I have to hand it to the old man; he certainly knows how to pick them.
With jaw-dropping looks, a ridiculously well-proportioned physique, an overwhelmingly aristocratic aura, and that sickly, beautiful, resilient yet tragic vibe—
In any novel, this configuration squarely spells out the male protagonist.
Could he be one of the female lead's suitors?
Not sure yet, I'll need to keep observing.
Just then, the Flying Eagle, which had been flying smoothly, hit some turbulence and began bobbing violently. Feng Ning was tossed around until she was dizzy and barely managed to steady herself.
She glanced over at the tragic beauty, who remained completely motionless.
Oh! The old man had secured him to the only feather on the eagle.
Feng Ning decisively wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her small head against his chest to shut out the howling wind.
Not going to lie, the tactile feedback was pretty good.
"Have you hugged enough?"
A magnetic, raspy voice came from above. The man had woken up at some point.
Feng Ning looked up and gave him a glance, her delicate chin poking right into his chest, eliciting a muffled grunt of "Mm~" from him.
That sound... was actually quite seductive.
"What's wrong with a little hug? You won't lose any meat, and aren't you enjoying it quite a bit yourself?"
He wasn't even looking at the situation; if she didn't hold onto him, Feng Ning would fall right off.
The old man's eagle-riding skills were far too mediocre—a true test of one's heart rate.
The man's expression darkened. After a symbolic struggle, he realized he was tied up.
"Don't move around. I'm a decent woman, so don't even think about using that handsome face of yours to seduce me. I'm not buying it."
Feng Ning was completely brazen, frantically testing his limits.
The handsome man was choked with anger. Seduce her? She was overthinking things by a mile!
Meanwhile, the old man watched the two of them with an auntie's fond smile, sporting a subtle expression of someone who totally shipped them.
"You two youngsters, hold on tight. We're landing."
Without giving the two of them a chance to react, the old man steered the Flying Eagle straight down, making it feel as though he intended to plunge them toward a ten-thousand-foot cliff and smash them to smithereens.
Feng Ning was left completely disheveled by the wind, her entire body going numb.
Seeing that her expression was far too rigid, the man reluctantly placed a light, distant arm around her shoulder—a gesture that maintained boundaries without feeling offensive while giving her a bit of safety.
Until the Flying Eagle touched down, they maintained that exact posture. With furious heartbeats echoing, it was impossible to tell whose was whose, making the situation overly ambiguous.
Yet Feng Ning sprang away like a coiled spring, distancing herself in a single second. She jumped off the Flying Eagle and took a long while to recover.
Terrifying.
This thing flew fast, but it gave a person zero sense of security.
The handsome man was somewhat hurt by her fluid, effortless detachment. What a heartless scumbag of a woman—she had hugged him for so long without even a word of thanks.
Feng Ning had no spare energy to thank him; her gaze was already deeply captivated by a massive stone tablet before them.
Carved onto the tablet in bold, flying calligraphy were three large characters: Wanshou Sect!
The Wanshou Sect! A third-rate minor sect from the original novel whose male supporting characters all met tragic ends.
Though this crummy little sect received very little ink in the book, every single disciple within its gates died a worse death than the last, all serving as mere tools on the female lead Feng Qing's path to divinity.
It all started when the injured and distressed female lead was picked up by the Master of the Wanshou Sect and forced to become his disciple.
Once healed, the female lead felt she had been insulted, so she simply played the Wanshou Sect's direct disciples in the palm of her hand one by one until they suffered miserable deaths and their cultivation was destroyed, all to showcase her grand heroine charm.
Oh, old man! Picking up anything and everything really will only spell your doom!
Unfortunately, the old man could not hear the voice inside Feng Ning's head. At that moment, he was excitedly calling out toward the mountain gate, "My children, come out and welcome our guests! Your master has gone and picked up a junior brother and a junior sister for you all again!!!"
As expected! Picked up and immediately initiated into the sect, and he watched on as she was hunted down without even asking what she had been through, let alone fearing trouble.
He had truly mastered this persona of an avid disciple-collector.
What could she do? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. This third-rate minor sect had very little presence in the early stages, making it quite resilient against disasters.
