A thousand times

"Grandpa, aren't you forgetting something? Teach me swordsmanship, teach me..."

The player beside him was bargaining hard.

Xia Yi ignored him. The wings on his back dispersed and reformed into a bamboo hat in his hands, which he pressed firmly onto his head.

By then, Zhou Yi, his wife, and some villagers who had heard the noise and come outside slowly gathered around.

Half the expressions on Zhou Yi and his wife's faces showed relief at surviving and gratitude toward Shi Lai; the other half showed unconcealable distress over their loss.

They walked up to Shi Lai and bowed together. Shi Lai hurriedly fumbled to help them up.

"Hey, hey, sir, ma'am, don't do that. No need to be so polite... Bowing won't help either... If you have anything good, like a family heirloom..."

"Thank goodness you arrived in time, Shi Lai. Otherwise, your Uncle Zhou Yi and I might have..." Zhou Yi's wife interrupted, wiping her tears. "And this gentleman..."

"I am Xia Yi."

"Lord Xia Yi, where did you come from?"

"You wouldn't believe me anyway, so I won't tell you."

Won't... won't tell me? Zhou Yi's wife was momentarily bewildered. Just then, Zhou Xiaoxian finally arrived, panting. "Uncle Zhou Yi, Auntie Yi! Thank goodness you're all right. Thank you for helping, Senior!"

"Xiao Xian, do you know this gentleman?"

"Um, Auntie Yi, he..." Zhou Xiaoxian did not know how to explain. Seeing that Xia Yi was not looking at her, she secretly pointed at her head and shook hers.

Zhou Yi's wife understood at once. No wonder he was dressed so shabbily, without even shoes, and spoke so strangely. Was there something wrong with his head?

She hesitated, then said, "Thank you for stopping Old Yellow, Lord Xia Yi. But, my lord, do you know why our Old Yellow suddenly turned into this? Also... you killed him so easily, so restraining him couldn't have been hard, could it? Why, why did you have to kill him outright? Sob... He was our family's lifeline!"

By the end, she was half sobbing, half demanding an explanation.

"Auntie Yi?" Zhou Xiaoxian was taken aback.

"Foolish woman!" Zhou Yi shouted, glaring at his wife before turning to Xia Yi with a pained smile.

"My lord, please don't stoop to arguing with this foolish woman... Ah, actually, she isn't entirely to blame. Our family has always depended on Old Yellow to get by. Now, all of a sudden, our house has collapsed, and Old Yellow is..."

He heaved a deep sigh. "Oh, this has nothing to do with you. Please don't worry about it. We can only blame our own bad luck. At least we survived. If we've lost our property, so be it. It's just a pity our child wasn't blessed with better fortune. We'd hoped he could study at the Holy Academy like Xiao Xian, but now... ah!"

At first, Zhou Xiaoxian thought nothing of what she heard, but gradually she sensed something wrong. By the time Zhou Yi finished, her face was full of anger. Yet the surrounding villagers began chiming in, looking as though they felt sorry for the couple.

How could these uncles and aunties act like this!

Senior had just saved them! Were they trying to swindle him because they knew something was wrong with his head?

Weren't they afraid of angering him?

Surely Senior wouldn't really fall for it!

She hurriedly looked at Xia Yi, only to find that he seemed not to have noticed the couple playing off each other at all. He was staring blankly at the sky.

Was... was he having another episode?

Seeing this, Zhou Yi and his wife also felt a little uneasy. They were about to speak again when a long hiss from Xia Yi startled them into trembling.

"Ahh-look at the sky! Those rolling layers of clouds vaguely resemble a giant dragon. It's the Hushu Weather Phenomenon, a sight rarely seen even once in a hundred years! Kneel quickly and kowtow to that dragon-shaped cloud a hundred times. The Father God will surely bless us, making everything go smoothly for us from now on and keeping us free from all illness and calamity!"

Zhou Xiaoxian looked up blankly, then did not know whether to laugh or cry. Was Senior really having another episode?

The other villagers, however, looked at the sky and at one another before dropping to their knees with a thud. "Father God, bless us!"

Zhou Xiaoxian was shocked. She watched Xia Yi bend down with a smile and grab one leg of the Ox Demon's corpse, then lightly nudge the kneeling Shi Lai with his foot. "You needn't bow. Carry the bull's head and follow me."

