After Luna fainted,
Little Mortal rolled her up in his sleeping bag and, after watching the record of his heroic act, took out his guardian token to contact Rose and ask her where they were.
But before that, there was a sound of 'cling' beside his leg.
He looked down and saw three storage rings rolling on the ground, this time with an extra paper falling.
He first picked up the rings and put them on his fingers,
Then picked up the paper and read it.
After a while, his eyes turned cold.
He brought out his guardian token and said,
"Assistant Rose, this is the sect master speaking.
Tell me where the gathering place is, and the address of the city's black market. I need to go there before joining you, over.
...
Not far away from the inn,
in the city black market,
in a secret underground place,
Around fifteen men in black Daoist robes with red patterns were gathered.
Five of them at the end of the place were talking to each other, and the rest of them seemed to be waiting for something.
"Who went after the hall master?"
"His deputy and two of his underlings."
"Do we have any idea what happened here?
I remember the hall master left because he lost contact with his son."
"He first came to the Law Enforcement Hall and asked where his son had gone.
I told him his last destination was the Outer Sect City."
"Oh, right, he went there to bring someone and test the technique the Hall Master was going to exchange with that mysterious senior."
"Did he have it when you saw him?"
"Yes, he said the exchange was successful, and the 'sect masters' are going to give the Emperor a visit soon."
"But I didn't think he'd go missing after coming here to find his son..."
"Who contacted you to come here?"
"The hall master's deputy.
He said the matter of our trying to sacrifice the people in the city might have been leaked.
So he asked me and the others to gather here and be ready to start early if needed, while he went to the inn."
"Why the inn?"
"The hall master's son went there and disappeared. That's why the Hall Master went there to investigate, but he didn't return either."
"I thought none of the top figures in the current world are allowed to do anything to us.
But now the hall master and his son are missing, and even the deputy isn't back!
Something is really suspicious here!"
"If everyone from the Outer Sect City weren't gathering outside the city, I'd say we're already exposed and they evacuated them."
"Yeah, I thought so too when I saw nobody was in the city.
But does anyone know what they're doing?"
"I don't know. There isn't a single person inside the city to ask.
I was going to find one on the way, but the sect master's daughter and Lady Butterfly were there with them for whatever reason."
"The deputy said when the hall master came to find his son, the city was still full of people.
But when he came to check, he saw them leaving.
I think that's why he panicked and called us all here."
"We should wait for the deputy to return. Once Lady Butterfly and Rose leave, we'll make a move."
"What are we scared of?
Even the sect master can't do anything to us under the deal they made.
We need to wait for the Deputy to come back with the hall master.
Aren't they all gathering outside the city already?
We can use the opportunity and start the plan."
Then all of them started laughing.
Time passed.
After around an hour, they suddenly heard a voice from outside:
"MBI, open up!"
...
Luna suddenly woke up to the loud sound of someone shouting,
"MBI, open up!"
And then there was a crashing sound, like a door being broken, and then a 'bang' with an intense light.
A moment later, she heard some people yelling:
'Oh my eyes!', 'Who is it?', or 'I can't see anything!'
By instinct, she was going to get up and hide or run somewhere,
but found out that she was rolled up in something and tied to another thing, impossible to move ...
After the intense and blinding light subsided, the entire area turned dark.
Then she heard a familiar voice:
"Divine technique: Judgment by Age."
And after that, there were 'crack' sounds and objects dropping to the ground, with people yelling:
"Why do I feel so weak?"
"I lost all of my cultivation base!"
"Who is it? Show yourself!"
*AAA...*
Soon, the cries of pain and confusion filled the air.
It was like a beast was lurking in this darkness, hunting down his helpless prey... one by one.
Soon, silence returned.
Luna's heart was beating wildly now.
She didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
'Where am I? What's happening? Where is my overpowered boss?'
Then she felt her body and the object she was tied to were moving. It was like she'd been picked up and was now being carried up some stairs.
