"Senior martial sister! Senior martial sister!" Someone delightedly called out and Luo Lijuan who was getting ready to catch the runaway Fu Jie stopped and looked at the person who had called her.
The little girl grinned from ear to ear as she asked, "Are you going to be with us too?"
Luo Lijuan smiled as she patted the girl's head and responded, "Of course I have to. If I don't, who'll look after our Ah Bai and Ah Lu?"
The small girl was dressed in light blue colored clothes that looked similar to the garment worn by Luo Lijuan and standing beside the girl was a boy who seemed to have a face that was identical to the little girl.
Ah Bai and Ah Lu were twins so of course, it was only natural for them to share a face.
Ah Lu looked at Luo Lijuan and his cheeks were blushing red as he spoke up in his small cute voice, "Senior martial sister is so nice to us."
Luo Lijuan chuckled in response as she patted the little Ah Lu's head, "Since senior martial sister is so nice to you, would you two wanna help me?"
The two twins bobbed their heads up and down in unison as they looked at Luo Lijuan with glittering eyes.
Luo Lijuan's smile deepened as she saw this response and it seemed that there was something on her mind that she wasn't gonna carelessly tell others.
.
.
.
Fu Jie tried to ignore it.
He tried his best not to be bothered by it but how could that be possible?
It wasn't something that he could simply turn a blind eye to!
Even if he wanted to ignore it, how could he ignore the fact that the maple passion pavilion sect disciples were all avoiding him like a plague? The moment he walked close to any of them, the others would avoid walking beside him and would run away as if he had just pooped in his pants or something.
He was also a member of the maple passion pavilion so why was he walking along with Jade pavilion people?!
What was worse was that this jade pavilion was goddamn weird! Not even one of them had unsealed their mouths till now. The only ones talking amongst themselves were the disciples from the maple passion pavilion while the disciples from this jade pavilion sect acted like a log of wood that had been charmed to listen to their Elder Fang's command.
Fu Jie looked to be calm on the outside but he was dying from boredom while having to walk down from this mountain.
Didn't this place have sword flying as a transportation method?! Why were they walking?!
"Just a little more and we'll reach the bottom of the mountain," Luo Lijuan's voice sounded near to his ears and he jolted in horror as he saw the woman suddenly appearing out of nowhere like a ghost.
"S-Senior martial sister." He muttered as he tried to calm his heart down from the near to heart-attack it had just experienced.
"What are you doing?" Luo Lijuan questioned as she looked at him.
"Me? I'm walking with the others, can't you see?"
"..." Luo Lijuan's smile turned a bit creepy as she pulled him by the collar and took him to the side where the other maple passion pavilion disciples were walking, "A dog shouldn't walk among a herd of cows."
"Did you just call me a dog?"
Luo Lijuan chuckled, "How could I do that? I dare not! I dare not!"
"..."
She had clearly just called him a dog...!
"Junior brother, Xia, I don't think you've been personally introduced to anyone, have you?" Luo Lijuan whispered as she noticed the reaction of the other disciples who were not hiding the fact that they were avoiding Fu Jie.
Fu Jie shook his head, "I didn't have the time to and it isn't like I'm interested in introducing myself to them."
"Oh really?" Luo Lijuan sighed, "I was thinking about helping you blend in better with the others but since you don't like it, I won't force you."
"..."
It wasn't that Fu Jie didn't want to get to know more people. Sayings something like 'not being interested in knowing anyone else' was simply Fu Jie's way of saving his dignity and not running after a chicken that couldn't be roasted.
Luo Lijuan seemed to have noticed the sudden change in Fu Jie's mood and she chuckled as she smacked his back, "Fine! Fine! I was joking around. Let's go introduce you to the others. Since we're all studying under the same elder, it's better for us to stand together."
Fu Jie almost cursed as he felt the pain of the 'light' smack that Luo Lijuan would give him every now and then.
Just as Luo Lijuan had offered him, she pulled him along with her and started introducing him to the rest of the maple passion pavilion disciples.
The first person she walked up to was a man who looked to be over the age of 25 and was certainly older than Fu Jie. When he saw Luo Lijuan and Fu Jie approaching him, he tried to keep his eyes forward and ignored the two but these two didn't get the clue and continued to walk up to him and Luo Lijuan happily introduced Fu Jie to him.
"Junior brother Xia, this is your second martial brother, Zheng Qiang. Brother Zheng, this is our new junior brother, Xia."
The man called Zheng Qiang nodded as he glanced at Fu Jie and then back at Luo Lijuan.
"Please take care of him for me," Luo Lijuan beamed.
Zheng Qiang awkwardly chuckled as he responded, "Of course I will... Hehe... He's now a part of the sect."
Luo Lijuan nodded and in an instant, her smile went down and turned into a frown as she spoke up, "I'm afraid Junior brother Xia is going to be bullied but since Brother Zheng has promised to take care of him, I can rest assured."
Fu Jie was a little shocked to see Luo Lijuan being so tricky. He already knew this woman wasn't as simple as she looked but to think, she knew how to play with her words this well? This was a talent that not everyone had. Fu Jie was a great example of being untalented with the flattering words he uttered.
Zheng Qiang smiled happily as he heard this and was about to say something but at this moment, they were interrupted by a new person who had walked up to them.
It was another man who looked much younger than this Zheng Qiang but was still not young enough to be called a teenager.
"Senior martial sister, are you trying to flirt with brother Zheng again?"
"Little brat! What do you mean again?!" Luo Lijuan tried to smack the man's head but the man skillfully avoided her attack and laughed instead.
"Ah! Is this our new junior brother?" The man asked first and Luo Lijuan suddenly changed expressions as she smiled happily and answered him.
"This is junior brother Xia, I hope Junior brother Chen doesn't bully him."
Xia looked at Luo Lijuan expectantly as if asking her who this man was but Luo Lijuan was unable to understand it.
The man saw the confused look on Fu Jie's face and chuckled as he responded, "My name is Chen Qiao. I'm their junior brother but since I'm Elder Dayu's sixth disciple, and you're the seventh, you have to give me respect."
Fu Jie nodded as he smiled, "Elder brother Chen."
Chen Qiao seemed to be ecstatic as he heard this. It was probably the first time someone had called him with this title so it was only natural that he was happy.
Luo Lijuan chuckled as she patted Fu Jie's back and spoke to Chen Qiao, "I hope junior brother Chen doesn't avoid our Junior brother Xia anymore."
"Avoid? What do you mean avoid?" Chen Qiao moved forward and put a hand around Fu Jie's neck as he continued, "Why would I avoid my dear Didi? Senior martial sister Lou can rest assured, I'll make sure he feels at home."
"..." Fu Jie couldn't help but be a bit surprised at how easily people change their colors in this sect. At one moment they were avoiding him as if he had pooped in his pants and at another moment they were swearing on their lives that they would never avoid him even if it meant abusing their sense of smell.
Luo Lijuan seemed to suddenly have a bright idea as she looked at Chen Qiao and asked, "Would junior brother Chen be kind enough to help him out?"
Chen Qiao patted his chest proudly as he responded, "You can depend on me."
Luo Lijuan smiled and nodded, "Many thanks."
She looked at Fu Jie one last time as she muttered, "Then I'll be going."
"Where are you going?" Fu Jie questioned almost immediately.
Although Luo Lijuan wasn't his favorite type of person to hang around with, she was still better than these strangers who had suddenly become his brothers.