Chapter 36 Senior Brother, Strategizing
After sending the person away, Ye Anping returned to his reclining chair in the lobby, a blade of grass in his mouth, contemplating the matter of the Seven Kill Gate.
He could, for convenience, inform Bai Yuexin beforehand and have her relay the message back to the Xuan Xing Sect elders to prevent the man in black from abducting Feng Yu Die.
However, this would only be a temporary solution.
If they stopped this man in black today, a man in red might show up tomorrow, and a man in white the day after… After all, the bounty for Wu You’s Storage Bag was still out there, worth ten thousand Spirit Stones. Such a reward was enough to make many Rogue Cultivators risk their lives and rush forward relentlessly.
Ye Anping didn’t particularly care about Feng Yu Die; she was a destined protagonist, powerful, and now had the protection of Xuan Xing Sect, so she wouldn’t die.
Ye Anping’s main concern was that the Seven Kill Gate had been pursuing her for some time. If they suddenly realized that she hadn’t taken Wu You’s Storage Bag, it could lead them to him, Pei Lianxue, and the Hundred Lotus Sect, which would be troublesome.
It was all due to that incomplete scroll of the Xuan Yin Art that caused this mess.
He was supposed to be a mere cannon fodder protagonist, wanting to peacefully live out his days with his Junior Sister until world peace. But it seemed that ever since he and his Junior Sister killed the key character of the main plot, “Wu You,” they had become entangled.
“Sigh—what a hassle.”
Ye Anping dug at his temples with his fingers. After some thought, he decided to take this opportunity to eliminate the Seven Kill Gate in the Western Regions.
It wasn’t a good organization anyway. In the game, it was just an annoyingly long side quest with no significant rewards; keeping it around was useless.
However, how should he eliminate them?
He certainly couldn’t just charge into their headquarters. That would be the act of a brute. He was only at the Qi Refining Stage now and couldn’t afford to be reckless.
This matter required a clever approach.
If his memory served him correctly, the person in charge of the Seven Kill Gate’s headquarters in the Western Regions was a cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment Stage, with countless magical treasures. One or two ordinary late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators couldn’t defeat him.
Therefore, to guarantee the complete eradication of the Seven Kill Gate, they would at least need a Nascent Soul cultivator to oversee the operation, accompanied by several Foundation Establishment cultivators and teams of Qi Refining Stage cultivators.
“It seems I’ll have to be a despicable villain and instigate discord between Xuan Xing Sect and the Seven Kill Gate. Hmm…”
Ye Anping rested his chin in his hand, pondering. An idea then sparked in his mind.
Just as he had spent ten years preparing to kill “Wu You,” he quickly put up a sign at the entrance of the Physiotherapy Center that read, “Someone’s here, just shout,” and then retreated to his bedroom to draft a plan to eliminate the Seven Kill Gate.
Although eradicating the Seven Kill Gate sounded like a grand plan, there were only two concrete objectives to achieve.
First, incite the wrath of Xuan Xing Sect against the Seven Kill Gate.
Second, lure Xuan Xing Sect forces to the Seven Kill Gate’s headquarters.
This was incredibly easy for him. After a moment of thought, he took out paper and pen, drew a simplified map of Xuan Xing Sect, and marked the locations of several key array eyes of Xuan Xing Sect’s protective formation.
Time passed quickly while he was engrossed in his thoughts.
Before long, the sky outside had darkened, and Bai Yuexin had returned.
After returning to the sect with Senior Brother Chen and the others, as expected, she was immediately questioned by a crowd of Senior Sisters about Ye Anping.
Although Bai Yuexin tried her best to explain to the Senior Sisters in the sect that she and Ye Anping were not in that kind of relationship, as Ye Anping had instructed her, rumors spread like wildfire, while refuting them was a tiring endeavor, especially when it was such a delightful rumor.
After her explanations, the Senior Sisters simply stopped asking, instead smiling ambiguously and indicating that they understood.
“So this is the shop opened by Senior Sister Bai’s cultivation partner?”
“Junior Sister, I’m not his cultivation partner. Didn’t I explain that many times before?” Bai Yuexin retorted with a frown. However, the Junior Sister who asked nodded ambiguously and exchanged a knowing glance with a younger Junior Brother beside her. “Alright, alright, we get it. Friends, right?”
