Chapter 385 Donât Let Go
âMaster, didnât I say you werenât allowed to leave the circle?â
âYes.â
âDidnât I say if you left the circle, I wouldnât be able to protect you?â
âYesâ¦â
Li Qingran took a deep breath, as if trying to press all her anger back down into that one exhale.
She gently patted her chest, trying her best to steady her tone and asked softly,
âAlright then. Now, give your disciple one valid reason for stepping out of the circle.
If you donât, Iâm about to throw such a big tantrum your brainâs gonna be buzzing for a full day.â
He paused for a long while before finally muttering out,
âMy disciple⦠if you were walking down the road and saw money on the ground, would you pick it up?â
âNo.â Li Qingran replied instantly, firm and decisive.
âHow could you not?! Could you really resist?!â Chen Huaianâs eyes widened.
âWhy not?â Li Qingran tilted her head, confused. âA gentleman loves wealth but acquires it through proper means.
Ill-gotten gains are like flowing waterâlike sand in the hand. Even if you grab it for a moment, itâll slip away in another form.â
Chen Huaian fell silent.
No doubt about itâwhat she said was absolutely correct.
Especially from the standpoint of a cultivator in the Cangyun Realm.
This answer was textbook-level understanding of cause and effect.
In modern terms:
Pick up some cash off the street, go home all excited, stub your toe on the table leg, crack your nail, and spend money getting it treated.
Whatâs that called? Thatâs called âtoo much joy brings sorrow.â
Powerful cultivators can reduce the influence of karmic backlashâ
But never completely avoid it.
So most cultivators donât pick up money.
But spirit stones? Thatâs a different story.
Spirit stones arenât moneyâtheyâre resources!
Sure, taking them brings karma tooâ
But if the payoff outweighs the cost, then snatch away!
As the saying goes,
âTo battle Heaven is infinite joy!â
ââ¦Then could you resist?â Chen Huaian turned to Wang Shouyi, desperate, and frantically signaled him with his eyes.
Wang Shouyi got the message.
Senior wanted him to say he could resist!
No normal human could ignore the temptation of a wallet!
Senior must be giving him a chance to demonstrate his state of mind!
Shameful to admitâhis heart wasnât there yet,
But he could only follow the script.
âOf course I could resist!â Wang Shouyi puffed out his chest.
Chen Huaian: ââ¦â¦â
He felt like crying.
Can this damn world just explode already?!
Facing Li Qingranâs serious and questioning gaze, Chen Huaian finally gave up, shoulders slumping as he confessed honestly,
âYour Master was just too bored inside the circle,
Then I saw a wallet on the ground⦠and picked it up to take a look.
And guess what happened?
A blast of demon qi burst out of the wallet and sucked me in!
Who the hell couldâve seen that coming?!â
Li Qingran listened intently, genuinely empathizing with her Masterâs experience.
She felt sorry for himâ
But still crossed her arms and pouted sternly,
âSo? Thatâs your reason for not taking your discipleâs words seriously?â
She stepped closer and murmured softly, just loud enough for the two of them to hear,
âMaster, Iâm not scolding you or blaming you. I know you have a lot of trump cards.
But⦠but didnât you say your cultivation is being suppressed by this worldâs Heavenly Dao?
If youâre being suppressed, you canât afford to get careless!â
Chen Huaian nodded obediently. âYour Master understands.â
âMasterâs curiosityâI get it. Everyone gets curious.
You havenât been in this world for long, everythingâs still new to you.
When we get back, Iâll make you a⦠um, wallet? Is that what people here use to hold money?â
Chen Huaian nodded again. âThatâs right!â
Li Qingranâs gaze, which had held a bit of lingering anger, suddenly softened.
She reached out her right hand toward Chen Huaian.
âSince Master agrees with meâthen from now until we return to the Exorcist Division,
You have to hold your discipleâs hand the whole way.
No letting go.
