Chapter 4: The Dirty Deal

Fifteen years later.

Cangyun Mountain, Lunhui Peak.

Lunhui Peak stands ten thousand feet tall, piercing through the seven layers of cloud sea. It is the third highest peak in the world, second only to Wushan in the southern border and the sacred mountain in the Western Great Snow Mountain.

Legend has it that the first patriarch of Cangyun Sect, Cangyunzi, was originally a destitute scholar who failed repeatedly and was disheartened. While traveling the world, he came to Cangyun Mountain and found an ancient cave on the back of Lunhui Peak, where he obtained an ancient cultivation method. He then secluded himself in the cave to practice and comprehend the Dao. Later, he founded the Cangyun Sect on Lunhui Peak.

To this day, the Cangyun Sect has existed for over four thousand years.

The Cangyun Sect was once the leader of the righteous path, enjoying great prestige.

However, as the saying goes, "extreme prosperity leads to decline."

A thousand years ago, the Cangyun Sect began to encounter a bottleneck in its development.

The final straw that broke the Cangyun Sect's back came from the Demon Sect.

Eight hundred years ago, the Demon Sect produced a Ghost King named Ye Cha, who unified the Demon Sect and launched a large-scale invasion of the Central Plains. As the leading sect of the righteous path at the time, the Cangyun Sect was naturally the first target of the Demon Sect.

The righteous and demonic factions engaged in a prolonged and bloody battle on Cangyun Mountain, the largest-scale conflict in history between the two paths.

In the end, under dire circumstances, the then-patriarch of the Cangyun Sect disregarded the ancestral prohibition and forcibly activated the Zhou Tian Star Cycle Array.

Ye Cha and a large number of Demon Sect experts suffered heavy casualties under the Cycle Array, but the Cangyun Sect itself also suffered significant losses. Most of its elite disciples and elders were killed in that battle, severely weakening the Cangyun Sect.

Now, the Cangyun Sect barely ranks alongside the Xuantian Sect, Piaomiao Pavilion, and Jia Ye Temple as one of the four major righteous sects.

Lunhui Peak, halfway up the mountain, in the disciples' quarters!

"Ye Xiaochuan! You beast!"

"Ouch! Don't hit my face!"

In the early morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, a woman's shrill scream broke the tranquility of Lunhui Peak.

A moment later, a young man with blackened eyes stumbled out of a house. Immediately after, a beautiful girl in a loose robe, barefoot, holding a sword emitting a red flame, chased out.

The girl, upon seeing the young man run dozens of feet away, turned purple with anger.

She shouted, "Ye Xiaochuan! I'll kill you!"

At this moment, many disciples began to emerge from the surrounding houses. The beautiful girl, realizing she was only in a loose robe, which was rather indecent, stomped her feet and returned to the room.

Ye Xiaochuan ran far away, looking back. Seeing that the tigress was not chasing him, he finally felt relieved.

At this moment, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and a light mist enveloped Lunhui Peak. The morning breeze gently blew, and there was still a chill in the air.

Ye Xiaochuan ran into a small courtyard, cautiously looking around. Seeing no one around, he pushed open the door of a room in the courtyard.

Inside the room was a man in his early twenties, looking rather sleazy.

As soon as he saw Ye Xiaochuan enter, he quickly said, "Junior Brother Xiaochuan, how did it go?"

Ye Xiaochuan took out a woman's embroidered shoe from his chest and threw it to the man, saying, "The tigress found me. I couldn't get the undergarment, so I just stole her shoe. You've really messed me up this time! Hurry up, give me thirty taels of silver, and I need to go down the mountain to avoid the heat."

The sleazy young man, upon hearing that he was discovered, immediately turned a liver-like color. He took out two silver ingots and gave them to Ye Xiaochuan, saying, "I'll give you forty taels of silver, but you must not betray me!"

Ye Xiaochuan weighed the silver and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Zhu. We've cooperated before, and you know my reputation. I'll take your money and solve your problems. Keep the tigress's shoe safe, and I'll be off!"

Without further delay, he took the silver and left the small courtyard.

Ye Xiaochuan was brought to the mountain by the Drunken Daoist of the Cangyun Sect fifteen years ago, when he was just an infant in a cradle.

No one would have thought that the adorable baby boy would grow up to be a mischievous, greedy, and lustful person, and he also inherited his master Drunken Daoist's love for alcohol.

To get money to buy alcohol, he often took money from his fellow disciples, delivering love letters for one and stealing intimate items of the women they admired for another.

For example, this time, he made a deal with Senior Brother Zhu for thirty taels of silver to steal Senior Sister Gu Pan'er's undergarment to satisfy Zhu's longing.

However, as the saying goes, "If you walk by the river, your shoes will get wet."

He hid under Gu Pan'er's bed all night, but never had the chance to act. By dawn, he knew that if he waited any longer, he would surely be discovered, so he took the risk and tried to steal.

Before he could find Gu Pan'er's undergarment, he was detected by the highly skilled Gu Pan'er. In a panic, he grabbed a shoe and ran out.

"Now business is getting harder and harder. Sigh, I need to go back and pack my things and go down the mountain to hide for ten to fifteen days. Otherwise, Gu Pan'er, that tigress, will kill me..."

Thinking of Gu Pan'er's Burning Smoke Divine Sword, Ye Xiaochuan shuddered and quickened his pace.

Over the years, he had always lived with his master, the Drunken Daoist, in a small, independent courtyard with two dilapidated blue brick houses.

He sneaked back to his room and directly took out a large bag from the cabinet and tied it to his body.

It seemed that he had long been prepared to run away at any time, with an emergency backpack ready. If anything unexpected happened, he would immediately take the emergency backpack and go down the mountain to avoid the heat.

However, as soon as he opened the door, he was stunned.

In the small courtyard stood three people, one man and two women.

The man was his master, the sloppy old Daoist who brought him to Cangyun fifteen years ago, the laziest elder of the Cangyun Sect, the Drunken Daoist.

The two women, one older and one younger.

The older one looked to be in her late thirties, wearing a dark robe, with an extraordinary aura. In her youth, she must have been a stunning beauty. Even though she was older now, time seemed to have left few marks on her face, and her skin remained fair and her appearance quite beautiful.

The younger woman looked to be around seventeen or eighteen, wearing a fiery red robe, with a slender and well-proportioned figure that made even women envious. Her face was a perfect oval, with large, beautiful eyes.

However, this young girl was fuming with anger, tightly gripping a red sword, her eyes fixed on Ye Xiaochuan, who was about to run away with his bag.

These two women, the older and the younger, were none other than Gu Pan'er and her master, Jingxuan Master.

Ye Xiaochuan suddenly felt an unprecedented chill, as if he had fallen into an ice hole in the middle of a cold winter.

He swallowed hard and said cautiously, "Master, Senior Aunt Jingxuan, Senior Sister Pan'er, what are you doing at my door so early in the morning? Is there something important? If not, let's talk about it another day. I need to go down the mountain for a while and will be back in a few days. Goodbye!"

"Ye! Xiao! Chuan!"

Gu Pan'er almost gritted her teeth as she called out.

Ye Xiaochuan fell to his knees with a thud, grabbing his master Drunken Daoist's leg and wailing, "Master, I was wrong. Please give me another chance to reform and start anew!"