Ying Long and his entourage were causing a disruption, so even with the sect leader wailing and swinging his sword pathetically and their masters nowhere to be seen, the disciples felt obligated to act.

The civilians screamed and fled as Ying Long was bombarded with sword attacks. The only one he deigned to deflect with his actual sword was the sect leader’s. Xu Jian slid higher up on Ying Long’s shoulder and gripped his broken horn to secure a place on his head, which was enormous.

“Careful, little drowned rat,” Ying Long tutted, batting the disciples away like they were a series of baseballs instead of people determined to end his life.

Xu Jian inspected their assailants, and flopped forward when he saw the men who had drowned him the day before. “Pardon this ragged one, my lord, but the cause of this worthless commoner’s injuries happens to be those men over there, who beat me, strung me up in the river to be waterboarded, and framed me for thievery...”

[100 POINT]

Ah, so the point reward was based on the scale of destruction, too. He was right to depend on self-flagellation.

The men in question looked positively green at being accused. The leader pointed his sword at him. “Framed you? You were stealing everything in sight and everybody knew it!”

“Everyone knew it because I was framed?” Xu Jian looked at them with a blank expression. He paused, then corrected himself. “I’m sorry, I was wrong. This worthless commoner was framed. Forgive me for my boldness.”

Their leader let out a scream of rage and tried attacking him, not Ying Long. Thankfully, Xu Jian had selected a high-performance golden thigh, and the demon batted him way with a casual flick of his hand.

“My, so much has been going on in this pier. Come now, little one, I'll keep you safe. The world’s been unfair to you, even when you’ve become so delicate.”

Xu Jian felt the overwhelming urge to claw out Ying Long’s eyes, but he instead clambered down from his head to slide inside his robes. Based on the way he wobbled back, Ying Long hadn’t expected him to do this. Xu Jian shamelessly twisted around until he could rest his cheek on Ying Long’s exposed chest.

“A-Jian! Get out of that man’s robes!” The sect leader demanded. He looked a mess, with his hair in disarray and his robes torn and falling away. There was a bit of blood trickling around his neckline.

“This humble one refuses,” Xu Jian said diligently.

The disciples remained incensed. “What’s with you deferring all of a sudden! You’ve never done it before!”

“I’ve deferred and demurred when apologizing. Obviously someone who’s been wronged has much more worth than myself. Of course, there’s nothing more worthy and above me than a demon lord, so it is in front of him that I must defer and demur the most,” Xu Jian sniffed.

“Don’t force yourself on my account,” Ying Long said, and grazed a huge taloned finger over Xu Jian’s trembling face. He resisted the urge to bite it.

“I understand, my lord. Thank you for your leniency with me.” Xu Jian bowed his head.

Ying Long perked up, and pointed his sword at the few people who remained while using his other hand to cradle Xu Jian’s body inside his robes.

“I quite like this one. A demurring Xu Jinyue should be a luxury, yet it seems to only enrage all of you. Can you not appreciate the small delights fate gives you?” Ying Long announced.

The sect leader was circling around him, looking uncomfortably feral.

“My name is Xu Jian,” Xu Jian reminded him.

“If you prefer that name, I shall use it in the future,” Ying Long murmured to him in what he probably felt was a seductive purr. “Will you come away with me?”

Vile. “Where would we go, my lord?”

“I have overtaken Hyacinth Palace in Yufeng. It stands in a good spot for cultivation, and overlooks the Celestial Mirror river. In my abode, even a servant can have hot food and a warm home. I can protect you in a way these petty little ants cannot.”

The sect leader reeled back as if the words were a physical blow.

“That sounds wonderful, my lord,” Xu Jian said, and then retreated back behind the fur lining when the man Ying Long had slapped away returned. He didn’t understand why these people didn’t give up. Didn't they hate his guts?

The leader of Xu Jian's old gang was wheezing terribly, and sounded like he might have perforated a lung. “You think you c-can just...just run into our sect to pick up people like baubles? What are we to you?”

