The next week was quite leisurely for Xu Long, he spent most of his time cultivating, with a daily trip down to the restaurant to sit with Old Wu every evening, which quickly turned into Bai Mei’s time to shower Xu Xing with hugs and pets. Xu Long had so much free time in fact that he finally busted out the puzzle box that his mother gave him, lest she find out that he had been negligent in developing the technique that she had painstakingly created for him.
In the end it turned out to be a rather enjoyable diversion and Xu Long also discovered through trial and error that it was far easier for him to solve the formations when he was blindfolded. A discovery that filled him hope that he could develop this technique with minimal disruption of the aspects of cultivation that he actually enjoyed. He was still as of yet on the first layer of the puzzle box with the litany of seemingly unending formations that appeared starting to have him second guess whether it would ever end. He persevered though, putting in a solid couple of hours into the box every day, his mother never did anything without reason so this unending stream must also have a purpose.
The day before the enrollment of the two Academies, Bai Mei was sitting with Xu Long and Old Wu at their usual table with Xu Xing sitting on her lap luxuriating in pets from the young woman. She looked at the young man sitting across from her that she had been slowly needling with questions all week to try and figure him out. She had gotten most of his story, the broad strokes anyway, but she felt there was much more to it than he was letting on. She wasn’t sure where that feeling came from, his story sounded perfectly reasonable especially when she factored in the quite frankly incredible identity of the old man that he was accompanying, still, she trusted her intuition and she wanted to figure out this mysterious young man.
“It occurs to me that throughout this entire week I have neglected to inquire as to which Academy you will be attending Xu Long.”
He smiled at her. “Same as you.”
“How do you know what Academy I will be attending?”
“One of your dining companions mentioned it the first time we met.”
She furrowed her eyebrows in thought trying to remember when that had come up in that hectic evening, it took her a moment to remember that Song Hai had mentioned it briefly when he had come over to their table. “You are telling me that despite that entire shambolic evening in which you almost killed a scion of the Luo clan you managed to remember a small detail said in passing about what Academy I will be attending?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you always that attentive or did you remember because it had to do with me?”
This time he took a beat before answering with a smile. “Yes.”
It took her a second to parse that his answer meant ‘both’. “You know, you can be very frustrating to converse with sometimes.”
He chuckled at that one. “And yet you keep coming back for more.”
Bai Mei, looking slightly flustered, quickly replied, “I am clearly here to spend time with Xu Xing.”
“Clearly.”
Instead of retorting she just growled slightly in exasperation before returning to petting Xu Xing who was watching the two of them banter with a curious look on her face. After, they sat in silence for a while, the only sound audible was the continued hubbub of the restaurant in the background and the occasional sipping of Old Wu who very rarely got involved in conversations when anyone besides Xu Long and himself was at the table.
They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity to Bai Mei who was stewing on letting Xu Long have the last word and feeling that this silent treatment tack that she had chosen was not the best idea considering she hadn’t even asked all the questions that she had for him. So she decided to just continue on as if none of it happened.
“So are you really blind?”
Xu Long was a little thrown by her blunt question that seemed to come out of nowhere after such a long silence. He wasn’t sure why but the randomness and bluntness just combined to make him smile. “No, my eyes work fine.”
“Why are you wearing a blindfold then?”
“To train.”
“Train what?”
“Myself.”
“That…what?”
Xu Long laughed, figuring he should stop playing with her, he decided to actually answer. “I started wearing a blindfold to spar and train during Body Refinement, when was that? Nine or ten right?” He asked, looking in Old Wu’s direction.
“Nine.”
“Right, feels like a lifetime ago.” Which elicited a scoff from the old man who promptly went back to drinking. “Anyway, after such a long time training without sight, when it came time for my Awakening and to start my cultivation journey I quickly realized that what was supposed to be just another part of the grueling Body Refinement process and a way to hone my battle instincts had revealed something much more profound to me. Namely that if I closed my eyes there was so much more to see, when I held my sword blindfolded it elicited a feeling that I don’t think I can describe, I just know that I felt this path calling to me and I wanted to follow it.”
