"Why are you lagging in the corner? I explained how to clean the nest. Do it properly. These beasts are too expensive. we cannot let them get sick." Cao Xueqin screamed at a poor trainee. Xie Ra was sure that kid was doing his best.
Even though Cao Xueqin sweated that he taught them, it wasn't something more than a go-just-clean-it-up-properly speech. Xie Ra waited until their angry trainer walked away. Then he walked towards the confused kid who was trying to understand what he did wrong while cleaning.
"Brother, you have to remove spiritual fragments in the nest. Use a cleansing cast. It'll remove the impurities." Xie Ra whispered to him while pretending to fill his water bucket.
The other disciple looked grateful. "Thank you, brother." He whispered back. Then, proceed to cast the cleansing formation.
Xie Ra returned to his spot with a happy mind. He remembered how kindly his shizun taught them about pet care in his past life.
"When these beasts absorb qi from the surroundings, their body fluids absorb this spiritual effect into them. When they excrete them, these spiritual fragments accumulate around them.
So, the next time they try to absorb surrounding energy, these impurities disturb the flow. They have to use more strength than necessary. Therefore they transform into irritated, angry creatures. You can see these well among spiritual monsters. Always irritated."
Xie Ra shook his head. Why couldn't this peacock explain this kindly to these trainees? It wasn't like many of them raise spiritual pets at home. Only rich people who have a cultivation family background own spiritual pets at home. Like the bully who stole his spot on the line and let his henchmen beat him once.
Xie Ra took the Wire brush and scratched the moss away from the stone wall. It would be easy if he could use a cloth to wash away these faint patches. The steel wires on the brush didn't reach all of them at once. However, when he tried to get permission to find excess cloth, their trainer scolded him in front of the whole group.
Xie Ra thought maybe their trainer had some issue with his trainer post. He seemed to be very cool with his friends, sect seniors, inner disciples, and other outer disciples who weren't in their group. His demeanor only changed into the devil when he was alone with the group of trainees under him.
Xie Ra felt like his upper back was broken in half. He bent in an awkward position to scratch away the moss for more than seven hours. (Forget the 15 minutes of lunch break.) He stood up to relax his back a bit.
He didn't see the evil pair of eyes watching him silently like a predator. If he saw the wicked gleam shone on these eyes, he surely wouldn't take a single break.
Another two hours passed. Cao Xueqin walked amidst his students and talked.
"Good Job. I think MANY of you did a good job of cleaning." He emphasized the word "many." Xie Ra felt some hidden danger behind this change of intonation. He once hunted many dangerous beasts. So he was sensitive to slight changes in others' actions, tones, and demeanor. Cao Xueqin continued talking.
"You can go early today. Go to the library and read more about beast training and maintenance. As you are Forged body-realm outer disciples, you have access to the library now.
Bring your spiritual garden token to me before you leave. I'll add my signature so you can go to the library today. Remember, this permission signature will disappear by tonight. After that, you won't be able to go. Understand?"
Everyone nodded. After cleaning the excess dirt on them, they went to their trainer to get his signature in their token.
However, when Xie Ra and Wei Jingsheng went, Cao Xueqin signed only Wei Jingsheng's token and asked Xie Ra to stay. Wei Jingsheng couldn't bring himself to leave without his friend. So, he waited awkwardly nearby without going away.
The peak nascent saw this and got annoyed. "Why are you standing there? Do you want to join him?" He asked in an irritated tone.
Wei Jingsheng couldn't say yes to Cao Xueqin. If he talks back to this senior, he would surely target him to bully. However, he couldn't betray his friend either. So, he glanced at Xie Ra.
Xie Ra knew what was going on in the other kid's head. So, he smiled reassuringly and signed him to go. With that note, Wei Jingsheng sadly walked away.
After everyone went away, Cao Xueqin turned to Xie Ra.
"I was watching you this whole morning. Does it feel better to be the shizun of your colleagues? All you did was relax and show off. The people like you are the kind I hate the most. Showing off and begging the elders for special treatment. Disgusting."
Xie Ra was confused. He was hurt. True but, he had no idea about this special treatment thing. When did he beg for special treatments? Did elder Zhang Huan say something like that? But, it sounds impossible.
Before Xie Ra thought further, Cao Xueqin started to talk again.
"Today, no spiritual beast will return here. So, complete the cleaning. I will be here, after some time. If you don't do a good job, you will find yourself here again tomorrow."
Xie Ra felt angry. This jerk. But he was powerless against this arrogant nascent. So, he ground his teeth and said, "Yes, senior Cao Xueqin."
Cao Xueqin walked away before Xie Ra finished his sentence.
This asshole. Shit. Xie Ra wanted to curse with every single curse word he knew. That *bully merchant "Big-bellied peacock" was better than this arrogant piece of...
Xie Ra took a piece of clothing left by his colleague from the trash. He filled a new water bucket and wiped the wall aggressively. After a few minutes, his anger dissipated a little. He sighed and cleaned the wall at his normal pace.
"So, now you feel better? Hmm, that's good. Else you will break your wrist bones in no time. What a pity that will be. Ku Ku Ku."
A croaky voice appeared out of nowhere. This sudden sound startled Xie Ra. He started to search for the source of this voice.
"Ku Ku Ku. I'm sitting on the wall. Directly behind you. You have very bad eyesight, human."
Xie Ra looked in the direction the voice explained. But, What he saw wasn't something he expected to see.
A giant creature who looked like a combination of a squirrel and a civet was watching him interestingly. Its yellow-brown coat made a nice gleam under the evening sunlight.
"You, you are an Ershu. A metal beast."
"Rude. You can't point out and say stuff like that. I have a nice name. The first thing you should have done was ask my name. As you didn't ask, I will tell you myself. I'm the 'Mighty golden one of the north.'" The ershu said in a very proud manner.
Xie Ra blinked. Did that ershu strike some pose while saying his unbelievably ridiculous name? And did he talk with him in the first place? He knew that some high realm beasts could talk but, he never met a talking one before. Not even his old nascent realm pet Xin talked with him.
"You can talk?"
Ershu looked at Xie Ra with an are-you-dumb kind of gaze. "Of course I can. What do you think I am doing right now? This mighty one usually doesn't talk much but, that doesn't mean I can't."
Great. It sounded like a snob. All he wanted was another arrogant one to pick on him. Xie Ra talked to the ershu.
"Um, can I know why you talk to me?"
"Nothing much. I just happened to identify you, Xie Ra. You can't fool me with your different looks. You still smell the same."
A what? Xie Ra was alarmed. He shushed the ershu. "Please don't shout. Let's talk. Please come down." Ershu jumped and ran past Xie Ra to sit on the stone bench near the boy.
"Ok. What I was saying was that I know you. You had black hair then. But your scent only changed slightly. That's why I talked to you. I wanted to know what happened."
"How do you know me?"
"If you remember, I am Senior Ji Yan's spiritual pet."