My Esteemed Master

The dim halo of light seemed somewhat thick and sticky in the air.

Leng Yaozhu bent down, her phoenix eyes fixed on Tang Qingye.

She raised her right hand, pressing its slightly cool back directly against the boy's cheek, then slid her fingers back to clasp his nape, her fragrant fullness blocking his view.

As a mature transmigrator, he knew all too well the stature of the woman before him.

Only an idiot would refuse to cling to such an exquisite pair of legs that had fallen from the sky.

"Teacher."

Tang Qingye obediently accepted Leng Yaozhu's touch and her offer to take him as her disciple.

"Ah, my dear disciple."

Leng Yaozhu froze in surprise for an instant, then her heart filled with irrepressible joy.

She chuckled softly. Without even giving the boy a chance to react, she spread her arms, losing her composure a little, and swept him firmly into her embrace.

It was the voluptuousness and grace of a mature woman.

In an instant, Tang Qingye's entire little face sank without warning into an indescribable expanse of warmth, softness, and grandeur.

Those breathtaking curves, carrying scorching body heat and a rich, lingering fragrance of green pine, enveloped and submerged him like a tide.

Darkness swallowed his vision. All around his mouth and nose was that delicate fullness, stifling him until even breathing became difficult.

I might be a little dead...

A rush of heat shot straight to the crown of his head. Though he desperately tried to stay calm, a burning flush still crept up his neck and across his little face, and his heart abruptly skipped a beat.

Only when Tang Qingye was nearly suffocating did Leng Yaozhu reluctantly release him.

She straightened and looked at her eldest disciple's innocent appearance, his face crimson from her embrace and his gaze wandering. Affection nearly spilled from her eyes, and she casually pinched his flushed cheek.

"Aolai City can't hold on to you, little fellow."

Leng Yaozhu reined in her smile and said gently, "I'll take you to the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters. You can choose any Soul Spirit there. From now on, we'll live in Shrek City."

Tang Qingye rubbed his somewhat burning cheeks, suppressing the restless rush of blood that sent his heart scampering like a monkey and his thoughts galloping like a horse.

"Can I bring my family? And have them provided with a home and protection?"

Tang Qingye looked up, his dark eyes regaining their usual composure.

"Of course. I didn't think things through. I thought you were another case of 'my world collapsed at the outset, then I met a beautiful master.' I'd also like to see what sort of family raised such an endearing boy."

Leng Yaozhu's hand took the roaming lane, ruining Tang Qingye's freshly restored composure again. His innocent little puppy appearance thoroughly hooked his master's heart.

Leng Yaozhu turned her wrist, and a cool token, ice-blue throughout and carved with a Heavenly Phoenix pattern, landed in Tang Qingye's hand.

"In three days, I'll come personally to pick you all up."

"Thank you, my esteemed master."

"And I'm not little!"

That evening, outside the gates of Red Mountain Academy.

The little brats getting out of school each sought out their mothers, making the entire street a noisy uproar. How irritating!

Standing beside a streetlamp, Tang Qingye spotted Tang Wulin from afar, head lowered as he shuffled out, swaying with every few steps.

In the ordinary Soul Master class, he had spent the whole day enduring the cold shoulders of his peers because he had no Innate Soul Power and had awakened Blue Silver Grass.

"Brother."

Seeing Tang Qingye standing outside the school gates, Tang Wulin jogged over.

Looking at his little brother's aggrieved expression, Tang Qingye couldn't help smiling.

"Come on, I'll buy you something tasty. While we're at it, tell me whether Sword God Douluo bullied you..."

Spurred on by chicken drumsticks and ice cream, Tang Wulin regained his usual liveliness, chattering the whole way.

Just as the brothers passed a narrow, secluded alley, a sudden burst of filthy language broke the evening's oppressive stillness.

"Run, huh? Just try running again!"

"You little bastard, you've only got a few copper coins on you? Who the hell are you trying to fool?"

