Xie Tinglan's small body was jostled back and forth by the crowd of mortals. Pale and frail, he drifted like duckweed on a vast ocean, unable to catch hold of any wreckage to reach the shore, on the verge of being swallowed whole by the endless, dark waves in the next instant.
No one cared about him. He was about to be dragged back to remain their experimental subject, to be turned into a monster by them.
The chaotic, suffocating air made it hard to breathe.
That woman wasn't a good person either!
The Blood Oath had merely been a mutual probe between them, nothing more than a game.
No one could be trusted.
Even if it cost him his life, he would break out this time. He was never going back!
Xie Tinglan's body went rigid, his eyes locked onto the black-robed figures. Strained to the limit, he didn't notice a passerby shoving him backward.
Just as someone was about to step on his tiny body, leaving him at the mercy of their boots—
“Call me Master. This is your last chance.”
“?!”
She...
Xie Tinglan snapped his eyes open.
Slightly red and moist, his pupils quivered with incredulous shock. A fracture formed in the frozen wall of his eyes, as if a snowy mountain had collided with raging fire, and his pupils reflected Wen Li's image.
Wen Li, whom he thought had left, had somehow returned. Her cool, indifferent eyes looked down at him as she held him up by his collar. An inexplicable sense of peace and relief swept through him, dispelling the suffocating air of despair and death.
“...Master.”
It was merely an unconscious repetition on Xie Tinglan's part as he blinked blankly.
It was clear the child had been frightened out of his wits.
Knowing when to stop, Wen Li quickly masked Xie Tinglan's aura, grabbed him, and ran off in the chaos without looking back.
Beneath her sleeves, her fingers were trembling, slick with sweat.
She was terrified too! If she had been a second late, she would have had to face three Golden Cores and a Nascent Soul.
She really would have died.
But this spoiled brat needed to be taught a lesson. If she didn't push him once, he would never take her seriously. Educating a child required both kindness and severity.
Suddenly, seeing the compass in his hand fail again, one of the four black-robed men let his aura darken and crushed the compass to dust.
“We've been played!”
Whoever it was had deliberately lured them over, only to hide Xie Tinglan again.
With the compass dead, the target had definitely left the area. These mortals were nothing but a distraction.
The lead black-robed man glared at the crowd of mortals below, who were shoving and scrambling over a High-Grade spirit stone and ruining his major plans, a bloody murder lust flashing in his eyes.
“Elder Gui, if we massacre these mortals, the Daoist Alliance of the Five Provinces will criticize and hunt us down.”
Noticing his intent, a black-robed man behind him quickly stepped forward to stop him.
There was an unwritten rule in the cultivation world: it was one thing for a cultivator to kill a single mortal with good reason, but if they slaughtered a whole group of mortals, they would be labeled as an evil, heartless path that bullied the weak, and the Daoist Alliance of the Five Provinces would issue a hunt request against them.
Hearing this, Elder Gui had no choice but to suppress his fury. “Hmph, those self-righteous hypocrites from the Five Provinces Alliance!”
“Keep searching! They must still be inside Yongdi City.”
“Yes!”
...
Knowing the people from the Beast Taming Sect were still searching Yongdi City, Wen Li brought the two children to an inn and checked in.
Looking at the little kid before her, who had his fists clenched—not in defiance, but out of nervous stiffness—Wen Li sat on the bed with her arms crossed over her chest.
“What do you call me?”
“...”
Xie Tinglan's lowered eyes flickered. “Master...” he mumbled, as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
“Can't hear you.”
“Master!”
This time, Xie Tinglan looked up to meet Wen Li's eyes, his calm voice ringing loud and clear.
“Did I beg you to take me as your master, or did you want to join of your own accord?” Wen Li asked, her expression cool and indifferent.
Xie Tinglan no longer resisted. He knew that only Wen Li could save him.
“It was my own choice. I am willing to become your disciple.”
Although he didn't know what method she used to prevent the Beast Taming Sect from finding him, at least for now, this woman posed no threat to him. Calling her Master was hardly a loss.
Wen Li didn't hold a grudge either.
“Good. Starting today, you are a hundred and eighth generation disciple of the Wuji Sect, ranked second.”
Xie Tinglan's brows furrowed. “Why not first?”
He was already one hundred and ninety years old. Was he supposed to call that smelly thirteen-year-old brat Yao Dai “Senior Sister”?
“Hm?”
Wen Li lazily raised her eyelids and narrowed her eyes at him.
“...Second is fine too. Second it is.”
