Chapter 4: Oh No! Is She Coming for Me?!

Strange things happen every year, but there are particularly many this year...

Ye Li, who hadn't participated in the Selection Ceremony for nearly 1,000 years, suddenly showed up today.

A disciple with a Fairy Spirit Root wanted to become Ye Li's direct disciple, but she rejected them.

And then, she actually took an outer disciple with a median spirit root as her direct disciple?

Hehehe...

As expected of a Supreme Elder; one person single-handedly created three major incidents...

On the other side of things, Luo Xing, the person at the center of it all, was still in a state of utter confusion...

'What... what on earth? Ye Li? She wants to recruit him? As a direct disciple? Wait a minute! Is she kidding?!'

He had gone through so much trouble to help his sister, Luo Han, escape her original tragic fate, but now he...

Instead, he had become Ye Li's disciple?!

'Oh no! Is this wretched woman coming after me?! Have I become the male lead of a tragedy?!'

"Ahem... Um... Luo Xing... I'm asking you a question..." Deacon Hu cleared his throat twice and tugged on Luo Xing's sleeve. "The Supreme Elder wants to take you as her direct disciple... Are you willing?"

"Um..." Luo Xing looked at Deacon Hu with a miserable face and asked, "Can I refuse?"

Deacon Hu: "..."

'Does he know something? Has Ye Li's reputation reached the outer sect? That shouldn't be right...'

"Ahem... What nonsense are you talking about!" Deacon Hu said, masking his internal panic. "Elder Ye is the Supreme Elder of the sect! She is the Sect Master's junior sister! If you become her direct disciple, you can basically walk through the Xuantian Sect with your eyes closed! So many people beg for this kind of blessing and never get it, yet you actually want to refuse?"

'Luo Xing, don't blame me. After all, Ye Li is watching from above. I can't exactly tell the truth... Not to mention whether you'd even believe me, but if Ye Li found out...'

Luo Xing wanted to cry but had no tears. He felt a deep, desolate sense of 'the whole world is drunk while I alone am sober'...

'If you knew what kind of existence Ye Li really is, you'd know exactly why I want to refuse...'

But Luo Xing simply couldn't say it...

Regardless of whether anyone would believe him, that wretched woman Ye Li alone was enough...

If he pushed her too far, she was capable of anything!

After all, in the original novel, Luo Han had once pleaded with the Sect Master to save her, and as a result, Ye Li had almost twisted the Sect Master's head right off...

Luo Xing tremblingly raised his head to look at Ye Li. Her playful gaze sent a chill straight through his body...

'This woman isn't following the plot at all... What exactly is she trying to...'

"Brother... Brother..."

Just then, Luo Xing heard Luo Han calling him in a low voice. Turning his head, he saw his sister repeatedly signaling him with her eyes...

"Agree... Hurry up and agree... Elder Ye is beautiful and kind-hearted... She's a great person who doesn't hold grudges against small people like us..."

In Luo Han's eyes, Ye Li was returning good for evil. Even though Luo Xing had slandered her so much before, she was still willing to give him a chance.

It seemed her guess was correct; Elder Ye was a good person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

Luo Xing: "..."

'Oh no! Could this woman be trying to control me to get to my sister?! After all that, is she still after Luo Han?!'

"I... I am willing..."

Luo Xing had no choice. He couldn't imagine what terrifying things Ye Li would do if he refused her...

For now, it was better to agree and stabilize the situation...

In any case, he only had a median spirit root. Even if he worked himself to death, he could only reach the Golden Core Stage. He wouldn't live that long anyway. Afterward, his sister would have Pei Qingshuang to protect her, so there shouldn't be any major problems... right?

And so, Luo Han was saved. She escaped her original fate and stayed far away from Ye Li...

But Luo Xing was essentially finished.

Because he had been targeted by this psychopathic female lead of a tragedy novel!

---

After the Selection Ceremony ended, Luo Xing was taken by Ye Li to Duantian Peak, which was the location of the Supreme Elder's dwelling.

Although it was called a dwelling, it was actually a bamboo house built on the summit of Duantian Peak.

"There is an empty room next door. Clean it up; you will live there from now on." Upon arriving in front of the bamboo house, Ye Li gave the instruction in an indifferent tone. She then stepped toward the house. "After you finish cleaning, come find me."

Yes, Luo Xing would be living here from now on...

Together with this pervert, Ye Li...

