Sure enough.
Before long, those black-robed cultivators flew back over from the sky.
“The aura vanished around here.”
Standing high in the sky, their leader frowned as he looked down upon the crowds milling through the streets and alleys.
They searched back and forth several more times, inspecting every cultivator they encountered, yet found no trace of the two. They even compared ordinary mortals against a portrait, but still came up empty.
Unwilling to give up, they stubbornly waited around for an entire shichen, hoping to catch them unawares.
Wen Li had it easy enough—she just lay on the ground begging for coin, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Poor Gu Linshu, however, had his backside rooted around by a pig that treated him like a toy; finding him motionless and dull, the creature merely took a leak on him before wandering off.
Gu Linshu was just glad it wasn't dung.
Minute by minute slipped past. Luckily, Gu Linshu had a quiet temperament and was patient enough to endure lying still in a pigpen, engaging in a battle of patience with their pursuers.
At last, they left.
They unanimously concluded that those two low-level cultivators must have fled; no matter what, they couldn't have remained hidden right under their noses for this long.
Ten-odd minutes after their departure...
Wen Li, who had almost drifted off to sleep, lazily opened her eyes. Oh? There were actually fifteen copper coins in the bowl!
There really were a lot of good people in this world.
Wriggling around, she glanced up at the sky. Once certain the pursuers were gone, she stood up, ignored the curious gazes of onlookers, and walked over to the deserted pigpen around the corner. Picking up a nearby rake, she prodded Gu Linshu.
“Still alive? Let’s go. Don't tell me you're actually enjoying yourself.”
She wasn't afraid of getting dirty, truly.
“...You come and enjoy it, then.”
His face caked with filth, Gu Linshu got up. The resentment smoldering in his eyes made the usually neat and scholarly youth look like a vengeful specter.
Though he knew Master had only kicked him into the pigpen in the heat of the moment to save his life, he could have just as easily lain on the ground and played dead like last time. He had experience with that!
Wen Li noted, “Oh? You're not stammering right now.”
Gu Linshu subconsciously took a deep breath, wanting to calm down so he wouldn't commit any disrespectful acts against his sect, completely forgetting he was coated in pig manure. Thus...
“Hurk!”
“Whoa!”
Wen Li hurriedly took a step back, terrified he would vomit on her.
“Hurk!”
Clutching the pigpen railing, the youth dry-heaved until tears welled at the corners of his eyes, looking utterly pitiful.
Wen Li still had a shred of conscience left; she quickly patted his back and produced a sachet to dispel the stench.
“Alright, alright, Master was in a rush earlier. Here, get rid of the smell. I'll take you to an inn to get cleaned up.”
Rubbing his chest, Gu Linshu recovered some energy and reminded her, “Master, you know the Cleansing Technique.” He was exhausted.
“Oh, right, right, right!”
Wen Li hastily formed a hand seal. In an instant, the foul stench and mud vanished from both of them, leaving only their somewhat tattered clothes.
Both of them had taken new Disguise Pills, giving them completely different faces. Changing into the coarse linen clothes of commoners, they left at once.
Heading to the most crowded area, they found a respectable inn situated in the red-light district to stay at.
Wen Li set up a barrier inside the room, stuck Spirit-Erasing Talismans and Defensive Talismans onto the doors and windows, and scattered a few items carrying the aura of Western Province cultivators around before clapping her hands in satisfaction and sitting down.
“Master, your actions today were so well-practiced. Could it be that you...” made too many enemies outside and are hunted all the time?
Having recovered, Gu Linshu inquired curiously via voice transmission.
Everything this afternoon had happened far too suddenly. From the ambush, to the escape, to going into hiding, Wen Li's performance had been so well-practiced that it was almost heartbreaking—except for him.
Quick changes, disguise pills, Spirit-Erasing Talismans to mask their auras, an ample supply of props, instantly stepping into a new character—at a glance, one could tell this reaction speed and stealth experience came from being hunted down tens of thousands of times.
“Can't be helped. People of exceptional talent always invite jealousy easily.” Wen Li waved a hand dismissively, stating calmly, “Before the term 'evil cultivator' came around, everyone called them geniuses. Because they can't do it themselves and are jealous of me, they have no choice but to compliment me by calling me an evil cultivator.”
“...”
Gu Linshu stared at her silently with his clear black eyes.
Wen Li coughed lightly, honestly confessing half of it. “Fine, I’m just a little domineering. Whenever I see something I like, I have to have it to feel content. And would anything I take a fancy to be the kind of trash held by cultivators of the same realm? Of course they're treasures that cultivators stronger than me fight over! The items were fated with me, so I took them, and naturally, they chased relentlessly. One thing led to another, and I developed my own survival rules.
“Besides, it's not my fault. Those things didn't have their names written on them, so why should they claim it's theirs?”
Hearing this self-deceiving line of hers, Gu Linshu realized something.
He transmitted, “So the things you fancy aren't treasures higher-level cultivators were trying to snatch, but items that were already inside their storage bags?”
“...” Wen Li replied with righteous indignation, “Exactly.”
“...”
No, something was wrong with this Master—in the head.
Gu Linshu narrowed his eyes, asking in confusion via transmission, “Master, aren't you ten thousand years old? Didn't you even set up an interprovincial teleportation array alongside my ancestor? What kind of treasures haven't you seen? Why would you stoop to...”
His words choked in his throat the moment Wen Li's spiritual energy flared, revealing her cultivation at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection.
Fine. She used to be formidable, but right now she was a weakling who needed more practice.
No wonder Master went around snatching things everywhere, only to get hunted down, continuing to rob while being pursued, accumulating enemies like a snowball.
Unable to imagine how thrilling that must have been, Gu Linshu actually felt a faint sense of envy and yearning for such adventures.
Wen Li saw right through what the chunibyo youth was thinking. Clapping his shoulder, she said smugly, “You want that kind of thrill? Just you wait. Stick with me and you'll have plenty of enemies hunting us down—guaranteed to satisfy your craving.” Being chased across the world wasn't just happening now; before she had climbed to the peak, and even when standing atop it, being hunted was everyday routine even if she didn't provoke anyone.
In cultivation, where would one ever find the ridiculous nonsense from novels where a Foundation Establishment slashes a Nascent Soul? Every step of advancement was forged slowly through slaughter, blood, and piles of corpses.
Considering his Master’s wicked and underhanded personality, she probably had countless enemies across every cultivation realm. In that case...
“Never mind, Master. I still prefer enemies I pick myself.” That way, the power gap wouldn't be too vast—steady and reassuring.
Wen Li clicked her tongue. The boy was too young; how could one just pick and choose the realm of their enemies? One might want to take things slow, but things rarely go according to plan.
However, Wen Li didn't say these things aloud; some truths needed to be learned by youngsters themselves.
“Master, our courtyard belongs to Zongzheng Huangyue, and today is the seventh day—she should be returning soon. Who could be trying to ambush us?” Gu Linshu turned to business.
Rate on N.U.
