It was the Snow Goddess who slammed the table to stop this ridiculous show!
Hearing the "BAM!" sound, the little boy who was trying to run away with the robe found out that he was exposed, so he started running towards the door at the full speed of a three-year-old.
The Snow Goddess waved her hand, and the door slammed shut!
"Come back here!
You're not going anywhere until you tell me where you found these!"
Little Mortal, on his way to the closed door, changed direction and ran back to the table.
"Oh, boss, you were here?
I was looking for you everywhere."
The Snow Goddess said with an impatient tone,
"Where did you find these?
And bring your hand out!"
Little Mortal rolled his eyes at her,
"How can I bring out a hand that I lost in the battle with the King of Hell?
Let me tell you, boss—"
The Snow Goddess cut him off,
"Enough!
Aren't you so awesome? Just regrow another one!"
Little Mortal did as he was told.
After doing some random hand seals with his only hand,
"Divine Technique, One More Hand!"
And with a "woosh," his missing hand reappeared!
He smiled arrogantly at the Snow Goddess, as if he had truly regrown his hand.
The crowd was speechless.
'We saw you hiding your hand from the start!'
The Snow Goddess gritted her teeth,
"So? Where did you find them?"
"On the ground."
"Where was the ground?"
The little boy pointed in the direction of the outer sect city,
"The inn in the city.
I was going to tell you sooner, but you told me
to be quiet."
The Snow Goddess remembered that he was indeed going to tell her something, but she was so angry that she told him to be quiet...
Even more annoyed, she asked,
"What were you doing there?"
"I was looking for followers. Elder Sun sent me there."
Then he turned to Elder Sun, cupped his hands, bowed a little, and said,
"Thank you for your guidance, Elder Sun."
Elder Sun, caught off guard, said,
"Yes, good...
So, how many followers do you have now?"
Little Mortal said excitedly,
"Ten thousand!"
Elder Sun nodded with a smile,
"Alright, good for you, good for you."
If you claim to have 10,000 followers, then you do.
Hearing the conversation between the two, the Snow Goddess knew he was telling the truth because Elder Sun confirmed it—just the "ten thousand" part was him messing around again.
She thought to herself,
'So, the old trash is missing, and the lost items have something to do with those immortals in the city?
They accidentally ended up in a conflict, and he picked up the storage ring left behind from the battle to see what was inside.
There was no lock of any kind on the ring, so she could easily see the contents inside.
She saw many familiar books and items inside.
It was like when a thief goes on a robbery and throws everything randomly into his bag.
The Snow Goddess threw the ring at Elder Elvis,
"See if these are our books."
He looked inside and, after a moment, nodded,
"Not a single one missing. There are even some extra ones."
Then he gave the ring to Elder Leta,
"Elder Leta, take a look. I think these are the missing items from the storehouse."
She took the ring and looked inside,
"Yes, and it seems some of them have been used a little,
but not much."
Then all of them turned to Little Mortal.
Was he really so lucky?
The Snow Goddess suddenly remembered something and asked,
"Who sent every single person from the outer sect city to the farm?"
The elders shook their heads.
It wasn't them.
She turned to Little Mortal again.
"So, little disciple, I have some questions for you, and I want you to answer them without telling any fancy stories, okay?"
Little Mortal became serious,
"Affirmative!"
So she started questioning him,
"How old are you?"
"Three."
"What's your name?"
"Sect Master."
The Snow Goddess looked away for a moment.
It was annoying for her to see someone with this Daoist name in her sect, especially as one of her own disciples...
"I mean your real name."
"Mortal."
The Supreme Elder whispered to her,
"He doesn't have any spirit root."
And told her what they had discovered about him.
The Snow Goddess was dumbfounded.
She thought,
'What's the use of him being my disciple if he doesn't have a spirit root?
Wait, did they send him here for my husband to protect him?'
"How did you come here?"
"Reporting to the boss, from the mountain path."
The Snow Goddess felt her blood pressure rising again,
"I mean, before that, and don't call me boss!"
"Reporting to the chief, from the outer sect city."
The Snow Goddess didn't know what to do with this kid anymore,
"Before that!"
The little guy said,
"Reporting to—"
The Snow Goddess cut him off,
"No reporting!
Just answer me."
"Alright, chief.
From the jungle."
"And before that?"
"From the sky."