“Petty little ants. I spoke very clearly,” Ying Long replied.

Xu Jian could sense even more disruptions in the air. He peeked out to see the entirety of the demon entourage had returned.

“The elders are incapacitated, my lord,” said the one at the front.

The disciples recoiled. Xu Jian peered around to watch them all lose their will to fight, and noticed the sect leader already had his sword lowered. He was staring at the ground as if he had lost his soul.

“Could we go quickly, my lord? I’m quite cold,” Xu Jian said quietly.

The arm around him tightened. “Of course. You humans are so fragile, after all.”

Ying Long marched forward, uninterested in bringing further harm to his assailants. Xu Jian had been annoyed with him since he arrived, but he smiled pleasantly at how good the man’s temper was. The River demons flowed down the walkway and slid into the water.

“I suppose you need clothes,” Ying Long hummed. Xu Jian could feel the rumble of his voice vibrating against his chest.

“Well, actually, I-”

Ying Long pulled him out of his robes and flung him into the water.

Hands were immediately grasping at Xu Jian and yanking him back and forth. He obediently let them fuss, even though his lungs were screaming for air, and he couldn’t use Path of Wind without outing himself.

They brought him back up donned in sleek back robes. Xu Jian gasped and wheezed, but made sure to look them over. They were so light he barely felt them, and water rolled off easily. It reminded him of nylon, even though the surface looked more like velvet.

“These are lovely, my lord,” Xu Jian said breathlessly.

“Careful with him. Humans have trouble breathing in most conditions,” Ying Long waved at them.

A River demon hooked two fingers in his nostrils and pulled them up, presumably to help him breathe.

“Thank you,” Xu Jian said in a nasal.

They tossed him back up, and Ying Long caught him effortlessly. Xu Jian wish they would stop jostling him so much. Could they not see he was injured?

He coughed out some of the water he had swallowed and snorted back a small amount of mucus. Ying Long looked enchanted by the idea of a human being this flustered by an unexpected submerging.

They walked along the pier, with the River demons following just under their feet, their billowing robes making them look like a swarm of eels. The civilians looked wary and a little offended at the sight of Xu Jian fully dressed in fine clothes and escorted by a demon.

At the entrance, Xu Jian could see the masters all strewn on the ground.

“They’re not dead, are they?” Xu Jian asked, brows furrowed.

“Incapacitated. Poison. Temporary, I assure you.”

Xu Jian was unsure if it was an insult or not that Ying Long hadn’t bothered to poison the leader of the entire sect. He supposed that he might have, had Xu Jian resisted.

Xu Jian tugged on Ying Long’s cloak. “I have luggage, my lord. Hidden in the forest. Those boys followed my lead often, and I would steal the belongings of my target, in the past. But they framed me for thievery instead.”

This was the most he’d spoken in years. He felt there should be a physical tax, but his truth-telling spiels meant his voice wasn’t disused in this body. He didn't like how that felt.

“We shall fetch it. Where are they stored?”

Xu Jian raised his arm to about the height of the rock he used as a landmark. “In a bush, next to a rock about this high...Sort of shaped like a dumpling. It’s directly upriver of the stone in the clearing across from my shack.” He paused, and bowed his head. “Where my shack was.”

“Be at ease. We’ll get your things.” Ying Long placed his hand on Xu Jian’s back and gestured to his River demon associates. Two slid back into the water.

“Come. I’ve had quite enough of tourism. I shall bring you home quickly. Many of my servants will enjoy your current state as much as I do, I think.” He made to step forward, but then, noticing the state of Xu Jian’s feet, scooped him up and let him perch on his shoulder.

Xu Jian wrapped his robes tightly around himself and sighed in satisfaction.

It got a little dangerous for a second, but he’d successfully escaped. Now all he had to worry about was the arrival of Lai Mingliao in the next two years.