Zhao Yunxiao did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Yes, he did tell Cha to be quiet.
Yes, he did ignore Cha when the latter warned him not to regret it.
But even so, wasn't it obvious that he would want to be informed if he was about to get into trouble?!
"So what's it going to be?" Cha asked. "Would you prefer to stay and cultivate? Or do you want to return?"
Zhao Yunxiao bit his lower lip in frustration.
Indeed, no matter how amazing the Origin Lake was, there was still a limit to the amount of benefits that he could get from a single night of cultivation.
That was especially true considering his mediocre level of talent.
However, getting some benefits would still be better than not getting any benefits.
To have to give up on something that had literally been offered right up to his face was an extremely frustrating feeling!
Nevertheless, Zhao Yunxiao knew his priorities.
Hu Nan already told him that his fellow outer disciples had gotten into trouble when he disappeared without a word last night. Now that it was happening for a second time, the punishment would only be heavier.
Just like how he would hate to be punished for someone else's actions, letting his comrades bear the consequences of his choice was something that Zhao Yunxiao was unwilling to see.
Not only that, but even if he chose to stay and cultivate, how would he ever be able to concentrate now that he knew Hu Nan and the rest were out looking for him?
"Please send me back as soon as possible, Senior Cha," Zhao Yunxiao said with a resigned sigh. "I cannot let my fellow disciples be punished because of me."
"Oh? What a rare moment of camaraderie from you," Cha scoffed. "I don't see you being this considerate to others before this!"
"What do you mean, Senior Cha? I have always been respectful and considerate to others," Zhao Yunxiao insisted.
"Not when it comes to me!" Cha argued.
"Well, there are some people in this world who don't deserve respect..." Zhao Yunxiao rebutted softly.
"What did you say?" Cha narrowed its eyes at him.
"Sorry, I mean there are some sea serpents in this world that don't deserve respect..." Zhao Yunxiao corrected, speaking softly this time as well.
"Do you believe that I will drown you in the lake?" Cha felt the corner of its mouth twitch.
"I'm just kidding, Senior Cha," Zhao Yunxiao quickly changed his tone and bowed. "Please don't drown me."
Cha: "..."
This shameless brat was slowly getting more and more audacious!
At this point, Cha could no longer even tell if Zhao Yunxiao was being sarcastic or not.
"So is that your final decision?" Cha asked for the last time. "To go back instead of cultivating here?"
"Yes, Senior Cha. I am certain," Zhao Yunxiao nodded.
It was a shame, but it could not be helped considering the current situation.
"If you say so," Cha shrugged with its whiskers.
The next moment, the array of archaic characters broke down into particles of light and slowly dissipated into the surroundings.
At the same time, two pillars of water rose up from the Origin Lake and headed straight for Zhao Yunxiao.
"I'm just asking out of curiosity, but isn't there a cooler way to travel, Senior Cha?" Zhao Yunxiao asked while watching the two pillars of water approach.
"Of course," Cha answered nonchalantly. "Do you also want to put up fireworks and let everyone see how cool you are as you fly across the sky?"
"...I will go with this then," Zhao Yunxiao said.
Having grown accustomed to this by now, Zhao Yunxiao calmly closed his eyes and let the two pillars of water wrap around him, forming into a casing of water that eventually sent him flying across the night sky.
Along the way, Zhao Yunxiao thought long and hard about what he should say about his disappearance today.
He had already used the excuse of looking around the vicinity for security purposes last night, so he could not possibly say the same thing again unless he wanted his punishment to be twice as heavy.
But what else could he use as an excuse?
"Oh, your 'Senior Martial Brother Hu' just went and told your elder about you being missing," Cha's voice interrupted his thought.
Huu-!
Zhao Yunxiao let out a helpless sigh.
He could not bring himself to blame Hu Nan as well.
After all, it was not as though he had a close relationship with Hu Nan.
If He Luoxuan were to look for Zhao Yunxiao and could not find him, it would be Hu Nan bearing the blame. In that sense, it was only natural that Hu Nan would have to report him being missing.
"Why are you so quiet? Weren't you acting all cheeky with me?" Cha scoffed. "Don't tell me you are actually more afraid of that elder of yours than you are afraid of me?"
"I understand that you are magnanimous and carefree, so I'm naturally less afraid of you, Senior Cha," Zhao Yunxiao answered. "On the other hand, Elder He will have the responsibility of making an example of me to answer to the others."
"Tch! Bunch of kids acting all inflexible and old fashioned," Cha criticised. "In any case, I guess it is still some sort of fate that allowed us to meet. Seeing that you are so troubled, why don't the great me help you out a bit?"
"Hmm?" Zhao Yunxiao's eyes lit up in surprise. "It will be best if Senior Cha could help me out of this situation... but may I ask how you are intending to help?"
He had felt hopeful for a moment, but immediately recalled just how reckless and thoughtless this sea serpent could be.
Its idea of helping might very well do more harm than good!
"I have a feeling that you are thinking about something very rude right now," Cha narrowed its eyes at Zhao Yunxiao.
"Of course not, Senior Cha," Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly shook his head. "So, what do you have in mind?"
"You better not be," Cha cautioned before continuing. "Anyway, all kids like presents. You can just give him a gift or two and it will be fine."
"Elder He is not a kid," Zhao Yunxiao corrected.
"He is just an older kid compared to you," Cha insisted.
Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch.
He was a fool to have gotten his hopes up!
"Don't be so fast to dismiss my suggestion. I've seen much more than you in life, so I naturally know more than you too," Cha could easily read Zhao Yunxiao's thoughts from his facial expression. "Take a look at this."
