They abruptly rose from their seat because of shock. "'forced'?!" they exclaimed.

Cheng Sheng opened his arms as he shrugged. "Who would appreciate something that will harm them?" he asked before he paused. "Ah. Unless it's a beauty – " he said before he looked at Fei Yin. Then, he meaningfully smiled. That cold expression… it made his hands itch to pinch Fei Yin's face again. "Anyway – " he said as he removed his gaze from Fei Yin. " – there are two things we can infer." He said.

"…" there it is. 'Cheng Sheng's Two Things'! They thought.

"One – " Cheng Sheng said as he raised a finger. " – Qie Shi knows it's a demonic poison yet he was forced to ingest it. Two – " he said and raised another finger. " – he didn't know it but he took it." He said before he paused. "It is likely to be the second one. Qie Shi is, after all, just a normal person aside from being a thief." He said.

They nodded in agreement. Basing from Wu Xi's words, Qie Shi is an ordinary person who knows nothing of the cultivation world –

Wu Xi raised the Thought Conveying Talisman and they saw another group of words appeared. "Qie Shi recognized me as a cultivator and called me 'daoshi'. It must likely he knew something in our world." He said.

"…" so it's the first one. They thought. "Do you know something more about Qie Shi?" they asked Wu Xi.

Wu Xi shook his head. "I only met him when he found me in the border of the Dongxin Town while he was picking herbs." He answered. "But, I noticed he seemed to be interested in our world." He said. He's referring to the cultivation world.

"He must be dreaming to be a cultivator." Li Tian said. "The children in the Dongxin Town is also talking about our world." He said.

Cheng Sheng felt his heart throbbed and his eyes watered. He rubbed his nose when it stung. "I'll definitely save him." He said as he balled his fists.

"Cheng-shidi…" they called and felt pity for Qie Shi.

Cheng Sheng felt his hand was held and he turned to see Fei Yin who nodded at him in encouragement. "Da shixiong…" he called before he lowered his head to hide his smile. Fei Yin squeezed his hand as an answer.

"Could it be…" Lei Ling spoke. "The demonic poison is related to that woman?" he asked and looked at them. "She's entangled with the demonic cultivators, and then the demonic poison appeared in the Dongxin Town." He explained.

Their eyes widened. "Lei-shidi, you're brilliant!" they exclaimed and patted Lei Ling on his shoulder.

"Hehehe…" Lei Ling shyly laughed and his face reddened. "I wanted to be like Cheng-shixiong who is smart." He answered and looked at Cheng Sheng.

"You've got ambition, shidi!" Cheng Sheng boisterously laughed as he hit Lei Ling's back.

"…" right. We forgot he's a brainless fan of Cheng Sheng. They thought.

Yu Sheng's shoulder shook as he held back his laughter while Zuo Zhe's face looked vacant as he looked at Lei Ling with his gaze as if looking at someone stupid. In the original novel, Lei Ling said he aspired to become a person like Fei Yin who is honest, just and kind. Now, Lei Ling is aspiring to be like Cheng Sheng who is a scum, a scum and a scum. Important things must be said thrice.

He placed a hand on his eyes when he felt they hurt. What has become of my novel now? He thought as he felt depressed. Since there's nothing he can do to change it, he just resumed eating. Yu Sheng considerately gave him the crab meat which is his favorite.

The others also resumed eating while Wu Xi hastily finished his food and went upstairs to check on Qie Shi. Then, he met Xiao Le, who just woke up, by the stairs. As if on cue, Shu Mu arrived by the entrance of the inn.

"Xiao Le!" Shu Mu cried when he saw Xiao Le whose hair hasn't been kept and his eyes are sore. "Good morning." He greeted the group in haste before he appeared in front of Xiao Le who had reached the bottom of the stairs.

Cheng Sheng and the others whose breakfast was interrupted again. "…" Can't we eat in peace? They thought. However, they also checked on Xiao Le whom Shu Mu was fixing his appearance like he's a doll.