The voices of street thugs.

Tang Qingye abruptly stopped, his dark pupils contracting slightly.

Here it comes?

According to the original script, the one cornered by these Aolai City scoundrels at this point was none other than "Na'er," the half of the Silver Dragon King with clear silver eyes.

Taking Tang Wulin along, Tang Qingye walked toward the dim, narrow alley without betraying anything.

But when he looked past the clutter and saw the scene inside, he froze briefly.

The one being punched and kicked in a corner by several street vagrants and thugs was merely an ordinary child whose pocket money had been stolen, crying loudly in terror.

"Brother, what are you looking at? Aren't we going to do something?"

Tang Wulin looked at his brother in puzzlement, then glanced at the commotion inside the alley.

Though he had endured a whole day of grievances at school, his inborn kindness still made him itch to act, his little hand unconsciously tightening around the hem of his uniform.

Tang Qingye gathered his thoughts and turned his gaze to his honest, guileless little brother.

Seeing how Tang Wulin wanted to rush forward yet felt somewhat powerless, something stirred faintly in his heart.

His little brother had swallowed a bellyful of humiliation at school. If he now had to watch helplessly as the weak were bullied, the boy's heart of cultivation might shatter all over the ground on the spot.

Still, how could he let him rush forward?

His older brother wasn't dead yet.

"Stay here. Don't move."

With both hands still tucked into his trouser pockets, he stepped unhurriedly into the dim, narrow alley.

The three thugs in the alley were enthusiastically plundering their victim. Hearing movement behind them, they all turned around.

Seeing that it was a little brat, their leader tilted his head, spat, and cursed viciously, "Where'd this bastard come from? What are you looking at? Keep looking and we'll do you too-"

Before he finished, a bone-chilling coldness flashed through Tang Qingye's dark eyes.

He stepped forward and circulated his cultivation method, turning his gentle Soul Power into violent green sword energy. With two fingers joined as a sword, he traced a perfect, seven-colored arc through the air. The sword energy swept along the ground like a long rainbow, raising a piercing whistle as it sliced with unerring precision across the three thugs' wrists and ankles.

Rainbow Pierces the Sun!

"Aah-!!"

The sounds of tearing cloth and slicing flesh rang out together, accompanied by three shrill screams almost perfectly in unison.

Before the thugs could even see what had happened, that seven-colored sword energy had severed all their wrist and ankle tendons. Blood sprayed in great sheets, and all three collapsed into the mud, clutching their hands and feet as they rolled and howled in agony. The viciousness in their eyes instantly turned to boundless terror.

Tang Qingye withdrew his fingers indifferently, turned slightly, and looked at Tang Wulin, who stood utterly stunned nearby, lifting his chin a little.

"Little Lin, release your Martial Soul," Tang Qingye said icily. "Use your Blue Silver Grass. Whip them."

"Huh? Oh, okay!"

Tang Qingye casually picked up the wallet from the ground and stuffed it back into the hands of the child, who was sobbing his eyes out. "Take your things and go home," he said offhandedly, sending him away. "Don't come out alone again."

The child thanked him between sobs and ran off like a wisp of smoke.

Though his brother's methods had shocked Tang Wulin, his innate intelligence allowed him to catch on. He took a deep breath, and light flickered in his right palm. Several slender yet resilient, pale-blue Blue Silver Grass vines instantly unfurled.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Dull whipping sounds rang through the alley as skin split and flesh tore. The lashes struck the three thugs mercilessly, raising bloody welts and beating them until even their screams changed pitch. They could only twitch on the ground like dead dogs and beg for mercy.

This whipping let Tang Wulin vent every last bit of the humiliation and grievance he had bottled up at school all day.

There's even a masochist here. Why are you enjoying it more the more you get whipped?

"All right. Let's go home for dinner."

"I was the one who fell behind. Whether because of my arrival or my master Leng Yaozhu, things stopped following their original course long ago. Why should I cling to it? I should just let nature take its course."