The crowd could finally confirm that he came from the immortal world.
"Did anyone come with you?"
"No."
"Why did you try to become the Sword God's disciple when you don't have any spirit root?"
"To use his influence, because I heard he is a big shot around here!
But who would have thought him to be so weak, like a chicken!
Even the neighborhood gangsters beat him and took his statue!
What is he so proud of now?
Looking all cool and amazing as a statue in front of the gate of another gang?
I swear, if I saw him, I'm gonna break his leg and hang him from his own statue to—"
The crowd, hearing this little guy trash-talking the Sect Master's husband in her face, was sweating profusely!
The Snow Goddess slammed the table again, and it shattered into pieces!
"Enough!
I don't want to hear anything about the Sword God and that statue ever again!
Do you understand?"
Little Mortal—whom no one in the meeting hall could understand why there was no fear in his eyes under all of this pressure—said,
"Understood."
The Snow Goddess was going to nod her head when she saw him turn obedient again, but she heard him whispering to Elder Sun,
"The boss is so humble!
She doesn't want to brag about her victory!"
The Snow Goddess couldn't bear this kid anymore,
"What were you going to do after you became the Sword God's disciple?"
"Use his influence to gather followers."
Hearing his answer, she waved her hand impatiently,
"Then go, just go and do whatever you want with your followers..."
Little Mortal cupped his hands, bowed to the Snow Goddess, and said,
"Then, if you'll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen."
And left.
It was like he was trying to leave from the start and was looking for an excuse...
They all thought there was something wrong here,
But they couldn't put their finger on it.
Was it us trying to get rid of him, or was it him who wanted to annoy the Snow Goddess to send him away?
Snow Goddess stood up and said,
"I will make a trip to the Sword Sect.
Neither my husband nor my mother-in-law answered my call. I will check the situation.
After that, I will take a look at the capital to see what's going on there.
Sister Ingrid, please watch over Rose.
Elder Sun, see if you can track this brat to prevent him from making a mess in the sect.
Elder Elvis and Elder Luta, see if you can find anything in that storage ring that helps us figure out what happened to the old trash.
Snow White, you rest and don't think about today's matter. Even I couldn't bear this brat."
Supreme Elder nodded,
"Alright."
Elder Sun smiled bitterly,
"I'll try my best."
The two elders nodded,
"For sure."
"I'm on it."
Snow White, hearing her master's comforting words, felt slightly better and said,
"Yes, Master."
After giving her orders, Snow Goddess flew out of the meeting hall.
She first tried to see where her new disciple was going to gather followers, but couldn't find him...
She shook her head and left.
It would have been good if she could have found a treasure like this for her daughter, Rose.
She wondered if everything in the Immortal World was so magical and overpowered that even she—someone at the first step of the Immortal Realm—couldn't see through this little boy's concealment...
...
At the gathering place of the followers,
When Luna returned with the news, Rose first looked for her grandmother, but she wasn't around.
She was going to run all the way to the meeting hall, but she knew it would be too late already. On second thought, her savior was extremely sensitive about anything related to the Guardian position.
She knew that as the candidate, he wouldn't harm any creatures on their planet because that could disqualify him—even if there weren't any "supervisor" to stop him.
But to be sure, she took out her Guardian Token and tried to communicate with it:
"Guardian Token, do you know if my mother met with the Sect Master?"
[Unauthorized.]
Not receiving any answer, Rose and Luna ran back toward the city.
If they didn't find their boss there, they would go to the meeting hall.
....
Some time earlier, Lady Butterfly arrived at the Sword Sect.
When she arrived, she went straight to the sealed place of the guy from the Immortal World, but after passing through a layer of restriction, she couldn't go further.
It was at this moment Snow Goddess tried to contact her, but she was here, and there was no "signal" to receive the message.
When she flew out, one of the elders welcomed her.
"Welcome back, Senior Butterfly."
Lady Butterfly nodded at him,
"Thank you.
Is everything alright?"
The old man answered, slightly nervous,
"Nothing much, except the Sect Master went to the capital and didn't return."
Lady Butterfly nodded at first, but her heart skipped a beat when she heard the word "capital."
"When did he go there?"
"Yesterday, around noon, we couldn't contact him afterward.
The elders, who were worried and had gone to find him, couldn't either.
So we thought he might be with Snow Goddess."
