"Northwest Mystical Sky, a single cloud!"

"A Crow flew into the phoenix flock!"

"The table is crowded with brave men!"

"Who will be the king and who will be the vassal!"

Looking at the two chattering children in front of him, brandishing sticks at him, the corners of the middle-aged cultivator's mouth twitched slightly.

Despite being a high-ranking elder of Emei's Star Picking Sect, he was now robbed by two little kids!

If the other elders in the sect were to hear about this, he'd never live down the embarrassment.

Patting his forehead, he said with a bitter smile, "Could the two young friends kindly let me pass?"

"Save your breath, hand over your money if you know what's good for you, or the rolling pin in my hand won't be so friendly!"

The middle-aged cultivator felt somewhat helpless listening to the naive childish voice.

This kid in front of him could not be more than seven years old at best, and his runny nose was still hanging there!

He even wore a black eye mask, trying to play the part of a one-eyed dragon, thinking he was some prominent bandit.

He said irritably, "Do you two children know who I am!"

"I don't care who you are!" The snotty-nosed boy with the eye patch shouldered his rolling pin and snorted: "Let me tell you, this is Winter Melon Village! I am Blood-Handed Butcher Lin Xiaolu, the overlord of Winter Melon Village! I kill without batting an eye!"

"That's right!" A girl next to the boy, with her hair tied up in a pigtail and wearing a red bellyband, echoed: "My big brother is really fierce, he chops people every day, and if he doesn't chop anyone in a day, he won't eat!"

"Right, when my mother was still around, she hit me everyday, but I didn't eat until someone was cut down. I ask you, are you scared?"

The middle-aged cultivator:...

Do these two kids have some serious illness?

What the heck is happening here?

The middle-aged cultivator is named Li Mingru, he is an elder from the Emei Star-Picking Sect. Half an hour ago, his senior sister, the head of the Emei Sect, sought him out for a conversation. She accused him of hiding in his cave dwelling all day, drinking, sleeping, reading adult novels, or peeping at other female elders from different sub-sects taking baths. He was good for nothing, not practicing, which led to the Star-Picking Sect, the oldest of the nine Emei sub-sects, not having any new disciples for 20 years.

She told him to go down the mountain to look for disciples and said if he failed to find any, he didn't need to return.

Now, deeply moved, Li Mingru thought to himself that just as he left Emei, he encountered these two kids. In his senior sister's words, it was destiny. Also, almost half an hour had passed since he left Emei, so his senior sister should have cooled down by now, right?

Women, they have discomforts every one month or so~

If these two kids were suitable, it wouldn't be bad to take them back to complete his mission.

With this thought, he looked at the boy in front of him and asked, "Is your name Lin Xiaolu?"

"Exactly!" The teenager, carrying a rolling pin, replied arrogantly.

Li Mingru warmly nodded, turned to the girl next to Lin Xiaolu.

"And you, what's your name?"

"I am Xiaoyu." The girl answers with a crisp voice.

Li Mingru gave a "Hmm" sound, looked at the two kids, and kept on asking with a smile, "Why are you two here, pretending to be bandits in the way of people?"

Lin Xiaolu tilted her head, snorting, "Because we are awesome!"

Li Mingru: ....

He nearly laughed out of frustration. This kid certainly had guts.

"Don't your parents take care of you?" he continued to ask.

"Our parents passed away," Lin Xiaolu said, "We are professional troublemakers in the village. Especially me, they call me the village tyrant, the bloody butcher Lin Xiaolu!"

"That's right, my brother is the top bully in the village, with countless acts of mischief under his belt. The moment he wakes up every day, he's ready to cause trouble." Little Yu charmingly joined in from the side, "The village storytellers even wrote a biography specifically for my brother. The book is called 'The Girls We Harmed Over the Years.'"

Li Mingru was taken aback by her straightforward words, and he was feeling a bit queasy.

These two kids are truly something.

However, a touch of melancholy emerged in his heart.

