Lu Wuming was a hundred percent unwilling to accept Liu Buli's conclusion.
After all, his master was his master alone. He had spent so much time, and finally managed to gather all of his master's attention onto himself.
Now, a junior sister suddenly appeared, wanting to snatch away his master's attention. Wasn't that courting death?
He absolutely had to find a way to get rid of her.
And he had to do it without his master knowing.
What should he do?
Lu Wuming stroked his chin.
But before he could even come to a conclusion, his head was knocked again.
Looking up, he saw Liu Buli's furious gaze. Lu Wuming immediately raised his hands reflexively and said, "I promise I'll listen to Master, I..."
"You don't need to promise me, I don't believe you," Liu Buli glared. "Anyway, you remember this: if you dare to bully your junior sister, even just once, you won't be allowed into my room for a whole year. If you dare to do what you're thinking in your heart, then you'll never be allowed into my room again in this lifetime. Do you understand?"
This threat was too severe.
Moreover, his master had actually guessed what he was thinking. Lu Wuming felt immensely regretful.
Like a large dog being scolded, he drooped his head, looking pitiful.
Liu Buli glanced at him, not intending to comfort him. After all, he genuinely wanted to bring the young girl out of this cage-like place, not to have her die. Therefore, on this matter, he would not make any concessions for Lu Wuming.
Lu Wuming felt extremely wronged.
Instead, Shen Muzhi patted his shoulder and smiled, saying, "Brother Lu, I don't think you should be displeased."
Lu Wuming glared at him, his gaze clearly saying: You don't understand anything.
Shen Muzhi, for once, was not intimidated. He merely curved his lips, shook his head slightly, and said, "Your master likes men. It's understandable that you see me as a rival. But Yun Xiang is just a girl. No matter how close her relationship with your master is, she's just a confidante. Just like how our Siqi also likes to chat and laugh with Daoist Liu. Is there anything worth your jealousy about that?"
Hearing this, Lu Wuming paused.
He thought about it seriously, and then was astonished to realize that he had never been jealous of You Siqi.
If Liu Buli got too close to Shen Muzhi, he would be very angry. But no matter how many secrets Liu Buli whispered to You Siqi, he felt it wasn't a big deal. He realized it was because, subconsciously, he believed Liu Buli would never fall for that idiot You Siqi.
Seeing his look of sudden enlightenment, Shen Muzhi smiled and patted his shoulder again.
This was considered repayment for Lu Wuming readily giving him the secret manuals earlier. He might even ask for advice from Lu Wuming frequently in the future. Shen Muzhi had already decided that he must maintain a good relationship with Lu Wuming.
Once all the contents of the secret manuals were memorized, Liu Buli raised his hand and, with spiritual energy transformed into fierce flames, burned the pile of secret manuals to ashes.
As they left the underground palace, Liu Buli stood at the entrance, lost in thought. After everyone else had exited, he turned to look at Lu Wuming, who was by his side, then smiled brightly at him and said, "Wuming, Master will do a magic trick for you."
Lu Wuming blinked, his gaze towards his master filled with confusion.
Liu Buli didn't offer any further explanation. He simply raised his hand and a stream of spiritual energy struck a magical artifact in the nearest compartment.
When the artifact was hit, it didn't shatter as expected. Instead, it transformed into a cloud of mist and dissipated into the air.
At the same time, the ground around them began to shake violently. Lu Wuming instinctively scooped up Liu Buli and, with the fastest speed possible, carried him away from the underground palace area.
Then, looking back, the location where the underground palace had stood completely collapsed with a loud boom.
Lu Wuming was startled.
Liu Buli, however, seemed quite satisfied. He stroked his chin and explained his actions, "See, I made this place collapse. If anyone comes here in the future, they won't have to worry about accidentally triggering a mechanism and getting themselves killed here."
This reason was truly high-sounding.
You Siqi's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but say, "Actually, you just wanted to test a plot from a novel, to see if this underground palace would really collapse, right?"
Liu Buli smiled but said nothing.
He didn't answer the question.
However, the answer was already quite clear.
You Siqi helplessly covered his face.
Shen Muzhi smiled with a sense of habit, even proactively changing the subject. He said, "Daoist Liu, if we want to leave here, should we go back the way we came?"
Liu Buli shook his head and pointed in another direction behind the underground palace. He said, "You can exit from there. There's a one-way passage over there. After leaving, you'll appear outside the mountain, so it will be a bit difficult for Miss Yun to return to her original place."
Yun Xiang had already decided to accompany them, so upon hearing Liu Buli's words, she merely pursed her lips and smiled, showing little reaction.
The so-called passage was actually an exit that had to be broken through with spiritual energy.
Lu Wuming, following Liu Buli's instructions, strode towards that direction. Seeing him begin his cultivation technique to break through the restriction, Liu Buli turned to look at Yun Xiang beside him. He smiled and said, "Yun Xiang, Wuming is not a well-behaved child. Although he seems a bit fierce at times, he doesn't have any bad intentions at heart. So, don't be angry with him. Get along well in the sect in the future, okay?"
He was apologizing for Lu Wuming's murderous aura just now. Yun Xiang understood and immediately shook her head. She smiled and said, "Brother Liu... no, Master. Master, you don't need to tell me these things. I can feel that Senior Brother Wuming is a good person. My previous master told me that those who wear their emotions on their faces are people without bad intentions. You are a good person for taking me out. Senior Brother Wuming's hostility towards me is to protect you, so he is also a good person. I won't be angry with him."
After saying this, Liu Buli was stunned.
Then he couldn't help but laugh, patting Yun Xiang's shoulder. He said, "Yun Xiang, you... forget it. I'll tell you in the future what kind of people are good and what kind are bad. You'll have to see more and learn to distinguish them yourself. But don't worry, even if you can't distinguish them, as long as you're by my side, I won't let you suffer any losses."
Yun Xiang blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Then she smiled and said, "Okay, anyway, you are all good people. I haven't misjudged this, and that's enough."