Lu Zhou stood in front of the four disciples as his eyes moved from Duanmu Sheng to Mingshi Yin, and finally to Zhao Yue.
“Little Yuan’er.”
That made Duanmu Sheng and the other two shivered with fear.
“Master?” Little Yuan’er quickly answered.
“You may get up.”
“Yes!”
Lu Zhou noticed that her loyalty had risen to 65% while Duanmu Sheng, Mingshi Yin, and Zhao Yue’s loyalty were at 30%, 20%, and 40% respectively, which had stopped declining and begun to rise. However, this level of loyalty was far from enough.
He did not say anything else but told his ninth disciple, “I’m tired. Assist me. Let’s go back.”
Secretly feeling happy, Little Yuan’er came to him with small steps and helped him up the mountain like an obedient little servant girl. As a result, Duanmu Sheng and the other two disciples were left behind.
Since the master did not say that they could get up, they naturally dared not to move. Moreover, as they were all wounded from their master’s slap, they did not feel good right now.
“Old Fourth, you’ve left me in a dreadful situation…” Duanmu Sheng said with a wan look.
“How can you blame me? It was only after careful analysis that I was convinced that Master was injured,” said Mingshi Yin.
“After careful analysis? Then you are really good at analysis,” Zhao Yue complained as well. If it had not been for her fourth senior brother’s change of attitude, she would not have joined in the rebellion.
“Who knew this would happen? I had calculated everything but just overlooked this one thing…”
“What had you overlooked?”
“Perhaps, maybe, probably…Master is really tired of playing with the old routine and wants to try something new.”
Duanmu Sheng and Zhao Yue were speechless.
“Why don’t we run away now?” Zhao Yue whispered.
“Run away? How? Didn’t you see Master show his mighty power?”
“When Master pursued the top ten experts just now, he seemed to have used his avatar two times, Imperfect Divine Intervention one time, and Soul Chase one time. Junior Sister’s suggestion can be considered…” Mingshi Yin nodded slightly.
“Consider my ass! If Master really wanted to kill us, he would have done it!”
No matter what Mingshi Yin said, Duanmu Sheng dared not to believe him again.
As the saying went, ‘A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.’ Since the master did not do anything to them, that meant they still had a chance to live. If they really ran away, they would be the same as their Eldest Senior Brother and the others.
…
Lu Zhou slowly sat down inside the gazebo. Despite everything that had just happened, he did not feel short of breath at all.
After his cultivation base was restored to the ninth-tier of Body Tempering, he had no problem in ascending and descending the mountain. Although his disciples could still sense something suspicious from his aura, they did not dare to doubt his cultivation base, and Mingshi Yin even decided that he was playing a new routine with them.
“Little Yuan’er, how long have you joined the sect for?” asked Lu Zhou.
“I’ve been following Master for five years.”
“Five years…”
It took only five years for her to reach the Divine Court realm. What kind of heaven-defying monsters had Ji Tiandao taken in as disciples?
Lu Zhou speculated that Ji Tiandao must have received some kind of help from the system before it was activated.
“Have you realized what you’ve done wrong?” Lu Zhou said with mixed emotions.
Little Yuan’er dropped to her knees at once and murmured, “Master…I was wrong, I should have never listened to Senior Brothers! Master, you must believe me, I’ve always been very good and obedient!”
“That’s not what I’m referring to.”
“Ah?”
“At the end of last year, did you leave Golden Court Mountain without my permission and rob the cultivation books and records of two major sects?”
“I’m sorry!”
“Why did you do that?” Lu Zhou searched for the memory in his mind, but he found no motive for Little Yuan’er to do that.
Little Yuan’er stuck out her tongue and said, “Fourth Senior Brother said that people whose names are not on the black roll are not worthy of being disciples of Golden Court Mountain! So…so…I went.”
“Black roll?” Lu Zhou had no information about it either.
“It is a list prepared by the cultivation world, and the cultivators on the list are all evildoers. Senior Brothers and Sisters have all entered the top thirty, and Master…Master…”
“Say it!”
