Yao Ranran looked at him in surprise.
Mu Xin's smile did not fade in the slightest. The way he gazed at her carried only contempt and disdain.
Yao Ranran rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Since you're not afraid of death, then I cannot simply kill you. I'll just have to torment you slowly."
Lu Ziqian leaned against the wall, the corner of his mouth twitching violently.
Every blow landed on Mu Xin's soul, but the pain was shared by his body as well!
Mu Xin sneered. "I'm not afraid. As long as your disciple is here, no matter how you torment me, I can endure it!"
Yao Ranran lifted one of Lu Ziqian's hands. "And what about this? Does it hurt now?"
Lu Ziqian stared blankly at his own palm. A small lotus bloomed from within, and in an instant, agonized, piercing screams rang through his mind.
He instinctively clutched his ears, but it was useless.
"Master, I don't feel pain… but he must be suffering greatly…"
Lu Ziqian still hadn't figured out when this intruder had entered his body. He had been struck senseless by Yao Ranran before, and only now regained a sliver of clarity.
Yao Ranran pressed another lotus into his palm.
Gradually, Lu Ziqian adapted to the wailing in his mind. Slowly, his hands fell back down.
"Master, who… who is he?"
His innocent gaze fell on Yao Ranran, confusion written across his face.
Yao Ranran gritted her teeth with hate. "He is my enemy, a merciless killer who devoured countless treasures!"
Lu Ziqian: "…"
Master's resentment feels a little heavy… should he even be speaking right now?
"You… you… you're a White Lotus!" Mu Xin's fragile soul curled up inside the sea of consciousness, raising a trembling finger at Yao Ranran in horror.
Slap!
Yao Ranran struck his head to the side.
"What White Lotus? You dare curse me as a White Lotus?"
Lu Ziqian muttered, "But Master really does look like a white lotus flower…"
Yao Ranran shot him a glare so sharp that he instantly clamped his hand over his mouth and dared not speak further. What was wrong with being compared to a white lotus? Master was so beautiful, even this merciless killer thought she looked like one. Why would she be angry?
Lu Ziqian scratched his head. He vaguely recalled Ming Tian saying before his death: a woman's thoughts are not to be guessed. If you try, you'll only be beaten harder.
He hurriedly shut his mouth.
Demons were rarely reliable, but this time he suspected Ming Tian had been right.
"White Lotus… a twelfth-rank White Lotus…"
Mu Xin kept shouting hysterically.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Yao Ranran's hand fell even more viciously.
"Say 'White Lotus' one more time and see what happens!"
"Wh… White Lotus!"
Slap!
Yao Ranran spent half an hour tormenting Mu Xin until he fainted.
Sitting on the palace steps, she gazed at Lu Ziqian's battered body. Heart aching, she pulled out a pouch of spirit stones and tucked it into his arms.
"Good disciple, take these and recover your body."
Lu Ziqian forced a smile, placing the pouch back in her hands. "Master, this disciple already has spirit stones."
He removed the storage ring from his swollen finger and poured out a small pile.
"Master, here are also the supreme-grade spirit stones you gave me before. I only dared use three. The remaining two…"
He scratched his head sheepishly. "This disciple has nothing good to offer, but I wanted to keep these two supreme-grade stones as heirlooms. I want the descendants of the Lu family to pass them down, so that they'll always remember Master's guidance."
Yao Ranran froze.
She had never imagined Lu Ziqian would treasure her gifts so much.
Supreme-grade spirit stones were indeed precious, but she already possessed a supreme-grade spirit vein. She would never lack them in the future.
In fact, she had nearly forgotten about the five stones she'd once gifted him. With a sigh, she rummaged through her storage ring and grabbed several handfuls of supreme-grade stones, placing them in his hands.
"Disciple, keep these. Listen to your master. Heirlooms cannot be so shabby. Once I unify the Eastern Wilderness, I'll seize—no, find—something even better for the Lu family to pass down."
Lu Ziqian's jaw dropped as he cradled the mound of stones that nearly spilled from his palms, eyes wide in disbelief.
"These… these are all supreme-grade spirit stones?"
He almost doubted his own eyes.
Could it be Mu Xin was still controlling his body?
"Yes," Yao Ranran said lightly. "I didn't tell you before, but the female cultivator who captured Ye Nantian, slew Yuchi Hai, and gained the supreme-grade spirit vein was me."
She also handed him the treasures she had taken from Ye Nantian's ring.
Looking at his badly wounded state, she paused, then gave him part of the spoils she had seized from Yu Zhenyan's ring as well.
Lu Ziqian's arms were overflowing with treasures and glittering stones. Suddenly, his pain vanished, even the screaming in his mind grew faint. He had never felt such clarity.
"Master, this disciple cannot accept so much. Why not beat that merciless killer Mu Xin again instead?"
Only then could he have the face to accept all this!
Yao Ranran glanced at him, leaning forward with his head raised as if begging for a beating. If not for the utter clarity in his eyes, she might have thought Mu Xin had seized control again.
She raised her hand, palm down, and just as Lu Ziqian closed his eyes to brace for a blow, she gently placed it on his head and patted him.
"Good disciple. Your master still has plenty more. If this is not enough for you, just ask, and I will give you more."
This disciple had endured much, and he had helped her in unifying the Eastern Wilderness. It was only right that he shared in the spoils.
Lu Ziqian looked up in shock. He could feel the warmth of her soft palm, reaching into the deepest parts of his heart.
"Master…" His voice broke.
Yao Ranran smiled. "No need to thank me. I understand everything."
"Master… you're too rich!"
Lu Ziqian, who had lived half his life in poverty, finally bowed down before the sheer weight of wealth. It was simply too much!
Cradling the dazzling piles of treasures and stones, he broke into tears.
Yao Ranran: "…"
Well… his reaction was both expected and unexpected at the same time.
"White… White Lotus… su… supreme-grade stones… treasures… so many treasures…"
Mu Xin still writhed inside the sea of consciousness. Through Lu Ziqian's eyes, he saw the treasures before him and muttered endlessly.
"Mine… they're all mine…"
If he could seize these, he would fully control the body.
Then even this White Lotus before him would not be his match!
"Aaahhhh!" Mu Xin howled in despair.
"We must return quickly," Yao Ranran said. "There are still Piao Miao Sect and You Yan Gate to settle. Mu Xin won't be able to emerge for a while after the lesson I gave him. Let's go."
She placed several Azure Lotus blooms in Lu Ziqian's palm, collected the white jade tiles he had pried loose, summoned her flying boat, and returned to the Eastern Wilderness.
…
"Senior Brother, a disciple has found the sect master of You Yan Gate!"
Li Qingtin rushed into the main hall, reporting Hao Yinqin's whereabouts without pause.
====
Just a quick little note so everyone's on the same page.
When Mu Xin calls Yao Ranran a "White Lotus" in this chapter, he's being literal. He's referring to the actual, spiritual plant species—you know, the true body of Yao Ranran. If you forget, in previous chapter was talk about her 'background' as 'incarnation' of The Twelve-petaled World-Purifying White Lotus.
Yao Ranran, however, hears "white lotus" and immediately thinks of the modern slang term. For anyone who needs a refresher (or who skipped my note way back when), a "white lotus" is a trope for a character who seems innocent and pure on the outside but is actually manipulative and scheming on the inside.
If you want more details, I explained the whole "white lotus" trope in the notes under Chapter 1!