We Were Just Passing Through!

"Junior brother, have you investigated the surroundings?"

"Rest assured, senior brother. I scanned everything."

"Good. We have to snatch the soul tree root back."

At that moment, two men in black were lying low near the site of Su Wan'er's tribulation transcendence, acting furtively.

Their eyes were fixed on the group up ahead, who were stuffing themselves with food and drink.

Both men belonged to the Missing One Sect.

The Missing One Sect was a peculiar sect.

The disciples they accepted had to be missing something in their humanity.

And it had to be a very serious deficiency.

These two, for instance, lacked human kindness.

Yet members of this sect cultivated extremely quickly.

These two, for instance, had already reached golden core peak.

That was also why they dared to seize it by force.

"Senior brother, when do we strike?"

"Don't rush, brother. Let them drink a little more, and then... heh heh!"

One of the men in black suddenly gave a few cold chuckles, an icy aura radiating from him.

Judging by his demeanor, he clearly intended to unleash a massacre shortly.

"Who are you two?"

The sudden voice stunned both men in black.

Then, with startled expressions, they slowly turned to look behind them.

Only then did they discover that a handsome young man had appeared behind them at some unknown point.

"Gulp..."

Both swallowed hard, then said with awkward smiles, "Senior, if we said we were just passing through, would you believe us?"

Li Shouyi smiled.

It was a very happy smile!

"Of course. Everyone who knows me knows I'm the most trusting person around."

"Then why are you pointing swords at our lower backs, senior?"

"Oh! Old habits from my assassination days."

"It was an unconscious reflex. Your positions were simply too accommodating."

"So I drew my weapons before I knew it."

Hearing this, the two men in black looked down at the swords in their waists, their mouths twitching. "But senior, you've already stabbed half the blades into us!"

"Aah..."

In the darkness, their screams rang out like a thunderclap, jolting Su Wan'er and the others out of their drinking frenzy.

"What was that?"

"Over by the cliff. Hurry, let's take a look."

"What nerve! Someone actually dared to spy on us."

The scream instantly startled Wu Suowei sober.

He hurried over with several disciples.

"Master, you...?"

When he arrived with the others, he happened to see Li Shouyi with his hands at the two men's waists.

After taking a closer look, Wu Suowei finally realized what had happened to the two men in black.

Li Shouyi had pierced their lower backs with a sword apiece and brought them up as captives.

"You wretched disciple, go wake everyone up. Wake the drunks too."

"Or I'll peel your skin off!"

Seeing Li Shouyi's darkened expression, Wu Suowei's face instantly drained of color.

He hastily replied, "Yes, Master!"

"Get up! Everyone, get up! Master's back!"

In the end, apart from the sleeping Lin Shuishui and the drunken Su Wan'er,

Everyone else stood before Li Shouyi, cowering.

"Don't run away. Drink this bowl of wine, then let's gamble a couple more rounds."

"Hehe, Master, I lost again."

Watching Su Wan'er ramble drunkenly, Li Shouyi's expression grew a few degrees colder.

He snorted, and two bolts of lightning suddenly fell from the sky.

Boom...

Both bolts struck the two women with unerring accuracy.

"Mommy! The heavenly tribulation's back!"

Su Wan'er sprang to her feet, looking left and right.

Lin Shuishui rubbed her eyes, looking adorably dazed, before turning to Li Shouyi. "Master, you're back."

"Master?"

Only then did Su Wan'er come to her senses and look at Li Shouyi behind the two men in black.

The sight of his icy expression prompted a silent cry in her heart.

I'm done for!

Before she could explain, Li Shouyi looked at them and said, "Look at you pack of bastards. Do any of you look remotely like cultivators?"

"Su Wan'er, you especially."

"Your eldest senior sister can't manage sect affairs because of her special constitution, so naturally, that heavy responsibility falls on you, the second senior sister."

"What did you promise me yesterday?"

"Master, this disciple knows she was wrong."

"Please punish me, Master."

Su Wan'er figured that admitting her mistake in front of so many people would first give her master all the face he could want.

Perhaps then he would let her off without punishment.

"Fine. Go wait over there. Once I've dealt with these two rats, I'll give you a proper lesson."

"Oh!"

After Su Wan'er walked away, Li Shouyi looked at Pei Zhujiu. "And you, you wretched disciple. I wanted you to experience the hardships of the mortal world."

"But look at you! You went straight to luring the shopkeeper here to cultivate."

"Who's going to support his parents, wife, and children?"

"Uh, grandmaster, rest assured. I'm just an unlucky orphan, with no parents, no mother, and no attachments whatsoever."

Li Shouyi: "..."

Rebellion. These people were rebelling against heaven itself.

When the upper beam was crooked, the lower beams followed suit. A mere granddisciple actually had so little sense. Couldn't he see that he was disciplining someone?

He couldn't even play along. The more Li Shouyi thought about it, the angrier he became.

"Look at the disciple you've raised, contradicting his grandmaster to his face. Go stand over there with your second senior sister too."

"Huh??"

Pei Zhujiu's face became a picture of utter bewilderment.

"Get over there already!"

"Oh, oh, okay!"

Once Pei Zhujiu had walked over, his gaze turned to Lin Shuishui.

But a little girl as delicate as carved jade walked expressionlessly in front of Lin Shuishui, who was sleeping soundly again, blocking Li Shouyi's view.

Holy shit.

How was this little girl so cute?

The moment Li Shouyi first laid eyes on Bao'er, his inner maiden's heart overflowed.

He quickly smiled at Bao'er. "Don't worry, I won't scold your master. Come here and let your grandmaster have a look at you."

Bao'er: ??

Seeing the little girl stare at him as though he were some creepy old man, Li Shouyi gave an awkward chuckle. "Never mind. Stay beside your master!"

Damn it!

Why hadn't he ever come across such an adorably innocent disciple?

Li Shouyi cursed inwardly without pause, and his grip tightened further.

"Awooo..."

The two men in black instantly felt their kidneys being churned to a pulp.

Then their eyes rolled back, foam spilled from their mouths, and they passed out.

"Gulp..."

At the sight, all the disciples swallowed in unison.

The male disciples instinctively touched the area over their kidneys.

Shing...

Li Shouyi pulled the two swords out of the men in black.

A closer look would have revealed bits of shattered kidney still clinging to the blades.

He took out a cloth and wiped the swords as he said, "If you two don't get up now, you'll never get up again."

"No, no, no! Senior, we'll stop pretending!"

Hearing his words, the two black-clad men from the Missing One Sect, who were lying on the ground playing dead, hastily scrambled up and dropped to their knees.