Is It Wrong to Bully the Novice Village for System Rewards?

Chapter 210: The Last Banquet Was Enjoyed by Both Host and Guests, Nothing Happened

Time passed.

Nether Fiend Sect. Inner Sect, Situ Yan’s Cave Estate.

Qi Yuan woke slowly from his stupor. His head throbbed with a dull ache, forcing him to shake it vigorously. He frowned, his vision swimming.

“What happened?”

He struggled to open his eyes. The scene that greeted him was one of utter devastation.

The hall was a wreck. Porcelain shards littered the floor. The heavy white jade table had been flipped over. It looked like a hurricane had passed through the banquet.

More bizarrely, the magnificent hall was empty. Aside from him, there wasn’t a soul in sight.

“Where… where am I?”

Staring at the familiar yet strange surroundings, Qi Yuan strained his memory, trying to piece together the fragments of the last hour.

I was invited to Situ Yan’s cave… She tried to seduce me… I refused… She served a banquet…

Then… my vision blurred. I was in a forest… surrounded by strange, evil dwarves…

Wait. The evil dwarves were looking at me with malicious intent. One of them was particularly strong. I had to use my full power to suppress them… and then I woke up.

As the memories crystallized, cold sweat erupted on Qi Yuan’s forehead. His heart hammered against his ribs.

Holy sht!*

Did I just wipe out Situ Yan’s entire household while tripping on magic mushrooms?!

Terrified by the thought, he sprang from the floor and dashed out of the hall, searching the estate room by room.

Soon, he found them. In a side chamber, a dozen maidservants lay on the floor, bound tightly with ropes, their mouths gagged with strips of cloth.

Seeing him enter, they began to struggle frantically, their eyes wide with abject terror.

It’s true. My worst nightmare came true.

Seeing this “spectacular” scene, Qi Yuan’s last shred of hope shattered. His face turned as black as charcoal.

He quickly deduced the chain of events:

Situ Yan had drugged the food to entrap him. He, in a moment of carelessness, had fallen for it and entered a hallucinogenic state.

But Situ Yan had miscalculated one thing: Qi Yuan wasn’t a weak Foundation Building disciple. He was a peak Nascent Soul cultivator with a Heavenly Dao Nascent Soul.

Even hallucinating, his instincts were lethal. When the “dwarves” attacked, he fought back with full power. Situ Yan, a mere mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, didn’t stand a chance. As for the maids? They were collateral damage. He had tied them up like zongzi dumplings in a matter of seconds.

Damn it!

I’ve been so careful! So low-key! And now I’ve exposed myself because of a fruit salad!

How am I supposed to pretend to be a weakling now? This is a disaster!

He squatted down next to a trembling maid and yanked the gag from her mouth.

“Woooo! Let me go! HELP! MURDER!”

The maid screamed as if she were facing a primordial beast. To her, this man was a monster. Even in a crazed state, he had crushed their Mistress effortlessly. He was a demon among demons.

“Shut up!”

Qi Yuan glared at her, his voice cold.

“If you want to live, tell me exactly what happened. And where is Situ Yan?”

He had checked the room; only the maids were here. Had Situ Yan escaped? If she had, he was finished.

Intimidated by his aura, the maid shut her mouth, trembling.

“J-just now… you stood up and started screaming about… about evil female dwarves surrounding you…”

“…Then you captured us all. And… you stuffed Mistress into your Qiankun Bag. You said… you said you wanted to ‘study the anatomy of the dwarf queen’…”

What the hell is wrong with my subconscious?!

Qi Yuan’s expression twisted into a mask of pure awkwardness.

I just drank a cup of wine! How did it turn into this?

However, he felt no sympathy. Situ Yan had tried to trap him; she deserved what she got.

He steadied himself and unhooked the Qiankun Bag from his waist.

Unlike a standard Storage Bag, a Qiankun Bag could hold living things. However, it was cramped, dark, and uncomfortable—essentially a portable prison cell. For a proud daughter of heaven like Situ Yan, being stuffed inside like a pet beast was the ultimate humiliation.

Qi Yuan carefully extended his Divine Sense into the bag.

Sure enough, there she was. Situ Yan, bound hand and foot, lay unconscious in the dark space. Her dress was disheveled, her hair a mess, and her face flushed red. She looked pitiful.

At least she’s alive.

Qi Yuan exhaled a long breath of relief.

Situ Yan was a Legacy Disciple and the heiress of the Situ Clan. Her Soul Lamp would be closely monitored. If she died, the sect would send investigators instantly. He couldn’t kill her.

He narrowed his eyes. Purple light swirled in his pupils as he activated the Thousand Illusions Demonic Pupil. He looked at the maid.

“Listen to me. The banquet was a success. Everyone was happy. Nothing bad happened.”

“After ‘Big Qi’ left, your Mistress, Situ Yan, gained a sudden enlightenment. She has returned to the Situ Clan’s ancestral grounds for Secluded Cultivation. She will not return for some time. Everything in the cave remains as usual…”

Under the hypnotic power of the demonic eye, the maid’s struggle ceased. Her eyes glazed over, and she nodded mechanically.

“Yes… Mistress is in seclusion…”

Qi Yuan repeated the process with every maid in the room.

Silencing them permanently was too risky; Situ Yun knew he was here. Mass murder would draw too much attention to Ji Chan’er. Brainwashing them to maintain a facade of normalcy was the safer play. It would buy him time.

As long as he dealt with Situ Yan herself, the problem was solvable.

Qi Yuan sighed, tidied up the scene, and vanished in a flash of light.

He had a meeting with Old Ginseng tonight. The heist was about to begin. He couldn’t be late.

As for Situ Yan… he would deal with her later. He was confident that with enough “patient persuasion,” he could “enlighten” the demonic enchantress.