Fu Ran wandered quietly with the dozen children behind him. They followed him in a line, like a bunch of baby ducklings. He almost wanted to smile at this thought, as it nearly made him look like a proper Shizun. At least in picture alone, the scene reminded him of his past, and his mind came up with thoughts of his own teacher.

Shizun was just like this, too. One day he went out on a mission by himself, and came home with three kids. I remember Feng Meiying immediately nagging, though it's been too long to remember what she said. I was happy to be brought to An Xian Yun Peak that day.

His smile dropped immensely and it fell into a frown. His forehead ached with a tightness of furrowed brows. With how negative his current state of mind was, he was happy the children were behind him, unable to see. His face might have frightened them, had they seen his scowl.

Half an hour of walking later, the group exited the side door of the auction house. It took awhile to find in the head-spinning hallways.

What awaited was an eerily liminal alleyway. There wasn't a soul walking this path, and it was deathly quiet. Fu Ran could hear the breath of small children, as they puffed out whines and sobs.

Fu Ran wanted to comfort them, but at the same time he was stuck in quite the predicament. He couldn’t simply bring 13 missing children into his apartment. That sounded like a very easy way to get him labeled with far too many horrendous names. He would need to think of another plan.

Fu Ran had already begun to walk down the long narrow space, occasionally twisting his body past boxes of trash or belongings, and stepping over thrown away jars of alcohol. Even the side streets smelled heavily of nightlife.

Only occasionally could he pick up the sounds of life. Large amounts of water had stained the stones and filled the gaps in between. It smelled of smoke and dingy air. Windows scattered were broken, shimmering shards of glass littering the path, and some of the doors looked like they had been chipped with a knife. Preferably, he wished to leave quickly.

“Okay, so does anyone live nearby?” Fu Ran finally spoke quietly over his little ducklings. His eyes widened when a few raised their hands. No wonder so many of them had been grabbed up. They live right next door! The Peak Master was clearly exasperated. If it were daylight he wouldn't mind them going home on their own, but it was still dark.

Sadly, he decided to deal with potentially troublesome nicknames and take the children home with him. Funds were not an issue, as long as he was only paying for one, or two extra rooms tonight.

The route to the hotel wasn’t awfully treacherous and, with the night slowly coming to an end, most of Jinan had already returned to their beds, or were simply too drunk to care that they hadn't.

***

Nervously holding up three fingers, Fu Ran said, “I would like to purchase… more rooms.”

“Three?!” As expected the woman at the counter looked terribly concerned when Fu Ran booked another three rooms all by himself. Since there was no one else in the immediate vicinity, she decided to merely shake her head and nod. “Y-Yes sir,” she muttered, dipping her brush pen in ink.

She had already begun to write down total costs as Fu Ran yelled a resounding, “Come on inside!” as a sign for the children to come fill in the lobby. The woman behind the counter almost dropped her pen in fright! Fu Ran believed her thoughts must have sounded something like: Why had this Peak Master come into Jinan with two children, and he is leaving with a large cavalcade of them?

He could always fib, and explain that he was purchasing new disciples for An Xian Yun Peak, as the recent tragedy gave plausible reason to do so… but those words refused to leave his lips. He wasn’t going to buy children.

Fu Ran split the children best he could and entrusted the older of the three groups with the room keys. The only one he kept near him was the little one who was still wrapped in Tian Han’s robes.

Her condition was too unknown to leave her in the hands of other kids her age.

He knocked at the door where Lin An and Meng Xiao should have been sleeping. He waited only for a moment before the door flung open. “Tian Shibo--!” Lin An was bright eyed and clearly was not sleeping at all. Before she could finish calling for Tian Han, her words had changed completely into a wail.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

“Shizuuun!” she cried.

Meng Xiao clamped a hand over her lips and forced her silent. He scrutinized Fu Ran, searching for something. “How do I know you are the real Shizun?” Meng Xiao asked.

Fu Ran was too tired for 1000 questions, but he did understand the worry and misunderstanding. His looks had become completely disheveled after the fight with his mirror. One slam into that cage threw him around too harshly. He lost his hairpin and his hair now hung in messy inky locks. His attire had changed as well, as he no longer wore the black robes lent to him by Tian Han.

