Chapter 9: Regarding Mentally Ill, Lovebrain, and Black-Bellied

After just finishing a fight, Lin Xi was dragged by Yue Mou all the way in front of Shu Ling. While Lin Xi was confused, he couldn’t help but comment on Yue Mou’s current state:

‘Your face is as black as the bottom of a pot. Did you get bombarded by bird droppings, or did the cafeteria collapse?’

Lin Xi looked up to see a tall woman dressed in red standing in front of him.

Her hair had already turned gray, and her eyes carried the weight of time, but her appearance was still youthful and dignified, her presence graceful and elegant.

Although she was a woman, she was much taller than him.

Lin Xi estimated in his mind that she must be at least 1.8 meters tall.

After glancing at the red flower hairpin in her hair, Lin Xi sighed.

Alright, it’s definitely Shu Ling.

He didn’t believe for a second that this Villain No. 2 would be a kind person.

Who knew, the next words from the woman made him completely question life.

“Lin Xi, right? Would you like to become my disciple?” Shu Ling said with a kind expression, as if she were a gentle elder. Her tone sent goosebumps down Lin Xi’s spine.

No way. What are you villains up to? Didn’t the original story say that Shu Ling once wiped out thousands of cultivators in one go?

Who was this kind “elderly woman” now?

He didn’t know her. He didn’t believe!!!

However, if she really was Shu Ling, then the big villain’s ‘smile hiding a dagger’ style could be explained.

This must be something he learned from his master!

Yue Chyin saw that Lin Xi was hesitating and straightforwardly answered for him: “Master, you see, this disciple is clearly unwilling.”

Shu Ling looked at Yue Chuyin with kind eyes: “Second Disciple, don’t make decisions for others.”

Yue Chuyin: I’ve been threatened o(╥﹏╥)o…

Lin Xi turned his head in the other direction, looking at the young man in black, who was smiling slightly.

The young man didn’t hide his thoughts at all: “What are you looking at? Hurry up and answer Master’s question.”

Lin Xi’s mind raced by with a thousand grass mud horses.

If I don’t look at you, who am I supposed to look at?!

Should I call you Kui Zhuo, Lord Gui Ying, Your Highness, or the final boss of the entire story??

Faced with the unanimous attention of these three villains, Lin Xi, this unyielding, fearless, and self-sacrificing new generation youth, of course! …chose to compromise.

Deep down, all he really wanted was to be a little leech, hugging a big thigh and living a carefree life!

---

Lin Xi followed behind a certain big villain with a hopeless expression, thinking to himself how he had ended up in such a state.

He had originally planned to just keep a low profile and survive, but never imagined he would end up surrounded by a group of villains one day.

He couldn’t understand it. A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, knowing nothing and background nothing. Although he was slightly good-looking, he wasn’t exactly stunning. Your Majesty, just what did his current Master see in him?

Was it his youthful energy?

“Sect… Sect Master.” Lin Xi cautiously asked, afraid that the villain would turn around and kill him the moment he spoke.

Gui Ying’s smile remained unchanged: “Just call me Sect Master Shixiong.”

Standing next to them, Yue Mou was confused: ? He’d never called Gui Ying “Junior Brother” since joining the sect.

“Oh, Sect Master Shixiong.” Lin Xi didn’t think much of it, “It’s just, how many direct disciples does Master have now?”

“There are only the three of us in the sect now.” Gui Ying replied, “Yue Chuyin often has a few screws loose, so don’t take it too seriously.”

Yue Chuyin was stunned: “Hey, what do you mean by that? I’m still here!”

Gui Ying smiled and slammed the head that jumped out into the wall. A big hole suddenly appeared in the wall.

“We also have an eldest senior brother, the current Sect Master of Luo Yun Sect: Shangguan Shilin. He was one of Master’s early disciples, but was later forced to return to his ancestral sect later on.”

Looking at Yue Chuyin’s head, Lin Xi thought to himself that this organization was truly a bunch of weirdos.

Ohh, Shangguan Shilin. Lin Xi remembered.

Sure enough, Gui Ying continued: “His mental state is a bit off. When it flares up, it can be quite frightening. If you meet him in the future, you should stay away.”

Right, right, the mentally ill from the original story…

He was also a member of the villain group.

The eldest senior brother was mentally ill; the second senior brother was a lovebrain; and the third senior brother was a two-faced madman and the ultimate big boss; and the master was the strongest villain in the early stages!

So I’ve really stumbled into a den of thieves!

Gui Ying pulled Yue Chuyin’s head out from the wall, waved his hand, and said to the inner sect disciple nearby: “Remember to get someone to fix this. Walls are lives too.”

Yue Chuyin was utterly defeated, thinking: Is there a possibility that I am also a life…?

In the end, Yue Chuyin left holding his head. Lin Xi casually called out a “Goodbye, Yue Shixiong.”

Looking at Yue Chuyin’s obvious expression of disdain, Lin Xi rolled his eyes.

Considering his intelligence, emotional intelligence, and relationship status, Lin Xi couldn’t help but think of a character from a famous classic in his past life—a fat, big-eared man holding a nine-toothed rake who thought he was very clever.

[TN: Zhu Bajie from Journey to the West.]

You don’t want to listen, and I don’t feel like calling you either!

But one thing made him really happy: he no longer had to stay in the cave dwelling with others!

He even helped fix up the place where he used to live.

