Chapter 173: Everyone Wants a Private Talk
By the time Damian returned to the Heavenly Sword Sect, the sun was already starting to sink.
Draco pulled the carriage through the sect gate with lazy steps, while Damian sat inside like a young master returning from vacation instead of someone who had just hunted a Golden Core rogue cultivator.
Several outer and inner disciples nearby glanced over casually at first.
A moment later, their expressions changed.
"Wait... isn’t that Senior Brother Damian?"
"He came back already?"
"Wasn’t his mission to hunt Kerran Bloodhand?"
"Don’t tell me he ran away halfway."
Damian stepped down from the carriage and stretched his shoulders. "Damn. Home sweet sect."
One disciple stared at him carefully. "Senior Brother Damian, did you... complete the mission?"
Damian looked at him with an offended expression. "What kind of question is that? Do I look like someone who would fail?"
The disciples around him fell silent.
Someone muttered, "A little."
Damian’s mouth twitched. "I heard that."
He waved his hand, and a sealed box appeared from his storage ring. The moment the box opened, Kerran Bloodhand’s severed head rolled into view, still carrying a faint bloody aura.
The entire area went quiet.
A few disciples took a step back.
"Holy shit..."
"That really is Kerran Bloodhand."
"He actually killed him?"
"Wasn’t Kerran a Golden Core rogue cultivator?"
"Senior Brother Damian is only Peak Foundation Establishment, right?"
The way the disciples looked at Damian changed instantly.
Before this, many of them only saw him as Elder Selvara’s shameless new core disciple, a suspicious young master who spent too many spirit stones on beautiful women.
Now, whether they liked it or not, they had to admit one thing.
Damian had real strength.
Damian lifted his chin slightly, clearly enjoying their shocked faces. "See? This is why rumors are unreliable. I am not only handsome and generous. I am also very capable."
A few disciples looked away awkwardly.
One female disciple covered her mouth and whispered, "He is annoying, but... he really did it."
Damian heard that and nodded in satisfaction. "Good taste."
Without wasting more time, he handed over the mission proof, finished the basic report, and left before too many disciples started asking annoying questions.
His next destination was obvious.
The women disciples’ area.
The moment Damian arrived, several female disciples immediately noticed him.
Some looked curious, some nervous, and some whispered among themselves.
Damian gave them his usual bright smile. "Junior sisters, have any of you seen Linsey, Helena, Cynthia, and Evelyn?"
The female disciples exchanged glances.
One of them answered, "Senior Sister Linsey and the others? They returned not long ago."
Damian’s eyes lit up. "They’re back?"
The disciple nodded. "Yes. They came back together. They looked... different."
Damian’s fingers paused against his chin. "Different?"
The female disciple hesitated for a moment before answering, "I don’t know how to explain it. They still looked normal, but somehow... colder."
Another disciple lowered her voice. "Senior Sister Linsey was smiling, but it felt scary."
"Senior Sister Helena looked calm, but her aura was heavier than before."
"Senior Sister Cynthia was still gentle, but I felt nervous when she looked at me."
"Senior Sister Evelyn didn’t say much. Actually, she never says much, but this time she felt even more distant."
Damian listened quietly.
A slow grin appeared on his face.
"As expected. They really did something big."
He turned toward the inner disciple residences, already feeling both curious and cautious. "Good. Very good."
His steps became lighter. "Let’s see what those four troublesome beauties brought back with them."
A few female disciples watched him walk away.
One of them muttered, "Why does Senior Brother Damian look happy after hearing they became scary?"
Another replied softly, "Because he’s Senior Brother Damian."
The first disciple thought for a moment, then nodded. "Fair."
Damian ignored the whispers behind him and continued forward, his eyes shining with shameless curiosity.
He had just finished dealing with demonic sect spies, a cannibal Golden Core rogue cultivator, and a system upgrade.
Now he had to check whether four newly fanatic villainess beauties had planted poison bombs somewhere around the sect.
---
Damian soon arrived at the place where the four women lived, but this time, he was more cautious than before.
After watching their original villainess story, he no longer dared to treat their residence like some ordinary inner disciple courtyard.
He was afraid those four dangerous women had not only planted poison outside, but maybe even placed traps in their own yard, so he walked carefully.
Very carefully.
"These four beauties already died once by poisoning half their enemies in the original story. I can’t be too relaxed."
Damian passed through the courtyard slowly, his eyes scanning the ground, the flowers, the stone path, and even the teapot sitting under a small pavilion.
A few breaths later, he finally saw them.
Linsey, Helena, Cynthia, and Evelyn were sitting inside a small courtyard, drinking tea and eating cakes together as if nothing had happened.
At first glance, they looked like normal Heavenly Sword Sect inner disciples.
Now that he knew the truth, those normal appearances looked even more dangerous.
The moment the four women noticed him, their eyes shifted toward him at the same time.
Linsey’s face brightened first. "Senior Brother Damian, you’re here. Please come over. We prepared a lot of cakes and tea."
Damian looked at the four of them for a few breaths before a grin slowly appeared on his face. "Yeah, I just wanted to see if you had come back, and it seems you really have."
Helena nodded, her hand resting calmly near her sword. "Yes, we came back not long ago. Is something the matter, Senior Brother Damian?"
Cynthia placed her teacup down with a gentle expression. "If so, please come here, Senior Brother. Tell us what you want from us."
Evelyn did not speak immediately, but her icy gaze stayed on Damian, quietly measuring him from head to toe.
Damian kept grinning. "Yeah, actually, I want to talk with you about something."
His eyes moved across the four women. "And it needs to be private."
The four women exchanged a glance.
Cynthia’s expression became even softer. "What a coincidence."
Helena stood up and rested one hand on her sword hilt. "We also have something to say to Senior Brother Damian."
Linsey’s eyes curved with amusement, but there was something sharper hidden beneath her cheerful face. "Very private too."
Evelyn quietly rose from her seat. "Please follow us, Senior Brother Damian. Let’s talk inside. It will be more private there."
Damian’s grin widened. "Gladly."
He took one step forward, still pretending to be relaxed, even though his senses were quietly checking everything around him. "Please lead the way, my beautiful ladies."