The unruly world shows no mercy, considering all living beings as nothing. This brother and sister pair, they are indeed pitiful. Seeing their showy acts of bravery, perhaps they behave this way because they lost their parents at a young age and are afraid of being bullied.

Sigh~ Nevermind, at least he was able to take in two disciples without any effort and could report back to his elder sister at their sect.

With these thoughts in mind, he stopped beating around the bush and directly said to the siblings with a smile, "I am Li Mingru, an elder of the Emei Star Picking sect. Seeing the heartbreaking life of you two, I am willing to take you both as my disciples, to join our Emei sect. Are you willing?"

"Ha!"

Wearing a one-eyed dragon mask and waving a rolling pin, Lin Xiaolu, her nose running, pointed at him and started berating, "Stop boasting, let me tell you, I, Lin..."

Before the boy could finish, Li Mingru suddenly flicked his sleeve robe. The next second, with a ‘whoosh' sound, a strong gale blew all around, even blowing off Lin Xiaolu's one-eyed mask that was supposed to be intimidating.

The elder brother and younger sister were instantly terrified by the scene they were witnessing, while Li Mingru, noticing the fear displayed on their faces, felt a little self-satisfied.

Showing off one's spiritual power in front of ordinary humans, what a splendid feeling!

Moments later, he withdrew his spiritual energy and the strong gust of wind instantly dissipated. In a split second, everything returned back to calm, under the sunny sky, as if everything that just happened was an illusion.

"How about that? Now do you understand my power?" Li Mingru said, with a cocky grin spread across his face.

Lin Xiaolu was so frightened that his nose ran, with snot smeared all over his face. Little Yuer, whose age was just five, was scared to the point of collapsing on her knees.

"Goddess, please spare me. Little Yuer won't dare do it again." the girl, shaking from fear, knelt down and begged for mercy, sobbing in her childish voice.

Lin Xiaolu, slightly older, was also shaking in fear, but did his best to suppress his fear. He stretched out his hand to protect his sister, staring at them with large frightened eyes, and declared with a trembling voice, "You, what are you up to? This has nothing to do with my sister. Everything was done by me, Lin Xiaolu. If you hold any grudge, direct it at me, not my family. If I, Lin Xiaolu, frown even the slightest, then I am not the fearless warrior I claim to be!"

"Pfft--"

Li Mingru almost burst into laughter upon hearing this. This kid is quite interesting. He admired the boy standing there protecting his little sister despite shaking in fear.

Hmm, good personality, definitely a good brother.

Li Mingru, with his hands behind his back and a casual smile on his face, posed like an immortal from another world. "Lin Xiaolu, I wish to take you and your sister as my disciples, to join the Emei Sect together. Would you be willing to?"

Seeing that he seemed to have no intention of hurting them, the boy calmed down slightly, then looked at him with a puzzled face:"You mean... you want us to hang out with you?"

"Cough, cough." Li Mingru almost choked on his spit.

Damn! He was an eminent immortal from the Emei sect, seriously considering taking on disciples, and this little fellow made it sound like some gang recruiting.

He glared irritably, "I intend to take you two as my disciples!"

"Oh~" The boy blinked his intelligent big eyes.

"So, you're going to be our boss from now on?"

Li Mingru: ....

"Not the boss, but the Master." Li Mingru corrected with a slight headache.

Damn it, these brats are truly outrageous.

What on earth is going on in their little heads?

Are they thinking of gangsters as their inheritance?

After several times of inner grumbling, he looked at the siblings again and asked, "From now on, the two of you will follow me for cultivation. Do you agree?"

Lin Xiaolu picked up his still-kneeling sister, hesitated for a moment as he looked at the middle-aged cultivator in front of him, and then voiced his final question in a soft voice.

"Cultivation, can it fill our stomachs?"

Li Mingru was stunned by this question for a moment, his gaze slightly trembled, then he burst into hearty laughter. With a sweep of his sleeve, he turned into a white rainbow with the siblings, shooting straight into the sky…