"Senior Brother, didn't you say Master instructed us that there could be no mishaps on our trip to the Grand Devouring Assembly?"
Pan Yu asked the moment they landed on the ground after jumping down from the roof.
"Oh, it'll just be a short delay at most. It's no big deal, no big deal."
"Then what if the White Buddha Temple discovers us? You said it yourself, that bunch of bald donkeys are not to be trifled with."
"If they were going to find us, they would've found us by now. For all we know, that bunch of bald donkeys are sound asleep."
"Heh..."
Pan Yu let out a cold laugh at Pan Shi's reply.
These were the very same things Pan Shi had told her earlier—not to feel pity, lest it create unnecessary complications. Yet now, he was doing the exact opposite of what he had preached.
'Hmph... *Ptui!* Such double standards!'
Seeing his junior sister's displeasure, Pan Shi had no choice but to pull rank as the senior brother.
"You little brat, who's the senior brother here, you or me? What did Master say? When we're away from home, you listen to *me*! Don't you dare cause trouble. When we see our fellow cultivator in a bit, you must absolutely not be rude."
Pan Yu couldn't be bothered to argue. She simply huffed and turned her head away, ignoring him completely.
Pan Shi raised his eyebrow, wanting to assert his authority, but his bravado deflated, replaced by a look of exasperation.
'A true man doesn't stoop to bickering with a girl!'
He straightened his robes and walked slowly toward the door, stopping about ten feet away.
This was the unspoken minimum safe distance between Cultivators. No one could say for sure if crossing it would violate some taboo, so it was best to be cautious.
"I am Pan Shi, disciple of the Meat Tree True Master of Sansong Mountain! I've come with my junior sister, Pan Yu, to pay my respects to a fellow cultivator and request an audience!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly into the room in the dead of night. Pan Shi had done his best to speak in a gentle tone to avoid being misunderstood.
Inside, however, Yang An was startled. He leaped from his bed, and in the blink of an eye, he subconsciously activated his Lighting Technique and summoned the Buddha's Light Ring, instantly flooding the room with brilliant light.
"Who's there?!"
Thinking another Demon Fiend had arrived, he threw up his defenses without a second thought. Only then did he hear the rest of the words from outside.
It wasn't a Demon Fiend. It was a human voice.
Even though it wasn't a Demon Fiend, Yang An remained on high alert.
'Why would someone suddenly show up in the middle of the night calling me 'fellow cultivator'?' he wondered. 'Is this a Demon Fiend in disguise?'
From behind the closed door, Yang An challenged the visitors to identify themselves.
Soon, the man's voice came from outside again.
"My junior sister and I were just passing through when we had the good fortune to witness you slay a Demon Fiend, fellow cultivator. Your Mana is extraordinary. I was so impressed that I felt compelled to make your acquaintance. If this is presumptuous, I hope you will not take offense."
The man's words were polite, but Yang An's eyebrow twitched. He still couldn't bring himself to trust them.
'We're complete strangers, what's there to visit about? If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't just rush to introduce myself to a stranger without knowing anything about them.'
'Especially now. I just killed a Demon Fiend, and moments later, these strangers show up. Anyone would be suspicious.'
'Could it be that the Monks from the White Buddha Temple already found out and are trying to trick me?'
He thought about it, but they were already standing right outside his door. Even if he didn't want to see them, he wouldn't be able to stop them if they decided to burst in.
Yang An was in a bind.
Outside, Pan Shi felt a wave of awkwardness when there was no movement or even a single word of reply from within.
'Clearly, this fellow cultivator doesn't want to see me.'
Pan Yu, standing to the side, started giggling, shamelessly enjoying his predicament.
He'd offered a warm welcome only to get the cold shoulder.
'Serves him right!'
'That's what he gets for being a hypocrite!'
Pan Shi shot her a vicious glare, but Pan Yu gave it right back, not about to back down.
'You think your one eye can win a staring contest against my three?'
Pan Shi's face contorted with anger. He wanted nothing more than to pluck his own eyeball right off Pan Yu's forehead.
Just then, a CREAK echoed, followed by a flash of brilliant light that illuminated the dim surroundings.
Hearing the sound, Pan Shi's heart leaped with joy. He turned his gaze back to the door, only to freeze in place.
The door swung open to reveal a somewhat slender figure. A ring of holy, solemn white light hovered behind his head, shining brilliantly.
