The news came like a lightning bolt out of the blue. Their entire day was spent in nervous anticipation, wondering about what the “chance” would be. Well, neither of them had expected this.
“Yeah. We’re fucked,” Jun barked, still in shock about the notice. “This house is cursed. That’s the only explanation.”
“I didn’t think…” Chen Hao’s words trailed off as he remembered his previous conversation with the elder.
The sound of wind howling throughout the sect was oddly fitting. All that was missing was a rogue tumbleweed, which would accurately describe their state of mind.
“It’s fine. I wanted this. This is a chance given by the elder. I just need to survive and develop my skills further,” the boy hastily said, his cheeks red from all the slaps he had given himself.
Jun didn’t quite believe his words, but what was there to do? Go back and beg the elder to let them stay in the sect? The boy’s pride would never allow that, especially after all that he said. Besides, the boy had been itching for more fights after the tournament.
Moving with haste and purpose, Chen Hao started clearing out the house, starting with the qilin-hair brushes, white canvases, and colourful paints. Portraits of Li Xia, Jun, and Guan Yu, together with various paintings of day-to-day scenes from the sect, all went into the storage ring. So did the bamboo slips hung around the room, which featured inspiring quotes written in powerful yet beautiful brushstrokes. After that, he started removing all the crossbows, poison darts, and other traps from the house. They could still be reused wherever he was going.
Meanwhile, Jun dashed to the pill-refining room, startling the white rabbit, who was currently in the middle of working the furnace. Leaping high into the air and letting out a yelp, Guan Yu hastily ran into the corner and put on an innocent but stupid face.
‘Me? Making pills? No way. I’m just a silly rabbit who loves how warm it is here.’ Or so he probably thought. The dog didn't have time to care.
Jun swept through the room at record speed, taking leftover pills, recipes, manuals, and rare herbs. Everything that could even remotely point to a dog and a rabbit making pills was gone. And just in time too—Chen Hao suddenly barged into the room, looking over Guan Yu and Jun, who were just peacefully lying on the floor. The room was empty save for the pill furnace, the flame, and them.
“Pack your bags, Guan Yu. We’re going on an adventure,” Jun said as the two began trailing behind the boy, who had too many things to do and not enough time.
The very first thing he did was spend all of his spirit stones and contribution points. In order, the things he purchased entailed the Turtle Breathing Art, a modified formation to conceal the ring, formation flags, new defensive and utility techniques, magical artifacts, and various healing and cultivation pills. Months of getting paid by the Lu family, all gone in an hour.
Meanwhile, Jun wrote notes to both Xu Peng and Wang Lei. To the first, he explained that he had a grand mission as an elder and that he was taking the guardian dog with him for some time. The formation and pill-making were to continue like usual, and the boy was to focus more on learning about the various crafts, as well as continue working on the secret He family project, taking the opportunity to network and rise in the family ranks.
To Wang Lei, he merely said that he was going into closed-door meditation, and that it might last for some time. Jun would still expect proper income and expenditure reports to be written every month, and he would continue taking a share of the spirit stones, even if they accumulated and he didn’t claim them right away. As always, Jun advised the boy to reinvest his earnings back into the business, look for close partners and investors, and scout skilled disciples. You could never go wrong with that.
Once he was done with that, he accompanied Chen Hao on a visit to the Half-Moon Inn. The boy could have chosen to visit many friends or acquaintances, but throughout this year in the sect, he had only made two “true friends.” One of them was here, serving dishes to rowdy and drunk thieves, moving like a serpent throughout the inn.
He Ming had also changed during these four months. He would frequently go missing from the place for hours on end, only to return bruised beyond belief. Another horrible scar had been added to his face, which made him seem even more intimidating and withdrawn than usual. An aura of lethality constantly surrounded him.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
When the boy walked in and motioned towards the kitchen, he followed Chen Hao with a smile. It quickly vanished once the foolish disciple began retelling what had transpired with the elder. By the end of the story, He Ming was fuming, staring daggers at Chen Hao, who merely had his head hung low.
