"I am." Ling Yun answered. He couldn't see why his martial level mattered, seeing as all he did was stab a monster in the butt. He didn't even kill the Moshui.
"I see, I see. Then can I trouble you to come to my residence and have some tea?"
"I'm slightly busy right now. I have to meet someone else and resign from my previous job."
"Ah, so you were..?"
"A cleaner."
Gu Luofan blinked. "The type to sweep the floor, that kind of cur?"
"Yes, I am that kind of cur." Ling Yun frowned. Although the people working there were only responsible for cleaning, that didn't mean that they were fit to be called dogs. If they were dogs, then wouldn't he be the bastard of the pack for abandoning them?
"You think too lowly of yourself, Junior Brother. If you were one of them, then you wouldn't be releasing yourself from their tether."
Ling Yun was starting to see why no one rescued him just now. He was way too good with his words. This kind of person, if left enough time to speak, could probably convince him that white was black, and black was white.
The most dangerous person is one that can not only beat you harder than you can beat them, but also talk you down better than you can talk them down.
"I will send a servant to inform them of your departure. I trust you're now free to spend some time together with me and my teacher?"
"...May I know who you are?"
"Gu Luofan, the Jade Serpent. Disciple of Third Elder Gu Xuebing, and talented rival of Feng Tian, the Unrepentant."
Ling Yun: ???
He had no idea who any of these three people were famous for or what their names meant, except maybe for the last person. However, his ear did perk up on one of the words mentioned. "Why are you Feng Tian's rival?"
"The answer to that will forever roam, unless you follow me back home."
'Your mother will forever roam, do you think I really care that much?! Maybe I do, but that doesn't mean I will go back with you so you can do all sorts of weird things to me!'
In the distant background, a loud question was heard. "Hey, doesn't that person resemble the one Feng Tian is looking for?"
Ling Yun felt a shiver down his spine. "Nevermind! I am willing to go, let's go. Go right now. Go, go, go!"
Gu Luofan naturally heard the question as well and noticed Ling Yun's sudden change in tone. "Is something wrong?"
"L-let's just say the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Nodding at that, Gu Luofan quickly led Ling Yun to his home. In fact, had they stayed there a few minutes longer, they would've heard the pair of people fishing nearby say this:
"Are you blind, or are you blind? Feng Tian is looking for a stinky, mud-clot boy wearing the uniform of a cleaner. Not only was that a girl, but it was one dressed in finely made material."
"Ah, you're right. I just felt like the structure of her face looked kind of similar to the face on the poster."
"Hmph, it's good that you know I am your better. Anyway, that person will soon be caught. I heard Feng Tian is personally 'interrogating' the cleaners for the location of the boy. It won't be long before they crack."
"I bet ten silver taels they last a day."
"Ha! They won't last half that. I'll take that bet."
_____
"Welcome to my humble abode, the place where I belong."
Humble abode would not be a word Ling Yun would use to describe this manor. It was built from the ground up with luxurious materials like jade and gold. Of course the structural foundation of the building was made of sturdier stuff, but none any less expensive.
In front of the building laid a vast garden, filled with a myriad of colourful crops and flowers. There was even a small pond where even more plants were growing. It was safe to say that the owner of this place had no qualms about the safety of her garden.
Ling Yun could guess why. Although he had little to no knowledge about toxic herbs, he still recognised one of them. It was a tiny shrub with purple leaves that had red spots dotted on it. It was one of the poisonous herbs he was forced to drink a few years ago.
Thus, he can assume from this that unless the thief knew the properties of the plant they wanted and had the gall to steal from an elder of the sect, this garden was safe from any unwanted intrusions.
There was a woman in floral patterned blue robes sitting on the wooden chair, on her lap was a stone mortar with herbs she was mashing with her pestle. She then dipped a finger in the mixture and tasted it. "Not poisonous enough." Gu Xuebing muttered.
Watching this scene, Ling Yun couldn't help but ask, "Isn't that dangerous?"
"For anyone but my master, yes. I've yet to realise a poison or foe that her body cannot suppress. She's one of the three people qualified to keep these toxic flora to herself. The other is the sect patriarch, and the last is myself."
Gu Xuebing looked at her visitors. Her apprentice was soaking wet and came home accompanied by a girl that looked to be around thirteen-years-old. "Gu Luofan, while the sect has no restrictions on the ladies you may bed, I do. You're turning eighteen next year, and I won't let you court a girl younger than that number."
"Good morning to you too, master. Rest assured, I only wish to thank her."
"Ah, is she the reason why you're still alive? Damn, I thought that the Moshui I placed the lotus on definitely would've killed you."
Ling Yun was too shocked to correct them by clarifying that he was male. This was because Gu Luofan's master had straight up admitted to trying to murder her own disciple.
"Don't look so surprised." Gu Xuebing snorted. "I would strangle the boy myself if he wasn't a gift from another sect we have a tenuous alliance with. This thief is not only stealing all the hard work I've accumulated, but is also creating new techniques from them. At this rate, he'll definitely stab me in the back when he has learned everything I have to teach."
"As you can see, even my master wants me to die." Gu Luofan ruffled Ling Yun's hair and smiled. "That's why I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for not turning a blind eye."
It was heartbreaking. Ling Yun knew what it was like to have everyone around you hoping you died, and if it weren't for the fact that he was already a matured soul that transmigrated into this world, he would've already gone insane.
Thus, Ling Yun could hardly imagine the will that came from the youth to still smile like nothing was wrong. He was reminded once more that this world was not for the weak.