After equipping the fearsome weapon called the flip-flops, the three girls began to turn obedient, sitting on the floor in seiza. As such, at long last, he could finally hear their "excuses."

First, he heard the most pressing matter: Jehanne and Zetian's case.

The two of them had tagged along when Xu Tao returned without even giving him a heads-up. If they didn't tell him a proper reason for their actions, then he wouldn't hold back and would dish out their well-deserved punishments.

The first to answer was Zetian, bold and direct.

"As I said earlier, I simply followed my Emperor. There's no way I'd be willing to part with you again, even if it's temporary," she said with a straight face. "This is my path, my calling. Even if the heavens were to stand in my way, I will still move to where my Emperor is."

"..."

Xu Tao, feeling the sincerity in her words, couldn't bring himself to punish her. Although her reasoning was extremely selfish, as a cultivator, she firmly believed and followed her own path.

After deep deliberation...

"Alright, you're forgiven," he sighed. "Next, Jehanne. Let me hear your excuse."

Jehanne's shoulders twitched as she was called. With hesitation in her voice, she pleaded. "S-Sir Tao... Please lower that weird weapon first..."

"No way."

SLAP!

Xu Tao refused flatly, even slapping the slippers to his own hands as a demonstration. The loud snapping sound was enough to make Jehanne imagine the worst...

"I—I was just worried about you, Sir Tao!" she spoke, words spurting out in a hurry.

She didn't bother lying, as she was convinced he could see through her ruse at once. "From your stories, I've been worried about this Henrietta and that Uriel you keep mentioning, so I decided to watch over you, to make sure nobody steal—!"

But before her tongue slipped, she grabbed her own mouth, silencing herself.

"Nobody steal... what?"

Still, her timing was a little too late. Xu Tao had already heard most of it, and was missing just one word. Whether or not he could figure it out, she wasn't sure.

"Hmm?" He wordlessly asked once again, pressuring Jehanne.

"I-It's nothing!"

But afraid of Xu Tao's response if she finished her sentence, she decided to just deny it altogether. "I just ended up copying Zetian by reflex when she rushed to your side!"

"You..." Xu Tao sighed, shaking his head. "So in the end, you tagged along without thinking?"

"Y-Yes!"

Xu Tao turned away from the girls, walking to the edge of his bed—one that he hadn't used much—and sat down. The soft bed curved under his weight, but that wasn't the end of it.

WHOOSH!

With a wave of his hand, Jehanne's body suddenly floated and flew over to his side. Then, with a plop, she fell on top of his lap, face-down.

"...!"

Jehanne's face flushed. After all, not only were various parts of her pressing against Xu Tao's thigh, she was also in a very vulnerable position. She wanted to squirm away, but a mysterious force held her in place.

Right then, Xu Tao declared her punishment.

"For acting without thinking, I hereby sentence you to ten butt slaps!"

He raised his right hand, holding the flip-flops, and brought it down.

SLAP!

The slipper landed on Jehanne's thick ass, jiggling for a brief moment along with the shockwaves of the impact.

"Haaahn~!"

"""...?"""

But instead of a scream of pain, a short, pleasure-filled voice escaped her lips. Everyone turned to her with confusion, gazes as if asking if she was alright. But Jehanne herself was shocked. She didn't think such a sensual noise would come out of her own lips!

Dismissing it as a one-time thing, Xu Tao raised his hand once more before bringing it down into a powerful strike.

SLAPP!!!

The echoes lingered longer this time, as the sound itself was louder. Jehanne desperately held her own mouth, trying to keep herself silent. However, for whatever reason, rather than pain, she could feel a wave of pleasure wash over her body with every strike.

'I-Is this a new type of torture?!' she seriously thought. 'I don't know if it truly is, but for some reason... I'm liking it...?'

With every succeeding slap to her butt, her body shivered. She felt as if her consciousness would be taken away by the waves of pleasure, but she held on. Faint whimpers echoed, making Zetian and Henrietta stare at Jehanne's state without blinking.

The two didn't feel pity... but instead, envy!

"TEN!"

SLAP!

After the final strike, Xu Tao released Jehanne from his control, making her body roll over and fall to the ground.

Jehanne's body twitched, her eyes barely open. Drool could be seen almost overflowing from her hand blocking her mouth. Her ass, hit ten times in rapid succession, was still tingling even now.

"M-Master, I'm next!"

Without missing a beat, Henrietta stood up with hands raised high.

"I've been a bad girl the entire time you weren't here! I've been selfish, disregarded training, and was just lounging around malls every day!" she said, half of which were outright lies. "As such, please punish me too, Master!"

"Henrietta..."

Xu Tao, of course, was taken aback.

It wasn't the first time, but it had been a while since he last saw someone own up to their wrongdoings with such a wide, excited smile on their face.

'Did I mess up training her? Or did she get another Qi deviation...?'

Such an act earned a subtle reaction from him... of suspicion, and pity.

"I see... Well, I did work you hard enough before then, so it should be a well-deserved rest. Don't worry about training. You can continue with it on the last two days before your birthday."

He nodded, smiling wryly.

The same with Zetian, he couldn't find it in himself to punish Henrietta. However, unlike Zetian who stayed silent from the verdict she was given, Henrietta raised a complaint.

"No way!" she shouted. "Master, please punish me too! It's unfair if that woman's the only one to experience it!"

Xu Tao stared at Henrietta before shaking his head. He stood up, walked around the still-twitching Jehanne on the floor, and patted her shoulders.

"You must be tired for today. Get some rest. Let's continue our talks tomorrow."

"...Huh?"

Before she could complain once more, Xu Tao waved his hand, pulling the door open.

"WOAH!"

And from behind it, two figures fell over on top of each other: one white-haired beauty and one small maid.

"Yifa, Uriel, I'll leave the rest to you two." Xu Tao called to them without looking, as if knowing their presence right from the start. "I... still have urgent business to attend to."

Saying only up to that point, Xu Tao's figure disappeared the next second.

Only the confused gazes of five girls remained in the silent room.

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