After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

The group walked down the mountain path. The night had mostly faded, and the sky was beginning to lighten with the first light of dawn.

Everyone was a bit tired after working all night.

The matter was resolved. They went back to report to the magistrate, received their reward money, and went home happily.

Halfway up the mountain, Lin Zhixu suddenly stopped and glanced back at the mountain path behind him, feeling as if something was missing.

He thought for a moment, then turned to ask Master Yunhe, "Where is Yunling?"

Everyone realized what was happening.

Master Yunhe was calculating how much reward he could collect this time when he heard this and waved his hand dismissively: "It's alright, don't worry about him. He's probably off somewhere now. He knows how to contact me, and he'll come looking for me when he comes to his senses."

Everyone: "..."

Alright, if even the masters aren't nervous, then they have even less reason to be nervous.

By the time we reached the foot of the mountain, it was already broad daylight.

Morning light filtered through the sparse woods and spilled onto the official road, while wisps of smoke rose from the distant town.

Master Qingcheng glanced at Li Erniu, who was still following behind the group, and said irritably, "We've already come down the mountain, shouldn't you be going home?"

"Oh," Li Erniu said, leaning on the broken tree branch that stretched from the top of the mountain to the bottom, his expression self-righteous. "I have no one left at home. My parents are long gone, and I never got married. If I went back, I would just be facing four walls all by myself."

"Besides, I feel this place is too unsafe, with evil cultivators and wild beasts around. If I, a weak hunter, encounter something unclean again, no one will save me next time."

"Why don't you go all the way and take me with you?"

He said "you" but his eyes were fixed on Lin Zhixu.

Lin Zhixu stared at him expressionlessly for a moment, but before he could speak, Li Erniu added, "Anyway, aren't you cultivators supposed to be compassionate? Just consider it saving this handsome orphan."

"Besides, I eat little, do a lot, and can even warm your bed, so you definitely won't lose out."

Others: "..." Shameless!

Lin Zhixu: "..."

The group exchanged a glance, made a hand seal, and with a whoosh, they darted away.

Several figures vanished from their spot in the blink of an eye.

Li Erniu was left standing alone, leaning on a broken tree branch, watching the figures grow smaller and smaller, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

Okay, you run pretty fast.

He tossed the branch aside, stretched his feigned lame leg, and slowly walked in the same direction.

……

The group ran all the way to the entrance of the government office before stopping.

Master Qingcheng leaned against the door frame, panting heavily. He looked back at the empty street and finally felt relieved.

Surely you can shake them off now?

The group straightened their clothes and entered the yamen.

The magistrate was already waiting in the front hall. As soon as he saw them return, the worry on his face vanished, and he rushed forward to greet them, asking repeatedly, "My esteemed immortals, how are you?"

Master Qingcheng cleared his throat, flicked his whisk, and recounted his nighttime experiences with embellishments.

He recounted how he outwitted and outmaneuvered the evil cultivator, ultimately killing him with a single sword strike.

Huiming and Yunhe, who were standing next to him, rolled their eyes but didn't expose him.

The magistrate was terrified when he heard that the evil cultivator had been executed. He was so excited that his eyes turned red, and he repeatedly ordered his yamen runners to bring up the prepared gifts of gratitude.

A tray was filled with neatly stacked silver ingots, which looked to be about a hundred taels.

On the other tray was a small bag of spirit stones. Although their quality was not as pure as those from major sects, they were still rare items in this mortal realm.

The three Taoist priests' eyes lit up. While saying, "It is our duty to subdue demons and monsters," they couldn't wait to reach out and grab the silver ingots into their pockets.

Wen Wuqing smiled helplessly and put away his reward.

Lin Zhixu actually looked down on these things; when he first came to help, he never expected to receive any reward.

Even a mosquito bite is still meat, so he put his share into his storage bag.

With the matter settled, everyone bid each other farewell.

The monk Huiming put his palms together in a gesture of respect and said, "This humble monk still has to travel far and wide. If we are destined to meet again, we will meet again."

Master Qingcheng flicked his whisk and nodded to the group. "I also have some matters to attend to. If you happen to pass by Qingyun Temple another day, please be sure to come in for a cup of tea."

Master Yunhe also bowed and said goodbye.

In the blink of an eye, almost everyone had left, leaving only Wen Wuqing and Lin Zhixu in the front hall.

Wen Wuqing turned around, about to say something to Lin Zhixu, but Lin Zhixu had already stepped towards the door, clearly preparing to leave as well.

Just then, the county magistrate, with an embarrassed expression and a look of wanting to say something but holding back, rubbed his hands and called out to him, "Master Lin, please wait."

Lin Zhixu stopped and turned to look at him.

The magistrate swallowed hard, seemingly considering his words carefully before speaking cautiously: "Just now, I was handling official business in the back hall when a man named Li Erniu came to my door, saying... saying he was an old friend of yours."

Lin Zhixu's eyelid twitched.

The magistrate glanced at him and added in a voice barely above a whisper, "And you even said you started this relationship and then abandoned him, leaving this frail man on the road and running away yourself. You have no conscience at all."

After saying this, he didn't dare to breathe loudly, secretly glancing at Lin Zhixu's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Actually, he didn't want to spread this message at all, but the other party made it sound very convincing and even threatened him that if he didn't spread it, he would tell Lin Zhixu about the shameful things he had done and let Lin Zhixu deal with him.

Since he had already said that, he naturally had no choice but to agree.

Lin Zhixu remained silent for a long time, then looked at the magistrate expressionlessly and asked, word by word, "Where is he?"

With a complicated expression, the magistrate led Lin Zhixu and Wen Wuqing to the back hall.

As soon as the door was pushed open, a figure sprang up from the chair.

He limped over, his face filled with the grief and indignation of being abandoned.

The scene was heartbreaking for those unaware of the details.

Wen Wuqing looked at Li Erniu, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

This man's leg was limping from the top of the mountain to the bottom, sometimes better and sometimes worse. When he cursed, his voice was full of energy, and when he pretended to be pitiful, he could squeeze out a couple of tears. It was a waste of his talent not to be an opera singer.

Li Erniu pounced on Lin Zhixu like an abandoned dog and grabbed him in a hug.

Lin Zhixu instinctively tried to dodge to the side. With his agility, dodging a mortal should have been as easy as breathing.

However, he was unable to dodge it.

This person didn't seem to be moving very fast, but it was as if they had calculated the exact point of his every step, and they pulled him into their arms with perfect accuracy.

Lin Zhixu looked down at the arms that were tightly wrapped around his waist, his eyes showing three parts helplessness and seven parts speechlessness.

It was absolutely intentional.

This person must have used some other means again.

Before he could even react, Li Erniu had already started crying at the top of his lungs.

"How could you leave me alone like this!" he cried, each word dripping with blood. "I'm still lame, I don't have a penny to my name, I'm a complete stranger in this place, I can't even beg for a drink of water!"

"I asked people all the way down the mountain, and it took me half a town to find the government office. My feet were blistered from all the walking. Look at this, look at this!"

He lifted one foot and tried to put it on Lin Zhixu's leg, but Lin Zhixu pushed it back expressionlessly.

He then settled for second best and buried his head on Lin Zhixu's shoulder.

A muffled voice came from inside the fabric, with a hint of grievance in its nasal tone: "How could you be so heartless? Aren't you afraid I'll be kidnapped?"