Zhou struggled a little bit to get out of the sheets, his limbs getting tangled in them. Ye chuckled at Zhou's suffering. After Zhou got out, he was a bit breathless and his hair was in a mess.
"Alright, I should start cultivating," Zhou said standing up, a look of determination on his face. Ye nodded, watching Zhou. After a couple of minutes, Zhou got an uneasy look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Ye asked. He knew that Zhou had never cultivated before, so it might feel a little uncomfortable for him. Zhou rubbed the back of his neck, smiling stiffly.
"Uhm, how do you cultivate?" he asked, flinching under the cold gaze of Ye. Ye sighed and pinched the space between his brows, getting up and placing a hand on Ye's shoulder.
"Zhou, I really will kill you one of these days," Ye said, smiling with the promise of death. He squeezed Zhou's shoulder, bringing Zhou down in pain. Zhou tried to swat away Ye's hand, but his hand stubbornly stayed there.
"Er gege, mercy!" Zhou cried out. Ye gave one last squeeze before letting go, crossing his arms. Zhou pouted, rubbing away the aching pain.
"Get into a lotus position," Ye ordered. Zhou followed his command, struggling a little to get his feet on top of his thighs.
"Now close your eyes and relax," Ye said, sitting down in front of Zhou. Zhou closed his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering and casting long shadows against his cheeks. Ye frowned as his cheeks became a dusty pink.
"Now try and coax your spirit to move the Qi in your meridians," Zhou let out a breath as he dove his consciousness into his spiritual ocean. He was a little disappointed that the pendant wasn't there, but he quickly shook his head, getting his attention back to his original goal.
'Right, now how do I coax my spirit to move my Qi?" He walked over to a small ball of black and white whisps. He could tell that it was spirit, he just didn't know how to move it.
He tried to push it, but instead, he fell right through it. The whisps moved around, aggravated by the sudden intrusion. He got up and kicked it, his foot passing through it. Zhou scratched his head, walking around it.
"What the fuck?" Zhou muttered, trying to hit the ball of spirit out of frustration. He sat down criss-cross in front of the ball, placing his hands against it. He closed his eyes and willed the spirit to separate and become thin tendrils. He opened his eyes slowly and watched in awe as the spirit followed his will, wiggling around in tiny vine shapes.
"Woah..." Zhou put his hands down, willing the spirit to move around. His eyes sparkled as he willed it into all kinds of shapes.
Zhou stopped messing around and willed the spirit to help move the Qi stuck in his meridians. The spirit began to move his Qi through his meridian and purify it before settling it back into his Dantian. Zhou felt his body become lighter as his blocked meridians cleared up. After a couple of hours, the spirit went back into a ball, refusing to move no matter how much Zhou willed for it to move.
'I guess I should go back now,' Zhou thought as he got up, smoothing out his robes. He brought his consciousness back up, slowly blinking as he opened his eyes. The bright light of the late morning had diverged into the soft sunlight of the late evening, filtering through the transparent blinds. Zhou saw Ye sitting in front of him, curled over as he read a book placed in his lap. Zhou watched quietly as the sunlight put Ye into a soft gold light, making his youthful face even more bewitching than it already was.
'Woah, er gege is super handsome,' Zhou thought quietly. He had no intention to disrupt Ye's reading. Instead, he sat quietly, staring at Ye's face. It had been years since they had left their village and 2 years since they joined the Mountain Base Sect. The years they had spent outside in the bad company, the only way they survived with enough money was Ye putting to use one of his multiple benefactors' power.
'Er gege has never told me how many benefactors he has. I know that one of them is 'Rydia, Ruler of the hands that make Gold,'" Zhou pondered, laughing inwardly at the awkwardly long name of the benefactor.
'To think that we were able to survive for three years because Ye was my sole breadwinner,' Zhou smiled sweetly, feeling sentimental.
'Er gege always spoiled me, even if he had to overwork his benefactor's ability and himself,'
'Er gege always made sure that I was fed, had warm clothing, slept enough, and bought all the medicine I needed because I am a sickly child,'
'Er gege has always cared for me,' Zhou sniffled softly, feeling tears prick at his eyes. Ye looked up, Zhou's sniffling bringing his attention away from his book.
