"Who do you think you are, blocking the way of my esteed guest?!" Luoshi roared.
At the sa ti, she let her qi leak out, and a terrifying pressure flooded the entire area. The temperature seed to drop instantly, and even breathing beca difficult.
Everyone, from disciples to elders, broke into a cold sweat, their faces turning pale.
But none were hit harder than the female guard.
The pressure slamd into her chest like a hamr, and with a loud cry, her knees crashed to the ground with a thud.
"Misssss…" she tried to protest, but Luoshi wasn't listening.
"You…" Luoshi's eyes flashed dangerously. "You dare to disrespect an honored guest of mine?!"
The atmosphere was suffocating.
But just as it seed the female guard would faint from fear, a calm voice cut through the tension.
"You, Miss," Julian spoke gently, the answer to everything is not violence."
The mont his voice rang out, Luoshi's expression shifted.
Imdiately, she withdrew her aura and returned the space to normal. The pressure vanished, though the fear it left behind lingered.
She turned to Julian quickly, her face slightly red. She hadn't expected him to speak up — to defend the very guard who had mocked him.
He really seems like a genuine monk, she thought, respect and confusion mingling in her heart.
She took a small bow and said with sincere regret, "I am sorry for losing my calm, dear monk."
Julian smiled faintly, glancing pitifully at the female guard still kneeling on the ground.
Before he could open his mouth to say anything, Luoshi added coldly, "But she dared to disrespect you. She deserves punishnt."
The female guard lifted her head weakly, tears glistening in her wide eyes.
"I… I am sorry, Miss… I am sorry, honored guest…" she stamred.
Yet despite the apology, her cheeks remained tinted pink, as if she were… oddly enjoying the humiliation.
The watching disciples exchanged bewildered glances, so looking away awkwardly.
Julian, of course, noticed everything — the trembling shoulders, the hidden excitent in her expression.
He chuckled inwardly but kept his outer face calm and rciful.
"It's okay," Julian said softly, his voice carrying a calm, compassionate tone that silenced the courtyard. "The greatest action in life is to forgive."
"Besides," he added, "the young lady seems to have learned her lesson."
The female guard glared up at him bitterly, the wound in her pride deeper than any physical blow.
But before she could say anything, Luoshi's face darkened.
Without hesitation, Luoshi leaked her terrifying aura once again — sharper and colder than before. The oppressive force slamd into the female guard's body like a mountain.
Buhk!
The female guard coughed blood violently, her palms pressing weakly against the stone ground.
"You dare glare at my guest?" Luoshi muttered coldly, her voice low and threatening.
"You are too kind, dear monk," she said without turning her gaze from the shivering guard, "but showing rcy like this only lets garbage grow."
"We should cripple her cultivation!"
The crowd gasped. Crippling cultivation was not just punishnt — it was a death sentence for a cultivator's future.
The female guard finally flinched, true fear flashing in her eyes for the first ti.
She realized now — this was no joke, no humiliation she could secretly enjoy.
Julian smiled gently, folding his hands once more in the calm posture of a monk. "What benefit," he said softly, his voice flowing like a serene river, "would ruining the life of another bring to us?"
He glanced down at the trembling female guard, his eyes kind and pitying.
"Let her follow ," he said, raising his voice slightly so the entire crowd could hear. "I will teach her morals and ethics. She will learn discipline and humility."
The courtyard fell into stunned silence.
Everyone — disciples, elders, even the servants nearby — looked at Julian with wide, bewildered eyes.
Even Luoshi was surprised. Her brow lifted slightly, unable to hide her confusion. She tilted her head and asked curiously, "What use would she have for you, dear monk?" She probed carefully, her voice calm but carrying a hint of suspicion.
Julian chuckled softly. "Amitabha… Nothing," he said simply. "I simply wish to help her lose her pride and anger. To walk a better path."
He paused, his lips curving faintly in amusent.
"And besides," he added, his voice low and slightly teasing, "I might need soone like her. So that others won't block my way again. That way, young Miss Luoshi won't have to personally co and rescue every ti."
A few disciples lowered their heads in sha. So elders coughed awkwardly, realizing how disgraceful they must have appeared.
Luoshi stared at him for a long mont, her expression unreadable. But deep inside, she couldn't help but feel admiration.
What a broad heart he has... she thought, biting her lower lip slightly. And to think, I almost mistook him for a fraud.
While everyone was busy admiring the monk's kindness, the female guard shivered violently.
Unlike the others, she caught it. That faint glint in Julian's eyes — not kindness, not compassion — but sothing else entirely.
Goosebumps rippled across her skin, and she tried to open her mouth to protest, to explain herself. But all that ca out was another harsh cough before blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.
She realized it now — she hadn't been saved.
She had been claid.
Julian stood there like a rciful saint to the world, but in her eyes, he was a devil wrapped in monk's robes.
anwhile, Luoshi smiled, completely missing the tension between them. "I will leave her in your care, dear monk," she said warmly, giving Julian one final respectful bow.
Without another word, her figure glowed and vanished.
The courtyard slowly began to clear as well, the onlookers dispersing — so whispering excitedly about the monk's greatness, others about the female guard's new fate.
And there, in the open courtyard, only two figures remained.
Julian.
And his new 'disciple.'
"Follow ," Julian said, his voice leaving no room for refusal as he walked past the kneeling guard and headed toward the door that led into the auction house.
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