Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Fell for It

After another stretch of flower path, Ling Bu Fei and Bai Meng Jin stopped and called back in unison, “Senior Brother Ying.”

Ying Shao Guang trudged forward like a man walking to his own execution and raised his fan to fight.

Which stage was this now?

The sixth?

The formation had nine at most. The Shang Family still had to end the festival before dawn; they wouldn’t keep people trapped past that.

Three more. Three more fights and he’d be free.

He counted as he battled.

After a dozen exchanges, Ying Shao Guang pressed his fan down. Golden light surged, and the woman in the painting dissolved into smoke. The flower gate opened.

He exhaled long and slow.

The stages weren’t truly difficult, but fighting this way drained him. He hesitated—then refused to take a pill. With Ling Bu Fei nearby, he couldn’t stand the thought of looking weak.

Stage seven.

Stage eight.

Ling Bu Fei calculated carefully and smiled. “This should be the last stage. Break it one more time and we’re out.”

He glanced back.

Ying Shao Guang stood stiffly, fan lowered, shoulders tight. Sweat darkened the edge of his collar. He didn’t even pretend to be relaxed anymore.

Ling Bu Fei’s voice turned mild. “Senior Brother Ying, are you tired? Do you want to take a spirit-restoring pill and rest?”

He added, almost gently, “It doesn’t matter. Once we get out, we’ll still make at least 1,000 spirit stones.”

He looked sincere. Too sincere.

Ying Shao Guang still tasted the gloating buried under it.

He bared his teeth. “No need. It’s only nine stages. Nothing.”

Bai Meng Jin said, earnest and calm, “Fighting so many in a row is exhausting. How about I take the next one?”

“I said no.”

Ying Shao Guang shoved past them and stepped forward. “Isn’t it just nine stages? We can rest after we finish.”

The last painted beauty emerged.

This stage was harder.

He regretted refusing pills earlier. With full spiritual power, he could cast freely instead of penny-pinching every move. But regret was useless now.

He tightened his grip and forced himself to focus, grinding down the spirit’s strength inch by inch. Before his spiritual power emptied completely, he drove it back into the painting.

The scroll fell. A passage opened.

This time, he could faintly hear the festival’s noise outside.

Good. They cleared it.

Ying Shao Guang’s mouth curved. He stepped forward—

His foot caught.

He looked down.

A vine had wrapped around his ankle from nowhere, coiling tight.

What—

The thought barely formed when talisman light flared in Ling Bu Fei’s hand. He grabbed Bai Meng Jin and swept past Ying Shao Guang, slipping through the passage in a blur.

“Senior Brother Ying, thanks,” Ling Bu Fei called back, laughter bright as bells. “This formation is really profound. I suggest you stay a little longer and study it properly—hahahaha…”

Ying Shao Guang slashed the vine apart with his fan, but he was already too late.

From outside, someone tossed in a spirit stone. It hit the formation’s vital point—

Boom.

The passage slammed shut.

The surroundings shifted. Pots moved. Flowers rearranged.

The formation changed again.

Ying Shao Guang stared, chest heaving, and then finally understood.

He’d been played.

He kicked a flower pot so hard it shattered. “Ling Bu Fei!”

The one he cursed walked down from the second floor looking bright and refreshed.

Bai Meng Jin followed behind him, her voice low and amused. “I told you not to get angry. Didn’t you get your revenge?”

Ling Bu Fei’s smile widened. “Yes. Everything you said was right.”

“Young Sect Master.”

Bai Li Xu approached to greet them.

Ling Bu Fei nodded, still smiling. “You really got out first.”

Seeing him safe, Bai Li Xu finally relaxed. He hadn’t expected the entrance to scatter people randomly. The moment he’d been thrown into the formation alone, he’d lost all track of the others.

At least he had seen Bai Meng Jin grab Ling Bu Fei before entering. They wouldn’t be isolated.

Yang Fei Chuan’s eyes widened. “You’re all out. Where’s Senior Brother Ying?”

Ling Bu Fei’s expression fell into instant annoyance. “How would I know? You’re out too. You still don’t understand the entrance is random?”

Yang Fei Chuan stared at him, then sat back down, frowning as he continued to wait.

It didn’t make sense. Senior Brother Ying’s cultivation was high, and his formation skills weren’t terrible. Why was he the last one left?

Ling Bu Fei snickered and tugged Bai Meng Jin away before Yang Fei Chuan could ask more questions.

“Congratulations to the three immortal guests for clearing the Myriad Flowers Formation,” the shopkeeper announced, approaching with a smile. “This immortal guest cleared it first and wins our Ginseng Fruit!”

Ling Bu Fei smoothly stepped aside as maids clustered around Bai Li Xu, cooing and guiding him toward the hall like he was some rare treasure being escorted to a pedestal.

“Uh…” Bai Li Xu stiffened. He had never been surrounded by so many women in his life.

His hands didn’t know where to go. His feet didn’t know where to stand.

He turned, desperate for rescue—

Only to find Ling Bu Fei and Bai Meng Jin had already collected their consolation prize from a clerk and slipped away at top speed.

“Young Sect Master…” Bai Li Xu’s face went blank with despair.

Tonight was almost absurdly satisfying. They’d played Ying Shao Guang like a fool, and Bai Li Xu—of all people—was being treated like the center of the world.

“Senior Brother Ying must be furious,” Ling Bu Fei said, still grinning. “He’s never taken a loss like this.”

Bai Meng Jin smiled, too. “With that temper, if he doesn’t suffer a loss here today, he’ll suffer one somewhere else tomorrow. Consider it a lesson delivered early.”

Ying Shao Guang wasn’t a bad person. Even after being tricked, he had still stepped up when it mattered. He was just hot-blooded, proud, and too young to understand how pointless pride could be.

Since he would become the Tai Yi Hall Master in the future, his potential was clear. A shove now might make him mature faster.

They wandered down the flower street, lanterns swaying overhead. Ling Bu Fei glanced back, as if he could see through the tower walls.

“I wonder if A Xu is done yet. Honestly, with his talent, he’s enough to compete with Senior Brother Ying. I’ve held him back all these years.”

Bai Meng Jin shook her head. “He comes from a household servant background. If he wants to rise, he has to fight his way up himself.”

Her voice stayed steady. “You’re giving him opportunities. That isn’t holding him back. As long as you repay him enough in the future, he won’t lose out.”

Ling Bu Fei mulled it over, then nodded. “You’re right.”

His smile turned mischievous. “When I become Sect Master, I’ll make him first seat. Then even Senior Brother Ying will have to obey him.”

Bai Meng Jin laughed. “You really do keep your word.”

In her previous life, Bai Li Xu had become Chief Elder. Young Sect Master Ling hadn’t let him down.

They were still walking when commotion flared ahead. Bai Meng Jin slowed.

“What happened?”

A heartbeat later, a firework shot into the sky and exploded with a sharp crack.

Ling Bu Fei’s expression changed. “A signal talisman.”

A disciple had used it.

Something had happened.

“Go,” Bai Meng Jin said.

She wrapped Ling Bu Fei in her escape-light and sprinted forward.