Chapter 105: Return to the Sect

At midnight, the air outside the tent was filled with the noisy chirping of insects, yet it could not drown out the rhythmic, rising and falling snoring of Chen Qi from within.

Yun Tianxin suddenly opened her eyes, turning to gaze at Chen Qi with a tender expression.

After a long moment, the woman sighed with a complex look on her face, her delicate cheek leaning against his.

Chen Qi, deep in slumber, remained oblivious, his snoring continuing in a steady, unbroken cadence.

Yun Tianxin watched him intently for a while before burying her face against his chest of her own accord.

From within the tent, the woman’s faint voice emerged:

"Junior brother, your performance tonight truly shocked me, but... I wonder if you can... Perhaps I am just overthinking it!"

After that, the night passed in silence, save for the relentless sound of snoring.

...

The next day, sunlight filtered through a small hole in the tent, waking the light-sleeping Yun Tianxin.

The woman pulled her head away from Chen Qi’s chest. As if struck by a humorous thought, she sat there, her beautiful eyes fixed on him with a playful, teasing glint.

Sensing a disturbance in his embrace, a warrior’s instinct finally forced Chen Qi to wake.

Through bleary eyes, he saw the woman’s mocking gaze and instantly realized what had happened.

"Ah—!" Chen Qi couldn't help but roar, a sound that was both powerful and filled with endless grievance, scaring off a flock of birds in the woods outside the cave.

The corners of the woman’s mouth twitched, and she finally laughed aloud, abandoning all pretense of composure.

"Junior brother, you are too loud!"

Chen Qi, feeling utterly humiliated and vexed, buried his face in his shoulders and turned away, refusing to look at the exasperating woman.

A while later, Chen Qi regained his composure, though he still wished to make a final plea. He turned back, looking at her with the pleading eyes of a wounded beast.

"Senior sister, could you please..."

"No!" Yun Tianxin interrupted his request with a faint smile, the dimples appearing on her cheeks making her look even more radiant. Then, her tone turned gentle but brooked no argument:

"Junior brother, it is time to take me back to the sect."

Chen Qi lay on the ground, hollow-eyed and limp, refusing to stand. It was only after Yun Tianxin had urged him three or four times in vain, and finally raised a long leg as if to kick him, that he reluctantly accepted his fate.

Dozens of minutes later, Chen Qi carried Yun Tianxin on his back with a blank expression, trudging step by step along the mountain path, occasionally using his internal blood energy to shatter the vegetation and branches blocking their way.

Thanks to that powerful and potent medicinal pill, his blood energy was far purer than when he had first arrived in this world, and his physical attributes had also clearly increased.

However, he had no desire to check his personal attribute panel in the 'Sprout Space' at this moment, choosing only to walk in silence.

Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, Yun Tianxin kept trying to strike up a conversation from his back, but Chen Qi turned a deaf ear, continuing his silent trek.

Indeed, he had become a mute.

"Junior brother, are you even listening to what I just said?"

Yun Tianxin, riding on his back, glared with her almond-shaped eyes, finally unable to contain her outburst.

Chen Qi nodded perfunctorily, his pace unchanged, his mind already drifting elsewhere.

Seeing him like this, Yun Tianxin knew exactly what was on his mind. She suppressed her rising anger and said:

"Fine, then. When we return to the sect and my mother asks about what you’ve been through, what will you say?"

"What? Your mother?" Chen Qi blurted out involuntarily. Realizing the implication, he instantly fell silent, his face shifting through various expressions, and his footsteps coming to a halt.

Seeing this, Yun Tianxin rested her head on his shoulder, nudging him to urge him forward.

A fire of resentment still burned in Chen Qi's heart, and feeling that his future back at the sect was bleak, he spoke impulsively:

"I'll just fight her to the death!"

"Pfft." Yun Tianxin couldn't help but laugh. Annoyed, she squeezed his waist with her thighs and mocked:

"You can't even beat me; what are you thinking?"

Stung at his weak point, Chen Qi couldn't help but retaliate by rubbing his hands against her long legs. Feeling the supple, delicate touch of her fair skin through his fingertips, Chen Qi’s gaze turned distant, and he felt his entire body suddenly lighten.

"Junior... brother!" This was the first time Yun Tianxin had been handled like this while fully conscious. She puffed out her cheeks in protest, though her voice sounded only charming and lacked any real intimidation.

A while later, Chen Qi let out a long, satisfied breath. Having regained his senses, he scrunched up his face and asked the woman on his back:

"Will your mother be able to tell?"

