"That's good, you understand. Now, tell me about Yang Zhai and why you chose him." Elder Shu smiled and queried.
"Because he is worthless." Elder Ene said with a serious smile.
Everyone:"..."
"What the heck!" Shu Ti was speechless at Yu Ane and Yu Ene's shamelessness. Were they serious?
"You idiots, you think I am a fool, huh?"
"Of course…oops, sorry I did not say this, it was obviously some disciple." Elder Ane put all the blame on the disciples standing behind him.
Elder Shu:"..."
Yang Zhai:"..."
Qian Fa:"..."
Hyun Hae:"..."
And Feng Qi:"." Completely shocked.
"Who was it? Who dared to say that Elder Shu is a fool? Come out yourself." Elder Ene agreed with Elder Ane's self-made blame and asked the kids to surrender themselves.
Elder Shu:"..."
Yang Zhai:"..."
Qian Fa:"..."
Hyun Hae:"..."
And then Feng Qi:"." Completely shocked again.
Do they even know that they are the principals of the clan's academies?: Elder Shu thought.
Forget it, let's just wait for the guests to arrive; otherwise, they would make me a fool: Elder Shu thought and gave up. He did not ask anymore about the reason for choosing Yang Zhai as the representative of the disciples.
"Hi, Elder Shu, I didn't think that you would come to welcome us personally, it's our honor." A man's voice came from behind.
Elder Shu turned around and looked outside the village gate and saw five men with some kids beside them.
"Oh, so it's the second elder Jun Nie. It's nice to see you again after so much time. It is me who is honored by your presence" Elder Shu smiled and replied back to the man.
The people who had just arrived were the guests who were supposed to arrive today.
"It's been a while, how have you been doing all these years?" Elder Nie smiled back at elder Shu and asked.
"Nice and all, what about you? I heard that you had a breakthrough in your cultivation recently, congratulations." Elder Shu congratulated Jun Nie.
"Thanks, but it's not that impressive. After all, it took me longer than expected."
"You are too humble, here, let me introduce the people behind me." Elder Shu said and turned around to introduce Yu Ene and Yu Ane.
"Here meet him, he is the principal of the Si Academy, Elder Yu Ene and this is the principal of the Bai Academy, Elder Yu Ane."
"Who doesn't know them, they are quite famous, the twin devils of the Bai clan. It's a pleasure to meet you two, how are you doing?" Elder Nie smiled and asked.
"Thanks for asking, second elder Nie. You are quite famous yourself, known as the great scheming shadow of the Ma clan, we definitely can't compare to you."Elder Ane replied politely and with grace. His demeanor was that of an immortal. He was completely different from before now.
"I appreciate your concerns, second elder Nie, thanks. Allow me to introduce you to our disciples." Elder Ene also answered with graciousness. He smiled and introduced the disciples.
"Let me introduce the people beside me as well, here, meet him, he is my son Jun Haru and the boy beside him is my personal disciple, Yen Hu. And this burly man is the third elder of the Ma clan, Ma Chan Woo" Elder Nie introduced the people beside him as well.
All four men beside elder Nie were all Ma clan elders. There were also eight disciples with them, two of them were Jun Haru and Yen Hu.
The third elder of the Ma clan was a burly man with purplish green hair. His face was round. He exuded a dominant aura.
"Nice to meet you, elder Shu." Chan Woo said to Shu Ti.
"Good to meet you as well." Shu Ti also smiled back at Chan Woo and replied.
"Are we going to stand here all day? Come inside, we can talk whilst drinking nice tea." Elder Shu brought the guests to a room that was embroidered with beautiful wooden patterns. There were beautiful paintings hung in the room. A beautiful long wooden Chabudai table¹ was placed in the middle of the room.
All of the elders sat on Zabutons², which were placed around the table. As for the disciples, they stood beside their own clan elders.
The room, they were sitting in, was in the residence of the clan leader. The door at the side of the room was Shoji³ door. It was opened to two sides and a garden could be seen outside the room through the opened Shoji doors. There was a beautiful, clean pond in the garden.
The clan leader was not present in his residence, he had gone somewhere.
"So, Elder Shu, why is your son not here?"
"He had something to do; thus, he could not come. So, about the trade, what do you think?" Elder Shu's expression turned serious.
"Don't worry, we have what you need." Jun Nie smiled.
When Shu Ti heard Jun Nie, he smiled and nodded, then he looked at Yang Zhai.
Yang Zhai understood what elder Shu meant, he nodded back and said to Jun Haru,
"Brother Haru, what do you say about a round around the residence? We would also be able to know each other this way." Yang Zhai knew that elder Shu did not want the disciples to know about the trade, so he implicitly instructed Yang Zhai to leave the room with the other kids.
"Why not? I also wanted to know more about you." Jun Haru agreed to Yang Zhai's request. He knew what he had to do.
All of the twelve disciples left the room, leaving the eight elders alone.
Yang Zhai asked a servant to show them the residence. This residence was filled with beautiful wooden patterns and paintings. It seemed like the Bai clan leader was fond of beauty.
"Brother Haru, these are my seniors, Qian Fa and Feng Qi, and the girl beside me is Hyun Hae. I would recommend you to not mess with her, or you will regret it, she is not ordinary." Yang Zhai introduced his fellow disciples.
"Brother Yang, don't worry, only an idiot would mess with such a beautiful lady." Jun Haru acted like a gentleman. He was quite impressed by Hyun Hae's appearance.
Yang Zhai smiled after seeing this. It was unknown what he was thinking.
"Lord, this is the clan leader's daughter's room, the room beside it is the master's room." The servant said.
When the servant said this, Jun Haru looked towards the room. The doors of the room were closed. An inexplicable light appeared in Jun Haru's eyes. After a while, he turned around and said to Yang Zhai.
"Brother Yang, tell me if I am wrong, doesn't the leader of the Bai Clan have a daughter and a son?"
"You are right."
"Then, why didn't I see his son's room anywhere in this residence?" Jun Haru asked with a confused expression.
"Even I am confused as you are. Hey, do you know?" Yang Zhai asked the servant who was escorting them.
"Forgive me, my lord, even I don't know." The servant bowed and replied politely.
"Forget it. Let's just go back, I think the elders should have finished their business by now." Jun Haru did not bother anymore. If he kept on asking for such information, others might suspect him, so he did not bother anymore.
"You are right."
Yang Zhai and Jun Haru were talking to each other whilst his seniors kept quiet as they did not bother to interfere in such useless conversations. And besides that, Yang Zhai was representing them right now, so from one point of view, they did not interfere with Yang Zhai. Feng Qi and Qian Fa were not fools, they understood that if the elders chose Yang Zhai as the representative of the disciples, then there must be something special about him.
After a while, all of the disciples returned back and stood in front of the room's doors.
"Elders, can we come in?" Yang Zhai asked politely.
"Yes," a voice came from the inside.
Everyone entered the room and greeted the elders politely before returning back to their prior positions.
*****/*****
1-Chabudai table: Also known as the floor table. Chabudai is a short-legged table used in Japanese homes.
2-Zabuton: A zabuton, Japanese pronunciation. It is a Japanese cushion for sitting. The zabuton is generally used when sitting on the floor.
3-Shoji: Shoji doors are sliding doors used in Japanese houses.