The two of them, one in front and one behind, quickly returned to the mountain cave.
Chen Ye removed the disguise at the cave entrance and softly called, "Zhiwei, Qing Jun, Master is back."
There was a rustling sound inside the cave at first.
Soon after, two small figures rushed out from the darkness, charging to Chen Ye’s legs on either side.
"Master!" Qing Jun cried, her face buried tightly against Chen Ye’s trouser leg, her soft body hugging his leg securely.
Zhiwei was much more reserved, merely clutching his clothes with her little hand, her body trembling slightly.
Chen Ye felt a pang in his heart, quickly squatting down to embrace the two frightened little ones, softly comforting them, "It’s all right now, it’s all right. Master is back, and the bad people have been chased away."
After the life-and-death crisis, the two little girls couldn’t care less about being shy.
Rarely did they not resist, obediently letting Chen Ye hold them.
Bai Susu stood aside, watching this scene of masterly kindness and filial disciple affection.
She pouted a bit unhappily.
How infuriating...
If they are her people, they should serve her wholeheartedly!
A fickle dog of a man!
She cleared her throat, breaking the warm atmosphere, "Hey, are you done hugging? This place isn’t safe. It’s better to leave this lousy cave quickly."
At this point, the two little girls noticed the short figure of Bai Susu.
"So... Sister Bai really was guarding for us, Qing Jun thought Sister Bai had run away in fear."
The little girl pouted her rosy lips, her tone slightly mocking with a hint of complaint.
Chen Ye was startled, afraid Qing Jun had angered Bai Susu, this bad-tempered woman.
Fortunately, Bai Susu didn’t take it seriously with the little girl, instead, her face blushed slightly:
"How could I be scared! It’s just... two assassins suddenly appeared. Forget it, you wouldn’t understand even if I explained, hurry up and follow me back!"
With Bai Susu, a Foundation Establishment True Disciple, accompanying them, their journey went smoothly.
...
On the way, Bai Susu controlled the thin gold flying sword like the wings of a cicada. The sword light was as fast as lightning, carrying the four of them, flying swiftly towards Moon Rhinoceros Lake District.
Wow...
This speed is too fast!
Twice as fast as the flying sword from the guardians of Yunxi District!
Chen Ye, experiencing the flying sword for the second time, was still somewhat unaccustomed.
"Master..." The little girl squinted her eyes.
"Hmm?" Chen Ye lowered his head, looking at Qing Jun’s tender, fair little face with confusion.
Is this girl still scared?
Wanting her master’s affection?
"Master... are you a bit scared?"
Unexpectedly, the little girl was looking at her master with some disdain.
Chen Ye’s face stiffened, never imagining he would be looked down upon by Qing Jun:
"Ahem, Master is just a bit unaccustomed..."
"Shame, Master is making excuses!"
The little girl, seeing her master’s embarrassment, became more spirited,
her slender finger pulling at her eyelid, sticking out a pink tongue, making a face.
Humph, that’s what Master gets for scaring her with a flying sword before!
Chen Ye clenched his fist, but his tone was gentle, "Alright, alright, it’s Master’s fault, I’ll make spicy whip stir-fry for Qing Jun when we get home."
"Spicy stir-fry! Qing Jun loves it!" The little girl’s eyes sparkled.
"If you like it, that’s good." Chen Ye smiled kindly.
He had already decided that once they returned, he would properly teach Qing Jun and Zhiwei a lesson.
Who told them to be disobedient and run around!
"Love it, love it!" The little girl nodded repeatedly, "Master is the best in the world..."
"It’s spicy whip stir-fry..." The older girl suddenly said softly, despite Zhiwei’s indifferent expression, her little hand had secretly rubbed her backside.
Uh, going to get spanked by Master...
For some reason, Zhiwei wasn’t scared at all.
But Qing Jun was suddenly dumbfounded, "Mas... Master, were you lying to Qing Jun? Ah, really can’t do anything about Master, this time I’ll forgive you..."
"I didn’t lie." Chen Ye said coldly and mercilessly.
"Boohoo!!!"
When the flying sword flew out of the Mist Forest, they encountered that group of Lingyin Sect disciples again.
Leading them was Senior Brother Xu.
They saw a brilliant golden sword light cutting through the sky from afar, with what seemed like several figures standing on it, and were immediately cautious, stopping to respectfully stand by the roadside.
At this moment, the one controlling a golden flying sword in the Mist Forest was most likely True Inheritor Bai!
As the sword light descended, Senior Brother Xu and the others didn’t dare breathe loudly, all bowing gracefully, "Greetings, True Inheritor Bai!"
Bai Susu, usually unfriendly towards others, just softly "hmm"ed from her nostrils.
Then, as if remembering something, she added, "By the way, Guardian Ning went to hunt down another seriously injured cultivator, you all go back to Moon Rhinoceros District first, don’t wait for Guardian Ning."
"Yes!" the disciples responded.
Among them, one disciple couldn’t help but glance up slightly, wanting to see this famed Foundation Establishment True Man.
When he saw the girl’s exquisitely beautiful face, he was stunned.
Bai Susu... not only outstanding in strength, but her looks, probably among the top few within the Yan Kingdom.
It’s just a pity... if not for being a bit short, and her figure lacking, she might have been the top fairy.
But what shocked this disciple was yet to come.
When his gaze swept over Chen Ye, whom Bai Susu was guarding, and the two adorable little girls in his embrace, his eyes almost popped out:
"Chen... Steward Chen?"
This exclamation made other disciples unable to resist looking up, exchanging glances full of mutual shock.
