According to the original plot line, it wasn't until the later stages that the heroine discovered her First Senior Brother had turned into a demon, her Second Senior Brother was an honest man, and her Third Senior Brother loved eating big flatbreads.
As for the Master... he didn't matter.
"Whoa! So many high-grade spiritual stones!" Su Yunfeng rummaged through the money pouch left behind by Feng Qing, bewildered. "Junior Sister, what do you suppose she meant by leaving so much money? Could it be a trap?"
Unsurprisingly, this was likely hush money to buy their lives.
Was the heroine planning to fatten them up before slaughtering them?
That would never do!
She had to find a way to prevent their doomed fate of being slaughtered by the heroine.
"Everyone, come quick! Feng Ning is telling fortunes at the ruined temple!!!"
"Dammit, cashing in on a bounty is one thing, but how dare she use thunder-fire bombs to blow up our branch! She's truly tired of living!"
"Let's all rush her together and catch her! It's utterly infuriating that she dared to toy with us major sects and aristocratic families like this."
"Everyone, don't worry about sparing any face for the Feng family — kill her!"
"..."
A massive wave of disciples from various major sects surged toward the ruined temple. At the vanguard was Feng Qiong, an outer disciple of the Feng family who was well-acquainted with Feng Ning and had bullied her plenty of times in the past.
Disciples from the Tianyun Sect, the Sword Sect, the Xuanji Sect, the Ye Family, the Feng family... The dazzling array of colorful sect robes almost blinded Wan Chongshan and the others.
Every single sect that had ever issued a bounty on Feng Ning... had all arrived.
"Junior Sister! What on earth did you do?" Mo Xuan blurted out in secret, his eyes wide with shock.
Wan Chongshan fished two heart-protecting pills out of his Storage Bag and swallowed them; this spectacle was way beyond his psychological threshold!
Helian Changkong and Bai Junze exchanged glances, both of them left with tingling scalps from the sudden turn of events.
Su Yunfeng was sweating profusely, yet somehow still had the presence of mind to divine a hexagram — he needed to calculate whether he would survive today.
By comparison, Di Siyu remained relatively calm. He just knew that this girl wouldn't simply be chasing a bounty; that wasn't her style at all.
"Never mind what I did for now. You guys keep making money, I'm running ahead. We can talk about whatever happened once we're back at the sect," Feng Ning muttered quietly, before bolting like a gust of smoke toward the back of the ruined temple.
A massive swarm of disciples from various sects chased closely behind, sweeping through like a rolling storm and leaving behind only the five bewildered members of Wan Chongshan's sect...
"Feng Ning! If you have any guts, don't run!"
Feng Ning retorted that as a girl, how could she possibly have guts in that sense!
"You bunch of little trash, have the guts to catch me first!" She wasn't intimidated at all, and even used a Sound-Transmission Talisman to broadcast her voice to them, dripping with sarcasm.
At most, their cultivation was at the peak of Foundation Establishment. For the major sects and prominent families to send such a bunch of little trash simply showed they still looked down on her.
"Junior Sister! Can we fly a little slower?" Di Siyu asked with a deadpan expression, though his complexion was frighteningly pale.
Only then did Feng Ning realize she was still dragging someone along, and she froze blankly for a moment.
"Huh? How did I get so used to dragging him along?"
Without another word, she slapped a Wind-Chasing Talisman onto Di Siyu and continued running with him in tow!
She had to hand it to him — her Little Senior Brother was quite impressive to be able to keep up with the speed of a Wind-Chasing Talisman for this long.
He truly was a man of mystery, hiding who knows how many secrets!
"Feng Ning, you damned thief! How dare you use the Talismans drawn by my Senior Brother Xuanming!!"
The first to catch up were Xuanji Sect disciples who had also used Wind-Chasing Talismans. The young disciple leading them had a face as dark as ink.
"Stop right there! Hand over Senior Brother Xuanming's Storage Bag, and we'll spare your life today."
What nerve.
Feng Ning obliged their wishes and abruptly halted her steps.
Those few Xuanji Sect disciples rushed forward before they could check their momentum; it was clear they weren't very proficient at controlling their Wind-Chasing Talismans.
