"Take these."
Liu Xun took several batches of medicine in a daze.
Since he was unable to cultivate, most pills were useless or harmful to his body as he was unable to regulate the spiritual energy.
Taking this matter into consideration, Elder Chen actually came back to prepare a suitable prescription for him.
Realizing this, Liu Xun felt that he didn't do anything to deserve this. He cautiously probed, "... May I ask why the esteemed Elder is so generous toward me?"
Elder Chen was not in a hurry to answer his question. He unhurriedly put down the brush in his hand and dried off the ink with his spiritual energy.
With a slight wave of his hand, the prescription flew toward Liu Xun and the latter hurriedly secured it in his hands.
"Repay the favor."
Hearing this, Liu Xun subconsciously looked in the little protagonist's direction. His heart couldn't help but feel happy for the child.
Oh, so he does care about his disciple.
To be fair, Liu Xun had little knowledge of the male protagonist's childhood. However, seeing that Wan Yu grew up to be a black-belly man and had a trust issue, he presumed that his childhood was miserable.
It would be a lie to say that he didn't suspect Elder Chen of abusing his disciple or turning a blind eye toward his mistreatment.
Still, after this brief episode, it could be seen that Elder Chen was not a bad person.
Merely the fact that he didn't have any disgust toward his appearance and didn't oppress him using his cultivation already said enough about his character.
However, this might not be the case for others.
Being reminded of this matter, Liu Xun immediately sold Elder Su out, "Ah, right! His injury was caused by Elder Su's Disciples and apparently, Elder Su knows of this matter too."
"Is it true?"
Elder Chen slightly narrowed his eyes as he reconfirmed with his youngest Disciple.
Wan Yu hesitatingly nodded his head. One could see that he was unsure whether this was the right thing to do.
Liu Xun who used to live in the orphanage and experienced similar things helplessly sighed. He softly reasoned, "They used their Master to threaten you so it is only right to fight back with your Master ah! It is not as if your Master is here to be a decoratio-!"
Suddenly feeling a sharp gaze bored a hole in the back of his head, Liu Xun timely stopped himself and seamlessly changed his words, "Elder Chen is so powerful but they don't care about hitting his face at all, does it make any sense?!"
Elder Chen disdainfully snorted at his flattery and finally retracted his gaze.
Liu Xun secretly heaved a sigh in relief. Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, he no longer wished to stay with this Master-Disciple pair.
With a big smile, he bowed at a ninety-degree angle toward Elder Chen, "Xiao Xu will be taking his leave then! I will be forever grateful to you, Esteem Elder Chen!"
Elder Chen impatiently said, "Don't waste my medicine."
"Yes! I will take my medicine on time. Well then, have a nice day, both of you!"
Watching the energetic fool walk away with medicines in his hands, Wan Yu's forehead was full of black lines.
Is that guy being too dumb or courageous?
Wan Yu still remembered that when he first met his Shizun in his previous life he was so intimidated by his cold expression to the point that he didn't even dare raise his head in front of him.
In his past life, he naively thought that his Shizun was an Elder without any power staying idly in the Outer Sect.
Therefore, the moment his special body constitution was discovered he re-entered the Inner Sect without any hesitation.
His Shizun didn't stop him either.
Wan Yu could still recall his Shizun's indifferent face once he was informed of his decision to cut their Master-Disciple's tie.
He neither asked for his reason nor attempted to make him stay.
As if their bond meant nothing to him.
After realizing this point, Wan Yu felt that he was making the right choice to leave. His future was boundless so he was not resigned to staying as a mere Outer Disciple.
Only later on did he realize how foolish he was.
When the whole Sect turned its back against him, it turned out to be this man who was no longer his Master who stood up in front of him.
Those Senior Brothers whom he hadn't seen in years took his side and defended him.
At that moment, Wan Yu could only laugh bitterly.
Sometimes people throw away something good for something better, only to find out later that good was actually good enough and better never even came close.
His Shizun's temperament was cold and rigid but his heart was warm and soft. Unfortunately, he failed to understand this.
Now that he has come back to the past, he would mend all of his past mistakes and leave no room for errors.
This Xiao Xu shouldn't be overlooked just because he appeared to be harmless so far.
"Wan Yu."
Wan Yu momentarily pushed Xiao Xu's matter aside and turned to face his Shizun with his head slightly lowered, "Yes, Shizun."
"Raise your head."
Wan Yu hesitated for a few seconds before lifting his head to look at his Shizun.
Elder Chen's usual cynical eyes were replaced with stern and solemn gaze.
Presently, he was sitting behind a carved sandalwood desk with a beautiful landscape painting hung on the wall behind him. The spring breeze snuck in from the half-open window raising the white gauze curtain and blowing through his long jet-black hair.
His skin was fair and his facial features were outstanding added to his cold demeanor, his beauty was akin to an untouchable flower that only grew on high mountains.
It was a wonder why his name never appeared on the cultivation world's beauty ranking list so far.
Nevertheless, as long as one could cultivate they could perceive that this cold beauty was not one to be underestimated.
Even at this moment, his momentum didn't diminish due to this humble setting.
Elder Chen slowly taped his slender finger on the desk as he recounted, "You were entrusted to me by the Sect Leader. Want it or not, I am your Master now.
