Molesting the Molestor! (1)

"Even if I can't break the formation, it shouldn't be too hard to spot its flaws…" Su Xiaobai muttered under his breath, his voice echoing in the damp tunnel.

His footsteps splashed lightly in the shallow puddles beneath him. "There must be a way out without shattering it completely... maybe I can solve it."

He wandered aimlessly through the twisting labyrinth, feeling every step weighed down by the mystery of the Temporal Formation.

His words felt like they were drifting into the abyss, making him sound like a fool talking to himself in the dark.

But then, something clicked.

'I haven't formed my core yet, so I can't manipulate Profound Qi...' His brows furrowed, and then his eyes lit up with realization. 'But I can still see the flow of Qi!'

The realization sparked a new sense of purpose in him. If the time shifts in the labyrinth weren't random, then there had to be a path where the time flow was different—more chaotic, more fluid.

A flaw in the structure of the formation!

If he could find that, he could navigate his way out. It wasn't about breaking the formation, but finding the path it didn't want anyone to see.

Taking a deep breath, Su Xiaobai stopped in the middle of the tunnel, his eyes narrowing in concentration.

'If I can just tune myself to the flow of energy...' he thought, closing his eyes. He allowed the hum of the labyrinth's Qi to wash over him, letting it guide him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, but now, instead of focusing on the physical walls around him, he looked for the invisible currents of energy.

It didn't take long for them to reveal themselves. Thin, almost imperceptible threads of Qi flowed through the tunnel, interwoven like a living network of vines creeping along the cave walls.

"There you are…" he whispered, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

The threads pulsed faintly, flowing in different directions, each one guiding time along its own path. Some threads pulsed with slow, steady energy, while others twisted and churned, indicating rapid shifts in the time flow.

'Now I just need to figure out which one leads to the heart of this formation...'

He carefully scanned the threads, following their intricate dance. Each vine-like current seemed to pull him toward a different part of the labyrinth, but one stood out. It didn't flow smoothly like the others—it flickered, unstable, as if it was trying to mask its true nature.

That thread must be the key, the flaw in the formation.

Su Xiaobai's smirk widened. "Got you," he muttered.

Without hesitation, he began following the erratic thread, confident that it would lead him to the exit—or perhaps even the core of the formation itself. Either way, it was the right path. He could feel it.

'The others will never catch up,' he thought smugly, as his pace quickened. 'They can fumble around all they want, while this daddy would disappear with the treasure!'

___________

A while later...

"♪♪♫~"

"♪♫♪♫♫♫~~"

Su Xiaobai was strolling through the labyrinth with an air of relaxed innocence, humming quietly to himself.

On the surface, he looked like a harmless wanderer trying to navigate the treacherous time distortions, but inside, a wicked smile curled in the depths of his thoughts.

The threads of Qi guiding the flow of time were as clear to him as daylight, and with every step, he was one move ahead of the rest.

They were all walking into traps—they just didn't know it yet.

As he wandered deeper, a soft groan echoed through the cave-like corridors. Su Xiaobai cocked his head, curious, and stepped into the next tunnel to find an unexpected sight.

The first victim of his "kindness" appeared!

Fatty Zhou stood there, though "Fatty" was no longer an accurate description.

His once plump face had aged significantly, sagging with wrinkles, and his hair had turned a dull shade of gray. The poor fool looked more like a decrepit elder than the overeager disciple he had been moments ago.

"Ah, Senior Brother! What happened to you?" Su Xiaobai asked, his voice laced with concern, though his inner thoughts were filled with amusement. 'A few years added here and there… what a shame.'

Fatty Zhou looked up, panic in his eyes. "I—I walked into this place, and now look at me! I've aged decades! I can't—" He tugged at his baggy robes, his voice cracking. "Do you know how to fix this?"

Su Xiaobai frowned, putting on his most sincere expression. "Oh, no… that's terrible! But maybe if you walk back the way you came, the effects will reverse?" His tone was gentle, like he was trying to help, but in reality, he knew that wouldn't do anything but waste more of Fatty Zhou's already limited time.

Fatty Zhou, desperate and naive, immediately turned and hobbled back down the tunnel, muttering thanks as he left.

Su Xiaobai's lips twitched with dark satisfaction as he watched the man shuffle off in vain.

'Poor fool. He'll waste what little time he has left running in circles.'

Further down the tunnel, he encountered Xiao Yu, or rather, what used to be Xiao Yu. The poor disciple was trapped in a slow-time zone, his body practically frozen mid-action.

His sword was half-drawn, but at this rate, he wouldn't finish drawing it until next century. His face, once proud and confident, was now frozen in a mix of confusion and frustration.

Su Xiaobai suppressed a laugh, leaning casually against the wall. "Senior Brother! You're, uh… taking your time, I see."

Xiao Yu's eyes moved painfully slowly to meet Su Xiaobai's, and when he tried to speak, his words stretched out like molasses. "H…e…l…p…m…e…"

"Oh, Senior Brother!" Su Xiaobai gasped, his tone dripping with fake concern. "It looks like you're caught in a slow-time zone! If you focus your Qi, maybe you can speed up again!" His voice was full of false encouragement, but in reality, he was enjoying every second of Xiao Yu's torment.

Xiao Yu, desperate, began straining to concentrate, but his sluggish movements only made it more pathetic. Su Xiaobai clapped his hands together, nodding as if impressed. "That's it! Keep trying!"

*He'll be a statue by the time he figures out I'm toying with him — The more you resist, the slower this formation would turn you into!'

With a friendly pat on the shoulder that took a good minute to register in Xiao Yu's distorted sense of time, Su Xiaobai waved and walked off. "I'll go find help. Don't worry, Senior Brother, I'll be back in no time. Or… a lot of time. Who's to say?"

Once out of sight, his face split into a grin. 'Two idiots down.'

But then, just as he rounded another corner, he heard soft footsteps behind him. 'Finally,' Su Xiaobai thought.

Lan Meiyu had been tracking him for some time now, her eyes gleaming with calculated intent.

He didn't turn immediately, instead letting her approach, playing the role of the unsuspecting victim.

"Junior Brother!" Her voice was sweet as honey, laced with a seductive charm that would've made weaker men fall to their knees.

She caught up to him, her delicate hand brushing against his arm as she stepped into view. Her body moved with deliberate grace, her every curve pressed tightly by the soft, flowing fabric of her robes. "You're not going to leave me alone in this dreadful place, are you?"