"Eh?" Lu Zhiying was not expecting to hear that answer from Zhao Yunxiao. "That's your reason?"
"You are still young, so you might not understand the harsh reality of this world," Zhao Yunxiao shook his head in disapproval. "Remember those arrays that I set up just now? They draw their energy from spirit stones, and each of them costs sect points to exchange for. The energy from these spirit stones is limited too, so once they are depleted, that's it – no more spirit stones and no more sect points. On top of that, I still need to exchange some medicine for my injuries. Be it to cover my losses or to compensate me for my time and effort, don't you think I ought to get something out of this?"
"What do you mean injuries? Didn't you say this is nothing at all – just a warm up?" Lu Zhiying asked with a smirk.
"...You are focusing on the wrong things," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged. "This is about getting my just rewards."
Lu Zhiying chuckled at Zhao Yunxiao avoiding the question, but quickly followed up with another. "Actually, won't you be able to get rewards if you just claim credit for getting rid of the nightspirit rat?"
"No way. The administrative deacon of this garden plot is not just lazy, but also a miser. The sun has to rise from the west if I want to get any decent reward out of this!" Zhao Yunxiao laughed.
"What about non-material rewards?" Lu Zhiying continued to ask. "You mentioned that the reason why you interviewed for the work trip is to increase visibility and allow for networking to pave roads for any future needs. If others get to know that you helped out here, won't it achieve the same result?"
"This is why I say you are still too young to understand the reality of this world. Even if you want to increase visibility and network with others, you need to choose your target wisely," Zhao Yunxiao explained. "If I do what you suggested, the most I will get here is some commendation medal. On the other hand, establishing connections to Elder He and the Origin Lake Sect will obviously bring about far greater benefits. How can the two be comparable? In addition, material rewards triumph non-material rewards most of the time anyway!"
"Hmm..." Lu Zhiying rubbed her chin in contemplation.
"All right, let's not delay any further," Zhao Yunxiao said. "Come help me move the nightspirit rats."
If he was in his peak condition, moving these carcasses all by himself would not have been a problem.
Unfortunately, his right arm had been injured by the nightspirit rat.
While he would still be able to move the nightspirit rats onto his pushcart all by himself, he would prefer not to strain his arm any further.
Seeing that Zhao Yunxiao did all the work here and had already decided on what he wanted, Lu Zhiying did not probe any further. She started helping him out as they loaded the nightspirit rats onto the pushcart.
After that was done, Zhao Yunxiao proceeded to dismantle the traps that he had set up earlier.
In this regard, Lu Zhiying was not able to help much.
These were traps set up to deal with nightspirit rats. If Lu Zhiying were to trigger any of them by mistake, she might not even realise how she died.
Therefore, she could only sit there and watch as Zhao Yunxiao busied himself.
Dismantling something was always much simpler than setting it up.
Before long, Zhao Yunxiao and Lu Zhiying found themselves back at the Outer Disciples' Quarters, parking the pushcart right outside Zhao Yunxiao's residence.
"What are you going to do with the nightspirit rat carcasses anyway, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"That's a secret," Zhao Yunxiao said with a teasing smile.
"What! How can you say that after we spent all night together?" Lu Zhiying protested.
"Hey, watch your phrasing! Others might get the wrong idea if they overhear what you just said!" Zhao Yunxiao cautioned. "But to be honest, I don't have a concrete plan yet either. I will just have to see what I can do with it."
After all, Zhao Yunxiao had only just decided to do this a few hours ago.
During this time, he did come up with a few ideas as to what could be done with the nightspirit rat carcasses. However, he had indeed yet to decide on the exact route that he should take.
"Really?" Lu Zhiying narrowed her eyes at Zhao Yunxiao.
"Yes, really. Now get going already," Zhao Yunxiao urged her along. "See you at breakfast tomorrow."
Lu Zhiying eyed Zhao Yunxiao for a few more seconds before finally giving up.
"Junior Martial Sister Lu!" Zhao Yunxiao called out just as Lu Zhiying turned around and was about to leave.
"What is it?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"Remember, don't tell Gu Qiansi about this," Zhao Yunxiao reminded.
