“Luozhilan, don’t think I’m joking!”
Inside a dimly lit cave, Li Muqun and Zuo Qiuli surrounded the young Luozhilan, their eyes filled with menace as they tried to intimidate her.
At first, Li Muqun had held onto a shred of naive hope in response to the girl’s unusual reactions.
How could that domineering, reckless madwoman possibly be a secret masochist?!
Maybe he just didn’t come across as a villain?
Maybe she had seen some tiny flaw in his act?
Right, right?
Yes, yes?
So, he pointed at the fox woman beside him who had taken human form and said sharply but with a wavering tone:
“You still don’t believe me? Do you know who this is by my side?”
“This is a Demon Beast infamous throughout the martial world for eating people without batting an eye, not even leaving bones behind! A tender little girl like you is her favorite after-dinner snack, and she could eat several a day!”
As he spoke, he silently nudged Zuo Qiuli, who looked disgusted but still stuck out her pink tongue, showing off a pair of tiny fangs. She raised her clawed jade-like hand and let out a playful howl, pretending to be salivating and eager to pounce.
Li Muqun nodded with satisfaction and patted his chest, saying, “As for me—I’ve long held a grudge against your family!”
“One of your elders dealt me an unbearable, ultimate humiliation. This hatred will not be left unavenged.”
“Although I have no interest in a little girl like you, that does not stop my blazing desire for revenge!”
“I will cast a Forbidden Curse on you, altering your consciousness so that you’ll worship me involuntarily!”
“I will force you to take a Secret Elixir refined with my own blood, making you addicted and unable to leave me even an inch!”
“I will cripple your Cultivation, destroy your Meridians, sever your path of practice, so that from now on you can only be a lowly servant by my side, paying off your elder’s sins with your entire life!”
One had to admit, fate was strange indeed. The very methods Luozhilan had once used against him had, after so little time, become his tools to intimidate her younger self.
But these vicious demonic cultivation tactics, when heard by the young Luozhilan, caused her to tremble all over.
“Enemies of my family casting evil curses on me, forcing me into slavery and servitude.”
“T-This… This can’t be allowed. You—this is absolutely impossible.”
Just imagining herself groveling and begging at someone’s feet for a mere scrap of inexplicable reward…
The contrast from the clouds to the mud, the helplessness of having all power stripped away, the shame of having her dignity trampled into the dirt…
It was, truly…
“Too unfair.”
The girl’s face flushed, her delicate body shaking violently until she lost the strength to stand, collapsing weakly onto the ground.
The cave fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the girl’s heavy breathing and the dumbfounded, speechless expressions of Li Muqun and Zuo Qiuli.
Could it really be like this?
For a confident and ruthless executioner, the worst nightmare was encountering someone who not only wasn’t afraid but actually enjoyed the humiliation.
Heaven above!
Li Muqun couldn’t help but internally wail.
How many perverted fetishes was Luozhilan hiding beneath that usually cold, aloof, distant fairy face?
At this moment, Zuo Qiuli, who was well-versed in psychology, reminded him:
“Masochism is a pathological error of sadism; they are two sides of the same coin. Every sadist is, at heart, a masochist, because deep down they crave to be hurt.”
“In simple terms, when X is repressed for too long, this is what happens.”
Ignoring Zuo Qiuli’s lengthy monologue on the unified theory of X repression, Li Muqun looked at the young Luozhilan, whose body was now as limp as a heap of soft clay, and sighed helplessly.
For a masochist, his attempts at humiliation were like flirtation.
What was he supposed to do?
He couldn’t just confess everything and get her to say the clues aloud.
Wait, hold on.
Could he?
Li Muqun suddenly felt a spark of inspiration shoot through his mind.
So this was the weakness—watch me work!
“Ahem!” He cleared his throat twice, cutting off Zuo Qiuli, who was still chattering about her research on X repression.
He squatted beside the young Luozhilan and said:
“Master, actually, I lied to you just now.”
“Master? Lied to me?” The girl’s face flushed with embarrassment as she shakily raised her head, her misty large eyes full of confusion.
“That’s right. Actually, neither of us are your family’s enemies.”
“Huh?” Young Luozhilan’s eyes flickered with anxiety.
“So, do those things you said earlier still count…?”
Damn, is that what you’re worried about?
Li Muqun almost faceplanted.
Masochists were truly hopeless—better to lock them up and shoot them.
He forced himself to stay calm and continued:
“That doesn’t matter. What you need to know is that the two of us actually come from the future!”
“People from the future?” The young Luozhilan blinked.
“Yes.” Li Muqun cleared his throat and said solemnly, “I am your Founding Disciple, and she is your Spiritual Pet!”