[Ding! You have been attacked by the Deception Scripture and afflicted with status: mindlessness]

[Your mindlessness status has been removed]

Shi Lai froze, then eagerly chased after him with the dripping, bloody bull's head in his arms, not at all disgusted. His eyes shone, his whole face saying: Sir, I want to learn that!

"Senior!" Zhou Xiaoxian called, then tried to help the kneeling villagers up. But even when she forced them to their feet, they knelt and bowed again, completely ignoring whatever she said.

"Could this be... the Deception Scripture Saint Soul?"

She hesitated for a moment. Annoyed by the way these uncles and aunties had behaved earlier, she stamped her foot lightly, left them alone, and sprang after Xia Yi.

"Senior! Senior! I'm sorry. I didn't expect Uncle Zhou Yi and the others to act like that."

"It's fine." Without looking back, Xia Yi waved his free hand. "There's something wrong with my head, after all. Who wouldn't swindle a fool who came right to their door?"

Zhou Xiaoxian stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face. Blushing, she ran up beside Xia Yi.

"Senior, I'm sorry, I..." Was there actually anything wrong with this senior's head or not?

Xia Yi stopped embarrassing her and moved past the subject himself. Turning to Shi Lai, he asked, "Child, you were the first to arrive. Did you see that yellow bull's Demonization?"

Shi Lai had been speculating about Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian's relationship. Caught off guard by the question, he froze for two seconds before answering, "No. By the time I arrived, the yellow bull already looked like that."

Xia Yi looked at him with great satisfaction.

"A good answer."

[Xia Yi's affinity -10]

[Current affinity: 10 (distant)]

I... what the hell?

After Xia Yi volunteered his name earlier, his system notifications had finally stopped showing ???.

But his mind was full of ???.

"Wait, you mean he was already like that when you arrived?" Xia Yi suddenly frowned again.

[Xia Yi's affinity -10]

[Current affinity: 0 (indifferent)]

Was this NPC sick in the head?!

Ignoring Shi Lai, who was inwardly cursing him out, Xia Yi looked away and pointed at the low hill ahead. "There will do. Dig a large pit and bury this Ox Demon's corpse.

"Otherwise, there'll be some trouble if livestock or ordinary people eat his meat."

"Dig a pit?" Zhou Xiaoxian shook off her intense embarrassment and said, "I'll borrow a shovel from one of the uncles nearby!"

"No need. This child will help."

Shi Lai pointed blankly at himself.

Me? Help dig a pit? Without a shovel?

Dig with my hands? To bury this enormous bull?!

His expression grew quite colorful, only for him to see Xia Yi looking at him unhappily. "Have you changed your mind?"

[Xia Yi's affinity -10]

[Current affinity: -10 (hostile)]

Fuck! I really want to kill him!

"Shi Lai would still need a shovel to dig." Zhou Xiaoxian did not understand what Xia Yi meant.

"He doesn't need one. This child isn't as simple as he looks. That soul-observing Saint Soul he used earlier-even I don't know its origins."

Zhou Xiaoxian looked at Shi Lai in surprise.

Shi Lai froze, then understood.

So that was it-the Detection Art. He really did notice! No wonder he withdrew the quest reward he was going to give me, and his attitude toward me has been so strange. It's always felt like he was messing with me!

This old man was a sly piece of work!

He thought for a moment, then gave an awkward smile. "Grandpa, Grandpa, I offended you earlier. I'm sorry. I'll dig the pit. I'll use my hands!"

Anyway, I've set pain to 10%, so it probably won't hurt too much. I'll apologize first and build up some affinity.

Sure enough, Xia Yi's expression softened. "You have a good heart, child. Don't be so rude again. I am rather curious about that special Saint Soul of yours. Could you use it on me a few more times and let me take a look?"

"No problem!"

Shi Lai immediately used the Detection Art. Compared with before, the result only had a name added.

Xia Yi closed his eyes and sensed it for a while. "Hmm, truly mysterious. Use it on me another thousand times."

Shi Lai: ??? A thousand times?

At that moment, he inexplicably recalled the terror of being punished with writing his name a thousand times after forgetting to put it on his homework. Anger rose in his heart, and malice emboldened him. This NPC's personality was too awful. I'm done putting up with him!

"And bury the bull demon's corpse while you're at it. Finish everything, and I'll give you pointers on swordsmanship."

"You got it, Grandpa!"