(MC POV)
Everyone in the courtyard felt a little awkward as they watched Feng boy try and fail to activate the formation for the twentieth time in a row.
He's persistent, I'll give him that.
I stuck my stick into the cotton candy machine and twirled it around the base, creating a pink, fluffy cotton candy that I pulled out to pass to Tsuki.
"Guhihihi~ Aniue's cotton candy~" She giggled before taking a bite out of it.
"Fluffy candy!" Cai Hong giggled, stuffing bits of the sweet into her mouth.
Yeah, I started making some sweets for my disciples while we continued to see how long he can persevere in his fruitless efforts. I even made some lounge chairs for my dear girls to sit on to enjoy the show.
Iris was nodding her head in approval, "This is… Quite amusing, Master.. To watch a piece of mortal trash struggle futilely like so, it does bring a slight sense of satisfaction. Perhaps instead of simply Ending their existence, I can first End their sense of self first, then bring them to the depths of despair before finally Ending their miserable existence?"
Umm… That's a rather big leap of logic there Iris, but it's a start I suppose.
"Umm… Ma… Master Lin… It's really you… Right?" Elder Gong asked, his voice audibly shaking.
Diao Chan swallowed the cotton candy in her mouth and licked her fingers, "Of course it's Master, who else do you think can do something like this?"
Elder Gong frowned at her, "I'm sorry… Who are you?"
Ah, they're still in their disguised forms.
I snapped my fingers and their disguises were lifted, transforming them back to their original features.
Elder Gong gasped, "Hi… High Priestess? Oh!"
I shifted my line of sight back to him, "High priestess?"
"Ah! I… I mean… I mean err…"
Lian Li pulled at my sleeve quickly, "Master… Could I request that you don't ask about this?"
"Hmm? Is this some kind of secret for you?"
My golden haired disciple nodded her head quickly.
I reached out to pat her head, "If this is something you don't want to tell me, then I won't ask. But do let me know if it's something dangerous, I don't want any of you to get hurt, ok?"
"Uuu… Thank you, Master…"
Hmm… High Priestess huh? Does this have to do with the fact that Guiying had made me the head of their religion?
They might have seen my disciples as 'priestesses' because of my position and my girls were probably embarrassed about it, hence them not wanting me to find out more.
Since my disciple had personally implored me not to ask, then I wouldn't. It's Lian Li's secret to keep and thus it's her secret to tell.
If I, as her Master, couldn't trust her, then I may as well not let her continue to be my disciple.
I'm also not rude enough to use my omniscience to find out what it was behind her back since that would be no better either. Everyone has secrets to keep, it's not your place to go dig them out if they don't wish to tell you.
Unless of course, the secret is something that shouldn't be kept like infidelity, but I trust my disciples that much so I don't think this particular secret would be that serious.
Still… I never knew Elder Gong was religious.
"So what were you saying, Elder Gong? And yes, it's me," I asked, bringing the topic back on track.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard my words, "No, this old one just wanted to be sure it was really Master Lin. If you have really returned, then there's nothing we need to worry about anymore."
I gestured to Feng boy who was still standing in the middle of the courtyard and waving his hands around, "So… Care to tell me what happened with him?"
"We do not know how… But he managed to get a hold of this formation and set it up without us knowing. Then he used it to threaten all of us to submit our Sect to him or he would use it to kill everyone inside the Sect. He locked Sect Master Qing up and your servants as well to use as hostages and… The result is as you see here, Master Lin."
Huh… So he might still have a backer behind him who gave him the formation?
"Does Guiying know about this?"
He nodded, "Her Majesty has tried to negotiate with him before but he had sent her away without giving her face. Her Majesty had considered sieging the Sect but decided against it since it would have caused more harm than good."
"And the other Sects?"
Elder Gong hesitated for a moment before sighing, "There were a few who took the opportunity to side with him…"
Well, not surprising, there are opportunistic idiots everywhere.
At that moment, Feng boy let out a roar of frustration, "You damned brat! How dare you humiliate me like this!"
I pretended to be surprised by his outburst, "Whatever are you talking about, Elder Feng? Maybe try it one more time and it'll work?"
He waved his hand again, causing the formation to glow but the light immediately dissipated when I snapped my fingers.
Haha, sike.
"AARRRGGHHH!!" He screamed again, pouring more of his concentration into the formation.
This time I even let him materialise the swords in the sky first, giving him a glimmer of hope that it would actually work before I cancelled it again.
He glared at me, "You… You… If I can activate this formation… You'd be finished!"
"Oh? So you're admitting to the fact that you lied about my death and used this formation to threaten the people in this Sect and took over it by force?"
It's not like I really need him to admit to his crimes but it feels much better to have it thrown back to his face after all.
Feng boy didn't answer and instead tried to activate his formation again with even more desperation than before.
Well, I can already tell that he's gone quite insane already.
He probably betted everything he had on this particular formation and since it's failing him, his mental state is currently in a mess.
Since he's so desperate, let's just see what he can do with it.
Besides, my disciples already finished their cotton candies so it's time to wrap this up.
The formation activated without being cancelled this time, causing millions upon millions of swords to fill up the sky around our Sect, the aura of each sword pressing down on everyone inside the courtyard.
"Ahahaha! Now you're doomed, Master Lin! Time to die!"
Ugh, couldn't you come up with some cooler lines to say? Guess I was expecting too much.
The swords rotated and pointed their tips towards me, raining down on me without so much as a warning.
I waved my hand in the air and removed the Origin of every single one of these swords.
In an instant, the sky was clear of any swords.
I looked down and smiled at Feng boy, "So… Are you done yet, Elder Feng? I can do this all day~"
I think that was finally the moment he realised how screwed he was.
I still have to applaud him for trying this continuously for twenty-five times without giving up though.
