Little Mortal, after getting back on top of his backpack, was going to start speaking, but...
'Cling cling!'
Two objects fell from the cage hanging from his waist.
It was two storage rings.
It seemed like the cage was telling him,
'Look, they were two different people. If not, why are there two storage rings? You hit me unjustly.'
Little Mortal looked down at the two rings, then he looked at the onlookers.
They were looking at the ceiling, as if they hadn't heard or seen anything, while cursing at the cage in their minds:
'You stupid cage, look what you've done! Why would you point out his mistake in front of us? We're the ones who'll pay with our lives if he goes crazy!'
But to their surprise, Little Mortal pointed at the rings and said,
"Look, what did I tell you? They were the same person. This guy just changed into a new robe and put on a new storage ring to deceive me. Heh, these rookie human traffickers think they can fool me with these petty tricks."
Then he looked at them nervously, as if trying to see if they bought his nonsense.
So everyone nodded:
"Nothing can hide from the Sect Master's eyes!"
"Indeed, Sect Master is never wrong."
Sighing in relief, Little Mortal pointed at the innkeeper to come closer.
Then he whispered in her ear—though, due to the silent environment, everyone heard him—
"Tell me the truth, were they twins?"
The innkeeper lady became nervous and thought to herself:
'Should I tell him the truth or not? If I say yes, he'll think that at least his second guess is right. But he might find out about them later, and I'll be dead. If I tell him the truth, he might get angry and end my life right here and now...'
In the end, the innkeeper lady decided not to live in fear and to be honest with this little monster.
So, with fear in her heart, she started whispering in his ear about father and son duo, what they did to the citizens of the Outer Sect City, and their criminal acts...
At first, Little Mortal just frowned. Then his eyes widened, and a little later, he turned pale!
At the end, he even looked scared and whispered back to her:
"Didn't I tell you not to scare children? Should I put your name back on the list?"
The innkeeper was speechless.
She thought:
'Are you a middle-aged man right now or not? And can you stop putting me on that list?'
But all she could say was:
"Forgive me, Sect Master, but it's all the truth that I was sure your esteemed self could handle!"
Little Mortal, who suddenly remembered he was a middle-aged man now, stroked his mustache with a trembling hand, brought out his notebook, and added another line:
[...
7. Law enforcement corruption (the hall master was a human trafficker—what about his underlings?)]
Then he looked around vigilantly and mumbled to himself:
"Even the top righteous sect of this world is like this—what about that demoness sect? I was lucky to find out where the best place to find followers is, or else..."
With eyes full of fear, he looked at the far snowy mountains from the window and sighed in relief.
After a deep breath, he calmed himself down:
"Okay, where were we? There are so many random crazy cultivators messing around that we can't even have a proper conversation! Oh, right—you, old sir, what did you want to ask?"
The old man was shocked for a second, but soon remembered he was going to raise his hand.
"'Ahem,' Sect Master, you said there's no limit to the number of your followers. But our city's population is around ten thousand people, and if they hear about your 'one-week promise,' you can be sure that for the next seven days, all ten thousand of them will show up at any place you want."
Hearing the old man's words, Little Mortal was shocked!
The onlookers thought to themselves:
'We knew it—he can't handle so many people. Wait, can he even count that much?'
But once again, they thought wrong.
Little Mortal hit his backpack and said:
"Guardian Token!"
A golden light came out of his backpack and landed in his hand. It was a gold token with an engraved symbol of two hands protecting a sphere in the middle.
He then started speaking to the token:
"This is 'Sect Master' speaking. Assistant Rose, do you hear me? Over."
...
A couple of mountains away from the Outer Sect City, at the main mountain of the Demoness Sect, where Sect Master 'Snow Goddess' would go into seclusion, a red-dressed lady was in front of a painting board, drawing.
At this moment, an old lady in the same dress appeared beside her.
They were Rose, the daughter of Sword God and Snow Goddess, and her grandmother, 'Lady Butterfly,' who had just arrived.
She was called 'Lady Butterfly' because of her unique technique. Every time she fought, butterflies would appear around her, each showing different effects in battle. And because of her past beauty, the two characteristics were combined, and her Daoist name became 'Lady Butterfly.'
When her grandmother saw what Rose was drawing, she felt weird:
"Little Rose, why are you drawing a big backpack going toward the sunset? Didn't you see your savior? Just draw him—that way, at least we can recognize him if we see him somewhere!"
Rose turned around and said:
"Grandmother, don't say that. This was the most memorable scene for me. By the way, what happened that made you go down the mountain in a hurry?"
Lady Butterfly snorted and said:
"That old trash from the Law Enforcement Hall released his aura at the Outer Sect City, so I went there to see what he was going to do with those mortals. Now that your mother is in seclusion because of that fight, this guy might run wild in the sect. Someone should keep him in check.
But when I got there, he was already gone."
Rose frowned:
"Grandmother, why hasn't anyone dealt with him yet? It's been so many years already—how can he do whatever he likes after so long?"
Lady Butterfly thought for a moment and said:
"Well, it's because of a little secret of our world. More than three hundred years ago, when the righteous and demonic paths started fighting each other to the death for an unknown reason, a group of strong cultivators from both sides made a secret deal."
Rose became eager to find out what secrets were involved:
"Tell me, Grandmother—what secret deal?"
Seeing her so eager, she said:
"All of the cultivators who participated in that battle received full protection for their next two generations, and in return, they would fight to the death with each other, promising that the war would end with their deaths. If they survived, then there was no need for others to keep their word."
Rose was astonished:
"Why would they take such a risk and get themselves killed willingly? And how could they be sure nobody broke their promise? Were they all heroes of that era who sacrificed themselves for the peace of the world?"