Zhao Yunxiao saw a glimpse of blue appear in front of his eyes.
This blue light came from a small flower, one with slightly translucent petals that gave off a deep blue glow. With the night sky as the backdrop, it looked especially alluring.
A single glance was enough for Zhao Yunxiao to tell that this was no ordinary flower.
The only problem was that despite having researched plenty of spirit herbs and plants, he did not recognise this exquisite flower that was presented in front of him right now.
With them currently flying through the air at high speed, he could hardly smell the scent of the flower either.
"This is...?" Zhao Yunxiao asked uncertainly.
"This is the flower of a Blue Jade Lotus," Cha explained. "Seeing how worried you are, I shall make an exception and let you give this to your elder as apology."
"Blue Jade Lotus..." Zhao Yunxiao tried to search his memory for something similar, but was unable to remember anything like that.
"Clueless brat, time to start reading a little more," Cha berated after seeing that Zhao Yunxiao had gone silent. "Blue Jade Lotuses are spiritual herbs exclusive to the Origin Lake Sect territory. Though they have extremely high vitality and can grow literally anywhere, the germination of a new plant is very dependent on luck so actually finding one is extremely difficult. But if you can find one, the benefits would definitely be worth the effort. Every part of the plant can be used in the process of alchemy or elixir making. The flower, especially, can be considered quite useful up to the Heavenly Lord realm, so I'm sure that elder of yours would be satisfied."
Zhao Yunxiao's eyes lit up once again.
He knew this flower looked extraordinary, but he never thought that it was something even someone at the Heavenly Lord realm would find valuable!
In that case, should he just bear the punishment and keep this flower for himself?
Or maybe...
"Great Senior Cha, you know, I kind of promised some of my companions that I would get souvenirs for them from this trip, but I haven't been able to get any because I have been accompanying you both nights..." Zhao Yunxiao carefully brought up. "In that regard, would you happen to have a few more of these flowers so I can give them out to my beloved comrades as souvenirs?"
"You are actually asking for Blue Jade Lotus flowers to give out as souvenirs?" Cha scoffed. "You sure are one greedy brat!"
"As valuable as it is in my eyes, I'm sure something like this is insignificant to the Fortune Devourer, invincible Guardian Spirit and famed Great General of the Origin Lake Sect!" Zhao Yunxiao kept trying.
"Descending," Cha said.
"Descending?" Zhao Yunxiao blinked his eyes in confusion. "Whaa-?!"
Before he knew it, they had already arrived back at the courtyard designated for the Black Tortoise Sect members, and he suddenly started falling from the sky.
Even though his resistance to freefalling had increased, being caught by surprise like that still made Zhao Yunxiao exclaim out loud.
However, he quickly regained his cool and reined in his emotions.
The last thing he wanted was to have a spectacular entrance while everyone was fuming over his disappearance!
Splash-!
The casing of water undid itself and fell harmlessly to the floor, safely dropping Zhao Yunxiao off back in his assigned room.
"Take it," Cha flicked its whisker, and the flower of the Blue Jade Lotus floated over to Zhao Yunxiao.
Zhao Yunxiao carefully received the flower with both hands.
Now that they were no longer flying through the sky, he could finally smell the faint floral aroma coming from the flower.
Just a single whiff was enough to clear his mind and make him feel revitalised. That made it all the more believable that this flower came from a plant that was valued for its great vitality.
"Great Senior Cha, is it really not possible to spare a few more of these?" Zhao Yunxiao asked again.
"Tch, greedy brat," Cha snorted. "Then again, I guess it is true that you might need some souvenirs."
Zhao Yunxiao nodded profusely.
"Look at you change completely in the face of benefits," Cha chided. "In any case, giving you more flowers is impossible. But I guess I can give you some roots."
Cha flicked a whisker and space rippled, opening a small rift from which a few thin roots appeared.
More so than the roots, Zhao Yunxiao was more amazed by how Cha performed a spatial technique like it was nothing!
"Do you not want them?" Cha snapped after seeing that Zhao Yunxiao was not moving to receive the roots.
"Of course I want them!" Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly grabbed the roots and took a look at them. "Are they valuable though?"
"Is the value all you care about?" Cha berated. "I already told you just now – every part of the Blue Jade Lotus can be used in the process of alchemy or elixir making. Whether it is valuable or not depends on whether you can use it well!"
"Is that so...?" Zhao Yunxiao continued to look at the roots doubtfully.
Compared to the beautiful flower, these roots definitely looked far less impressive.
"Give them back if you don't want them!" Cha snapped again.
"No, no, I want them!" Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly put them away in his sleeves. "Thank you for your generosity, great Senior Cha!"
"Well, I guess it's time for you to put those acting skills of yours to use," Cha said.
"What do you mean, Senior Cha?" Zhao Yunxiao denied without hesitation. "I have no acting skills to speak of. Instead, everything I am saying right now is filled with nothing but sincerity."
But instead of giving a response, Cha simply turned towards the door.
Bang-!
As though taking its actions as a cue, the door immediately flew open.
And standing there by the open door was He Luoxuan, with the disciples Hu Nan, Zheng Biru and Yu Hang standing right behind him.
It was obvious to anyone with a single glance – the expression on He Luoxuan's face was definitely one of anger!
Zhao Yunxiao swallowed his saliva nervously, but tried not to let his emotions show.
Cha was right.
It was indeed time to put those actings skills of his to good use!
Otherwise, who knew what would be left of him come morning?