Chapter 363: Chapter 363: Winning People Over with Virtue (Four updates)
I don’t know when Xie Lei sneaked over, Lan Xin and the others were too excited in their conversation and didn’t notice him.
Moreover, Xie Lei’s qinggong was better than everyone else’s; if you didn’t pay special attention, it would be hard to detect him.
The two immediately restrained their smiles, faced him coldly, and said:
"Xie Lei, don’t you feel bored? A grown man eavesdropping on girls’ conversations, isn’t that disgusting?"
"Yeah, you should just go eat your ice."
Xie Lei, having gained nothing, could only leave awkwardly.
His personality was like this: somewhat shameless and thick-skinned, traits he had even before the apocalypse. Back then, Xie Lei was just an ordinary disciple of Kongtong Sect, without any status, often having to live by the whims of his seniors like brothers and masters, which shaped this kind of personality.
The gene mutations at the end of the world suddenly made him powerful, and step by step, his ambition swelled. However, the elders who had oppressed him were all dead, leaving no outlet for his grievances nor a place to show off his special abilities.
In this desert, Xie Lei met Monk Ben Yin, Zhang Jian, Lan Xin, Zhi Ruo, and others, and here, he found his own Jianghu, his own world.
Initially, when he contacted Monk Ben Yin and others, Xie Lei was very cautious and humble, as traditionally, Shaolin, Wudang, and Emei were the top three sects in the martial arts world, and Kongtong was a third-rate sect, utterly inferior.
This long-standing background of humility was not something that could be changed overnight.
Through gradual interactions, one day, Xie Lei discovered that his current level of genetic evolution was higher than everyone else’s, and now his Seven Injuries Fist could defeat Monk Ben Yin and the others.
Thus, Xie Lei felt like a poor boy who became rich overnight, his heart extremely inflated.
After several intentional and unintentional tests and competitions, Xie Lei eventually confirmed his position in today’s martial arts world; he, Xie Lei, might just be the foremost figure.
Everybody was young and hot-blooded, having watched many martial arts novels and TV dramas; thus, the idea of becoming the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch sprang to mind.
However, he knew being the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch still required unity and gaining others’ trust; otherwise, without support, the position meant nothing.
That’s also why, even though his cultivation was higher than Monk Ben Yin and others, he didn’t dare to force his hand.
He really hoped Monk Ben Yin and others would support him as the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch; he even thought, if he became the Hierarch, would Lan Xue and Zhi Ruo obediently become his concubines?
But in the eyes of Monk Ben Yin, Zhang Hai, Zhi Ruo, Lan Xin, and others, Xie Lei was really just a nouveau riche, never fit to lead, and given his general behavior and character, it was even less likely he’d be accepted.
They didn’t need a so-called Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch to unify actions within the martial arts community; everyone was happy being autonomous.
Currently, Monk Ben Yin and others were engrossed daily in various martial arts studies, hoping to demonstrate the charm of ancient martial arts on the basis of genetic evolution.
For instance, Monk Ben Yin practiced the youth version of the Seventy-two Skills’ Nimble Finger; previously, he had trouble mastering it, but now he had restarted and felt as if a skylight was opened in his mind, progressing rapidly.
Monk Ben Yin and others now sought to continuously improve their genetic evolution level and ancient martial arts realm, mutually enhancing both.
Aside from Xie Lei, no one wanted to establish a Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch, which was also Xie Lei’s frustration; he couldn’t just kill everyone, right?
"Win people with virtue, win people with virtue, I must win people with virtue!"
Xie Lei silently repeated this several times in his mind, barely quenching his inner fury.
Of course, the fiery heat inside him could not be extinguished, and when his anger rose, the fiery heat inside seemed even more intense.
Xie Lei bit into a piece of ice, chewing loudly, crunching away.
He sat alone far from the campfire in the night, watching Lan Xin’s beautiful voice amidst the flames, thinking, once I become the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch, you will kneel and lick my boots.
Yang Xiao yawned.
Everyone was sleepy, ready to go to bed.
Lan Xin, Zhi Ruo, and other girls had already set up their camping tents earlier, being cautious, the Shenming Mountain Sect and Emei Sect each arranged a girl to keep watch at night.
Monk Ben Yin and the others had no such worries, everyone set up their tents and went straight inside to sleep soundly.
Yang Xiao then went to the Flame Horse, lay on its belly, and slept.
Xie Lei found that he still couldn’t stop eating ice. As soon as he stopped, his throat felt like it was burning, though the burning was much less intense than during the day, the spiciness of the Chili King was slowly decreasing.
"Sect Leader Brother, are you going to sleep now? I’ve set up the camping tent for you."
"Are you blind? Don’t you see I’m eating ice? How can I sleep?"
Xie Lei chewed on a piece of ice, crunching loudly, and then heard laughter from everyone in the darkness.
Everyone had just entered their tents and had not fallen asleep yet; now that Xie Lei was not in life-threatening danger, they naturally enjoyed seeing him suffer.
Hearing everyone’s laughter, Xie Lei felt more annoyed but couldn’t vent it, so he just said to his junior:
"Alright, alright, go to sleep yourself, don’t bother me."
The junior nodded and walked away.
Soon, everyone else fell into a deep sleep, except for Xie Lei, who sat on the side, crunching on ice cubes; it truly was a chilling experience!
In the middle of the night, while Yang Xiao was sound asleep, he was suddenly awakened by a series of urgent cries.
"Water, water, water, ah, it’s killing me, it’s killing me..."
Shocked, Yang Xiao turned over, and using the faint light from the Genetic Store, he saw Xie Lei searching for water bottles in the backpacks of several Kongtong Sect disciples.
Monk Ben Yin, Zhang Hai, and others got up, and even Lan Xin, Zhi Ruo, and the rest were awake.
Approaching Xie Lei, they found him in pain with a hoarse voice; two water bottles filled from the ice lake were already empty, and he still felt an intense burning, gasping for breath.
Yang Xiao was startled and said:
"Why don’t you eat some ice cubes?"
Furious, Xie Lei responded:
"Of course, because they’re all eaten! If it weren’t for you deliberately dropping that piece of ice, and if Lan Xin hadn’t failed to cut more ice cubes for me, I could have lasted another hour, by then it would’ve been dawn. But now, there is no ice, and my body feels like it’s on fire, Yang Xiao, tell me, did you put some poison in the chilies? Trying to poison me to death, huh? Oh, it hurts so much..."
Towards the end, Xie Lei pitifully began to sob, shedding painful tears.
Yang Xiao was stunned, thinking, damn, was it really just missing those three cubes of ice from me, Lan Xin, and Xiao Lan? Look at this jinx.
(The fifth update is a bit difficult, yawning continuously, will make it up tomorrow, for now, I’m heading to bed, goodnight, dear readers!)