Disciples of I, Chen Shi shouldn't be cowered and stepped on by others. I won't beat you while you are already down but I won't stand it if you were to give up at this first hurdle. With me here, I will try the best of my ability to look for a solution to your peculiarity so you just focus on your sword training. Others' opinions won't matter as long as you stay true to yourself and keep moving forward without stopping."
Making a small pause, Chen Shi continued, "Can I expect this much from you?"
To his response, Wan Yu immediately knelt and kowtowed in his direction. The sound of his forehead knocking against the floor was quite loud but he didn't even frown at this pain.
As if pouring all of those unspoken words from his previous life, he promised in a resolute tone which no longer filled with timidity and cowardice.
"It is this Disciple's great blessing to have Shizun as my Master. There is no unwillingness or entanglement sentiment. I, Wan Yu will only recognize Shizun as my Master in this lifetime. This Disciple will reflect on his wrongdoings and will not sully Shizun's reputation anymore."
Chen Shi probably didn't expect his words to have such a great effect on his youngest Disciple this much either, therefore, it took him a while to speak again.
"There is still a chance for you to re-enter the Inner Sect."
Wan Yu firmly stated his stance, "Shizun picked me at my lowest and this Disciple will stay with you through thick and thin!"
Being unused to these heartfelt words, Chen Shi awkwardly cleared his throat and sneered, "Are you cursing me? Get up."
"This Disciple thanks Shizun!"
Just as Wan Yu was dutifully performing as a happy child, his smile briefly stagnated upon sensing the approaching footsteps.
Chen Shi also noticed this. With a wave of his hand, the door opened revealing Liu Xun who left a while ago.
Noticing his awkward face, Chen Shi squinted his eyes, "Why are you back?"
Wan Yu also looked over with the same question on his face.
Being the center of attention, Liu Xun embarrassingly scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "You see... I just remember that I don't have anything to boil the medicine..."
Chen Shi: "..."
Wan Yu: "..."
If it was not for the wrong occasion, Wan Yu really wanted to applaud this fool.
For the first time, he finally witnessed his Shizun's speechless face.
"Be careful, it is hot." Wan Yu warned as he passed the medicine bowl.
"Thank you."
Liu Xun thanked the little protagonist who brought him back to the kitchen and helped him boil the medicine.
However, upon seeing the suspicious dark liquid coupled with a pungent smell, Liu Xun's smile went stale, and his pupils contracted.
Right, I almost forgot that Chinese traditional medicine is a bit hard to drink.
Wan Yu, on the sideline, leisurely propped his cheek with his right hand and lightly smiled, "Xu ge, you can't drink the medicine without a candy?"
Being provoked, Liu Xun rolled his eyes at him and retorted, "Heh, only a kid like you needs it. I am just waiting for it to cool down."
As if not detecting his bluff, Wan Yu understandably nodded his head and urged, "But it is better to drink the medicine while it is still warm."
Liu Xun: "..." Is it my imagination that this brat is enjoying this?
Regardless, Liu Xun as an adult man didn't want to be looked down on by a 7-year-old child. After being done with the mental preparation, he immediately took a big sip from the bowl.
However, the taste was much worse than he had expected and he almost spat the entire thing out.
During this predicament, out of the corner of his eye, he inadvertently saw that the little protagonist silently distanced himself from him as if afraid that he would get the medicine on him.
Uncle Liu's eyes twitched fiercely. Filled with the determination of not wanting to lose face, he held on and down the entire medicine in one go.
"Ugh!" Liu Xun grunted and spat out his tongue as if doing so would get rid of this horrible taste. The bitterness was so deadly that his face was all scrunched up and he became even uglier.
Wan Yu was amused by this person's lively reaction. He kindly poured him a cup of water and gave it to him.
"Here's some water."
"Thanks." Liu Xun hurriedly rinsed his mouth with water a couple of times and only then did he finally feel alive again.
"Right, give me the ointment. I will help you wipe."
Wan Yu was a bit puzzled, "If it was for my ankle then I am already done."
Figuring that the little protagonist didn't notice anything wrong, Liu Xun softly sighed, "It is for your forehead."
Wan Yu was somewhat stunned. In the past, no one cared about his injury. His Shizun didn't want him to grow soft so he wouldn't cater to his every need.
Unless the injury was serious, Wan Yu would patch himself up and continue with his daily training.
Maybe since Xiao Xu spent his life as a mortal, his perception was different from theirs.
Thinking of this, Wan Yu politely rejected, "I will apply it by myself."
Surprisingly, after being refused Liu Xun no longer insisted. He simply stood up and excused himself, "I will need to drop by your kitchen to take my medicine so I will bother you till then. I am going now, bye."
"Wait."
Wan Yu quickly stopped him and suggested, "Since that's the case. How about leaving your medicine with me?"
Liu Xun was about to refuse but after a second thought, he changed his mind, "Won't I bother you too much then?"
"Compared to others, I have a lot of time on my hands. I will be happy if you can keep me company."
Recalling all those rumors that Wu Jing heard about the prodigy Wan Yu who fell off his pedestal during his stay as an Outer Disciple, Liu Xun became somewhat sympathetic and finally relented.
"Okay, I will drop by in the evening then."
Maintaining his harmless smile, Wan Yu bid him farewell. Until he could no longer see the other person's silhouette he finally wiped away the smile off his face.
Xiao Xu... You are better be well-behaved or else don't blame me for being heartless.