Chapter 22:
Shixiong
MO TIANLIAO WAS BEWILDERED. “Is the tea not to your liking?”
Ignoring him, Qingtong froze the tea with white mist from his fingertips until ice crystals formed before raising the cup to drink.
“Wait!” Mo Tianliao grabbed his master’s slightly cool hand—it was smooth and soft to the touch, and he couldn’t resist sneaking in a caress. Before his master could notice, though, he took the cup away. “Do you dislike it hot?”
Those eyes watched him silently, making Mo Tianliao’s heart flutter. He cleared his throat and privately pinched himself, then prepared a fresh cup of tea, pouring it back and forth between two jade cups until it was lukewarm before he handed it over.
This was how he prepared tea for His Feline Lordship when he had no frost jade bowl. Pawpaw didn’t like spring water from the mountains; he demanded tea in his cup. He would even throw a little tantrum if his tongue got scalded.
Shizun’s just like a cat… Mo Tianliao’s eyes curved as he watched those lips part slightly to drink the tea, feeling inexplicably satisfied.
After he’d gained power in his previous life, Mo Tianliao had never tried to ingratiate himself with anyone else, other than His Feline Lordship who reigned supreme over all. And now, looking at this particular shizun, Mo Tianliao couldn’t help but want to make him happy.
Demonic cultivators followed their heart’s desires. He did things because he wanted to, not because they might benefit him.
“What are you looking at?!” A smack to the back of his head snapped him out of his reverie, pitching him forward. He rubbed his head, realizing abruptly how disrespectful he’d been, staring at his master.
“Sorry, that was rude of me…” Mo Tianliao refilled the tea and held up the slightly cooled grilled fish, warming it with the fire-element spiritual energy from his palm before offering it to his master.
Qingtong couldn’t be bothered with this insolent disciple. He popped another piece of coldspring fish into his mouth.
“Disciple Yuli greets Shishu,” a trembling voice said.
Mo Tianliao looked back to see a slender, nervous-looking young man bowing to his master. He thought back on the names of the disciples from the various sanctums… If he was right, this should be Yuli, the third personal disciple of Xuanji-zhenren.
Qingtong looked up, swallowed the fish, and extended the pink tip of his tongue to lick the seasoning off his lips. Yuli trembled even harder at this sight. His two seniors were both deeply intimidated by Qingtong, so they constantly foisted this job onto him, but had they ever considered that he was the one who feared this elder the most?!
“What is it?” Qingtong watched Yuli with interest.
“Um, uh…” Yuli gulped, took a deep breath, and began to ramble without looking up. “The sect leader’s disciple, Moxiong-shixiong, and your disciple, Menghu-shixiong, have just returned to the sect. They are currently meeting the sect leader in Wotian Sanctum. He has sent me to inform you.” As soon as the stream of words were out of his mouth, Yuli deflated like a balloon.
“All right, I got it.” Qingtong waved him away.
Looking as if he’d been granted amnesty, Yuli bowed and fled. Throughout it all, he’d acted like he hadn’t seen Mo Tianliao nor cared that he hadn’t greeted him. Mo Tianliao watched with interest, curious why Yuli was so afraid of his master.
“Shall I go to Woqing Sanctum to receive Shixiong?” Mo Tianliao volunteered when he realized that his master had no intention of going. If he wanted to live in Woqing Sanctum peacefully while he recovered his power, he’d need to get along with his senior. After all, the guy was a late-stage core formation cultivator who would soon break through to the nascent soul stage.
“No need.” Qingtong finished the last piece of fish and accepted a white silk handkerchief from his maidservant to wipe his hands clean. “He’ll be back soon.”
As a core formation cultivator, his senior could ride his sword across the arched bridge in no time. By the time Mo Tianliao arrived at Wotian Sanctum on foot, the guy could already be back here massaging his master’s legs.
Scratching his head, Mo Tianliao joined his master in lazing around. The maidservant took back the handkerchief, cleared the fish bones and the leaf wrapping, and vanished just as quickly as she’d arrived.
As expected, within a quarter of an hour, a tall, imposing man with a commanding presence hurried through the bamboo grove. He had even features, and his large, round eyes gave him a somewhat fierce look. This was his senior, Menghu.
