Neither Liu Feng nor I had ever met this girl. I had no idea who this girl was, but experiences from both of my worlds and even my instincts hinted that she had a screw or two loose. Even without said experiences, she had not bothered hiding her craziness.
My first thought immediately moved toward her being related to the inner disciple who had bothered me. It would fit well also — the arrogant young master and his eccentric sister.
"I want you in my group," she stated aloud, then leaned in and whispered, "Do not worry, your cute cousin sent me. She... convinced me I should recruit you and give you some leeway."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and the girl released her grip on my shoulder. She had no reason to lie; the difference in strength between us was too big for such games. As she scanned the surroundings, she introduced herself, "By the way, my name is Song Song. You can call me Little Song if you want, that's what people used to call me back in the day."
Back in the day? How far back were we talking? When she was a kid?
"Yes, honorable senior," I answered politely, performing the customary bow, clasping my palms and fists together in respect.
It seemed I also had to keep an eye out for my fellow Liu Clan members participating in the entrance exams. It appeared even the Liu Clan had pulled strings to involve me in these matters.
"Fatso, you're my next team member," she called out. "It seems like you two know each other."
My chubby friend mirrored the same respectful bow, saying, "Thank you for this opportunity, honorable senior."
"Yes, you should be glad I have allowed you to amuse me. Fat cultivators are rare," she chuckled, her laughter sounding like a crazy cackle. "It would be quite amusing to see some monstrous beast eat someone as fat as you. I have never seen a monstrous beast get so full they could no longer eat anymore."
My chubby friend trembled, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow. He looked ready to cry, and when Song Song noticed, her smile widened even further, a nasty gleam crossing her face. Even the bystanders took a step back, realizing that sticking around might be dangerous.
Before the situation could escalate, I stepped between my friend and the crazy girl. Putting on one of the politest smiles I could muster, I intervened, "Honorable Senior Song, I believe we should have the opportunity to select the rest of our team members. We wouldn't want to end up with the weakest team, would we?"
The smile slipped off her face. Though she no longer bared her teeth, the intensity of her crazed gaze multiplied severalfold, sending a chill down my spine.
Perhaps I shouldn't have intervened?
"Do you think that if I desired someone for my team, another inner disciple would dare to take them?" She chuckled as if amused by the notion. "Whoever I want, I can have. If anyone intervenes, as soon as we are beyond these walls, I will... deal with them permanently."
Did she just hint she would kill someone with everyone around us as witnesses?
With the heightened senses of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the elder atop the wall likely heard her mention killing inner disciples. While outer disciples might receive some leniency in killing each other, inner disciples were an entirely different matter. They were the future of the sect.
She scanned the surroundings, her gaze settling on some inner disciples who were already forming teams. Song Song smiled at them and asked, "Would any of you dare to take what I desire?"
Some met her gaze, while others averted their eyes. Regardless, it was evident that even the inner disciples felt discomfort with her attention.
After an uncomfortably long silence, during which one could hear a pin drop, Song Song sighed and pointed at several individuals around her. "You, you, you... and you. You're all on my team now."
She selected eighteen other people randomly!
Many winced upon being chosen, though half a dozen appeared excited. That was a facet I preferred not to delve into.
Were some individuals so desperate for attention from an attractive woman that they ignored obvious red flags?
...Who was I kidding? Of course, some were. In my previous life, I encountered individuals with a penchant for eccentric partners. Often, it stemmed from a lack of experience. Given the opportunity to date someone crazy, they'd soon realize they'd signed up for potential car keying or stalking.
After that whole debacle, everything returned to normal, and the entire crowd was divided into ten teams of twenty, each with an inner disciple as their leader.
"Your team leaders will explain what you have to do. Now, you can set off!" announced the elder, and one by one, the teams dashed away.
Every team except ours moved, and Song Song turned around, raising a questioning brow before a displeased look clouded her face. "Most of you are painfully average, and there is little among you who can entertain me."
