Ye Si controlled her flying golden book and brought Song Shuhang, Guoguo, Shi, and Zhu toward Wenzhou City. The navigator turned out to be pretty reliable, and Senior Sister Ye Si didn’t lose her way.

　　On the huge golden book, the small monk was sitting cross-legged with his hands joined together, busy silently chanting buddhist scriptures.

　　Although he had an indifferent expression on his face, he was silently praying in his heart.

　　Senior White, Senior White, please, make it so that Senior Brother Song Shuhang doesn’t hit me and only scolds me a little… and if he really has to hit me, hopefully, he will be gentle and won’t hit me until I shiet all over the place.

　　Earlier, when he was in the Faraway Wandering Temple, the small monk had decided to abandon Buddha and throw himself into Senior White’s embrace. Therefore, the person he was praying to had changed into Senior White.

　　On the surface, it seemed as though he was chanting buddhist scriptures, but in truth, he was anxiously offering prayers to Senior White.

　　The two young girls, Shi and Zhu, curiously sized up Song Shuhang.

　　The younger one in particular, Loli Zhu, frequently showed her canine teeth to Song Shuhang. If her expression was translated into words… the rough meaning would be—[Senior Brother Gao Sheng must be bitten to death!]

　　Song Shuhang decided to give Senior Brother Three Realms a call.

　　Senior Brother Three Realms seemed to be under quite some pressure, and he quickly picked up the phone. “Hello, Shuhang? Since you called me, is it possible that you have some good news?”

　　“Yes, there is indeed good news. I found Guoguo,” Song Shuhang said. “Earlier, just as I hung up the phone, I bumped into Guoguo. He happened to be riding the same train as me. Therefore, I conveniently grabbed him and took him with me.”

　　“Ahahaha, refusing to take the straight path to Heaven but unknowingly barging into the doorless Hell!” Senior Brother Three Realms laughed, and then asked, “Right. Junior Brother Shuhang, were those two girls that Guoguo abducted also with him?”

　　“Yes, Shi and Zhu are also here with me,” Song Shuhang replied.

　　“That’s great!” Senior Brother Three Realms immediately heaved a sigh of relief, and asked, “Shuhang, where are you now?”

　　“I’m currently headed to Wenzhou City,” Song Shuhang said. “Senior Brother Three Realms, when are you coming to pick Guoguo up? If you are coming over today, you’ll find me in Wenzhou City… otherwise, I’ll head to Jiangnan University Town, and you can come to the Jiangnan area when you have time.”

　　“I see, no problem!” Senior Brother Three Realms replied. “I’ll first report this matter to the abbot and to Shi and Zhu’s senior. Then, at the appointed time, I’ll directly head to the Jiangnan area to look for you. Before that, I’ll have to trouble little friend Shuhang to look after Guoguo and the two girls in my stead.”

　　Actually, Senior Brother Three Realms wished he could immediately head toward Wenzhou City and look for Song Shuhang.

　　However, he had to wait for a person and go look for Song Shuhang together with her. This person was Shi and Zhu’s senior sister. She, too, had gone out alongside Three Realms to look for Guoguo and the others.

　　“No problem,” Song Shuhang replied.

　　Senior Brother Three Realms clenched his teeth, and said, “Shuhang, in addition, I’ll also have to trouble you to give Little Guoguo a good lesson in my stead. Let him understand how cruel the world of cultivators is!”

　　“Ahaha, Senior Brother Three Realms, it’s better if you take care of this matter yourself,” Song Shuhang said with a smile.

　　Senior Brother Three Realms heaved a sigh, and then said, “Tell Guoguo that I’ll soon come to look for him. If he dares to run away again, he’s dead!”

　　After concluding hanging up the phone, Song Shuhang looked at the three disobedient children.

　　“You should have also heard the contents of my conversation with Senior Brother Three Realms,” Song Shuhang said. “Therefore, I’ll be in charge of taking care of you guys until he comes over to pick you up.”

　　After hearing these words, Guoguo secretly heaved a sigh of relief. As expected, it had been worth it to offer prayers to Senior White!

　　Senior Brother Shuhang didn’t scold him, nor did he beat him up—excellent!

　　Next, he would pray to Senior White and wish that Senior Brother Three Realms wouldn’t hit or scold him, either, allowing him to safely transcend this tribulation!

　　But right at this time, Loli Shi asked curiously, “Senior Brother Shuhang, is the world of cultivators really that cruel?”

　　“Huh? Why are you asking this question?” Song Shuhang asked in puzzlement.

　　“Just now, didn’t Senior Brother Three Realms say that Senior Brother Shuhang should let Guoguo know how cruel the world of cultivators is?” Loli Zhu blinked her eyes, and said, “I was wondering if this ‘cruelty’ is similar to the one we witnessed in ❮Apocalypse War❯, where Senior Brother Gao Sheng was beating up Ling Ye to show him how cruel the world of cultivators was.”

　　Loli Shi continued, “Therefore, is Senior Brother Shuhang planning to do the same thing he did in the movie, beating up Guoguo until he starts rolling on the floor in pain?”

　　Song Shuhang was speechless. From the looks of it, Senior Brother Gao Sheng’s character was going to become a stain that wouldn’t go away for the rest of his life!

　　“Stop making connections between that movie and the real world! A movie is just a movie, and ❮Apocalypse War❯ is just a story with a fictional plot.” Song Shuhang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “In addition, the world of cultivators is cruel in a different way compared to the movie!”

　　“In that case, how is exactly the real world of cultivators cruel?” Loli Zhu asked out of curiosity.

　　Loli Shi added, “Does that mean that there aren’t senior brothers oppressing their junior brothers in the real world?”