Lu Zhiying eyed Zhao Yunxiao for another few seconds, this time for a different reason.
Secretly helping out and yet not wanting to be known – maybe this Senior Martial Brother Zhao of hers is actually rather cool?
"It's fine if she knows, but if others find out as well, they might end up wanting a piece of the nightspirit rats' carcasses," Zhao Yunxiao added. "Let's prevent that from happening as much as possible."
"...Is that the only reason?"
"What else can there be?" Zhao Yunxiao raised an eyebrow.
In the short span of a few moments, her admiration for Zhao Yunxiao evaporated.
"Fine, I got it already. You and your obsession over some dead rats," Lu Zhiying said while rolling her eyes. "If there's nothing else, I will get going now!"
"All right, see you tomorrow," Zhao Yunxiao was satisfied after getting Lu Zhiying's assurance.
Just like that, Lu Zhiying left Zhao Yunxiao's residence.
However, Lu Zhiying only walked a short distance away from Zhao Yunxiao's residence before stopping in her tracks.
After stopping, she looked back in the direction of Zhao Yunxiao's residence and smirked.
Not wanting to share the nightspirit rat carcasses is the only reason why you do not want to let others know about this matter, eh?
Lu Zhiying thought back to the solemn expression on Zhao Yunxiao's face when they arrived at the garden plot, when he told her that they were going to stop this nightspirit rat no matter what.
Then, she thought back to how relieved Zhao Yunxiao was when she told him that she did not tell Gu Qiansi about this matter, and how he mentioned that Gu Qiansi would not feel good if she knew about this matter.
"What a liar."
***
Meanwhile, Zhao Yunxiao took his time to move everything from his pushcart into his residence.
The tools and pushcart needed cleaning, while the nightspirit rat carcasses needed treatment.
But be it the cleaning of the tools or the treatment of the nightspirit carcasses, they were nowhere near simple enough to be completed within the night.
Zhao Yunxiao had used an extensive number of tools to complete a wide net of traps earlier, and these tools could not be simply stored back to where he took them – not with the dirt and stains remaining on them.
As for the nightspirit rat carcasses, even Zhao Yunxiao with his practiced expertise would have to spend hours if he wanted to finish treating them.
Therefore, all he could do was to prioritise the more urgent matters.
Zhao Yunxiao did a quick wipe down of the nightspirit rat carcasses before proceeding to drain them of their blood.
Next came cleaning the nightspirit rats' blood off of the weapons.
Anything else could wait but these were the two most urgent matters.
Yet despite only doing the bare minimum, another hour had passed by the time he was done with the two tasks.
All exhausted from the day's events, Zhao Yunxiao only managed to do some light meditation before crashing into his bed.
This was slightly uncommon for the hardworking Zhao Yunxiao, but he made sure to make up for this lack of practice the very next morning.
Purple Plum Mountain – Black Tortoise Sect.
By the time the first rays of sunlight shone upon the sect grounds, Zhao Yunxiao was already up and about.
In the small courtyard in front of his residence, Zhao Yunxiao donned his usual thick robes while practising his fist and movement arts.
There were multiple steps to learning a set of combat arts.
Of which, the most obvious steps involved understanding the manual and actual physical practice.
Some people, such as Zhao Yunxiao, emphasised the importance of image training in between the two steps. This additional step was meant to assess and confirm their interpretation of the techniques.
But no matter what, actual live usage of the techniques was still the most important aspect of learning a technique.
A cultivator could know a particular technique inside out, but it would all be meaningless if they were ultimately unable to execute it well in an actual battle.
Zhao Yunxiao similarly did not neglect this point, making sure to practise his techniques regularly in order to assimilate every technique to muscle memory.
In his head, the dark silhouette of a man stood in a world of blinding white light, executing the Xuanwu Fist Art with unreal proficiency.
In the courtyard, Zhao Yunxiao tried his best to emulate each of these moves, attempting to bring to life exactly what he had in mind.
This was not an easy task for sure. But after years of practice, Zhao Yunxiao was starting to get better and better.