"You're awake. It took a while this time to cultivate since it's your first time, but it won't take as long in the future. You won't need to go into your Dantian to do it next time as well so-" Ye was interrupted by Zhou flinging himself at him, wrapping his arms around Ye's neck. Ye blinked before smiling, wrapping his arms around Zhou's waist and hugging him back.
"What's this for?" Ye asked softly. Zhou brought one of his hands and tangled it into Ye's hair, savoring the sweet smell of Ye's soap.
"No reason just felt like it!" Zhou pulled back and smiled cheerfully, picking up the book that had been forgotten and discarded to the side.
"Hmm? This is..." Zhou trickled off as he flipped through the pages, skimming the contents of the book.
"It's a martial arts manual. It contains the basic marital arts that the Mountain Base Sect uses as a foundation for everything they teach. It doesn't require spirit to practice, so I was going to teach it to you," Ye explained.
"But I could've just read it and asked you for pointers instead of you rereading this to teach it to me," Zhou said. Ye shook his head, getting up and going to the bedside drawer. He opened it and took out a scroll, handing it to Zhou.
"When I first read it, there were a lot of flaws in it. I rewrote it while you were cultivating, I was just rereading the book so I could be sure I didn't miss anything," Zhou opened the scroll and read the rewritten manual. Even with his limited knowledge, he could feel that Ye's revised manual was a lot better than the sect's manual.
"Did you cultivate the revised version?" Zhou asked, closing the scroll.
"Of course I did. Do you really think that a 13-year-old kid could really become an inner disciple in two years if I didn't cultivate superior methods?" Ye asked with the arrogance of a child.
"Of course, you are very much a one in a billion genius," Zhou mock bowed to him. Truthfully, he was in awe of Ye. Ye held many secrets in that genius head of his.
"It's so detailed yet explained so simply," Zhou exclaimed as he opened the scroll to read through it. Ye nodded in satisfaction.
"Good, it would be tragic if you couldn't understand it," Ye said. Zhou glared at him, feeling insulted that Ye had basically called him illiterate.
"I am not that unintegilent," Zhou said, scowling.
"'Unintegilent?' You mean unintelligent?" Ye teased, laughing. Zhou blushed red and dashed over to the bed, grabbing the cushion and throwing it with all his might toward Ye. Ye easily caught it and threw it back. Zhou had grabbed another cushion and blocked it, picking up the pillow and glaring at Ye.
"Are you really going to have a pillow fight with me?" Ye asked. Zhou nodded in amused anger. Ye smirked and pointed at the rest of the pillows on the bed. The pillows tremored before rising up swirling around the room. Zhou paled when he saw the whispy traces of Zhou's spirit. Zhou screeched as the pillows started flying at him from all angles. He ran around the room, doing his best to dodge the pillows.
"Not fucking fair er gege!" Zhou shouted in fear as a pillow nearly hit him in the face. Ye laughed and continued his barrage of feather filled ammunition.
"Oi! You two! Stop messing around and come to the dining hall for dinner!" a knock on the door stopped the fun. Ye sighed and willed the pillows back into their arrangement on the bed.
"We're coming," Ye called back. Footsteps faded from the door, indicating that whoever had called them had left. Ye put back the manual and the scroll into the bedside drawer. Zhou's eyes glinted with mischief as he jumped onto the bed and leaped off, knocking Ye onto the floor. Zhou straddled Ye's hips and shoved the pillow into his face. Ye flung his limbs around and tried to push Zhou off while Zhou struggled to keep his weight on Ye. Ye finally threw off the pillow and wrestled Zhou over, pinning him to the floor. He breathed raggedly as he tried to fill his lungs with the much-needed oxygen.
Zhou wiggled around, trying to slip his thin wrists from Ye's grasp.
"Get off of me! We have to go to the dining hall before we get in trouble!" Zhou whined. Ye watched him struggle with amusement. He leaned down, bonking his forehead to Zhou's.