...
“These sect rules...”
Xie Tinglan looked at the sheet of paper in his hands and couldn't help asking, “Why do we need to pay special attention to people with the surnames Xiao, Ye, Lin, and Shi? Are they from some major sects?”
Standing beside Wen Li, Yao Dai looked up. He had asked the exact same thing she had back then. Unsurprisingly...
“It's just insights from my experience. It's hard to explain. When you grow powerful enough, I'll add your surname to the list too,” Wen Li said calmly.
Yao Dai: “...”
Yup, those exact words sound so familiar.
“Oh.”
While memorizing the sect rules, Xie Tinglan lay flat on the bed, letting Wen Li inspect his wounds.
Fortunately, she had left a pair of shorts on the little kid to preserve his modesty.
On the bed, there was hardly an inch of unblemished skin on the frail child. His wrists and ankles bore long, scabbed scars, interspersed with fresh, raised tissue where flesh had been carved out and regrown, as well as knife wounds currently oozing dark green blood.
Those were all inflicted over the past few days.
One look was all it took for Wen Li to tell that these were marks of abuse from being bled, having his bones extracted, and his flesh carved out. Her brows knitted together tightly, and a rare chilling glint flared in her usually cool, tranquil eyes. The Beast Taming Sect...
Even Yao Dai, who was helping by carrying hot water and handing over towels behind her, felt her heart leap in horror at the sight.
Although she had wandered as a beggar for three years and suffered abuse, it had never been torture as excruciating as having her flesh sliced and her blood drained like Xie Tinglan.
No wonder he was covered in thorns and snapped at everyone he saw.
Looking at the child who appeared four years old on the bed, she curled her lip. Whatever. I'm the senior disciple, and I was with Master first. I'll settle the score for him hurting Master later.
Taking the towel handed over by Yao Dai, Wen Li wiped away the bloodstains on Xie Tinglan's body with hot water, then began applying ointment to his wounds.
“Hss!”
The ointment brought a sharp, searing pain. Lying face down, Xie Tinglan's eyes instinctively flashed with a fierce light, his fists clenching as he prepared to strike back.
But when he turned his head and saw Wen Li applying the medicine, he pursed his lips and unclenched his fists. Biting down on the pillow in silence, he grimaced in pain.
“It stings a bit, but bear with it. Otherwise, if these injuries accumulate over time, they'll permanently damage your physical body,” Wen Li said.
The moment he heard her say it would affect his physical body, an image popped into Xie Tinglan's mind: an Ancient Soaring Serpent stripped of its scales, looking like a mangy, hairless snake. Terrified, he froze instantly and bore the pain in silence.
Seeing the little fellow's eyes turning red from the pain, looking quite pitiful, Wen Li handed the ointment over to Yao Dai.
“Where are you going?”
Xie Tinglan panicked, terrified that Wen Li was abandoning him again.
“I'm going downstairs to buy a few things. It's close by, so it won't affect the concealment of your aura.”
With that, Wen Li turned and walked out the door without looking back.
Holding the ointment, even though Yao Dai disliked Xie Tinglan competing with her for their master's favor, she had no choice but to begrudgingly accept him at this point. She would never disobey her master.
“I don't want you applying it,” Xie Tinglan said, still holding a grudge.
She had kicked him around like a ball earlier.
Yao Dai glared at him and said sarcastically, “Ooh, suit yourself then! Tell Master yourself when she gets back.”
“...”
Having just witnessed Wen Li's methods, Xie Tinglan wilted, but he still kept his face stiff and acted tsundere.
“Fine. I'll give you this opportunity then.”
Nasty girl. She kicked me around like a ball for three days, and I haven't even settled that with her yet.
“Sorry, but I don't want it anymore.”
Yao Dai smirked.
The two argued back and forth like elementary school kids.
“...”
Xie Tinglan pouted, lowering his head to lie flat on the bed in silence, burying his tiny head into the pillow like a quiet quail.
The air turned strangely quiet and a bit awkward.
Yao Dai glanced at him, then took another look at the bloody wounds covering his frail body. She quickly turned her head away—out of sight, out of mind. He was the one who refused it, so what did it have to do with her? Did he really think she was easy to push around?
She accidentally stole another glance.
The little boy with short arms and legs lay there quietly, stubborn as a mule.
Yao Dai's brows knitted. Although Master said this guy was already one hundred and ninety years old, in human terms, he was only four. Having grown up without parents, he was even more miserable than her. He truly looked pitiful right now.
