Jing Yi bit his lower lip and faced away. Ah, he shouldn't have trusted Qiu Ling. There was no way he wouldn't make trouble in this situation. Well, it was probably very good already that he hadn't said worse things. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything he could say to make the situation better …
Qiu Ling's smile vanished and he put on a confused look. "What is it? You still can't remember him?" He furrowed his brows. "That's strange. He left me with quite a good impression with how he stood up for the older generation and all. Very noble of him. He certainly is a role model."
He nodded as if to himself but spoke up as soon as Elder Gongxi wanted to respond. "Ah! I'm sorry. This might just be another misunderstanding. I remember now: You were only the one heading the delegation of your sect back then, right? I shouldn't have assumed that he was your own disciple. He is probably somebody else's disciple. Yes, that makes much more sense. Isn't it said that a Master would always look for someone similar when taking in a disciple? Just look at my Master and me! You can see we're very similar people."
Elder Gongxi's expression turned worse. What very similar? He had never heard that Grandmaster Zhangsun could say such shameless things! And what did this boy want to insinuate? He opened his mouth to shut this guy up and chastise him, regardless of who his Master was but … Qiu Ling was faster once again.
"Eh, you don't have to be angry. I'm really truly sorry for causing yet another misunderstanding. It's all my fault today, really. I mean first, I wasn't wearing the right robe so your real disciple mistook me even though my beloved said that we had been sent by the Sect Master and that I'm the disciple of Grandmaster Zhangsun. That is totally my fault. I mean our words don't count for much. It's much more important what I'm wearing.
"And now, I even thought that the person you had brought along back then and that stepped out to make up for your mistakes would've been your own disciple. I shouldn't have thought something like that. Since he's a decent person he wouldn't care whether you're his Master or not. Just being of the same sect and the senior generation would be enough for him to step up and try to make the situation less awkward for you. I should have taken that into consideration. It's really all my fault."
Jing Yi very attentively watched the tips of his boots. Ah, he had never thought about it but the craftsmanship that had gone into them was really very good. He should really ask some time just who had made them so he could go and give that person his thanks. Just look at how even the stitches were!
Elder Gongxi's face turned red and he raised his finger and pointed at Qiu Ling's face. He didn't know what to say though. This definitely couldn't be called appropriate behavior anymore but that didn't change the fact that everything this boy said was true. It really was the fault of the disciple from the Yang Huo Sect that the misunderstanding today had happened and he hadn't said anything wrong about Zhou Wu being his disciple either. Even if he went to make a fuss about this in front of Sect Master Yuchi, he would still have to slap his own face when he repeated all of this. This guy … He was definitely doing this on purpose!
Elder Gongxi gnashed his teeth. Who would've thought that such a young man would be able to do something like this? Well, there had to be a reason why he was able to become Grandmaster Zhangsun's disciple. And hadn't Grandmaster Zhangsun only found out about his divine constitution on the day of the Gathering of Practitioners? Then that couldn't be the reason for it. No, there had to be another reason why he had taken this boy in.
The Grandmaster might have seen that he had talent or maybe he had seen that this person's comprehension ability was high. That would explain his ability to deal with this situation. Just look at that other boy! After just a few sentences, he hadn't been able to keep up. Obviously, he lacked in this department.
Elder Gongxi tightened his lips. Even though he understood this, he had no way to deal with this person. Qiu Ling either didn't let him speak up or he said something that he couldn't respond to because of the content. It was maddening!
He took a deep breath and made sure that Qiu Ling wouldn't interrupt him again. Everything depended on his next words now. Even though he would have liked to use them to make trouble for this person, he also understood that it would be better to take a step back if that would allow him to get rid of this person.
Thus Elder Gongxi could only force a smile. "Ah, how could that be? As I already said before, the previous misunderstanding was also because of my disciple. As for the person you've been talking about … I think I do remember now. He isn't with us this time since he has been in closed-door cultivation for a long time. So I'm afraid there's no way for you to meet with him." Elder Gongxi looked at Qiu Ling and gave a smile. He'd really like to see what he wanted to say now. Since the previous question had been answered, there shouldn't be any chance for him to make more trouble.
Qiu Ling just smiled. "That's too bad. But I'm looking forward to meeting him again in the future then. I'm sure that after his closed-door cultivation, he should have become a lot stronger."
Elder Gongxi only gave another strained smile. This guy was just as vicious as Sect Master Yuchi. As if they didn't know that Zhou Wu had been ruined at the last Gathering of Practitioners! But they actually dared to bring that up not just once but twice.
Qiu Ling happily smiled at his opponent's murderous gaze and pulled out his trump card. "Ah, but never mind. He wasn't even your real disciple but you have the right one here this time. That's also good. How about we have a fight tomorrow? Actually, I'd like to have a fight with all of your disciples. I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we exchanged some friendly pointers." He smiled happily, delighting in the worried look on Elder Gongxi's face.