Even after venting on the Demonic Peng King, Fang Xing was still in a bad mood. He took a wine gourd from his storage ring and drank while cursing about the G.o.d-d.a.m.ned-pellet-giving Fuyao Palace, swearing he would one day rob them clean.

On the morning of the second day—before he had fully awakened—Fang Xing felt a small tickle against his nose. He opened his eyes and found an attractive little girl leaning over the side of his bed using a blade of gra.s.s to tickle his nostrils. The girl wore an ordinary blue dress and had gleaming skin that needed no adornment, pupils as black as ink, and a playful smile on her face. She was an unmatched beauty, like that of an angel in one’s dreams….

Dumbfounded, Fang Xing thought he was still dreaming and tugged this angel over before turning in his bed to continue sleeping; it was an opportunity placed right in front of him, so he still had to take it even if the girl was just from a dream and not real. As the girl was grabbed into his arms, she smiled and didn’t offer even the slightest resistance.

A mildly sweet scent wafted into Fang Xing’s nose. He slowly began to regain consciousness and opened his eyes once more. "Sh*t, Xiao Mahn, you little turtle-egg b.a.s.t.a.r.d, how did you get here!" Fang Xing loudly yelled while jumping up from his bed.

The "angel" fell onto the bed with a giggle, her back arched. Fang Xing was certain now; who else could it be other than his Xiao Mahn? In the four years that had pa.s.sed, she had grown a little taller and looked more feminine and beautiful, but those eyebrows, that laughter, the soul-grabbing sweet scent he smelled when she was in his arms—these no doubt belonged to his Xiao Mahn.

"To have someone get so close without noticing, are you not being too careless, s.h.i.+di Fang?" The words came from a gentle voice, and when Fang Xing turned his head, he saw it belonged to a person in a white dress at the door. A quiet and contented expression was displayed on her face, with the edges of her lips curled faintly upward. It was none other than Xu Linyun.

"If it was an enemy that wanted to get close, I would have awakened the moment they got within three hundred feet…" Fang Xing muttered to himself. He glanced over towards Xiao Mahn on his bed before looking to Xu Linyun at the door. "What’s going on?"

Xiao Mahn sat up straight on the bed, her hands moving to her waist as she spoke with livid anger, "Now that you’ve asked, is this behavior suited of my young master? You obviously entered the Qing-Yun Sect as well, so why did you not come and find me in all these years? If s.h.i.+jie Linyun hadn’t told me…." As she spoke, she looked at Fang Xing with a very stubborn expression, as though determined to hear his explanation.

A little dumbstruck, Fang Xing turned to look at Xu Linyun, whose face showed a hint of guilt and remorse. Xu Linyun slowly began to speak, "This is all my fault—"

Although it seemed she wanted to explain the situation, Fang Xing waved it off and interrupted by scolding Xiao Mahn, "Just as you said, I’m the master and you’re the slave. Does it matter to you who I—your young master—want to search for? Do you think I won’t beat you up?"

After being interrupted, it was now Xu Linyun’s turn to be dumbstruck. She knew about the relations.h.i.+p between Fang Xing and Xiao Mahn, and she’d also begun to approve of Fang Xing by now. She was even feeling regret about preventing them from meeting each other earlier, so she’d thus called Xiao Mahn out of her seclusion early in the morning to take her to meet Fang Xing. She’d originally thought—despite being master and slave on the surface—their actual relations.h.i.+p was closer to that of a brother and sister and their reunion would be filled with tears and laughter. Who would have expected Fang Xing to jump straight into a scolding?

After being rebuked, Xiao Mahn began to pout with clear unhappiness, yet Fang Xing merely lay back in his bed and sent a kick to Xiao Mahn’s rear. "Face-was.h.i.+ng water!"

Xu Linyun was even more speechless now. Xiao Mahn was treated like a small princess ever since she’d joined the sect, and the sect favored her even more than it had Xu Linyun when the latter had first entered. Her esteemed s.h.i.+fu had even sent two female daotongs to serve her. Xiao Mahn’s treatment was no different from a real princess, yet this little turtle-egg b.a.s.t.a.r.d wanted her to fetch him face-was.h.i.+ng water?

Even more unexpectedly, despite Xiao Mahn’s dissatisfaction, she still stood up and went to fetch a wooden bowl to fill with water. When she saw Fang Xing had gone back to bed and was unwilling to get back up again, she soaked a washcloth with some water and began to lightly wipe his face. Her actions were gentle and earnest, and the more she wiped, the more her eyes began to redden until she softly leaned over Fang Xing and sobbed, "Young Master, I missed you…."

"Crying again? How did I—your young master—spend three hundred golden leaves plus seven lives to exchange for something like this back then?" Fang Xing cursed.

As if growing impatient, Fang Xing pushed Xiao Mahn to the side while she clung tightly onto his robe and began to sob even louder. He hadn’t actually put much force into it, and as he raised his palm as though to strike her head, he instead brought it down to softly pat against her hair.

Seeing this left a gentle stirring in Xu Linyun’s heart and she turned to leave.

Inside the room, Fang Xing looked up towards the roof while Xiao Mahn lightly sobbed. "Enough, stop crying. Do you know how hard it was for me to get you into the Qing-Yun Sect? How are you going to face me if you don’t practice hard? Come, let your master check your body to see if you’ve grown more matu— ah, I mean, to see if you’ve improved?" Fang Xing snickered and grabbed Xiao Mahn onto his bed before making grabby hands like a lecherous pervert. Xiao Mahn’s sobs were changed into laughter, and she gently closed her eyes, relaxing her spirit so Fang Xing could inspect it.

