Sect Library.
An elderly man with an honest and straightforward look, wearing a brown Daoist robe with black patterns, appeared.
He was the elder responsible for this place—the "Wise Counselor."
Some disciples finally found him and asked about the library issue and why nobody could enter anymore.
That's why the elder came here to see what was going on.
He first checked the table with the now-missing token and stroked his chin while pondering.
"It must be the Sect Master. If she places her Sect Master token beside the library token, they will combine. And when she goes in, the others will be sent out, and the library will become private for her."
Then he turned to the disciples.
"Don't waste your time here. The Sect Master is busy inside, and nobody can enter."
After that, he turned around and left.
It was the same for the others.
....
The Sect Storehouse.
A middle-aged lady in a brown Daoist robe with black patterns was looking at the sealed storehouse in front of her.
She was somewhat uncertain of the reason for the Sect Master's sudden visit.
The only one who could take the storehouse token and seal the storehouse was the Sect Master herself with her token.
She thought a little and said,
"I thought the Sect Master entered seclusion!"
After a brief moment, she shrugged.
"Well, whatever. I don't care."
She, too, turned around and left.
....
Outer Sect City.
Little Mortal, on his tricycle, once again arrived at the "Outer Sect City."
When he rode inside, at first, he thought he was in the wrong place.
"Where is everybody? Why is the whole city empty? Am I even in the same city that I just left a couple of hours ago?"
While vigilant, he started riding toward the inn along a familiar but empty path.
On the way, he didn't see a single person—only some animals here and there.
When he arrived close to the inn, he finally saw some people, but not the ones he was looking for.
....
A Couple of Hours Ago.
After Little Mortal left, Rose and her grandmother, who had joined her, sat down and listened to what had happened here from Luna, the innkeeper.
When the story ended, Lady Butterfly found out this "Little Sect Master" was the same "Little Monster" in Rose's story who had saved her.
And Rose found out about the promise her boss had made, who the followers were that she needed to gather, and who those storage rings belonged to.
Her boss was indeed always ready to uphold justice.
But what puzzled both Rose and Lady Butterfly was his claiming to be the Sect Master's disciple.
"If Mother had a new disciple, I would surely know about it. Currently, she only has Snow White as a disciple, and that's it..."
What was more confusing were the things said by the kids who had joined the sect with Little Sect Master.
From what they said, it seemed he had a recommendation letter from the Sword God.
Rose was speechless.
"It turns out my father is the one who gave him the recommendation letter to become my mother's disciple! And Elder Sun already confirmed the letter..."
Lady Butterfly, who had sent a small butterfly out of the inn carrying a message for her son, smiled bitterly.
"And his Sect Master token was his own doing after Elder Sun told him he could write his own Daoist name on it if he could."
Lady Butterfly was a little scared now.
She had learned many things about this "Little Monster" that couldn't be true, but at the same time, they couldn't be denied with so many witnesses...
At this moment, the same butterfly she had sent out came back with her son's reply.
[What recommendation letter? Why would I recommend someone to become my wife's disciple?]
Lady Butterfly rubbed her temple in puzzlement.
If it wasn't her son, then why had Elder Sun confirmed it?
And the Sect Master token he had—it was a real Sect Master token, but there weren't supposed to be two of them.
Her daughter-in-law, as the Sect Master, had one, and the sect tokens shouldn't allow another one to exist with the same name carved on it.
So how could he write "Sect Master" on his own token? Just because he chose to have "Sect Master" as his Daoist name? If it were that easy, then everyone could have a Sect Master token on their waist...
And not only that, this "Little Monster" made people disappear with just a tap on a little cage hanging on his waist.
He had already caught four people with it—and not just anyone, but strong cultivators! What kind of treasure was that?
The more she thought about all the anomalies happening around this little, unknown boy, the more scared she became.
While she was lost in thought, the number-one fan of the Little Sect Master, Assistant Rose, had already finished the announcement draft and wanted to start spreading it around the city.