Losing both of his currently defining features, he sighed. In truth, Fu Ran looked almost identical to the kidnapper who harassed his children earlier. It was no surprise that Meng Xiao, the more suspicious of the two disciples, wouldn't trust him in the slightest.

“Please,” Fu Ran begged. It was the only thing he knew he could say. Even if they mistrusted his current appearance, he just needed 20 minutes to heal and bandage the new young girl in his arms. “Can I at least look over her injury?” His face pained and exhausted, he lowered his arms to show the girl.

When she came into view, both Meng Xiao and Lin An’s face paled and they looked at the bloodied figure with shocked panic. Lin An took a step back and a gasp.

Just when he was about to push his way inside, another voice called to him from further in the room, younger, and more innocent than the other two. “Shizun?” It was a simple call of his title, but it caused Fu Ran’s expression to brighten.

Shizun? Shizun! Had he heard that right? The voice clearly belonged to the youngest disciple, the boy who practically only knew one word.

Fu Ran immediately felt relief when he saw tufts of ashen hair against the white pillow. Wan Yu sat up, bandaged, and he looked sadly at the door. Once his eyes met Fu Ran’s they quickly lowered to the carpeted floor.

The two disciples were no longer barring his entry as he stepped inside and laid the girl on the unoccupied bed.

“A-Wan, I am glad you are okay,” Fu Ran said. The refreshing sound of those words had seemed to have some impact on Wan Yu. Those golden eyes grew bigger in shock, and little hands gripped onto the bed sheet where he lay. His lips quivered.

“It seems like she isn’t suffering any other external injuries. She should be fine when she wakes up,” Fu Ran explained, bandaging up the girl’s forehead. Lin An had gained a great deal of interest in the new girl while she was being treated.

She excitedly touched the girl’s cheek with a gentle poke. He almost wanted to chastise her, but she looked so giddy to see someone near her age. “So cute! Who is she, Shizun?”

“I don’t know her name. She was caught up in a poor situation, and I just wanted to make sure she was stable. When she wakes up, will you two be kind to her?” Fu Ran was content that his words were met with acknowledgement and agreement. He realized that there was one less person in the room than he expected to be here. “By the way, where is Tian Han?”

“Tian Shibo went to look for you,” Meng Xiao said.

“Huh?” Fu Ran quickly stood up. “He went back to the auction house?” His words took on the sound of urgency, as he asked for further clarification. However he was only met with looks of confusion.

It’s a straight path, how did I miss him? Damn tyrant. What is he thinking? Thoughts of the illusory image of himself plagued his mind. Tian Han could barely move at all when faced with him before, so obviously he shouldn't go looking!

Lost in negativity, Fu Ran didn’t realize he had made a run for the door, and words just barely stopped him before he left.

“Shizun? Are you going to look for Gege?” Wan Yu asked.

“That idiot is making dangerous decisions. I’m going to bring your gege back before he gets in trouble. Please, stay put.” Fu Ran put extra emphasis on “please” begging the children to stay in their rooms. Just telling them to stay in and lock the doors wasn't fool proof, but it might have been the highest chance of keeping them all in one place. Fu Ran didn’t give them the chance to retort or try and argue with him, and locked the door as he left.

Unbothered by the fact that his appearance wasn’t fit for Jinan, his feet carried him quickly down the flight of stairs to the first floor lobby, and he flew out the front door. Plain inner robes, stark white in contrast to his messy hair, made him stand out, but luckily, the bright lights of morning were starting to shine. The streets were emptier now. There were a few drunkards sprawled on the pavement, the same ones as before, but Fu Ran just called out, “I’m sorry!” As he made a few leaps over them. All roads lead to the auction house, after all, but he still wanted to avoid the main paths. So he stayed inside dark alleys.

He could move much faster now without having to be overly aware of over a dozen children. Some of those wet water puddles were still present, and with his faster pace, stepping in them sent droplets splashing all over the narrow alley.

Only his breathing filled the narrow streets, from the above average pace of his sprinting.

His breath hitched and his feet caught themselves on tiptoes when he heard the beating sound of footsteps. The sounds of boots came in quite hot, so Fu Ran slid his stance wider and took up his sword.

If it is a worker of the auction house, then I will simply have to fight.

Calming his breathing, he tightened his grip on Shi Wei Ji and began to count. He counted the footsteps and measured their distance by how audible they were. Three. Two… One...