A group of disciples from Thousandchance Peak sat in a teahouse by the street, sipping tea and chatting.
One disciple stood by the street, scanning the area. "I'm sure I saw him. It was definitely Li Lanxiu. I saw him flying towards the cultivation market."
"Our Su-shimei is recognized as the most beautiful woman by Sevenstar Tower. He accumulated eight lifetimes of good fortune for her to agree to marry him..."
"Hmph, he dares to provoke Su-shimei? Let's see how we can teach him a lesson."
"His father is as rigid as iron, we can't beat him up, but can't we have a little fun with him?"
They voiced their opinions, filled with righteous indignation, eager to strip Li Lanxiu of his skin to avenge Su Shiyan.
Suddenly, a disciple at the roadside raised his voice, "I see him! He went down the street on the right!"
The disciples from Thousandchance Peak in the teahouse, each with a malicious grin, stood up and prepared for a fight.
As soon as they left the teahouse, the outer disciples sitting in the corner looked at each other and turned to Chu Yue.
The teahouse wasn't large, and they had clearly heard the Thousandchance Peak disciples' conversation. How dare they, small fish and shrimp, make a sound when the gods were fighting?
Chu Yue took a sip of tea, put down his cup and stood up, "Let's go, let's see what's happening."
Li Lanxiu was looking for soul-devouring crimson iron. It was an ordinary-looking black iron block that emitted a hint of red under the sunlight.
Legend had it that there was a river of the underworld that people must cross to reach the underworld after they die. There was a ferryman on the river, rowing back and forth between the two worlds, day and night.
The mooring stone at the bottom of the boat had been immersed in the river of the underworld for many years and had been washed by the resentment of the dead day and night. Over time, it turned into soul-devouring crimson iron.
That thing was very evil. When it was just a stone, it exuded a chilling aura. Holding it felt like holding ice. If it was forged into a sword, once it came into contact with flesh, it would absorb its life force and turn it into the sword's energy.
The more blood it saw, the stronger the sword forged from Soul-Devouring Crimson Iron would become.
After searching the cultivation market, Li Lanxiu quickly found his target.
A white-haired old man, disheveled and dressed in rags, was sitting on the street with a square black iron block in front of him. A sign next to it read, "Five thousand spirit stones, no returns."
There were many scammers in the cultivation market, but this one seemed to be the most blatant.
Li Lanxiu leaned over the stall, examining the black iron. Faint, blood-red lines were visible within the pitch-black mass.
The old man scanned his fine clothing. His eyes lit up, and he extended five fingers, saying, "Young Master has a keen eye. This piece of iron only costs five thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
Li Lanxiu held his fan in one hand and weighed the black iron in the other. "Hmm, not bad."
"Young Master, you may not know this, but this stone is formed from the essence of heaven and earth. Five thousand low-grade spirit stones is a steal—" Before the old man could finish his spiel, a flash of light filled the air, and a cascade of spirit stones rained down.
In an instant, a small mountain of spirit stones formed, glittering with silver and exuding wealth.
Li Lanxiu put away his spatial pouch and rubbed the black iron in his hand, "I'll take it."
A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.
"Hahaha! Five thousand spirit stones for a piece of scrap metal! Young Master Li is truly generous!"
"Young Master Li usually stays cooped up at home, so he doesn't know this old man is a fraud! This stone has been sitting here for years without anyone buying it. Today, he finally met Young Master Li and he thought it was a treasure!"
"Oh, I was about to burst out laughing. I was waiting, and he finally paid!"
The laughter came from behind Li Lanxiu. The Thousandchance Peak disciples had followed him for a while, betting on whether he would fall for the trick, and sure enough, Li Lanxiu had been scammed.
The old man's face turned pale. Who didn't know Li Lanxiu's reputation? There was no one else like him in the Conundrum Sect.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding people wanted to laugh but dared not. Young Master Li was not someone to be trifled with. They all turned red in the face trying to hold back their laughter.
Li Lanxiu turned around to face the crowd and looked at them.
The boisterous laughter abruptly stopped.
His grotesque mask, with its red face and sharp teeth, resembled an evil spirit. At first glance, it was quite terrifying.
“Are you laughing at me?” He tilted his head and asked coldly.
The oldest one in the group, who had traveled extensively with Jiang Jiusi, responded, “Why not? We can laugh at you. Young Master Li, this isn’t Violetstage Peak. No one here is going to fawn over you.”
Li Lanxiu had noticed the group following him around the cultivation market since he arrived. This was a perfect opportunity for some fun. He lifted his chin, “Are you looking for a fight?”
The leader of the group spoke righteously, “We were just trying to warn you that you’d been cheated. Don’t try to frame us.”
“Have I been cheated?”
Li Lanxiu glanced at the old man, who looked guilty, and asked, “Really?”
The old man broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to admit it. “No, no, I definitely didn’t cheat Young Master Li.”
Li Lanxiu nodded, “Hmm, he hasn’t cheated me, so you must be looking for a fight.”
“You—” The leader was speechless. Before he could even start teasing Li Lanxiu, he was accused of a crime.
Li Lanxiu tapped his palm with his fan, “According to sect rules, what is the punishment for starting a fight without provocation?”
