D46

Don't be fooled by the flustered and pitiful look Zhan Xiaotian had earlier, as if he wasn’t the one taking advantage. As soon as Yin Wangzhi appeared, he immediately switched his demeanor. His body relaxed, his mind became sharp, and even his speech became much smoother.

This included his talent for provoking others, which instantly awakened.

"Who wants to go out with you when Master is here?" Zhan Xiaotian muttered disdainfully, and when facing Yin Wangzhi, both his and the sword spirit’s positions aligned.

He wrapped his arms around Yu Sheng’s waist, deliberately leaning in close to his hair, and with the other hand, he grabbed his hand and interlocked their fingers.

This move was like splashing water droplets into a scalding hot pot named Yin Wangzhi.

As he intended, Yin Wangzhi’s killing intent exploded instantly. The small room was soon filled with a bone-chilling, cold aura, and in the blink of an eye, a cold, gleaming blade stabbed toward them. Yin Wangzhi turned into a shadow.

Yu Sheng was shocked and remembered that Zhan Xiaotian was still bound by restrictions, so he might suffer. He quickly activated his spiritual energy to push the sword spirit aside, and his whip-like spiritual energy flared up, making a forceful strike to block the blade, as if the whip were delicate and breakable.

It seemed as though the earlier restraints on him were nothing. The sword spirit’s smile deepened, and it moved as well, grabbing Yu Sheng’s arm and throwing him aside.

This fool!

At the same time, with a hum, Zhan Xiaotian shattered all the restraints on him, grabbing the sword sheath to block Yin Wangzhi’s long blade.

Yu Sheng broke out in a cold sweat, feeling a lingering fear. If that strike hadn’t been blocked, it would have severed Zhan Xiaotian’s arm and half his shoulder, deep enough to see bone. Even if it didn’t kill him, it would have taken half his life.

He thought… he thought Zhan Xiaotian had been unable to break free from his restrictions for so long, and that he wouldn’t have time to protect himself. But it turned out he didn’t need his help at all?

After the false alarm, Yu Sheng took a deep breath and immediately flared up in anger.

His spiritual pressure surged, instantly dispelling much of the cold and gloomy atmosphere in the room, and his body shimmered with a faint golden glow. His clothes and hair moved as if caught by an invisible wind.

Then, he swiftly broke free from the sword spirit’s hold, aiming a kick at its shoulder to send it flying—

But it didn’t budge.

The sword spirit seemed to have gathered some strength and stood firm, smiling even more brightly, with an expression as if saying ‘Master can kick all he wants, but the disciple is happy to endure it.’ It happily tilted its head and gave him an ankle kiss.

“Smack.”

The loud kiss became the signal for the next round of battle. The long blade and the sword sheath clashed again. After briefly being overwhelmed by Yu Sheng’s spiritual pressure, Yin Wangzhi’s fighting spirit was reignited, his eyes bloodshot and nearly losing control.

"Boom!"

Another loud crash echoed as Yu Sheng pulled out another whip and mercilessly stepped on the sword spirit’s deserving face, directly sending it flying and smashing into the wall.

In the next moment, he directly positioned himself between the two disciples, his left hand striking out, while his right hand flicked the whip, forcibly separating them. Three forces collided, directly sending the roof flying.

Looking at the mess inside the room, Yu Sheng’s face turned black with anger, and his heart ached as if it were dripping blood.

He had spent a five-digit score to set up the house for retirement...

"You two..." Yu Sheng gritted his teeth, "Stop!"

This roar carried a heavy spiritual pressure, and as soon as the sound left his mouth, the surrounding furniture trembled, and the air seemed to hum. Coupled with his status and authority as a master, it should have had the desired effect.

However, his anger caused him to lose control of his strength. The indiscriminate attack didn’t spare himself, and his already disheveled clothes were hit by a piece of flying wood, severing his belt, which fell to the ground.

Beauty suddenly appeared.

For a brief moment, the air was eerily silent, as if time had stopped.

System: Current corruption value 37%!

Some unexpected events were more effective than Yu Sheng’s angry shout. The two disciples, unable to control their gazes, looked where they shouldn’t, unable to focus, and stopped their attacks in unison.

Yu Sheng began to feel thankful that he wasn’t a pufferfish.

Just as he was feeling awkward, the sword spirit had already pulled itself out of the indentation in the wall. He didn’t know when, but it had circled around behind Yu Sheng, wrapping its arms around his waist, carefully pulling his clothes together to cover his exposed skin, and then hugged him from behind.

It was a bit cold.

"Master, please don’t struggle anymore. If you tear your clothes again, it will be too embarrassing."

Isn’t this a threat?!

If he struggled out of the embrace, the clothes would fall apart. If he didn’t, and let the sword spirit cover his clothes, he wouldn’t be able to free his hands to deal with the two rampaging disciples. He was truly caught in a dilemma…

The sentence even sounded a bit melancholic.

What nonsense.

Seeing that the two disciples’ focus was once again on the arm around his waist, almost burning a hole through the sword spirit, Yu Sheng’s mind screamed a warning. He quickly turned, elbowing the sword spirit aside.

This time, the sword spirit didn’t hold on; it stepped back, arms spread innocently, but its gaze moved again toward Yu Sheng’s chest, unabashedly licking its lips.

Yu Sheng quickly gathered his clothes, glanced at the fallen belt, then reached up and pulled the hairband off his head to temporarily secure his loose clothes. As for his hair, it simply hung down, falling to the height of his waist.

