Downstairs.

  The thorny rose in black waiting in the corridor shot a glare at the man descending the stairs.

  “Tsk, tsk, finally down. Thought you’d be too scared to show your face after all that big talk last night.”

  Bubai met her gaze with dull indifference. “Where did you go last night?”

  “Tch, where else?” Miss Hong folded her arms. “I went to set up stall at the night market, of course.”

  “So late?”

  "Otherwise?" She rolled her eyes. "I’m not dumb. The night market’s the best time to get rid of the stuff that can’t see light."

  Bubai frowned inside. Sounds reasonable, but it was an excuse riddled with loopholes.

  If this were orthodox territories, sure, shady dealings at night made sense.

  But in this demonic sect?

  When laundering bloodstained assets, wasn’t it better to do it during the day market, where there was a larger sea of sharks to snap them up with no questions asked?

  As if sensing his skepticism, Miss Hong reached into her pouch and fished out five spirit stones, tossing them over as if to prove her point.

  “I haven’t sold them all yet, but here’s the profit from yesterday night.”

  Collecting the spirit stones, Bubai’s face finally showed a smile. “Mm. Not bad.”

  No need to ask where she went, who she sold to, or… what she actually went to do.

  Since there’s profit, he can overlook and tolerate the rest.

  After pocketing the money, he breezed past his beautiful shopkeeper. “Let’s go. We have an audience waiting.”

  Central District. Southern End.

  "Oi, look, look! That’s him, isn’t it?"

  "Uh-huh, a black rose stuck to cow dung. Must be him—broken sleeve Mo Bubai."

  “Huh? Why broken sleeve?”

  "Keke. That’s cause he likes striping men bare and touching them all over—corpses included!”

  “Yuh, he even had the gall to publicly desecrate that Wu Clan prodigy. Heyhey, there will be a good show to watch soon..."

  Outrageous rumors and a sea of eyes were swarming Bubai like locusts.

  His face showed zero signs of change, but inside, he was already sighing over all the trouble.

  Yesterday truly wasn’t today. What a pain.

  If the world had any mercy, Bubai honestly didn’t mind holing up in his tower and just skip over this overused tropes entirely.

  But alas, alas…

  At this stage, even if he wants to shrink his head like a turtle, will others let him?

  Back in the Cloud Sword Sect, there were various reasons for disciples to hop on a stage.

  Many fought for the scraps handed out by the sect.

  Then there were those aiming to show off in hopes of catching the eye of elders or soul mates.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Regardless of their reasons, participation was usually voluntary.

  But here? To fight or not... was never a matter decided by a single person!

  Life-and-death duels can be avoided, so long as one didn’t get goaded into them.

  But the Inner Sect Exchange was different.

  In this yearly event, every grudge, every unresolved feud, was given the perfect stage to reach its inevitable conclusion.

  Once challenged, no disciple staying in this cage can reject!

  Want to hide?

  With the sect’s barrier trapping them in, there was nowhere to run.

  The law enforcers and elders had all the time in the world to carpet search for a fugitive.

  Once caught, the punishment can be as harsh as desertion during wartime!

  Death. Castration. Lose everything. Take your pick.

  Once the punishment’s been served, death was likely still waiting on stage!

  Nobody can stop this boat of death from sailing forward. Not even the elders.

  After all, there was still an old Nascent Soul ancestor above enforcing the law!

  This is precisely why Bubai would rather not start a life-and-death feud with any of those young scions belonging to powerful clans.

  Any karma accrued would always bite back.

  What seemed like a clean kill yesterday could very well become today’s noose.

  But alas, nobody can say whether tomorrow will come first… or an accident.

  And some “accidents” were already set in stone.

  But Bubai wasn’t afraid. Whatever today brought, he was prepared. Where the wind blows, he’ll go.

  And boy oh boy were there quite some interesting wind blowing around...

  "...oh, did you hear about the gang squabble between the Four Gentlemen's goons. It's getting messier and messier..."

  "I heard it was because somebody got their goons to publicly desecrate the placard of a dead flower girl, and that flower girl happens to be the mother of that wild seedling surnamed Yu."

  "Huh? Another illegitimate son? Hey, why does this story sound a bit familiar?"

  "Oh, must be your imagination..."

  This gossip doesn't sound like it had much to do with his history. Next.

  “Hey, did you watch the dance at Bai Hua Lou during the Blue Moon?”

  “Nah, my pocket change got sucked dry the last time I went. What happened?”

  “Hehe. Big news. The recently promoted fellow brother showed up there and got drunk vying for Sapphire Fairy’s favor. Everybody heard him loudly boast… ahem. What evildoer? I, Ge Tianqi, alone can defeat ten!”

  “Yoho? I wonder if that evildoer who changed the skies will show up today to prove him wrong?”

  Evildoer? Who’s that? What’s that gotta do with him? Pass.

  Filtering out the rest of the blabber about so and so infamous inner disciples, Bubai picked up on the gossip pertaining to himself...

  "Hey, there’s rumors that Broken Sleeve Bubai is only a backwater bumpkin who got accepted because of his physique. Innate maybe?"

  "Wrong, wrong. My sources say it’s even rarer than that…"

  "No, how come I heard he’s some illegitimate child left out in the wilds and only recently came in through the back door?"

  "Hah! How can that be?! Did you see his strength? Does he look like those wastes to you?"

  "Hey, that’s hard to say. The Mo Clan’s established heir died not long ago, right? Wouldn’t be surprising if they’re collecting branches to light the fire for the next seat..."

  Listening to all those ridiculous stories about himself, Bubai couldn’t help but laugh inside.

  How impressive. It hadn’t even been that long since he stepped into the spotlight, and already people were crafting backstories for him.

  People’s imaginations really do like running wild, always giving the powerful backstories that sets them apart from the ordinary.

  Well, this was norm. The mediocre always try to find reasons for themselves.

  Why can’t they achieve the same?

  Ah, it’s because the other has a better start, rich parents, powerful helpers, got lucky to be in the right place at the right time, etc.

  Yes, that’s just how it is.

  This was probably how those outrageous legends behind geniuses and evildoers were born.

  They get built up to a sky-high point, but secretly, many below just can’t wait to see them fall one day.

  Of course, no matter how highly they praised him, Bubai didn’t have an ounce of arrogance in his heart.

  Family members know their own business.

  He reached this stage by relying on his cheat. That’s not something to be proud of.

  Instead, his guiding mantra was simple: always to be careful, and… even more careful.

  Don’t capsize in the gutter over a little arrogance.

  Here, there was no room for oversight. A careless slip-up meant death. End of story.

  Since he’s pretty sure there’s an audience out there still waiting to see how his story will pan out, he gotta man up and play his cards right.

  There’s still a long road to walk. Thank Merlin, no bad ending on the horizon just yet.

  Every step of the way so far didn’t deviate much from the general trend he’s trying to set: earning himself the most benefits.

  Even the red butterfly at his side was a part of the web.

  Taking her along helped share the firepower.

  Even if there really happened to be some strong guy or core disciple taking a fancy to her, he can pull them into his game!

  And if worse came to worst, just get rid of the spy through a borrowed knife. Same old trick.

  The risk was manageable... as long as his strength speaks for itself. But will it?

  Bubai gazed up at the coliseum waiting for him up ahead.

  Everything was set. The stage, the props, the waiting audience.

  Nothing left but to step into the performance.

  Boring? Overused trope? So what?

  The arc that comes next is peak. Promise.