"Phew, that was close."
Hei Yu lowered his head and breathed heavily, secretly relieved as well.
"Luckily I pretended to be arrogant at first instead of attacking directly, otherwise I'd be finished!"
The combo of moves he displayed earlier seemed smooth and effortless, but in fact he was extremely panicked inside, with his heart thumping wildly.
The power behind that one finger from Lu Benwei that shattered the lightning tribulation, Xi Lin and the others may not understand what it signified, but it was crystal clear to Hei Yu.
To accomplish this, Lu Benwei's strength must be at least ten times greater than his own.
Perhaps even more!
Facing such a super expert, he didn't stand a chance at all.
So in the face of absolute power, what did face or betraying companions matter? Living was the most important thing.
However, Hei Yu's behavior fell into the eyes of the three demonic beasts, further enraging their already injured selves. Blood sprayed from their mouths as they glared at Hei Yu, their eyes full of hatred and unwillingness.
They never imagined that at this critical juncture, the esteemed Hei Yu they were so proud of would defect and become a sycophant.
"Disgusting."
"You traitor."
"You turncoat."
The three demonic beasts spewed vicious words.
"Don't spray your filthy words at me!"
Hei Yu's face flushed as he retorted, "You three demonic beasts are nothing but ambitious wolves, now that things have gone south you still want to drag me down with you, how malicious!"
"Skeleton, Dog, Centipede, Black Bear, please see clearly and do not believe the words of these treacherous dogs. As the Heavens and Earth can attest, my heart is clear."
"You, you..."
The three demonic beasts spat blood in anger.
"To think you are an emissary from the immortal realm, even attained the golden immortal level beyond ordinary immortals, yet your hands are stained with blood. You're nothing but a great demon."
"Yet you have no integrity or backbone at all. You are a disgrace to the immortal realm and a disgrace to your status." Xi Lin angrily berated.
Hearing this, Hei Yu panicked.
What if this skeleton found out about his identity and skinned him alive?
Thinking of this, Hei Yu's eyes glinted as he righteously argued, "Don't spew nonsense, when did I say I was an emissary of the immortal realm? I'm just a little peng bird who drinks dew and eats grass to survive, don't wrongly accuse me."
"You, you..."
The three demonic beasts spat blood in greater anger.
However, looking at their dog-bites-dog squabble, Lu Benwei and the others were filled with impatience. In a deep voice he said, "Enough nonsense from all of you, none of you are good birds, and none can escape."
Lu Benwei's words immediately frightened Hei Yu to his knees. Sobbing, he pleaded, "Your Excellency, I swear, as the Heavens and Earth bear witness, the Heavens and Earth bear witness!"
Slap!
Lu Benwei slapped Hei Yu to the ground, then kicked the Black Bear's bottom.
"Little Four, get up."
"Hmm?"
"Where's the lightning tribulation?"
"The lightning tribulation is gone? I'm okay?"
The Black Bear timidly lifted his head to look at the clear sky around him, then cried out in excitement.
"With Brother here, what's a little lightning bolt? Even if the heavens collapse, it would just take one punch." Lu Benwei held his head high.
"Thank you brother, you're so amazing!"
Tears brimmed in the Black Bear's eyes as he nodded, then asked, "Brother, do you have any orders for me?"
"Go, give each of those four one hundred slaps." Lu Benwei pointed at Hei Yu and the rest.
"That doesn't seem right..."
The Black Bear lifted his plump paws hesitantly.
"No, it's perfectly fine."
However, Hei Yu cried out in excitement.
Since it was just slaps, it meant Lu Benwei likely wouldn't take his life.
So in exchange for surviving this crisis with his life, a hundred slaps was nothing.
Besides, the Black Bear looked silly and probably didn't have much power. With his cultivation level, a hundred slaps would be like tickles.
How wonderful!
Truly wonderful!
Thus, he offered his cheek to the Black Bear and shouted, "It's my fault for not seeing through those three demonic beasts' sinister ambitions sooner. I am guilty and deserve to be punished with a hundred slaps. Come, hurry and hit me."
"Is this really okay?"
The Black Bear moved his plump paws, still reluctant to strike.
"This is Skeleton's command, you have to hit and I have to take it. Come on, strike with all your might." Hei Yu hurriedly said.
"Then I'll really hit hard?"
The Black Bear asked.
"Yes, go ahead, use your full strength on me."
Hei Yu moved his cheek even closer, while looking ingratiatingly at Lu Benwei, afraid he might change his mind.
"Alright, here I go."
Seeing Hei Yu insist, the Black Bear finally raised his chubby paw and swung at Hei Yu's cheek.
Seeing the oncoming paw, Hei Yu felt somewhat disappointed by the lack of force.
If the Skeleton saw the slap was unsatisfactory and changed his mind about sparing him, switching to killing him instead, that would be terrible.
Amidst his disappointment, the Black Bear's paw finally landed on his cheek.
Slap!