Not long after, she saw the outside light through a door.
It was as though whatever was carrying her was walking out of an underground place back to the surface.
When she was out,
The first thing she saw was a small tricycle.
Now, with sunlight, she could see herself too, rolled up inside a sleeping bag attached to a familiar backpack...
With a trembling voice, she said,
"S-Sect M-Master, is that you?"
A little boy's voice came from below:
"Oh, Innkeeper, you woke up!"
Hearing the familiar voice, tears gathered in her eyes.
With her new boss around, life was so stressful... There were no moments of peace.
"S-Sect Master, why am I tied up here?
Where are we now? I thought we were going to the gathering!
And what just happened down there?"
Little Mortal stopped and placed the backpack on the ground to release her.
"Innkeeper, you won't believe it.
When you fell asleep, I was going to contact Assistant Rose to ask for the address of our gathering.
But guess what happened?"
Luna, who was free now, looked around nervously and asked,
"W-What happened?"
Little Mortal lowered his voice:
"Let me tell you!
My support team suddenly found some secret information about a human trafficker organization in the city!
Can you believe it?
All this time, there was a whole organization under my nose, and I didn't know!"
Luna looked around and realized she was in the black market area.
She was going to say:
What do you mean by 'all this time under your nose'? You just got here today!
But she didn't dare and just asked cautiously,
"What was the result, Sect Master?"
Little Mortal puffed his chest and asked confidently,
"What do you think?"
Luna thought for a moment and said,
"The organization has been cleaned up, not a single one escaped—another perfect operation under the Sect Master's lead?"
Little Mortal gasped in shock!
"You, young lady, are really smart! Tell me, what's your name?"
"L-Luna."
"You guessed it right, Lady Luna. And from now on,
Your inn will be our headquarters, and you will be the manager."
Luna hastily said,
"Thank you for your promotion, Sect Master!"
She thought to herself:
That inn isn't mine—it belongs to the sect, and we're receiving new disciples there!
But if it becomes the headquarters for the Sect Master's disciples,
and I'm the manager there, I might survive the punishment for 'Lazy Sect Master' he forced me to say and record, right?
"Good, welcome to the team.
I'll take special care of the special members of the Guardian Team."
Luna raised her eyebrows and was going to ask,
What Guardian Team?
But she didn't dare.
At first, it was only followers. Then it turned into capturing those people wearing black robes who were supposed to be untouchable. And now, 'Guardian'...
There was only one conclusion from all the information she had until now:
This little demon is on a mission under the Sect Master!
If Little Mortal knew about her thoughts, he would say:
You're completely... wrong.
"Alright, let's go—"
Cling
Little Mortal and Luna, who had been about to leave, looked down and saw that a bunch of storage rings had just dropped on the ground.
Luna knew they were the storage rings belonging to the new victims of her boss, who'd just been caught inside the darkness of that underground place.
She was going to offer help and pick them up, but she saw him lashing out at his cage again!
This time, he was hitting the cage with a wooden stick,
while yelling:
"Do I look like a beggar to you?
What next? You're going to drop coins at my feet?"
Luna didn't know why, but she felt pain just from looking at the stick in action. The cage itself was shaking nonstop.
In the end, the little cage surrendered, and all the rings began floating in front of Little Mortal.
He already had five rings on, but he didn't care and put the other fifteen on his fingers—two rings per finger.
Just looking at his little hands under the sun would hurt your eyes.
He then turned to Luna and said:
"Okay, time to go. Everyone's waiting for us.
Big Guy, Manager Luna will be riding you. You're going to ride me, and I'm going to ride my unstoppable ride.
Let's go."
Before Luna could figure out what all the riding meant,
One of the backpack's straps caught her and put her on top of it.
Little Mortal then picked up the backpack (with Luna on it) and sat on his tricycle.
"Put on your seatbelt, Manager Luna."
Luna, who was shocked by what was happening, thought:
What even is a seatbelt that I need to put on?
