For a brief few moments, Han Xuhan had found himself caught in a bind. Yuen Zhou's behaviour made it apparent that some issue had cropped up beyond his perception. The way she had pushed him out was enough of a clue. Her palms, both of which she had pressed on his back insistently, left imprints on his clothes due to excessive sweat.

Yuen Zhou had many characteristics. Being a shallow, nervous actor and a rude host were, however, out of that list.

Was she under pressure from somebody? Why would anyone covet the weight allotment scheme of the Celestial Gateway spell? What could they possibly achieve with that?

Accompanied by those complex concerns, Han Xuhan had tiptoed back to Yuen Zhou's hut.

What did she say about expensively modified doors?

BOOMMM!

The door was kicked open brutally once again, despite being half open already.

Firstly, if Yuen Zhou was under external compulsion by an unfriendly force, he did not want to end up barging in there like a thief and catch this opponent. The fact that Yuen Zhou was under their control meant that this party had to be considerably powerful. Wouldn’t attempting to face them just spell his demise? Permanently shutting him up was a piece of cake for any cultivator worth their qi.

It was a better strategy to boorishly make his presence known and stick to his character template. If anyone sensed his return, they'd have ample time to hide and feel like they've avoided his detection.

Secondly, even if someone was actually manipulating Yuen Zhou and controlling her actions, there had to be limits they couldn't break. Yuen Zhou's particular emphasis on the door was intriguing. Could that have been a 'real' warning?

What's so special about the door, eh? Am I about to find out?

It was risky, but somebody had to test the waters...and who better was capable of such risk other than Zhanxian?

Han Xuhan would obviously never do such a dangerous job himself. He had simply asked Zhanxian to kick the door, promising to cancel his summon as soon as the job was done. He himself stood outside her yard, cautiously watching the surroundings while he let out a shout.

"Sister Zhou, we never discussed what I would get in return for helping you!"

For the second time that day, Han Xuhan found himself freezing momentarily under an invisible, hostile gaze. The first time, he had assumed that Yuen Zhou was the source of the chilling intuition...perhaps that wasn’t the case.

The intuition disappeared immediately, but he still cancelled Zhanxian's summon and got ready to scream for help.

Yuen Zhou walked out of the hut in a slow, measured gait, her face a display of strained emotions which, he was pretty sure, was artificial. Was she trying to convey the gravity of the situation without any words?

"Martial brother! I didn’t know you were this selfish! You wouldn’t help your poor martial sister without any remuneration?" She sounded extremely hurt! Tears began to pour down her eyes as she raised a shaking finger towards him in accusation!

And that cemented Han Xuhan's belief that Yuen Zhou truly was acting. Moreover, the fact that she was taking her double-layered acting this far meant the situation is dire.

Based on their dealings in the past, he had a mutual understanding with her when it came to working together. Yuen Zhou respected the rule of equivalent exchange as much as he did. There was no way she would not expect him to demand a payment.

"Ahahaha, you're just being unreasonable now, martial sister. Sure, I could help you without getting anything in return...but what would that prove? That I really cherish you? I'm sure you know that already! So why do I need to re-establish that?" He replied with a confident grin, doing his absolute best to spout an impactful volley of 'logic'.

"Let's keep it real, martial sister. Since you need me to do something you can't, why don't you agree to a demand of mine and leave both of us satisfied?"

Han Xuhan delivered the dirtiest smile he could create on his face right at that moment, his gaze roving over her body unbridled.

He felt an overwhelming amount of pride in his delivery, seeing Yuen Zhou's absolutely befuddled expression.

And then, quite suddenly, he felt an overwhelming amount of panic.

Suffocation wasn't quite an adequate word to describe the way his five senses were deafened unstoppably. Vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste, all gone one after one, making him recall the memories of teleportation in the Holy Land of Laws.

A moment later, he lost grip on his memories as well, unable to recall the exact details of that Holy Land of...what? He began to struggle to remember...

Wait, who am I?

For a terrifying second, Han Xuhan even forgot his identity. But it only lasted a second, as his memories, senses and control over his body returned simultaneously.

A thumping noise came from inside Yuen Zhou's house. Somewhat dazed, Han Xuhan noticed the door of the hut tremble.

Yuen Zhou had whipped around at some point during his muddleheadedness, rushing back inside her hut, only to come to a sudden halt as she noticed the door's movement as well.

"Did I just sense someone teleport ?"

The voice belonged to someone both martial siblings were familiar with.

Kong Ye walked into Yuen Zhou's yard, seemingly having appeared out of thin air.

Great work, little Tian!

Relief flooded Han Xuhan as he realized that his backup had arrived. The first thing he had done after leaving Yuen Zhou's house was to order the fastest of his minions to call for help. Using Zhanxian to make a scene hadn't exactly been a wise thing to do. But in the heat of the moment, it had given him immense satisfaction to think how his actions had affected the enemy's movement...

Wait a second...did I just push myself into line of fire once again?

Han Xuhan cursed whatever enlightenment had caused this change in his cautious nature. Why did he keep walking into such messes voluntarily? Why is flustering my opponents so much fun?

Thankfully, Kong Ye's home was close by. The man had arrived just in time to save his ass.

The cultivator who had attacked him must have escaped after sensing Kong Ye approaching!

Hah! Want to pick a fight with me?

Over my master's dead body!

Plus my martial siblings' dead bodies as well!

Maybe the entire sect too...

"Disciple Zhou..." Kong Ye beckoned at the half-confused, half-relieved lass, his gesture obvious.

"It was a disciple from one of the sects in the tournament, teacher. He had been hiding inside when I returned from your residence. After a brief contest of abilities, he used some sort of a treasure to summon a shadow with unfathomable power. They were attempting to interrogate me when martial brother Xuhan appeared, forcing me to act as if everything was normal. It is brother Xuhan's credit that he understood something was off and brought you here so fast!" Appearing tired, Yuen Zhou took a deep breath, staggering toward her porch and sat down, hands massaging her temples.

Han Xuhan's eyebrows shot up in surprise. So he had guessed it right! But what was up with the door, though?

Kong Ye seemed to share his suspicion, walking over to it and touching it cautiously.

"Did you see them escape?" he asked the two of them.

"I was blinded temporarily," Han Xuhan replied honestly.

"They were already gone when I turned around," Yuen Zhou responded.

Kong Ye quickly searched through the entire hut while his qi covered every inch of the surface of the door. But his gloomy expression after the search had ended told them it had been futile labor.

"I can't sense anything special about the door except some...expensive talismans. Where did you get those?" he asked Yuen Zhou.

"Inheritance left by my previous teacher, back in the mortal world." Her explanation didn't appear to be contradictory to what they knew of her past.

"Did you figure out which sect the invader was from?" Kong Ye made his final inquiry before he was about to leave.

"Heaven knows!" Throwing up her hands in the air in frustration, Yuen Zhou sighed.

"Well, this seems like a pretty normal case of invasion by our opponents in this round. I'll talk to the consultant and see if what this invader did was permissible. How can kids be allowed to summon powerful guardians in a friendly competition..."

Sounding pissed off, Kong Ye left in the blink of an eye.

Han Xuhan was about to follow suit, but Yuen Zhou raised a hand and gestured at him to sit down beside her.

". . ."

". . ."

An awkward silence ensued as both of them stared at the horizon past their mountain peak.

Did I go too far with the lechery back there?

Han Xuhan couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"Brother Xuhan..."

"Yeah, about that comment back then-"

"Get me the weight allotment scheme. Name your price."

"?!?"