Yun Tianxin retorted with a cold laugh:

"With my mother’s cultivation level, do you think these traces could be hidden from her? What? Dare to do it but not admit to it?"

Chen Qi was stunned, taking a long time to respond:

"How about I take you back to the Cloud Sea Sect and then run away on my own?"

The woman on his back grew angry again at these words. She kept poking the back of his head with her small, exquisite chin, uttering one word with each poke:

"Is-that-all-the-backbone-you-have? Where-is-your-courage-from-last-night?"

Chen Qi’s face fell again, and he replied dejectedly:

"This won't work, that won't work—I might as well just kneel before your mother and beg her to kill me."

The woman on his back fell silent, seemingly lost in her anger.

Chen Qi stood there for a moment, sighing as he resumed his heavy, trudging pace toward the Cloud Sea Sect.

"The wind blows cold, the Yi River chills; the ancients truly did not deceive me!"

Chen Qi’s mind conjured up images: being chopped into mincemeat by a middle-aged beauty, being hung at the front gate of the Cloud Sea Sect for all to see, or being surrounded by a crowd of disciples pointing fingers at him.

At the thought of this, he felt wretched. His steps grew slower, and a sense of tragic heroism began to stir within him.

Suddenly, he felt a damp sensation on his right cheek. Curious, Chen Qi turned his head to look.

Yun Tianxin, who had gathered the courage to kiss him, immediately ducked her head, leaving only a soft, gentle whisper in his ear:

"Don't worry, junior brother. I will help you."

Above them, a mechanical bird flew past. Unlike an ordinary creature, its entire body was made of metal, and where its eyes should have been, a glowing camera lens was fixed directly upon the two below.

...

"Bang!"

On a small hillside, a group of people was gathered around an electronic screen displaying the intimate scene of Chen Qi and Yun Tianxin. The loud noise came from one of the men, who, unable to control his emotions, stomped a small crater into the ground.

Seeing the crowd look at him, the man holding a long spear expressed his anger directly:

"Three days! Three days! We’ve waited for over three full days! From eleven people down to the four of us now, that bastard has finally decided to show up!"

Beside him, a tall, muscular man in a tight suit with a wolf-tooth pattern embroidered on his chest chimed in with a low, rumbling voice:

"Several brothers from my team couldn't wait and returned to the Space, but we finally caught him. I’m going to teach him a lesson."

Another contractor, a woman named "Liu Luo" wearing form-fitting leather armor, flipped her crimson dagger and said indignantly:

"That little bastard even hooked up with a girl. He’s there being all lovey-dovey while we’re left here baking in the sun."

The final man, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, licked his lips, his lecherous gaze undisguised:

"I don't want anything else; I just want the woman on his back."

Liu Luo frowned, displeased:

"Don't do anything reckless. The woman he's carrying is wearing the uniform of an inner disciple of the Cloud Sea Sect. She’s not someone we can mess with, and we’re too close to the Cloud Sea Sect."

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses kept his eyes fixed on Yun Tianxin. Without turning his head, he retorted impatiently:

"What are you afraid of? The woman is bound by chains and looks like she can barely walk. As for the Cloud Sea Sect? Once I’m done, I’ll be back in the 'Sprout Space'. Can the Cloud Sea Sect cross over to the Space to hit me?"

Seeming to bolster his own confidence, he added arrogantly:

"If they piss me off, I’ll call my big brother, Mad Blade, to use a designated teleportation privilege and wipe this Cloud Sea Sect off the map!"

Liu Luo thought for a moment, her pupils shrinking in disbelief:

"Mad Blade? Is he one of the core members of the Mad God Adventure Group?"

"Heh heh!" The man with the gold-rimmed glasses sneered, then boasted:

"My big brother is a Tier 3 expert. Is it too much to ask for a few brothers to wipe out this sect? They’re almost here, let’s go!"

With that, he turned into a blur, rushing off in one direction with impatience.

The others exchanged glances, nodded, and followed. The spear-wielding contractor said while running:

"There are four of us; it should be no problem, right? How many universal points should we ask that kid for?"

The tall, muscular man replied first:

"Originally, 1,000 universal points each would be fine, but since we waited three days, we should at least double it. But why do I have such an ominous feeling?"

Liu Luo glared at him and snapped:

"I’ll be the first one to strike when the time comes. If you’re scared, just hide behind me!"

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses in the lead wore a lecherous expression and remained silent.

Soon, Chen Qi and Yun Tianxin appeared at the edge of their vision.

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses licked his lips in excitement and was the first to rush toward Chen Qi.