The punishment for the ringleader was twenty lashes, and the accomplices would be sent to work in the cold mountain mines for forty-nine days.
The Thousandchance Peak disciples turned pale. The leader forced himself to say, “We’re not scared of you. We’ll go to Discipline Hall and let them decide.”
“Yes! Let’s go to Discipline Hall together!”
"We haven't said anything. What can Discipline Hall do to us?"
The stall owner, terrified at the thought of getting involved with Discipline Hall, was about to confess everything when someone whispered, "Shixiong, Elder Su of the Discipline Hall has a deep personal relationship with Sect Master Li."
The leader, who only remembered that Li Lanxiu had a powerful father, forgot about his influential former father-in-law. If they really went to Discipline Hall, wouldn't Li Lanxiu's word be final?
He immediately smiled, "Young Master Li, we offended you earlier. Please don't hold a grudge against us."
Li Lanxiu tilted his head, looking at him, "You've upset me, and now my good mood is ruined."
"Then, Young Master Li... what do you want?" The leader took a few low-grade spirit stones from his pocket and offered them respectfully.
Li Lanxiu didn't even glance at the spirit stones, "You've upset me, so you must make it up to me."
"What do you want to make you happy?" the disciple asked, puzzled.
Li Lanxiu held his fan and tapped the chin of his mask with the tip, "Slap yourselves."
The group looked hesitant. Being slapped in broad daylight would be a loss of face. If Xue-shixiong found out that they had been slapped by Li Lanxiu, he would surely flog them to death.
After another round of glances, the leader closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. He stepped forward and said, "Young Master Li, go ahead. Do whatever makes you happy."
Li Lanxiu smiled faintly and slapped him across the face with his fan, "Me, hit you? Don't be ridiculous."
It was as if being slapped by him was an incredible honor. The Thousandchance Peak disciples were daydreaming.
But the hand holding the fan was indeed warm and white, the fingers slender and elegant, like flawless jade.
A pair of enchanting eyes peeked out from under the ghost mask. The upturned corners of his eyes were delicate, and they held a hint of a damp, melting smile, as beautiful as the return of spring after the snow.
None of the Thousandchance Peak disciples dared to object.
"Who's next?"
"Slap yourselves until I'm satisfied."
Li Lanxiu sat down on a chair at the roadside tea stall and waited to watch the show.
The leader, feeling humiliated, was flushed with anger. Slapping himself was so degrading, it was like stomping on one's own self-respect. This Young Master Li was too cruel!
But he had no choice. If he slapped himself here, perhaps Senior Xue wouldn't know, but if he went to the Discipline Hall, he couldn't hide it. Senior Xue's private flogging was even more terrifying than the Discipline Hall's.
Hesitantly, the disciple raised his hand—
A loud slap echoed as he struck his own face.
Li Lanxiu chuckled and pointed his fan at the group of disciples behind him, "Don't just stand there! Join him and slap yourselves. I don't have time to wait for you one by one."
Once someone started, it became easier to continue such a humiliating act. The disciples began slapping themselves, and the sound of slapping filled the air.
Young faces contorted with humiliation and endurance as they slapped themselves repeatedly.
The onlookers burst into laughter. The disciples' faces turned red, but they dared not resist.
Li Lanxiu watched intently and tapped the disciple who was slapping too gently. "Hit harder. Your face isn't even red yet."
The one he pointed at slapped himself so hard that his cheek turned red and swelled up.
The others didn't dare to pretend anymore and slapped themselves with all their might.
Within a short while, the young disciples of Thousandchance Peak all had faces swollen like pig's heads.
Li Lanxiu picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. He lifted a corner of his mask and sipped the tea slowly while giggling.
The jawline beneath the grotesque mask was straight and handsome, his lips were a lustrous red, and his full lips curved upwards in a perpetual smile, creating a vivid and alluring image.
"What are you all looking at? Keep slapping!"
His voice was playful and malicious, yet his face was captivating.
Merciless!
The disciples almost simultaneously thought of this word.
But they couldn't bring themselves to hate him. His smile was so captivating; the curve of his lips was like a tiny hook that made one itch to scratch oneself. Though his whole body was trembling with laughter, his voice was soft and lazy, and it sent shivers down one's spine.
Seeing him so amused, they felt a strange kind of satisfaction in the pain of the slaps, even though it hurt. They had never felt like this for Su Shiyan before. It seemed that they could make him laugh wildly, and that gave them a sense of accomplishment they were too embarrassed to admit.
The slaps grew louder.
The happier Li Lanxiu laughed, the louder the slaps became.
Gradually, he found it uninteresting and suddenly stopped laughing. "This is boring. Get lost!"
The Thousandchance Peak disciples felt a little unsatisfied.
Li Lanxiu lifted the lower edge of his mask with his finger and stood up, looking up at the teahouse on the second floor.
Several gray-clothed outer disciples were standing there, and when they saw him looking over, they quickly hid behind a pillar, except for one who remained motionless.
Chu Yue looked at him expressionlessly.
Li Lanxiu's lips curved into a smile, this time directed only at him. He tilted his chin slightly, revealing the scar on his snow-white neck that was like a love bite.
It was as if he were asking, "Does it look good?"
thats actully crazy, but im obsessed 😠thanks for the translation!
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