“Master, you are at the top of the list.”
Lu Zhou, “…”
When Little Yuan’er saw her master lost in thought, she did not dare to continue talking, but secretly observed. The change of atmosphere made her afraid to even breathe too loudly.
After some time, Lu Zhou said, “Forget it! It is the fault of parents to feed and clothe their children without proper education, and it is the laziness of a teacher to just educate his students without being strict. I didn’t teach you well.”
When she heard that, Little Yuan’er secretly gave her master a complicated look. Although she had only joined the sect for a very short time, far shorter than the other senior brothers and sisters, she knew about the old man in front of her quite well.
What was wrong with her master?
Lu Zhou sensed her doubts and said, “Yuan’er, you are my favorite disciple. From now on, I want you to stop doing evil deeds. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Master!”
“Now get up!”
“Yes.”
Little Yuan’er was overjoyed at being forgiven.”Hehe! Master is the best… Let me massage your shoulders.” Little Yuan’er hopped behind Lu Zhou like a rabbit.
Lu Zhou sighed in his heart. Although Ji Tiandao had cultivated eight villainous disciples, at least there was still one who had a conscience to be filial. If he had not arrived in time, he reckoned that this youngest disciple would soon turn evil as well.
Peers could influence one’s behavior in positive and negative ways. Although Little Yuan’er was quick-witted and mischievous, her mind was simple and easily corrupted.
“Ding! You’ve completed a task. Ci Yuan’er’s loyalty has reached 80%. You are rewarded with 100 merit points.”
Lu Zhou glanced at Little Yuan’er. Sure enough, her loyalty had reached 80%. He nodded with satisfaction and said, “Go get the three of them here.”
“Yes.” Little Yuan’er ran down the mountain as quickly as a monkey.
Lu Zhou was slightly relieved.
‘System, are there better ways to punish villainous disciples?’
In his previous life, he was an executive of the company. Although he did not have Ji Tiandao’s experience of living in the world for a thousand years, he had his own opinions on training subordinates. He believed that the same was true when it came to teaching disciples.
The more they were pressured, the more likely they were to bounce back.
At the end of the day, the reason why these disciples were evil was all the result of Ji Tiandao’s teachings, so it was Ji Tiandao whom they hated. Since Lu Zhou had replaced Ji Tiandao, he had to follow this road as well.
Anyhow, the system did not answer.
“Since you won’t answer me, I’ll do it according to my own ways,” said Lu Zhou.
After a while, Duanmu Sheng, Mingshi Yin, and Zhao Yue came up the mountain into the gazebo with their heads bowed and a little frightened, falling to their knees immediately. Meanwhile, Little Yuan’er stood aside in silence.
“Master, please spare my life!”
“Master, please forgive me!”
“Master, please spare my life!”
Their loyalty was 40%, 35% and 42% respectively.
The numbers were still very low. At this level of loyalty, they would fall to the other side easily with the slightest change.
There was dead silence in the gazebo. No one dared to speak since Lu Zhou had not uttered a single word.
At this moment, silence was better than verbal language. The silence made the three of them uneasy and gave them chills down their bones. A quarter of an hour passed, and Lu Zhou still did not speak. He just sighed or shook his head from time to time.
Finally, the fifth disciple, Zhao Yue, could no longer endure the bizarre atmosphere. She threw herself on the ground as she burst into tears and said, “Master, I was wrong! I got confused in that moment! Ever since I joined the sect, I’ve never thought of betraying Master! I beg your forgiveness, Master!”
Since someone had taken the lead, Duanmu Sheng and Mingshi Yin followed suit and begged for mercy.
“Master, I’ve been in the sect for over a hundred years! During all these years, I’ve really put in a lot of effort in everything I did…Considering I’ve followed Master for so long, I beg Master to spare my life!”
“Master, I joined the sect sixty years ago, and I’ve never once disobeyed Master. It was only in my ignorance that I committed such grave disobedience! I beg Master to spare my life!”