Hearing about her missing son, Lady Butterfly's heart sank!
She knew he wasn't with Snow Goddess—Snow Goddess wasn't even out of seclusion yet...
And his last destination was the capital?
Yesterday at noon?
Wasn't that when that little monster was there?
Now, she completely forgot about the guy from the Immortal Realm and flew at full speed toward the capital!
If she couldn't find him there, he could only be in one place—
Inside the cage of that little monster...
....
At the same time, Lady Butterfly was on her way to the capital,
in a secret place inside the Emperor's Mansion,
Sword God, who had been unconscious until now, slowly opened his eyes.
The moment his senses returned, he jumped up from the bed and looked around vigilantly!
'What happened to me?
Where am I now?
Who attacked me back-to-back?
I am an Immortal, for God's sake!
I'm supposed to be even higher than the top powers in this world!'
While his mind was in chaos, he tried to be as sneaky as possible.
He really didn't want to experience what happened to him a third time...
After a while, when he couldn't sense anyone except the two guards at the door, he slipped out silently and put both of them to sleep.
The two weren't weak, but to him, they were.
After silently leaving the secret place, he found himself in the middle of the Emperor's Mansion.
He even saw the old Emperor pacing back and forth farther away.
He seemed anxious.
Seeing his old friend—who had been present both times he was struck—Sword God's hair stood on end.
'Did this old man develop a technique that triggers when an Immortal Realm cultivator is nearby?'
To be safe, Sword God turned around and left in the opposite direction. Even after that, he flew in a circular path to sneak into his sect from another angle.
What if, while he was gone, the Sword Sect had already been taken over by whoever beat him up?
....
While he was on his way back from another direction, Lady Butterfly arrived at the capital.
She began scanning everywhere but couldn't find her son!
With a pale face, she turned and flew toward the Demoness Sect at full speed!
What if she wasted time asking around here about her son, and that little monster suddenly got bored and started a court to judge people, passing the time?
Wouldn't her son end up in that hell whose gate he had summoned the other day?
....
When Lady Butterfly was on her way to the Demoness Sect, Snow Goddess arrived at the Sword Sect but didn't enter.
She tried to hide and observe the sect to see if anything was amiss.
While she was waiting, she sensed someone else approaching silently.
It seemed the other party, like her, wasn't sure of the situation inside.
But a moment later, the two recognized each other and were speechless.
They sent a secret message through their spiritual sense simultaneously:
Both of them fell silent again.
Snow Goddess said,
Sword God said,
Snow Goddess was shocked,
But if you're alive, it means they only tried to warn you.>
Now it was Sword God's turn to be shocked.
The two, while still hiding, began exchanging information.
Sword God told her about his journey to the capital to help the Emperor because the sect masters had gone mad.
Snow Goddess told him about the old trash's unknown fate, the things that happened in her name, and most importantly—
a certain little boy who turned out to be the son of the former Sword God, who had driven her crazy in their first meeting.
....
While the couple was outside the Sword Sect,
Lady Butterfly arrived at the outer sect city and hastily went to the farmlands.
The followers, already done with their job and still full of energy, were on their way back to the city.
It was already nighttime to eat another serving of that miraculous powder!
Lady Butterfly landed beside Rose and Luna, who were running ahead of the group, picked them both up, and flew toward the city.
Rose looked at her panicked grandmother and asked,
"What happened, Grandmother?
Why are you like this?"
Lady Butterfly answered urgently,
"We must save your father!"
Rose's eyes widened in shock,
"What happened to Dad?"
"He went to the capital yesterday and didn't return..."
It took a moment for Rose to understand what that meant—
"Oh no!
Was he in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
Luna, on Lady Butterfly's other arm, said,
"Some time ago, the bell rang for an elders' meeting, so the Sect Master hurried to..."
She explained the possible misunderstanding that might have happened there.
Rose tried to calm her down,
"Mother should be fine. I asked the Guardian Token about it."
Lady Butterfly, still unsure and pale, tried to sense Snow Goddess in the meeting hall.
But all she found was an empty hall with broken stone pieces—and no sign of Snow Goddess anywhere in the sect...
"Oh no...
Is she missing too?"
Rose turned pale as well!
She believed in her savior, but she also thought he could break people's legs and send them to his cage after the second strike!
What if the Guardian Token considered being in that cage as "fine"?