When Lady Butterfly saw the content, she became speechless.
In the announcement, Rose used the "Sect Master's" name as the one who had given the seven-day promise.
At first glance, you could tell she was trying to make people think the Sect Master in the announcement was her mother, not this "Little Sect Master" whose origin nobody knew.
But at the same time, it wasn't a lie either...
In no time, the news of the "Sect Master's" promise to activate people's spirit roots in seven days in exchange for them becoming his followers spread like wildfire.
And two rumors spread through the city alongside the news:
"The Sect Master made the two great evils—the Master of the Law Enforcement Hall and his son—disappear!"
"Lady Rose is now overseeing the matter related to followers."
So whoever saw or heard about these rumors, without a second thought, started heading toward the gathering place outside the city.
There was a significant empty ground there, close to farmlands, where Rose had asked anyone who wanted to become a follower to gather.
And just like that, in less than two hours, the whole city became empty!
When Rose found out that the excited citizens had ignored the "evening" part of the news and gathered outside the city ahead of time, she had no choice but to go there personally with her grandmother to establish order.
....
Present Time.
The City Inn.
Luna was the only person left in the inn.
She was waiting for the Little Sect Master to come and show him the way to the gathering place.
At this moment, she heard the inn door open and thought he was back.
But when she saw, instead of him, three men in black Daoist robes with Law Enforcement tokens hanging on their waists, she almost fainted on the spot!
Many horrifying scenarios appeared in her mind just from the sight of these people.
But before she could faint, she saw something that changed her mind, and she decided not to faint.
At the inn door, there was an extra little boy's head behind these three people, peeking inside from the corner of the entrance.
When her eyes and the little head's eyes met, she sighed in relief. But the owner of the little head gasped and disappeared behind the door as fast as he could.
A moment later, two little hands came out and made some clumsy hand seals.
Luna, who at first was confused as to what those hand seals were for, understood that the Little Sect Master was trying to tell her indirectly:
"I shaved my mustache for whatever reason, and now it's going to grow back with my secret technique."
After he was done with the hand seals, the Little Sect Master—this time with a horseshoe mustache—appeared behind the group.
Luna was going to say "Hi," but she saw him bringing out his notebook and writing on it:
"Shhhhhh."
So she just nervously stood there and didn't say anything.
It seemed her future boss had some plans for himself.
The three men, who didn't know there was an extra person with them, first looked around and then scanned the place with their spiritual sense, but didn't find anyone except the innkeeper.
The one who seemed to be the team leader asked,
"Woman, I have some questions. If you lie, death is the best thing you can wish for. But if you tell us the truth, I'll give you a painless death. Understood?"
Luna was going to say "Yes," but she suddenly saw the extra person—who was just one step behind these three black-robed men—pointing at his notebook.
She glanced at the notebook and saw a sentence in it. She understood that he wanted her to read it as her answer while acting.
So she gulped and said.
"Do you ignorants even know who I am?"
The moment she finished the line, her heart started beating faster.
It was the first time a mortal like her had talked back to these black-robed men like this.
The three men became silent—it was the first time for them, too.
After a moment of silence, the leader frowned and said,
"And who might you be?"
She was going to say "Innkeeper Luna," but there was a new line in the notebook for her to say.
Looking closely, at the start of the sentence was even the expression she needed to make before saying her line:
[Say it arrogantly.]
So she snorted and, with an arrogant tone, read her line:
"Hmph, I am the favorite follower of the Sect Master. If my boss comes back and sees you questioning me, then you know what will happen to you..."
This time, the black-robed boss snapped.
"Are you crazy, woman? The Sect Master is in seclusion! Even if she weren't, do you think she could do anything to us?"
Luna, who knew she should be scared by now, saw the Little Monster giggling at the back while writing another line for her as fast as he could.
