I am a shooter

The bloody color of the water hadn't completely settled, like a glass of unstirred strawberry juice. Ning Shu was bending over to brush the mud off his trouser legs when Shen Xuannv suddenly tugged on his arm. The little girl's nose twitched rapidly, like a puppy sniffing a strange odor. "Another guest! This smell is really strange, like moldy melon seeds mixed with burnt pot ash."

Ning Shu followed her gaze and saw a dark figure slithering out from the shadows of the trees in the dense forest, as swift as a ball of ink blown by the wind. In the blink of an eye, the figure crashed into the edge of the pool with a "thud", splashing mud and water all over his robe. It was actually an old man wrapped in a black robe, his face covered with black symbols that looked like earthworms, looking even more disgusting than the mud at the bottom of the pool.

The old man had just glanced at the corpses on the shore when he suddenly leaped up as if stung by a wasp, his bones cracking three times beneath his black robe. The black energy within him roiled like boiling water, and he screamed at the top of his lungs in his mind, "Run! These two are ruthless scoundrels who can crush you to dust!" He had last felt this way, being watched by the god of death, five hundred years ago, when he'd spied on the Grand Elder refining his elixir.

"Oh my God!" The old man turned around and ran away, his black robe fluttering like a tattered flag behind him. He took two steps at a time and rushed into the dense forest. He didn't even dare to look back to pick up his dropped shoe, just like a mouse being chased by a cat.

"Is he rushing to grab the hot buns?" Ning Shu touched his chin, still not reacting.

"Most likely." Shen Xuannv took out some fresh melon seeds from her sleeve pocket and bit into them with a crisp sound. "But don't rush to chase them."

"Not pursuing? It's not often that a 'side dish' is delivered to your door."

"How stupid." The little girl rolled her eyes at her, a piece of sunflower seed shell still stuck on her eyelashes. "Follow him, maybe we can find the warehouse where the sunflower seeds are hidden. Maybe there are some with salt and pepper."

The two of them trailed silently behind like two dew-soaked willow leaves. The old man ran three steps, then glanced back, his neck spinning like a rattle. He ran two miles before he dared to lean against a crooked tree to catch his breath. His chest heaved like a bellows, and his throat burned like a burning pain, as if he had swallowed a handful of chili powder.

"Fortunately, fortunately..." He fanned himself with his black robe, a black aura like a small snake crawling on his exposed wrist, "How could such a big shot look down on a small follower like me..."

"We don't look down on you."

"That's right, don't flatter yourself. You're not even worth melon seeds."

Suddenly, two words dropped from above his head, startling the old man so much that he leaped three feet high with a cry of "Ah!" His legs gave way, and he fell to his knees with a thump. Half of his front teeth were knocked out, and tears streamed down his face in pain. He stiffened his neck and looked up to see Ning Shu swinging on a swing, while Shen Xuannv sat cross-legged on a tree branch, stacking melon seed shells into a small tower. They both looked at him as if he were watching a monkey perform.

"Old people just can't handle the exertion. They feel weak after running just a few steps. They're even weaker than the old hen next door." Ning Shu tapped the old man's straw hat with her toes, and the brim of the hat was poked to one side, revealing his bald back of the head.

"Are we being too mean by scaring him like this? It won't be fun if he gets hurt from being scared." Shen Xuannv blinked her big eyes, and the melon seed shell tower in her hand collapsed with a "crash", making her pout in anger.

"I'm not trying to scare him. It's clearly time that's taking its toll. Look at his small body. I guess he can't even crack melon seeds normally." Ning Shu helped her pick up the melon seed shells seriously, and even arranged them into a crooked five-pointed star.

The old man under the tree was shaking like a sieve, and his forehead was covered with a big bump, like a purple steamed bun. "Two immortals, please spare my life! I am blind and don't recognize the great man. I am just passing by and didn't even bring a bottle of vinegar!"

Ning Shu suddenly sighed at Shen Xuannv: "It's all your fault for always having such a cold face, acting like someone owes you eight hundred kilograms of melon seeds. You scared me like this. You should practice your laughter skills. At least you should smile like a child who stole some candy."

Shen Xuannu rolled her eyes so hard she could see the back of her head, cursing Ning Shu inwardly: "It was you who deliberately squatted in the tree, pretending to be mysterious, and even imitated the call of a nightingale, and you still have the nerve to blame me? It's a waste of talent if you don't use your acting skills to perform on stage!"

Ning Shu pretended not to notice her resentment and raised his voice to the tree: "Do you think we are demons who kill people at will? This is really a huge misunderstanding - there must be a punishment for misunderstandings, right? Otherwise, it will seem like we have no manners."

The corners of Shen Xuannu's mouth twitched when she heard this: This excuse is as poor as melon seeds mixed with sand. If you want to deal with someone, just say it directly, but you have to sugar-coat it. The thickness of your face is almost as thick as the city wall of the God-forsaken Land. I guess it can't be scraped off even with a knife!

The old man in black robe was so scared that his lips turned purple, like a ripe grape. He could not say anything except "spare me". His face was covered with tears and snot, making him look even uglier.

"Shut up. Just answer my questions. If you dare to play tricks, I'll roast you into melon seeds and sprinkle some cumin on you." Ning Shu's voice suddenly turned cold, like a knife tempered with ice, chilling the air.

The old man finally dared to look up, and upon seeing the two's faces clearly, he panicked even more. The two, one large and one small, looked delicate and tender, yet their eyes held a deep, unfathomable depth. He wondered if they were some ancient demon who had lived for 10,000 years, deliberately deceiving honest men like him. He quickly bent his waist like a boiled shrimp and said, "Excuse me, Immortal! I am the worm in your stomach. I will tell you everything you want to know, without a single concession!"

"Why did you come to the waterhole?"

"My...my men suddenly died," the old man blinked rapidly, completely denying any responsibility, fearing even the slightest involvement. "They must have been blind and provoked the Immortal Master. They deserved their deaths! It had nothing to do with me. I don't even know what they ate yesterday!"

Ning Shu raised an eyebrow. This statement seemed to align with the situation. She tapped her knees with her fingertips, making a soft "tap-tap" sound, and asked, "Which mountain are you from?"

"Dark Night Sect!" The old man answered quickly, fearing that he would be skinned and his tendons pulled out if he was half a second late, and his voice was chopped.

"Dark Night Sect?" Ning Shu's brows knitted together. Why did it have the word "Dark" in it again? Last time, that guy named An had stolen her secret manual, forcing her to chase him for three blocks and even lose one of her shoes. She stared at the symbols twisting on the old man's face and suddenly changed the subject: "Why do you have demonic energy?"

These words struck the old man like thunderbolt, and he froze like a rock, the symbols on his face frozen in fear. Cold sweat soaked through his black robe, and the clothes on his back clung to him like mud. Even the Sect Master might not know the whole secret, so how could this little girl, as if she had opened her eyes to the world, know the secret he had hidden in his underwear?

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Ning Shu leaned forward, her eyes like two hooks, eager to hook out his internal organs and take a look. "Or do you think you're hiding tighter than an iron barrel, so tight that even a fly can't get in?"

The invisible pressure tightened the old man's throat, as if it were stuffed with cotton. The area around his dantian sizzled and burned, as if on fire. He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word. The blood curse he had sworn when he joined the sect would instantly explode, leaving not even a slag, not even a bone.

Seeing the old man's face as red as a purple eggplant and cold sweat flowing like a stream, Ning Shu winked at Shen Xuannv: It seems that this old man's melon is more delicious than the melon seeds of those evil cultivators just now. It must be spicy and stimulating enough!