Less than two hours later, Elder Chen was again showing his sect silver badge and entering the city. He did not put Wu Guang down until they were right in front of the tower he left some hours ago.
The two disciples on guard were the same as last time, they quickly saluted and let them in, closing the door right afterward.
The first floor of the tower was brightly illuminated, it looked like a cafeteria or tavern. It had a counter with high stools and there were ten wooden tables located at the center of the floor, each with two benches that could accommodate five or six people each. The outer perimeter of the floor was empty, so even if all the tables were full, you could easily move from the entrance around them and arrive at the stairs leading to the second floor, and on the other side, stairs leading down, seemingly into the basement.
There were two servants diligently sweeping the stairs leading to the second floor, Elder Chen signaled them with his hand, and they quickly arrived before him. Bowing they asked
"Can we do something for the Palace Master?"
"Yes, one of you, go and ask the kitchen to send food for two, then go and prepare the bath. The other one, go find the tower housekeeper and ask him to see if he can find some decent clothes for this young man"
"Understood" Answered both of them, and walked to opposite stairs, one going to the basement, while the other took the stairs to the second floor.
Elder Chen then talked to the only person remaining on the first floor, an inner disciple that was sitting down before at one of the benches but had stood up and bowed right when the Elder entered the room.
"Please go to the Head Enforcer office, notify him that I have returned"
"Yes, Palace Master" After answering, the young man straightened and darted towards the second-floor stairs.
After this, Elder Chen neared one of the benches, sat down, and motioned to Wu Guang that had not moved from the entrance to sit. Before coming closer and sitting, Wu Guang went to a small water fountain located in one of the corners and washed his hands and face.
After a brief wait, delicious aromas suddenly appeared in the air, and a small-statured, middle-aged, and almost round woman appeared from the basement holding an enormous tray, this tray was full of different plates. She briskly walked near their table and started quickly setting all the plates on it. Surprisingly, a few of the dishes spread a visible qi aura, which meant they were made of spirit ingredients. After all the dishes were placed down, and tableware was placed in front of both, she exclaimed in a joyful voice with a hint of reproach
"Master Chen! I am happy that you decided to eat here, but you could have notified me, so I could prepare something suited to a person of your standing"
"Chef Ji jests, all your food is delicious, and even without notifying you, look how much you prepared" Answered Elder Chen in a similar tone, seemingly not caring about the casual manner that the female chef had used.
"And who is this little brother? What happened to him? His clothes are ragged and bloodied, how could you bring him to eat without any care?" Throwing question after question, Chef Ji was practically roaring at the end.
"This youngster's name is Wu Guang, he was near death when I found him, so after healing, he accompanied me here. I already called the housekeeper and sent someone to prepare him a bath. But he has not eaten for more than a full day, so I thought your food will be far more beneficial for him right now than some fresh clothes" While saying this, Elder Chen had a panicked expression, but his eyes were full of laughter.
After hearing the part of near death, and not eaten for more than a full day, Chef Ji face suddenly changed, and taking the plate placed before Wu Guang before, she started quickly filling it with food from the dishes she placed on the table. When the plate was so full that it was about to shatter, she put it down, almost forcefully made him grab the chopsticks, and proclaimed while shaking her plump fists
"Eat, eat, and until you replenish all that you lost, you will be not taken from here, even if the sect master personally appears here for you"
"Thank you, Chef Ji" Responded Wu Guang in a voice tinted by gratefulness and restrained laughter.
For the next minutes, the teen and the elder were silently eating. The peaceful atmosphere was sometimes interrupted by Chef Ji who stayed near the table looking at Wu Guang like if he was her son, though this was contradicted by her commanding remarks like
"Eat more of that Double-Headed Bear soup, its very good for your body"
"This roasted duck, although it's not a spirit beast, it's my best dish, quickly try it"
"Put down the kimchi, it's very spicy and you did not eat for some time"
"That's not beneficial for your recovery, leave it for the old man"
When the last one sounded, there was a burst of deep laughter coming from the second-floor stairs. The person that was coming down, was about seven feet tall and was so muscular that could be considered square. He was dressed in a black robe, with a simple iron badge inscribed with the character 'Punishment' on his shoulder. After coming closer to the table, he said
"It seems that Chef Ji is fierce as always" Then his face turned serious "Please leave us, Chef, I will talk with Palace Master here, and it's better if we are not disturbed"
The Chef hearing this, set up a third teacup on the table and quickly left the floor.
When he heard that, Wu Guang also intended to leave the two seniors alone, but before he could rise, Elder Chen motioned with a hand for him to remain. So he inclined his head as a sign of greeting the newly arrived Head Enforcer, and went back to the task at hand, eating all that he could.
"So, this young man is a survivor from some kind of incident?" After a cursory glance at Wu Guang, Enforcer Zhen asked the Elder
"Yes, he is a lucky survivor. I found him almost dead but managed to heal him" Elder Chen confirmed the guess.
