Chapter 32: Yu'er's Apprenticeship
A month later, by the foot of the Cliff of Meditation, as dawn broke, Ye Dafu and his clique finally finished memorizing their assigned scriptures.
"Boss, you're astonishing! We just finished memorizing two scriptures, but you're already done with four!" one lackey cried out in astonishment.
"Of course! Otherwise, I'd have to stay here and get annoyed whenever I see that bastard!" Ye Dafu glared at his lackey.
"Now that we're done, we can go now! What about we try to teach that brat a lesson again?" one lackey asked.
Everyone stared at the young man.
"What, do you think we haven't memorized enough scriptures? We can't strike here!" Ye Dafu shouted.
"Right—we don't want to do this again!" the others echoed.
The young man, thinking back to what he had suffered for the last month, also shuddered.
"Don't worry. There'll be plenty of opportunities to get back at him for this," Ye Dafu promised, gritting his teeth.
"Boss is right—there'll be plenty of time later!" the lackeys cried out.
Suddenly, as though sensing something, everyone turned toward Ye Dafu's back. Three enforcement disciples were standing behind him, their ears pricked up as they listened in to Ye Dafu's pronouncements.
"You—when did you guys get here?!" Ye Dafu shouted in shock.
His lackeys likewise sucked in a breath. Were enforcement disciples always so stealthy?
"You've all finished your scriptures, then? Why are you huddling together again like last time? What are you planning now, another 'prank'? And what's this about 'plenty of time', now?" one enforcement disciple asked.
Ye Dafu and his clique's eyes grew wide with alarm.
"No, you must have misheard! We're right about to leave. Now, right away, immediately!"
"We haven't been discussing a sneak attack on Nanfeng. Please don't punish us with more scriptures!" one lackey urged, revealing the truth in his nervousness.
"Shut your damn mouth!" Ye Dafu cried out, then turned to the enforcement disciples. "Senior Brothers, it's past time for us to leave. Hope to see you again—no, never again!"
Ye Dafu fled, quickly followed by his lackeys. The enforcement disciples glanced askance at each other. They had just been curious; why were Ye Dafu and his gang so scared?
"They're not about to attack Junior Brother Nanfeng again, are they?" one disciple wondered.
All of them looked toward Xiao Nanfeng's bedroom, where another horrifying event was unfolding.
Xiao Nanfeng was in a deep sleep. Black smoke clogged the room, and a bleached skeleton stood by the head of the bed, quietly looking at Xiao Nanfeng as though waiting for something, standing silently for long moments.
Xiao Nanfeng awoke from his deep slumber and opened his eyes, just in time to gaze into the skeleton's empty eye sockets.
He didn't scream; he had grown used to the sight. His face merely twitched.
"Madam Rouge? It's been a month. If you keep standing guard over me like this daily, my heart won't be able to take the burden. At the start, when I woke up, you and your black fog would quickly dissipate—you'd hide from me. Now, however, have you grown used to it? You're standing right in front of me. Aren't you worried I'll shriek and summon some disciples over?" Xiao Nanfeng complained to the skeleton in exasperation.
The skeleton continued staring at Xiao Nanfeng, as though criticizing him for sleeping without dreaming, forbidding it from entering his dreamscape for an entire month.
"I'd like to apologize for our previous few encounters, but you surely can't blame it all on me? You were trying to kill me, and I was only acting in self-defense. You've also already been bothering me for a month, and your presence has been a tremendous mental burden. Shall we consider us even?" Xiao Nanfeng proposed.
The skeleton remained unmoved. It stared grimly at Xiao Nanfeng. 'A tremendous mental burden'? You've been sleeping like a log the whole month.
"For you, I've even specially bought a stick of the finest incense. Please, let it guide you on your way, so that you don't bother me any longer! I'm innocent!" Xiao Nanfeng urged.
He lit up the fine stick of incense and stuck it in a burner. Pleasant smoke drifted from it, clouding the room.
"How does this brand of incense smell?" Xiao Nanfeng asked the skeleton expectantly.
The skeleton remained immobile. The incense was clearly ineffective.
"It doesn't suit you? Don't worry, I'm sure I'll find something you like. Next time, maybe," Xiao Nanfeng promised, patting his chest.
The skeleton: ...
Xiao Nanfeng left his room, ignoring Madam Rouge, who was left stewing in frustration.
Deep sleep could replenish his mental reserves to a significant extent. Xiao Nanfeng began another day at full capacity.
After washing up, he absorbed dawn qi, ate, and practiced his fist technique.
Yu'er walked by in a cloud of dust. "I heard you were searching for me?"
"That's right! Ah, where did you just come from to be looking worse for wear?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.
"I just came back from raiding another demonic lair. It took a great deal of effort. I had just returned when I heard you were looking for me. What's the matter? Have you grown so destitute that you're looking to me for a loan?" Yu'er teased.
