360: Chapter 355 You really vomited blood!

The cold light from the colorful nebula slanted down, illuminating the overgrown fluorescent grass on the small island.

Yan Rusi had been guarding outside the small cabin since early morning, holding a bowl of warmed spirit spring water. She didn't know whether she should go in, so she could only stare longingly at the tightly closed wooden door, feeling anxious.

The door opened.

Su Lin supported his waist and shuffled out.

This Senior had been miserable enough yesterday, and today he looked even more wretched. His blue robes were so wrinkled they could be wrung out, his face was pale, and the dark circles under his eyes made it look like he had been punched. Most fatal was his walking posture; swaying with every step, as if he were stepping on cotton.

"Senior, please drink some water." Yan Rusi carefully handed over the bowl.

Su Lin took it and gulped down a large mouthful, only then feeling the dryness in his throat ease slightly.

"Thanks." His voice was still hoarse.

From behind that door, another spirited figure bounced out.

Chu Weiwei was wearing that moon-white long dress, her whole person exuding an indescribable sense of nourishment. She walked with her hands behind her back, skipping to appear in front of Su Lin, her purple eyes curved into crescents with a smile.

"Revered Master, good morning."

Su Lin glanced at her, too lazy to respond.

This girl was as energetic as if nothing had happened, while he, the Revered Master, felt like his waist was about to break in two. Was there any justice in this world?

On the other side of the island, that row of beast-bone stools was still set up.

As soon as Su Hongling saw Su Lin come out, she immediately swallowed the half-eaten fruit in her mouth, jumped up, and gave Chu Weiwei a thumbs-up.

"Chu the Third, well done!"

Her bronze-colored face was filled with genuine admiration.

"That act of playing the victim and ambushing yesterday was superb! I've lived for so long, and this is the first time I've seen someone trick the Old Man so thoroughly. Keep it up next time!"

Chu Weiwei beamed with joy at the praise, modestly smoothing the hair at her temples.

"Second Senior Sister, you flatter me. Weiwei was just improvising."

As soon as she finished speaking, Luo Ximei also came over, waving her folding fan, her white-gold heterochromatic eyes full of approval.

"The Third one really brought honor to us this time." She said with a smile, "Thinking back to the Lower Realm, who among us could have imagined that one day we would see Revered Master suffer such a big loss. This method of playing the victim and ambushing, even I have to take notes and study it carefully later."

Su Lin was supporting his waist, gulping down water.

Hearing this, he almost choked on the water in his windpipe.

Good grief.

Even Luo Ximei wanted to become an apprentice to learn.

Chu Weiwei waved her hands modestly, but the upturned corners of her mouth betrayed her pride, "My little tricks, how could they compare to yours."

"You can't say it like that." Han Yue sat upright on the stool, leisurely picked up her teacup and took a sip, her purple-gold phoenix robe not even slightly ruffled.

"Third Junior Sister's move, while seemingly unorthodox, actually possesses a deep understanding of the way of subduing the enemy." Her dignified tone sounded like she was commenting on a minister's achievements in the royal court, "I believe that being able to catch Revered Master off guard is a great contribution. Third Junior Sister should be rewarded."

When Su Lin heard this, his vision went black.

His Eldest Disciple, who usually valued rules and decorum the most, was now openly endorsing Chu Weiwei's crooked ways.

"Eldest Senior Sister is right." Gu Qiuyue hugged her Golden Abacus, her golden eyes spinning, "disciple just calculated an account. Third Senior Sister's move saved us so much trouble. Revered Master has been tamed into submission, and from now on, we disciples can stand a bit taller when we speak. This contribution is priceless."

She clicked the abacus beads twice, looking very serious.

"In this disciple's opinion, Third Senior Sister's contribution is enough to exchange for Revered Master cooking for us for a month."

Su Lin: ...

So in your eyes, I, the Revered Master, got tricked, and I even have to pay extra by cooking for a month to reward the meritorious official, right?

He supported his waist, his fingers trembling with anger, his already pale face flushed red.

"You... all of you..."

Seeing Su Lin like this, Su Hongling was overjoyed.

"Oh, Old Man, look at you, why the rush." She walked over boldly and patted Su Lin's shoulder heavily, "We're just praising the Third one. We're family, no need to be formal."

This pat was not trivial; Su Lin felt a soreness in his waist and almost couldn't stand steadily.

"Be gentle!" Su Lin gasped in pain.

"Oh, sorry, sorry." Su Hongling quickly withdrew her hand, but the smile on her face didn't diminish at all, "Forgot you were hollowed out last night and your body is weak."

"Pfft."

