Feeling the last flicker of life ebb away from the body in his hand, Bubai finally released his grip, watching it limply slump to the ground.

He then shot a steely glance at the doll sitting the ground, questioning in a chillingly calm voice, "With your strength, you could've easily escaped from these lowlifes. Why didn't you?"

In the midst of trimming the slightly singed tips of her hair with her sharp nails, An Jali met his gaze evenly.

"My king instructed Jali not to cause a scene. Their gang has many members. If they started a wild chase…”

It will undoubtedly catch the attention of one of the patrols on duty.

In fact, any visible hint of a raucous skirmish or the display of overt spells in public would inevitably draw the foundation establishment cultivator to fly over and investigate.

Unless there existed a significant power gap, subduing an opponent without inciting a ruckus was a nigh impossible task.

During the lull when the patrols were offline, the outer disciples had fun partying, but now that they were back…

Most disciples went back to obediently cultivating, honestly going to work in the inner sect, or frequenting the service sectors of the outer sect.

After all, those greedy eyes and spiritual sense of foundation establishment cultivators was not to be trifled with, especially considering there were multiple stationed in each district.

This was precisely one reason why the other traders of the outer sect had opted for a peaceful exchange rather than resorting to robbery.

Both parties knew: should a big shot be drawn over, neither side would be able to keep the valuable scorpion!

This facilitated the transactions between those who weren’t looking for trouble, but for those with dark hearts and daring numbers… they hunted regardless.

His doll unfortunately bumped into one such death-seeking gang.

Alas, while An Jali wielded the combat capabilities to extricate herself from the Qi-refiners chasing her, doing so without causing a commotion proved challenging, if not impossible.

So, his flexible doll's decision to allow herself to be apprehended was not wrong. To her, it’s just a charging session at worst.

Moreover, even if she had wanted to fight back, her core principles guided her in the same direction.

After all, the doll was equipped with an array of tools tailored for covert assassination during the charging process.

Thus, doing it during the deed significantly enhanced her prospects against late-stage Qi-refiners compared to a head-on confrontation.

Even if he had not come, perhaps the gang would still fall under her pomegranate skirt, albeit with a rather heavy cost for the woman herself.

Observing the sexy assassin kneeling on the ground, Bubai could only begrudgingly grunt in acknowledgment, “Huh. Very efficient.”

Rising from the ground, An Jali returned a magnanimous “I’m always thinking about you” smile, “My king, will it not cause trouble if you are so heavy-handed?”

Bubai's gaze shifted to the lifeless bodies scattered on the ground.

His skirmish with them seemed almost too easy, and in his story, they would certainly be categorized as cannon fodder, but...

The Hunter Gang wasn’t a group to be underestimated. Their numbers might be limited, yet they were notorious for their ruthlessness with an unquestionable amount of blood on their hands.

Each and every member was a sly and slick assassin, capable of hunting fellow disciples without leaving obvious clues.

It’s just that they met their match this time.

The Turtle Breath technique was indeed very useful, especially for an assassin who could rely on raw physical strength for combat rather than Qi, like himself.

Thus, once he got behind enemy lines, they were goners.

Regardless, the elimination of a small gang of outer disciples with some notoriety would undoubtedly draw attention sooner or later.

Yet, Bubai didn’t feel he did anything wrong.

Coolly retrieving his blood-stained, poisonous needles, Bubai dropped a casual excuse, "They've seen too much. So, they are perfect for practicing my hands."

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An Jali gave him a “I don’t believe you glance”, but she still obediently helped to clean the scene instead of pressing him for the real reason.

Well, some words were better left unsaid.

After all, she probably had an inkling that her “efficient strategies” undeniably stirred a disquiet within her owner.

For, in truth, if any man had the choice, why would he willingly let others lay hands on his women?

But reality was harsh.

There existed too many uncontrollable variables and plenty of room for misfortune to rear its head.

Sometimes, it boiled down to a series of bad decisions and unfortunate timing. On other occasions, it stemmed from a deficiency in strength, be it on the part of the woman or the man.

Things can easily go wrong anywhere, anytime, but the hand of salvation is rarely in arms’ reach.

As for hero saving the beauty? Sorry, it was a trope solely reserved for the protagonist preordained by fate.

Of course, with his awesome cheat that puts him a cut above the rest, Bubai certainly seemed to embody the archetype, and he didn’t mind being the protagonist of his own story!

Alas, while everyone could indeed aspire to become the protagonist of their own story, success isn’t born from aspirations alone, and protagonists… there was also an ever-present hierarchy.

System transmigrators, transmigrators with cheats, transmigrators knowing plot, reborn protagonists along with time travelers… and at the very bottom, the native people of the world.