She shifted back a bit.
After several moments of inner struggle, Yao Dai felt a tightness in her chest, as if she were some wicked person abusing her junior brother.
Whatever. Strictly speaking, he's just a four-year-old brat, while I'm thirteen. Why am I arguing with him? With that stubborn, arrogant face of his, Master won't be fooled by him anyway.
If I win Xie Tinglan over to my side, my position as Eldest Disciple will remain rock solid even if other disciples join later!
“...”
Feeling the medicine being applied to his back again, Xie Tinglan couldn't help but flutter his eyelashes. Though he didn't open his eyes, he knew who was applying the ointment. His hands tightened around the pillow, clutching it firmly.
Equally stubborn, Yao Dai offered an overly defensive explanation:
“If Master hadn't instructed me to, I wouldn't be doing this for you! You have so many injuries—it's a total pain to apply.”
Buried in the softly scented, plush pillow, Xie Tinglan smoothed his brow. Controlling his tense face, the tight line of his lips relaxed, though he didn't even notice it himself.
He didn't talk back stubbornly this time, keeping his head buried in the soft pillow.
“Master.”
Wen Li returned. Yao Dai immediately spotted the large spread of food she was carrying in her hands.
Seeing that Xie Tinglan's ointment hadn't been fully applied yet, Wen Li set the items down and took out two tanghulu, giving one to each of them.
“Let me finish it. You two go eat something first.”
“Okay, thank you, Master!”
Yao Dai joyfully accepted the tanghulu. Checking it, she saw it was identical to the one in Xie Tinglan's hand. Looking over at the table, whether sweet or spicy, every dish came in duplicate.
And they were completely identical.
This was Xie Tinglan's first time seeing tanghulu. Ever since he gained sentience, he had been imprisoned in the Beast Taming Sect, fed only pills and bloody demon beast meat, never touching human food.
Unwrapping the paper bag, he stared at the bright red spheres, unsure how to eat them. Watching Yao Dai next to him take a bite, he followed suit and bit into the candy coating.
“?!”
His tiny eyes lit up in an instant, as if he had discovered a whole new world.
Wen Li had been watching his expressions the entire time. Sure enough, regardless of race, children always loved sweet and sour foods with distinct flavors—it was their yearning and exploration of a new world.
Eating something sweet made the bitterness in one's heart a little easier to bear.
“Remember to spit out the hawthorn pits, or a little tree will grow in your tummy,” she said. Someone had told her the exact same thing when she was little.
“...”
She really takes me for a child to fool.
Xie Tinglan froze, turning his head to find Wen Li staring right at him as he ate. His chewing paused, and his large, bright eyes darted away as he silently turned back around.
He felt deeply self-conscious.
As he ate the sweet and sour treat, the stinging pain on his back seemed much less intense.
Before long, the two of them had devoured everything on the table that Wen Li had bought.
And Yao Dai was always a step faster than Xie Tinglan, picking up new food a second before him each time.
This allowed Xie Tinglan to clearly observe how to eat some of the more complex dishes.
Neither of them spoke, making the room exceptionally quiet.
There were only the chewing sounds of two little hamsters.
[Ding! +2, Save the Villain Xie Tinglan progress bar: 5%]
Outside the window lattice, the gentle light of the setting sun filtered through the treetops into the room, infusing the air with a faint scent of sunny freedom.
A glance outside revealed golden light sprinkled over green mountains, with curled clouds washed in orange-red and purple glow. They resembled heavy oil paints interweaving and enhancing each other, mottled, brilliant, and radiant, carrying a tranquil, fragrant, and cozy warmth that tempted one to sleep.
It softened and defined the silhouettes of the three inside the room.
Wen Li could naturally sense the shift in atmosphere between her two disciples. After all, they were still children. Before they truly grew into villains, child psychology worked wonders on them. It made her effort worthwhile to deliberately expose Xie Tinglan's wounds for Yao Dai to see, lowering her guard and invoking her sympathy.
And while Yao Dai harbored hatred and possessed a paranoid temperament, she was sensitive and observant. Once she understood he wasn't an enemy, she naturally sought to win him over.
A slap followed by a sweet treat—a carrot and stick approach—never failed on love-starved villains.
Only when feigned affection was laced with genuine warmth would they be swept off their feet, sinking in bit by bit.
Wen Li's indifferent eyes remained calm without a ripple as she turned her head toward the horizon.
It's just that this progress bar moves too slowly.
How troublesome.
Rate on N.U.
