Staring at the smiling face of Lu Li before her, Duan Xueyan was so angry she turned red and found herself at a loss for words.
She pointed at Lu Li with her slender jade-like finger, her ample chest heaving violently, and even her luxurious palace dress seemed to quiver ever so slightly with her rising fury.
Duan Xueyan had calculated every step, prepared for that little pink-haired brat to cause more trouble, but never expected Lu Li—normally as stiff and serious as a wooden block—to be lying in wait for her here.
Ahhh…
This damned wooden head!
Does he really not understand the ways of the world, or is he just trying to anger me on purpose?!
Just now, both his disciples got plenty of good things from me!
And this guy… he still has the nerve to ask me for the mission reward so righteously!
Does my Merits Hall look like a pushover?
Doesn’t Lu Li know that what his two precious disciples asked from me just now is worth several times more than what he’d get for completing the mission?
Hmph… I get it now!
Looks like the entire Duanqing Peak group came to my Merits Hall today just to fleece me!
First, the younger ones come to take what they can, and when that’s not enough, the older ones come for more, is that it?
As these resentful thoughts welled up inside her, the air around Duan Xueyan seemed to freeze in an instant.
The few disciples still handling affairs in the Merits Hall kept their heads low, shoulders trembling.
It was obvious they were using all their cultivation to suppress their laughter, not daring to make a sound, terrified Duan Xueyan—who was about to press F and enter berserk mode—would notice them.
Gu Qingying kept her head even lower, wishing she could find a crack in the floor to crawl into.
Her purple eyes brimmed with both a stifled smile—how did Master learn to be so bad?
—and a fear that went, Will Aunt Duan really kill us?
Gong Shangyu, on the other hand, was howling with laughter inside and nearly applauded her Master’s performance!
Brilliant!
Absolutely brilliant!
Master’s follow-up strike was sharp and ruthless—just the way I like it!
She glanced at Duan Xueyan’s face, so twisted with rage it looked ready to split, and felt more refreshed than drinking iced spring water on the hottest summer day.
Lu Li seemed to sense exactly what Duan Xueyan was thinking.
So, he simply played dumb, saying to his senior sister:
“Hehe… Senior Sister Duan~ those treasures you just gave my two disciples, that was out of your kindness~”
“But this mission reward is the result of the hard work of myself and my two untalented disciples.”
“Hehe~ Senior Sister Duan, embezzling and withholding the sect’s disciples’ rightful rewards is not the act of the righteous path.”
At those words, Duan Xueyan’s expression turned even uglier.
In the end, she had to take three deep breaths to barely suppress the urge to pack up Lu Li and those two little brats and throw them all out of her Merits Hall.
Duan Xueyan finally understood—today, she would have to bleed.
The three of them were dead set on wringing every last drop out of her!
Yet if she really decided not to hand over the Yangzhou City mission reward to Lu Li, then she’d have no hope of keeping her position as the Hall Master of Merits.
After all, if she even dared to withhold the rewards of a Sect Peak Master, which ordinary disciple would dare come here to take missions in the future?
By then… she’d lose all trust with the sect’s disciples!
Looking at Lu Li’s silly grin, and the gathering crowd of onlooking disciples, Duan Xueyan, with a wave of heroic sorrow, snatched up Lu Li’s Identity Jade Token and mission scroll, and, without so much as a glance, poured her spiritual power into processing them quickly, transferring over a generous sum of contribution points.
Then she grabbed a bag of mid-grade spirit stones and threw it into Lu Li’s arms.
“Hmph… Take it! Take it! Take it! It’s all yours! Here’s your spirit stones and contribution points!”
“Now hurry up and take your precious disciples and get lost!”
Her final words were practically shouted, her composure as a noble, graceful, and unruffled beauty completely shattered.
Her lovely face flushed deep red, her alluring eyes wide with burning fury.
Lu Li quickly packed away the spirit stones and token, as if he hadn’t heard Duan Xueyan’s angry outburst at all.
He maintained his honest-looking expression and gave her a solemn bow.
“Hehe… Many thanks to Senior Sister Duan for impartial justice and promptly settling my mission.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Senior Sister Duan. This junior will take his leave.”
