Outside. East District.

  Bubai slowed his steps, glancing back at his distant tower and wiping the nonexistent sweat off his forehead.

  “Your mother... I didn’t know Xiao Lan could be so scary.”

  For so many months, she had been the quiet river flowing beside him, adjusting to his pace, bending to his current.

  He had almost grown used to it. But today? The river dragon turned over!

  Oh boy... this added quite the spicy flavor to his life.

  “Well, not a bad thing, really. Quite interesting, actually. Truth be told, I don’t mind sitting through the whole show. Haha...”

  Eh? Then why did he run away in such a hurry?

  No, no. That wasn’t running away. He really did have something important to do, really! Ahem.

  “Anyways, what needed to be said has been said. Both of them know their place in my heart.”

  The difference was clear.

  One was a shield and a pure transactional relationship.

  The other was his precious companion sword. The mainstay.

  He was willing to be her sole provider and use his hard-earned gains to polish her.

  Truth be told, while this kind of pampered treatment was the norm for the cherished jade in this era, a one-way cycle like this wasn’t exactly a healthy relationship.

  Handing out free porridge too often only fostered dependency.

  But this was exactly what he was gunning for from the very start.

  A woman’s heart is like the eye of a needle at the bottom of the sea.

  It’s almost impossible for him to fully understand what goes through the sword maiden’s mind!

  But if he wanted to keep this independent woman from flying away one day... now that was straightforward.

  Lock her in the gilded cage called dependency. Attack her emotions! Attack her Dao heart!

  Even a millennial iceberg can be melted by time...

  In the beginning, Xiao Lan was quite clear-cut about setting boundaries and keeping balances in their exchanges, always paying back something whenever he gave her anything.

  But now?

  She was willing to accept whatever he gives, whether it be spirit stones or his protei—Ahem.

  The point was, she wasn’t pushing things away anymore.

  This was a win in his books, no matter how he looked at it.

  But was it worth it to go through all these routines just for a woman?

  Bubai can’t say for others, but for Xiao Lan? Definitely a yes.

  Setting up an obvious weakness others can exploit was one goal, but Batbai has never lost sight of his true goal and never does meaningless things.

  If Xiao Lan was really just a normal side character, why invest so much?

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  Heck, since he walked the evil path of depravity, he might even fall to pimping her out!

  But he didn’t do so because she was the trump card at the bottom of his box! Why?

  Her hidden female lead template!

  Alright, alright... it was hard to judge if metaphysical nonsense like these were even real.

  But remember. This is a fantasy world of cultivation, full of mysterious powers. Anything was possible!

  His transmigration happened.

  Cheats can fall from the skies.

  Shit-stirring protagonists were almost confirmed to be real.

  Since the protagonist exists, it wasn’t too far-fetched to believe in the existence of those blessed by the heavens to serve as foil for the destined ones.

  Among these, the group that stands out the most were obviously the female leads!

  Then, here’s the question: was Xiao Lan really a female lead?

  At first, there was really no way for Bubai to truly confirm whether Xiao Lan was truly blessed by a female lead halo or anything of that sort.

  After all, he’s been with her for so long and dug into every possible plot hole her existence could possibly have, yet... nothing.

  No bad luck plague. No sudden calamities. No divine retribution.

  He was still alive and kicking.

  For a while, this did make him doubt whether Xiao Lan was really just a normal character.

  Maybe all his fussing around was simply making a mountain out of a molehill?

  But then that Long Batian came along.

  He almost thought he would face the invincible Long Aotian template, but then…

  The bloke quacked, so fast… in a spectacularly stupid way too.

  It was almost as if his IQ got drop-kicked by a donkey!

  That got Bubai thinking.

  Hey, IQ debuff? Check.

  No main character here to save the day? But wait, hold on…. there was a white knight in shining armor!

  Then of course, the classic trope—the evil cannon fodder who courted death by targeting the protagonist’s woman, only to be blessed with the Curse of Doom.

  Woah, woah, woah, Merlin above! What familiar routines!

  If Xiao Lan isn’t the female lead of some story out there, then he, Grandpa Fang, will eat his stinking boots!

  Anyone who dared say otherwise…

  Go ahead, face the fourth wall and break through it. Come tell him he’s wrong, then fine, he’d believe it! Otherwise? Haha!

  As for why Xiao Lan’s female lead halo didn’t curse him…

  Well, it’s hard to say.

  Perhaps it was his cheating golden finger at work behind the scenes all along.

  Immunity to luck debuffs? Maybe. Who knows?

  But one thing was certain: Xiao Lan will be the perfect thornmail against his foes!

  If there was really a particular enemy too powerful for him to deal with, and they actually had the audacity to take Xiao Lan away…

  Heh. Now that will be very interesting to watch.

  Of course, Bubai wasn’t so heartless to abandon a valuable chess piece and leave her to suffer a cruel fate.

  The tribulation seed got planted. His tracker was in place.

  Once they take away the hot potato, he was ready to be the oriole stalking the mantis!

  Who’s afraid of who!

  Just because he can’t beat them head-on didn’t mean he can’t succeed in a sneak attack after the debuffs kicked in!

  When the time came, he’ll rake in more profit than any amount of pimping could ever bring him!

  As for trouble? If everything goes according to plan in the tourney, then... his immunity should be in place soon, right?

  Maybe—just maybe—walking sideways and running wild isn’t just a dream!

  The thought was intoxicating like fine wine, and Bubai felt the dark road ahead was so bright…

  But he quickly reigned in this impetus feeling.

  “Calm down, calm down. There’s no need to rush anything and kick every hornet’s nest in sight. Just go with the flow.”

  Well water doesn’t mix with river water.

  If they don’t offend him, there’s no need to talk about killing all day long.

  But if they really dared to jump out…

  Strolling past the many inner sect courtyards, his eyes discreetly scanned the surrounding darkness.

  The usual chirping crickets and star-gazing couples were there. Lots of disciples out for a late night walk.

  This was the norm.

  Once upon a time, he was just another nobody heading off to work, and nobody paid him any heed.

  But now…

  Those tigresses monitoring his every move were gone, but the eyes stalking him in the dark didn’t lessen.

  While they didn’t openly bared their fangs, he could feel it. Their greed. Their malice.

  So far, none jumped out, but how long can the unscrupulous rats of this demonic sect restrain themselves?

  Will they make a move now, later on in the night, or the day after? Who knows.

  But if someone did jump out…

  Hehe. He didn’t mind showing them all why the flowers were so red!

  Soon, the lively East District neighborhood was left behind and the silent North District pavilions welcomed him.

  It was much more peaceful here, but Bubai can still sense a few in the dark still spying on his itinerary.

  Scouting out a target. This was a norm for opportunists.

  As for beating them away? There was no need to flex his claws just yet.

  Only bare fangs when it counts. For now…

  Bubai stopped at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Book Pavilion.

  A hand dipped into his black storage pouch and fished out an exquisite herb box.

  Smiling, he climbed the stairs to wonderland. Time to give his golden thigh a hug and…

  Check if there’s any danger with the keys to his upcoming plans.