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"So you intend to have him enter the sect?" While asking this, the enforcer made a sign with the right hand.
"I will bring him there before the entrance exam, I checked his body and he has good talent and possibilities. For now, Wu Guang will help me around here" The Elder also made a sign followed by another one.
For Wu Guang that was silently eating, these signs were easy to decipher, they should have meant [Talk] and [No], but the third one was a bit out of the context, as it should mean [Wait]. After thinking for a bit, he concluded that the elder signaled the enforcer to don't speak openly yet and wait for something before fully explaining the situation.
It turned that Wu Guang reached the right conclusion, after a brief pause, Elder Chen circled them with a qi bubble that isolated them from the exterior
"I think you should have noticed our signs, right?" He smiled at him
"Yes Elder, I feel that they should have been [Talk] [No] and [Wait]" After saying this, he also explained his conclusion on the matter.
"Good brat!" Said the Head Enforcer, then added
"You are indeed right about the signs, you even got it right with the third one meaning and our intentions"
The qi bubble was dispelled right after this brief exchange. Then the two seniours made some small talk, mostly about the food and the tea that Chef Ji prepared.
Afterward, the servant that was sent to fetch the housekeeper arrived accompanied by an outer sect disciple clad in light blue robes, the servant quickly bowed and left towards the basement while carrying a bundle of cloth, while the outer sect disciple got near the table and deeply bowed while cupping fists
"Paying respects to Palace Master and Head Enforcer"
"Rise. Housekeeper Ji, did you find any clothes for this young man?" Asked Elder Chen
"Yes, Palace Master. I already sent them to the Bath dressing room" This disciple's name was Ji Yong, and he was the nephew of Chef Ji. He was also of small stature, reaching only five feet, but he wasn't plump as the Chef, looking even smaller. He was 24 years old, and his cultivation never progressed from the early Spirit stage. But thanks to his accounting and housekeeping skills, he was offered to stay in the sect to manage their tower in Boundary Hill City. He then asked in a dutiful tone
"Should I prepare a room as well?"
"He will be staying on the Wisdom floor, so please acquire and send there all the necessities for him. Now, please take him to the Bath"
"Understood" After receiving a nod from Elder Chen, he saluted, indicated to Wu Guang to follow him, and went towards the basement stairs.
When they reached the basement, they passed a kitchen area, and then descended another floor. Opening one of the doors near the stairs, Ji Yong explained
"This is the dressing room, inside you can find the prepared clothes. You can leave the ones that you are in here, and someone will dispose of them later. The bath can be accessed from the door over there" He pointed at a door that was at the end of the small dressing room
"Thank you, my name is Wu Guang, I will be in your care while staying here" His first impression of the guy was good, and considering his need to interact with different people to completely adjust to his new identity, he smiled, introduced himself, and extended his hand towards the housekeeper
"Nice to meet you, I am the tower housekeeper, Ji Yong" Inwardly surprised that this young fellow that had the favor of a bigshot like the Wisdom Master would even pay attention to him, but feeling the sincerity in the introduction and handshake the small young man also smiled and firmly shook the presented hand
"If you need something, I will be in the warehouse past the kitchen" Nodding slightly after this, Ji Yong turned around and left.
Wu Guang entered the dressing room, quickly disrobed, and entered the bath. He was pleasantly surprised that this underground bath was almost fifty feet long and wide. Half of it was occupied by a rock pool with steam rising from it, if his impression was correct, it was using rune heating panels. The other half of the space had barrels with water, racks with towels, and an assortment of shelves full of common medicinal and aromatic herbs. Thanks to the latter, the air had a faint and pleasing aroma.
"Well, it's nice enough to feel the lack of technology, at least for now" he muttered while washing all the dried blood from his body using the water in one of the barrels.
When all the blood was washed out, he turned to his chest and found that the wound was nowhere to be seen, and only a finger wide scar remained
"The healing force of wood essence is for sure terrific. Even the healing using the last of my original qi could not scarify the wound so quickly" After dismissing this thought, he slowly dipped into the hot water, after soaking for some minutes, he stood up, picked out some of the herbs that were used to clean and toughen the skin and proceeded to rub across his body.
After quickly washing the residue with the cold water from a barrel, he left the bath and went back into the dressing room.
The clothes that were prepared for him were white, made of strong cloth, and consisted of a plain long robe, trousers, and a pair of martial footwear. A black cloth belt was also provided.
"Thankfully the housekeeper thought of everything, and even went so far as to fetch me underwear" Smirking he quickly dressed up and left.
Passing through the kitchen area he nodded in greeting to Chef Ji that was busily chopping something and arrived at the first floor.
Elder Chen was drinking tea at the same place from before, but it seemed that Enforcer Zhen had already left.
"You arrived quickly, good. Let's go, I already notified the City Manor of our visit" Noticing him, Elder Chen unhurriedly stood up and started moving towards the door.
With a nod, Wu Guang followed the Elder outside the tower