Though Bubai’s cheat placed him in the upper end of the spectrum, he never let his imagination run off tangent because deep down, he was aware…

First and foremost, his cheat wasn’t overpowered enough to let him run wild.

Secondly, he wasn’t this world’s true favored protagonist - a wild card of its own that could be any of the above classes!

Perhaps he could be considered the protagonist of his own tale, a rather uninteresting one probably, but he certainly can’t be the true protagonist of this world.

After all, that honor seemed to belong to that other Fang Bubai, while he… was closer to the role of the antagonist - the one who would ultimately be hunted down and brought to “justice”.

No, in truth, with his current constraints and limited freedom, he felt more akin to a caged bird awaiting its inevitable roasting over the fire.

He... wasn’t even qualified to be the enemy of the protagonist. Instead, he was more like a normal guy harboring fantasies and dreams of freedom, much like everyone else.

But once he sets his dreamy state aside, it was clear his life wasn’t a wish-fulfillment story where all his expectations would be neatly met and satisfied.

Otherwise, he could have easily impersonated an outer disciple and took an external sect task to make his getaway.

Alas. Alas. Life wasn’t that easy.

Even if he had a golden finger, a single misstep meant he will suffer, or worse, legit die. The end – an easy excuse for some lazy, unscrupulous author to go on permanent hiatus.

Surely, no one wants such an outcome, right?

So, it was best for Bubai to be careful, mindful of the myriad variables that could trip him up.

That way, at least his story can drag on a bit longer for the word count…

Ahem. Setting aside matters beyond the fourth wall…

Based on his past experience, Bubai knew that it was the tiny variables that dunk him into the nasty situations.

Ever since his seed’s awakening, he had learned his lesson a few times already... the hard way, particularly with a certain succubus.

Hence, to avoid landing himself in hot water again, he made a concerted effort to factor in as much of these variables as possible.

Nevertheless, despite his best efforts, there were instances where his strength and wisdom dragged him down, leaving him no choice but to compromise on his principles… and more.

But here, facing these cannon fodder in the outer sect? Hah!

He trumped them in strength, and he had proper tools at his disposal.

If he let them go unpunished for touching his women, he wasn’t a man!

Regardless, these scoundrels weren’t on his bucket list of noteworthy disciples to watch out for. Thus, since they were foolish enough to walk right into the honey trap, don’t blame him for being ruthless!

A gang was a delicious prey he certainly didn’t mind cleaning inside and out...

Tossing the final stash of loot onto the messy pile in his storage pouch, Bubai heard the door creak behind him and turned just in time to catch entry of the masked An Jali, now donning a clean white robe.

The flowing silk robe hugging her curves left certain desires in the quenching-required zone, but Bubai didn’t let his thoughts stray.

“Have you broken their locks?”

The mature woman hugged her holy mounds with an arm, replying nonchalantly, “Jali knocked them out to buy my king more time.”

“Good.” Bubai reached to grab her arm, “Clean yourself. I’ll harvest you later.”

“As you wish, my king…”

Bubai watched An Jali’s form ripple subtly, eventually warping out of existence and reappearing in a corner of his three cubic meter spatial storage.

Here, she was literally squeezing in because his storage was almost stuffed full even after he had made space by moving a hoard of his stash into the dungeon and his pouch.

The average human height is 1.7 meters. Adding a stack of the Hunger Gang’s corpses was enough to occupy most of the 3 cubic meter space, leaving little room for much else.

Fortunately, since he had an extra storage pouch, space was the least of his issues.

Thinking about how to handle the corpses, Bubai frowned subtly.

Temporarily making them go missing would delay any investigation, but he couldn’t let their bodies rot in his storage forever.

However, Bubai’s frown soon relaxed, his mind shifting gears.

“Find some time to strip their faces, burn them, and drop them off in different districts. For now...”

Bubai let his divine sense sweep out, making sure he hadn’t missed any loot upstairs. Yep, it was like a swarm of locust had visited the base.

“Well, time to go.”

It wasn’t good to overstay after the chaos he caused, even if he had knocked out the possible witnesses.

The patrol would eventually fly by and notice the strangeness. It was just a matter of when, depending on how diligent they were.

But before that…

Squatting down, Bubai took out a small box from his inner robe. Snapping open the lid, he gave it a shake, dropping the last scorpion onto the ground of the storage room.

The small, black creature scuttled across the floor, its legs clicking softly on the stone, starting its own journey to complete the last piece of the puzzle.

A smile crept onto Bubai’s face. “Go, little one. Let those doll lovers play house.”

They want to play? Well, he’ll let them play all they want.

As long as they couldn’t flush him out, his full house would always be the winning hand.