After all, this was the treatment of a direct disciple.

As for the term 'direct disciple,' the 'direct' part was the most important. A direct disciple was meant to inherit the master's mantle, so the master would teach by word and example. The disciple had to learn everything from the master. To put it more seriously, a direct disciple was meant to become another version of the master.

Therefore, living together was an absolute necessity.

"Yes... Master."

Since things had reached this point, Luo Xing could only bite the bullet and agree. After all, if he wanted to leave now...

He would have to jump off this peak, which was hundreds of meters high, and elbow-drop the ground at the acceleration of gravity.

Of course, that was assuming Ye Li didn't intervene. In the original novel, Luo Han had been tormented by Ye Li so badly that she tried to commit suicide several times, only to be saved by Ye Li every single time...

'Seriously, what does this woman want to do?' Luo Xing muttered to himself while cleaning the room. 'Why would she take me as a disciple?'

She didn't follow the original plot of taking Luo Han as a disciple, which was already beyond Luo Xing's expectations. Now, even more ridiculously, she had taken him as a disciple instead...

Was this logical?

Obviously, it was not.

The only possibility Luo Xing could think of was that Ye Li still had her eyes on Luo Han, just like in the original novel. But for some reason unknown to him, she planned to control him first and then slowly plot against Luo Han...

But that didn't seem right either.

In the original novel, Ye Li didn't fall for Luo Han at first sight. She started as a normal master, teaching what needed to be taught and saying what needed to be said. She only became a pervert later for no apparent reason...

As for how she became a pervert...

According to that hack author, Ye Li originally had a split-personality disorder. She usually suppressed it so well that no one could tell, but Luo Han's appearance happened to be the key that unlocked that hidden personality, turning her into a pervert...

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Listen to that. Is that even human language?

It would have been better to just say Ye Li was a yandere pervert from the start and that everyone knew it. Then Luo Xing could have run away with his sister that very day. How could he be as timid as he was now?

Even if he publicly announced that Ye Li was a mentally ill pervert, no one would believe him...

But the problem now was...

What exactly was Ye Li's goal in taking him as a disciple?

Just as Luo Xing was at a complete loss, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and an unbelievable thought flashed through his mind...

'Could this Ye Li... have been reborn like the protagonists of those rebirth novels?!'

'Oh no!'

'If that's the case, the reason Ye Li took me as a disciple makes sense! Because I am Luo Han's only weakness. Back in the original novel, before Luo Xing died, Ye Li often used him to threaten Luo Han.'

'But if that's really the case... then my sister and I... are finished!'

This was an unsolvable situation!

...

After cleaning the room, Luo Xing approached Ye Li's door with a feeling of deep apprehension...

Regardless of whether she was a regressor or not, he had to act as if he knew nothing for now and stabilize Ye Li first...

*Knock, knock, knock.*

"Come in."

After three light taps, a cold female voice echoed from inside the bamboo house.

Luo Xing stood outside the door, his fingertips trembling slightly. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, and he raised his hand to push open the carved wooden door...

As the door opened, a faint, cold fragrance quietly drifted toward him. It was like cold plum blossoms blooming after a snowfall, or green bamboo covered in dew under the moonlight. It wasn't overpowering, but it reached straight into his lungs, making his mind snap to attention...

Luo Xing's heart, which had been restless due to fear, actually calmed down significantly because of it...

Inside the room, Ye Li was reclining on a soft couch by the window. Her posture was lazy and elegant. She propped up her temple with one hand; her hair was as black as ink, half-loose and half-bound. Her other hand held a jade porcelain wine pot between two fingers, gently swaying it...

Seeing Ye Li in such a state, Luo Xing's heart couldn't help but be touched.

To be fair, setting aside the fact that she was a pervert, Ye Li's beauty was truly beyond reproach.

Whether it was in the original novel or now...

She was breathtakingly beautiful, yet bone-chillingly cold...

"Master."

She slightly opened her eyes, and the corners of her lips curled up into a faint, enigmatic smile. "Finished cleaning?"

"Yes," Luo Xing answered respectfully, terrified that a single word might provoke this psycho.

"Mm. In that case..." Ye Li set the wine pot down. "Speak."

Luo Xing's brow twitched. "Speak... Speak about what?"

"Tell me..." Ye Li lowered her long, beautiful legs and sat up, leaning forward toward Luo Xing. She let out a cold laugh. "Where exactly did you hear those rumors about me?"