I ruffled Little Spring’s hair in revenge. He scowled up at me.

“Exactly like them. Good job pointing them out.”

“So what do we do next?”

“Watch them first, to find out their personality types, and make sure we have the right group.”

Of course, I could tell by the chicken-like spiritual beast that perched on a thin young man’s shoulder that this was the correct group. While I couldn’t remember the exact face of the Sect Leader’s nephew, I definitely remembered that vicious little spirit beast. It had scratched me a couple times when I was just a Qi Condensation cultivator in the 4th layer. And its scratches left a nasty itchy poison that took me a month to heal.

While I adored animals, spiritual beasts just did not like me. It was why I never made a contract with one in my past life. Frankly, I felt like one of those cat lovers that couldn’t own cats because they were allergic and their apartment had an evil no-pet policy.

But, as long as I kept my distance, they didn’t try to attack me... or run away from me in abject terror. Both reactions were exceedingly disconcerting.

But this particular chicken was a vicious little prick. So I’d need to keep my distance from that nephew.

That said, I easily recognized the little formation master, Fairy Third Peach Sapling, since she wore the traditional Formation Master’s Compass as a pendant. Her dark brown eyes were droopy and hooded. They constantly moved over everything as if expecting an attack at all times. She nibbled her bottom lip nervously.

Wait, nervous? Why was she nervous? Hadn’t she come along because she was into the Junior Sect Leader’s girlfriend and wanted to stop their relationship? Was she nervous because she was already planning ways to get rid of him and worried that she’d be discovered?

And speaking of being discovered... I moved Little Spring and myself closer to the wall where we could pretend to chat while we kept spying on the group without them noticing.

Hopefully.

My low-realm counter espionage skills were rustier than I remembered them being, so my espionage skills might be a bit rusty too.

A cool-looking, super-serious sword cultivator scanned the area with sharp eyes. That was the best friend, right?

He stood still, back straight, with perfect posture, and waited while the tired group behind him looked like the only thing that kept them standing straight was pride. I imagine that they pushed themselves hard to get here so fast.

Then there was the Junior Sect Leader who I picked out because, of the three men, he didn’t have a bird or the disposition of a sword cultivator. He also, while still tired, appeared chipper... well, chipper for someone who was on a desperate quest to save his master.

This guy had a sharp jawline the superheroes in comics would envy and a polite friendly smile.

“We’re staying for the night to rest up, but then we need to head out. For those not practicing grain liberation, I hear this inn has spiritual cuisine. Though it’s expensive. But that’s up to you. Just be aware that we’re only staying here for a short time, so spend it resting. Because there will be little rest once we head into that forest.

“Any questions?”

Ah, so that’s why everyone loved this guy. His caring yet firm attitude. Seriously, I‘d only just heard this one speech and thought he suited the Junior Sect Leader position. But that was just charisma.

I’d see if he was really as good in reality as most everyone claimed; if he was worth all the heartache. Because of his absence, the whole sect had remained in mourning for a year and then in depression for years after that.

I remembered what it was like in the sect when I first arrived. Most everyone moped about, depressed or upset. As someone who’d never met this guy, it was difficult for me to understand.

Could the absence of this one person really make a whole sect that suffocatingly depressing?

And that was when I saw the fiery blue hair of someone I hadn’t expected.

I grabbed Little Spring's arm on reflex. He looked at me like I was crazy and I laughed uncomfortably and released him.

“Sorry. I thought I just realized something shocking but I was mistaken,” I lied.

Because it was shocking.

Why the fuck was Fairy Blissful Jujube here?!

A realization hit me as connections I hadn’t given enough of a damn about before finally connected.

Fairy Blissful Jujube was, of course, the first wife of Bloodsword. He married her back when he seemed mostly normal. Of course, there were still signs back then that I didn’t recognize until later, but that was a different subject.

What happened between Blissful Jujube and that dumbass was actually an interesting story.

When we first entered the sect, she was the untouchable perfect (but still a little dense) ‘princess’ of the sect. She was the daughter of one of the sect elders and took another sect elder as her master. She had always seemed kind, gentle, and very sad.