With that, he turned around, swept his sleeve, and said cheerfully to his two disciples,
“Baiyu, Qingkong, let’s go. Let’s not disturb your Aunt Duan’s cultivation.”
Gong Shangyu and Gu Qingying felt as if they’d been granted a royal pardon, quickly following Lu Li’s steps, and in an instant, they vanished through the Merits Hall’s main doors, so fast it was as if a primordial beast was chasing them.
Watching the backs of Lu Li and his disciples fade into the distance, Duan Xueyan suddenly grabbed the valuable pot of Peach Blossom Brew from the table, raised her head, and gulped down several mouthfuls to calm the raging blood and qi in her chest.
She slammed the wine pot heavily on the counter, her beautiful eyes flashing coldly, her face full of resentment as she sighed to Lu Li’s retreating figure.
“Sigh… Junior Brother Lu Li, you troublemaker~ If it weren’t for your sake, with my bad temper, would I really let your shameless pink-haired disciple throw such a fit~”
“But… now that I think about it, just now… was it my imagination? Why does it feel like… the aura on those two new disciples of Junior Brother Lu is rather similar to the two female auras clinging to him?”
Although Duan Xueyan found this odd, she didn’t think too much about it.
After all, the External Affairs Hall had already confirmed Lu Li’s two disciples were male—what else was there for her, as Merits Hall Master, to suspect?
After Lu Li and his disciples left the Merits Hall, Gong Shangyu, who’d held back inside, dropped the act.
She twirled the Wenxue Nine Swords she’d just scammed from Duan Xueyan and said smugly to Lu Li and Gu Qingying,
“Hehehe… Master, Senior Brother Gu~ did you see Senior Aunt Duan’s face just now? She looked like she’d swallowed a fly!”
“Just thinking about it now makes me want to laugh~”
She immediately sidled up to Lu Li, unable to hide her pride, and waved the sword case in front of him like a trophy.
“Hehehe… Master! Look! This is the good stuff I just wrangled out of Senior Aunt Duan.”
“Hehe~ How about it? Isn’t your disciple amazing? I really stood up for you this time~ Don’t you think you should reward me?”
Gong Shangyu’s pink eyes sparkled with expectation.
Then she hurriedly added, “Master, did you see Senior Aunt’s face just now? When you asked for the reward, it was a total kill! Senior Aunt’s face turned green! It almost killed me with laughter!”
“Hmph… Let’s see if she dares bully you again next time!”
Just as Gong Shangyu finished, Lu Li flicked her lightly on the back of the head.
“Ah… Ouch!”
Gong Shangyu clutched her head, pouting, “Master! Why’d you hit me?”
Lu Li glanced at her, his tone half helpless, half admonishing.
“Senior Sister Duan is still your sect elder and the powerful Hall Master of Merits. Though she gave you a hard time today, you shouldn’t disrespect your elders or act so brashly. In the future, when you see Senior Aunt Duan, show proper respect—don’t act as rudely as you just did, understood?”
Gu Qingying nodded vigorously at once, hands on her hips, putting on a righteous air as she stood behind Lu Li and quickly chimed in,
“That’s right! Junior Brother, Master is right! How could you treat Senior Aunt Duan that way? That was out of line!”
Gong Shangyu immediately took offense, sticking out her hand at Gu Qingying, retorting confidently, “Oh? Now you want to act all virtuous? If you really think I was wrong and disrespectful, why don’t you hand over the Treasure Gourd Senior Aunt Duan just gave you?”
“That’s my spoils of war, earned fair and square! If you think I was wrong, then hand it over!”
Hearing that, Gu Qingying’s face changed.
She clutched the Treasure Gourd at her waist, dove behind Lu Li like a startled rabbit, peeked out with half her head, tugged on Lu Li’s sleeve, and whined in a soft, aggrieved, and ever-so-slightly tea-scented tone,
“Master~ please help me~”
“Baiyu is bullying me! He wants to steal the treasure Senior Aunt Duan just gave me~”
The more Gu Qingying talked, the more into it she got.
By the end, her overwhelming green tea act nearly made her nauseous!
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