"You're lucky that I care for you," Ye got up and held out a hand to Zhou.
"Care for me my ass. You just hit me!" Zhou complained as he reluctantly took it and smoothed out his wrinkled robes. He took the tie out of his hair and ran his hand through it. Ye also took out his hair ribbon, brushing the tangles out of his hair from their roughhousing. He fumbled around with the ribbon before letting his arms drop, glaring at the ribbon. Zhou snickered and took the ribbon, tying up Ye's hair
"You better not tell anyone that you, a genius, can't even tie up his own hair," Zhou teased. Ye sighed and went to the door, leaving. Zhou pouted and ran after him, catching up to him with labored breathing.
"No fair, you know that I'm sickly," Zhou muttered. Ye snorted and slowed down his steps, walking at the same pace as Zhou. Zhou matched their footsteps and looked out the windows.
"I'll bring you to the training grounds tomorrow so you can practice," Ye said. Zhou nodded, as he jumped onto Ye's back. Ye stumbled a little, reaching back so he could hold up Zhou.
"Onward loyal stead! To the dining hall!" Zhou announced, pointing towards the dining hall. Ye sighed and leaped out an open window, leaping over the low buildings and running through the alleys to the dining hall.
When they walked in, they were greeted with a couple of whispers. Ye put on a cold face, walking over to the line. Zhou followed him, ignoring the stares of everybody.
"Hey, Brother Zhou!" Zhou turned and saw that the trio of sect mates that had ambushed him walking up to him, smiles on their faces. Ye glanced over at Zhou, seeing discomfort on his face. He narrowed his eyes at the trio.
"Brother Mo, Brother Gong, Brother Feng," Zhou greeted. Brother Mo grinned at him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Listen, Gong, Feng, and I are gonna do some sparring practice on the sparring grounds. You should come and we'll show you some fighting moves!" he said. Brother Mo couldn't help but sneer in his heart.
'This stupid trash is back to hanging around Brother Ye. He should've taken the hint from the beating earlier, and how is he healed so quickly? More importantly, did he tell Brother Ye that it was us?' Zhou smiled brightly at him, moving away from Brother Mo's grasp.
"Actually, Brother Ye was going to bring me to the training grounds tomorrow so I could practice some martial arts. I guess I'll see you then!" Zhou waved and left with Ye to get some food. Brother Mo glared at their retreating backs.
"Heh, practicing martial arts? I haven't seen trashy-xian show up to the training ground for years. I don't think I've ever seen him go anywhere aside from the classes that are held here," Brother Feng said, sneering at Zhou.
"Why do you think that Brother Ye allows trash like Zhou to stay around him?" Brother Gong asked, watching them with careful eyes.
"Does it matter? We just need to beat the crap out of Zhou and let him suffer so much embarrassment that he can't bear to show his face around anyone," Brother Mo said, grabbing a tray.
"I heard that Zhou hasn't even started cultivating because he's so bad at it. If I were him, I'd take a swan dive from the top of the mountain and pray that my next life would be easier," Brother Feng said, taking a tray and handing one to Brother Gong.
"Careful what you say. If the sect teachers, elders, or Brother Ye hear you, you're screwed," Brother Gong warned.
"Well, what can the sect teachers and sect elders do to us? Unless they want to invite the wrath of our parents, they have to bow their heads and look the other way," Brother Mo bragged. Brother Feng snickered.
"I'm going to fuck your shit up, you assholes," the trio looked over and saw Zhou glaring at them with murder in his eyes, but a bright, sunny smile on his face. He walked past and sat down next to Ye. The trio shivered at the cold and sharp gaze they saw in Zhou's eyes.
"So vulgar. I'd say that his parents should have taught him better, but then I remember that he doesn't have any," Brother Gong said loudly. A hush fell onto the dining hall as everyone looked over at Brother Gong, then Zhou. Zhou was happily stuffing his face with food while Ye fussed over him and wiped his face with a napkin. Ye paused when he heard Brother Gong's word, getting up and walking over to him. Everybody watched in anticipation.
