Yang Wei walked forward elegantly, holding out his hand, he requested, "Fan."
"Yes!" He Dongmei hastily rummaged through her storage pouch and retrieved a folding fan and handed it to Yang Wei.
With a touch of feminine finesse, he unfurled the fan and began fanning himself as he strolled to join the crowd.
A female disciple named Pan Huan spotted him and exclaimed, "Huh, Mingyu, is that you?"
Yang Wei nodded with a serene smile. "Who else would it be?"
"We haven't seen you in weeks, where in the nine heavens have you been?"
"Oh, I've been around. I went into seclusion right after we settled in Blue Steam Mountain... I've been trying to cultivate a new technique I acquired."
Pan Huan squinted her eyes skeptically at Yang Wei. She was suspicious of him, but she had no choice but to drop her suspicions when she saw how confidently he answered her questions.
Then, she noticed a blue-haired bespectacled lady standing behind him and asked, "And who's she?"
Responding casually with the sass typical of a woman, he said, "My servant."
Pan Huan's eyes went wide. "You really have a servant?!"
It was rare for anyone in the sect to have a servant, but it seemed somewhat believable considering that "Wu Mingyu" was their highest-ranking Star Disciple and had more potential than any of them.
He Dongmei bowed politely and introduced herself, "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm He Dongmei."
I guess Senior Brother didn't bother to give me a fake name since women here don't care about Outer Sect disciples.
Still in shock, the female disciple nodded slowly—like she was still processing it all. Yang Wei then inquired about the gathering, asking why everyone was assembled there.
"So, why's almost every disciple gathered here? And what's with all the noise?" Yang Wei asked.
Pan Huan's face turned serious; as though she'd just witnessed a murder. "A panty thief snuck into Blue Steam Mountain this morning."
"Eh?" said Yang Wei and He Dongmei.
It just seemed like the most out of pocket thing that either of them would have guessed was the answer.
"So, where is this... panty thief?" Yang Wei asked, even the name felt heavy for him to utter.
"Cupcakes is bringing him." Pan Huan looked forward at the open space the crowd had purposely left to judge the panty thief's case for every furious woman present in the crowd to see.
Yang Wei already analyzed the situation.
To top it off, she sported a hairy square chin that could compete with any lumberjack's.
The walking definition of girl-power with a heavy sprinkle of testosterone.
Yang Wei shook his head disapprovingly. "Tsk, tsk, no woman has any right being that big."
He Dongmei simply adjusted her glasses and nodded. She was still very pale from the jump scare of seeing Cupcakes for the first time.
Pan Huan hushed them, urging, "Shhh! Let's listen to what's going on."
They all turned their attention to the open space created by the crowd. It hadn't been apparent at first, but now that Yang Wei was paying attention, it was clear that Cupcakes was dragging what appeared to be a man who had been beaten half to death across the ground. "Is that...?" he said, but paused.
No... it couldn't be him, right?
Cupcakes threw the man like a ragdoll to the center of the "stage". She grunted, "Sister Lu, I caught this man at the northern riverbank acting very suspiciously. He has to be the panty thief."
Too bad for small man, he look cute, really cute... she thought.
The sight of the bald, young man's brutal beating only solidified the idea that Cupcakes was a no-nonsense woman; she'd rough someone up first and worry about the consequences later.
The young man groaned on the hard ground—he was clearly in pain.
Lu Lin approached him, "Let me see him." She fanned herself gently, maintaining that annoyingly proud expression on her face, as if she thought she was better than everyone else.
She gave the young man a nudge with her foot, not too gentle though. "Do you know who I am?" she asked sharply.
The young man coughed up a lot of blood, wincing in pain. "Yo... you're Lu Lin, a Star Disciple here..." he managed to gasp out.
Lu Lin's face twisted with offense at being addressed by name. With a swift, powerful kick to the man's stomach, she sent him into a fit of coughing, making blood spatter from his lips. "Did you just call me by name, you little shit?"
The female disciples cheered her on.
"Yes, kick his ass!"
"Beat him up like the punk he is!"
"Perverted son of a bitch!"
The man coughed uncontrollably. His red eyes bulged out, looking painfully red. Writhing on the ground, he looked like a worm doused in salt. "I... I'm sorry," he wheezed, struggling to speak through the pain.
Glaring at him, Lu Lin asked, "What's your name?!"
"Ji... *cough cough* Jin Tianyu..." he choked out.
Yang Wei's eyebrows shot up. "Tinayu?!"