Xue Zhengyong was practicing his sword at the northern peak when a haitang blossom floated over. He uttered a curious "eh" and caught it while drying his sweat with a towel, muttering to himself: "Yuheng's messenger haitang? He can't even be bothered to come over to talk anymore? When did he get so lazy." But he still took the golden orb of light from the flower's center and placed it in his ear.
Out came the unfamiliar voice of a child: "Sect Leader, please come to the Red Lotus Pavilion at your earliest convenience..." Xue Zhengyong didn't believe it at first, but when he stepped off from his sword in front of Chu Wanning's residence, he was completely dumbfounded.
A child of about five or six years stood in the pavilion by the lotus pond stood with a hand held behind his back, gazing at the lotus with a face of gloom.
Looking from the side, this person had a frosty expression and icy eyes to match; he was draped in Chu Wanning's robes, but they were really way too big on him, pooling on the ground, sleeve hem and all, looking like a fish towing behind it a huge sweeping tail.
Xue Zhengyong: "..." The child turned around, 'if you laugh I will kill you and then myself' practically written on his face.
Xue Zhengyong: "PFFT HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The child slapped the table angrily: "What're you laughing at! What's so funny!" "I am definitely not lau——ahahaha oh god I can't, Yuheng, I told you to go to Tanlang Elder to get that wound checked out, but you just wouldn't listen,
hahahaha, I can't breathe." Xue Zhengyong roared with laughter, holding his stomach with both hands, "I've, I've never seem a kid with such a murderous aura, ahahahaha." This child was none other than the Chu Wanning who had awoken to find that he had shrunk. The vine that pierced his shoulder at Jincheng Lake must have been enchanted with some kind of curse that turns those stricken back into their five or six year old selves. Thankfully his spiritual power did not also revert,
else Chu Wanning felt like he really might as well just die.
Xue Zhengyong went to fetch a set of small-sized uniform for younger disciples, laughing the whole way there and back.
Chu Wanning finally looked a little less comical after changing into the more fitting clothes. He straightened out the silver-trimmed blue hand guards, looked up to shoot Xue Zhengyong a glare, then said vehemently: "If you dare tell anyone, I will end you." Xue Zhengyong laughed: "I won't, I won't. But what're you gonna do about this? I don't know anything about healing, so you gotta get someone to take a look right? How about I ask Tanlang Elder to come over..." Chu Wanning swept his sleeves angrily, but the sleeves of the disciple uniforms were tight and form-fitting, waving them around didn't have the same effect at all. He grew even more grumpy: "Come over and do what, laugh at me?" "Then how about I ask my wife to come take a look?" Chu Wanning pressed his lips together and said nothing, looking indignant.
"I'll take that as a yes then?" Chu Wanning only turned his back to him. Xue Zhengyong knew he was in a bad mood, but the sight was really too funny; he tried to hold back but ultimately failed, and once again burst into uproarious laughter.
Tianwen appeared with a woosh, Chu Wanning glaring at him out of the corner of his eye: "I dare you to laugh again!" "Ok ok no more laughing. I'll go call my wifey over right away, ahahahaha." Xue Zhengyong ran off and returned in no time with a worried Madam Wang in tow. Madam Wang froze as soon as she saw Chu Wanning, and a long while passed before she finally managed with disbelief: "Yuheng Elder..." Chu Wanning: "..." Thankfully, Madam Wang was a kind and compassionate doctor, unlike her husband. She asked Chu Wanning some questions while looking him over, then softly said:
"Elder's spiritual energy circulation is fine, and there's nothing abnormal about your body either. Nothing seems to have changed aside from having turned into a child." Chu Wanning asked: "Does the Madam know of a way to break the curse?" Madam Wang shook her head: "Elder's injury was caused by an ancient willow vine, I'm afraid there is no other known case of this ailment, so I do not know how to treat it." Chu Wanning lowered his lashes, stunned, and was speechless for a while.
Madam Wang couldn't bear the sight, and hurriedly said: "Yuheng Elder,
based on what I have seen, the most likely cause of your current state is that the willow vines likely contained a self-healing secretion that got into your wound,
and not actually a curse, else it wouldn't have taken this long to take effect. It was probably only a very slight amount of the secretion, and was only able to affect your body because you were overworking yourself day after day. How about you take care and rest up for a few days, and see if anything changes?" Chu Wanning was silent for a while, then sighed: "There's nothing else for it.