Just like that, he kept going at it for hours, until his skin was drenched in enough sweat to make it glisten under the sun.
Only then did he stop and took deep breaths to regulate his breathing.
In fact, if not because he had other appointments to attend to, he would have preferred to continue for a good few hours more.
Alas, there were only so many hours in a day.
After washing up, Zhao Yunxiao repacked his bamboo backpack before heading to the canteen.
"Good morning, Senior Martial Brother Zhao!" Lu Zhiying greeted brightly as Zhao Yunxiao sat down in front of her.
"Good morning," Zhao Yunxiao replied. "You guys are early."
He had only just arrived, but he could see that Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying were already almost done with their meal.
"Yeah, I have to head over to the garden plot after this. There is a lot left to be done," Gu Qiansi explained after letting out a helpless sigh. "I will leave Junior Martial Sister Lu in your care today as well."
"Sure, I will pop over later after I'm done with my stuff," Zhao Yunxiao replied flatly.
His reaction was a huge contrast from Lu Zhiying whose eyes lit up the moment Gu Qiansi mentioned the garden plot.
"Up to you," Gu Qiansi answered in the same manner as Zhao Yunxiao while finishing up her meal.
Silence fell over the trio.
"Is that it?" Lu Zhiying quickly broke the silence.
"What do you mean?" Gu Qiansi asked in return.
Lu Zhiying did not reply immediately.
Instead, she glanced over at Zhao Yunxiao only to see that he was just silently eating his breakfast, as though he was completely uninterested in the conversation.
"No, it's nothing. Don't mind me," Lu Zhiying said with a helpless sigh of her own.
It was a little stifling to have to keep last night's events to herself, but Lu Zhiying was someone who kept her promises.
Just as Gu Qiansi mentioned, she left immediately after her meal to head over to her garden plot.
As for the Zhao Yunxiao and Lu Zhiying duo, they left towards their own destination after Zhao Yunxiao finished his breakfast.
"So what did you end up doing with the nightspirit rats?" Lu Zhiying asked out of curiosity while following Zhao Yunxiao.
"I haven't done anything yet," Zhao Yunxiao shook his head. "Even if I did, telling you is useless since you won't be able to understand."
"Hey! That's not nice! I can always learn!" Lu Zhiying complained.
"Let me know when you are done learning then, I will tell you when that time comes," Zhao Yunxiao answered with a smirk.
"If you keep being this mean, are you not afraid that I will flip and tell the whole world about what you did yesterday?" Lu Zhiying responded with a smirk of her own.
"Then I guess you will have to find another guide," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged before picking up his pace.
"Hey, wait, Senior Martial Brother Zhao! I was just joking, just joking!" Lu Zhiying hurried to keep up. "I promised not to say anything, so I naturally won't!"
"That better be the case!" Zhao Yunxiao knocked her lightly on the forehead after allowing her to catch up.
"Hehe, of course that will be the case," Lu Zhiying massaged her forehead a little. "So, Lord Guide, what will we be doing today?"
"We are going there," Zhao Yunxiao pointed towards a tall pagoda that had just come into sight.
"What is over there?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"It is the greatest treasure vault available to outer disciples like you and I," Zhao Yunxiao said with a meaningful smile.
"A treasure vault?" Lu Zhiying's eyes lit up once again. "What kind of treasures are there? Are we allowed to take any?"
"The best and most useful treasures, and yes we are allowed to take some," Zhao Yunxiao nodded. "Come on, let this senior martial brother of yours broaden your horizons today!"
"Okay! I will be in your care then!" Lu Zhiying answered with a bright voice.
Lu Zhiying felt her heart starting to palpitate in excitement.
This reaction of hers was only natural as well.
It was common knowledge that cultivators possessed amazing treasures far beyond the likes of what commoners could imagine.
Because of that, ever since entering the sect two days ago, Lu Zhiying had been looking forward to seeing these treasures that cultivators were famed for, but simply never had the opportunity to do so.
In fact, she had been feeling kind of bummed about that fact as well.
However, all that was going to change today.
Now, she was finally about to feast her eyes on those amazing treasures of the cultivators' world!