A few seconds had passed by since Ye Ming tried to run away. It was just a pity that without any cultivation base, Qing Lan was able to easily catch up to him and stop his path.
"Please don't make things difficult for me, Young Master." She smiled bitterly and pleaded.
Despite having a superior cultivation base from him, she was still extremely tame and humble. She didn't dare to even injure him.
And that was precisely what one called status.
His status was power and because of that, Ye Ming was even more determined to avoid dumping himself into some pool and endure pain.
"Nuh-uh. I'm not a sadist or a masochist. Cultivators love injuring themselves and call it an improvement, but they are just insane people." He exclaimed.
Prior to coming to this cultivation world, he would fear needles— needles that caused splintering in the skin. The pain of having a splinter stuck very deep in your skin and was difficult to pull out, was traumatizing enough.
Now just imagine the same situation, but with multiplied splinters stabbed in your body.
He was not a coward, but rather a realistic man.
"Young Master… please. If you refuse to cleanse yourself, then the Madam will punish me instead." Qing Lan flashed a pitiful look, seemingly trying to gain his sympathy.
Unfortunately, she underestimated him heavily.
Indeed, Qing Lan was a top-notch so-called jade beauty, but as an author who wrote so many of them in a heartbeat, he was quite numb to the scene.
"Then you may get punished. I doubt Mother would kill you or anything. I'll just pray for you in my chamber." Ye Ming yawned.
"Young Master," Qing Lan went on her knees and began crawling toward him, going as far as hugging his thighs. "Your mother won't kill me, but I will be punished with confinement in the frozen abode for 100 years."
Alarmed, Ye Ming nearly got a fright by the so-called punishment.
"What kind of crazy punishment is that?" He cried aloud, clearly unaware of his mother's antics. In fact, he tried to search through his large memory, and nothing related to Ye Qing Lei's punishment was recorded.
Meanwhile, Qing Lan held a bittersweet smile when asked about it.
She raised her chin and stared at Ye Ming deeply. Although no words were uttered, it was pretty self-explanatory what her stare meant to him.
He slowly raised his finger and pointed at himself. "It can't be that mother became so strict and punished people heavily because of what I did, right?"
In response, Qing Lan nodded her head slowly.
Who else but him could cause the usually mild and gentle Ye Qing Lei to change so tremendously?
"Ever since the Young Master made such a decision. The Madam realized she had been too lenient. She imposed stricter and rigid rules. No one was spared from it nor her wrath." She then explained.
"Her wrath huh? But I felt nothing." Ye Ming pursed his lips. He tried to recall their interaction and there wasn't even any scolding.
Heck, he was even spoiled rotten immediately and was tendered to.
And at this moment, Qing Lan felt like puking blood from frustration and jealousy.
"Young Master may not know this, but everyone here knows that the Madam would never scold or reprimand you."
"Huh, I guess that's a perk most are envious of." Contrary to feeling any shame, Ye Ming placed his hands on his hips and laughed loudly.
Nevertheless, he couldn't stand Qing Lan's constant pleading and her flashing pitiful eyes. Thus, he turned around and stared at the pool.
"Since this pool is named with a Dragon in it, then does that mean a Dragon is residing here and replenishing the liquid?" Ye Ming asked.
There was too much information in his memory, so he was too lazy to scour them to pinpoint one particular information. Rather than racking his brain up, he might as well ask his maid about it.
Luckily, Qing Lan replied positively that the dragon was usually in its slumber to nurture its spiritual qi. "The Elder Dragon wouldn't be awake when someone came to the pool for cleansing unless he was disturbed.
Ye Ming quickly nodded in understanding.
He took a deep breath, stepped toward the center of the pool, and stomped heavily on the ground.
"Oi, slumbering dragon! This Young Master is going to dip in the pool, so you better make it smooth and with zero pain. Otherwise, I'll complain to my mother and see if you can have a decent life!" He coldly threatened.
Dragon? So what?
With his Young Master status and a somewhat understanding of his mother, he realized he should act as arrogantly as possible.
Only through arrogance could he deter people from daring to go against him.
'Once I cleanse myself in this pool, I'll make sure the people who entice and manipulate my past self into making that messed up decision suffer.' He would be damned to let those people off easily.
From his memory, there were so many times and incidents that he heard about him being unworthy or a disgrace to Ye Xuan's name and fame.
When Ye Ming made his threat, Qing Lan's face turned rather pale. However, she didn't dare to voice any opinion this time. Otherwise, she might be the one to bear his wrath instead.
'Sorry, Elder Dragon, but there's nothing I can do.' She smiled bitterly. Her responsibility was to ensure Ye Ming would cleanse himself in the pool and protect him. As for the other things, she could only turn a blind eye to it.
Meanwhile, deep within the pool was a separate dimension, and from there, it was a mighty large dragon colored in blue who was in its slumber. The aura it exuded alone could cause tremors everywhere.
Amidst his sweet slumber, he suddenly overheard a youngster's voice and their threat against him. 'Which brat dares to use their mother to threaten me?'
Enraged, the slumbering dragon spread its wings far and wide. In the blink of an eye, it soared above, breaking through the formation and emerging from the pool. Without even bothering to take a look at the people beneath, it went ahead and screeched in fury.
"Who dares threaten this Elder Dragon!"