Chu Wanning's three disciples came together to Red Lotus Pavilion the next day, each with a gentle smile on their faces and a basket of goodies for their Shizun. That was inaccurate. The accurate version would be that one came with a basket of goodies for the Shizun and the other two brought their newly obtained sabers, each one radiated a darker aura than the others.
How inconsiderate was Chu Wanning to take a new disciple without informing his three disciples? After they had gone through life and death experiences? Psh. It was unacceptable, but benevolent as the disciples were, they would of course not cause a ruckus. Not if the aforementioned Shizun was lying sick in the bed for almost two weeks. So what did the filial disciples do? They of course demanded to see their little Shidi, who had not bothered to pay any respect to his three Shixiongs.
It's fine.
After all they were dealing with a little child and this little child was living with Chu Wanning. Chu Wanning was not exactly the friendliest person on earth, so the three eldest disciples understood if the little Shidi needed to get a few lessons from his Shixiongs.
"Shidi~" Xue Meng called while knocking at the Red Lotus Pavilion's door cheerfully. "Come out, come out, let's play together!"
"Shidi~" Mo Ran called, knocking harder at Red Lotus Pavilion's door. "Come out, come out, let's get to know each other better!"
Inside Red Lotus Pavilion, Chu Wanning was not alone. Xue ZhengYong and Madame Wang had come to visit, and upon hearing the honey-sweet words coming from both Xue Meng and Mo Ran one after another outside of Red Lotus Pavilion, he immediately understood the gravity of his mistake the previous day.
"Yuheng, I am wrong," he admitted to his sins willingly. "This son and nephew of mine are practically grown-ups! I did not expect that they would be so hung up on getting another shidi."
Chu Wanning scowled at him. If not for Madame Wang who was in the middle of taking his pulse, he might be tempted to challenge Xue ZhengYong into a duel. Madame Wang frowned a little, then a soft sigh escaped her lips. She released Chu Wanning's wrist not long after.
"What happened?" Xue ZhengYong queried. "Wifey, how is Yuheng doing?"
Madame Wang looked a little lost.
"I cannot detect anything abnormal with Yuheng Elder. His spiritual power circulation is normal, and his cultivation is still intact. Other than turning back into a child, there was nothing wrong with him."
Xue ZhengYong hummed.
"Yuheng, you never talked about what happened at the Jincheng Lake. How did you get injured so badly last time? This might be caused by a curse or a poison, and possibly closely related to your injuries from Jincheng Lake."
Chu Wanning lowered his gaze and pressed his lips together. He got minor injuries from when the thorny vine wrapped itself around him at the blood hourglass, and then he got stabbed twice by the sword of Gouchen the Exalted. Whichever it was, it was definitely caused by the ancient willow tree.
"It might be caused by the ancient willow tree that we were fighting against under the lake," Chu Wanning said finally. "If Madam Wang does not know how to treat this, I fear it cannot be easily dealt with."
Xue ZhengYong cleared his throat.
"Yuheng…"
"No."
"I have not even finished my words."
"You want me to go see Tanlang Elder," Chu Wanning guessed.
"Yeah…"
"I refuse."
Xue ZhengYong sighed.
"Yuheng, my wifey is good but Tanlang Elder is one of the best doctors among all the cultivators in this realm. You two are colleagues. I am sure that he is more than happy to help."
Chu Wanning scoffed.
-More than happy to laugh at me, you mean.
Meanwhile, the knocking outside of the Red Lotus Pavilion did not stop at all. Chu Wanning glared in the direction of the gate. Were these disciples asking for a round of beating, or what?
Xue ZhengYong, "I will handle them, Yuheng. I will tell them to leave you alone."
"No need," Chu Wanning said. "I can handle them. They are my disciples."
Little Chu Wanning strode toward the gate, brimming with confidence. What can these half-grown disciples do to him, anyway? So what if he recruited a fourth disciple? He was allowed to take anyone in, he did not have to ask permission from anyone…
As soon as Chu Wanning came out, he noticed that something was wrong. The three disciples who he used to discipline so easily were unusually tall and exuded a cold, threatening aura. Chu Wanning could not help but swallow hard. He wanted to close the door again but Mo Ran shoved a foot between the doors and Xue Meng pulled Chu Wanning out of his hiding place.
"What are you doing? Let me go!"
Mo Ran and Xue Meng held Chu Wanning by his arms and legs and observed him from top to bottom. They might as well be discussing how to best torture this little shidi, should they roast him or boil him?
"A-Ran, Young Master," Shi Mei spoke up suddenly.
Chu Wanning was suddenly happy about having Shi Mei around. Of course, Shi Mei would not lower himself to the level of these scoundrels, bullying a little boy who was less than half of their age?
"Should we not visit Shizun first?" he asked, pointing at the basket of food dangling at his arm.
"…"
Chu Wanning struggled to get away from Mo Ran and Xue Meng.
What the hell! Shi Mei was actually saying that after they paid respect to their Shizun, they could do whatever they wanted to the new little shidi!
Mo Ran rubbed at Chu Wanning's head and dragged him by his little hand.
"Good point. Let's go in."
Chu Wanning's eyes flashed in rage. The Red Lotus Pavilion was still surrounded by a barrier. None of the disciples could step a foot inside without Chu Wanning's permission. Unhappy, all of them turned their sour faces to Chu Wanning when they still could not enter.
"Let us in," Xue Meng growled.
"I cannot," Chu Wanning answered readily. "Shizun does not want you to come in, so you cannot come in."
"Ah?"
Xue Meng stood in front of Chu Wanning in a threatening pose, his hands resting at his hips while eyeing Chu Wanning up and down a few times.
