All the color drained from Wang Xun's face as Mo Zhao began to stutter. The servant, desperate and anxious, couldn't help but dart glaces between Shi Jian and Wang Xun. Wang Xun realized how frightened the servent was, so he decided to step forward.
"Young master Shi" he bowed deeply "I am responsible for this whole mess, please, don't punish Mo Zhao. Let me bear the consequences."
Hesitant, Wang Xun looked up, affraid that Shi Jian might be staring at him with a stern look, but, for his surprise, Shi Jian was smiling calmly. His smile almost shined, and Wang Xun thought that it was funny. But still, he was curious and afraid to know why Shi Jian was smiling when a freak like Wang Xun invaded his house.
"Wang Xun! What are you talking about..." Mo Zhao finally was able to mumble something, but he quickly was cut by Shi Jian's gentle voice.
"It's enough Mo Zhao, don't treat Xun'er like that" Shi Jian bent down to pick up his brand new clothes that now were dirty because of Wang Xun's adrupt arrival.
Wang Xun's eyes widened with shock and his face turned even more pale. Now, Shi Jian wasn't just smiling at the unvited intruder of his house, but he even called him 'Xun-er'!
For some reason, the way the young master called Wang Xun, made his heart soften. He have heard a dozen of rumors about Shi Jian, some of them were about his prestigious abilities and others about his dirty secrets. Guo Meili seemed to know everything about everyone. But Wang Xun wanted to be a friend of this misterious figure, and being called 'Xun-er' by him, made he feel closer to Shi Jian.
"Idiot, aren't you going to help us clean the mess you made?" Mo Zhao yells at Wang Xun. Just then he realized he had been staring blankly while thinking
"Oh! Y-yes, I will." Wang Xun grabbed one of the towels Mo Zhao was previously using to clean out the dust and began to wipe away his footstprints. Mo Zhao rushed to punch him at the head and hand him the right towel for that.
"Stupid brat, this towel is for dust, not to clean dirty prints."
The servant moved away and organized Shi Jian's books by alphabetic order. Sometimes, he glanced at his master to see if he would notice his hard work.
"So, Wang Xun" Shi Jian finally talked again, breaking the silence at the room "I was helping Li Hong at the east part, and from there I saw you running away from Pei Xu and his childish army."
Wang Xun stopped his moves of cleaning for a moment. His cheeks flushed slightly because Shi Jian, someone he thought so highly of, saw him running cowardly from Pei Xu.
"Yes... it was. That bastard keeps teasing me, as if I cared! I really doubt that he has more than one neuron on his brain..." he said without thinking. when Wang Xun realized he had said too much, he instantly stopped "sorry Young Master Shi, my mounth was quicker than my mind..."
"No need to feel ashamed, Xun'er, you don't need to measure your words when talking with friends" Shi Jian smiled as winked "And you need to get confortable with other people since you're going on a mission. Has master Sui told you about that?"
"Yes, he have... But I don't know how he thought it would be good idea, I'm new here and ain't strong enough to even fight a worm. How can I go on a mission with older and professionals? I will just be a pain on the neck!" Mo zhao chuckled when he heard Wang Xun's words, somewhat agreeing with him.
Shi Jian gave the boy an tired look, as if he had heard this sentence a lot of times. Maybe he even had already said that himself. But Wang Xun doesn't know a lot about the clan young master, just the rumors he had heard from Guo Meili, so he decided not to jump on conclusions. Everyone talks about him since he borned at Dragon Mountain dojo. Guo Meili said that not just him, but all his friends were also genius and prodigious.
"Don't despise yourself, Xun-er. Everyone here had to start somewhere. Do you think I was so good at your age?" Wang Xun thought that he was, but he didn't dare to say that out loud. "Until nowadays I have to learn. Everyone will always have something to learn. The older cultivators that will go on the mission will teach and guide you, there's no reason to be afraid."
Wang Xun was just about to answer, but he was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. And it wasn't just a normal knock, but something out of rhytim and unpleasent for ears. 'Maybe it's a code', Wang Xun thought.
"Shi Jian, it's me, your handsome friend." a deep teenager voice said at the other side.
"Is it Yao Cheng?" Shi Jian asked with a playful smile, even though the person at the other side of the door couldn't see it.
"Shi Jenshun! How dare you compare me with that furious woman?!"
Shi Jian nodded to Mo Zhao, and the servant got to the door and opened it, only to reveal a boy about the young master's age. His hair was braided and his thin eyebrowns curved at a angry expression.
"Nice to see you again, Li Hong." Shi Jenshun said, pointing at a tiny space at the room that wasn't a mess. Li Hong sat there and studied the room, shocked by the clutter vision, but when he laid his eyes on Wang Xun his face softened a bit with understanding. Wang Xun shrank, trying to disappear. "We were together only a time ago, what's the matter that you wanted to see me again?" Shi Jian's smile widend "Do you love me so much that you can't live some minutes without me?"
Li Hong rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Obviously I came here only to see you." He stopped and his expression changed to a more serious one. "Actually, I had some important matters to talk with you, but as this brat is here" he glanced at Wang Xun "let's talk about the mission."
Wang Xun looked up with a confused expression. Li Hong couldn't be reffering to his mission, could he?
"Oh right. Wang Xun, are you excited about it?" Shi Jian turned to look at the younger boy with a curious face.
"My mission? Why do you want to talk about it?"
Li Hong frowened his forehead. "You mean, our mission."
Wang Xun was even more confused now. Their mission? Shi Jian noticed his confusion and asked gently and calm.
"Wang Xun, you don't know? The others disciples that are you going with you at the mission are Li Hong, Ren De, Yao Cheng and me."
The boy's eyes widened and he dropped the towel he had been using to the clean the mess he's made.
"What?!"