　　“Whether or not senior brothers are oppressing their junior brothers in real life… is not something I know! After all, I’m a loose cultivator.” Song Shuhang shrugged his shoulders, and said, “Nevertheless, the cruelty of the world of cultivators is probably related to the scary heavenly tribulation, or to those unfathomable man-made tribulations?”

　　Loli Shi said, “Senior Brother Shuhang, I feel that your words are inappropriate. The heavenly tribulation is very fair and treats every cultivator the same. I don’t think it can be regarded as cruel.”

　　Loli Zhu said, “Senior Sister, what you said is wrong. The heavenly tribulation is actually very cruel! If one fails to transcend the heavenly tribulation, both their body and soul would be destroyed, and all the strength they accumulated in thousands—or even tens of thousands—of years would immediately turn into ashes. In addition, they would also lose the possibility to reincarnate. For cultivators, the heavenly tribulation is surely the cruelest thing!”

　　The small monk Guoguo discovered that he was unable to participate in this conversation.

　　Song Shuhang felt that both girls made reasonable points.

　　“Alright, from this point of view, the heavenly tribulation is indeed very cruel. Anyway, Senior Brother Shuhang, what are these man-made tribulations you mentioned?” Loli Shi asked of curiosity.

　　Song Shuhang pondered for a moment, and said, “Speaking of man-made tribulations… some cultivator might want to stab you to death due to a conflict of interest; some cultivator might decide to kill you just because they don’t find you pleasing to the eye. Then, just because there were some grudges between their ancestors, two sects might start fighting each other and hope for the destruction of the opposite party. Every similar case that can cause death can be counted as a man-made tribulation.”

　　After stepping on the path of cultivation, the majority of the seniors Song Shuhang had gotten in touch with were part of the Nine Provinces Number One Group.

　　As such, he hadn’t come in contact with the cruel part of the world of cultivators that much.

　　He had first met Altar Master, then Young Master Hai from the Limitless Demon Sect, the killers from the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Sect, as well as the sea urchin warrior race… However, although all of these encounters were rather deadly, Song Shuhang felt that they couldn’t really be classified as ‘cruel’.

　　The only events that reached the ‘cruel’ level were probably the destruction of the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion he ‘saw’ after entering the pavilion or the life and death battle between the scholarly faction and the Netherworld Realm.

　　He had been really lucky to meet people like the seniors of the Nine Provinces Number One Group.

　　But right at this time, the slightly older girl, Shi, asked, “Some people might kill you just because they don’t find you pleasing to the eye? There are really similar cultivators in the world?”

　　“Yes, some evil cultivators have twisted minds due to the cultivation techniques they practice, and they are indeed capable of such things,” Song Shuhang explained. “However, since the day I’ve started practicing up until now, I have yet to encounter a similar cultivator.”

　　The slightly older girl, Shi, nodded, and said, “Oh, that’s how it is.”

　　Just as they were discussing, Ye Si—who was controlling the flying golden book—suddenly turned her head around, and said, “Shuhang… there is something ahead blocking our path.”

　　Song Shuhang also turned his head around and looked ahead… seeing nothing. But that was to be expected. After all, Ye Si was a Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor and could see farther than Song Shuhang.

　　“Is it a plane or a cultivator? If it’s a plane, we can simply avoid it,” Song Shuhang said.

　　“It’s not a plane, it’s a cultivator… The opposite party noticed us and is intentionally blocking our path. Their body is full of malice and seemingly ready for battle,” Ye Si said. Earlier, she’d tried to change the trajectory of her flying golden book, but the opposite party firmly locked onto her position again.

　　Song Shuhang immediately took out his treasured saber Broken Tyrant.

　　Tsk! Could there really be such a coincidence? Just now, he was discussing the ‘cruelty of the world of cultivators’ with the kids, and a person with evil intentions appeared in front of them, blocking their path.

　　Who was the opposite party? A disciple of the Limitless Demon Sect? A sea urchin warrior? Or a demon of the Netherworld?

　　Just as he was in deep thought, Ye Si got closer and closer to the person blocking their path.

　　Song Shuhang was now able to see the silhouette of that person.

　　It was a very ordinary-looking middle-aged man. He looked around forty and had a slovenly appearance.

　　Black energy had materialized around him and was entwining the body of the middle-aged man.

　　The black energy was filled with foul aura; it was the energy of the Netherworld Realm.

　　This materialized energy of the Netherworld Realm twining all around the middle-aged man had seemingly transformed his body.

　　In addition, it was solely due to the energy of the Netherworld that this middle-aged man could float in the air and fly.

　　“Is that someone from the Netherworld Realm? Or is he an evil cultivator?” Song Shuhang furrowed his brows. The opposite party looked somewhat strange.

　　“He… hehe…” Right at this time, the middle-aged man raised his head and looked at Song Shuhang.

　　Both his eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils didn’t resemble those of a human, but were more similar to the vertical slit pupils of a snake. He had locked onto the position of Song Shuhang and the others thanks to these strange eyes of his.

　　“Found you, human~ cultivator~” The middle-aged man issued a devilish growl from afar. “As long as you are a human cultivator, you~ must~ die!”

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　The slightly older girl, Shi, nodded her head, and said, “I see, I see… so this guy is the type of cultivator that Senior Brother Shuhang mentioned earlier, the one that would kill others just because they don’t find them pleasing to the eye!”

　　The slightly younger girl, Zhu, likewise nodded. “It seems that such a man-made tribulation really exists! Senior Brother Shuhang is really incredible!”

　　But right at this time, Ye Si said, “This guy is very strange. His body seems really weak, and only has the strength of someone at the Foundation Establishment Realm.”