Luo Ximei on the side couldn't help it and burst out laughing.

"Second Senior Sister's words are blunt but true."

Mu Qingxue stood to the side, her light blue eyes calm and waveless.

But in her cold voice, there was a hint of awkwardness that others could hardly detect.

"Third Senior Sister has made a contribution, so she should indeed be rewarded." She paused, her eyes glancing at Chu Weiwei, who was clinging to Su Lin, "However, this contribution... there should be a system."

"It shouldn't be that Third Senior Sister gets to monopolize it every time."

As soon as these words were spoken, the row of stools became lively again.

"Is Seventh Junior Sister finally unable to hold back?" Su Hongling slapped her thigh, laughing happily, "I told you, your ice-cube face was about to turn red from holding it in."

"I did not." Mu Qingxue's eternal iceberg face cracked for once, and a blush quietly crept up her earlobes, "I just think that the rules shouldn't be broken."

"Yes, yes, yes, the rules shouldn't be broken." Luo Ximei laughed so hard she swayed, fearing no chaos, "In Seventh Junior Sister's opinion, how should this contribution be divided? Why don't you try brewing medicine for Revered Master next time?"

Mu Qingxue was rendered speechless and turned her head away, pretending to look at the swirling nebula in the sky.

Su Lin stood in the middle, watching these wicked disciples discussing how to take turns tricking him, and felt a surge of fishy, sweet blood rushing to his throat.

His life.

Starting from the Lower Realm at the Mahayana Peak, how glorious he was. He fought decisively all the way, and even the heavenly dao incarnation was forced back after he detonated himself. After Ascending to this Heaven Beyond Heaven, he even slapped away the Emperor who had ruled for ten thousand years.

And yet.

In the end, his greatest enemy turned out to be his own seven troublesome, wicked disciples.

And these girls not only wanted to trick him, but after tricking him, they also wanted to hold an awards ceremony to publicly comment, summarize experience, and fight for the next opportunity to trick him.

"Cough... cough cough..."

Su Lin clutched his chest and coughed violently. His face turned from red to white, and then from white to green.

"Revered Master?" Chu Weiwei was the first to notice something was wrong and leaned over, "What's wrong? Is your body still not recovered? Should Weiwei prepare another prescription for you?"

"Don't!"

Upon hearing the word 'prescription', Su Lin was so startled that his whole body shivered, and forgetting about his waist, he abruptly took a step back.

"Stay away from me!" He pointed at Chu Weiwei, his voice cracking, "Revered Master... Revered Master is fine. Revered Master is just... angry at you wicked disciples!"

"Old Man, don't be angry." Su Hongling continued to add fuel to the fire, "Anger hurts the body. Look, your body is already weak; what will you do if you get so angry you spit blood?"

"Exactly." Luo Ximei followed up with a knife, "Revered Master, if you get sick from anger, the loss will be huge. Who will cook for us and who will act as our Protector in the future?"

"You must take care of your health." Gu Qiuyue advised with a sincere face, her Golden Abacus still clicking in her hand, "After all, if you collapse, there will be no one to settle the expenses for our team."

Su Lin listened to these words of concern, only feeling that every word was like a needle pricking his heart.

This wasn't concern at all.

This was clearly trying to anger him to death.

He, a dignified Golden Immortal, felt the world tree in his Qi Sea shaking wildly, as if it were protesting for its Revered Master.

"Good... good..." Su Lin clutched his chest, so angry he couldn't even speak clearly, "A bunch of... a bunch of ingrates."

"Old Man, don't say that." Su Hongling chuckled and leaned over, wanting to support him, but fearing she would hurt his delicate waist, she retracted her hand halfway in embarrassment, "We are sincerely praising the Third one. If it were outsiders, who would have the ability to subdue you?"

"Subdue Revered Master..."

Su Lin only felt black spots dancing before his eyes.

Being publicly declared as tamed by his own disciples.

If this got out, where would he put his face?

The roots of the world tree were churning wildly in his Sea of Consciousness; that was a pure instinctive reaction to being infuriated.

"Pfft."

Finally, unable to suppress the stagnant blood, Su Lin spat out a small mouthful of fresh blood.

The blood droplets landed on the fluorescent grass, staining a leaf red.

The whole scene went silent.

"Old Man!" Su Hongling was startled, "How did you actually spit blood!"

"Revered Master!" Chu Weiwei was also panicked, her pride instantly vanished, and she hurriedly rushed up to support him, "Are you okay! Did I use too much medicine yesterday!"

Su Lin was surrounded by them, holding his waist, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

He looked at the faces full of concern before him—the same faces that, half a second ago, were excitedly discussing how to take turns tricking him.