"Oh my gosh, Brother Gong is so screwed,"
"Brother Gong shouldn't have said that,"
"They went too far this time,"
Ye walked up to him, staring at him with cold eyes. Brother Gong stared back, teeth-gritting.
'Dammit, Brother Ye is just standing in front of me, but I feel so suppressed. Is this what a true genius feels like?' Brother Gong thought. Ye took the napkin that he used to clean Zhou's plate and placed it onto Brother Gong's tray.
"Go throw that away for me, and throw yourself into the trash next," Ye spat out, turning on his heel and walking back to Zhou. Zhou had finished eating and put his tray away, now sitting and watching Ye. Brother Gong gritted his teeth as shadows covered his face, humiliation spreading in his chest. Everyone snickered quietly at Brother Gong, knowing that if Ye spared any words to him, it was never going to end up well.
"Brother Ye!" Brother Gong shouted, shoving his tray into Brother Feng's hands. He stalked over to Brother Ye, glaring at Zhou.
"Why do you insist on protecting this trash? He's not even worthy enough to carry your shoes, but he's the only one you talk to willingly! You don't even reply to the teachers during class!" Brother Gong protested. Zhou looked up at Ye innocently, shrugging his shoulders and Ye furrowed his brows. He turned and grabbed Brother Gong's collar, pulling him up close.
"Do not get me wrong Brother Gong, but you are not even worthy to pick up Liuxian's trash," Ye snarled, rage deep in his eyes. Brother Gong's hand trembled, but he put up a brave front.
"Oh, so you're on given name standards? Figures that birds of a feather flock together since both of you are bastard orphans," Brother Gong bickered back. He really hated Ye because he seemed so stuck up and full of himself, never bothering to talk to his sect mates or respond to the teacher's questions.
Zhou started to feel nervous, the tension so thick in the air that you couldn't slice through it with a knife if you tried to. He swiped a tray of food that was forgotten by a sect mate and threw it at Brother Gong with all his might.
'Please don't hit er gege, please don't hit er gege,' Zhou pleaded in his mind. He watched as it sailed through the air and hit its target. Luckily, it didn't hit Ye. Zhou sighed in relief as he saw Brother Gong back up, aggressively wiping away the food on his face.
"Who threw that?" Brother Gong shouted, scanning the room. Everybody looked around, trying to find the perpetrator. Zhou started sweating as he realized he really needed to get himself and Ye out of there. The tension in the room had rattled everyone's nerve and made them very prone to creating an incident. Zhou's face lit up as he got an idea.
'Please let this work,' Zhou prayed before turning to cover his face.
"Food fight!" Zhou shouted. It didn't even take a second for the entire dining hall to become a mess as food and trays were being thrown around and people screaming.
Zhou grabbed Ye's hand and dragged him out of there, somehow dodging the food that was being thrown around. He burst through the doors, a bunch of other sect mates running through the doors as well, screaming and screeching in both horror and delight. Zhou started running towards the dorms, keeping a tight grip on Ye's hand. He didn't stop running until they got into their room, shutting and locking the door. He slid down the door, panting from running. Ye handed him a flask filled with water. Zhou gratefully took it and chugged, stopping once in a while to breathe.
Ye sat in front of him and started to laugh, tears springing to his eyes. Zhou also laughed, ignoring the searing pain in his lungs.
"That was the stupidest stunt you've ever pulled," Ye said, wiping away his tears.
"Even worse than the time we caused a riot in that restaurant?" Zhou asked. Ye nodded, remembering the chaos that had happened that time.
"You just have a knack for destroying everything you touch but miraculously getting out unscathed," Ye said. He got up and went to the closet, grabbing their night robes.
"C'mon, let's get washed up and go to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow," Ye ordered. Zhou nodded and went to the connected room, turning on the heated water. After the bathtub filled, he stripped and stepped in, letting his head disappear under the water.
'I'm going to change everything from now on. I'm going to take my life into my own hands. I won't allow Ye to be dragged down or humiliated behind his back because of me,'