Bathed in its glow, Pan Shi felt an intensely uncomfortable sensation, as if his entire body were being pierced by countless tiny needles.
The man himself had delicate features, yet his face was an unnatural, sickly pale. Despite his coarse, simple robes, he possessed an unmistakably combative air.
Most importantly, a red fireball the size of a human head burned in the palm of his hand.
Even from ten feet away, Pan Shi could feel a terrifying heat radiating from the fireball. In that instant, his own body temperature seemed to spike, making him feel unbearably hot.
'As expected of an elite disciple from a major Righteous Sect! A master of the Primordial Feeding Realm... Truly terrifying!'
This confirmed Pan Shi's suspicions beyond a doubt.
But just as he was about to speak, the fireball in the man's hand suddenly swelled. To Pan Shi's astonishment, his own body became scorchingly hot, as if he had caught fire, and wisps of white smoke began to rise from his skin.
A searing heat instantly washed over him.
He frantically circulated his Mana to counteract the bizarre flame, which seemed to have ignited from within his very body. He even transferred some Mana to Pan Yu to help her resist it.
Pan Shi instantly realized it was all a misunderstanding and hurriedly shouted.
"Fellow cultivator, it's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! My junior sister and I aren't Demon Fiends! We're true Cultivators! We mean you no harm! Please, withdraw your Divine Power!"
At this moment, Yang An stood in the doorway, his expression one of utter shock.
He had figured that since only a door separated them, he couldn't stop them if they decided to charge in, so he might as well see what they wanted.
But he never imagined that the moment he opened the door, he would see a man and a woman glaring daggers at each other. At first glance, they looked normal enough, but then Yang An took a closer look. The man had an empty socket where one eye should be, and the woman had a bloody eyeball embedded in her forehead. He was instantly horrified.
'Damn it! They really *are* Demon Fiends in disguise!'
Without a second thought, he subconsciously pushed his Lighting Technique to its limit, feeding it his own blood to make the flames roar. He had to strike first—to incinerate these two Demon Fiends before they could make a move.
He watched as a pained expression crossed the male Demon Fiend's face, while the female one looked to be in even greater agony.
'Heh, you little freaks! Daring to come to my door... You're courting death!' Yang An thought viciously.
He had already lost a great deal of blood and was severely drained, but with this crisis upon him, he couldn't afford to worry about that.
Even if he died, he would make these Demon Fiends pay.
This was the confidence his Lighting Technique gave him.
But in the next moment, he heard the man's voice again. At the same time, he watched as the man reached up to the woman's head, plucked the eyeball from her forehead, and casually popped it back into his own empty socket.
In the blink of an eye, save for the bloodstains on their faces and foreheads, they looked completely normal.
"You see, fellow cultivator? This is just a power from the Cultivation Technique I practice. We aren't transformed Demon Fiends. Please, withdraw your Divine Power."
Pan Shi said again, trying to show Yang An that they were Cultivators, not Demon Fiends.
Although he had used his Mana to suppress the bizarre internal flames that had nearly erupted within him and his junior sister, his entire body was still searingly hot and extremely uncomfortable.
'I never expected a Righteous Sect disciple at the Primordial Feeding Realm to be this terrifyingly strong.'
'But now that I've put my eye back, he has to believe me, right?'
And sure enough, upon seeing this, Yang An froze. The flame in his hand shrank slightly.
Seeing Yang An's expression and the change in the flame, Pan Shi's heart leaped with joy.
'So that's it. Our appearance must have really scared him.'
'These disciples from the major Righteous Sects probably live as recluses, with no experience of the outside world. The Cultivation Techniques they practice are all orthodox and pure. This must be his first time dealing with outsiders. He probably thinks all other Cultivators are just like him.'
'Still, it's just a misunderstanding. As long as we clear it up, it's fine. I won't hold a grudge.'
But to Pan Shi's surprise, just as he thought the misunderstanding was resolved and was about to speak again, he froze.
The searing heat he had just managed to suppress returned with a vengeance. This time, plumes of acrid smoke started rising from his entire body, impossible to contain.
"Fellow cultivator... you!"
He stared at Yang An in horror.
A cold sneer now spread across Yang An's face as the fireball in his hand swelled once more.
He looked as if he had seen through their ridiculous伎俩.
"Don't even think about tricking me, Demon Fiend!"
"Plucking out an eyeball and popping it back in—is that something a normal person can do?"
"And you still have the gall to say you're not a Demon Fiend?!"
"..."