Many thanks, Madam." "You're welcome." Madam Wang gave him another careful once-over: "With the Elder's current appearance, as long as you don't tell them, no one will be able to tell it's you." She wasn't wrong; even Chu Wanning himself had forgotten what he was like at five or six. Looking at his reflection in the pond, other than some vague similarities in facial features, he didn't look very much like his grown-up self at all. Finally feeling slightly relieved, he looked up at Xue Zhengyong to say:
"Sect Leader, I'm going to go into seclusion at the Red Lotus Pavilion for a few days. Please look after my disciples." "That's a matter of course, Xue-er is my son, Ran-er is my nephew, and Shi Mei is a disciple of Sisheng Peak, of course I'll look after them." Xue Zhengyong grinned, "You just worry about yourself." But three days of meditation later and there still wasn't even the slightest sign of his body going back to normal. Chu Wanning couldn't help feeling even more anxious, totally unable to "take care and rest up" as directed by Madam Wang.
One evening, Chu Wanning finally couldn't handle the restless feeling any longer. Meditation wasn't doing anything anyway, might as well go take a stroll down the mountain, get some things off his mind.
It was after dinner and before evening classes, and Sisheng Peak's paths and corridors were full of disciples, but no one really paid him any mind. Chu Wanning strolled around for a bit, then went to the bamboo forest near the Platform of Sin and Virtue.
The Elders each had their own favored practice area that they always took their disciples to for cultivation and training. This bamboo forest was Chu Wanning's.
The tranquil rustling of bamboo leaves filled the air. Chu Wanning plucked a leaf and idly blew a melody with it, the crisp, serene notes soothing his agitated mind. But it wasn't long before the sound of footsteps approached and stopped near him.
"Oi, kiddo." Chu Wanning opened his eyes.
It was Xue Meng, long-legged and slim-waisted, standing proudly amidst the bamboo forest, blade LongCheng glistening in hand as he declared towards him.
"I'm going to practice sword here, go blow your leaf elsewhere." "..." The end of Chu Wanning's eyebrow went up a bit. It was quite a strange feeling to have Xue Meng boss him around like this. He thought for a moment, then said: "I'll play my leaf, you can practice your sword, there's no interference." Xue Meng said: "No way. Hurry and leave, my blade will hurt you." "You can't hurt me." Xue Meng clicked his tongue, patience running thin: "Don't say I didn't warn you then. If you get injured later, it's none of my business." He said, LongCheng unsheathing with a powerful sound, like the hiss of a serpent emerging from the depths of a lagoon and soaring into the skies.
Instantly, LongCheng became a dancing shadow in Xue Meng's hand amidst the flying leaves, a brilliant trail in its wake as light reflected off the blade. One slice rendered a leaf into ten pieces, the force of it plucking more leaves from the bamboos. Pierce, thrust, swipe, and slash, every motion smooth as the glide of snow in wind.
Even a fifty year old cultivator would praise such an impressive display, not to mention a five year old child.
But even when Xue Meng had gone through ten forms, the child was still just sitting on his rock playing his leaf, as if there was nothing astounding or even noteworthy happening in front of him.
Xue Meng, irritated, sheathed his blade and leaped down from the upper regions of the bamboo forest, landing lightly before Chu Wanning.
"Kid." "..." "Hey, kid, I'm talking to you." Chu Wanning lowered the leaf and slowly opened his eyes to look expressionlessly at him: "What is it? Did your master not teach you to be courteous when speaking to others? Don't just go hey this hey that, I have a name." "Why would I care to know your name." Xue Meng was going to be nice about it, but the rest of his good humor vanished after those thorny words,
"Blades don't have eyes, scram off to the side before mine cuts your head off."
Chu Wanning replied with an air of indifference: "If you can't even avoid my head, is there even any point to you practicing the blade?" "You!" Xue Meng had never been thus disputed in all his life, and by a beginner disciple who doesn't even reach up to his thigh, at that. Angry and indignant, he said, "You sure are impudent, do you even know who I am?" Chu Wanning glanced at him mildly: "Who are you?" "...I am the young master of Sisheng Peak." Xue Meng was about to suffocate from indignation, "How do you not even know this?" The corners of Chu Wanning's lips quirked up slightly. The smile would have looked very mocking on his original face, but on his current childish, adorable face, was even more infinitely mocking.
"You're just the young master, it's not like you're the sect master, why would I know of you?" "Wh, wh-wh-wh-what did you say?" "Quit putting on airs and practice your sword." Chu Wanning lowered his long lashes and went back to playing his leaf, the melody floating leisurely in the wind, notes rising and falling.
Xue Meng could seriously die from how mad he was; he let out a yell and actually got into it with a little kid. But no matter how mad he was, he still didn't want to hit a kid, so he could only leap up and hack ruthlessly away at the bamboos, which broke and fell in batches amidst the serene melody.