And I wonât let go of you either. Is that okay?â
Chen Huaian nodded like mad and immediately grabbed her small, icy hand.
He was more than willing!
It was obvious: even though getting dragged into the Tiger Kingâs trap hadnât led to disasterâin fact, it turned out to be a blessing in disguiseâ
The people outside had no idea what had happened.
Li Qingran had clearly been scared half to death.
When heâd first come back, her face was pale, her eyes teary, and she couldnât even form a complete sentence.
Zhao Ying and Xiang Xiaoyuan had looked just as worriedâ
Only, they were a step too slow and got elbowed aside by Li Qingranâs sword sheath.
Now, after a long cooldown, sheâd finally calmed down.
âSenior, we were all terrified when you got pulled away by that demon qi.
Thank goodness it ended safely.â
Wang Shouyi stepped in now that their talk seemed to be wrapping up.
âDo you remember what happened after you got taken?
That qi seemed to be the Blood Amber Tiger Kingâs domain.
But d*mn⦠Senior, not only did you get pulled inâ
You broke through to Golden Core while you were in there?!â
âMm⦠itâs a long story. That Tiger Kingââ
Chen Huaian had just started to explain whenâ
The two tiger demons kneeling before him suddenly shouted,
âDespicable Ascender! You killed our father! Weâll kill you too!
If youâve got the gutsâfight us one-on-one!â
Chen Huaian fell silent.
The one speaking was the bigger of the twoâhe wasnât sure if it was the older or younger son.
But clearly, saying things like âduel me!â meant this one was all brawn, no brains.
âYou two bratsâdeath is at your door and you still dare talk tough?!â
Wang Shouyi stepped forward, drawing his sword, ready to finish the job.
Heâd already interrogated these two.
But they had refused to reveal anything about Seniorâs whereaboutsâ
That alone had him boiling inside.
Now that Senior was safe, there was no need to spare them.
âHold up!â
Chen Huaian stopped him with a grin.
âMy Exorcist Divisionâs short two gatekeepers.
How about giving these two to me as pets?â
He was still thinking about what the Tiger King had saidâ
Wondering if maybe, just maybe, he could save these two tiger cubs.
As for the rest⦠he could explain later.
âHuh?â Wang Shouyi blinked, stunned by what Chen said.
The other Ascenders nearby were just as bewildered.
âSenior, these tiger demons clearly hate Ascendersâyou saw it yourself.
Are you sure you want to bring them back as pets?
Even if they sign a contract, it wonât fully restrain themâ¦
If you ask me, they should be skinned and dismembered!
Tiger demons are full of treasuresâjust the hide alone is premium material!â
Wangâs ruthless words made the two little tiger demons flinch.
But they still looked stubborn as ever.
âOur father saidâtigers can be killed, but not humiliated!
Dare to fight us in a duel or not?!â
Chen Huaian could tellâ
These two were planning to self-destruct and take enemies down with them.
They didnât want to leave behind a single piece of useful material for the Ascenders.
But it wasnât a good time to explain things to them,
So he gave Li Qingran a look.
She understood at once,
Stepped forward, and knocked both tiger demons unconscious with two swift blows of her sword sheath.
âWang my friend, donât worry.
If I could tame Bajii, I can tame these two.
Besides, arenât you with the Exorcist Division too?
With you keeping an eye on them, there wonât be any risk!â
Wang Shouyi flushed and scratched his head.
Senior trusts me that much?
In that case, he couldnât let him down!
âAlright!â
Wang Shouyi nodded firmly.
âThese two tiger demons will be your Exorcist Divisionâs gatekeepers, Senior!â
âWang Senior, monsters are cunningâyou shouldnât do this!â
âThatâs right, Wang Senior. If those monsters go berserk, the consequences could be dire!â
The Ascenders nearby started voicing their objections.
But Wang Shouyi waved them off decisively,
âEnough! From now on, these two tiger demons belong to Senior Chenâs Exorcist Division!
If anything goes wrong, Iâll take full responsibility!â
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