The soulmate she’d planned to marry had passed away. Though, no one would say exactly who it was... and I didn’t exactly give enough of a shit to look too deeply into it.

Frankly, I only gathered this much information through various sources of gossip that I’d accidentally overheard. And even when she became the first wife, she never spoke of her dead fiancé.

So, by fiancé did they actually mean boyfriend and were just being polite? And the Junior Sect Leader was that boyfriend! Holy shit!

But I was getting off-topic again.

Years after being in the sect, I realized that almost every man (and a few of the women) had a crush on the pretty fairy with golden peach blossom eyes that exuded a delicate sadness.

My junior martial brother was no exception.

But the fairy refused all advances and said that she would never love again.

Then around when we were 16 and 18 and in the peak of Foundation Establishment, the sect sent us to a secret realm that had opened up. It was supposed to give us opportunities to advance to Golden Core.

This was also the same secret realm the nephew died in.

I managed to snag a spot due to my alchemy so I saw some of what happened... But, personally, I did not have a good time there.

In fact, I wanted to go there again just so I could kick the ass of every dickwad and spiritual beast that chased after me while I was stuck there. I mean, just because I snatched a spiritual fruit that could help a cultivator create a perfect golden core! Well, whatever. It was in the past... or rather, the future. Muahahaha!

Anyway, in those types of secret realms, as soon as one entered it they would be transported to a random location. This would also test the luck of the individual.

Bloodsword managed to get teleported to a spot near Fairy Blissful Jujube. They traveled the secret realm together and their relationship grew through the hardships they overcame. By the time the two returned, they were already quite close and even held hands in front of everyone.

Just this simple action caused the men attracted to Jujube to cry as their ’goddess’ had been stolen from them.

It also caused the women to rage at having their prospective husband taken from them by that perfect fairy. After all, if he had her, he would never want any of them.

A few years later, he married Blissful Jujube in a quiet ceremony and she joined our peak as his wife.

It was quite the adorable story of a depressed lonely woman finding love again after going through hell with one of her suitors...

At least it would have been if that suitor wasn’t the sociopathic asshole main character of a dumbass Xianxia harem novel.

Because once he had ‘captured’ Fairy Blissful Jujube, he left for another quest and brought home another wife. The nasty faithless fucker. Seriously.

At the time, while I wasn’t close to her, I still felt for her situation. I even brought her out to go drinking so she didn’t have to stay in the area while he and his second wife had their honeymoon.

I still remembered that brief conversation because it was one of the few interactions I had with that group of braindead idiots where I actually took the initiative to talk to them.

She had looked so sad and upset after seeing the new wife, as if she’d been betrayed.

And of course, when I got her alone and lubricated with good wine I asked, “Why don’t you just divorce him?”

After looking terribly shocked at my suggestion she gave me a sad smile and shook her head. “I swore to him that even if the sky fell I would be with him. That we would be husband and wife for the rest of this lifetime.”

I nodded, but I honestly didn’t understand that sentiment. If I married someone and they brought home another wife I would fucking straight-up murder the asshole. And if I couldn’t legally do that, then I would divorce his ass.... and then proceed to make his life a living hell... but I was spiteful like that. (That was also why I decided to just never have a relationship and save myself the trouble.)

That said, Bloodsword really did not understand healthy relationships.

I wasn't into poly romances but even I knew it was fucked up to bring home another spouse without talking things over with your first ones.

“So what you’re saying is that you can’t leave him, right?”

“I’ll never leave him.”

“Well, I mean, if he can have a second wife, then why can't you take a second husband?”

She coughed.

“What? This immortal world has poly relationships, there is no reason why you can’t legally take a second husband.”

She then proceeded to glare at me. “Are you trying to get me killed? Do you hate me that much?!” She then stormed off.

“What?” I rubbed my nose. “I thought it was a good idea.” I mean, if one person in the relationship didn’t remain faithful, then why should the other person?

Hold on... I think I’d heard of something like this... Was I... was I encouraging a Harem story to turn into an NTR story? No. No. He’d cheated first, after all.

I nodded, satisfied by my reasoning.

