However, when Xiaoyao saw Carefree Valley, he discovered this place didn't look like a valley at all. It was a plateau surrounded by mountains on all sides—a very beautiful place.

"Carefree Sect restricted area. Unauthorized persons keep out."

Here, the two were stopped outside. After all, this was the Carefree Sect's headquarters. Non-sect members weren't allowed to enter unless they were guests.

"This is my travel permit, please examine it."

Hei Xue took out a token—actually a temporary one for outsiders.

"Who are you here to see?" After examining the token, they still weren't allowed through, because they needed someone to invite them. Otherwise, it would be too easy to enter the Carefree Sect headquarters.

"Lang Tiexin," Hei Xue reported a name. This time, the person responsible for receiving them was this Lang Tiexin, supposedly the thirty-sixth generation grand-disciple of that person from back then, now a major figure in the Carefree Sect.

"So it's Master Lang. Wait here—I'll have someone notify him."

...

After waiting a while, someone appeared immediately, though this person wasn't Lang Tiexin but could represent him.

"Hei Xue?" The person approached and looked at Hei Xue questioningly.

"Yes, I'm Hei Xue, and this is Xiaoyao, my husband," Hei Xue nodded, then introduced Xiaoyao.

"..." Xiaoyao fell silent. He didn't know if this "husband" business had been arranged beforehand, so he didn't refute anything.

"Xiaoyao? Good name. I'm Lang Lang," the person looked at Xiaoyao, praised the name, then gave his own. However, this name was somewhat amusing.

Lang Lang?

Who would have thought a big burly man would have such a name.

"You probably find my name interesting. My master gave it to me when I was little—I've been called this since childhood and was too lazy to change it," the man said casually.

Most people in the Carefree Sect were free-spirited types who didn't care about others' opinions. If they felt something was right, then it was right. He felt his name was fine, so there was no problem.

"It is quite interesting—it doesn't match your appearance, but it's just a name and doesn't represent anything," Xiaoyao said directly without being polite.

"Haha, exactly. Names don't represent anything—they're just names. Everyone calls me Laughing Wolf," Laughing Wolf said with a smile.

"Little Wolf?" Hei Xue asked somewhat puzzledly.

"Laughing—as in smiling constantly," Laughing Wolf replied, his face always wearing a smile. This was why he was called Laughing Wolf. However, since he was called "wolf," it must also indicate that beneath this smile was a personality that could frighten people.

"Oh... I'm Xiaoyao, known as Little Servant," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"Little Servant?" Laughing Wolf asked somewhat confused. What kind of nickname was that?

"It's a profession. My current profession is being a little servant," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"??" Laughing Wolf was even more confused. Weren't you Hei Xue's husband? Hei Xue should be an important figure in the Demonic Sound Sect—how could her husband be a servant?

"It's his profession. He likes doing it, so I let him. I can't control him," Hei Xue said with a smile, seeing Laughing Wolf's confusion.

"Haha, what character! I like it," Laughing Wolf said with a loud laugh after looking at Xiaoyao for a while. As a Carefree Sect member, doing whatever you wanted—wasn't this the Carefree Sect's principle?

In the Carefree Sect, many people liked doing inexplicable things. Despite having high status, they did things others considered lowly—this was a matter of preference. Whether something was lowly or not was just everyone's opinion.

No profession was lowly—this was also the view of Carefree Sect people.

Soon, Laughing Wolf led the two toward an area. The Carefree Sect headquarters was very large, like a small city. At the same time, within the sect, it wasn't managed by one school—each area had its own forces, and generally everyone minded their own business.

At the same time, only the central location was the true Carefree Sect headquarters, containing the sect's orthodox inheritance. Only the Carefree Sect master could live there, though this sect master wasn't necessarily from the orthodox lineage.

Lang Tiexin's faction had served as sect master quite a few times, but not every time. The past few generations of Lang Tiexin's line hadn't held the position—internal competition within the Carefree Sect was very intense.

Lang Tiexin's lineage was called the Wanderer Family, something Xiaoyao soon learned because there was a large memorial archway standing there.

"Wanderer Family—interesting. I like this name," Xiaoyao said, looking at the characters on the archway.

"Not bad, right? Are you interested in joining? I can recommend you," Laughing Wolf said. During their conversation on the way, he had already learned that Xiaoyao didn't belong to the Demon Domain—he was just someone Hei Xue had brought to help.

He had no objection to this. It had been several hundred years—they also wanted this matter to end soon. Besides, that ancestral master hadn't said outside help was definitely forbidden.