Rose realized Heaven's Will had played with their minds so many times that she'd forgotten to tell him about her parents!
"Grandmother, w-we should find him!
NOW!"
Luna said,
"If the meeting is over, he should be at headquarters, so—"
Before she could finish, Lady Butterfly flew there.
She had brought the two of them for possible negotiations with the little monster to free her son, knowing Rose was the best option to talk to him, and Luna was a fake expert with a fake equal footing.
But who would have thought her daughter-in-law might need freeing, too?
Lady Butterfly arrived at the inn with the two of them.
The city was dark.
They knew it was because no one had returned yet,
But the eerie silence and ominous atmosphere didn't help their current situation.
It felt like the air was thick with misfortune.
Lady Butterfly opened the inn door, and they entered.
The inn was pitch black, except for a dim light at the end of the hall,
where a white figure stood with his back to them,
His hands were behind his back, facing a whiteboard.
They cautiously approached the figure.
As they got closer, they recognized the white robe.
Rose and Lady Butterfly felt a flicker of relief—this meant he was the Sect Master's disciple now.
They hoped he hadn't become the disciple by force—and that the Sect Master herself wasn't inside his cage.
Before arriving, Lady Butterfly had told them that Rose would lead the negotiations, as she seemed to understand the little monster better, and he was more tolerant of her.
So, Rose stepped forward to speak—
But Little Mortal interrupted her.
"Shhh, I'm deciding an important matter."
The response made the three women tense.
Was he in a new character?
Then they looked at the whiteboard to see what had him so serious.
At the top, it read:
[Sword Sect → Sword God → Cultivators → Followers
Demoness Sect → Snow Goddess → Gangsters → Gang Members]
At the bottom, it said:
[Sect Master with followers in the Demoness Sect full of gangsters.
Options:
1. Take over the sect and turn them all into followers.
2. Disguise the followers as gangsters and continue the plan secretly.]
It seemed the little Sect Master was in a dilemma, choosing between the two options.
The three stood there silently, waiting for him to say something first.
What happened? Why did he come up with these options? The Demoness Sect is full of gangsters?
They felt this little monster had too many misunderstandings about their sect.
After a while, Little Mortal turned around slowly and said,
"Do you want to hear the bad news or...
The really bad news?"
Rose became nervous upon hearing what he said.
"S-Sect Master, there is no good news?"
Little Mortal sighed, shook his head,
and while pointing at his token, said,
"No, there is no good news.
And don't call me Sect Master anymore.
I found a stronger Daoist name and changed it to this one."
The three looked at the token and saw that its previous Sect Master's name had some lines on it, with a new word written over the previous one.
One simple word: 'Boss'.
Rose gulped and asked,
"Boss, what is the bad news?"
Little Mortal looked her in the eyes, then lowered his head in sadness and disappointment.
"You might not know, but...
My teacher, Sword God, has been killed."
Lady Butterfly and Rose panicked.
"My son is dead?"
"My father is dead?"
Little Mortal, who heard the response, was shocked.
"Sword God was your father?"
Rose dropped to her knees, tears in her eyes, and said in disbelief,
"H-How could you do this, Sect Master?"
Little Mortal was shocked for the second time.
"How do you know it was the Sect Master's doing?"
Rose's tears stopped midway.
"Who?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, but... we are in the Demoness Stronghold, not the Sword Sect.
Snow Goddess, the one who calls herself Sect Master, is the boss here.
So, how do you know she was the one who killed him?"
Rose's brain turned off at this moment.
'My mother killed my father?'
Lady Butterfly, looking pale, didn't know how to analyze the situation at all.
'Was this kid that cruel—to control my daughter-in-law to kill my son?'
In her mind, it was impossible. But in reality, for someone like him, it was just a moment of anger and losing control...
Luna, who saw their brains had stopped working, didn't care about the plan that Rose was the one to do the talking, and asked hurriedly,
"Boss, where did you hear that Snow Goddess killed Sword God?"
"Nowhere. I found out about it myself when I went to the meeting.
How else could our Stronghold Boss go and uproot the statue of Sword God and bring it over if not after killing him?"
Lady Butterfly, who had seen the scene of Snow Goddess taking away the statue in person, walked away and sat on the sofa by the window—the only place that could give her some peace of mind.
This kid had a problem in his head. Everything he said could be simple or extremely dramatic, depending on his mood.
