The night enveloped the Obsidian Forest as the full moon warded the forest from complete darkness. A dark figure slowly approached the Floral Lake. Not a single lotus could be seen above the water.
A voice crept its way into the old man's mind, "Sneaking in on a lady during the dead of night… I had a suspicion earlier, but now I'm certain. There's something wrong with that head of yours."
The silent night was shattered by a thunderous laughter. "HAHAHA! There are things that need to be said, but not in front of the children. If I don't go at night, then when should I visit you."
"No need to visit me." Bai Lian did not feel like showing a shred of courtesy towards the old fox. After all, before Shui Renshu, such actions were meaningless.
"It seems I didn't make a very good impression with you earlier. Well anyways, did you know that although spirits do not have living bodies, they should still give off a slight presence? Only a highly skilled spirit master, such as myself, would be able to sense the small presence given off by a spirit. However, at this moment, I cannot sense any presence in this area besides my own."
"Should I be complimenting your amazing sensory abilities or giving myself a pat on the back for my brilliant concealing abilities?"
"Although I cannot sense any presences, I can sense a slight dark aura lurking in this area. However, the dark aura is very faint and I cannot locate the source."
"I am not a demon." The guardian spirit's voice was calm, showing no hints of surprise.
"I don't care what you are. Don't worry, when I gave consent to you fooling my little disciples earlier, I was serious. Although you had ulterior motives when you offered to bestow your medical knowledge to the children, you hold no ill intent towards them. In fact, you even care about them to some degree. Even if you were to use them, I am certain that you will make sure they do not suffer. On the other hand, my little disciples can benefit quite a bit from you. If it is as you have said, then the medical knowledge you're bestowing upon them is truly a treasure. Also—"
The old man was interrupted by a fuming spirit, "Such a great treasure! Yet, it was treated as a cursed item that I was begging to give away!"
"HAHAHA! Consider it a small punishment for being so deceitful. You even had this old man fooled."
"If you were fooled, I wouldn't have gotten punished."
"Hmph, not a shred of guilt in you. Besides the lack of presence befitting of a spirit and the faint dark aura, my mind truly could not find any flaw in your act this morning, but my guts told me otherwise! You must have heard from my two disciples that I practice some unique martial arts techniques. One of those techniques allow me to build up my second brain, my guts!"
Bai Lian was dumbfounded. "I have been wondering how you could be so sharp despite there obviously being a problem with that head of yours. I see, all that sharpness came from that gut of yours."
"My guts told me that although you were deceiving them, you truly did care about those two brats. Also, when you mentioned that Bai girl, I could tell your sorrow was the real deal."
"And yet you still said all those cruel thing!"
The old man ignored Bai Lian's remark, "You can make use of those two brats. I will allow it. After all, friendship is like a mutual agreement to use one another. They may need your help many years in the future."
"How can I help them when I'm stuck in this forest."
The old man's grin widened, "My guts tell me someone like you won't be trapped in this forest forever. There will be a day you leave."
Bai Lian confirmed his claim, "I'd really like to dissect that gut of yours."
"I didn't come here tonight just to tell you all these things. My main purpose is to offer my assistance. After all, what you can do now is very limited. Otherwise, why would you be so bent on fooling my disciples?"
There was a moment of silence before the spirit probed, "Why do you want to assist me?"
"If you become stronger, my disciples will only benefit more. As I have said, they may need your help in the future… Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention if they spend a long time with someone as deceitful as you, then any other cunning person they encounter in the future will be mere child's play to deal with. I would have said this earlier if you hadn't interrupted me."
"If they need to hang out with a cunning person, then they already had you. Also, why should I trust you? I hardly know you. Tell me, why is someone like you running an orphanage?"
"My Shui Orphanage is no ordinary orphanage. Only those I acknowledge as my disciple can enter. I currently have five disciples. You have already met the two oldest ones."
"The Shui Clan is one of the four great clans of Evergreen Kingdom. How is your relationship with them?" Bai Lian was a bit surprised the old fox would obediently answer her questions, 'I guess he already predicted this.'
"My orphanage has nothing to do with them. Those born in the Shui Clan have had an affinity with water qi for generations. In addition to this old man's lack of talent, I was born with an affinity with fire qi, so I could not practice any of the numerous water techniques of the Shui Clan. However, this old man was not completely lacking in talent. After creating my own unique martial arts techniques, the Shui Clan wanted me to share my techniques. HAHAHA! As if I would! I left that shameless clan!"
"If the Shui Clan is your enemy... "
Before Bai Lian could finish her sentence, Shui Renshu interjected, "For now, they won't be able to touch my disciples. Although that may change when they enter the intermediate section of Royal Sun Academy."
The Royal Sun Academy consisted of the intermediate and primary section. The primary section of the Royal Sun Academy focused on teaching the basics of cultivation and could be entered by children who have yet to become spirit masters. The intermediate section was separated into classes of several levels. The lowest level class was for those who were at least a spirit grand warrior. Spirit masters could enroll into the intermediate section starting from the age of 14. However, most fail to be admitted until the age of 18.
"However, by the time they enter the academy, they won't be easy prey will they now?"
"You catch on fast, honorable spirit. Well, anymore questions?"
"I do not wish to reveal all my secrets, so I won't ask you to do so. I suppose I can trust you to some degree. Mm, I'll accept your assistance." Bai Lian pondered for a minute before continuing, "Turn 120 degrees to the right. If you help straight for 50 meters, then you will encounter a tree with a thorned hucklebush in front of it. Under the bush will be a burrow. If you wish to provide assistance, then leave human or spirit beast corpses in that hole."
"...Are you sure you're not a demon?"
There was no guarantee she would not turn into a demon with this evolving body of her's. Bai Lian hesitated for a couple of seconds before answering, "No matter what form I take in the future, my heart will always be that of a human."
"I will have my disciples hunt a spirit beast or two everyday and place it in that burrow. As for human corpses… I'll put them in if I happen to get some."