Chapter 4: Saintess Bathing? I Didn't Mean to Look!

The aftershocks of the beast tide in Azure Cloud City had not yet fully subsided, but various "legends" about Lin Xuan had already spread throughout the city in all sorts of outrageous versions.

Some said he was a master hiding his true strength, playing the fool in the mundane world.

Some said he had struck gold and received the protection of an ancient powerhouse.

Most people, however, believed this guy was simply a bizarre eccentric whose behavior could not be measured by common sense.

The Lin family maintained an eerie silence regarding this. The family head, Lin Batian, and several elders discussed it privately a few times and ultimately decided to adopt a "wait and see" strategy toward Lin Xuan. They could no longer see through this son at all.

Lin Xuan was happy to have the peace and quiet, and in his own small courtyard, he happily tallied his gains.

[Slacking Off to Become Stronger System]

Host: Lin Xuan

Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Third Layer (5210/)

Techniques: None

Skills: None

Slacking Points: 5210

Items: None

"Over five thousand points, not bad, not bad. This beast tide wave was a huge profit." Lin Xuan crossed his legs and pondered how to spend them next, "Should I directly raise my cultivation to the Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer, or redeem some technique or skill to play with?"

[Ding! Detected that the host's strength has increased, System Shop permissions have been partially unlocked!]

[Ding! New mission released: "Profane the Sacred"!]

[Mission Requirements: During Saintess Yun Yao's bathing or a similar private moment, perform an "involuntary" peeping, and ensure you are "just so" discovered.]

[Mission Hint: The target is currently located in the Heaven-grade room of the "Clear Heart Garden" inn in the south of the city.]

[Mission Reward: One Mysterious Gift Pack, 10,000 Slacking Points!]

"Pfft—!"

The tea Lin Xuan had just taken into his mouth was sprayed out instantly.

"System, are you messing with me?!" Lin Xuan nearly jumped out of his grandmaster chair, "Peep at the Saintess bathing?! And I have to get caught, too?! Are you tired of me living, or do you think Ye Chen's sword isn't fast enough?!"

This mission was too suicidal! It was practically pushing him into a pit of fire! Who was Saintess Yun Yao? The official match for the Child of Destiny! A daughter of providence! Peep at her bathing? This wasn't slacking off anymore; this was self-destruction!

[System Hint: High risk, high reward. The true essence of slacking off lies in challenging secular bottom lines and creating possibilities out of the impossible. Please, host, carry forward the spirit of "I have no shame, therefore I am invincible."]

Lin Xuan's mouth twitched, but looking at the "Mysterious Gift Pack" and the massive reward of 10,000 Slacking Points, he felt like a little cat was scratching at his heart.

"Damn it... the bold are stuffed to death, the timid are starved to death!" After struggling for a moment, Lin Xuan gritted his teeth, "Do it! Isn't it just peeping at a bath? As long as I slack off thoroughly enough, the one who will be embarrassed is someone else!"

He carefully studied the mission hint: "'Involuntary' peeping... and have to be 'just so' discovered... hmm, there is room to maneuver!"

An extremely wicked... ah no, an extremely "clever" plan gradually took shape in his mind.

Night fell, and the lanterns were lit.

Clear Heart Garden was the top-tier inn in Azure Cloud City, with an elegant environment and fairly strict security. The Heaven-grade rooms were independent small courtyards with excellent privacy.

A blurred black shadow, like a ghost, silently climbed over the inn's wall, avoided several visible and hidden guards, and accurately made its way outside the Heaven-grade courtyard. It was Lin Xuan, who had changed into night-traveling clothes.

"Foundation Establishment Third Layer movement techniques, using them to be a flower-picking thief is really convenient," Lin Xuan mocked himself, climbing onto the courtyard wall like a gecko and carefully poking his head out.

Inside the courtyard, candlelight flickered. On the window paper of the room, a hazy, slender figure was reflected, seemingly... undressing?

Lin Xuan's heart uncontrollably accelerated a few beats, and he quickly muttered, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form; I am doing this for the mission, for becoming stronger..."

Following his plan, he didn't peep directly but took out a... slingshot from his bosom. And a small stone.