“…”
Bai Yuexin looked embarrassed and quickly led the two into the shop. She peeked around and, not seeing Ye Anping in the lobby, called out to him, “Anping, are you in the backyard? I brought my Junior Sister and Junior Brother over.”
“…”
“Anping…”
Upon hearing her, Ye Anping immediately emerged from the backyard into the lobby and interrupted, “Senior Bai, my surname isn’t An; it’s Ye.”
“Oh my… Why be so distant? Aren’t we friends? This is just calling each other by our given names, not surnames.” Bai Yuexin quickly stepped forward with a smile, handing over the gifts she was holding. “From now on, don’t call me Senior Bai; call me Yuexin, okay?”
The two people watching their interaction from behind Bai Yuexin stifled their laughter.
Seeing their expressions, Ye Anping sighed softly and then stepped forward. “Please come in, both of you. Senior Bai mentioned physiotherapy, right? If not, allow me to introduce it to you again.”
“She did, she did! We’re here to experience it today. Senior Sister Bai said it’s beneficial for cultivation, and Senior Brother Chen also recommended it to us during sword practice today.”
“You two are welcome. What would you like to drink? I have Longjing tea, Tianquan tea…”
“Longjing is fine.” “Me too.”
The two ordered a cup of tea. Bai Yuexin suddenly spoke up before Ye Anping could, “Two cups of Longjing, right? I’ll go make them.”
Ye Anping glanced at her with disdain and asked, “Why are you making them?”
“Aren’t I helping?”
“I didn’t hire you.”
Bai Yuexin averted her gaze and pouted, complaining, “You’re not happy that I’m helping you for free? Fine, I don’t need you to pay me wages. It’s just making tea; I can do it. You go give them physiotherapy…”
With that, Bai Yuexin hurried off to the backyard to boil water and make tea.
Watching her actions, Ye Anping felt inexplicably like he had been taken advantage of. However, after considering the pros and cons, he simply accepted it.
She was free labor, and besides, the man from the Seven Kill Gate would be arriving soon. He could use Bai Yuexin’s Inner Disciple identity to help him smooth over any explanations that were difficult to make.
He shrugged and then invited the Junior Sister and Junior Brother brought by Bai Yuexin into the physiotherapy room to begin their treatments.
It was while he was giving the two of them physiotherapy that the man from the Seven Kill Gate arrived as expected.
He saw the sign at the entrance that read, “Someone’s here, just shout,” and so he shouted.
“Boss!!”
“Coming, coming!” Bai Yuexin heard a customer arrive and quickly ran out from the inner room.
When the man in black saw the person who ran out wearing a Xuan Xing Sect uniform, he instantly gasped. After all, he was planning to cause trouble within the Xuan Xing Sect Selection.
Seeing Bai Yuexin in her Xuan Xing Sect disciple uniform now, he felt like a mouse spotting a cat.
However, he quickly calmed down and asked, “Isn’t the young boss here? I came this afternoon.”
“Ah… the boss is giving a guest physiotherapy. Please wait a moment, sir. May I offer you a cup of tea? Would you like Longjing or Tianquan?”
The man in black carefully examined the details of Bai Yuexin’s uniform. Seeing that she was an Inner Disciple, and seemingly a relatively high-ranking one within the sect, likely an Inner Disciple who had been in Xuan Xing Sect for many years, he was inwardly astonished.
After a moment of hesitation, he timidly asked, “Do you sell Vermilion Birds here?”
Bai Yuexin looked confused. “Vermilion Bird? Isn’t that a celestial beast that guards the domain? How would I sell it?”
“Ah…” The man in black chuckled awkwardly. “Not the celestial beast, but Vermilion Bird tea.”
Bai Yuexin tilted her head, a question mark rising above her forehead. “What is Vermilion Bird tea?”
“…Never mind then. Just get me a cup of Longjing.”
Bai Yuexin looked at him strangely, her brows furrowed, and asked, “Are you here for physiotherapy? If you’re not here for physiotherapy, the tea will cost you fifty Spirit Stones a cup!”
“Fifty…” The man in black was slightly stunned. He had lived so long without ever hearing of tea being sold at such a high price. A look of embarrassed laughter spread across his face, and he nodded with a smile, “I am here for physiotherapy… The young boss and I agreed this afternoon that I would come tonight.”
“Alright then! Please wait!”
