"Priest Wan, this way please..."
Zheng Rong led Wan Yunting and Duan Yingying to the western courtyard of the Hengshan Sect. They saw two newly built small buildings specifically for guests. Next to them were several courtyards where their inner disciples resided.
Wan Yunting and Duan Yingying looked around, observing the inner sect of the Hengshan Sect, watching the disciples coming and going, as well as the sect's newly built courtyards and buildings. Everything was modern, far surpassing the Wuliang Daoist Temple. It was evident that the Hengshan Sect had excellent economic conditions.
Especially seeing the disciples, each with a mobile phone, chatting and laughing in groups, made Wan Yunting curiously ask, "Do your Hengshan Sect disciples not practice martial arts regularly?"
Previously, at the Wudang Sect, day or night, disciples could be seen practicing in the dedicated martial arts fields without a moment's pause.
In contrast, the inner disciples of the Hengshan Sect appeared lethargic. They were either goofing around in groups or live-streaming with their phones. No one was seen practicing martial arts, which made Wan Yunting and Duan Yingying feel perplexed.
Zheng Rong shook his head and sighed, "Since our Sect Leader took over the sect, he has only focused on making the sect life more prosperous. This is not right or wrong, after all, our disciples need to eat."
"With the country's tourism development, the area below the mountain has been developed into a tourist attraction. Our sect's outer gate is open to tourists, and the ticket revenue alone is a considerable fortune each year."
"Therefore, the mindset of some disciples has changed. Not to mention others, but the disciples of this generation are all immersed in games and the internet, unable to extricate themselves. Where do they find time to practice martial arts?"
"In their view, in today's society, even if you become a martial arts master, what good is it? Do martial arts masters not eat or sleep? So they have become decadent!"
Wan Yunting listened and shook his head. The development of society indeed changes people's thoughts, pursuits, and desires, making them less pure than people of the past.
Nowadays, people measure a person's achievement and status by money!
The decline of major sects and traditional Chinese culture, and the reluctance of people to learn them, is because this generation has not found business opportunities in these two areas.
With different goals, society's entertainment culture has spawned too many online professions. Many disciples of the Hengshan Sect are live-streaming online, begging netizens for tips like beggars.
It is said that even Sect Leader Bai Yihe occasionally leads disciples in live streams. For the older generation of martial artists, this is self-indulgence and an insult to traditional culture.
Of course, some sect masters have personal accounts and promote the essence of traditional martial arts online. This should be encouraged, and the local government even supports it. If it is not boldly promoted to the outside world, people outside will gradually stop seeing traditional culture and may even forget it.
But like Bai Yihe, who neither promotes his Hengshan Sect's traditional martial arts nor does anything but lead a group of female disciples in live streams, using various vulgar poses to attract the attention of netizens and entice them to visit the Hengshan Sect.
"Sister Xiaoyue, pull the collar down a bit more, yes, this way the effect will be more attractive!"
Not far away, a few young disciples holding professional cameras were photographing a female disciple wearing a light green ancient-style Hanfu dress from various angles.
The senior sister named Li Xiaoyue, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, was seductive and wore exquisite makeup. Two junior sisters served as her assistants. Following the requests of the disciples holding cameras, they lowered the embroidered bellyband on Li Xiaoyue's chest...
"Oh, you want me to pull it down further? Might as well tell me to strip naked."
Li Xiaoyue feigned shyness and cast a seductive glance at the junior disciple filming her. The junior disciple grinned mischievously and said, "Sister, netizens love to see this. Just pull it down a little more, I'll just take two shots..."
"Hmph, a bunch of perverted netizens. Is this okay?"
Li Xiaoyue pulled it down herself and struck an extremely seductive pose. The junior disciple snapped several consecutive shots with a whirring sound and excitedly said, "Okay, Sister Xiaoyue, go change into another outfit. We're going to start live selling."
"Okay..."
These people immediately moved to another scene. On a table, they displayed various cheap items, which the Hengshan Sect claimed to be local specialties, tricking netizens who were lured in to purchase them...
This Li Xiaoyue was naturally created by Bai Yihe. She is the Hengshan Sect's number one internet celebrity beauty, and she now has millions of followers online.
Seeing this scene, Wan Yunting's impression of the Hengshan Sect became even worse.
A Sect Leader like this would eventually lead the Hengshan Sect into an abyss from which it could not extricate itself.
"Young Master has arrived!"
At this moment, a young man wearing brand-name clothing, with his nostrils pointed upwards, arrogant and swaggering, walked with a swagger. Beside him was a beautiful maid dressed in Hanfu, holding a thermos, filled with energy drinks!
Looking at the dark circles around the young man's eyes, it was clear he indulged excessively and had drained his body.
"Young Master, you're here."
As soon as Li Xiaoyue saw Bai Kangliang, she swayed her hips seductively and directly linked her arm through his, smiling, "We're about to start live streaming. Do you want to be on camera?"
