“Yes, yes, and I didn’t stare into her mouth, so I didn’t notice.” Long Di answered calmly. “Can you do it or not?”
They all sucked in a deep breath and said at the same time. “No! Not even if you kill us!”
****
I came to the conclusion that old people in cultivation worlds are pretty selfish. All I did was ask these prune-juice-deprived elderly to pass on a message for me and somehow death is preferable to this task.
Can you believe it?
I tried to convince them, but they were as stubborn as an old donkey. Not just any old donkey, mind you, I’m talking about an old donkey beset by mange. Now I don’t know if those are more stubborn than your average donkey, but they should be.
Now I have to go to Blackstone City to tell Yaomu Shou myself… great.
I didn’t even want to go there. First of all, I attended therapy by slapping the dogshit out of Zhen Paohui, but the fee is a little high since his family will probably seek revenge and that’ll end up here if I stay.
Because these prune-juice-deprived, mange-plagued old donkeys aren’t sure of being able to protect their disciples, they foisted them on me instead. I guess they see me as being able to keep them safe.
Seriously, who puts the lives of children in the hands of a minor? I’m eleven!
I mean, I figured this was all Master Tian Lu’s doing, but it coming from him wasn’t as bad. I wasn’t sure if that was because he was walking far on the dao path of sadomasochism, but I hadn’t gotten to that part of the internet by the time I left to delve as deep into that field of study as I would’ve liked to. My loss I guess.
They did tell me that I needn’t worry though and that they wouldn’t let me lead the disciples in danger.
Apparently, my building a connection with someone from the Yaomu family is a good thing, and no one would mess with me and by extension the rest of the disciples if I have her as a backer.
They just didn’t want to be the one to give her any bad news like me ditching her. So they’re not just your everyday prune-juice-deprived, mange-plagued old donkeys, they’re cowardly, prune-juice-deprived, mange-plagued old donkeys. The worst kind, I’m sure.
Well, it won’t be a complete waste of time. I could use this time to get a map, and a change of clothes since my original set of clothes was destroyed. I had to wear some old robes that were borrowed from the mortals in the village to replace the ones I lost.
Plus, I may find some stuff that these disciples could need.
Well, whaddya know? I found some reason to attend the auction after all.
We’re gonna have to cover up the Nymph though. She’ll be a whole lot of trouble if I go with her as is.
I came out of the hall and eyed the disciples one by one. “Looks like I’ll be stuck with you guys for a while. I’m really wondering if my luck is good like that goddess says it is?”
“Are you insulting us again!?” Feng Yu raised her fist in protest.
“No,” I lied. Don’t judge me.
“Y-You’re lying!” She figured it out.
“Crap, you figured it, but I just don’t care enough,” I tried brutal honesty.
“You…!”
Her face turned red in anger. So if I lie, she gets angry, if I try honesty, she gets angry. You just can’t please people these days.
“Senior brother Long, please don’t tease Senior sister Feng Yu,” giggled Shen Ling at the side.
“Hmph!” Feng Yu snorted after this and crossed her arms while pouting.
Oh yeah, I had to get something out of the way and turned my attention to the nymph. “What’s your name?”
You’d think this is something I would have known already, but I’ve been busy.
“Huh?” The Nymph was caught off-guard by the question.
“Your name? You do have one of those, right?” I asked.
“Xiannu, Xiannu Liang,” she said timidly.
She appeared reserved, and I reckoned it was because she didn’t know anyone here and was still shy. Hopefully, she opens up soon. I cannot, for the life of me, handle another level zero Shen Ling.
“Alright, Xiannu Liang, do you know where you live?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I live in Emerald Forest.”
“I don’t suppose any of you have ever heard of the Emerald Forest?”
I asked everyone else if they ever heard of that place, but they all shook their heads. Figures.
“What about you guys?” The elders just came out of the hall, so I directed this question at them.
“We don’t. This is why it’s good to get a map. That way you can at least be sure you’re going in the right direction,” said the first elder.
I turned back to look at Xiannu Liang. “You don’t remember the way?”
“No,” she shook her head.
“If you’ve been on the run all this time, how come you don’t remember the way?”
“I was captured by that Nitu Demon while on the periphery of Emerald Forest. When he let his guard down, I managed to escape. But upon escaping, I was too far from where I was, and I just ran without a clear goal until I made it to the forest you were in. I was injured by him before and when the shock wave came, well… you know the rest,” she explained.
Something wasn’t adding up. “That demon I fought was a Three-Star Core Martial Master. Your spiritual fluctuations are much weaker than mine, meaning you’re weaker than me. You shouldn’t have been able to escape, even if his guard was down.”
Xiannu Liang closed her eyes as a gentle green glow enveloped her.
Shu…
Suddenly, greenery sprouted underfoot without warning. The ground became lush with grass when small plants budded without end. Before long, this magical scene extended out for quite some time and only stopped once the green glow around her body faded.
“I can cause and accelerate the rate of growth for plant life. In addition, I can also control plant life to an extent, I was able to use my divine abilities to cause confusion during his moment of inattentiveness, and that’s how I was able to escape.”
I ruminated on what she said for a while. “That’s good enough for now. I know there’s more to this, but something tells me we’ll be together for a while. So there’ll be enough time for us to catch up, eventually.”
I turned to the elders, since it was about time. “Welp… this’ll either be a flaming disaster or a monumental achievement. There is no middle ground here”
Their expressions darkened in an instant when I said that. So honesty is a big no-no.
“Please keep them safe.” The first elder’s tone was grave.
“I will try my best-ish.” Honesty again for the win. what can I say? I was raised right.
The disciples hurriedly bowed in the direction of their masters once more and then took off to catch up to me.
I wonder what adventures lie ahead?
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