Read and replied with nonsense

Gunpowder?!

Shen Leyan's eyelid twitched. The village chief's resolute expression did not look like a bluff.

After a brief uproar, several Cloud Radiance Sect disciples instinctively tried to flee the ancestral hall.

The old village chief shouted, "Nobody move—"

He grabbed Shen Leyan's lower leg with both arms.

"If anyone leaves this hall, I'll light the gunpowder immediately. None of us will get out alive!"

Shen Leyan: "..."

Just say what you have to say. Why are you clinging to my leg?

A few blood vessels stood out in the old village chief's cloudy eyes, making him look particularly frightening.

The Cloud Radiance Sect disciples stopped in their tracks, alarmed and uncertain.

"Gunpowder is controlled by the imperial court. How could he possibly get his hands on any? Don't listen to his nonsense."

"Exactly! Besides, he doesn't even have a fuse. How would he set it off? If you ask me, since he's trying to kill people, we should just cut him down and be done with it!"

The old village chief smiled, his gaze falling behind the wooden table that held the memorial tablets.

Shen Leyan followed his gaze and finally spotted a villager crouching behind the table, holding a fire striker as though he were waiting for the old village chief's order.

The ancestral hall had been so chaotic earlier that nobody had noticed someone hiding there.

Although the imperial court controlled gunpowder, it could still be bought on the black market if someone was willing to pay.

"Nobody move!!!"

The old village chief slowly scanned their faces before finally tilting his head up to study Shen Leyan's features.

"The Cloud Radiance Sect has treated our village well over the years. You're all so young, and I don't want to take so many lives either—everyone else can leave, but you! You must stay in this hall!

"My son said you're a soul from another world, with exceptionally powerful spiritual energy. You alone will be enough to keep him in this world for a hundred years without dissipating."

Shen Leyan said, "Me? Your son is already dead, and his soul has lost its mind. What good would keeping him here for a hundred years do?"

"Shut up!!! He's the only heir of my Li family!!!"

Shen Leyan figured his message talisman had already carried the news to the Cloud Radiance Sect. Since Lu Yuanyi had sent down a slash of sword light to break the illusion, he had probably dispatched cultivators to handle the situation too.

He just needed to stall long enough.

Even the most powerful gunpowder could only hurt mortals. Those cultivators with actual cultivation could form a barrier of spiritual energy to keep them safe.

His senior brother looked at him worriedly. "Shen Leyan, stop provoking him..."

Shen Leyan acknowledged that and replied with complete nonsense. "You're not still hoping your son's soul will stay here, marry a female ghost, and give your Li family a few ghost babies, are you?"

The old village chief's eyes grew even redder. "Shut up!!! Say one more word of that nonsense, and all of you will stay! These old bones have lived long enough. I'm not afraid to die with you!"

Several outer disciples of the Cloud Radiance Sect hesitated, then timidly tugged at their senior brother's sleeve.

"Staying here won't help anything now. Why don't we do what the old village chief says... We can leave the ancestral hall first, then go back to the sect and find someone to rescue Shen Leyan..."

"How can we do that?! Once we all leave, Shen Leyan will be burned to death inside!"

"But—"

Shen Leyan waved a hand and smiled. "Senior brother, go on outside."

"At a time like this, you can still smile..."

His senior brother seemed to want to persuade him, but before he could continue, Shen Leyan softly interrupted.

"It's all right, senior brother. Go outside—hey, you old gee—Village Chief, don't leave yet. I haven't finished talking to you."

The old village chief had just released Shen Leyan's leg and was about to leave the hall with the others when Shen Leyan deftly dropped to the floor, wrapped his arms around the chief's leg, and hung his entire body off him.

The old village chief said, "You—"

"You must be wondering why the illusion your son created didn't burn me to death in that fire, right?

"Didn't you see that bright slash of sword light flying down from the Cloud Radiance Sect just now? That was the sect master's Jiangxue Sword. Compared to that sword light, your son's illusion was just a tiny flicker of flame. It went out in an instant.

"But don't be too upset. Your son's may be tiny, but it's still pretty cute."

Listening to the youth clinging to him spout nonsense, the old village chief kept feeling that the little bastard was implying something else, as though he wasn't talking about the illusion at all.

Once his thoughts took a turn toward the gutter, he flew into a rage.

"Who are you insulting?!"

Shen Leyan raised his eyebrows innocently. "When did I insult anyone? Your most muddle-headed honor, I haven't said a single dirty word."

"Enough nonsense! If you're so capable, have your sect master's lousy sword do that again! You must die here today, so my son can—"

"I'm right here. Do I look like I have any way to escape?"

The old village chief snorted. "You still want to escape? Take one step outside, and the gunpowder under the floor tiles will explode immediately."

"Exactly, so hear me out. There's something very important I haven't told you yet. Once I'm done, I'll let go and let you leave the hall, so you won't get blown up along with me."

The old village chief was certain the little bastard had nothing good to say, but with Shen Leyan's entire body hanging off his leg, refusing to let go, he had no choice but to ask patiently.

"What else do you have to say? If it's your last words, I can pass them on to your senior brother later."

"I'm an orphan, so I don't really have any last words—what I actually wanted to say is that your son might be gay."

The old village chief's voice was three times louder than usual. "That's fucking bullshit!!!"

Shen Leyan kept a perfectly straight face. "It's true. I suspect your son took a fancy to me, which is why he lied to you about me being some soul from another world. Think about it. What does 'a soul from another world' even mean? Just look at me. After all these years, I'm still an outer disciple without any cultivation. How could I have powerful spiritual energy?

"Most importantly, ever since I entered the village, your son's soul has been hiding under the ruins, spying on me. Spying is one thing, but he even blew on my neck.

"Village Chief, you be the judge. What respectable male soul would chase another man around to blow on his neck?"

The old village chief gaped, unable to process this twenty-first-century boys' love plot for the moment.

"You, you, you—what did you say?!"

"Every word I said is definitely true. As the saying goes, a dying man speaks from the heart. I'm about to croak, so why would I lie to you? Isn't that right?

"Mostly, I just thought that as his father, you ought to know about your son's sexual orientation.

"Once I die, your son might even enter into a ghost marriage with me. Then I'll have to call you 'Dad' too."

The old village chief ground his teeth. "Don't go claiming random people as your dad!"

Shen Leyan thought, My senior brother just helped me claim Lu Yuanyi as my "dad."

Since I'm already claiming random dads, one or two makes no difference.

Most importantly, spouting nonsense here would buy him time.

He was wondering whether to make up a few more stories, such as how he and the village chief's son had actually known each other for ages and had already pledged themselves to each other...

Suddenly, a clear, gentle voice rang out from outside.

"I had no intention of taking any lives. Please send the disciples of my Cloud Radiance Sect out safe and sound, elder."