Just as Shi Jiu was confidently planning to continue his Cultivation, he suddenly heard the continuous clanking sounds of the mechanisms he had set up earlier, followed by several screams from outside, and then painful wails and groans.
Shi Jiu snorted coldly, then pushed open the door and walked out. Sure enough, he found several people lying in the pit behind the house.
The pit was not deep, less than half a meter, but it was densely filled with sharpened bamboo stakes. Zhao Hu Xing and the others' feet had been pierced through by the bamboo.
The three men were also impaled with bamboo arrows and darts of varying sizes, especially one of the lackeys, whose eye had been pierced by a bamboo arrow, bleeding profusely and wailing in pain.
Shi Jiu looked at Zhao Hu Xing and the two others with cold eyes, feeling no pity for their injuries.
Because if he hadn't prepared beforehand, and these three guys had snuck into his house under the cover of darkness, he might have truly been severely humiliated.
Suddenly, Shi Jiu's eyes narrowed. He noticed several pieces of saltpeter for ignition scattered by Zhao Hu Xing's hand, which made Shi Jiu's dislike for the three grow even stronger.
These people had Spiritual Roots but lacked ambition. Despite being at the Cultivation Level of Qi Refining stage 1, they hadn't even Cultivated a basic Spell like Fireball. They still wanted to use saltpeter to set his house on fire.
They were truly wasting their talents. It was infuriating that such people had Spiritual Roots much stronger than his own.
The more Shi Jiu thought about it, the angrier he became. He walked over and viciously kicked Zhao Hu Xing's bamboo-pierced feet several more times, causing Zhao Hu Xing's eyes to roll back in pain as he continuously cursed Shi Jiu.
Shi Jiu saw this and thought, "Oh, this Zhao Hu Xing is cursing quite obscenely. He clearly has no intention of repenting."
So he rolled up his sleeves and started slapping Zhao Hu Xing left and right, delivering powerful blows.
He alternately slapped the three, while interrogating them about why they were bothering him.
Before Zhao Hu Xing could speak, one of the lackeys spilled the beans like pouring out beans.
It turned out that Zhao Hu Xing had a secret crush on a girl named "Xiao Yue" who sat next to Shi Jiu. He had tried to confess once but was rejected.
However, on the day the "Strange Phenomenon" occurred, he saw his Xiao Yue showing some concern for Shi Jiu behind the school building. This made him intensely jealous, and he believed Shi Jiu was shameless, using some malicious means, attempting to prey on the young, and harboring ill intentions towards Xiao Yue.
So, when he encountered Shi Jiu in the refectory, he deliberately sought trouble, but he didn't expect Shi Jiu to tolerate them at all. That's why Zhao Hu Xing tried to come at night to 'teach Shi Jiu a lesson.'
After learning the reason, Shi Jiu felt both angry and wronged. "These are truly teenagers in their puberty! I really can't avoid this. Being innocently caught in the crossfire must be what they mean by my situation."
He slapped Zhao Hu Xing and the two lackeys hundreds of times until Shi Jiu's palms felt numb and sore.
Zhao Hu Xing and the two others went from initially cursing Shi Jiu viciously, to begging for mercy, then back to vicious cursing, then back to begging for mercy, until finally, they were barely clinging to life, unable to utter a single word.
Only then did Shi Jiu stop, satisfied. He wiped his sweat and casually sat down nearby.
In the dead of night, the entire back mountain was silent except for the chirping of insects and birds.
However, the sounds of Zhao Hu Xing and the two others begging for mercy, cursing, and the slapping sounds, due to Shi Jiu's torment, had long drifted with the evening breeze to the areas where other Disciples lived in the mountain hollow.
Shi Jiu watched as lights flickered on in the small houses in the mountain hollow. He estimated the time and figured that the Regelement Hall or Spirit Herb Hall should probably send some patrolling Disciples to investigate what had happened here.
Sure enough, not long after, many newly admitted Disciples emerged from the small houses in the mountain hollow, one after another, following the direction of the screams, and arrived at Shi Jiu's room on the mountaintop.
And a red glow lit up in the distant sky, clearly indicating that someone was approaching on a flying Magical Artifact.
Shi Jiu narrowed his eyes, ignoring the others, and instead focused intently on the distant red light. When the figure within the red light descended, everyone realized that the person who had arrived was actually a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator from the Regelement Hall.
So, everyone, including Shi Jiu, immediately bowed respectfully to the Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator.
It was no joke. Although they didn't know why a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator was on night patrol in the back mountain today, his Cultivation was evident. It was only proper to be polite and respectful.
The Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator ignored the greetings from the crowd. He looked around, then stepped forward to examine the injuries of Zhao Hu Xing and the two others. He cast three Spells on their bodies to temporarily stop the bleeding.
Otherwise, they might not last until he could question them, and would faint.
After doing this, the Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator asked everyone:
"Who can tell me what's going on tonight?"
The numerous Disciples looked at each other, and finally, by unspoken agreement, their gazes turned to Shi Jiu, who stood to the side as if nothing had happened.
The Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator noticed that everyone was looking at Shi Jiu, and he too turned his head, waiting for Shi Jiu to reply.
Seeing this, Shi Jiu didn't make the Regelement Hall's patrolling Cultivator wait long. He immediately spoke with a bitter expression:
"Reporting to Senior, my name is Shi Jiu, a newly admitted Disciple this year. I live in this small house on the mountaintop of the back mountain.
Because this Disciple's residence is far from other fellow Disciples and is in a remote location, wild beasts like wolverines and pythons often appear at night.
This Disciple was worried about being attacked by wild beasts, so I used some trap-making methods I learned from hunting in my hometown to set up many traps around the house, to the left, right, and behind it."
"But this Disciple can swear that I only intended to guard against wild beasts, and absolutely had no intention of harming other fellow Disciples.
Because this Disciple knows that if other Senior Brothers come to find me for something, they will normally use the front door, so there are no mechanisms at the front door.
Only wild beasts with malicious intent towards this Disciple would sneak into the house from the back door or the sides."
Most of the Disciples, after hearing Shi Jiu's words, quickly moved a little away from the house, fearing that they too might accidentally step on some vicious trap and get impaled like Zhao Hu Xing and the two others.
However, Shi Jiu had already anticipated that many people would come to watch the excitement tonight, so to prevent accidental injuries, he had already removed those traps and mechanisms.
Many Disciples looked at Shi Jiu speaking with a sorrowful face, and couldn't help but feel a touch of sympathy for him.
However, a small number of Disciples had flickering eyes, clearly not believing him.
Shi Jiu actually noticed that some people didn't believe him, but it didn't matter.
Shi Jiu's explanation just now had no major flaws anyway. He was, after all, just a cautious low-level Cultivator, and there was nothing wrong with taking extra precautions. It was just unfortunate that these three ran into his traps.