Xuan Yin looked as though someone had grabbed him by his vulnerable spot. His mouth hung open, but no sound came out for a long while. Actually, someone really was holding him by that spot.
His gaze finally settled on Lu Ming's harmless-looking smile.
"You..."
Xuan Yin's voice rang out, sounding rather desolate.
"What did you just say?"
Lu Ming very kindly repeated himself.
"The Heavenly Venerable of Universal Transformation through the Sound of Thunder, who responds to the origin of the Nine Heavens. Head of the Thunder Department. In charge of thunder. The top guy."
He pointed at Wen Ning.
"His godfather."
Then Lu Ming pointed at Xuan Yin, his finger nearly poking him in the nose.
"You're complaining about him to his godfather."
Lu Ming spread his hands.
"Think about it. Really think about it."
That finally shut Xuan Yin up completely.
He ran through every curse he could think of in his entire life, going over them three times.
"Getting caught by you two..."
Xuan Yin sounded close to tears.
"Just my rotten luck."
Lu Ming reached out, scooped him up, and coiled him around his arm again.
He even thoughtfully tucked the dangling tip of his tail into a gap in the Demon-Binding Rope, patting his head as he did so.
"That's more like it."
Lu Ming sounded as though he were comforting a child who had failed an exam.
"Accept your fate and cooperate with us. I promise I'll put in a good word for you in the report and try to get you some leniency. Besides, judging by that baleful aura around you, you're probably no decent monster anyway. Stop acting like you've been horribly wronged."
Xuan Yin raised his head to look at him, his eyes full of a victim's last stubborn shred