So she didn't feel any fear anymore and thought to herself:
'It's not me you guys are dealing with, but the monster behind you. I'm just a mirror reflecting his words to you ignorants.'
When Luna was done thinking, her next line was ready, too.
[Read this after a mocking laugh.]
"Heh heh, I'm not talking about that lazy Sect Master who doesn't even know how to manage our sect."
After she said her line, only then did she realize there was an insult for the Sect Master in it!
She immediately regretted it and felt like crying, but there were no tears to shed.
'What kind of line are you giving me?!'
The jaws of the three black-robed men almost dropped.
They were at a loss for words.
The group leader took a deep breath and said,
"Do you know you just ended your own life with what you said?"
Actress Luna didn't say anything.
She knew there was no turning back now with what she had said and waited a little for her next line to be ready.
But this time, there was no Sect Master—only a notebook on the shoulder of the boss with her line written on it:
[Close your eyes, look down a little, then smile and slowly bring your head up while opening your eyes at the same time. Say your line with regret and sympathy.]
Luna gathered her courage, closed her eyes, and lowered her head.
She smiled as she raised her head and opened her eyes, looking at the three confused and angry men in front of her.
"It's already too late..."
There was a hint of pity in her voice.
Before they could move against her, they heard her speak again—this time with sympathy, not for herself, but for them.
"Because the Sect Master... has already arrived."
The moment Actress Luna finished her last line, an angry voice came from the side.
"Who dares to touch my follower?!"
All four of them turned their heads.
The boss, who was closest to the source of the sound, was the first to see the newcomer.
A little boy, in the air, moving toward them while performing a flying kick—one hand behind his back, one hand playing with his mustache, and a cold but confident smile.
Many thoughts went through his mind:
'Who is this kid? What's with that ridiculous mustache? Why can I see him but not feel him with my spiritual sense? Why is he so fa—'
But his messy thoughts were interrupted and came to a complete stop.
Before he knew what was happening, the small barefoot hit his chin, shook his brain, and knocked him out.
But the flying kick didn't stop there—it hit the second person's chin (who was about to take action against the enemy he only knew the direction of) and knocked him out cold, too.
A sword appeared in the hand of the third guy, a bloody red aura enveloping it the moment it moved.
He slashed upward as if he were going to cut the little boy in half.
But the moment his sword was under the little boy's hip, he suddenly did a 360-degree spin mid-air and spun around the sword.
Simultaneously, as the sword slash seemed to pass through him, he delivered the third kick with the heel of his left foot and knocked out the last man standing.
Finishing off his three targets, he used the remaining force of his spin kick and, after an extra spin, landed perfectly on the ground.
"Secret Technique: 720-Degree 2x Flying Spin Kick."
Actress Luna, who had just felt a wind blowing from right to left, looked down at the three unconscious men on the floor.
Then she looked to her left and saw the previously missing Sect Master already standing there—left hand behind his back, right hand on the proper handle of his mustache, playing with it, an arrogant half-smile on his face...
He might have looked dignified and manly—if he weren't so little.
Little Mortal stood there like a statue.
His left hand, behind his back, was open as if he were going to catch something.
A moment later, the notebook fell from above into his hand.
His right hand finally let go of his mustache, came down, and patted the little cage.
All three men in black disappeared.
Luna blankly looked up to see where the notebook had come from, but remembered it was the same notebook she had last seen on the boss's shoulder with her last line of acting on it...
After some time, she heard him saying:
"Aaaaaand... CUT!"
Then he ran to his backpack, picked up a specific treasure crystal (that Luna knew could record "evidence"), and said excitedly:
"Come here, come here! Let's watch it together. This will be our promotional teaser for the followers!"
This time, Luna fainted for real, a single tear dropping from the corner of her eye.
Her last thought was:
'This little demon forced me to say 'lazy Sect Master,' and now he wants to show it in front of ten thousand people, Rose, and her grandmother... Farewell, everyone. See you on the other side.'
The End.