His blade was swift and vicious; several flashes, and dozens of bamboos had been carved into blunt points. Against an enemy, the points would've been razor-sharp, but this was enough for teaching a junior disciple a lesson.
Hundreds of pointed bamboo sticks fell directly toward Chu Wanning, and were mere inches from hurting him. Xue Meng rushed downwards to move this cheeky little disciple out of the way.
He didn't actually want to hurt the kid, just to scare him a bit. But unexpectedly, in the same instant he rushed down, the child stopped playing and flicked the leaf between his fingertips, the tender bamboo leaf suddenly turning into hundreds of fine threads.
Instantaneously, the hundreds of threads struck out toward the falling spikes with stunning precision.
Even the wind seemed to stop flowing.
Chu Wanning stood up. Simultaneously, the hundreds of spikes all around him became mere powder.
Utterly obliterated!
Xue Meng stood frozen in shock, face both pale and red, unable to manage even half a word.
The little kid before his eyes looked up, silver-blue uniform fluttering, and grinned at Xue Meng: "You wanna go again?" Xue Meng: "..." "Your strikes are vigorous but without order. Too erratic and unsteady." Xue Meng opened his mouth, then closed it.
Chu Wanning continued: "Start over from the sparrow form. Follow my music, go through each form in time with the segments of the tune and no faster than that." To be instructed like this by a little kid, Xue Meng's face became even more overcast, biting his lip and not moving at all. Chu Wanning didn't rush him,
waiting quietly to see if Xue Meng would lay down his ego for the sake of improvement, if he would be willing to listen to a half-grown child.
A while passed before Xue Meng suddenly stomped his feet in dejection,
flung his sword, and turned to leave.
Watching him leave in a fit, Chu Wanning's expression darkened a little,
thinking that it was truly such a pity that Xue Meng couldn't humble himself to accept guidance…...
But before he could even finish that train of thought, he saw Xue Meng pick up a branch from the ground and turn around to say huffily: "Then, then I'll use a branch, just in case I hit you." Chu Wanning paused, then he nodded with a smile: "Alright." Xue Meng plucked a bamboo leaf for him and wiped it clean before handing it over: "Here, xiao didi[2], for you." So he's "xiao didi" now, instead of "kiddo"?
Chu Wanning threw an amused glance at him, accepted the leaf, and, sitting back down on the rock, leisurely started playing again. Xue Meng had a rash personality; this maneuver includes a move where the wielder leaps and turns in mid-air while unleashing six stabs followed by a strike. But Xue Meng never could get it quite right, often stabbing over a dozen times before the strike, which far misses the optimum window.
Xue Meng messed it up five, six times in a row, his brows drawing increasingly tighter as he grew more and more agitated.
In his agitation, he caught a glimpse of the child sitting on the rock playing the bamboo leaf; despite his tender years, he was the very image of composure,
without even the slightest bit of complaint, and Xue Meng couldn't help the sense of shame that crept up.
So he rallied his spirits and tried several more times, slowly getting a feel for it in the melody's rhythm. But he didn't get ahead of himself, keeping at it until late night, when the moon was hanging high in the sky, and he could finally complete the maneuver flawlessly.
Xue Meng wiped at the sweat on his brows, exclaiming happily: "Today was all thanks to you. Which Elder's disciple are you, lil bro? You're pretty amazing,
how did I not know about you before?" Chu Wanning was already prepared for the question——Xuanji Elder had many disciples, so many that he couldn't even remember them all. He put the leaf away and said with a small smile: "I am Xuanji Elder's disciple." Xue Meng seemed to think rather little of Xuanji. He hmph'd: "Oh, the Rubbish King huh." "Rubbish King?" "Ah, pardon me." Xue Meng misunderstood the surprise in Chu Wanning's eyes, and thought the child was upset that he had derided his shizun.
He smiled and explained: "It's just a nickname. Your shizun accepts anyone and everyone; the rubbish part refers those disciples of his that are completely talentless, not Xuanji Elder himself, don't mind it, lil bro." Chu Wanning: "...Do you guys often give the elders nicknames in private?"
Author's Notes:
Xue Meng: I met this child today, pretty impressive, but something felt wrong.
Xue Zhengyong: (Nervous) What felt wrong?
Xue Meng: His expressions towards me felt wrong.
Xue Zhengyong: … Maybe you provoked him… it's normal that he noticed you…
Xue Meng (Angry table flip): No! There is no admiration in his eyes! Do you know how it feels when a kid not even one meter tall look down upon you?
Xue Zhengyong: .......
[2] Little brother