"Why would Shizun not allow us to come in, but you get to live with him? What is so special about you?"
His words were dripping with vinegar, but Chu Wanning did not notice it. He frowned and talked back, "You should ask your Shizun yourself, I cannot answer you."
"How can I ask him if I cannot even meet him???"
"That is not my business," Chu Wanning quipped. "If you can, go ahead and enter."
Mo Ran tossed a "Heh."
"Since we cannot see our Shizun, then we will just hang out with you. Come and spend some time with your shixiongs. It is not good for your development if you spend so much time with our Shizun day and night."
Chu Wanning wanted to say something in retaliation, but Mo Ran already lifted him up by his collar like a kitten and carried him under his armpit.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Chu Wanning shouted while kicking around, but Mo Ran remained unfazed.
Xue Meng and Mo Ran walked away from Red Lotus Pavilion. Shi Mei threw some worried glances at the gate before he too followed them.
The rowdy disciples brought Chu Wanning to a bamboo forest. This was Chu Wanning's favored place to practice cultivation and swordsmanship. He often brought his disciples there to train. And now his disciples brought him there. For what purpose? Definitely not to pamper him. They wanted to bully him in a secluded forest where he could not even scream for help! Chu Wanning's face turned dark as he thought about the best ways to teach these disciples a lesson once he returned to his original body.
Chu Wanning was placed on top of a huge rock, where he ironically liked to meditate while his disciples were training. He might be small-sized, but these boys were gravely mistaken if they thought that they could scare him into tears. His cultivation was intact. What was he afraid of?
Xue Meng stabbed the saber that he just got from Chu Wanning into the ground as he stood in an imposing manner while looking down at Chu Wanning. Chu Wanning could not believe that Xue Meng, the Xue Meng, would ever give him this kind of arrogant glance. Not the Xue Meng who always lunged at him to hug him. Not the Xue Meng who always called him "Shizun" with a spoiled voice. Nevertheless, Chu Wanning was determined not to back down. If Xue Meng wanted to glare at him, then he would glare back.
"Oi, kid," Xue Meng said menacingly. "Open your eyes and pay attention to what I am capable of. If you become good enough, I will allow you to call me Shixiong. Otherwise, I do not care how much Shizun dotes on you, if you are not good enough then you cannot become my Shidi!"
"…"
Xue Meng went to perform a few tricks before Chu Wanning's eyes. He leaped into the air and slashed around with the saber swiftly. The wave that was created hit a few bamboo trees around him and split the trees right in the middle although the saber did not touch them at all. After he was done, Xue Meng lifted his nose high up in the air. A proud smile laced his lips.
"How was that? Seeing that you are young, if you can be half as good as I am, I am willing to recognize you as a Shidi."
The little boy was speechless. Seriously? Xue Meng was shamelessly showing off his abilities before a little boy and claiming that he would not recognize Chu Wanning as a shidi unless he became good enough? When did Xue Meng become so arrogant? Chu Wanning's head started to hurt.
Mo Ran chuckled. Xue Meng frowned and scrutinized him.
"What are you laughing about, you dog?"
Mo Ran gave him a brilliant smile.
"You call that a performance? Heavens, that was so basic that the saber is completely wasted on you. Why don't you practice a bit more, Mengmeng?"
Xue Meng's face turned bright red from anger and embarrassment. He was already very annoyed that Chu Wanning split the twin sabers between him and Mo Ran. If Xue Meng could not win against Mo Ran when both were wielding equally strong sabers, then he could not maintain his face as Sisheng Peak's Young Master any longer!
"You!" Xue Meng shouted, raising his saber and pointing it in Mo Ran's direction. "Take your saber out if you dare. Show me what you can do, don't just spout bullshits."
It was as if Mo Ran had been waiting exactly for Xue Meng to say these words. He stopped leaning against his saber and drew it out of its scabbard. The blade sparkled under the sunlight, reflecting Mo Ran's scary grin.
Chu Wanning calmly grabbed a bamboo leaf from a nearby tree, wiped it clean, and started to play on it without even paying attention to both Mo Ran and Xue Meng. The two young men gave him an annoyed look for a while, but then they went back to glaring at each other, ready to battle it out.
Shi Mei put down his basket on the rock next to Chu Wanning and walked between his shixiong and shidi with outstretched arms.
"A-Ran, Young Master, stop this. What are you comparing each other's skills for? You are equally good, that's why Shizun…"
"Impossible," Xue Meng claimed coldly.
"How can I be compared to a peacock," Mo Ran mocked.
"What did you say??? You dog!!!"
"And you are a peacock strutting around with your tail fully spread!"
Chu Wanning played a random tune. He refused to listen to this foolishness any further. It might be better if these two stupid disciples fought by using their tongues instead of using their sabers. Unfortunately, both of them were hot-blooded young men. Eventually, words were not enough to express their dislike toward each other, and only the weapons should speak. They both leaped into the air to avoid Shi Mei, and raised their sabers to meet the other.
Chu Wanning only briefly looked up while still playing on his leaf. The moment the sabers touched each other, a blinding light appeared, followed by a mysterious force that caused them to separate instantly. It was strong enough to slam both Xue Meng and Mo Ran backward, causing them to hit the row of bamboo trees behind them and break them.
"A-Ran!!! Young Master!!!" Shi Mei shouted in shock.
The corners of Chu Wanning's lips tugged up slightly.
This was the main reason why he gave them twinned weapons. In the future, whatever happened, Mo Ran and Xue Meng would not be able to harm each other. Not while they were using weapons of the same core.