The girls turned their heads down, biting their lips.
"Hmm?" Xue Ren showed a puzzled look while continuing to trot ahead. "Is something the matter? And now that I think about it, why do the three of you have such similar appearances? Are you perhaps triplets??"
He just now realized that!?
Their savior really didn't care about them—not even enough to notice something so obvious…
"Y-Young Lord," said Mu Lian, the bolder of the bunch. "You're right, we're triplets."
"I see."
That was it. Xue Ren had nothing more to add, putting all his focus into walking.
The conversation ended so quickly!?
The triplets felt many grievances…!
However, that didn't stop them from following close behind him.
It was also then that they took the chance to get a better look at him.
Broad-shouldered. Muscular. Scarred. Tall. Extremely handsome.
He was like a roguish Earth God!
"Something else the matter??" Xue Ren asked upon feeling all the stares boring into his back. "If you're thinking that I'll share my reward money, then you're sorely mistaken."
Averting their gazes, blushes emerged on the triplet's faces.
'Don't tell me…'
Were they actually thinking about stealing what was his!?
How devious!
"No," Xue Ren stated non-negotiably. "You can't have it."
Have what!?
The triplets unconsciously found themselves looking at the area between his legs. Their blushes immediately worsened, with smoke now rising from their ears.
No, surely they were misinterpreting something here—
"It's my big package," said Xue Ren, serious as could be. "It's off limits."
"!!!" "!!!" "!!!"
They were not misinterpreting!
The Savior really was talking about his junk!
Xue Ren snorted coldly as he patted his 'big package' containing the heads for good measure.
'From how shocked they are, they should fully understand my stance,' he thought. 'Hopefully they won't dare to have such sinful thoughts again.'
For the next half hour, the triplets were completely silent. Their minds seemed to be connecting with the universe, causing their expressions to turn listless—appearing a whole lot like Xue Ren's default face.
"Senior, is that you??"
Xiao Chen's slightly ecstatic voice came from the distance. The triplets looked toward the source then back to their Savior, only to realize that he had disappeared.
But before they could start freaking out, they heard him speak from where the unknown voice originated.
'Oh, so they know each other…'
"Senior, have you actually completed the job so soon!?" Xiao Chen showed genuine surprise, his doubts clearly there. "But with the heads all right here… How am I to deny the truth any longer…?"
As it turned out, what even hundreds of local cultivators couldn't do when working together, a single mysterious hooded figure could do in a single night.
The rain hadn't even quit pouring yet…
"Unbelievable… Truly unbelievable," muttered Xiao Chen. "Are you sure you're not some angel in disguise sent down to help me vanquish evil…?"
"No," replied Xue Ren, sticking out his hand. "I'm just someone who wants to get paid. Now cough it up."
"O-Oh yes, of course," said Xiao Chen, momentarily forgetting about the Senior's unique personality trait. "Here are the 400 Lowest-grade Spirit Stones, just as promised."
*Umph*
Catching the medium-sized bag thrown his way, Xue Ren opened it up and peeked inside. Rolling around in there were hundreds of nail-sized glowing blue stones.
These were Lowest-grade Spirit Stones—one of the most mainstream currencies among Cultivators in the lower ranks.
"I'm going to count now," Xue Ren stated plainly before dumping out the bag on the ground and counting each individual Spirit Stone. "If you think about escaping while I finish accounting for what I'm due, I'll kill you."
Escape!?
Why would he escape!?
'Do you think I'd actually scam you or something!?' Xiao Chen thought in exasperation. "You're even going so far as to count the Spirit Stones one by one on the spot. This is… insane…!"
How was there any way someone strong enough to annihilate the Yellow Blade Bandit Gang was actually so short on money that each and every Spirit Stone was a matter of life and death!?
Towards the end of the counting, Xiao Chen grew nervous, because what if his calculations were off??
If it were not right by even one, would this money-grubbing Senior slaughter him on the spot!?
Then it finally arrived—the moment that would determine whether Xiao Chen lived or died. The moment when Xue Ren placed the last Spirit Stone on the right side with the rest of the counted Spirit Stones.
Turning his head up ever so slowly, Xue Ren apathetically said, "You have d—"
"P-Please don't kill me, Senior! It was an honest mistake!!" Xiao Chen begged as tears fell and snot bubbles popped. "I really didn't know—"
"Kill you?" asked Xue Ren. "I was just going to say that you did a good job, for there's exactly 400 Lowest-Grade Spirit Stones here."
"Huh?"
"Do you want me to kill you?"
"N-No, Senior! I was just a little muddle-minded is all, don't mind me." Xiao Chen nervously laughed, feeling that he dodged a bullet. "Anyway, what are your future plans?"
"My future plans?" Xue Ren parroted. "Right now, it's returning to my Sect. Then it's back to secluded training."
His |Ancient Gold Body Refining| Technique wouldn't be reaching the Silver Rank anytime soon, so there was no real point in being out here anymore.
Training in Seclusion was better!