Entering the house, Fu Hao Xin couldn't help but look around trying to see how this mysterious senior Mu lived. He simply couldn't help himself. After all, although it was mainly unintentional, Di Tou had been doing one shocking thing after another…
So entering this senior's house, it seemed reasonable that Fu Hao Xin was curious… Did he have a divine pond in his yard? Was there space folding that hid a giant other dimension? Was there a mysterious 9th tier beast? Were there twenty beauties waiting for him in bed?
Ahem.
All in all, looking around Fu Hao Xin was surprised at how ordinary everything was. While Di Tou's or to be more accurate Mu Di Bai's original home was decently sized, that was only in comparison to the housing of the ordinary students.
For members of the Academy it could only be considered humble and small. After all, the Academy was the dominant force here, it would be befitting of their status if their staff didn't receive some level of special treatment. Take an ordinary teacher like Li Chang Yin for instance, even he had a house with a large courtyard and two adjoined rooms.
For more talented teachers like Li Chang Gu their abodes could be considered mansions as well as fortresses, being outfitted with various formations that varied in effect from stealth to defense to spiritual energy gathering. Further, if the teacher had any special talents, like say pill refining, they'd could get a custom built refining room that in and of itself might be bigger than Mu Di Bai's house.
Of course, Fu Hao Xin didn't know the specifics of all of this, but at the very least he could compare to the dorms that he lived in as a relatively poor student who lived in the lowest available tier that… This house didn't seem all that much bigger?
No, no, no. He had learned his lesson, how could he dare to look down on Senior Mu!? Clearly this was a form of cultivation. Senior Mu was distant from worldly affairs and had no interest in material wealth, so he had chosen a humble abode that would help him focus on cultivation, unlike some of the younger teachers who had strayed and become lost in the idea of status and material wealth.
"That must be it!" Fu Hao Xin yelled in his heart. And surprisingly… He wasn't wrong. The real Mu Di Bai, alongside Auntie Jue and a few other low-key individuals indeed had the power and status to be able to have significantly nicer things.
In fact, if they wanted their names could be more famous than any of the star teachers in a heartbeat. But none of them were interested in such a thing. Rather they derived more enjoyment from living a simple life and some odd hobbies. Auntie Jue for instance, loved storytelling…
But none of that was particularly important right now. Inside the abode, Fu Hao Xin was stuck in his thoughts trying to figure out lessons from the half dirty and half cleaned abode. While he was trying to figure out if there was a pattern behind what was dusty and what was not.
Di Tou was having a hard time trying to figure out what to do.
He couldn't help but think, "F*ck, I messed up bad this time, Xiao Fu must be mad at me for forgetting that we were supposed to meet up. Look how quiet he is, he must be stewing in anger right now…"
It couldn't be helped. Di Tou came into all of this with a bit of a guilty heart. While he had 'helped' Fu Hao Xin the day before, it was mainly a rash act of emotion that might not have actually assisted Fu Hao Xin at all. Further, when he asked Fu Hao Xin to meet today, it was mainly out of selfish motive, wanting to learn a bit more about this place, as well some of the common sense informations that he didn't know.
For instance… Where the f*ck trash disposal was.
In the end, Di Tou didn't know how to brooch the subject, settling with a simple. "Sit." While gesturing with his hand at the table.
Of course, the counter of the table was immaculate at the moment, as when Di Tou had taken the blanket off of the table in the morning to make his bed, he had casualy wiped down the table a bit.
Fu Hao Xin sat, and Di Tou sat on the other end.
…
It was silent.
Fu Hao Xin was feeling nervous sitting before this senior and didn't know what to say.
As for Di Tou… "Should I offer him water? But I don't really have any clean water… I can't offer tea either as I don't have any way to boil the water right now… And I surely can't offer this kid wine right?"
In the end, it was Fu Hao Xin who broke the stalemate.
"Um, Senior Mu, I came today with a somewhat presumptuous request today…" Fu Hao Xin trailed off.
Di Tou: Oh God he said something, what do I do!
"Speak."
Di Tou: F*CK how arrogant am I? What am I saying? HAH!?
"Ah I was wondering if… If you could take me as… If you could take me as a personal student." What Fu Hao Xin had wanted to ask is if Di Tou would take him as a disciple, but in the end he ended up feeling too bashful and settled with the more mild personal student.
Di Tou, being somewhat clueless of the meaning behind disciples and personal student was confused and didn't see why Fu Hao Xin was so hesitant in asking his question. "I don't mind, but what do you want to learn from me?"
"Ah?" Hearing this, Fu Hao Xin fell deep into thought. "This must be one of Senior Mu's tests! If I simply say I want to get stronger and want to learn cultivation, Senior Mu might be disappointed and turn me away."
In the meantime, Di Tou was at a loss again. Fu Hao Xin seemed like a pretty normal youth the day before, ah! Why did he suddenly become the type to stop and think for a couple of seconds between every sentence?