Li Tan twitched his lips and couldn’t help but retort, “It’s your brain that’s messed up.”
Unexpectedly, the strange old man didn’t seem very angry, “If you don’t stay in a nice house and instead run to a place like this, what else could be wrong but a broken head?”
“If I follow your logic, then your brain must also be incomplete?
This is the first time I’ve seen someone cursing themselves.”
Li Tan gave the old man a sidelong glance.
The old man chuckled, stood up, took a sip of wine from his gourd, then set it down and looked Li Tan up and down, “Interesting.” Li Tan swept his spiritual sense over the old man but detected no trace of any qi fluctuations. Yet how could an ordinary old man appear at Tianlang Sect?
Could he be a hidden master?
Curious, Li Tan asked, “Old man, who exactly are you?”
“Me?”
The old man took another swig of wine and let out a satisfied “Ah!” before answering, “I’m the cook here, the one who prepares meals.”
If he was a cook, it wasn’t strange that he was an ordinary person. But a cook?
That was exactly where Li Tan was supposed to assist with the cooking.
Li Tan recalled the strange reactions of Zhou Zhi and the others earlier, and became even more puzzled.
Their reactions had seemed to suggest he was about to experience something absolutely dreadful. But helping an old man cook, even if the old man had a bit of a strange temper, didn’t seem like such a terrible fate. And he couldn’t sense even a trace of a cultivator’s aura from the old man at all—he should just be an ordinary old man. What could he possibly do to Li Tan?
This question probably wouldn’t have an answer if he kept thinking about it, so Li Tan shook his head to clear those thoughts away, said “Goodbye,” and left.
Who cares, anyway? He would find out soon enough. He would just go with the flow when the time came.
Li Tan disappeared into the bamboo forest as the old man lay back in his armchair and continued drinking.
Returning to the area where the buildings were clustered, Li Tan found the gathering spot designated by Zhou Zhi. Many people had already arrived, and he was likely the last one.
However, Zhou Zhi merely glared at him without scolding him—probably because he had arrived just on time.
“Big Brother Li, where did you find your room?”
The chubby kid asked curiously.
Li Tan replied, “In the bamboo forest.”
“What? Did you say where?”
The chubby kid looked as if he had misheard.
Li Tan repeated, “I said the bamboo forest.”
This time, the chubby kid, who had perked up his ears, was certain he hadn’t misheard. He asked in confusion, “Why would you go stay over there? We came so early, there should still be decent rooms available, right?”
Li Tan, not feeling like explaining, brushed him off, “I like quiet, and besides, don’t you think the scenery in the bamboo forest is nice?”
Wanting quiet was indeed true, but the chubby kid found this answer very brief and strange, though he couldn’t quite figure out what exactly felt off about it.
As he was pondering, Zhou Zhi’s voice rang out, “Has everyone arrived?”
The people below looked at each other, unsure how to respond. After all, they had just met one another, and their minds were naturally focused on cultivation. They hadn’t paid much attention to this question.
Zhou Zhi gave a couple of displeased hums, quickly scanned the crowd with her eyes, and finally coldly announced, “One person is still missing.”
Murmurs spread through the crowd. Soon after, a girl with a delicate appearance hurriedly ran over.
All eyes immediately turned toward her. The girl, panting from running, stopped, but feeling intimidated by the stares, she looked up at Zhou Zhi with a blank expression on her face.
Her heart pounding, she clutched her belongings and stammered, “I’m sorry I didn’t notice the time and arrived late.”
These young people didn’t have the same strict sense of timekeeping as Li Tan did. It was normal for them to struggle with keeping track of a quarter of an hour. The reason no one else was late was simply because they had all tried to arrive early. In even the strictest sects, such a minor delay was usually harmless.
But Zhou Zhi’s expression suddenly darkened as she emotionlessly declared, “Put down your belongings. You can leave the mountain now.”
“Leaving the mountain?
Is there some kind of task?”
The girl seemed to have an idea of what was coming and started trembling slightly.
Zhou Zhi said, “Task?
No, you don’t need to carry out any tasks. In fact, you won’t have to carry out any tasks ever again. You don’t need to come back to Tianlang Sect anymore.”
The girl’s face turned deathly pale as she hastily explained, “I’m really sorry, please forgive me. I just went to the restroom, so—” She hadn’t finished speaking when she was ruthlessly interrupted.
“I don’t care about the process, only the result.”
At this moment, all the newly admitted servant disciples were trembling with fear. Even the older disciples who had been watching with casual smiles wore expressions of fear.
The girl dropped to her knees, desperately pleading, “I really didn’t do it on purpose. Please give me another chance. I’ll never do it again!”
Zhou Zhi sneered twice, “Fine.”
The girl, like a drowning person clutching at a lifeline, eagerly and excitedly said, “I’ll never make the same mistake again!”
“Don’t get too excited. Since you don’t want to leave Tianlang Sect, be prepared to accept punishment.”
Zhou Zhi said.
The girl shivered, hesitated for a moment, then nodded with gritted teeth, “I’m willing to do anything.”
Zhou Zhi pointed her finger toward a direction where more than ten large water jars, like the ones Sima Guang once smashed, were placed.
She said, “From now on, you are responsible for filling all these water jars every day.”
The girl’s regained color drained from her face again. “P-please, where can I get the water?”
Zhou Zhi answered, “At the foot of the mountain.”
The girl’s body weakened, and she immediately collapsed to the ground. Carrying water from the foot of the mountain to fill even one of these jars would probably take half a day, yet Zhou Zhi had told her to fill all ten of them. Zhou Zhi showed no sign of mercy, coldly adding, “If you can’t do it, don’t expect your monthly stipend.”
The monthly stipend referred to the cultivation resources distributed by Tianlang Sect once every month.
At this moment, the girl was completely at a loss, feeling as if the sky had collapsed on her. At this rate, she would likely never receive a monthly stipend in Tianlang Sect, and there would be no chance for her to ever advance to the outer sect.
She might as well just leave the mountain now.
Which seemed to be exactly what Zhou Zhi intended.
“If you can’t accept it, leave now.”
Li Tan looked at the girl, his eyes showing some pity, but he didn’t do anything. He only felt even more disgusted toward Zhou Zhi, who seemed obviously somewhat twisted.
The chubby kid whispered, “Big Brother Li, with this, won’t this girl have no choice but to leave the mountain?”
Li Tan nodded.
The chubby kid asked again, “Is there any way we can help her?”
Li Tan shook his head.
“I see…” The chubby kid looked at the girl on the ground, deep in thought. Around them, no one made any move to pile on the misfortune.
Perhaps it was a case of “the dying rabbit makes the fox grieve”—who knew when any of them might be expelled by Zhou Zhi for some minor mistake?
Li Tan slightly turned his head and looked at the girl.
He quietly told her, “The path of cultivation is far more difficult than you imagine. Actually, it’s not so bad to live as an ordinary person.”
“I know.”
The girl smiled bitterly, lowering her head.
“But my parents practically spent everything they had to get me into Tianlang Sect. How could I go back like this?”
She raised her head and said to Zhou Zhi, “I accept.”
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