“We have traveled back to save the future you!”
“Who’s whose pet?” Li Muqun quickly pressed down on Zuo Qiuli’s hand as she tried to protest, and looked at the skeptical girl.
“I don’t believe it.” Young Luozhilan pouted simply and clearly.
“That’s impossible—I would never take a man as my disciple.”
Yeah, you better keep that attitude if you don’t want me to nearly kill you.
Li Muqun sighed, putting on an expression like he had expected this all along.
He slowly said, “I expected you wouldn’t believe me. Your disciple already prepared the proof!”
He stepped back and confidently said, “Master, you have a birthmark the size of a fingertip deep inside your left leg. This birthmark is congenital; no matter what method is used, it cannot be removed. Am I right?”
Upon hearing this, the young Luozhilan’s face changed instantly.
“No, no way…”
“How do you know about this? This birthmark… only my mother has ever seen it…”
Obviously, I found it myself. Why would you be the one to tell me?
Seeing her shocked expression, Li Muqun proudly said, “So now, Master, you’re willing to believe me.”
Confused, the young Luozhilan couldn’t bring herself to doubt him anymore.
After a long moment, she slowly said, “Then what exactly happened in the future… that made you come back to the past?”
At this, Li Muqun knew she was mostly convinced, so he hurriedly explained:
“Master, you don’t know, but in the future you fought fiercely against the remnants of the Western Sect. Unfortunately, you were cursed by the Heart-Sealing Love-Locking Curse, sealing your heart and love, making you single-mindedly pursue profound cultivation.”
Seeing the young Luozhilan’s clear rebelliousness and self-destructive tendencies, Li Muqun took the opportunity to spin a completely fabricated “young Luozhilan special ops version” story:
“If it were only that, it would be fine. But things worsened. You began to cultivate ten hours a day, abandoning all emotions and desires, your temperament changed drastically. You became a mere puppet who only knew how to cultivate, always cold and distant to everyone.”
“A puppet who only knows cultivation.” Hearing this, young Luozhilan seemed to be triggered by painful memories, shaking her head repeatedly, “No, no, that’s not who I am. I don’t want to become that kind of person.”
“Exactly.” Li Muqun moved closer and said, “Outsiders call you the Cold Immortal Fairy, untouched by worldly dust, but only your disciple knows, Master, that’s not your true nature.”
“That’s right, I hate cultivation the most!”
Heh heh, Li Muqun’s lips curved into a victorious smile.
“So your disciple has scoured ancient texts and finally found a way to break the Heart-Sealing Love-Locking Curse.”
“All it takes is discovering one Obsession—one memory deeply engraved in Master’s heart—to break the curse and restore you!”
“We didn’t originally intend to reveal this to the past you. So we planned to pose as bandits and scare you into revealing this Obsession.”
“But unexpectedly, Master you…”
Young Luozhilan’s cheeks flushed and she shyly interrupted, “Actually, I was just really scared earlier. I was so frightened that I talked nonsense. Don’t misunderstand anything, okay?”
“Of course, disciple would never misunderstand.”
“Please, Master, try to recall that Obsession as soon as possible, so that the two of us can rescue the future you from disaster.”
Li Muqun nodded.
“An Obsession?” Young Luozhilan murmured, staring vacantly around.
After a long moment, she seemed to recall something and said with flushed cheeks:
“Y-Yes, there is one.”
“Excellent!” Li Muqun and Zuo Qiuli exchanged excited glances.
“Master, please tell us. I will record it carefully right away.”
“There is one, but… but I can’t tell you right now.”
Huh?
Young Luozhilan lifted her head, sounding a little petulant.
This wasn’t right. Everything seemed to be going well—why did she always mess up at the crucial moment?
Zuo Qiuli next to him couldn’t stand it anymore.
Muqun is useless; looks like I have to step in!
She silently said to Li Muqun, “I think we should start interrogation. Even if she really is a masochist, she can’t handle pepper water and the tiger bench!”
“Hey, hey, we’re a wholesome novel, okay?”
Just as they argued silently, the young Luozhilan poked her head out timidly and said:
“Only if you promise me one condition.”
So that’s what it was. Luozhilan, you’re so petty it makes me sick!
Li Muqun hurried forward and said, “Master, just say it. Your disciple will agree to anything.”
Who wouldn’t promise anything in an empty deal?
The girl blushed deeply, extended her slender jade-like hand, pointing at Li Muqun and then at Zuo Qiuli beside him.
“I—I want you to be my father for one day, and you to be my mother for one day.”
“The three of us will form a temporary family for one day.”
Whoa, both of them froze at once.
Luozhilan, are you playing this big?