“Why the fuck would you do that? You were guaranteed to get into the inner sect in a few years’ time. Instead, you had to go and talk to that madman. And then you had the audacity to beg him? Tell him you’d do anything?”
He Ming clutched his head in his hands, looking like he was on the verge of stabbing someone.
“I made my choice when I decided to go to him. Even if it is stupid, it’s my choice,” Chen Hao responded, emphasising the last words with a strange pride.
“You go tell that to the devils. I’m sure they’ll clap as they slowly roast you over the fire and nibble on your toes.”
The server sighed, slamming his hand against the counter in frustration.
“What’s done is done. Wait here,” he said, quickly vanishing into the shadows. When he came back, he was holding a small, rugged pouch.
“Here. I was saving it for dire circumstances, but you’ll need it more than I do. It’s called Miracle Dust. A sprinkle of this on anything and it vanishes. Kills someone and hides the body at the same time. Breaks formations like they’re nothing. Just be careful with storage rings and other artifacts, unless you want to explode along with them.”
“I… Thank you. I hope I won’t have to use this, but I’m not so naive to think I won’t run into any danger,” the boy said, putting the pouch in his storage ring.
“I’ll kill you again if you dare to die out there. Now, listen. The Lu family has contacts in the City of War. Just follow the written instructions, and you can get in touch with someone who will know more about the situation there,” He Ming grabbed Chen Hao’s hands and secretly passed on a small piece of paper. “Don’t open it now. Keep it in your ring.”
“Don’t worry. I fully plan on returning. And when I’m back, I’ll be an elder’s disciple. Still, I don’t have words to say how much I appreciate this. Thank you, He Ming.”
Seeing Chen Hao on the verge of tears, He Ming wryly smiled and awkwardly glanced away. Jun could smell that he was faring no better than the boy.
“Unlike a certain someone, I have work to do. Keep safe. I believe in you,” he said, fleeing back into the common room. Here was another person who’d rather die than let someone else see them cry.
The next hour was spent saying goodbyes to the chef, the innkeeper, and other patrons he had befriended during these months. When Jun and Chen Hao left, they were accompanied by a cheerful drinking song about a lad heading into the wilds to seek his own fortune. In a way, that was exactly what they would be doing tomorrow.
‘And a brave young lad he was,’ Jun hummed along as they made their way to the final destination of the night. Intimately familiar to the both of them, they stood outside of Li Xia’s house, knocking on the door as the sun set behind them.
The girl wasn’t expecting visitors at this hour but invited them upstairs regardless when she saw Chen Hao’s expression. With a heavy heart, he retold the same story to her, watching how she got angrier by the second.
“That bastard! Let’s see if he dares to say anything when my mother comes knocking,” she said, angrily sitting down at her desk and dipping her brush in ink.
“Stop. Didn’t you hear the story? I was the one who asked him for it!” he started yelling once he saw her begin to write.
“And? Does that mean you’re going to go and risk your life for a crazy bastard’s approval? Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Li Xia cried out, her hand trembling.
“I’ve had some time to think this through. I’m sure he would listen if you wrote a letter, but what would that make of me? He’s right, you know. How am I special? How am I different from any other disciple in the sect?” Chen Hao softly said.
“At the end of the day, I want to prove myself. To him. To everyone else. To the world. It’s so silly, and it’s really, really dumb, but I want to come back victorious, having said that I’ve lived through something others wouldn’t dare to talk about.”
Drops of ink mixed with tears as both dripped onto the bamboo slip. Despite everything, she didn’t stop writing.
“I can’t, no, I won’t accept the letter. Besides, I’m much tougher than you think. I could have easily beaten everyone in the tournament if I didn’t want to practise my skills.”
Most of the time, it was the girl doing the talking, and Chen Hao sitting on the bed, quietly listening. Now, it was the other way around. She didn’t look at him once as he continued reassuring her. The bamboo slip was completely wet now.
Still unable to look at his face, she took off her necklace and placed it around the boy’s neck. It held a single vermillion gemstone, resembling an upside-down teardrop. It sparkled in the light so beautifully.
“Just promise me you’ll be safe, alright?”
“I promise.”