Them who was about to greet Xiao Le earlier, only for their thunder to be stolen by Shu Mu. "..." Shu Mu, just what did you come here for so early in the morning? They thought and glared at Shu Mu who had finished fixing Xiao Le's clothes and hair in a rushed manner. "…" he's good. They thought after they saw Xiao Le returned to looking like the usual, aside from his sore eyes. Then, they felt this manner was familiar, and so they turned to Fei Yin.

Fei Yin who's fixing Cheng Sheng's appearance every morning. "..." He definitely learned it from me. He thought as he glared at Shu Mu.

Shu Mu who had seemed to notice their gaze turned to them and smiled. "Sorry for suddenly barging in. I want to visit Xiao Le." He explained.

"…" you're already here. How can we still invite you inside? They thought and secretly rolled their eyes.

"Xiao Le." Cheng Sheng called. "Good morning. How are you feeling now?" he asked.

Xiao Le turned to Cheng Sheng and he felt embarrassed. "I am fine now… shifu." He said and shyly lowered his head.

They all warmly smiled as they patted Xiao Le's head. Shu Mu who was pushed away from Xiao Le even though he's the first to approach Xiao Le. "…" hey. Can we talk? Do you bear a grudge against me?

"We still haven't exchanged cups to accept you as my disciple. I still haven't formally become an elder of accept, thus, currently I am unqualified." Cheng Sheng explained as he sighed. "You can still continue to call me 'shixiong'." He told Xiao Le.

Xiao Le's face burned. "T-thank you, Cheng-shixiong…" he said and smiled.

Cheng Sheng nodded. "Xiao Le." Li Tian called. "Are you going to enter the fourth stage?" he asked.

Xiao Le nodded. "Yes." He answered.

Shu Mu's eyes widened when he heard Xiao Le's answer and he immediately tore through them to reach Xiao Le. "Xiao Le!" he called, his voice laced with anger and he felt upset. "You know that the fourth stage is too dangerous!" he told him as he grabbed his shoulder. "You can't enter the fourth stage!" he told him. This is the reason why he went in the Yunxiao Inn to see him very early in the morning.

"Mu-ge…" Xiao Le called. "But, I have to." He said.

Shu Mu looked at Xiao Le in disbelief. "You – !" he said as his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Xiao Le must be hungry. Let's eat first." Sun Yi said to ease the tension that rose in the air.

"Have you already eaten?" Chen Han asked Shu Mu as Lei Qing, You Rou and Lei Ling immediately pulled Xiao Le away when they saw Shu Mu's face darkened.

"Shu Mu." Cheng Sheng called. They turned to him. "My brother is asking you. Immediately answer so we can give you a share." He told Shu Mu.

Shu Mu and the others who thought Cheng Sheng would be upset at Shu Mu. "..."

"I haven't." Shu Mu answered and his stomach growled.

"Alright. Let's eat breakfast first before we talk. Hunger affects your reason." Cheng Sheng said and they all sat to resume eating.

As if a coincidence, the two remaining seats for Xiao Le and Shu Mu are adjacent. "…" the tension in the air returned.

"Let's eat." Fei Yin said as the servants immediately served Shu Mu and Xiao Le their food.

Not long after and Xie Lan, Wu Yuan and Chen Jing arrived. "Food!" Xie Lan and Chen Jing exclaimed and were about to sit when they saw there are two new guests. They could only sit on the other table with Wu Yuan to eat their breakfast.

"The Alliance is summoning all the contestants that will be entering the fourth stage." Wu Yuan spoke as their food was served.

Xiao Le's eyes lit up before they dimmed when he saw Shu Mu glared at him. "…" he was forced to swallow his food.

"…" these two. They thought and sighed.

"Will they discuss the countermeasure against the demonic cultivators?" Chen Han asked.

Chen Jing nodded. "Yes." He answered. "We can't have another demonic cultivator interrupting the competition. We've been lucky Jie Mei has been dealt with before, but we can't be too sure now." He explained.

Xie Lan nodded. "They're planning big, this time. I'm afraid – " he said. " – there will be more casualties than the last time." He told them.

They all looked at each other before they nodded. "We will stick closer to each other to ensure our safety." Cheng Sheng said. "We can't be careless again." He said.

One wrong move and it'll be their head that will roll instead of the demonic cultivators'.