And they were the ones who needed to deal with all this emotional rollercoaster as a result of his chaotic thoughts.
Rose closed her eyes, and the leftover tears in her eyes dripped down.
She now understood what happened.
He had made up a story in his own mind after discovering he wasn't in the Sword Sect and learning about what her mother had done.
Rose knew her mother well enough to guess she probably was too embarrassed and hadn't told him that Sword God was her own husband—that she had just taken the statue away without any killing.
But where were they now?
Rose was going to ask about her parents' whereabouts, but she saw the little boss coming toward her and starting to pat her head like an elder trying to comfort the little girl of the family who had just lost a parent.
"Don't be sad, Little Rose.
I'm sure he is in a better place now...
Anywhere is better than this cruel world of cultivation, where wives and husbands kill each other..."
Rose was going to say it was a misunderstanding and ask if he had accidentally caught her father when he was in the capital, but the little boy put his small index finger on her lips and said,
"Shhh, no need to say anything.
I understand..."
While they were thinking about what he 'understood',
Little Mortal went to Lady Butterfly, held her left hand, and patted it gently.
"My condolences.
I know how hard it is for a mother to see her son leave the world before her..."
Tears appeared in Lady Butterfly's eyes for no reason, and she just nodded as if she was thankful for his comfort.
Just a moment ago, she had received a message from her son, asking where she was and assuring her he was fine—that he was currently with Snow Goddess in the Sword Sect...
Rose, too, felt something move in her pocket
and saw a message on a talisman—one used for sending messages. But because she couldn't use spiritual energy, she could only read it and not answer.
The message was from her mother, Snow Goddess,
asking if her grandmother was with her and to tell her she was with Sword God if she was looking for him...
The two looked at each other, speechless.
Little Mortal went into his backpack and a moment later came out in a completely black suit—
like someone ready to attend a funeral.
"Alright, Manager Luna, change into your black dress and contact some of the older generations of the city.
Tell them to gather in the empty place beside the inn for my teacher's funeral."
Then he said to Rose and Lady Butterfly,
"I know it's hard for you to accept, but to respect the dead, it's better to hold the funeral tonight."
Rose was going to say that her father was alive, but Little Mortal cut her off again,
"I understand, Little Rose... I understand..."
Lady Butterfly shook her head and thought to herself,
'No, you don't... No, you don't...'
Rose looked at her grandmother, who looked back at her as if saying,
'Just let him be...'
She scratched her head and thought,
'If he wants to play "funeral game," then let him be.'
Not long after, a group of old people and the team leaders—called over by Luna—all gathered in the empty place beside the inn.
All of them wore black; even those who didn't have a black outfit received one.
At first, they were confused, but when Rose said their boss wanted to play funeral tonight, they all understood they should play along.
Not long after, Little Mortal arrived—holding a small picture of Sword God (which he had asked Lady Butterfly to give him) in one hand and a shovel and some candles in the other.
With every step he took, they could feel his mood grow heavier, his eyes turning sadder and sadder, as if his own father had died.
Then, without saying anything, he stepped forward and began digging with his shovel.
A small hole—just big enough for Sword God's picture—was ready after five seconds...
He placed the picture inside, knelt beside it with 'teary' eyes, and "secretly" took out his notebook, reading from it:
"It is never easy to find the words to express our feelings when there are no words that can fully capture the depth of what we're feeling."
Rose and Lady Butterfly wavered between sadness and annoyance.
They were sad from the atmosphere but annoyed because it wasn't real.
Being forced to participate in your own son's/father's fake funeral evoked this kind of feeling.
Little Mortal continued while throwing dirt on the photo,
"You were a good father, a good son...
But as weak as a chicken... No, I mean spirit chicken, or you wouldn't have gotten beaten up and ended up dead..."
The audience was shocked by the little boss's sudden shift in tone, but they kept their heads low, pretending to be sad.
In the end, Little Mortal picked up a random stone,
raised it, and then smashed it onto Sword God's grave.
BAM!
The whole surrounding area trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
The audience all gulped nervously.
Then he said in a low voice that everyone could hear,
"Rest in peace, you weak spirit chicken."
Lady Butterfly and Rose, after hearing the last sentence, were confused as to why he was so dissatisfied with him...
You didn't even meet him until now.
The other participants pretended they hadn't 'heard' the last part.