Li Xiaomei brought him in front of a room. The door was still closed. "Let's wait a bit. Meanwhile I'll tell you about the drama we are currently working on."
She excitedly told him a romantic tale where the hero overcomes a lot of obstacles to probably get his love or maybe die trying in a tragic ending. She didn't get to complete the story as the door opened and a strong pill fragrance assaulted their noses.
The one that opened the door was a handsome man in his twenties with a gentle smile on his face. He was wearing a white robe with a small couldron embroidered on his left chest. His shoulder length hair fell freely without any bounds.
"Mei'er, what are you doing here, your shift isn't over still. If uncle comes to check up on you, you'll be in trouble." He said with a concerned look.
"Fourth brother, no need to worry. Father has gone out to handle some sect related matters and won't be coming back for a few days. Forget all that. I'm here to tell you we have a new member in our group." She patted Zhang Wuji on the shoulder, "Introduce yourself."
"I'm Zhang Wuji, t, teacher Li's new student. Nice to meet you." 'Damn! this is embarrassing.' Calling her teacher in private was one thing but to introduce himself as her student infront of another was difficult.
"What are you stuttering for! And that's not what I meant. When we are doing theatre, call me youngest sister or sixth sister. The same applies to others in the group. This is fourth brother Shan Daoling, fourth oldest in age. You are fifth and I'm sixth. Call me teacher only when I'm teaching." She rebuked him before turning to Shan Daoling.
"Fourth brother, forgive this student of mine. He gets nervous around good looking people. When he first met me, it took him a whole minute just to say hello. Let's go inside. Send a message to third sister and we'll practice act 2 a little." She entered the room before she finished speaking.
'When did that happen? Could you not paint your student in such a bad light?' Zhang Wuji grumbled inwardly.
"I'm Shan Daoling, pleased to meet you. Don't mind her, come in." He smiled and invited him in.
Zhang Wuji smiled in return and entered the room. The room was gigantic. There was a huge couldron three fourth his height right in the center of the room with a complex formation surrounding it. There were some instruments placed around it too. There were shelves on the left wall and the wall facing the door. There was also a bed placed at the right wall. There were other furniture like tables chairs stools ladders and some others he couldn't think the function of. There were other smaller couldrons, formations and other tools that completely filled the hundred square meters room.
'What a huge room! They still managed to make it cramped with all the furniture and tools. What is the bed here for? It's not like he can rest here. I heard the rooms are given on an hourly basis.'
"I often sleep here. Do some alchemy, read some, get tired, sleep. That's how most alchemists live. Sorry about the mess. I'm currently working on a massive project and had to use all my tools." He waved his hand and all the alchemy tools disappeared into thin air. He then made a hand seal that started some formation that replaced the air in the room with fresh pill fragrance free air.
'Aah how awesome! Interspatial ring, that's the first thing I'll buy when I reach qi condensation realm. Just thinking about making things magically disappear into thin air makes me excited.'
'Wait, did he say he sleeps here? Is this his personal room? Wait is he wearing white robes?'
"Are you... a core disciple?!" This was his first time coming across such a high level figure. 'But they have all the facilities in their courtyards, why is he here?' He was feeling a bit nervous. A core disciple is atleast at the seventh level of qi condensation realm. They could insta-kill him.
"How slow can you be? Teaching you will be a nightmare." Li Xiaomei said with dissatisfaction. "Fourth brother, did you send the message?"
"Mei'er, I don't have a message talisman and I forgot my token in my courtyard. Why don't you go and ask deacon Fan for his token. Tell him my name."
"How hard is it to carry a token? It is something you had to carry all times at one point, how can you forget that. Hmph, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one running this show." She then turned and left the room.
Shan Daoling smiled apologetically and maintained that pose till she was no longer visible.
"Junior brother Zhang, tell me , have you ever acted before?" He turned to Zhang Wuji and asked with his usual smile.
"No I have not senior brother." He unconsciously bent his back a little. He kept looking at the door from the corner of his eye, constantly planning the right path to safety.
"Then what are you doing here?" He was still smiling but Zhang Wuji suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
He swallowed hard and answered with much difficulty "I, I wanted to learn alchemy from her and in return she asked me to do some theatre."
"Oh? Don't you think it would be more efficient if you were to study yourself?"
"I tried b, but I couldn't concentrate."
"It isn't wise to waste time acting when you could be studying. I'll recommend you to someone experienced to teach you for half the market price, what do you say?"
Zhang Wuji understood what was happening. This guy must have a crush on her and was taking him to be a rival and thus threatening him to keep away. But he was unwilling. He still remembered most of the details about the blue wasp qi recovery pill ingredients. Her stories worked. And he was sure that this jealous guy wouldn't help him.
'She's a childish little girl, how can one pursue her! What a world!'
'This guy's a core disciple, it doesn't matter whether I'm willing or not. Ai, what a world. Whatever, it's best I control myself, let's not forget our goal here. I'll ask Lin Yingjie to find me a good tutor and forget about this whole thing.'
"That would be great senior brother Shan. I'll be on my way then." He turned to leave. He felt discomfort all over his body after agreeing.
"Wait. You can leave later, after we rehearse the act 2. If you leave now, she'll chew my ears off." Zhang Wuji used all his strength to keep himself from punching that smiling face of his and stood quietly to the side.
"So, what got you interested in alchemy?" Maybe he did not like the awkward silence or maybe he wanted to continue messing with Zhang Wuji and broke the silence.
Zhang Wuji really wanted to ignore him but keeping in mind that he was a core disciple, controlled his temper. "Gold." He thought it would be best not to lie.
"Alchemy is not easy. There is a very small margin for error, and the consequences of a mistake could be life threatening. Why not try tool refining. Although you wouldn't earn as much, it is still not bad. Your goal is only to reach grade one in any of the auxiliary arts before twenty right? I know some tool refiners that could guide you."
'Fucking mind your own business! Asshole! Although that made some sense. I'll go ask Lin Yingjie later.'
"Thanks for your advice, senior brother."
The next few hours were torturous. Li Xiaomei had come after a few minutes and brought with her a stunningly beautiful woman with an ever cold expression. She too was a core disciple. The three of them rehearsed the act before giving Zhang Wuji a chance to show his acting prowess. They had a small skit specially for that.
He learned two new things. Cultivators are not build for acting. Atleast the three infront of him. Zhai Qingshuang, the cold lady maintained her chilling expression throughout the act, Li Xiaomei acted too much and he just didn't like Shan Daoling.
He always thought however bad a movie maybe, he could watch it with no problems. He was wrong.
After the skit Li Xiaomei picked faults in everyone's acting and explained how it is done before everyone went their way.
'What a colossal waste of time! That was horrible. It's good I'll never have to experience that again.' He thought as he walked back to his room.
"A kid, a cold bitch and a fucking perverted asshole! They don't know the first thing about acting, idiots!" Thinking about how he'll have to search for a new teacher because of Shan Daoling and how he was scared away by a few words, he cursed out loud in frustration.
"Whatever, I can make my own stories." he muttered. 'I don't think they'd be half interesting as her's though. Sigh.'
"Junior brother Zhang, could you repeat what you just said?" Zhang Wuji looked up towards the sound, startled.
He saw the familiar handsome face of Shan Daoling with it's signature smile and the ice cold lady behind him.
Blood drained from his face and his mind went blank as fear overwhelmed him.