Then another strap connected to the backpack wrapped around her waist and held her in place.
"Let me play the music first.
We're late, so we're going full speed. Sit tight, Passenger Luna."
Luna, who didn't know what was happening anymore, just sat there without a word.
She left everything in the hands of fate.
Then a foreign music that she'd never heard before started playing, and with it, the tricycle began moving slowly.
But the speed became faster and faster.
At some point, when the singer suddenly said 'Deja vu', as if it triggered something, the tricycle's speed became so fast that Luna was forced to close her eyes and beg the Sect Master to slow down!
But with the sound of the wind, she couldn't even hear her own voice.
And so, Luna was forced to experience two minutes of extreme speed that she would never forget...
....
Outside the Outer Sect City,
Lady Butterfly was standing beside Rose, looking at the crowd.
Some were sitting on the ground; some children were playing in groups,
And some of them were gathered together, whispering to each other.
Seeing them like this, Lady Butterfly thought to herself:
'What's the use of these people?
They're weak—some are too old, and some are too young.
What is that unknown brat going to use them for?'
"Hello, Assistant Rose."
While she was thinking, a voice suddenly came from behind.
Lady Butterfly felt her heart stop for a second.
'This kid's invisible presence is the natural enemy of a cultivator's spiritual sense...!'
When the two turned around, they saw Little Mortal get off his tricycle.
And on his backpack was a person?
They looked more carefully and found her familiar.
Rose was the first to recognize her:
"Oh, Sister Luna, it's you!
What happened to you?"
And she ran over to bring her down from the backpack.
Her hair and clothes were in a mess,
like someone who'd just finished a brawl...
Little Mortal said:
"She experienced a little speed. But because it was her first time, she's shocked."
The two ladies looked at this little barefooted monster with 20 rings and didn't know what to say!
Lady Butterfly was going to give Rose a signal to ask about the rings, but suddenly felt the little monster (with hands full of rings) stroking his mustache and looking at her intensely.
Lady Butterfly's hair stood on end.
She was being targeted for some reason!
Little Mortal, after a brief moment, asked:
"Have we met before?"
And Lady Butterfly shook her head immediately.
How could she forget such a person if they'd met before? That was impossible!
"Are you sure?
I feel like I fought you... And you were so hard to beat... I even lost to you 20 or 30 times, if not more..."
Lady Butterfly's forehead was now covered in cold sweat.
Her eyes were fixed on the cage hanging on the little monster's waist, while thinking:
'Is he looking for an excuse to make a move on me?'
She was scared he'd make a move on her and make her disappear.
Little Mortal suddenly became excited:
"I remember you! You're Lady Butterfly!
You said the same thing every time you beat me!
What was that insulting phrase again?
Let me think... Oh, I remember!
'You're still just a puppy!'"
Lady Butterfly was shocked.
It was her first time seeing him. How did he know her name? She even had a nonexistent, insulting phrase? And when did she beat him up?
Seeing the little Sect Master getting more and more excited, Rose came to the rescue:
"Sect Master, this is my grandmother.
Her Daoist name is indeed Lady Butterfly, but her real name isn't.
Please calm down—you've mistaken her for someone else!"
Hearing her, Little Mortal calmed down and looked at the horizon, as though remembering some old memories:
"Hmmm, another Lady Butterfly?
Now that I think about it, that Lady Butterfly wasn't even real... but why do I feel like my fights with her were so memorable...?"
Then he mumbled to himself in confusion:
"If she wasn't real, then how did we fight?
If it was real, then why do I feel she didn't exist in reality?"
He scratched his head a little and said:
"Forget about it. We have other important matters to take care of."
Relieved the topic had finally changed, Lady Butterfly sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Little Mortal looked around and then kicked his backpack, saying:
"Big Guy, reinforce the stage."
And while some black lights came out of the backpack and went under the 'stage' Rose had prepared for him (and an extra structure appeared underneath), he walked on the stage to start the gathering.