Why would True Inheritor Bai allow a man to stand on her flying sword, flying together??
Senior Brother Xu’s face lost its previous indifference; he wiped off cold sweat, forcing a stiff smile:
"Why is Steward Chen on True Inheritor Bai’s flying sword? Well, why not come back to the sect with us..."
Bai Susu raised an eyebrow, letting out a cold laugh: "He’s on my flying sword, what does it have to do with you?"
"True Inheritor Bai...?"
Senior Brother Xu was immediately stunned. Did... did True Inheritor Bai take the wrong medicine?
In the next moment.
The blonde girl couldn’t even be bothered to respond, controlled her flying sword, and turned into a stream of escape light, speeding away.
Leaving Senior Brother Xu’s face a mix of green and red.
This... this jerk, actually treated him as if he were invisible!
The other disciples also cast strange glances, secretly amused.
Usually, Senior Brother Xu was lofty and always looked down on cultivators with lower cultivation than his own.
Just like with Steward Chen,
they were originally here to help Steward Chen, but Senior Brother Xu didn’t want to be directed by Steward Chen and insisted on waiting for Guardian Ning to come...
But truly, karma takes its turn,
in front of someone like True Inheritor Bai, Senior Brother Xu couldn’t even get a glance...
Chen Ye watched the scene just now, feeling a mix of amusement and helplessness in his heart.
This Bai Susu’s personality is truly odd.
"Hmm... by the way, this Elder of the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect’s puppet is quite interesting."
Bai Susu glanced back at the two dirty little girls, feeling a bit guilty in her heart,
"Although I’ve already shattered it, its core is of decent quality and can still be used to some extent."
As she spoke, she casually tossed a crystal-clear puppet core to Chen Ye.
The puppet core was only the size of a fist, semi-transparent, and within it floated dense runes that were faintly visible.
What a pity though, it had four sword marks on it, obviously severely damaging the core, causing its light to dim.
"This... this is for me?"
Chen Ye couldn’t believe that Bai Susu was so generous with her gift!
After days of cultivation, Chen Ye had grown more familiar with the Puppet Refining Technique.
In the Puppet Refining Technique, there are two types of puppets: zombie puppets and soldier puppets.
Zombie puppets are refined from living beings, utilizing the residual divine sense of the living, and do not require a puppet core to control.
Whereas soldier puppets are cast from various metals and need to be equipped with a corresponding core as the main center to operate.
On that day, when Chen Ye fought with the disciples of the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect,
he relied on the powerful force of the Cyan Wave Line to blow up half of the soldier puppet’s body, destroying its core, which caused the puppet to collapse.
Otherwise, if the soldier puppet’s core remained intact, even if its head were blown off, it could still retain combat effectiveness with just two legs!
"If not for you, should I just throw it away for fun?"
Bai Susu rolled her eyes at Chen Ye impatiently, her tone carrying a hint of smugness,
"This is a Second Tier General Puppet Core! Though it’s badly damaged... it should still fetch some Spirit Stones."
"Thank you, True Inheritor Bai, for the gift!"
Chen Ye sincerely expressed his gratitude. He naturally didn’t intend to sell it for Spirit Stones and planned to keep it for himself to refine puppets.
"Hmph, hypocritical..."
Hearing Chen Ye’s thanks, Bai Susu was rather displeased.
She shook her head and concentrated on maneuvering the flying sword.
In no time, the four of them successfully returned to the Moon Rhinoceros Lake District.
...
Two days later, at the Moon Rhinoceros Lake District, in the Herb Pavilion’s backyard herb garden.
Chen Ye was guiding his two apprentices in recognizing the medicinal properties of various Spirit Grasses.
"Master, why does this Poisonous Grass smell a bit sweet?"
Qing Jun pinched a small purple-black grass and asked curiously.
Chen Ye tapped her forehead, annoyed: "The more beautiful and deadly something is, the more often it uses sweetness as a disguise. You girl, you better not eat anything recklessly outside, or you won’t even know how you died!"
Qing Jun stuck out her tongue, made a funny face.
She secretly felt lucky.
Dumb Master, always scaring Qing Jun.
Talking about spicy whip fried meat... Master clearly can’t bring himself to hit them!
The little girl was smug, giving Chen Ye a disdainful glance.
Chen Ye was puzzled: "What’s wrong?"
The little girl sighed: "Sigh, Master, pretending is useless. Qing Jun can see through Master’s little thoughts!!"
What’s this girl babbling about?
Chen Ye’s hand began to itch, his tone was very gentle:
"Qing Jun, Zhiwei, have you rested well these past two days... any nightmares at night?"
The black-haired girl was supporting her chin, meticulously studying a thick herbal illustration book.
Upon hearing him, she tucked her hair behind her ear, showing her pale pointed face: "Mm, these past two days, Qing Jun and I have both recovered well..."
Qing Jun was even prouder: "Hmph! Does Master think Qing Jun was scared into growing up? It’s just a pursuit... Qing Jun isn’t afraid at all!"
"That’s good then..."
Chen Ye smiled slightly.
The reason he didn’t immediately scold his two apprentices was because he considered that they were mentally and physically exhausted, being chased, still shaken.
He couldn’t bear to immediately discipline them, to avoid intensifying their trauma.
But now...
Chen Ye’s smile gradually turned "kind" as he pointed to a dark small vacant house by the herb garden, where he had placed two futons in advance:
"Since you’ve rested well, come with me."
The little girl’s eyes brightened: "Master, did you make something delicious again!!"
These past two days, Master has made them all sorts of delicious things!
"Reluctantly, you could say that..." Chen Ye was noncommittal.