I am a shooter

The Dark Night Sect's main hall, decorated with carved beams and painted rafters, exuded an indescribable gloom—even the dragons and phoenixes carved into the pillars had their eyes painted inky black, looking from afar like two will-o'-the-wisp glares. The sage-like sect leader sat at a jade table, clutching a gilded enamel cup, its rim still stained with a piece of half-picked tea leaves. He sipped his cloud tea, his long white beard swaying gently with his breath. He looked like a picture of a sage, fresh from a painting, though the tea stain at the corner of his mouth somewhat marred the mood.

"Huh... This tea needs to be brewed with morning dew at 11:00 AM. A quarter of an hour later, it won't be as refreshing." The Sect Leader smacked his lips, licking the rim of the cup. Just as he was about to close his eyes and enjoy this "heavenly moment," a hurried, distorted voice suddenly pierced his ears: "Sect Leader! Oh no! The sky is falling!"

Xiaoshi came tumbling in, the hem of his black robe caught on the threshold. He stumbled forward, nearly hitting his face on the jade table. The clan leader's hand trembled at the roar, and the tea in his mouth spurted out, splashing right onto Xiaoshi's face and leaving a tea stain all over his black robe.

“Why are you panicking?” The sect leader quickly put down the teacup, pretended to be calm, wiped the tea drops on his beard with his sleeve, and scolded with a stern face, “You have followed me for three hundred years, why are you still like a young boy who has just entered the mountain gate? Remember, even if the sky falls and hits your head, you have to be like me - calm and collected!” As he spoke, he deliberately picked up the teacup again and shook it slowly, trying to regain his "masterly demeanor" with this action, but unfortunately the sweat in his palms almost made the cup slip.

But Xiaoshi had no time to watch him pretend. He fell to his knees with a plop, his face as pale as if covered with flour, and his voice trembled: "Holy Envoy! The Holy Envoy's soul tablet is broken! It's so broken that not even the residue can be put together!"

"What?!" The enamel cup in the Sect Master's hand slammed to the ground with a clang, shattering into pieces and scattering fragments everywhere. He suddenly jumped up, sweeping the hem of his robe, and the tea set on the jade table fell to the ground with a "crackling" sound. His previous "composure" had long since disappeared. "Why didn't you tell me earlier! Such a big deal, and you're telling me now! Quick! Take this Sect Master to the Soul Tablet Hall! If it's too late, we'll all be doomed!"

As he roared, he raised his hand and gave Xiaoshi a resounding slap. With a crisp "slap," Xiaoshi's cheeks instantly turned red like a ripe persimmon. Xiaoshi covered his face, mentally cursing the Sect Leader: This old man is so hypocritical! Just a second ago, he was telling me to stay calm, but now he's even more frantic than me! This slap was worse than the injustice Dou E suffered!

The two of them jogged along, not even noticing the Sect Master's left shoe had slipped off. Running barefoot on the bluestone pavement, their toes bruised and red. The Soul Tablet Hall was densely packed with soul tablets, except for the black jade tablet in the center, which was now shattered like a handful of black sesame seeds. Not even a single intact fragment the size of a fingernail could be found.

The sect leader stared at the debris on the ground and suddenly burst into tears. He collapsed on the ground, slapping his thighs and wailing, tears and snot streaming down his face. "Wuwuwu... Oh my god! We're finished! We're really going to die this time! I haven't lived enough! I haven't drunk enough cloud mist tea, and I haven't saved enough spirit stones for my retirement!"

Xiao Shi stood aside, his mouth twitching like he was having a seizure: "Master, this is such a bad boy! He is so greedy and incompetent! He usually pretends to be a decent person in front of his disciples, always saying "I used to be so and so", but he cries when something happens, more hypocritical than a three-year-old who lost his candy. He ranted through all the dirty words he could think of in his mind, but he still had to bite the bullet and comfort him: "Master, you are the pillar of our sect. If you fall, we disciples will be like headless flies!"

He truly felt exhausted—not only did he have to work like a slave to handle the sect's chores, but he also had to juggle the duties of "coddling the elderly and the children." But he also knew that since the arrival of the Holy Envoy, the Dark Night Sect had truly risen to prominence: the Sect Master's cultivation had soared from second-rate to first-rate, joining the ranks of top-tier Sect Masters, and the Sect had leapt from a minor sect to a leading power. However, this "shortcut" was, from the outset, a dead end with no way out, like dancing on the edge of a knife, threatening to be shattered at any moment.

"Master, how about we resist? Maybe we can survive if we give it a try!" Xiao Shi gritted his teeth and expressed the idea that he had been holding in his mind for a long time.

"Resist?" The Sect Master cried even harder, his snot hanging down his beard like a string of crystal beads. "The power behind that Holy Envoy is greater than the ocean, and we're just a drop of water! Resist? That's like hitting an egg against a rock. It'll break before you even hear a sound!"

"Then...then let's run? Run far away and hide somewhere where there's no one. They won't be able to find us!"

"Run?" The clan leader wiped his tears and shook his head in despair. "Do you think their power is a joke? Even if we run to the ends of the earth, they can still find us! And then we'll die a miserable death!"

Xiao Shi was completely despairing, squatting on the ground and sighing, "If they are so powerful, how could the Holy Envoy die? So many sects have Holy Envoys, why did it have to be ours instead of someone from another sect? This is such bad luck!"

"How would I know!" The clan leader hugged Xiaoshi tightly, and the two of them cried like two children whose candy was snatched away. Their tears and snot covered each other, and a large area of ​​their black robes was soaked.

At this moment, a clear female voice suddenly rang out, like a spring dripping on a jade plate, but with a sense of pressure that made people feel nervous: "If you want to survive, why not change your legs and hold it?"

The two froze in shock, as if under a spell. Looking up, they saw two figures suddenly appear in the hall—a graceful woman with a smile on her face, yet exuding an aura that made it difficult to look directly at her; a delicate little girl, delicate as a jade, clutching a half-eaten sunflower seed. Her cheeks were puffy, but the calmness in her eyes was unchildlike. Both were as beautiful as if they had stepped out of a painting, yet the atmosphere in the Soul Tablet Hall became solemn.

It was Ning Shu and Shen Xuannv.

Shen Xuannu tilted her head, looking at the two people huddled together on the ground, her brows furrowed in a frown. She leaned close to Ning Shu's ear and whispered, "With their talent and determination, are you sure you can lure out the power behind this? I don't think they can even protect themselves. They might be scared out of their wits before the other party even arrives."

"There's no other way. It's hard to find people from other forces. These two are ready-made 'baits'. Let's just use them." Ning Shu spread his hands, his tone full of helplessness, but his eyes held a hint of a smile as if he was watching a show.