“Shizun!” Menghu cried out as soon as he crossed the arched bridge and found his gorgeous shizun sitting in the rocking chair. He rushed over, fell to his knees with a thud, and kowtowed three times. “I’m back.”
Mo Tianliao quickly stood up and stepped aside.
Qingtong glanced coldly at the large head at his feet and smacked him on the back of his skull. “So, you did still remember to come back!”
“Heh heh…” Menghu rubbed the back of his head. “We were held up because Moxiong got injured.”
Qingtong looked sidelong at the grinning disciple and gestured for him to rise. Menghu sprang to his feet. Finally noticing Mo Tianliao, he grabbed him and patted him heartily on the back.
“This must be the new disciple. Ha ha, he sure looks sturdy!”
The corner of Mo Tianliao’s lips twitched. Was the guy pounding him like a drum just to see if he was sturdy? Still, he looked up and flashed an affable smile. “Greetings, Shixiong. I’m Mo Tianliao.”
Menghu’s eyes crinkled into a grin. He’d been waiting for over a century for a junior. This one seemed pretty docile, though; he’d have to watch over him in case the other disciples bullied him. “I’m Menghu. We’re brothers from now on—ask if you need anything.” He stuffed a small inventory pouch into Mo Tianliao’s hands as a greeting gift. “Here, have fun with it.”
Mo Tianliao took the pouch and scanned it with his divine sense. It was packed full of many rare items; Menghu must have collected them on his travels. Mo Tianliao looked silently at him. This guy’s expression screamed this gege will protect you in the future, and he seemed a little simple-minded—maybe Mo Tianliao could take advantage of him.
That evening, Mo Tianliao was in his courtyard drawing water to irrigate the peach tree. Now that it was fall, the peach tree was beginning to shed its leaves, and some of the smaller branches had already withered. Mo Tianliao pinched a withered branch, intending to break it off, when a surge of wood-element spiritual energy flowed from his fingertips to the branch.
Raising an eyebrow, he grasped the branch and channeled wood-element spiritual energy into it. He’d heard that people with a heaven attribute of wood could master a technique called the Spring Revival. It could bring withered plants back to life, since pure wood-element spiritual energy was a life force for plants. But it could only revive ordinary plants and had little effect on spiritual herbs and trees rich with spiritual energy, so the technique wasn’t that useful.
As he expected, the branch quickly regained vitality. Bored, Mo Tianliao was about to retract his hand when he discovered that the branch hadn’t just returned to life, it had also sprouted several tender buds.
“Huh?” Astonished, Mo Tianliao leaned in for a better look. Even if the plant came back to life, it shouldn’t have been budding in fall.
“Shidi!” Before he could work it out, he heard an enthusiastic voice calling out for him from behind. Slowly, he turned to see a large head peering over the tall fence—yep, it was his new senior.
Menghu’s courtyard was right next to his. He’d known this since he moved in, but it had slipped his mind since no one had been living there until now.
“Shixiong.” Mo Tianliao snapped the branch off and tossed the pieces to the ground before walking over to bow to him.
“Hey, no need for all these formalities between us. Shizun doesn’t care for them either.” Menghu waved his hand, jumped over the fence, and pulled Mo Tianliao into the house. “Come on. I’ve got something to discuss with you.”
“What is it?” Mo Tianliao asked calmly, sitting down at the table.
“Shizun must have his reasons for trusting you since he took you as his disciple, so I won’t pry.” Menghu waved the door shut and set up a protective barrier to isolate all sound within the room.
Mo Tianliao lowered his hand, secretly summoning a row of wooden spikes made of Sinking Agarwood between his fingers. Schooling his expression, he smiled. “Feel free to speak freely, Shixiong.”
✦ ✦ ✦
MINI EXTRA
Eldest Shixiong: I have a question, Shizun.
Shizun: What?
Eldest Shixiong: Why was Shidi allowed to join our sect when he has no fur?
Shizun: *extends claw* scraaaatch scraaatch
Eldest Shixiong: Ooooooh! A scratching post! I want one too!
Shizun: *brandishes claws, sends him flying with a swat*
From then on, Woodworker and Eldest Shixiong went from being chance acquaintances to sworn friends.