"Revered Master..." Su Lin took a deep breath, trying to maintain the last shred of dignity, but his voice was trembling uncontrollably, "Revered Master is fine."

"You've already spit blood and you say you're fine." Chu Weiwei's eyes were red, "It's all Weiwei's fault. Weiwei will prepare the antidote for you right now, and brew a pot of the most nourishing medicinal meal to make it up to you."

"Don't!"

As soon as Su Lin heard the words 'medicinal meal', the blood he had just suppressed almost surged up again.

"Stop brewing!" He almost roared, "If you brew any more medicine, Revered Master will really die here!"

"Then... then should Weiwei massage your waist?" Chu Weiwei suggested pitifully.

"No need!"

Su Lin pushed away the disciples who had crowded around, supported himself against the wall, and shuffled toward the cabin, swaying with every step.

"All of you, disperse! No one is to bother me!"

"Revered Master needs to be quiet for a while..."

His lonely and aggrieved back, under the cold light of the colorful nebula, looked particularly wretched.

The disciples on the stools looked at each other.

"The Old Man is really angry." Su Hongling scratched her head.

"Indeed." Luo Ximei put away her folding fan, feeling a rare sense of guilt, "We seem to have... praised a bit too much."

Chu Weiwei looked at Su Lin's back as he supported himself against the wall and shuffled into the house, bit her lower lip, her purple eyes full of conflict.

She turned her head, looked at the fellow Senior Sisters, and lowered her voice.

"Um... next time we have a way to trick Revered Master, let's... discuss it quietly."

"Mm." The few of them nodded in unison, reaching an unprecedented consensus.

"Don't hold an awards ceremony in front of Revered Master again."

Inside the cabin, Su Lin sat with his back against the wall, breathing out a long, turbid breath.

The stagnant energy stuck in his chest was spat out along with the blood, and he felt a bit clearer. His waist still ached, but compared to the torture of being surrounded by those wicked disciples and praised as a contributor, this physical discomfort was simply not worth mentioning.

"Wicked karma."

He raised his hand to rub his brow.

The world tree in his Qi Sea stood quietly, its branches and leaves covered with the leaves of Laws representing the seven Daos. Each leaf corresponded to one of the wicked Disciples outside.

Su Lin stared at the tree for a long time, suddenly feeling it was somewhat funny.

Back then, he had single-handedly raised these seven girls from the Lower Realm, teaching them everything he knew, training them into figures who shook their respective regions. Now that they had Ascended to this Heaven Beyond Heaven, they had all stepped into the Golden Immortal realm, strong beyond measure.

But the price of this strength was that no one could control them anymore.

Including him, the Revered Master.

"Bang."

The wooden door of the cabin was gently pushed open.

Su Lin didn't even lift his eyelids.

"Revered Master said, no one is to bother me."

A head poked in through the door.

It was Mu Qingxue.

Her snow-white wide-sleeved fairy dress looked particularly cold in the dim light. Her light blue eyes no longer held their usual aloofness, but instead revealed a bit of caution.

"Revered Master." She spoke softly, "Disciple is not here to bother you."

Su Lin then lifted his eyes.

"What is it?"

Mu Qingxue walked in and closed the door behind her. She took a translucent white jade bottle from her sleeve and handed it to Su Lin.

"This is the Spirit-Calming Dew that this Disciple condensed with extreme cold energy." She lowered her eyes, her voice cold, "It can alleviate the fatigue of the Divine Soul and calm the Qi and blood. Revered Master... suffered grievances last night, this is more useful than those messy things."

Su Lin was stunned for a moment.

He took the jade bottle, pulled out the stopper, and a clear, cold energy rushed toward his face, which indeed made his churning Qi and blood feel much more relaxed.

"You are thoughtful." Su Lin took a sip, and the cool energy flowed down his throat all the way to his Dantian, and even his waist didn't ache as much.

Mu Qingxue stood in place and didn't leave.

Her light blue eyes stared at Su Lin's side profile, and after a long while, she spoke again.

"Revered Master, Disciple just now... did not mean to compete for credit with Third Senior Sister."

"You all..."

He was about to say something.

By the cabin window, there was another rustling sound.

Su Lin turned his head to look.

A red-haired head was stealthily poking in through the window.

Seeing she had been discovered, Su Hongling didn't hide, simply climbed in through the window, carrying a roasted, golden, oily beast leg in her hand.

"Old Man, I got you something to eat." She held the beast leg out in front of Su Lin, grinning, "You consumed a lot last night, you need to replenish. This is a Yao Beast I just hunted outside, it's fresh."