"Go back to your cottage, wash up, and come back with a clean change of clothes," Xiao Nanfeng advised, shaking his head.
"Oh? You've really gotten a big head, haven't you? Telling me to come over, and then criticizing me for being poorly dressed? What's the matter with you?" Yu'er placed her hands on her hips, a flicker of anger exuding from her eyes.
"Do you think I'm that uncouth? As for why I'm asking you to wash up, what do you think? Don't make me waste my efforts!" Xiao Nanfeng retorted.
Yu'er blinked. Then, her eyes lit up and she grabbed a hold of Xiao Nanfeng's sleeve in shock. "You—did you really succeed?!"
Xiao Nanfeng smiled. "Elder Ku has been in a good mood recently, and I've been asking him about you regularly. I'm happy to report that he's finally agreed."
"Elder Ku's planning to take me as an apprentice? Haha, Nanfeng, I knew you could do it!" Yu'er hugged Xiao Nanfeng tightly, so much so that he started to cough. Only then did she run off.
He looked strangely at her back. Her body is petite, but she's surprisingly forceful!
Yu'er rushed back quickly, cleaned and well groomed, her face radiant with joy.
Elder Ku was seated beside Xiao Nanfeng, as if giving him pointers about his fist technique.
"Disciple Yu'er greets her master!" Yu'er stepped forward and bowed down toward Elder Ku.
"Yu'er, I haven't been able to teach you the guqin in the past because of a cursed effigy associated with me, that could easily have corrupted you," Elder Ku explained.
"A cursed effigy?" Yu'er seemed perplexed.
"That's right! However, it has been staying away from me lately, a good portent indeed," Elder Ku replied, smiling.
Beside him, Xiao Nanfeng frowned. A good portent for you, maybe, but not for me! It's been bothering me day and night instead.
"I can't guarantee that the cursed effigy won't return to bother me, so it might still be a very dangerous affair to learn the guqin from me. Will you still learn from me despite this danger?" Elder Ku asked calmly.
"Yes, Elder Ku!" Yu'er replied resolutely.
"Very well. Just like Nanfeng, I'll take you as a student in name. Once I'm completely freed of that cursed effigy, you may become an official apprentice. We'll settle the details at that point," Elder Ku replied.
"Yes, Master! Your disciple, Yu'er, greets her master!" Yu'er kowtowed in excitement.
She then turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Thank you, Junior Brother!"
"I became Master's disciple before you. You should call me Senior Brother," Xiao Nanfeng corrected, with a shake of his head.
"Dream on! The laws of the Taiqing sect claim that we second-generation formal disciples have seniority based on our cultivation, not on age! You're still in Acquisition, so you can hardly be my senior brother. Instead, I'll take you as my younger brother, haha!"
"Yu'er, have you studied the guqin before?" Elder Ku asked.
"I've secretly learned a bit of it in the past while reading in the Vault of Scriptures. Please advise me, Master," Yu'er replied seriously.
"Play a tune." Elder Ku pointed at his own guqin.
"Yes, Master!"
She set up Elder Ku's guqin, prepared herself, then began to play.
As the notes of the guqin rang out in the air, Xiao Nanfeng suddenly noticed that the trace spiritual aether in the environment had begun to resonate, but only a little.
"Master, this is the limit of my abilities," Yu'er replied, once she had finished a song.
"You've actually mastered the basics of melodic cultivation?" Elder Ku was rather surprised.
"Only the basics, Master," Yu'er replied modestly, though she smiled at seeing Elder Ku's astonishment.
"That will save me plenty of work, in that case. Starting tomorrow, prepare a guqin for yourself. We'll practice daily," Elder Ku instructed, satisfied.
"Thank you, Master!" Yu'er kowtowed again.
Elder Ku gave them both some advice, then headed into the Vault of Scriptures to pick out some scriptures for them both.
"Junior Brother, you've finally fulfilled my wish! I've asked Zhao Yuanjiao countless times for his help, but he's never acceded, always pushing it off for some reason or another. He's far more petty than you are!" Yu'er told him.
"I'm glad to have helped," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
"I managed to acquire quite a few demonic lifeforms during the raid, so I'll split some with you and let you have a taste. Alright, I have to go buy a good guqin now." Yu'er was about to rush off with anticipation.
"Senior Sister, haven't you mastered the basics? Don't you have your own guqin?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.
"I did master the basics, but not with the guqin in the past. I learned the flute," Yu'er explained quietly.
"The flute?" Xiao Nanfeng was rather surprised.
"Right, I used to be excellent with the flute! I'll demonstrate when we have a chance," Yu'er replied with satisfaction.
Xiao Nanfeng: ...
Yu'er pranced off in search of a good guqin, while Xiao Nanfeng returned to practicing his fist technique.
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