"Sh*t, why is your cultivation level so high!" Fang Xing yelled in astonishment. He just now realized that the Xiao Mahn in front of him was also at Spirit Stage tier six! To think, he’d done nearly every villainous thing he could in order to raise his level to tier six within these short four years, yet Xiao Mahn had somehow gained the same level as well. How could that be anything other than astonis.h.i.+ng?

Xiao Mahn giggled and sat up on the bed. "Esteemed s.h.i.+fu was saying I’ve been slow!"

Fang Xing blinked. "What do you normally use to practice?"

Xiao Mahn took out a few round pellets from the storage ring hanging in front of her chest. Fang Xing’s eyes widened and he began to curse to himself once more; the phrase "comparing oneself to others will only make one angrier" was true. How hard had it been for him to obtain a single beast core? Yet all of these pellets Xiao Mahn had just taken out were seventh-tier Beast Pellets with excellent quality. It had to be said that not only were these pellets expensive, but their medicinal properties were far stronger than unrefined beast cores.

"What use does someone as young as you have with these Beast Pellets? I’ll hold on to them for you!" Fang Xing declared before grabbing the Beast Pellets and throwing them into his storage ring.

Xiao Mahn smiled. "These aren’t considered the best. I’ll steal some better ones in a few days’ time!"

"Good girl!" Fang Xing praised.

Seeing that Xu Linyun had left the room, Xiao Mahn lowered her voice and asked, "Young Master, how has the thing you’re preparing for come along?"

Fang Xing knew exactly what she was talking about. Xiao Mahn was also aware of the reason he’d joined the Qing-Yun Sect in the first place. He lowered his voice as well and said, "Soon. I’ll kill that son of a bi*ch within half a year. If I don’t, he might actually break into the Foundation Stage, and I’ll be the one dead if that happens."

Xiao Mahn nodded. "I’ll help you kill him, then!"

"Get lost! Since when does your young master need your help?"

Xiao Mahn smiled. "I’m afraid if I don’t help you, you won’t take me with you when you run away!"

Fang Xing smiled as well. "You’re now the little princess of Danxia Valley. Do you really want to come with me, your moneyless master?"

Xiao Mahn pouted her lips, looking towards Fang Xing as though preparing a scathing reply. Fang Xing was surprised, and he waved his hand before saying, "Fine, then I’ll take you with me!"

Xiao Mahn’s smile finally returned. With her red lips and pearl-like teeth, her smile was like the bloom of spring—bright and beautiful.

"Oh, hey, you look much cuter now. Looks like all the money I—your young master—spent on you wasn’t for nothing after all!" Fang Xing pinched Xiao Mahn’s chin before standing up. "Let’s go see how s.h.i.+jie Linyun is doing downstairs."

Giggling, Xiao Mahn held on to his arm and traveled downstairs with him. However, just as they arrived at the doorway, a chilling sensation swept over them, and Fang Xing’s face froze as he looked towards the pavilion’s entrance. There, Xu Linyun stood with her head lowered, and in front of her was a middled-aged, red-robed Taoist nun with her hands folded against her back looking expressionlessly at Fang Xing.

"Es— Esteemed s.h.i.+fu…." Xiao Mahn softly cried out, as though a little frightened. This middle-aged Taoist nun was the chief elder of Danxia Valley—Taoist Qin’nyao.

Fang Xing noticed how this Taoist nun didn’t seem to have any good intentions, so he put himself on alert. "It is good to meet you, Esteemed Elder Qin’nyao!" he said with a smile.

As though surprised by his boldness, Elder Qin’nyao didn’t answer Fang Xing. Instead, she looked calmly towards Xu Linyun and quietly questioned, "Was it you who brought Xiao Mahn here?"

"Yes!" Xu Linyun answered in a low voice.

"Why?"

"Please understand, Esteemed s.h.i.+fu. s.h.i.+mei Xiao Mahn and s.h.i.+di Fang are old acquaintances, and they also joined our Qing-Yun Sect together. It was just that I had been muddled back then and did not allow s.h.i.+mei Xiao Mahn to meet with him, so today I thought I’d—"

"You were not muddled back then, but you are now!" Elder Qin’nyao interrupted.

Xu Linyun lightly bit her lips and grew silent.

Elder Qin’nyao let out a light sigh and extended her hand towards Xiao Mahn. "Come over here, Xiao Mahn!"

Xiao Mahn looked up at Fang Xing, who smiled and lightly pushed against her back. Xiao Mahn immediately understood what this meant and scurried over to Qin’nyao’s side before intimately entwining an arm with hers. When Qin’nyao saw Xiao Mahn was still obedient, she felt a sense of relief and gestured for Xu Linyun to take Xiao Mahn back, causing Xiao Mahn to blink at Fang Xing before docilely leaving with Xu Linyun.

Elder Qin’nyao herself, however, did not leave, and instead watched Fang Xing without an expression. After a long while, she finally declared in a soft yet chilling voice, "You have guts!"

Fang Xing already had a plan in mind, so he wasn’t afraid. He immediately held out his hand. "Hand over some money!"

Elder Qin’nyao was taken aback. "Why?"

Fang Xing responded as though it was only to be expected. "Show me the money. Isn’t all of this to stop me from seeing Xiao Mahn? I don’t mind, but you’ll have to pay up!"