Bai Mei was completely shocked that she had actually gotten a straight answer out of Xu Long, not only a straight answer, an astonishingly personal and detailed one, she sat there, mind completely numb, staring at him, at a loss as to what to say.
Finally she snapped out of her daze. “Why did you tell me all of that?”
“Because you asked.”
“You have evaded or given me superficial answers to almost every question I have asked you in the last week, and now you are telling me deeply personal details about your cultivation, why?”
Xu Long took a moment while he formulated his answer, weighing his choices, finally he decided to trust Xu Xing’s instincts and thus trust this young woman with a little more than he originally intended.
“What you asked about involved my cultivation and my path, they are entirely mine and I can decide who I trust to share that with. Most of the other questions you have asked involves information that is not mine to divulge, even if you and I were sharing a bed I still would not tell you things that are not mine to tell.”
Bai Mei’s face turned a very pronounced shade of red when she heard Xu Long’s answer and she found herself at this moment very grateful that this young man habitually wore a blindfold. From the seemingly flippant levels of trust that he had shown in her, to talk of them sharing a bed, she was quickly starting to become overwhelmed by this conversation, and yet strangely excited at the same time. As these thoughts were flowing through her mind she suddenly remembered something, it was not just her and Xu Long sitting at this table having a private conversation, she looked to her right and saw the old man with a subtle smile on his face as he lifted his cup to his lips to once more sample his liquor.
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Embarrassment flooded her body, she was mortified when she thought about everything that had gone through her mind knowing just how much Dao Seeking experts could read lower realm cultivators like an open book. Not to mention that this was one of the most feared and respected Dao Seeking experts in the entire realm…she suddenly had the urge to be anywhere but here.
“Ah, I just remembered that my Aunt asked me to visit with her, I will see you later Xu Long, Xu Xing.” She then hastily got up, giving Xu Xing a kiss on the head before placing her on the table and giving a quick bow to Old Wu, “Elder”, before beating a hasty retreat out of the restaurant.
All three of them sat there in silence at the table watching Bai Mei leave as quickly as she could.
Old Wu chuckled. “Looks like I am cramping your style, kid.”
“I don’t mind, old man, there is plenty of time.”
Xu Xing then added her thoughts by angrily yipping at Xu Long.
“Hey, it’s not my fault she ran off Xiao Xing…well not entirely my fault. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about it, we will be attending the same Academy and I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities for you to see your new favorite person.”
Xu Xing seemed slightly mollified by that and she proceeded to walk over to Xu Long so that he could take over petting duties that were previously assigned to the now missing in action Bai Mei.
Xu Long smiled at her before turning his attention to Old Wu. “Speaking of the Academy, you still have not told me who this ‘perfect teacher for me’ is.”
“His name is Huang Zhihao, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it important. You won’t need to seek him out, he will seek you out.”
“Alright…So tomorrow is the big day, huh. What are you going to do once you no longer have to look after me?”
“I am going to go visit some people that I haven’t seen in quite a while in distant lands while you are in your early years at the Academy and thus unable to leave or get into too much trouble. Then I will make my way back slowly, visiting people along the way. By the time you are far enough along in your Academy education to start being sent out into the world I will be closer so that I will be able to respond promptly should you use one of your emergency talismans.
“Oh, that reminds me, if you want to get in touch with me for whatever reason and it is not an emergency just ask Zhihao to pass a message along.”
Xu Long sighed as he thought about how much his life was about to change, he had been dreaming of this moment for so long and it was finally here, but now that it was, he felt that it was bittersweet, he already had to say goodbye to his mother and knew that they would be apart for quite some time, now he and Old Wu would be going their separate ways tomorrow.
“Not getting cold feet on me now are you, kid?”
“No, just feeling a little ambivalent about the whole thing, the excitement and anticipation is still there but I am going to miss you and mother. Tomorrow when we go our separate ways, not only will you and I be separating but when you leave you also take with you my only means of getting back to the valley to see her again, I guess it just occurred to me how final it all was.”
Old Wu smiled. “It is rather ironic isn’t it, you will be one of the students who is closest to their home and simultaneously one of the students who is furthest away. It is an unfortunate situation, all I can really say is that you should remind yourself what you said to her when you were trying to make her feel better when you left, ‘in the grand scheme of the life of an immortal your separation will be but the blink of an eye’.