Of course, years later and after dealing with her husband’s various idiotic wives, Fairy Blissful Jujube turned into a vicious bitch.

However, now that I looked back on it, she had a point that my suggestion would have gotten her killed.

Protagonists of most harem novels were creepy hypocritical assholes like that... Demanding purity out of their wives while they became powerful bags of scum and feces.

And at this moment, that poor perfect (slightly dumb) girl was here as the Junior Sect Leader’s girlfriend.

I glared at Little Spring. He shrunk back, confused. Right, this kid was not that gross dumbass. And I’d make sure he never would be. I kindly patted his head.

And since I was already saving the Junior Sect Leader, I’d also save this poor girl from becoming the unloved first wife of a sociopathic asshole.

***

I studied the group as they went up to their rooms, especially our possible murderer, Fairy Third Peach Sapling.

As we followed them I noticed that her movements were all very... Well, she had a habit of trying to take up as little space as possible. If there was a wall, she’d practically hug it. If there was a corner, she’d go stand in it. If there was a room with only one bed, then she likely slept on the floor.

Frankly, if she purposefully killed the Junior Sect Leader then she had God Tier acting chops. I wasn't ruling that out entirely, but I thought it was more likely that she’d caused those deaths by accident.

Fairy Blissful Jujube entered a room and Fairy Third followed her in.

The sword cultivator and Glittering Iron entered another room.

And our dear Junior Sect Leader entered the last in this wing of the inn.

While staying mostly unnoticed, I waited to give him a good fifteen-minute break.

I also needed time to figure out how to convince this guy to bring two little children along with him on a dangerous sect mission.

Hell, even I wasn’t entirely sure bringing Little Spring was a good idea, and I’d trained him. But, I figured that we might need his protagonist's luck to get us through this.

As long as it was good luck.

When the protagonist's luck turned bad, things got deadly.

When I’d finally come up with something, I stormed up to the room and knocked loudly.

“Junior Sect Leader Unyielding Firestorm,” I called softly in my sweet little kid’s voice.

Very cautiously, he opened the door. Good work. It was never good to let one’s caution drop while away from the sect.

I smiled up at him and he stared at me in confusion.

That’s right, as the Junior Sect Leader he would have seen every new disciple's face, but he had never seen mine. This was the first time in two lifetimes that we met.

Also, at this range, I could tell that his bone age wasn’t high. He was probably in his very early twenties. So damn young.

I bowed. “Greetings Junior Sect Leader. I’m Lin and this is my Junior Martial Brother Little Spring. I’d like to come in and have a talk if you have a free moment. It would get awkward if we speak about things out here.” Little Spring grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I mean, we both would like to come in.”

“You’re not a member of my sect.”

I grinned wider. “No. Well, not yet. I’ll explain if you give me a chance.”

His face softened a little. Yep, I was just too cute. How could anyone with a soul deny my simple request?

“It’s not appropriate for a girl to be seen in a man’s room, even if her brother is with her. Let’s go somewhere else to talk.”

Ugh. Stupid ancient etiquette bullshit. Fine, whatever. At least, as a harem Xianxia, the rules of etiquette weren't as bad as an actual historical setting. Because fuuuuuuck that. Fuck it all the way to my original universe and back again.

***

We followed the Junior Sect Leader to the restaurant attached to the inn where they gave us a private room with a mediocre obfuscation formation built into it. He ordered spiritual tea and side dishes for us to share.

We waited patiently for our food to be served before I calmly said. “I’ll get right to the point. We were sent by my master to help you find the Resplendent Ochre Narcissus, the Five Petaled Windy Spider Orchid, and the Blood-Soaked Resonant Rhododendron. Because you will need the help of a formation master to get your hands on the Blood-soaked Resonant Rhododendron.”

His sharp eyes bore into me and a warning pressure fell upon us. In this world, there were two ways in which a cultivator could suppress those in a lower realm. One way was to use spiritual pressure, and the other was to use divine sense.

This guy used his divine sense to intimidate me. Unfortunately, for him, that kind of low-level pressure didn’t really work on me. But his divine sense did affect the kid.

Little Spring clutched my hand as his face paled.