Chapter 27: The Bullying Strategy Begins

Of course, for individuals like Luo Bingli and Bai Ruxue, even upon entering the sect, they wouldn’t be relegated to service disciples. Instead, they would immediately be recognized as true disciples. Even those disciples slightly less gifted than Luo Bingli or Bai Ruxue would still receive such preferential treatment.

This implicitly speaks volumes about their terrifying talent, far beyond anything the service disciples could ever imagine.

****

From that day forward, Ye Xiaozi seemed to transform entirely. The once timid and cautious Ye Xiaozi had vanished at some unknown point.

In her place stood a new Ye Xiaozi, brimming with self-assurance and confidence. The vibrant energy radiating from within her inspired constant cheers from the service disciples in the Hundred Flowers Palace area, as if she had seized every opportune moment, bringing forth a realm of vibrant vitality where all things competed to flourish.

****

The next day.

As Luo Bingli opened her eyes, she was instantly startled.

Wang Qiu’er’s fawning face was right there, directly before her.

‘Slap!’

Perhaps it was too sudden, but Luo Bingli instinctively slapped Wang Qiu’er’s obsequious cheek.

“Ouch! That hurts so much! Saintess, it really hurts, boohoohoo…”

As if suffering an immense injustice, Wang Qiu’er’s tears flowed incessantly, like pearls from a faucet.

It truly proved the saying: women are made of water. Her eyes were indeed faucets, and events were the tap, for Wang Qiu’er had now opened the floodgates.

“Serves you right, hehehe…” Bai Ruxue, standing nearby, let out a mocking laugh.

Luo Bingli finally came to her senses, then looked at the two of them. Under Luo Bingli’s gaze, Wang Qiu’er immediately appeared even more wronged, her wails growing increasingly mournful.

“I worked overtime all night, brainstorming strategies for the Saintess, and finally compiled a bullying guide. I came here happily, wanting to share it with the Saintess, but first I was blocked by Senior Sister Bai, and then hit by the Saintess! I have suffered an enormous injustice! Boohoohoo…”

Luo Bingli pursed her lips, then turned to Bai Ruxue. She recalled how she had thoroughly cleaned Bai Ruxue’s dress last night, yet now Bai Ruxue was impeccably dressed, bearing none of the pleading expressions from yesterday.

Indeed, it proved the old adage: only an ox can be worked to death, never a field that yields no harvest.

‘What? Are you saying I, Luo Bingli, should be the field? Impossible! I, Luo Bingli, would rather abstain from women my entire life and leap into the endless abyss than ever be a field!’

However, Luo Bingli couldn’t shake the feeling that Bai Ruxue seemed somewhat gleeful, as if she had vented some frustration. Could it be that she had suffered some grievance from Wang Qiu’er earlier?

Ignoring Wang Qiu’er’s wailing, Luo Bingli asked Bai Ruxue with considerable surprise, “A’Xue, why do I feel like Wang Qiu’er has a hold over you? Otherwise, why would you be so happy, as if you’ve gotten revenge!”

“Uh… this…” The gleeful Bai Ruxue instantly froze.

At that moment, even the tearful Wang Qiu’er stood rigid, as if Sun Wukong had cast a immobilization spell on her. Yet, Wang Qiu’er proved herself the number one sycophant, for after only a brief pause, her eyes darted about, and she hastily said, “Saintess, it’s because Senior Sister Bai and I made a bet earlier. Senior Sister Bai lost, not only stepping aside but also losing something to me. That… these are all minor matters. Uh… let’s quickly review the bullying plan!”

Luo Bingli opened her mouth, watching Wang Qiu’er, who had once again put on a fawning smile, and Bai Ruxue, who was nodding vigorously beside her. Clearly, Wang Qiu’er was trying to deceive her, but given their expressions, they wouldn’t speak the truth. Rather than getting into a stalemate with them, it was better to deal with other matters first.

“Fine, in that case, go ahead and tell me about the specific bullying strategy!”

“Alrighty!” Wang Qiu’er responded with a fawning smile, then produced a whiteboard and began to explain.

My investigation yesterday revealed that Ye Xiaozi had already started looking for work. It seemed she wasn’t planning to wait three years but was actively seeking employment now, intending to cultivate while working.

Yesterday, she tried several jobs, and for some unknown reason, she ultimately chose mining.

“What? Mining?”

“That’s right, mining! Don’t we, the Hundred Flowers Palace, have three large ore veins, eighteen medium-sized ones, and a hundred and thirty-two small ones? Several of these small ore veins are within our sect, and their excavation won’t affect the sect’s spiritual energy. Ye Xiaozi went to the nearest of these ore veins and stayed there for half the day.”

Taking a deep breath, Wang Qiu’er’s expression turned serious. “That’s not all. This morning I specifically went to check, and I found that she went to that spirit stone ore vein again. It seems she’s planning to truly settle down there.”

‘So that’s it!’ Luo Bingli couldn’t help but fall into thought. Given her strength at the fourth layer of artifact refining, entering the mine to dig would likely make her a minor supervisor. The actual mining would be done by mortals, but when they encountered overly hard rocks, cultivators would still need to intervene to break them. During normal times, cultivators would recover their magical power. It could be said that the cooperation between cultivators and mortals was the best method for mining, as it saved costs and wasn’t too slow.

However, Luo Bingli knew that this task didn’t offer many spirit stones, perhaps none at all. It was said that the reward was simply half of the spirit stones extracted from the section one was responsible for.

Don’t be fooled by the sect’s apparent generosity; the areas where such tasks were assigned were typically mining zones that might not yield a single spirit stone even after three or four days. Genuinely good mining areas would naturally not have such a distribution scheme.

‘Could Ye Xiaozi possess some special talent? Or did she, like her ancestor, obtain a Heavenly Origin Tome with a red-haired buff?’

Shaking her head, Luo Bingli couldn’t comprehend it, and decided it was better not to dwell on it. So, she temporarily dismissed those thoughts and gestured for Wang Qiu’er to continue.

“Based on my observations over these past two days, the first bullying strategy involves her diet.”

“Diet?”

“Precisely. Ye Xiaozi goes to the mess hall in the morning and again in the evening. What Ye Xiaozi anticipates most is the evening meal, especially the braised pork prepared by Granny Zhang, which makes her mouth water. Besides that, there’s also braised pork hock, stewed jarred meat…”

“Oh!” Luo Bingli grew interested. “So, how do we bully her regarding her diet?”

“Hehe, by making the serving auntie’s hand shake even more vigorously, of course! Just imagine, a huge scoop of braised pork, but because of a tremor, only two pieces end up on the plate!” At this, a sinister smile spread across Wang Qiu’er’s face.