Xu Long laughed at that. “I suppose I am ignoring my own ‘words of wisdom’, aren’t I.”
Sighing one last time in an attempt to vent his negative feelings about this whole affair Xu Long stood up from his seat and placed Xu Xing in the front of his robe. “I’m going to go and cultivate, I will see you tomorrow.”
Old Wu nodded his head then returned to his spirit liquor and watched as Xu Long walked back to their room.
After Xu Long had ascended the stairs out of the restaurant Old Wu was joined by Li Yaling who appeared out of nowhere and then sat down in the seat formerly occupied by Xu Long.
“So you have changed your mind about sticking around, have you?”
Old Wu smirked at her question. “Don’t you think eavesdropping is a little beneath someone of your stature?”
“Hey if your boy wants to pursue my niece then that is just the price he has to pay.”
Old Wu raised an eyebrow at her. “We will see how that pans out, honestly your niece will have to work very hard and be rather lucky if she wants to keep up with him.”
“If you are looking down on my Xiao Mei you are really becoming blind in your old age, Zhong.”
“You misunderstand, she is everything the rumors say about her and more, it is him that’s different.”
She looked at the old man with a critical eye, finding it hard to believe that anyone could outstrip her exceptionally talented niece. “We will see about that, anyway, you still haven’t answered my question.”
“I lied to the kid. I gave my word that I would protect him, and I will. But he can’t know that I am going to be looking over him, it will stunt his growth if he knows how safe he really is.”
“Just who is he? I have never seen you put so much effort into one of your projects before.”
Old Wu chuckled at her insinuation. “Don’t go getting jealous, Yaling, you turned out just fine. If you must know, he isn’t one of my ‘projects’ as you call them…I owe his father more than I can ever repay, watching over his son while he is unable to is the very least that I can do.”
Li Yaling looked more than a little shocked at that answer, she had never heard Old Wu talk like that about anyone, generally it was other people that owed him more than they could ever repay. “Now I really want to know who this kid is.”
Old Wu smiled mysteriously at her. “If you stick around in this realm long enough I am sure you will find out, but right now at this stage of his journey it is important that he is just Xu Long.”
…
Xu Long sat on the balcony of their room in the lotus position, the sun having well and truly risen by this point was hitting the side of his face, a sleeping Xu Xing on his lap. He was awoken from his cultivation by a cough from behind him.
“It’s time, kid.”
Xu Long carefully placed the sleeping Xu Xing into his robe to continue her dead to the world sleep as he got up to follow Old Wu. As they both left their room and walked down the stairs down to the restaurant floor they were met by Li Yaling and Li Ruolan. Xu Long was a little surprised by the formal sending off, especially from Li Yaling as he had only met her once during his entire stay, but he ran with it all the same.
Slightly bowing to the two of them he smiled. “Thank you both for allowing me to stay in your beautiful establishment, I have enjoyed it immensely.”
Li Ruolan chuckled, “not as much as you could have.”
“Must you, Ruolan?” Li Yaling rubbed her forehead at her daughter's antics. “It was a pleasure to have you here young man, I look forward to seeing what becomes of you.” She then turned her attention to Old Wu. “Zhong, as always it was a pleasure to have you here to drink all my best spirit liquor.”
Old Wu laughed at her jab. “I’ll see you soon, Yaling.” He then turned his attention to Li Ruolan. “I’m very proud of you Ruolan, I know your father would be too.”
Li Ruolan almost teared up a little and just nodded at Old Wu.
Old Wu then led Xu Long out of the House of Heavenly Respite and through several back streets of Tianyun City, the further they walked the more sure Xu Long became that the direction they were headed was one he recognized all too well.
“The Academy enrollment is in the plaza?”
“Relax kid, they close off the plaza to everyone else for a few hours.”
“Why wouldn’t they just do it outside of the city walls?”
“It is more a display of power by the clans than a practical consideration, which you will find is not an uncommon occurrence in the realm, nor is it the sole domain of the clans, they are just the most prolific at it.”
“That…seems incredibly petty.”
Old Wu chuckled. “That’s the cultivation world, kid.”