91 6.15 (1/2)

For the past several days, Zhuo Biming had been accompanying the other disciples in organizing the corpses of the demonic beast horde while waiting for the peak masters to return. According to the few people who'd arrived in time to witness where they'd gone, the leaders had apparently jumped down the abyss after Ning He and Wenren ShiShi and, although it was unknown whether those two youths had survived, no one questioned whether to wait or not, driven by their deep-rooted faith in the Moqi brothers' power.

Twisting his mouth, Zhuo Biming finished polishing another animal core and considered the situation again. Since Wenren ShiShi was merely a rumored beauty to him, her life or death meant nothing to Zhuo Biming. Ning He's, on the other hand...

Despite the fact that he'd eventually come to believe Moqi Baihui's explanation of the boy's actions, he couldn't forgive him for all the pain he'd inflicted on him, nor could he forget the humiliation he'd suffered at his hands. If, if the boy came back alive and well, what should he do? Could he endure being bullied again when they arrived back at Jade Sword Mountain?

With a clench of his fists, he immediately negated the possibility. He could allow Ning He to use anyone else for the show he was putting on, but he wouldn't play along no matter what. As for the hatred he'd amassed toward the boy during the past few years, he could bury it for the sake of the peak masters' face and for the sake of acknowledging the youth's sacrifice in ingesting so much Golden Honey Flower extract. Besides, based on the skill he'd displayed by eliminating so many demonic beasts so precisely even with the way that the extract must have handicapped his talent, he truly must be a genius as he'd so frequently claimed. In that case, he was worth some respect, as the strong always were.

Still, if Ning He insisted on courting death, Zhuo Biming bit his lip, he wouldn't hold back either. No matter what, he would strike back regardless of what the boy's intentions had been or how talented he was.

Right when he had settled his stance, Zhuo Biming was broken out of his thoughts by the shouts around him and, turning, he discovered that two figures had just flown onto the ledge, one of them carrying a tall youth who appeared smaller in comparison to the man wrapped around him. While the Moqi brother who was holding the teenager had tucked the youth's face into his chest as if to hide who he was, the boy's identity was obvious from his gender alone. And at the realization that Ning He really had come back safely, Zhuo Biming lowered his head to cover his conflicted feelings of relief and disappointment, his determination wavering.

As for the twins, they indeed wished to hide Ning He away, they didn't want to let anyone else glimpse the adorable expression their shizhi made whenever he was unwillingly mollified—before they'd glided back up, the youth had, much to his annoyance, reaffirmed that his hips were too sore for him to support himself, but during their ascent, he'd been appeased again by the sweets they'd continued to feed him. As a result, the boy's pouting lips and frowning brow clearly showed how the cute child was trying to demonstrate his dissatisfaction, while his flushed cheeks and glittering eyes couldn't disguise his delight at the desserts he was tasting; combined, the youth's already charming features could tempt anyone into obeying his every order. But that was their privilege, and they'd already reached the limit of their patience by allowing their brother to touch their shizhi. Naturally, they couldn't permit anyone else to usurp their position.

So when the eager disciples gathered around the trio to greet them, too excited to maintain their composure, the brothers shot similar glares at the teeming teenagers. Did these brats really need to get so close to them? Such pests, disturbing their Ning He...

Hm, suddenly memories popped up of how there had been some cases recorded in which a martial arts practitioner had advanced much more quickly after losing a part of his body. Wouldn't it be interesting for Heavenly Saber Sect to develop a special group of blind cultivators? But it wasn't just their shizhi's looks that might draw these lustful teenagers in, his bell-like voice and delicious smell were too attractive as well. So maybe they should also form teams for those without ears and noses...

A beat later, the twins narrowed their eyes to add in an option to cut out some tongues upon hearing some scum whisper that it was a pity Ning He had survived, because as the person who'd killed all these demonic beasts, he would reap every single core and they wouldn't have gained anything from this trip.

Before the fools could fall too far into their dangerous thoughts, however, Chen Yu raised his head and haughtily glanced down from his perch at the youth who'd spoken these words, then shifted his gaze toward the shining demonic beast cores next to the dissected carcasses. Since he didn't particularly require the aid of such tools to cultivate due to the system cheat he'd applied, he shrugged, the most effective way to use these cores would be to whiten his image some more.

Thus, putting on a proud demeanor, he glared at the boy who'd spoken and snorted. ”Hng, this young master isn't a greedy and selfish waste like some people. Anyway, I'm powerful enough, I don't need these cores. You lot can divide them among yourselves!”

Although most of the disciples had been wise enough not to reveal their longing for the rewards of this expedition, they were after all simply teenagers, they'd secretly been boiling with more jealousy than admiration for Ning He. In fact, not a few of them had slipped some of the cores into their spatial storage and perhaps, if the peak masters hadn't been there, they would have already snatched everything for themselves.

So when Ning He had first opened his mouth, the youths had been listening with bated breath, prepared to protest if Ning He insisted on swallowing all of these prizes, only to gape at his unexpected generosity. A moment later, they cheered and bustled around to fit as many cores as they could into their storage spaces, their views of the boy shifted completely.

How could someone so talented and charitable be as bad as the rumors described? Someone must have distorted the truth. Yes, that scenario would also justify the peak masters' overt bias for Ning He. They must have realized the truth from the beginning of the trip and protected him to compensate for the injustices he'd borne all along. In this way, the more the youths pondered, the more they became confident in their guesses.