Our team walked out of the gates and into the grassy lands, the trees in the distance no longer as lush or green as I remembered them. As we neared the forest, Song Song looked at me and called out, "Liu Feng, come with me for a second. There's something I want to discuss."
A handful of disciples eyed me with jealousy.
What did they expect? That she would engage in something inappropriate with me here?
But most sighed in relief that they weren't chosen, while my chubby friend looked ready to cry, praying for my well-being under his breath.
"Come on now, I don't have all day," she gestured for me to follow as she walked away.
I trailed behind, keeping a cautious distance. While it wouldn't necessarily prevent her from acting impulsively, it offered some reassurance against sudden aggression.
Sure, she was attractive, but she was undeniably unstable.
Once we were far enough, she stopped, and without any prompting, I pointed a finger at the ground, immediately conjuring a translucent array around us. She frowned, but soon a small smirk played on her lips. "Aha, an Array Conjurer. I don't know much about Arrays, but casting one without chants, hand seals, or a ritual. You're quite skilled at this, aren't you?"
"I'm mediocre at best," I replied.
It seemed displaying these abilities had the intended effect. While she appeared indifferent to any power I might possess, Song Song was evidently self-centered, caring only about her own inclinations. I had shown her that if she ever entertained the urge to harm me, she should reconsider.
"An Array Conjurer could make things a whole lot more convenient."
"What level are you?" she inquired while touching the array, but her hand slipped straight through it.
"Barely level one. I only started learning about it recently," I explained.
She walked out of the array and looked at me. "Oh, this is interesting."
Then she walked back in. "A silencing array, skillfully cast so I can still hear what's happening outside, but no one can listen to any sounds inside. Casting such a thing while skipping rituals, hand seals, and chants. You're way more interesting than I thought."
Yeah, so please don't try to kill me on impulse. It was clear that my relatives in the inner Sect and this crazy individual had some kind of deal. But I would have to be a vegetable not to see that she wasn't the type to keep her end of the deal at even the slightest inconvenience.
Also, what kinds of people were my relatives associating themselves with?
"Anyway, this is all very interesting. But that isn't the reason why I called you here."
Relief washed over me. For a moment, I thought Song Song would ask how someone like me could skip so many steps of the ritual.
That would have opened a can of worms I would have had to wriggle my way out of.
Under normal conditions, casting a silencing array like this would be next to impossible for me. But in this silent forest, with little noise and dead trees, the Qi around here was different and almost perfect for creating this kind of array.
Now that I could sense Qi, the whole Array Conjuring thing made a lot more sense. Array Conjuring was the art of preparation, and with the right environment, one's arrays would appear on a whole other level depending on where they were.
"Liu Qian told me to give you some leeway in this mission. So I will turn a blind eye to certain things you will do, and if you need to kill anyone, try not to make it so obvious where I will have to take responsibility," she stated with a cold look in her eyes, more serious than usual. "For us inner disciples, this mission is to showcase our leadership qualities. To prove to the Sect that we're worthy of leadership positions in the future."
She wanted to be a leader? That didn't match her demeanor at all. But people often had hidden depths beyond what was shown on the surface.
"I don't give a shit about leadership or anything like that. The most important thing here is becoming powerful enough where others won't dare say anything, even if I decided to step up as the Sect Leader," she stated confidently, shattering all of my assumptions. "But my teacher will complain if I do something terrible. So try and keep your murders unseen, and if you kill someone, make sure I'm nearby so I can take the blame for it. Nobody will think I'm lacking leadership qualities or can't control my team. After all, me killing someone is not that weird."
People who often talked about killing were usually just trying to show off. If someone wanted to really kill, they would do it silently and be done with it.
Despite those preconceptions, as I looked at the girl, there was something about her so wild that it shattered all my preconceptions about people.
Yeah, it would be better if I never got on her bad side.
"I understand, honorable senior," I nodded. "From now on, I give you my word that I will never shame you while we are on the same team."
"Wow, you're such a stick in the mud, even with all that skill," she shook her head in disappointment. "What's with the official-sounding speech?"
I would rather stay boring than become her version of exciting.