Chapter 38 | With a Protagonist Halo, How Did I End Up the Villain?

Hearing Tu Feifei sell him out, Bai Yuanfei stared at her, completely dumbfounded.

He really couldn't understand it. This woman had spent many years with the three of them, and they had always treated her quite well. Especially his second junior brother, who had a huge crush on her.

Why would she side with a pretty boy she had only just met? Was it really just because he was good-looking?

Bang!

“Bai Yuanfei, is this true?!”

Sect Master Xiao's face was livid with rage. He slammed his hand down on the table, sending wood splinters flying.

He never could have imagined that his own disciples would be the ones to attack Ye Fan. Before entering the secret realm, he had explicitly instructed them to protect Ye Fan.

Yet not only did they fail to protect him, they had actually tried to murder him.

“Master, I really didn't want to kill Junior Brother! He was the one who attacked first! He really did...!”

At this point, Bai Yuanfei recalled that the three of them had indeed intended to kill him. But it was also true that Ye Fan had struck first!

“I swear, Junior Brother really was the one who attacked first!” Bai Yuanfei pointed his fingers toward the sky, shouting frantically.

Seeing his desperate display, Sect Master Xiao turned to look at Ye Fan. Could Ye Fan really have been the one to initiate the fight?

“It was indeed me who struck first,” Ye Fan said calmly. “They deserved to die.”

He spoke flatly, offering no further explanation.

Sect Master Xiao understood everything. Bai Yuanfei and the others must have harbored murderous intent out of jealousy toward Ye Fan's talent.

After all, he had gone through the same things when he was young.

He felt a strong urge to slap Bai Yuanfei to death, but this was his eldest disciple, the one who had been with him the longest. He still held some affection for him.

With that in mind, Sect Master Xiao looked at Bai Yuanfei and spoke:

“Bai Yuanfei, for the crime of harming your fellow disciple, you are hereby expelled from the sect. From now on, you will guard the spirit stones mine.”

Hearing Sect Master Xiao's sentence, Bai Yuanfei kept his head lowered, a flash of deep resentment crossing his eyes.

It was clearly Ye Fan who had struck first! Why wouldn't his master stand up for him? Why did he have to be the one punished?

“Thank you, Mas... Thank you, Sect Master. I will no longer be able to show my filial piety by your side. Please take care of yourself.”

With that, Bai Yuanfei knelt down and kowtowed to Sect Master Xiao. Then, he stood up and reluctantly left the room.

Ye Fan had no objections to Sect Master Xiao's handling of the matter. If this guy still wanted to seek death, he could just kill him later.

This time, he had already given him a chance out of respect for Sect Master Xiao.

Sect Master Xiao stared at the retreating backs of Ye Fan and the others, letting out a long, weary sigh. Out of his six disciples, he had lost three in a single trip.

He could only hope that his fifth disciple, like his fourth disciple Tu Feifei, would be able to get along well with Ye Fan.

He also hoped that once Ye Fan grew stronger, he would become the pillar of the sect.

Lu Ming was still in the middle of harvesting spiritual herbs when he was suddenly ejected from the realm.

After coming out, he found a quiet, secluded corner to wait for Big Yellow and the others. Before Big Yellow and the rest appeared, he spotted Ye Fan first.

Seeing him, Lu Ming frowned slightly and muttered to himself:

Is this guy's luck really that insane? He actually survived. Well, it doesn't matter. I'll deal with him when the next opportunity arises.

After waiting a bit longer, Lu Ming saw a chubby, dark-skinned kid with a head of bright red hair and a massive black dog get ejected.

Even though the duo had completely changed colors, Lu Ming recognized Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao at a single glance.

Lu Ming's mouth twitched. Did these two go mining for coal or something? How did they end up looking like this?

“Did you two go coal mining?” Lu Ming couldn't help but ask once they met up.

“Woof! Woof!!”

What do you mean coal mining? This is a brilliant, iridescent shade of black that I dyed myself!

Big Yellow spun around to show off his coat.

“Dyed?” Lu Ming was utterly speechless.

Then, he turned to Huang Tianbao: “Since when did you two become so fashionable?”

“Well... we kept delivering 'pastries' to our 'relatives' and ended up provoking public outrage. We were being hunted down...”

Hearing Huang Tianbao's explanation, Lu Ming instantly understood the reason behind their new look.

“Let's go, let's go... Let's get out of here first.”

Lu Ming took out his spirit boat and was the first to hop on.

Chugga-chugga... Clank-clank...

The spirit boat belched black smoke as it flew off into the distance.

The racket of the spirit boat also caught the attention of Elder Ding and Elder Fang of the Chixia Sect, who were preparing to leave.

Looking at the two people and the dog on the spirit boat, the two elders exchanged glances and immediately gave chase.

It turned out they had been waiting at the exit for their own disciples to emerge. Yet even after the secret realm closed, not a single one of their disciples had come out.

Although they knew the secret realm was brutal, it made no sense for absolutely none of their disciples to survive.

Even some Qi Refining stage cultivators had made it out, and their sect had sent six Foundation Establishment stage disciples!

Now, seeing that Lu Ming's group of two and a dog had all survived, they immediately suspected that their disciples' deaths had to be connected to these three.

After all, one of their disciples' missions in the secret realm was to kill these three.

Since these three were alive and well, they must have gotten the Haoran Sect to wipe out their disciples. Otherwise, it was impossible for all of their disciples to have perished.

They didn't dare seek revenge against the Haoran Sect, but did that mean they couldn't touch these nobodies?

Just moments ago, they had watched the Haoran Sect's spirit boat depart.

As Elder Ding and his companion pursued them, they gloated inwardly:

This Qingshan Sect is about to be wiped off the map anyway. After all, our Ancestor has already gone to destroy their sect. Killing them now will ensure their complete eradication.

The two of them trailed Lu Ming's spirit boat in secret, and everything went smoothly.

Except for the cursed black smoke trailing from the spirit boat, which choked their throats and stung their eyes.

Seriously, can't they afford a better spirit boat? What a bunch of paupers!

Well, after today, the two of us can be considered to have contributed to the environmental protection of the cultivation world.

Seeing that they were getting further away from the Hengduan Mountains, Elder Ding sent a sound transmission to Elder Fang:

“Let's do it!”

“Alright—”

Splat! Splat!

Before Elder Fang could even finish his transmission, a massive alchemy furnace smashed his head into pieces.

Elder Ding, who had just circulated his spiritual energy and was about to strike, was instantly sprayed in the face with a mixture of blood and brain matter.

Elder Ding's face turned white with terror, but before he could even let out a scream, the alchemy furnace struck again, smashing his head to pieces as well.

“Humph... Did you really think my sect's disciples were easy targets?!”

Huo Furong snorted coldly. Grabbing the two headless corpses, her figure flickered as she caught up to Lu Ming's spirit boat.

However, she did not show herself. Instead, she simply tossed the two corpses straight down onto the spirit boat.

“It seems they've moved...” Huo Furong murmured softly before vanishing into the void.

“Big Yellow, is it raining?” Lu Ming touched his face in confusion.

Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao stared at him in bewilderment. How could it be raining on such a perfectly clear day?

“Holy crap! Is the sky having its period??”

Seeing the red blood on his hand, Lu Ming cried out in shock before Big Yellow or Huang Tianbao could even speak.

“What?”

“Woof?!”

Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao stared at Lu Ming in utter shock. Had their boss lost his mind?

Thud! Thud!

Just as Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao were about to ask Lu Ming what was going on, two corpses crashed directly onto the deck, causing the spirit boat to wobble violently.