Since he wasn't from the Demon Domain, joining the Carefree Sect wouldn't be any problem at all. Even if Xiaoyao came from the orthodox sects, as long as Xiaoyao himself was willing, there would be no problem.

Even if he were from the Demon Domain, it would only be a small issue—not impossible either.

The Carefree Sect always acted without considering other factors—as long as they felt it was acceptable, it was fine!

"Good! I'm currently without sect or school affiliation, though I have a family. That shouldn't be a problem," Xiaoyao said with a smile. Joining the Carefree Sect had benefits and wouldn't create any burdens.

The Carefree Sect's rules were very loose, hardly restricting anything. The only requirement was to appear and help when the Carefree Sect faced danger, but the chances of the Carefree Sect encountering danger were extremely small.

Most importantly, Xiaoyao liked the name "Carefree Sect"!

"That's best, but you'll have to wait until after you solve the problem. Otherwise, if you become a Wanderer Family member first, you won't be able to help them solve their problems—that's the ancestral master's rule," Laughing Wolf said, patting Xiaoyao's shoulder. This was just a matter of time.

"This will be resolved quickly," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"Don't think like that. I've seen many overconfident people who couldn't solve even one problem in the end," Laughing Wolf reminded Xiaoyao. This was well-intentioned advice, not looking down on him.

Every year people came, staying for a full year. He had grown up here and naturally had seen quite a few people.

"Whether I solve it or not doesn't matter. I'll only think about it for that amount of time. If I can't figure it out, I'll give up," Xiaoyao waved his hand, not caring much.

"Well, when you put it that way, that makes sense too. If you can't do something, don't force it," Laughing Wolf was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile. He was liking Xiaoyao's personality more and more—it was as if he was born for the Carefree Sect.

"Hmph!" Hei Xue was somewhat unhappy, pouting as she looked at Xiaoyao with complaint.

Even if you can't solve it, can't you pretend you want to and stay with me until the end?

"Don't mind her—women like to huff and puff for no reason," Xiaoyao said directly, then continued walking inside with Laughing Wolf. Their destination was naturally where the previous Demonic Sound Sect people were staying.

In a separate courtyard of the Wanderer Family, used for entertaining guests. Currently, the courtyard housed not only Demonic Sound Sect people but other guests as well, though these had nothing to do with Xiaoyao.

"Hei Xue, you're here! Why so late? It's been almost a month."

Under Laughing Wolf's guidance, the two arrived at the separate courtyard where the Demonic Sound Sect people were staying. At this time, these Demonic Sound Sect people were still discussing problems until they noticed Hei Xue's appearance.

"Alright, you all chat slowly. I'll leave first. Xiaoyao, if you're free tonight, how about we drink together?" Laughing Wolf said goodbye while also inviting Xiaoyao for drinks.

"Good, you choose the place," Xiaoyao nodded.

"Naturally—this is my territory after all. I'll leave first and come find you tonight," Laughing Wolf said with a smile, then left. He knew the two would definitely need to study the problems now, so it wasn't convenient to disturb them, plus he had his own matters to attend to.

"Hei Xue, aren't you a bit too late? Earlier you said you'd bring someone to help, and we accepted that, but you're being quite irresponsible."

On the side, Hei Xue was being complained to. Although Hei Xue was leading this time, it didn't mean there weren't other voices, and some people were dissatisfied with her.

Hei Xue was, after all, too young and hadn't been in the Demonic Sound Sect very long.

"Exactly! Bringing such a boy—if you want to keep a pretty boy, do it far away. Don't play around with serious matters," a seductively dressed, alluring woman said, giving Xiaoyao several flirtatious glances while speaking.

"Don't seduce him. If you want to die, I don't mind taking your life," Hei Xue said coldly. She was too lazy to address other matters—results would speak for themselves in the end. But this woman daring to flutter her eyes at Xiaoyao was a capital offense.

"Let's talk business first. What kind of problems are there this time? Since you've been studying for a month, you should have some leads by now," Xiaoyao said with a smile, seeming not to have heard what others were saying, as if they were talking about someone else.

"..."

Xiaoyao's words immediately silenced everyone, and those who had complaints earlier also fell quiet, because they had been completely clueless for this entire month—not even the slightest lead.

Under such circumstances, how could they criticize others? That would only be more embarrassing.

"It seems you're completely clueless. Tell us, what kind of problems are there this time?" Hei Xue frowned. Although she was happy to see them frustrated, this also indicated that these problems should be quite difficult—possibly types they'd never seen before, all new ones.

(End of Chapter)