Carving a Rabbit

Wait! Why did this fatty ask me whether I'd "received the notice"?

Puzzled, he asked, "The Peak Master notified you?"

Fang Yuan took out his identity token and waved it. "Great King, besides storing merit points, our identity tokens can also transmit messages. The Peak Master sent one just now."

"Ahem!"

Chun Xiaobai nodded without batting an eye. "Right, right, right. I forgot."

Bai Jin'er stole a glance at him from the side.

Forgot, my ass!

This fellow might not even have an identity token!

If the Peak Master discovered that, he'd be in trouble!

She couldn't help growing nervous.

She had heard that this Peak Master had offended some important figure in the Inner Sect, which was why she had been banished to the Outer Sect to while away her days as a peak master.

Her temper was usually atrocious. A couple of years ago, simply because a disciple had looked at her a few times too many, she had kicked him down the mountain and demoted him to a menial disciple.

If she discovered that a bandit had come here impersonating an Outer Sect disciple, getting kicked down the mountain would be the least of his worries.

Chun Xiaobai, however, wasn't afraid.

It wasn't as though "peeping tom" was carved on my face. If I didn't say anything, who would know?

"When are we heading over?"

Fang Yuan said anxiously, "Everyone else went ages ago! I've been waiting here for you for half a quarter of an hour!"

"Ah!!!"

"Then hurry up and go!"

"You two go ahead. I... I'll head back first," Bai Jin'er said softly.

"Don't!" Chun Xiaobai stopped her outright and shoved the Cave Abode's Formation Talisman into her hand.

"Stay here and guard your great king's door. If any big brother on the rankings comes to challenge me, make him a cup of tea and tell him to wait a bit."

"Uh!!!"

Bai Jin'er froze.

This fellow... was he planning to make his fortune this way?

Still, this was better than going out robbing homes.

What Bai Jin'er worried about most was that he would fail to suppress the bandit nature in his bones and go out imitating the other disciples' chicken-stealing, dog-snatching antics.

If he got caught, his identity as a fake Outer Sect disciple would be exposed on the spot.

Watching the two walk away with their arms around each other's shoulders, she suddenly felt that this fellow seemed far better than those genius senior brothers and sisters in the sect whose eyes were perched atop their heads.

There was a lively energy about him, and he didn't put on airs. Apart from that lingering whiff of banditry, he was rather approachable.

Bai Jin'er pursed her lips, thinking of the cultivation techniques he had bestowed on her.

As though compelled by some unseen force, she walked out with the Cave Abode's Formation Talisman, stood at the entrance, and actually began guarding his door.

When they reached the summit, the great formation around the Peak Master's Residence had already been withdrawn. Disciples wearing faintly worried expressions hurried inside one after another.

Chun Xiaobai felt something was off and asked Fang Yuan beside him.

"What are these guys so nervous about?"

"Great King, there's something you don't know."

Fang Yuan leaned closer and looked around. Only after making sure no one was paying attention to them did he point at his own head and whisper.

"I heard our Peak Master... has a bit of a problem up here."

"Huh? She's a nutcase?"

"Hard to say. I only heard it through the grapevine." Fang Yuan shook his head.

"They say she used to be an extraordinary genius in the Inner Sect. Then she offended someone important, had her cultivation foundation crippled, and suffered a mental blow too."

"That's why she often does things that defy belief, and she likes crippling people's cultivation. So the sect higher-ups demoted her here to be an idle Outer Sect peak master."

"Huh? She likes crippling people?"

"Fuck me!" Chun Xiaobai's heart tightened, and now even he was getting nervous.

If she discovered he was that peeping thief, he would be in trouble.

The main issue was that she was a nutcase. This wasn't like dealing with the woman in red before; that woman might have been crazy, but she had been easy to fool.

No, no. I absolutely couldn't give myself away today!

Chatting as they walked, the two entered the Peak Master's Residence together and saw the disciples heading toward the Martial Arts Arena.

Chun Xiaobai and Fang Yuan followed them to the Martial Arts Arena.

At least a thousand people had already gathered in the center of the hundred-mu Martial Arts Arena, all geniuses from the summit of Green Bamboo Peak.

"Hm?!"

Chun Xiaobai noticed something strange: he could clearly sense these people's cultivation levels.

Every single one of them was at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining.

The sole exception... He glanced at Fang Yuan beside him. This fellow alone was at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

"Wait, how did someone at the seventh level of Qi Refining get to live on the summit?"

Chun Xiaobai asked quietly.

Fang Yuan scratched his head and said a little sheepishly, "Well... Great King, I'm actually looking after someone else's Cave Abode. When they return from their training journey, I have to give it back."

"Uh!!"

Chun Xiaobai froze.

So after all that, you were just a damn doorman!

No wonder your tongue was so sweet, and you wanted to lick everyone you met. It was an occupational hazard.

Still, he now understood that his ability to see through these people's auras and cultivation levels was probably due to his progress in cultivating his divine sense.

The two waited in the square for a short while before the crowd suddenly fell silent.

Following everyone's gaze, Chun Xiaobai saw a young woman in a flowing green dress walking slowly toward them.

She possessed a chilly, forbidding air like an iceberg, yet her figure was so scorching it could set a man's blood surging.

Her breathtaking face, in particular, seemed to have been sculpted by heaven itself, and Chun Xiaobai stared until his eyes went fixed.

The stark contrast between her demeanor and her figure wasn't the least bit jarring. Instead, it gave rise to a lethal allure.

Damn, this woman really was a knockout!

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen apart from that woman in red.

Bai Jin'er, who had originally held second place, now had to settle for third.

After checking her stats, he discovered that he couldn't see through this woman's cultivation level at all, and immediately raised his guard.

The Peak Master, Yun Huoyue, arrived before the crowd, swept her gaze over them, and immediately fixed it on Chun Xiaobai.

Why?

Because among the thousand-plus disciples present, this fellow was the only one who dared stare straight at her.

Chun Xiaobai felt someone nudge his arm and turned his head,

only to find Fang Yuan frantically signaling with his eyes.

Only then did he realize that everyone else had their heads lowered. He alone was still brazenly admiring the Peak Master's... figure.

"Hmph!"

Yun Huoyue gave a snort but let it slide.

Her cold gaze swept over all the disciples, and her brows knitted slightly.

Then she waved a hand, and a table appeared out of thin air before them. On it lay a white radish as thick as a thigh and a gleaming broadsword.

Yun Huoyue spoke slowly, her voice clear and pleasant, yet carrying a chill.

"I have always eaten only vegetarian food, but lately I've wanted to eat rabbit. Line up and come forward to carve me a rabbit out of this radish."

Carve a rabbit?

With that huge chopping blade?

There really was something wrong with this Peak Master's head!

She wanted to eat rabbit, so she'd carve one to eat?