"So, do you have any excuses?" the old monk harrumphed.

"Um..."

Mei was at a bit of a loss. How would she explain what happened? It wasn't even like she fully intended to skip out...

"Not really..." she mumbled.

The monk put his hand to his head and sighed.

"Not even sorry in the slightest." he grumbled.

At the side, Su Qing quietly snuck out, afraid.

"I'll give you a brief recap. Disciple, do you know what kind of sutra we practice?"

"Cultivation?"

"No!"

Gah! What else? Farming?

"Hmph. You know what?" he turned to Mei's friends, who looked on awkwardly. "This is the perfect chance for a demonstration!"

As the monk turned to her, she glanced at Wang Wei, Xiuying at the others. What was that look supposed to mean? Mei suddenly felt nervous.

"I-is it a martial arts move?" she stammered.

He was going to throw her?! Flip her?

"Hmph. Monks resolve things peacefully, not through violence!" the monk said. "Listen closely! Sutra of Repentance, Hundredfold!"

Eh?

The monk started chanting in a strange tone towards her. Was that supposed to be some kind of language? A strange feeling washed over her. She was feeling... guilty? But she wasn't even in the wrong! Was this was the sutra did?

"Sorry... I won't skip classes again..." Mei mumbled.

"Hmph. Such a negligent disciple, to feel so little guilt. Fine! Sutra of Repentance, Ten-Thousandfold!"

WHAT? A hundred to ten thousand, wasn't that too much?!

"Wait wait wait!" Mei shouted, but the monk had already began chanting.

Yingyi was snickering, so she glared at him. A suddenly heaviness weight down on her, and she fell on her knees.

Mei stared blankly.

...

"Wuuuuuuuuu... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

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She tumbled to the ground, covering her eyes and sobbing.

"Buaaaaahhh... Uuuuuuuu... I didn't mean to... I'll never do it again..."

"Teacher! This is too much!" Xiuying stood up.

The old monk looked a bit at a loss too. He scratched his bald head as Mei bawled, rolling all over the ground.

"Well, I didn't think a thousandfold would have much effect, so I skipped a tier." he said sheepishly.

"It was because I had to get a puppet... beca-"

Xiao Mei hurriedly stopped her.

This crazy monk! She couldn't let Mei spill everything about her to them! Thankfully, Mei was so devastated, she couldn't resist.

"-because of something important! It's even a secret... sob... I'm keeping with the sect elders! Uuuuuuu..."

Oh! Xiao Mei thought she would have to fake crying, but Mei's crying was covering it!

"Eh?"

The monk and her friends stared at her in disbelief. Liu Qiang and Yingyi glanced at each other, then Wang Wei.

"Oh yeah, I remember she said to me she was going to teleport back to the sect for something?" Wang Wei mused.

"Seriously?" Yingyi had an indescribable look. "Maybe she's lying?"

"And... because I was trying to help... I even got kidnapped and stuck underground for a long time... I finally escaped and rushed back here... I'm sorry..."

"No..." the monk said. "No one could lie while so immensely guilty! I'll release her immediately!"

With another set of chants, Mei finally stopped crying.

"I'm sorry for my presumptions! It is un-befitting of an elder!" he kowtowed.

Mei who was finally coming back to her senses, was furious. Her friends saw her disgrace herself! How was a sorry going to cut it?

"Sutra of Repentance, Hundredfold!" he shouted.

Huh?

As he chanted, he suddenly fell on his knees.

"Guhuhhhhhhh..." he started crying. "To have made such assumptions, I am unfit to be a monk... I'm so sorry..."

Mei started at him blankly.

What the hell?

"I'm a disgrace! Such a disgrace!"

He seriously just... used that on himself? These sutra chants were terrifying...

Though, she couldn't feel that mad at him anymore from how little he hesitated...

Suddenly, the door opened, Ding Zhe walking in.

"What's all the- Teacher?!"

...

With all that happened, the visit to the sutra hall was completely derailed. The monks were at a complete loss. Who would have imagined one of the instructors would use his own sutra on himself?

He was carried away by several monks to his room while he sobbed.

Ding Zhe stared at Mei with an indescribable look. As they were cleaning up, Wang Wei explained what happened to him.

"Hahhh... we don't have any other instructors available right now." he sighed. "Just, go, I suppose. We'll revisit the sutra hall tomorrow."

Mei felt a little guilty she ended up messing up everything with Xiao Mei's help. Hmm... having a sentient nascent soul was more useful that she thought. She could resist being incapacitated so easily!

"Xiao Mei... what do you say, I let you use pilot my body at night, but you also cultivate for two hours a day to make up for it?" she said.

She was still a little cautious of Xiao Mei, but...

"Huh? Why the hell would I want to control your body anymore after I get a working puppet? I don't want to be tied down by you!"

This little... Mei wished she could punch her a few times. Whatever. At least she'd have one less thing to be concerned about.

"At least help me cultivate for a few days to make up for all the 'free' days you got to possess me!"

...and Xiao Mei went quiet.

Mei wasn't sure what she expected.

...

As she wandered around the Buddhist sect, space distorted, spitting something out. With a plop, her bag landed before her feet.

Oh, Li Xuan had gotten her bag back!

Mei picked it up happily.

"So, since we have the day off, why don't you guide me on this merchanting thing? You want to get your body ready faster, right?"

"...Fine." Xiao Mei said.

"Then help me cultivate for a few days." Mei said with a grin. "Or I'll hand the teleportation token to an elder and tell him not to let you have it!"

"I hate you."

Mei laughed.