Lady Butterfly scoffed:
"What heroes? They were all cultivators with lots of bad karma. Later, we found out that all of them knew they would die soon. For some reason, they were targeted by Heaven's Will and didn't have much time left. So first, they started a war with the righteous faction and pretended to harm all the mortals. Then they suddenly came up with such a ridiculous deal. Nobody believed them at the time and just accepted the deal to make fun of them, but they suddenly started killing each other without hesitation, and the war ended as they promised. You can't believe how shocked we were that day..."
Rose was shocked:
"So, the master of the Law Enforcement Hall is one of the descendants of those villains? How evil—even after death, they affect the lives of others..."
Lady Butterfly said:
"It's not only him. All of the cultivators with black Daoist robes in your mother's sect are their descendants, and that old trash's son is the last generation.
The best thing we could do was to keep them in one place at least."
Rose asked in confusion:
"Can't someone who wasn't part of the promise get rid of them?"
Lady Butterfly shook her head helplessly:
"The deal was made with 'Heaven's Will' as witness. Nobody can break it."
Rose was about to continue, but a white token suddenly jumped out of her pocket, and the voice of a little boy sounded from it:
"This is Sect Master speaking. Assistant Rose, do you hear me? Over."
The moment this white token appeared, Lady Butterfly reacted without thinking and threw a palm strike at it!
She thought someone had attacked Rose!
White butterflies started coming out of nowhere, dancing around her hand. The attack sped up, and her hand, like a white light, struck toward the token.
But the white token was even faster and dodged the attack before landing on Rose's hand.
Missing her first hit, Lady Butterfly was about to attack again, but Rose stopped her and hid the token behind her:
"Grandmother, stop! It's mine!"
Her grandmother was speechless:
"What is this token? Now you keep secrets from me?"
But before Rose could answer, the voice sounded again:
"I repeat, this is Sect Master speaking. Assistant Rose, do you hear me? Over."
Rose, who didn't know how the token worked or if her voice could go through it, just tried her luck and said:
"Shhh, loud and clear. Over."
Lady Butterfly was full of questions now:
'Where did this token come from? Who is this Sect Master? When did my little Rose get into a secret relationship with him? And why is she just an assistant?'
The Sect Master's voice sounded:
"Assistant Rose, it's Sect Master speaking. The matter of finding followers is done. Now I need your support. How long will it take you to join me? Over."
Rose, who realized her voice was transmitted, said excitedly:
"Shhh, Sect Master, where are you now? I need to estimate how far we are from each other. Over."
The Sect Master's voice sounded:
"Assistant Rose, it's Sect Master speaking. I am in a place called 'Outer Sect City.' Over."
Rose and Lady Butterfly looked at each other, not knowing what to say... He was here, in the sect?
Lady Butterfly frowned and thought:
'Who is this Sect Master? And why is he gathering followers in someone else's sect while using the Sect Master's daughter as his assistant? Is he planning a rebellion?'
Suspecting what was going on, her eyes widened as she looked at her granddaughter.
She knew Rose wasn't some stupid girl who'd fall for this kind of scam, so what was it? Then she gasped—
'Yes, only love can make people do stupid things!'
Rose blushed a little and said:
"Shhh, Sect Master, I'm in the same area. Just tell me where to find you in the city, and I'll be there soon. Over."
She was blushing because she felt embarrassed saying 'Shhhh' in front of her grandmother, but Lady Butterfly thought her little Rose had already fallen in love with this Sect Master... and thought to herself:
'I should go with her and see who dares to seduce my little innocent granddaughter!'
The Sect Master's voice sounded:
"Assistant Rose, it's Sect Master speaking. I am in the inn where they accept new disciples. I'll wait for your arrival. Over."
Rose answered:
"Shhh, I know where it is. I'll be there soon. Over."
And after a while, when she didn't receive any other response, she stood up excitedly to leave—but she felt a firm hand on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw her grandmother smiling at her 'knowingly,' so she hurriedly said:
"Grandma, you can't come! I should meet him alone!"
But Lady Butterfly didn't care. She just picked her up and flew away, saying:
"Hehe, just think I don't exist!"
Lady Butterfly really wanted to see who this Sect Master was, forcing his love on her adorable granddaughter!
...
Outer Sect City.
Inside the inn, everyone had heard the conversation between this little evil kid and his assistant, Rose.
Now they were silently waiting because the Little Sect Master was waiting.
A few moments later, he suddenly stood up on his backpack, turned toward the opposite side of the inn door, and with hands behind his back—like a senior waiting for his junior's arrival—stood like a statue, profound and dignified.
The silent crowd, who didn't know why he did that, saw the inn door open the next moment, and a lady in a red dress entered.
She was Rose, who had come with Lady Butterfly but didn't let her enter with her.
She seemed excited and nervous at the same time.
But when the people inside the inn saw her, they all dropped their heads. Cold sweat covered their foreheads once again, and they thought to themselves:
'Heavens! Is she the assistant he was talking to? She's that Rose? The Sect Master's daughter? If that's true, isn't she the most powerful assistant in the current world, with two Sect Masters backing her up? So his claim that he's the Sect Master's disciple is true too?'
Rose, who saw everyone looking down, didn't mind them and looked around until she saw her savior!
On his support team—no, wait—on his big backpack, with hands behind his back, looking... cute and adorable in his oversized black Daoist robe...
'Eh? Why a black Daoist robe?'
Rose, who had just heard about the history of these black robes, furrowed her brow in confusion.
Before she could figure out why his Daoist robe was like those special people, she heard her savior speak—without turning around:
"You are here!"
Like a senior whose junior had finally arrived.
Rose excitedly answered:
"Assistant Rose is at your service!"
And ran over to him.
A certain grandmother, who was eavesdropping from the inn's rooftop, heard the excitement in her granddaughter's voice:
"O_O"
Who is he talking to?