Bai Kangliang placed his large hand around Li Xiaoyue's waist and squeezed her hard, causing the woman to laugh coyly. The junior disciples around them exchanged glances and smiled without speaking.
It was clear that such matters were considered normal in their eyes. As for Bai Kangliang, the beloved son of the Sect Leader, all the young and beautiful female disciples in the sect had been bullied by him. And Li Xiaoyue was constantly involved with him.
"No, I'm going to find that woman, Lu Xiaodie!"
Bai Kangliang said with a sinister smile. Although Li Xiaoyue was skilled in martial arts, he had grown tired of her. He wanted to change his taste. Coincidentally, Lu Xiaodie had returned, and he remembered that she had beaten him before. Bai Kangliang was filled with anger and had already made plans to teach Lu Xiaodie a harsh lesson!
"Young Master, you can't stop playing with me just because of her."
Li Xiaoyue leaned half of her body into Bai Kangliang's embrace, posing flirtatiously. Bai Kangliang chuckled and said, "Don't worry, after I subdue Lu Xiaodie tonight, I'll call you over. We'll have fun together, the three of us, okay?"
"Hehe, Young Master, you're so bad, but I like it..."
Li Xiaoyue giggled flirtatiously. Bai Kangliang slapped her buttocks hard, telling her to continue with the live selling. He then hugged the little maid and prepared to head towards the woodshed, just as he bumped into Wan Yunting and Duan Yingying.
"Oh, who is this little beauty? She's quite pretty!"
As soon as Bai Kangliang saw Duan Yingying, his eyes lit up, and he looked lecherous. Duan Yingying's pretty face instantly darkened, and she snorted coldly, "What are you looking at? Believe it or not, I'll dig out your dog eyes and stomp on them!"
"Oh, still a little fiery one. This makes me want to conquer her even more."
Bai Kangliang was not angry at all. Instead, he became more excited. At this point, he hadn't even properly looked at Wan Yunting, who was beside Duan Yingying, and had completely ignored him!
"Young Master, this is Priest Wan from the Wuliang Daoist Temple. She is Priest Wan's girlfriend!"
Facing Bai Kangliang's dog-like behavior of being unable to move his eyes away from women, Zheng Rong felt extremely disgusted but could not show it.
"Wuliang Daoist Temple, is that a sect? I've never heard of such a sect before."
Bai Kangliang then turned his head and glanced dismissively at Wan Yunting. He said to Zheng Rong, "Senior Sister Zheng, do you know what you're doing? This is the inner sect of our Hengshan Sect. You're bringing people in so casually. Do you want to go to the backyard for self-reflection?"
Upon hearing "self-reflection," Zheng Rong showed a look of fear. The so-called "self-reflection" was a punishment specifically devised by Bai Kangliang for his senior and junior sisters!
"What a pity, this beauty isn't a virgin anymore!"
Bai Kangliang ignored Wan Yunting, his lecherous eyes fixed on Duan Yingying. He chuckled sinisterly, "Beauty, why don't you stay and be with me? I am the son of the Hengshan Sect Leader and the heir to the sect. As long as you follow me, I guarantee you will enjoy wealth and prosperity in the future. What do you say?"
"Ptooey."
Duan Yingying looked at this scoundrel's unrestrained and arrogant behavior and cursed fiercely, "Go take a piss and look at yourself, you dog. You want me to be with you? Do you think you're worthy?"
"Heh heh."
Facing Duan Yingying's harsh words, Bai Kangliang was still not angry. He smiled and said, "Beauty, what future do you have with him? As long as you are with me, you will be the Sect Leader's wife in the future!"
"I wouldn't want your lousy Sect Leader's wife."
Duan Yingying cast a look of utter disdain at him and immediately linked her arm with the expressionless Wan Yunting, humming, "With your dog-like demeanor, can you compare to my man?"
"Him?"
Bai Kangliang turned to look at Wan Yunting, sizing him up from head to toe, and then said with disdainful mockery, "Kid, with everything you have on you, you're worth at most a thousand yuan. Do you know what brand this jacket of mine is? Anima, it costs twenty thousand yuan. Not to mention the belt, pants, and shoes, there's no point comparing them with yours. What do you think you can compare with me?"
... Facing Bai Kangliang, the Sect Leader's son, who was arrogantly showing off his wealth, Wan Yunting couldn't help but chuckle. Duan Yingying looked at him with even more contempt and disgust. His low-level attempts at showing off wealth were utterly tacky.
"Heh heh."
Wan Yunting couldn't help but chuckle. He couldn't understand how such a shrewd Sect Leader could have such a foolish son...
"Kid, what are you laughing at?"
Facing Wan Yunting's cold chuckle, Bai Kangliang's face immediately darkened. He glared and angrily shouted, "I don't care if you're the Priest of the Wuliang Daoist Temple. In our Hengshan Sect, I am the heaven. Someone, come and beat this kid up, and then throw him out!"
"Yes, Young Master..."
A few disciples who happened to be passing by nearby hurried over upon hearing Bai Kangliang's words and immediately surrounded Wan Yunting and Duan Yingying.