"Junior Sister?! I have a junior sister?!"
Accompanied by a flurry of kicked-up dust, a figure in green rushed out, his voice filled with sheer disbelief.
He circled around Feng Ning in a huge loop, shouting excitedly, "It's real! Master, you've finally amounted to something and actually brought back a junior sister! And she's so pretty, too!"
"Ahem!" The old man gave a dry cough, holding back his overly enthusiastic eldest disciple. "Mo Xuan, calm down. You're a man with a junior sister now; you can't be so reckless."
"Right, right! We mustn't scare the junior sister away." Mo Xuan turned serious in a second. "Hello, Junior Sister. I am your First Senior Brother, Mo Xuan."
Mo Xuan! Feng Qing's love-brained simp, a half-demon who was slaughtered by her in the name of righteousness.
"Hello, Senior Brother Mo, my name is Feng Ning." Feng Ning smiled at him kindly and obediently, revealing two shallow dimples. "I'm an orphan wandering the streets."
Mo Xuan's heart skipped a beat with pity, and he quickly comforted her, "Tsk! What a big deal! You wouldn't have been picked up by the old man if you weren't wandering the streets."
I have to hand it to him, he certainly knew how to comfort people. Realizing perhaps that his words sounded a bit inappropriate, Mo Xuan added a patch, "What I mean is, everyone in our sect is a stray orphan from the streets, so you don't need to feel inferior."
"But I'm also good-for-nothing trash whose spiritual root was dug out. I can't cultivate, and from now on I can only rely on my senior brothers to protect me." Feng Ning lowered her eyelids, looking utterly shattered.
Mo Xuan's heart melted completely. He patted his chest and promised, "Don't you worry, Junior Sister. From now on, you are my real junior sister. As long as I have a bite to eat, I will never let you go hungry."
He was far too easy to fool; no wonder he could be played to death by the female lead.
"Eldest Senior Brother, step aside. What do you have to protect Junior Sister with? With your Qi Condensation Stage cultivation?" Helian Changkong, who had been standing to the side hugging his sword, couldn't watch any longer. "Junior Sister, I am your Second Senior Brother, Helian Changkong. Hang out with me from now on; I've already stepped into Foundation Establishment (early)."
Oh? Helian Changkong, the half-man, half-monster left with nothing but a skeleton after being deceived by the female lead—pleased to meet you.
"Stop making a fool of yourself here." Bai Junze, who had just rushed over, shoved Helian Changkong far away with a casual push of his hip, then stepped in front of Feng Ning. "Sorry to make a spectacle of yourself, Junior Sister. I am your Third Senior Brother, Bai Junze, and the strongest man in the Wanshou Sect at Foundation Establishment (peak)!"
Ah, the strongest human-beast hybrid who insisted on acting as the female lead's loyal dog, only to be refined until not even a shred of bone was left—a proper big sucker.
"Alright, alright, stop showing off, both of you. Let your junior sister rest for a bit."
The old man stepped forward to interrupt the friendly atmosphere among them.He added another instruction, "Didn't Yunwind not come because he went down the mountain to set up a stall for fortune-telling? Mo Xuan, send him a voice transmission and tell him to bring back two roasted chickens so we can have a nice meal tonight to welcome your junior sister."
"You got it, Master." Mo Xuan flashed a wide grin and happily went off to send the voice transmission.
Helian Changkong and Bai Junze flanked Feng Ning, one on each side, their faces barely concealing their glee.
It was obvious they really, really wanted a junior sister!
"Oh, and Ningning, Yunfeng is your Fourth Senior Brother, full name Su Yunfeng. He's a bit spacey and loves telling people's fortunes." The old man walked along, not forgetting to introduce his fourth disciple.
Feng Ning, equipped with god-like foresight, naturally knew all about him.
The one who tried to defy the heavens to rewrite the female lead's fate, only to have his soul scattered to the winds.
The ultimate tragic sucker of the entire sect.
"Wait."
Just as they were about to enter the mountain gate, a weak yet magnetic voice interrupted the warm atmosphere among them. "Did you guys forget there's still one more junior brother?"