With several loud clanging crashes, they slammed into the trees one after another.
Too painful to watch, Feng Ning covered her eyes, peering through her fingers to show her disdain. "I have to ask, are you guys here to be comedians?"
What kind of novel talisman-piloting technique was this? Emergency braking by tree-crashing?
She didn't get it, nor did she plan to learn.
She decisively commanded a thicket of emerald vines rising from the ground, dragging the dazed Xuanji Sect disciples one by one into a pit nearby.
Feng Ning had already noticed this pit long ago.
It was at least five meters deep and could easily hold thirty or forty people.
It was definitely an ideal spot for burying people.
"Little Senior Brother, hide in this tree for now. In a moment, once I've dragged everyone inside, you just start tossing thunder-fire bombs down."
With that, Feng Ning handed him a Storage Bag filled with thunder-fire bombs, leaving him free to let loose to his heart's content.
Looking at the densely packed thunder-fire bombs, Di Siyu's mouth twitched involuntarily. He suddenly understood why these people were pursuing her so relentlessly.
While thunder-fire bombs couldn't actually blow up a cultivator, they were truly humiliating.
The little girl's way of generating enmity was certainly one of a kind.
No proper cultivator would ever do such a thing!
He had thought Feng Ning blowing up the Feng family main residence was already rebellious enough, but he hadn't expected... that she treated all the major sects and aristocratic families with absolute, equal impartiality.
"Ha! Feng Ning! Let's see where you can run to today."
Accompanied by the oppressive might of fire-elemental spiritual energy, a contingent of Feng family disciples caught up right behind. Feng Qiong led the way with a malicious grin, acting as though Feng Ning was already fish on his chopping board.
The Feng family disciples considered themselves the ones who understood Feng Ning best, and also the ones who looked down on her the most.
Consequently, Feng Ning couldn't treat them the same way she treated others.
She couldn't even be bothered to converse with them, simply and crudely stringing them up with vines to slap them across the face.
Feng Qiong was beaten into a daze; when he finally snapped to his senses and tried to break free from his restraints, he found he couldn't budge them.
Those vines seemed imbued with a life of their own, vivid and agile as they whipped across his face, leaving a burning, stinging pain.
"Feng Ning!" Feng Qiong gritted his teeth. "Do you want to incur the crime of harming a fellow sect member?!"
"Who's of the same sect as a little piece of trash like you? Shut your trap!" Feng Ning directly bound his mouth with vines to stop him from making any sound while he took his beating. She truly loathed the Feng family sticking all sorts of criminal labels on her.
Yet what crime had she actually committed?
Having her spiritual root gouged out, only to have to swallow her insults and seek the Feng family's protection?
When had the Feng family ever truly protected her?
Even such low-ranking outer disciples of the Feng family dared to lord it over her head.
So much for being a young lady of the Feng family — it was nothing more than an empty reputation where anyone could bully her at will.
When the disciples of the other families caught up, they happened to see the Feng family disciples suspended high in the air and beaten until their faces were covered in blood, causing them to hesitate for a split second.
Could there be a Wood-elemental spiritual cultivator of venerable status helping Feng Ning?
Just as they were preparing to stand back and observe, they were yanked into the deep pit by the abruptly rising emerald vines, giving them no chance to observe anything at all.
Before they could even figure out what was going on, bodies began dropping down from above, smashing them flat into the pit.
The Xuanji Sect disciples who had fallen in first were battered until their eyes rolled back.
"What is going on? Can someone tell me what the situation is?"
"Who on earth is helping Feng Ning?"
"What in the world is that vine? Since when are wood-elemental spiritual cultivators this powerful?"
"..."
Chaos erupted inside the deep pit, while outside the pit it was an oasis of tranquility.
Feng Ning tipped her chin toward Di Siyu. "Little Senior Brother, time for your performance."
Di Siyu gracefully and composedly began tossing thunder-fire bombs, every movement carrying a refined, aristocratic air.
Doing something this rebellious for the very first time actually felt rather novel.
Once again, Feng Ning was dazzled by his aristocratic protagonist style. This guy? With that kind of temperament, was he really completely unconnected to the heroine's protagonist entourage?
She couldn't be sure yet; she would have to find opportunities to probe further.