His target was not the window, but an inconspicuous decorative copper bell in the corner of the courtyard.

"Whoosh—"

The stone broke through the air and hit the copper bell accurately.

"Ding-a-ling—!"

The crisp bell sound was exceptionally jarring in the silent night!

"Who?!"

Inside the room came Saintess Yun Yao's cold and vigilant voice, and the candlelight extinguished instantly. At the same time, a sharp sword Qi pierced through the window almost the moment the bell rang, shooting toward the direction of the copper bell! It was Ye Chen, who was guarding nearby!

The first step of the plan, luring the snake out of its hole, was complete!

This was exactly the effect Lin Xuan wanted! He had long anticipated that Ye Chen would definitely be guarding nearby.

The moment Ye Chen was attracted by the bell sound and appeared to investigate, Lin Xuan used this brief time difference to slide down from the wall like a civet cat, sneaking under the back window of the room. This was the blind spot of Ye Chen's perspective.

He held his breath and took another small porcelain bottle from his bosom, inside which were a few fireflies he had grabbed on the road while coming here.

"Sorry, little bugs, help a brother out."

He gently pulled out the stopper and released the few fireflies through the gap in the window.

The faint fluorescent light danced in the dim room, immediately attracting the attention of Saintess Yun Yao, who had just extinguished the candle and was in a state of tension.

Human instinct is to look toward a light source.

Just as Saintess Yun Yao's gaze subconsciously followed those few faint points of light—

"Crack!"

Under Lin Xuan's feet, a loose roof tile, whose position he had long "carefully" calculated, was "accidentally" stepped on and shattered by him!

The sound wasn't loud, but to a cultivator, it was clearly audible!

"There's someone outside the window!" Saintess Yun Yao let out a sharp, angry cry!

Almost at the same time, those few fireflies, as luck would have it, flew to the inside of the room, above the huge bathtub that was emitting curling heat!

The fluorescent light was faint, but at this moment, it was like a searchlight, vaguely outlining the silhouette of the bathtub, and... the woman's intimate clothing draped on the edge of the tub!

And Lin Xuan, because of the "panic" of "stepping on the tile," lost his "balance," and his head "involuntarily" bumped into the window!

"Crash!"

A small hole was knocked into the window paper!

An eye, rounded in "terror," looked exactly through that small hole and saw inside the room—the snowy white shoulders appearing and disappearing in the misty water vapor, and Saintess Yun Yao's pretty face, which was instantly covered in frost and surging with killing intent!

Their eyes met!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment!

"Lecher! Die!!"

Saintess Yun Yao's scream and an ice-cold, bone-chilling sword Qi erupted simultaneously! The entire back window of the room shattered instantly!

"Mommy! I didn't mean it!"

Lin Xuan let out a perfectly timed, terrified scream. Before the sword Qi could reach his body, relying on his Foundation Establishment Third Layer cultivation and that bizarre movement technique, he scrambled backward, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.

But he was still grazed by the aftermath of the sword Qi; his back felt a burning pain, and his night-traveling clothes were slashed, making him look utterly disheveled.

"Where are you going!"

Ye Chen, like an angry thunderbolt, appeared instantly in the courtyard. Seeing the broken window, the disheveled (outer robe slightly messy) Saintess Yun Yao with a face full of killing intent, and the black shadow fleeing in a panic, he understood everything instantly!

The monstrous rage almost burned his reason to ashes!

This Lin Xuan! This shameless scoundrel! He had just performed all sorts of bizarre acts during the day, and at night, he actually dared to come and peep at the Saintess bathing?! If this villain is not removed, heaven will not tolerate it!

"Startling Thunder Sword Art!"

Ye Chen attacked in anger, his sword light like a ribbon, carrying the might of majestic heavenly thunder, aiming straight for Lin Xuan's heart! This sword strike was fast to the extreme, and its power far exceeded the sword strike at the City Lord's Mansion during the day!

Lin Xuan felt the fatal crisis behind him, his scalp tingling. He knew he had overplayed it! Ye Chen was truly enraged and intended to kill him on the spot!

Run! Must run!