His former “roommates” were all excited and thankful for the improvements.

As for his new living quarters, it truly surprised him for a moment. It turned out that next door was Secluded Snowfall Pavilion.

Lin Xi was now feeling quite happy and went to visit his new neighbor. Although it seemed like his new neighbor wasn’t very welcoming.

Xue Mufeng and Lin Xi stood facing each other, the atmosphere a bit chilly.

Xue Mufeng remained silent, his expression cold, but when he thought about the words Lin Xi had said when they first met, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of unease.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Lin Xi thought to himself, ‘Still so proud. Will you die if you speak an extra word?’

Xue Mufeng remained silent, but secretly began to assess Lin Xi’s cultivation level.

As expected, Lin Xi had already reached Foundation Establishment. That speed was truly insane.

However, that shouldn’t be the reason why Shu Ling took him as a disciple.

For some reason, since the first time he saw this cultivator, Xue Mufeng had always felt something was off about him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but as the possessor of an exceptional spiritual root, he could clearly sense that Lin Xi was different from him, even making him feel strangely threatened.

Considering what Lin Xi had said last time—calling him “Young Master Feng”—did it mean Lin Xi already knew the reason why he had come to Bi’an Sect…?

Lin Xi, of course, had no idea that the second male lead’s mental state had been on edge these past few days because of him.

While he had seen the plot from a god’s perspective, he had no personal grudge against Xue Mufeng, so why would he report him?

He just felt like the second male lead’s impression of him wasn’t great, plus he had a naturally cold and aloof personality.

Heyyy, young man, don’t be too proud!

Even though your senior brother is the male protagonist, look at me! Adding my master and senior brothers together, we can directly form a villain paradise! But am I arrogant? No!!

So, Second Male Lead, my good neighbor, if my senior brother chases me down to kill me in the future, I’ll be counting on you to save me!

---

After Lin Xi was taken in as Shu Ling’s disciple, he came to see a very different side of Bi’An Sect.

For example, the “benevolent” Gui Ying and the “idiot” Yue Chuyin got into fights almost every day.

It was truly harmonious to the extreme.

Though calling it “fighting” wasn’t quite accurate—more often than not, it was Gui Ying beating Yue Chuyin one-sidedly. Mainly because Yue Chuyin was too stupid.

Neither his emotional intelligence nor his actual intelligence was ever online. If everyone’s cultivation were strong enough, probably everyone would beat him up.

Sometimes when he looked at the huge holes in the walls, Lin Xi almost understood why Yue Chuyin used to exploit the disciples of Silver Moon Sect.

Getting smashed into walls over and over like that would definitely make anyone stupider. He had probably gone mad from being suppressed for too long.

Shu Ling didn’t show up often. True to the saying, a divine dragon shows its head but not its tail. Instead Gui Ying, this senior brother, felt more like a real, hands-on master.

Lin Xi had already been practicing Drunken Wind with him for over ten days when he finally learned from Yue Chuyin that Gui Ying didn’t practice this technique at all. It was actually something Shu Ling’s older sister had trained in as a child.

No way, you’ve never even practiced it yourself, and you still dare to teach me?

Isn’t this senior brother way too irresponsible?

Or are the disciples of Bi’An Sect just… raised free-range?

But truth turns out, Shu Ling really did seem to follow a free-range approach.

---

Lin Xi’s first actual combat session with his sect leader shixiong happened about a month after he joined.

When Lin Xi heard that Gui Ying wanted to spar with him, his reaction was: ‘Wait, you’re a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who’s already the sect master, and you’re really going to fight me, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator?! If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed.’

“Can I just run?” Lin Xi asked.

“If you can run, then of course,” Gui Ying said, rubbing his head. “After all, escaping is also an indispensable skill.”

Lin Xi relaxed a little. He had great confidence in his own survival instincts.

So… was the big villain senior brother planning to suppress his cultivation to Foundation Establishment or Golden Core?

Gui Ying’s smile grew increasingly eerie, giving Lin Xi a very bad feeling.

Big villain. Third Shixiong. Sect Leader Shixiong.

Can you not smile like that?

If you keep smiling, someone’s going to die…

Sure enough, Gui Ying didn’t consider suppressing his cultivation at all. He directly used his late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation to run Lin Xi around like a dog.

A huge cluster of phoenix-immortal golden filament stamens chased after Lin Xi like it wanted to eat him alive. Its speed was even more than three times faster than Xu Ke.

No escape. There was no escape at all!

Lin Xi immediately drew his sword and started hacking wildly at the flowers, completely without any technique.

Well, that was only natural—he had never learned a proper sword technique in the first place, okay?

Strands of spiritual energy flew everywhere like sparks, while Lin Xi dashed about like a headless fly.

After finally managing to break apart the flower cluster a bit, he suddenly heard Gui Ying snap his fingers.

The thing instantly split into three, surrounding and intercepting him, moving even more flexibly than a human under Gui Ying’s control.

Lin Xi turned emo.

He had always thought he was number one at running away, yet now he couldn’t even outrun a flower.

As he ran past Gui Ying, he saw the other leisurely drinking tea, smiling and waving at him, as if saying: Dear junior brother, you can’t escape.

Then Lin Xi stumbled, nearly falling flat on his face.

A vine had appeared out of nowhere and wrapped tightly around his ankle.

At that moment, Lin Xi fully understood the meaning of: when Gui Ying smiles, life and death are uncertain.