Zhan Xiaotian swallowed nervously, his voice soft and low as he called out, "Master..."

System: Current corruption value 28%!

Yu Sheng turned around, his almond-shaped eyes—not the most typical kind, slightly narrow in comparison—now revealing a cool, ethereal look beneath the flush of anger.

Only in moments like this could people connect Yu Sheng to the famous half-spiritual immortal Yu Yangzi from the past. They’d think that the person in those widely circulated portraits was standing before them—if only his clothes and hair were a bit more orderly, it would be even more convincing.

The two disciples who had been ready to attack were now stunned, their eyes fixed on the respected and awe-inspiring master, silent and still.

Yu Sheng shot a cold glance, his eyes like blades, directed at Yin Wangzhi, "Why did you break in?"

The red in Yin Wangzhi’s eyes slowly faded, and the tip of his sword dropped to his side. His gaze carried a trace of stubbornness, but he remained silent, lips pressed tight.

Yu Sheng sent out another pulse of spiritual energy, striking Yin Wangzhi with a thud. A sandglass fell to the ground. "You broke in before the time was up, because of Zhan Xiaotian?"

According to the original plan, Yin Wangzhi was supposed to enter later, by which time he might have calmed the sword spirit and dealt with Zhan Xiaotian’s issues. Even if he hadn’t resolved everything, the situation would have been mostly diffused.

Instead, he entered early and nearly ruined everything.

Yin Wangzhi’s lips moved, clutching his sword hilt tightly. Finally, unable to hold back, he muttered, "He... he is so... so... disrespectful to you. If I didn’t come in, Master, are you just going to let him go all the way?"

Yu Sheng’s face contorted with emotion, and he flicked his whip, several strands of white silk sharply striking the side of Yin Wangzhi. "Nonsense!"

His face was flushed, though whether from anger or embarrassment, he quickly realized his overreaction. Pulling back the whip, he suppressed his emotions and said, "It’s not what you think. Your master doesn’t have such strange preferences."

Who would want to... with their disciples and their disciples' sword spirit!

The sword spirit’s transformation was nearing its end, and it was about to revert to its original form. Though its appearance was dimmer, it didn’t stop it from causing trouble.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yu Sheng noticed the sword spirit trying to sneak closer again. He shot a glare at it, but all he received was a shameless grin and an unashamed tease: "Master, are you shy? But I haven’t done anything yet... and it wasn’t me who cut the belt..."

Arguing with the sword spirit was useless, just like getting angry at a stone you trip over.

Yu Sheng took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and turned toward Zhan Xiaotian. With little patience, he ordered, "Xiaotian, come here."

Zhan Xiaotian looked innocent and pure, but now that his true thoughts were exposed, his charm lost much of its effect.

Yu Sheng swore he would never believe this big disciple's innocent face again.

Poor Yin Wangzhi, who originally didn’t need to breathe, was now panting from the interaction between the "three" of them, his mouth shut and nostrils flaring.

Zhan Xiaotian lowered his sword and obediently walked over to his master, carefully holding the edge of Yu Sheng’s clothes. "Master, please don’t let yourself get too upset..."

As expected, the main person arrived, and the sword spirit quieted down considerably. No longer in a state of "if it doesn’t get close, it will die," it contentedly stayed a few steps away without making any more small movements, though its expression still looked annoyingly deserving of a slap.

The system was still reporting numbers in Yu Sheng's mind from time to time. Since earlier, the numbers had been fluctuating up and down, which greatly disturbed Yu Sheng. He simply blocked it out.

The only good news was that after letting the sword spirit stir things up for a while, Zhan Xiaotian’s condition seemed to have improved a lot.

Some things are like this: if you keep holding it in, hiding it away, the pressure just builds up more and more. When the truth finally comes out unexpectedly, everything falls apart, and it actually feels lighter in the heart. Then you realize that the "terrible consequences" that had been haunting you every night in nightmares aren’t really as bad as imagined.

If you fail, expose yourself, or things don’t go as planned, it doesn’t mean death. You won’t really lose everything.

Who would have thought that Zhan Xiaotian, this obedient disciple, would have another side to him—not a world-destroying villain, but a shameless, annoying, and audacious little hooligan who dares to defy authority? After all the precautions against a blackened villain boss, what came was a big, foolish teenager going through puberty.

Zhan Xiaotian obediently stood there, not daring to move. The sword spirit, with its limited remaining time, was still behind him, thoroughly expressing its disdain and mockery of its master being "both cowardly and stupid." Yin Wangzhi was being stared at by the whip, and his jealous thoughts were blatantly obvious.

Even the small, energetic Zhan Xiaotian, who had seemed full of spirit earlier, hadn’t yet suppressed that last bit of energy, relying on his red face to cover it up.

Yu Sheng sighed helplessly and realized, somewhat ominously, that after his initial brain freeze and panic, not knowing what to do, he wasn’t as shocked or unwilling to accept the situation as he had thought he would be.

The truths he had intuitively resisted, subconsciously avoided acknowledging, or even feared facing, now that they were right in front of him, didn’t seem like such a big deal. The things he had deliberately or unintentionally avoided, it now felt like a joke.

The blurry images behind that "window paper" weren’t strange, grotesque monsters, but just emotions—people who had been hiding outside the door, unwilling to leave, and because of certain feelings, too afraid to knock and enter.

Once you see through it, you can never go back to how it was before.

You can’t even pretend to be ignorant anymore.

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