He pushed his movement technique to the limit, fleeing frantically like a stray dog across the inn's roofs and alleys. Ye Chen chased closely behind, his sword light falling continuously, shattering the roof tiles and walls along the way, drawing a chorus of gasps.

"Brother Ye Chen! It's a misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!" Lin Xuan shouted with a crying tone while running, "I came to deliver fireflies! I saw the Saintess was in a bad mood and wanted to catch a few fireflies to cheer her up! I really didn't see anything!"

It would have been better if he hadn't shouted; this shout only added fuel to the fire!

Delivering fireflies? To cheer her up? And didn't see anything? You damn well poked a hole in the window paper! Do you think we're idiots?!

[Ding! Detected Saintess Yun Yao's extreme shame, anger, and killing intent, Emotion Points +1999!]

[Ding! Detected Child of Destiny Ye Chen's rage and determination to kill, Emotion Points +1888!]

[Ding! Detected the shock and gossip enthusiasm of the inn staff/guests, Emotion Points +2333!]

"Lin Xuan! I will kill you! Whether you go to heaven or hell, no one can save you!" Ye Chen's roar resounded through half of Azure Cloud City.

This late-night chase caused a huge commotion and instantly alarmed countless people.

Li Wanshan, Lin Batian, and other high-level family members, as well as many curious cultivators and commoners, were all alarmed and came out to investigate.

When they saw Lin Xuan fleeing in a disheveled state in front, shouting bizarre excuses, and Ye Chen behind him, surging with killing intent like a thunder god descending, everyone was stunned.

What was going on this time?!

"Rebellious son! What have you done again!?" Lin Batian saw this scene, his vision went black, and he nearly fainted.

Li Yanran also stood on her own pavilion, looking at the purple (the night-traveling clothes were torn, revealing the purple robe underneath) figure fleeing frantically on the distant roof, her mood extremely complex. This guy really never stopped for a moment!

[Ding! Detected shock, disdain, curiosity, and gossip emotions across the entire city, Emotion Points +8888!]

[Congratulations to the host for completing the "Profane the Sacred" mission! Reward received: 10,000 Slacking Points! The Mysterious Gift Pack has been delivered to the system space, please check it at your convenience!]

Hearing the system prompt, Lin Xuan, who was fleeing for his life, finally felt relieved in his heart.

The mission was complete!

Although the process was extremely dangerous, the gains were also huge!

Now, it was time to think of a way to shake off this enraged "protagonist" behind him!

His gaze swept over the familiar streets below, and a thought flashed through his mind.

"Right! That place!"

He changed direction, no longer running toward the outside of the city, but charging toward the center of the city, the direction of the City Lord's Mansion!

Ye Chen followed closely behind, his killing intent not diminishing in the slightest.

However, when Lin Xuan rushed to the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, he performed an action that left everyone who had followed to watch the spectacle, including Ye Chen, petrified once again.

"Thump!"

He knelt down again!

But this time, he was not kneeling to Ye Chen; instead, he knelt directly before the main gate of the City Lord's Mansion and, using all his strength, let out a cry of grief and indignation:

"My lord City Lord! Help me!! Ye Chen is trying to kill me to silence me! Because he discovered that I know his secret of secretly cultivating demonic arts!!!"

This shout, like a thunderclap, exploded in the silent night sky.

The City Lord, who had just arrived at the scene, along with all the onlookers, including the furious Ye Chen, all froze in place.

De... demonic arts?!

Ye Chen is cultivating demonic arts?!

Lin Xuan knelt on the ground, raised his head, his face filled with "righteous indignation" and "fear," and pointing at the pursuing Ye Chen, his voice trembling yet clearly reaching everyone present:

"That's right! It's him! Ye Chen! On the surface, he is a righteous hero, but in secret, he cultivates an evil demonic art that drains others' cultivation! I accidentally stumbled upon it tonight, and he wants to kill me to silence me! I beg my lord City Lord to uphold justice for me!"

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

Everyone's gaze slowly shifted from Lin Xuan to Ye Chen, whose expression had turned from fury to astonishment, and then from astonishment to a livid shade of blue.

The night wind blew past, carrying a hint of absurd chill.

(End of Chapter Four)