhat like the daughter of an official family.

In Xiao Yu's impression, whether righteous or demonic cultivators, mortals were nothing but ants in their eyes!

Even in a situation like this, she was still using spiritual power to protect mortals?

Seeing this, Xiao Yu hurriedly raised his hand and released all four of them.

The moment the four appeared, they collapsed onto the ground.

Xiao Yu was about to step forward and greet them when the female cultivator, unable to sustain her spiritual power, fell unconscious.

The other three hurried forward and pleaded with him.

Without changing expression, Xiao Yu stepped forward. Looking at the unconscious female cultivator, he raised his hand, took out a Qi-Replenishing Pill, and fed it to her.

Then he carried her toward the house. "Don't be afraid. I'm not that Elder Wu. Go draw some water from the well and come take care of this girl."

The mother and daughter looked at each other, neither daring to move for a long while.

Instead, the woman who looked like an official's daughter stood up.

After settling the female cultivator, Xiao Yu had the mother and daughter look after her.

The woman who looked like an official's daughter hurriedly stepped forward and knelt. "Many thanks to Immortal for saving my life... This humble woman, Li Qingyun, is endlessly grateful..."

The mother and daughter behind her hurriedly came forward and knelt as well. "Many thanks to Immortal for saving our lives... This common woman is Zhang Lan, and this is my daughter Huang Xiang. Xiang'er, why aren't you kowtowing to our benefactor!"

The girl at the side hurriedly kowtowed and prostrated herself. "Many thanks to Immortal for saving my life..."

Xiao Yu could not help frowning.

Seeing that Xiao Yu was silent, Li Qingyun hurriedly said in a low voice, "This humble woman was saved by Immortal. If my benefactor has any request, this humble woman would not refuse even if it meant dying ten thousand deaths! It is only... I beg Immortal to allow this humble woman to return home once, to see my family... and let them know that I am safe!"

"Afterward, this humble woman is willing to serve my benefactor like an ox or horse... I beg benefactor to help me..."

Xiao Yu pondered silently. Although the system had not judged the four of them to be villainesses,

that did not mean they could not pose a threat to him.

It was better to be cautious.

"Hm, if I'm not mistaken, there must have been more than just the four of you in this gourd before. There were definitely quite a few others, and they should all have died inside!"

"Elder Wu most likely captured you to refine Human Pills, but what is the deal with you mortal women?"

Li Qingyun hurriedly lowered her head in salute. "In reply to benefactor... Senior Zhao said before that the three of us seem to possess spiritual roots. They wanted to refine us into Human Pills. We have already been inside for more than half a month. If Senior Zhao had not given us food and risked her life to protect us, we likely would have become dry bones as well..."

Xiao Yu glanced sideways at the female cultivator inside the house.

Li Qingyun followed anxiously, saying, "Benefactor, Senior Zhao Hongye is a Rogue Cultivator with no sect. She is upright and kindhearted, and she definitely will not harm you..."

Xiao Yu chuckled softly. "Not necessarily. Otherwise, why is she still playing dead after waking up?"